Empire Rising: Spain

It’s been a long time since the establishment of the Congo Territory, and population has always been a significant challenge for its development.

Currently, the total population of the Congo Territory does not exceed 30,000 people, many of whom are Russian immigrants sent here forcibly.

These Russian farmers, after arriving in the Congo Territory, quickly opened up a large area of land with the help of local natives. If everything proceeds smoothly, they will permanently settle in the Congo Territory, contributing their efforts to its agricultural development.

Of course, Spain won’t treat them poorly. These Russian farmers have absolute freedom after coming to the Congo Territory; they are first-class citizens of the colony with some privileges.

In Russia, they are at the bottom of society, working tirelessly all year without earning much income, and even facing significant debts due to renting aristocratic land.

But in the Congo Territory, for any physical labor, they can rent some slaves from the colonial government, or even directly buy a few black slaves to do the work.

The identity of these Russians quickly transformed, making them not averse to settling in the Congo Territory, and even grateful they chose to immigrate and change their lives.

In fact, these Russian immigrants have proven to be very useful.

Their arrival accelerated the agricultural development of the Congo Territory, barely enabling it to meet its own needs in terms of agricultural products.

If the Congo Territory hadn’t formed a colonial division with a whole army of 20,000 people, the current scale of agriculture could actually meet the requirements for self-sufficiency.

Because the army needs a source of food, the agricultural scale in the Congo Territory must continue to expand. There is no crisis of overproduction in food, as there are always people in the world who don’t have enough to eat.

During economic crises, food prices even tend to rise. After all, people not using industrial products only leads to inconvenience, but not eating food would lead to starvation within days.

The question of how to increase the population in the Congo Territory has troubled the Spanish Government for a long time.

At a cabinet meeting, the new Minister of Colonial Affairs, William, proposed an idea that made Carlo’s eyes light up, which was to attract a large number of gold seekers through a gold rush to expand the Congo Territory’s population.

The so-called gold rush is essentially attracting gold seekers by publicizing gold mine information. A mass influx of gold seekers into areas with gold mines triggers what is known as a gold rush.

Many colonies developed gradually because of the gold rush, including famous cities such as San Francisco and New Golden Mountain, both of which became large cities due to this phenomenon.

One should not underestimate the obsession gold seekers have with gold. Even in deep forests, as long as news of gold mines spreads among gold seekers, it will attract a large number of gold seekers to come.

The Lanfang Republic also developed because of the gold rush, at its peak gathering tens of thousands of gold seekers.

As long as Spain releases news of large gold mines in the Congo Territory, it will surely attract many gold seekers.

If some gold seekers can be retained, the problem of inadequate population in the Congo Territory will be easily resolved.

Of course, attracting population through a gold rush is dual-sided. While a portion of these gold seekers will indeed settle in the Congo Territory, the gold rush will also attract attention from other countries.

This is gold, one of the most valuable rare metals in the world. Small gold mines are destined not to trigger a gold rush, but large, untapped gold mines can generally do so.

Such large gold mines can attract gold seekers and naturally draw attention and even coveting from other countries.

Therefore, one must consider whether the gold rush in the Congo Territory will attract the attention of other major powers before using it to attract population.

After careful consideration, Carlo ultimately decided to adopt William’s suggestion.

The Congo Territory is quite special, with few colonial competitors in this land, at least for now.

Throughout the Congo River Basin, there are actually only two colonial forces: Portugal and Spain. The nearest colonizers are the French, whose colonies are over 500 kilometers away from the Congo River.

Moreover, the current need for Spain to help France escape the effects of isolation policies means the French are unlikely to have conflicts with Spain over gold, at least not in the short term.

In the absence of French participation, Spain only needs to monitor the colonial movements of Portugal.

Little Portugal is not considered a threat by Carlo, and it was precisely for this reason that Carlo decided to adopt William’s suggestion.

In fact, besides France, the British might also intervene in the gold rush in the Congo Territory.

But the British colonies are far from the Congo River Basin, with the closest being nearly 2,000 kilometers away at the Gold Coast.

Spain’s Congo Territory is located inland in Africa; if the British want to intervene, they can only occupy the lower Congo River and then delve into the Congo Basin.

If the British actually do this, Carlo would rather laugh out loud.

For currently, it is Portugal that is entrenched at the lower Congo River, and if the British seize Portuguese colonies, the relationship between Britain and Portugal would take a steep decline.

Without British support, Portugal is like a lamb for slaughter to Spain, and if the plot unfolds as such, a merger of Spain and Portugal might be imminent.

The paper data after the merger of the two countries would still be quite impressive. According to last year’s data, if Spain and Portugal merged, they would together have over 24 million people and an army of 250,000, maintaining industrial output as the fifth highest in the world, with the Navy also ranking fifth globally, indicating quite strong comprehensive strength.

If the two countries were to merge, Spain’s rapidly developing economy would also affect Portugal, allowing Portugal’s industry and economy to enter a fast development track.

After several years of low-key development, the merged federation could be considered the strongest under the UK, France, and Germany, and even be able to grapple with the French.