Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 23 Agricultural Tax Relief Act
"Your Majesty, excuse me for being frank, but our people no longer have the funds to buy our national debt." Hearing Carlo's proposal, Primo smiled bitterly and reminded Carlo.

"No, Mr. Prime Minister, the target of our national debt issuance is not ordinary civilians." Carlo shook his head and explained with a smile:

We can issue debt similar to education bonds and use interest rates higher than banks to attract capitalists and factory owners to buy.

We don't need to set the scale of our issuance too high. Perhaps 1000 million pesetas will be enough to meet our initial educational needs.

100% of this batch of national debt will be used for education reform, which will not only reduce the number of illiterate people in our country, but also benefit those factories that need some knowledge reserves.

Once our first batch of bonds is repaid on time, it will be much easier to issue such bonds in the future. At least for us now, this is a more reliable means than borrowing, and it can also allow the government to bear less interest. "

Capitalists are all profit-seeking. The interest rate on government bonds is higher than that on banks, so it will definitely attract some capitalists to buy government bonds.

If specific special government bonds are issued specifically for reforms such as education, this will also reassure the capitalists who buy the bonds.

After all, one thing that capitalists worry about is what the government will do with the money. Investing in industries like education is definitely much better than squandering by the government and the aristocracy. At least capitalists don't have to worry about the government not having enough funds to repay the national debt in the future.

"We can try it." After thinking for a long time, Primo finally nodded and decided to give it a try.

The first batch of government bonds does not need to be issued in large quantities, and can be used to test whether this method can raise funds for the government.

It would be great if we could raise funds, but even if we can't, the government won't suffer much loss.

After discussion in the cabinet, it was finally decided unanimously to set the issuance amount of the first batch of education bonds at 800 million pesetas, or 30.7 pounds.

Although this amount of money is not much, it can be used to build a number of literacy classes dedicated to eliminating illiteracy. The literacy classes do not even need a complete school institution, just find a house to put some tables and benches, get some books to teach the Spaniards simple elementary school knowledge.

As soon as the news that the government was going to issue education bonds came out, it immediately caused a sensation in Spain.

Many Spaniards are still willing to see the government's efforts in education, which at least proves that the current royal government pays more attention to civilians than during the Isabel period.

Even farmers are willing to see the country's investment in education. Even if they cannot enjoy the benefits brought by education reform, it does not mean that their children cannot enjoy them.

However, despite support, few people are willing to buy education bonds.

Although the first batch of government bonds issued was only 800 million pesetas, only 20 were sold in two days, less than 1 pounds.

Carlo realized that this was a good opportunity and would not miss it. On the third day of the bond issuance, Carlo publicly announced that he would subscribe to 3 million pesetas of education bonds.

300 million pesetas of national debt is actually not much, only a few hundred thousand pounds, less than half of the amount of national debt issued this time.

But Carlo's active subscription to national debt as king has a different meaning for the Spaniards.

Although it is impossible to support Carlo because of such a small matter, many Spaniards have a better impression of Carlo and are willing to give Carlo enough time to show his side as an excellent monarch.

At least Carlo has shown a side that is far different from Queen Isabel, and the Spanish have also gained patience with Carlo. After Carlo took the lead, the capitalists finally became more active.

It took almost another week, but most of the 800 million pesetas of government bonds were finally sold, and the government had the initial funds to promote education reform.

In mid-September 1869, many literacy classes sprang up in Madrid like mushrooms, and they adopted a voluntary registration and free learning system.

As long as you are a Spanish citizen, you can enroll in literacy classes. Books and tuition are free, but you must attend literacy classes at least once a week.

Literacy classes still took into account the actual situation of a large number of ordinary people. In Spain in 1869, there were no specific working hours.

In other words, due to the unscrupulous capitalists and factory owners, the working hours of Spaniards have never been less than 12 hours, and can even be as high as thirteen or fourteen hours.

Not to mention having two days off a week, it is not easy to take a leave when you are sick, because capitalists do not want the factory output to be reduced due to employees' leave, which ultimately affects the speed at which they make money.

As for work-related injuries, they have nothing to do with this era. Not to mention being injured at work, even if you die at work, there will not be any compensation.

The various welfare policies of later generations were all fought for by workers and laborers all over the world in the long process of oppression and resistance.

The literacy campaign in the educational reform is being carried out vigorously and has a great impact on Spain.

After all, it is a free literacy campaign, and the Spanish are very willing to participate in the literacy classes. And Carlo also has his own little idea in the literacy class, that is, the literacy classes in Spain will only use Spanish, and will not use Catalan and other various regional languages.

The purpose of doing so is also to reduce the sense of division between the various regions of Spain and Spain. Assimilating the nation should start with language. It is very important to speak Spanish in Spain.

The good news is that today's Spain has been integrated for hundreds of years, and most people are not opposed to an integrated Spain.

At present, the independence and nationalist factions in various regions are still a small minority, which will not have much impact on the unification of Spain.

While the literacy campaign was underway, Primo also launched reforms in agriculture.

Although the Spanish government's fiscal revenue is not high, this does not prevent Primo from reducing agricultural taxes.

On September 1869, 9, when the literacy campaign was still being talked about by the Spaniards, the Spanish cabinet government had submitted a brand new "Agricultural Tax Reduction Bill" at a new session of the House of Representatives.

This bill caused a greater sensation in Spain than the literacy campaign, because the vast majority of Spain's population is agricultural and tax cuts are of real benefit to them.

As expected, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass the bill with over 70% of the vote, and the cabinet government also announced that tax cuts would begin in 1870 to actually increase the income of the agricultural population.

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(End of this chapter)