Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 378 Juan Fernando's Wedding

In January 1896, the Spanish government officially announced that nine years of compulsory education would be implemented nationwide in the new year.

People in Madrid and Barcelona are already familiar with the so-called nine-year compulsory education system, which is just an addition of free education at the junior high school level compared to the previous policy.

However, for poor families across Spain, the fact that nine years of compulsory education allows their children to continue learning secondary school material without too much burden is definitely good news.

Because Spain's education system is dual-track, in addition to free junior high school education, students can also choose free basic vocational training during their nine years of compulsory education, which takes about three years to complete.

The so-called basic vocational skills training was actually what we now call secondary vocational school. In that era, there was no such thing as child labor. If students who graduated from primary school really couldn't continue their studies, learning a skill and entering the workforce earlier was a good option.

The government can only guarantee these child laborers a minimum wage and ensure that these children are not exploited too much by factories and businesses. However, completely eliminating child labor would not be a good thing for Spain in this era.

Depriving children of work opportunities is tantamount to depriving extremely poor families of their chance to survive. Carlo certainly knows how important child labor is in this era, and Spain cannot ban child labor unless the basic necessities for extremely poor families can be guaranteed in the future.

The first half of 1896 was the preparatory phase for the education department. The department was tasked with preparing a sufficient number of junior high schools and basic technical training schools for primary school graduates nationwide.

Since we are going to implement nine-year compulsory education, the most important thing is to have enough schools to accommodate these students.

Fortunately, in this era, neither schools that teach cultural knowledge nor technical knowledge need expensive instruments and equipment.

A few sturdy buildings are all that's needed to build a school; one can serve as a teaching building and another as a dormitory.

Everything else can be compromised. The playground only needs an open space, and the teachers' offices can be squeezed in with the students'.

Even the textbooks issued by the school can be shared by several people. The point is to promote the nine-year compulsory education first, and then make up for any shortcomings later.

The education authorities have indeed been doing this. In Madrid and Barcelona, ​​it has proven very effective.

Madrid and Barcelona are now both cities with populations exceeding one million, and the nine-year compulsory education system being piloted in these two cities has attracted attention throughout Spain.

Ultimately, residents of other cities are quite envious of those living in these two cities. As the two most populous and economically prosperous cities in Spain, they are almost always the first to benefit from any favorable policies.

There's really no other way around this. There's always a sequence to implementing policies, and it's extremely difficult to implement a policy simultaneously across the entire country.

Especially for a major project like nine-year compulsory education, if it is not implemented on a pilot basis in a few cities, it is easy for various problems to arise.

All Carlo could do was to immediately launch the nationwide rollout of nine-year compulsory education once he was certain that there were no problems with the pilot program.

Although Madrid and Barcelona implemented nine-year compulsory education earlier, Carlo wanted to ensure that after the nationwide rollout of nine-year compulsory education, people would enjoy the same nine-year compulsory education policy regardless of whether it was Madrid, Barcelona, ​​or other cities, and that no one in any particular region would be treated differently.

Carlo specifically emphasized this point and demanded that the education department strictly control the promotion of nine-year compulsory education.

Whether they live in big cities, small towns, or rural villages, they are all Carlo's people.

Carlo treated all these people equally.

If we're going to implement the so-called nine-year compulsory education policy, the most important thing is to promote and implement it fairly, justly, and openly throughout the country; everything else is secondary.

Only by achieving true fairness, impartiality, and transparency in this regard can this policy gain the support of the Spanish people, and only then can Carlos, who promotes this policy, gain their favor.

With Carlos's repeated instructions, Education Secretary Alan Culton dared not slacken in the slightest. Promoting nine-year compulsory education was originally intended to boost his own political achievements, but if he failed in any area and displeased Carlos, it would be like shooting himself in the foot.

Alan Carlton wasn't stupid. He knew that gaining Carlo's trust and support was more important than his own political achievements.

With Carlo's support, even without sufficient political achievements, one has the opportunity to advance further in cabinet positions. However, without Carlo's trust and support, even with outstanding achievements, one will ultimately have to leave the political arena.

Carlo did not pay much attention to the education department's actions, but instead left the matter to his eldest son, Prince Juan Fernando.

Before anyone knew it, Prince Juan Fernando had come of age, and was even 20 years old.

Queen Sophie had suggested finding a crown princess for Prince Juan Fernando when he had just come of age.

However, Carlo considered that getting married too early was not a good thing, and ultimately postponed it until now.

With Prince Juan Fernando turning 20, Carlos no longer had any reason to delay. Getting married and starting a family early is a good thing for these princes and princesses; at least the Spanish royal family can continue to grow, which is much better than having a small number of descendants before.

Besides finding a crown princess for Prince Juan Fernando, Princess Sofia, who is only one year younger than Juan Fernando, is also nearing the age to find a husband.

Princess Sofia is currently 19 years old and will turn 20 this year. Compared to political marriages among other European royal families, Carlo prefers that his daughter find a spouse who loves him and whom she loves in return.

This was the result of discussions between Carlo and Queen Sophie. Both Carlo and Queen Sophie would look for suitable candidates for Princess Sophia, but whether or not she would like them was ultimately up to Princess Sophia herself.

In any case, the Spanish royal family no longer needs political marriages to ensure its stability. Given Carlos's current power, it's likely that European countries want to form alliances with the Spanish royal family through marriage to secure their own political stability.

While kings were common in Europe, it was rare for a king of a powerful nation to wield such immense power.

This is precisely why countless countries desire a marriage alliance with the Spanish royal family. Even before the Portuguese monarchy was overthrown, King Louis I had proposed a marriage alliance with the Spanish royal family.

However, the Portuguese and Spanish royal families were related, and Carlos was not comfortable with the practice of marriage alliances between relatives of European royal families in this era, so he rejected the Portuguese royal family's request.

If we don't consider marriage alliances between relatives, the Spanish royal family actually has far fewer options for forming alliances.

With the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Italian and Portuguese royal families already ruled out, and given the poor relationship between Britain and Spain among the remaining countries, Prince Juan Fernando's choices are limited to the two major powers of Germany and Russia, as well as the remaining smaller countries.

While Princess Sofia has a choice in potential marriage partners, Prince Juan Fernando has more options.

First and foremost, and most importantly, is equality in social status. Matching families of equal social standing is crucial for royal marriages in Europe; in reality, only princesses from various countries can be paired with the crown prince.

Marrying a woman of low social status would not only affect Prince Juan Fernando's own reputation, but also the inheritance rights of his descendants.

Such events have occurred many times throughout history. European royal families place unparalleled importance on lineage and social status, and as a member of a European royal family, Carlo must also abide by such rules.

Of course, it's also acceptable for the other sons besides the crown prince to lower their requirements for choosing a spouse.

After all, it's highly likely that these princes have no chance of getting the throne, so Carlo doesn't have high expectations of them. They just need to be dutiful nobles and not break the law. It's not a big deal if they have a little freedom in marriage.

In order to choose a suitable wife for their son, Carlo and Queen Sophie stayed in the palace and looked through dozens of photos, but in the end they still couldn't find a satisfactory candidate.

After failing to make a decision, Carlo looked at his wife with some helplessness: "Sophie, have you asked Juan Fernando for his opinion?"

"Does he have someone he likes? If they meet the criteria for a spouse, there's no need for this trouble of choosing one by one." "I've already asked, Carlo. Little Juan said he doesn't have anyone he likes at the moment, and that we can choose for ourselves," Queen Sophie said with a smile.

Because he was designated as crown prince at a young age, Prince Juan Fernando was well aware that he could not decide his own marriage.

For this reason, he did not learn much about the princesses of various European countries and decided to have his parents take a political stance and consider the interests of Spain and the royal family more.

As for myself, since the princesses of various European countries are all quite beautiful, I could just pick one at random.

Although European countries practiced monogamy, nobles still had many mistresses. Prince Juan Fernando himself didn't have any mistresses, but when he turned 20, Carlo arranged for him to have a personal maid.

Such personal maids are quite necessary. Besides teaching the princes about that aspect of life, they also guide them onto the right path.

Carlo doesn't want his child to go astray, so proper guidance is essential.

After much searching, Carlo was still unable to find a suitable candidate for Prince Juan Fernando, and ultimately decided to leave the choice to Prince Juan Fernando himself.

Staying in the palace to select photos won't yield any good results; it would be better to have Prince Juan Fernando, who is already an adult, represent the Spanish royal family on visits to several European monarchies.

During his visit, Prince Juan Fernando will undoubtedly meet with the royal families of these countries. He will certainly see eligible princesses at the banquets, and it would be ideal if he could choose a suitable marriage partner during this time.

If after such an early visit, you still can't find someone you like, then there's nothing you can do. You'll have to choose the one whose marriage is most beneficial to Spain, based on political considerations.

Queen Sophie nodded upon hearing Carlo's suggestion, thinking it was a good idea.

Instead of looking at these photos over and over again in the palace, it would be better to let Prince Juan Fernando see them for himself.

Whether you like someone or not can only be known by seeing them with your own eyes. Only by getting to know them personally can you understand whether their personality is the type you like.

Looking at photos only reveals a person's appearance, and even that appearance is heavily influenced by modern black-and-white cameras. Choosing a partner based solely on a photo will likely result in an unsatisfactory outcome, so it's better to skip this step altogether.

Since Carlo and Queen Sophie have already made their decision, there's nothing more to say.

Carlo then summoned Prince Juan Fernando, told him his thoughts, and asked him to represent him and the Spanish royal family on diplomatic visits to many European countries.

Since it's a diplomatic visit, some important European countries are certainly included. However, Carlo had given prior instructions that the British royal family was not to be considered.

Carlos did not want Queen Victoria's hemophilia to spread to the Spanish royal family, thereby affecting the lifespan of the Spanish royal descendants.

Things that could potentially lead to the extinction of the royal line are best kept as far away from the Spanish royal family as possible.

Moreover, relations between Spain and Britain were already strained. A royal marriage between the two countries would only make the royal family's situation more awkward, since national interests usually take precedence.

Aside from the British royal family, royal families from other European countries are also worth considering.

Even Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is on Carlo's radar. Although there is a five-year age difference between him and Prince Juan Fernando, this age gap is not a significant factor.

If a marriage alliance were to be formed between him and Queen Wilhelmina, Spain and the Netherlands would become natural allies. Their descendants would then simultaneously inherit the thrones of both Spain and the Netherlands, potentially establishing a joint rule.

Of course, if Prince Juan Fernando feels that Queen Wilhelmina is too young, his brothers are also an option.

Prince Martin was born in 1879, just one year older than Queen Wilhelmina. Prince Alexander was born in 1884, nearly four years younger than Queen Wilhelmina, but still within the range of candidates.

Although the Netherlands is only a small to medium-sized country on the European continent, it possesses a strong foundation. In shipbuilding, the Netherlands ranks among the top ten in Europe, a considerable achievement.

The Netherlands' main disadvantages are its small land area and relatively small population, although its industry and economy are still at a certain level.

Furthermore, the Netherlands possessed a vast East Indies colony, a region of vital rubber production. Although Spain and the Netherlands had some past conflicts in the East Indies, that was all in the past.

Since Spain began its large-scale colonization of Africa, it has not expanded much in Southeast Asia.

If a marriage alliance were formed with the Dutch, Carlo could also offer some of his Southeast Asian colonies as a dowry to improve relations between Spain and the Netherlands.

Of course, all of this was just Carlo's idea.

The first question is whether the Netherlands is willing to form a marriage alliance with Spain. The second question is whether Prince Juan Fernando and his two brothers would approve of the Netherlands and Queen Wilhelmina, since marriage alliances are a two-way selection process, not a one-sided one.

Bearing the expectations of Carlos and Queen Sophie, Prince Juan Fernando, accompanied by a group of government officials, embarked on a grand tour of various European countries.

As the Crown Prince of Spain, it is only natural for him to make diplomatic visits. Besides allowing Prince Juan Fernando to choose his own marriage partner, another purpose of this trip is to develop his abilities and, incidentally, to introduce him to royal families and government officials from various European countries.

Regardless of the current situation, Prince Juan Fernando will certainly become the King of Spain in the future.

Diplomatic skills still need to be developed; by appearing in the public eye earlier, one can cultivate one's reputation and influence sooner.

To prevent any mishaps during this diplomatic visit, Carlo specifically requested that three-time Foreign Minister Karel accompany him. Karel had served as Spain's Foreign Minister for over 15 consecutive years since 1882.

Sending such an experienced diplomat to accompany Prince Juan Fernando can be seen as Carlo's care and love for his son.

Each department also sent some officials to accompany the delegation. It would be ideal if some cooperation could be reached with the governments of various countries during the diplomatic visit.

To ensure the safety of this diplomatic delegation, Carlo specially dispatched a guard of 100 people.

While the main duty of the Royal Guard is to protect the capital and the palace, the main duty of the Royal Guard is to accompany and protect members of the royal family.

Carlo's entire royal guard force totals less than a thousand men, yet he was able to directly dispatch a guard force of over a hundred men to protect Prince Juan Fernando, which shows how much Carlo values ​​the crown prince.

Although Carlo could send out more guards, it was clearly unnecessary.

This trip is, after all, a formal diplomatic visit, and upon arrival in each country, the governments of those countries will certainly provide tight security for its protection.

If a diplomatic mission encounters problems in a country, it could escalate into a conflict or even war at the national level.

Regardless of the state of relations between Spain and the countries being visited, they must ensure that the Spanish diplomatic mission does not encounter any problems on their own territory.

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(End of this chapter)