Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 390 The Problem with the Engine
The entire construction process of the Panama Canal is quite complex, and for Carlo, there is no need to worry about the United States gaining control of the construction of the Panama Canal in the short term.

At the time, the company responsible for building the Panama Canal was a French construction company that had taken over the project from another French company under the leadership of the French government.

To prevent the French from gaining operational rights to the Panama Canal after its construction, the Americans went to great lengths to create trouble for the French company during its construction.

The Panama Canal, designed by the French, runs parallel to the Panama Railway operated by the Americans, with the rationale being to facilitate the transport of goods.

However, the United States did not cooperate with France's canal construction efforts at all, and the railway authorities set up multiple obstacles to the distribution of goods, taking passive measures to delay the progress of goods transportation as much as possible.

Forced into a corner, the French company had to buy the railway, which was only worth $2550 million, for a staggering $750 million, causing the company to face huge financial problems.

That wasn't the end of it. Although the French company bought the American-built railway, they did not lay off the American employees of the railway department in order to maintain stability.

These American employees remained within the French company and continued to cause trouble, preventing the Panama Railway, which was now under French control, from effectively transporting goods for the canal.

If that's all there is to it, the United States can only delay the construction of the canal to some extent.

Besides external pressures from the United States, the French canal construction company also encountered significant problems in its operations and management. Despite numerous obstacles to canal construction, the senior management team, led by Ressé, brazenly embezzled funds raised from publicly issued canal shares.

To cover up the truth, they continued to issue various debts and used large sums of money to bribe local officials.

According to records, 150 French ministers and members of parliament accepted bribes, which explains why the canal company remained unscathed despite the project failing to meet expectations.

Of course, the truth eventually came out. In 1889, the French canal company finally ran out of money and had to declare bankruptcy.

The French company currently building the Panama Canal took over the project under these circumstances.

This also reveals that the French government harbors certain ambitions regarding sovereignty over the Panama Canal. They do not want the operation and management rights of the Panama Canal to fall into the hands of the Americans. After all, if the Panama Canal is built, it will be a vital waterway connecting the east and west coasts of North America, and the toll revenue alone would be enough to make them incredibly wealthy.

Carlo didn't care when the Panama Canal project would end. For him, as long as the operation and management of the Panama Canal didn't fall into American hands, he was perfectly acceptable to whoever controlled it.

Of course, the best-case scenario would be for Spain to also become a shareholder in the Panama Canal, participating in its daily operation and management, thus further restricting the development of the United States.

The main reason why the United States ultimately won the right to operate and manage the Panama Canal was that it had the support of Britain, and its only competitor was France.

Now that Britain has ended the Boer War, it is highly unlikely that the British government will relinquish ownership of the canal and allow the Americans to profit at a loss.

The French government is even less likely to agree. From the very beginning of the canal's construction until now, it has been French companies that have been contributing. Although the previous French canal company made extremely slow progress in the construction, and the company itself had very serious management problems.

However, it is undeniable that the French canal company has completed one-third of the total project, and the French are the ones who have made the Panama Canal a success so far.

As for the United States, which has always wanted sovereignty over the Panama Canal, they made no contribution to its construction and have even been causing trouble for French companies.

It is undeniable that the United States has surpassed its European counterparts in terms of capital. Compared to European countries, the United States is a thoroughly capitalist nation.

Capital holds supreme power in the United States, and this common business practice is naturally something the US government is very familiar with.

However, for Carlo, these tactics employed by the United States served as a wake-up call. If the US could resort to such dirty business practices, why couldn't Spain retaliate in kind?

Carlo was quite interested in these South American countries. Although South America doesn't have a truly powerful nation, these countries are relatively rich in resources.

Brazil possesses extremely rich iron ore reserves, while Argentina boasts vast tracts of black soil suitable for agriculture or livestock. Chile has enormous nitrate reserves, and Colombia possesses the Panama Canal, an ideal location for canal construction.

In addition, most South American countries were once Spanish colonies, and their populations are mostly descendants of mixed Spanish and local indigenous peoples.

For Spain, most of the population from South America is acceptable, except for those who are Black.

This is no longer just about affecting the development of the United States. If Spain can bring South America into its sphere of influence, it can continuously enhance its overall strength. This is what Carlos really wants to do.

Even if the pace of American development slows down, the country's land area and mineral resources remain, and its overall strength will not be too bad.

Only by doing everything possible to enhance its own strength can Spain ensure that it has the confidence to fight the United States at any time.

As the 20th century drew ever closer, Carlo finally began to feel a sense of urgency.

Starting in mid-1897, Carlo would inquire about the research progress of the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences almost every month, hoping that Spain could take the lead over other countries in fields such as airplanes and tanks.

Spain has made some breakthroughs in both the air and water tank projects. The air project refers to aircraft, while the water tank project refers to tanks.

Knowing full well that aircraft research and development was not easy, Carlo only provided the Sky Project with some of his ideas about aircraft and then did not pay much attention to the Sky Project's progress.

I've heard that the Sky Project team is currently building the first aircraft, and the first flight test may be held within two years.

Unlike the slow-moving Sky Project team, the Tank Project team, which specializes in developing tanks, has made some progress.

To put it simply, the most basic tank design was quite simple. It was nothing more than a structure similar to a car, with a thin layer of steel plates attached, and then a machine gun or cannon mounted on top.

If it were just a tank with such a simple principle, Spain could easily build thousands of them in a short time using the production line of the Royal Mercedes-Benz. However, the problem is that Spain doesn't need such a rudimentary tank. Carlos hoped that Spain would possess true tanks before World War I, which would play a crucial role in the land battles of the war.

Especially in offensive wars, whoever achieves the greatest victory first will naturally receive the largest share of the post-war spoils.

If the enemy were France, tanks might be used in the attack on Paris. If the enemy were Germany, tanks might be used in the attack on Berlin.

For Spain, who the enemy is is not important; what matters is whether Spain can possess important weapons like tanks before the outbreak of war.

The good news is that tank development has made some progress. Modern tanks do bear some resemblance to those of later generations, and their role in warfare is already becoming apparent.

The bad news is that because the tank is covered with a thick layer of steel plates, the tank's power system is under tremendous pressure.

Currently, tanks do not have major problems in terms of armor protection and firepower; the biggest problem lies in their power.

Such tanks often fail due to power system malfunctions after traveling only a few kilometers. Unfortunately, the power system is the most crucial component of a tank; if a tank cannot move on its own, isn't it just a larger and heavier cannon?
Upon seeing the problems reported by the tank development project team, Carlo realized that Spain needed to conduct deeper research in the field of engines.

Spain does have an engine research laboratory, but it is jointly managed with Royal Mercedes-Benz and its main research and development area is gasoline engines used in automobiles.

For larger and heavier machines like tanks, gasoline engines are clearly insufficient. A more powerful diesel engine is necessary to power tanks, which means Spain must also have its own engine research laboratory for tanks.

That's not all. Tanks need engines, and airplanes naturally need engines too.

Rather than waiting for problems to arise during aircraft development, it's better to start researching aircraft engines early and address engine issues ahead of time.

With this in mind, Carlo no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the Royal Security Intelligence Service to pay attention to scientists specializing in engines throughout Europe and to do everything possible to win them over to Spain.

Because engine research is crucial to Spain's development of tanks and aircraft, Spain spares no effort in attracting talent.

If normal conditions are not enough to attract these engine scientists to join Spain, then the only option left is to resort to forced recruitment.

In any case, for Spain, it's better to let these talents disappear than to let them stay in countries outside of Spain.

Although such scientists often work alone, their research findings can sometimes be more effective than those of an entire division.

Soon, a list provided by the Royal Security Intelligence Service was presented to Carlo's desk.

Among the many internal combustion engine scientists in Europe, Carlo immediately spotted a figure who would later become famous: Rudolf Diesel.

Without the slightest hesitation, Carlo immediately ordered the Royal Security Intelligence Service to kidnap Rudolf Diesel and bring him to Spain at all costs.

This internal combustion engine developer, hailed as the father of the diesel engine, possessed extraordinary strategic value. The diesel engine he developed became the main power source for submarines of various countries during World War I, and it was widely used in later generations. This alone was enough to make Carlos spare no expense to bring him to Spain.

The Royal Security Intelligence Service also included a document about Rudolf Diesel, the scientist born in 1858, who was not yet 40 years old.

Rudolf Diesel's parents were both German, but he was born and raised in Paris. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out, the Diesel family was forced to flee to London, and eventually returned to Germany.

In Germany, Rudolf Diesel received a good education and was highly regarded by the renowned mechanical engineer Linde.

After working in Switzerland and Paris for several years, Rudolf Diesel resigned and founded his own engine laboratory.

After seeing this information, Carlo valued Rudolf Diesel even more and looked forward to seeing how Spain's engine research would progress after he brought Diesel to Spain.

Although Diesel's research and development focused more on diesel engines, some of his ideas on engine construction were still widely used in later generations.

Carlo had nothing but respect for such a talented researcher. If Diesel were willing to come to Spain, that would be ideal; Carlo could provide him with the best research environment in the world and sufficient funding to develop the internal combustion engine he desired.

Whether it was the diesel engine Rudolf Diesel developed in his early days, or the bio-gasoline engine he wanted to develop but didn't have time to develop later, Carlo was able to provide him with all the support he could think of.

About a week later, the Royal Security Intelligence Service finally brought Carlo some good news: Rudolf Diesel was about to arrive in Spain.

He was initially reluctant to come to Spain. After all, Rudolf Diesel's research on engines had yielded tremendous results in recent years, and the engines currently being tested had demonstrated extremely strong potential.

Rudolf Diesel also received strong support from investors, which gave him the confidence to refuse the offer from the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

But such a small number of investors is naturally insignificant to the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

Mercedes-Benz's Paris branch could handle these investors without even needing the Royal Security Intelligence Service to intervene.

Faced with a large corporation like Mercedes-Benz, these investors were quite sensible and quickly "voluntarily" withdrew their support for Diesel.

It was for this reason that Rudolf Diesel eventually came to Spain.

　For now, one update is 4,000 words per chapter. There will be another update after midnight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)