Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 99 Agricultural Future Plan
The good news is that because most of the cabinet ministers know that Carlo does not interfere much in government affairs, few ministers will come to the palace in person at the beginning of each year to meet Carlo and seek more departmental financial budgets.

The bad news is that every year when the budget is being fought over, the ministers seem to have actively forgotten Carlo. This is a huge blow to Carlo's influence in the government, and it also means that many ministers in the cabinet government are not so loyal to Carlo.

Everyone seemed to be serving Prime Minister Primo, but it was only because Prime Minister Primo supported Carlo's monarchical rule that they also implicitly supported the Spanish monarchy.

Fortunately, Antonio Canovas del Castillo, the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, knew his limits. With the arrival of 1871, Antonio Canovas del Castillo arrived at the palace on time to meet with Carlo, in order to report to him the achievements of the agricultural department last year and to express his loyalty to Carlo.

Secondly, he wanted to seek more financial budget for the agricultural sector through Carlo. Regardless of whether it would be successful or not, he was bound to make this trip.

Because Antonio Canovas del Castillo was recommended by Carlo himself for the position of Minister of Agriculture, he was labeled as a member of Carlo's faction from the very beginning.

If he tried to please Prime Minister Primo at this time, not only would there be no good results, but he would offend both Prime Minister Primo and Carlo.

It would be better to be loyal to Carlo wholeheartedly. As the Minister of Agriculture appointed by Carlo himself, Prime Minister Primo would not make things difficult for him unless he decided to turn against Carlo.

What's more, Antonio Canovas del Castillo himself was ambitious. He had served as a cabinet minister during the reign of Queen Isabel, and naturally he was not satisfied with being a small agricultural minister at this time.

To be honest, seven years ago his position had already surpassed that of Minister of Agriculture. At this time, Antonio Canovas del Castillo was thinking more about how to take the next step and become the Prime Minister of Spain.

In theory, this is entirely feasible. First of all, Canovas is a dozen years younger than Primo and Serrano, so even if he can hold out, he can still hold out until Primo and Serrano retire.

Through his last contact with Carlo, Canovas had already understood that Carlo would never be willing to become a constitutional king without any power.

It would not end well for a powerful prime minister like Primo to be with a young and ambitious king like Carlo. Even if Carlo would not eventually liquidate Prime Minister Primo, it was certain that he would gradually control the government's voice behind Prime Minister Primo.

As Carlo's first chess piece in the government, Antonio Canovas del Castillo was well aware of his importance to Carlo.

As long as he does not betray Carlo, he will definitely be reused in the future. After all, Antonio Canovas del Castillo represents not only himself, but also many old officials who have entered the political arena during the reign of Queen Isabel.

The loyalty of these old ministers to the monarchy was unquestionable. Carlo had previously doubted their loyalty to him, but as long as Canovas continued to express his loyalty and used his influence to make these old ministers return to Carlo's rule, he would become Carlo's confidant.

These old ministers who once served Queen Isabel also have considerable influence in the political arena. By uniting them, Antonio Canovas del Castillo can also achieve his goal, which is to run for the position of Prime Minister of Spain after Prime Minister Primo and become the head of the national government of Spain, above one person and below ten thousand people.

Although Carlo did not show it on the surface, he was quite satisfied with Canovas's understanding. If Canovas did not even know who he really needed to be loyal to, then Carlo would have to start reconsidering the candidate for Minister of Agriculture.

Once you doubt someone's loyalty, the best option is to abandon him directly.

If you doubt someone but still reuse him, unless he holds real power and is difficult to abandon, you are dancing on the edge of a knife, and if things go wrong, it will end up being a lose-lose situation for both sides.

"Minister Canovas, are you adapting to the position of Minister of Agriculture?" Carlo asked with a smile as he looked at Canovas, whose face was full of loyalty.

"I am quite comfortable with it, Your Majesty. Thank you for your concern. Under the leadership of you and Prime Minister Primo, the current Spanish government is making steady progress, including the agricultural sector.

So far, there haven't been any major problems in the agricultural sector. Farmers' incomes are growing steadily, and our food production is also increasing to a small extent," Antonio Canovas del Castillo replied quickly.

Although Carlo only asked him whether he could adapt to the agricultural sector, he still answered the question about the current situation of the agricultural sector.

Although Carlo did not ask about some things proactively, the best way is to report the situation of the agricultural department truthfully on time.

Although Carlo was not yet 20 years old (birthday: June 1851.6.2, 20), Canovas did not simply regard Carlo as a young man under years old.

Although Carlo's political methods were still immature, he was definitely a smart man. Since he had decided to be loyal to Carlo in exchange for the opportunity to move to a higher position, he should not have any other thoughts. This was also the experience that Canovas' long political career brought him.

Don't treat others as fools, even if they are just young kings like Carlo who are not even 20 years old.

Some political tactics might be able to deceive Carlo in the short term, but once discovered by Carlo, he might face the king’s wrath and the royal power’s accountability.

Never underestimate the power of a king, even if he is just a powerless king under a constitutional monarchy. It may be troublesome to target a force, but if it is just one person, there are too many means available. You don't even need to use your own means, you can just rely on the power of the outside world. Carlo nodded, very satisfied with his choice of Canovas as Minister of Agriculture. Regardless of other things, Canovas's understanding has already made Carlo quite satisfied.

As for those ministers who looked down on him, although Carlo would not directly express his attitude, once Prime Minister Primo left the center of power, they would be liquidated by Carlo.

“Your Majesty, the Ministry of Agriculture does not have many plans for the new year. They mainly focus on the popularization and promotion of chemical fertilizers and the establishment of a state-owned grain company.

If chemical fertilizers are widely popularized, it is expected that our crop yields can be effectively increased without much change in the total cultivated land area, and the expected increase is at least more than 5%.

The state-owned grain company will take over the bulk grain trade, such as being responsible for grain import and export trade, etc. After the tax on farmers is reduced, the next period of time will be a golden stage for the development of agriculture.

It is expected that in the next three years, my country's total grain output and total cultivated land area will increase. We can fully achieve self-sufficiency in grain production and seek a certain degree of grain export. "Seeing that Carlo was satisfied with his attitude, Antonio Canovas del Castillo began to report the agricultural department's plan for the next year and seek Carlo's attitude.

Due to funding constraints, the agricultural sector will not take much action in the next year. Overall, it will promote the use of fertilizers and develop new fertilizer technologies.

Although the technology of fertilizer has been around for nearly 30 years, it took nearly a hundred years for it to be fully commercialized.

Europeans at the beginning of the century didn’t even know how plants grew. With only 70 years between them, it was impossible to popularize the use of chemical fertilizers.

The mainstream chemical fertilizers at present are superphosphate and potassium salt. The former was born less than 30 years ago, and the latter was born less than years ago. The relevant technology is still very primitive.

But Spain had no choice at this time. Compared with Britain, France and Germany, which have many plains, Spain has a large land area, but most of the land is plateaus and mountains. The only areas suitable for planting are a small amount of mixed mountain plains in the eastern and southern coastal areas.

The barren land has already lagged behind other powerful countries in terms of food production. Although it occupies a larger area, Spain's per capita food production is not much better than that of the powerful countries.

If Spain's climate was not suitable for growing vegetables and fruits, it would be a question whether it could achieve food self-sufficiency.

Currently, the output of vegetables, fruits and melons accounts for 25.7% of the total agricultural output in Spain. It is precisely because of such abundant output of vegetables, fruits and melons that the Spaniards can seek to eat more abundantly while having enough food to eat.

In addition, because Spain has a large coastline, it can also harvest a lot of seafood products every year.

At this time, there is no need to worry about the impact of nuclear radiation on fish in the ocean, and seafood can basically be eaten with confidence.

Because the train lines around Spain have been fully built, Carlo can also enjoy a variety of seafood products from the seaside.

This also made Carlo feel lucky that he was in Spain. If he was in a food desert like the UK, even if there was seafood, it would probably not taste good.

Hearing Canovas’ report on the agricultural sector’s plan for next year, Carlo nodded without any objection: “I agree with your plan, Minister Canovas.

I hope that Spanish agriculture will continue to grow under your leadership, which will be a good thing for both Spain and you."

Canovas nodded respectfully. He certainly understood what Carlo was talking about. As the Minister of Agriculture, the steady growth of agriculture in Spain must be a political achievement for him.

Only after accumulating political achievements and reputation in the government can Canovas seek a higher cabinet position or even compete for the seat of prime minister.

After all, if you don't have any political achievements and reputation, you will have no advantage in competing with others, whether it is the people's vote or the House of Representatives election.

To become prime minister, one must be capable and have the support of the people and members of the House of Representatives.

If he fails to win the support of the people, even with Carlo's strong support, he is destined to be unable to sit on the throne of the Prime Minister of Spain.

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(End of this chapter)