Empire Rising: Spain

To maintain stability across the globally spread colonies, a strong navy is essential.

The good news is, after the merger with the shipyard from the United Kingdom, the Royal Guanizuo Shipyard has gained the capability to produce Rejuvenation-class Ironclads.

The shipyard’s dock has been expanded under Carlo’s orders, making the construction of ironclads under ten thousand tons a breeze.

If it weren’t for the government’s insufficient finances to support the simultaneous construction of several ironclads, perhaps the shipyard would witness the grand scene of multiple ironclads being built simultaneously.

However, given Spain’s current pace of industrial and economic development, such a scene may not be too far off.

When Spain’s second five-year development plan is successfully completed, it might be the time for Spain to expand its navy on a large scale, announce its return to the ranks of powerful nations, and compete for international discourse rights.

Although Spain currently isn’t a top-tier power, it can still stabilize its colonial range and fulfill its colonial needs.

Spain might not be strong, but countries like England and France can’t ignore Spain’s opinions.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Rejuvenation-class Ironclad is scheduled for March 14, 1875. Carlo attaches great importance to this, even attending the ceremony personally under media spotlight.

Joining Carlo are Spain’s Prime Minister Prim, Minister of Defense Serrano, among others. Though not officially invited, the Lanfang Republic’s Ambassador to Spain, Wu Yongxiang, also witnessed the entire groundbreaking ceremony, with infinite sentiments.

Although the Lanfang Republic has a population of 4 million, 50 thousand Pounds is an enormous sum that they can’t gather.

After all, it’s mainly an agricultural country, frequently harassed by the Dutch, leading to a not-so-healthy economy.

If the Lanfang Republic could have several advanced ironclads, even the Dutch wouldn’t dare blatantly annex Lanfang’s territory.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking. An ironclad’s cost is already as high as several hundred thousand Pounds, converted to Silver, it’s 2 million taels, which isn’t a small figure.

Adding the maintenance, daily training expenses, and naval personnel costs, beyond the 500 thousand Pounds price of a warship, it requires thousands or even tens of thousands of Pounds in yearly maintenance fees, an absolute cash burner terrifying to any nation.

The news of Spain building ironclads again after many years was disseminated beyond Spain’s borders to other countries and regions following reports from domestic and international press.

The most worried about this might be Spain’s neighbor, Portugal.

There’s no choice; on the small Iberian Peninsula, there are just these two neighbors, while the Andorra Duchy more resembles a subsidiary state jointly ruled by France and Spain, lacking military and diplomatic sovereignty, unable to be considered an independent nation.

Spain during its weak period made Portugal greatly wary; not to mention the already started revival of the Kingdom of Spain.

Regarding his brother-in-law Carlo becoming the King of Spain, King of Portugal, Luis originally had high expectations.

It wasn’t about their familial ties; European Royal Families are commonly interrelated by blood, some even closely related.

Mainly because of Carlo’s foreign identity from Italy and the chaotic situation in Spain at the time made King Luis feel that Spain couldn’t recover in the short term, naturally posing no substantial threat to Portugal.

But unexpectedly, through the full cooperation between Carlo and Prime Minister Prim, Spain’s revival visibly occurred.

Spain now, though not very strong, indeed turned the tide, transitioning from the weak phase to the revival phase.

Spain starting to build ironclads again also heightened Portugal’s domestic concerns about Spain. A Spain with strong land forces already makes Portuguese uncomfortable; if Spain develops its navy so strong, is there space for Portuguese survival on the Iberian Peninsula?

King Luis of Portugal pondered a hundred times and ultimately chose to heed the Portuguese Government’s advice, deciding to proactively engage deeper with the Spanish Royal Family, especially Carlo, leveraging royal family ties to draw Portugal and the Spanish Royal Family, and even the two governments closer.

No longer fantasizing about getting anything from Spain; ensuring a revived Spain doesn’t have designs on Portugal would be a fortune in misfortune.

Before the economic crisis broke out, Portugal already had thoughts along these lines, considering a treaty with Spain to ensure safety.

But due to the economic crisis, Portugal had to postpone for a while.

Unexpectedly, this postponement period made the Portuguese Government see a greater crisis. Spain wasn’t significantly affected by the economic crisis; instead, it boldly introduced a large number of talents and corporate equipment from various European countries.

What can these talents and equipment provide Spain? Certainly, Spain’s much-needed industrial experience. With this industrial experience, Spain’s industry will gain tremendous growth, and decisively widen the gap from Portugal, the Netherlands, and other small European countries.