Empire Rising: Spain

In mid-February 1876, the Spanish Cabinet Government formally announced and began implementing the compulsory education development plan for primary schools.

This news immediately caused a sensation and garnered widespread attention from the Spanish populace.

According to government documents and announcements, this compulsory education, primarily centered around primary schools, will completely waive tuition and miscellaneous fees, and provide free meals three times a day to students at school.

The government also specifically mentioned in the announcement that the three daily meals are funded by the Royal Family, which sparked a wave of gratitude towards the Royal Family and praise for Carlo among the populace.

What the people cared most about was still their actual interests. If the Royal Family funds the meals for students at school, it means that Spanish citizens do not have to bear the cost of meals for their children at school.

One day’s meal expenses might be a small expenditure, but if you look at the whole year or even the entire six-year primary school period, it’s definitely not a small expense.

For ordinary Spanish families, saving the expense of meals for one person means saving a significant sum. If these savings are used elsewhere, it can effectively improve the quality of life for all family members.

Carlo, of course, kept a close eye on the public opinion in Spain. Upon learning that the populace was expressing gratitude towards the Royal Family and himself, Carlo realized that his move was successful.

The more grateful the populace is to the Royal Family, the more stable the Royal Family’s position becomes. This not only concerns Carlo but also involves all future monarchs.

The more stable the position of the Spanish Royal Family, the less future kings have to worry about their throne. Otherwise, any small accident could lead to the overthrow of the throne, rendering Carlo’s painstaking arrangements in vain.

After the compulsory education development plan was announced, the education department had already begun planning to renovate primary schools in the Madrid Region and the Catalonia Region.

The Madrid Region and Catalonia Region, home to Spain’s two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, were chosen as pilot sites for compulsory education.

However, precisely because of this, the population of Madrid and Catalonia is quite large, totaling over 2 million people.

Smoothly advancing the operation of compulsory education and solving all issues during its implementation is what the education department needs to continually focus on.

If unsolvable issues arise during the trial implementation of compulsory education, it will affect its promotion nationwide.

Not only is the education department heavily focused on the compulsory education trials in Madrid and Catalonia, but the public is also significantly concerned.

Although Madrid and Barcelona have a large number of workers, at this time, the income of ordinary workers is not very high. Compulsory education, which completely waives tuition and miscellaneous fees, is extremely attractive to Spain’s working class and peasant class.

The promotion of compulsory education in the two pilot regions is a cooperative effort between the education department and the regional governments of Madrid and Catalonia.

Carlo specifically instructed Minister of Education Gerard Wilson and Deputy Prime Minister Canovas to ensure the government strictly controls the construction quality during the renovation of primary schools and prevents the reuse of any dilapidated buildings.

If any reuse of dilapidated buildings or shoddy construction projects is discovered, or any instances of corruption arise during the promotion of compulsory education, the Cabinet Government and the Upper House will quickly and seriously handle the situation, holding all officials involved accountable.

Gerard Wilson and Earl Canovas did not take Carlo’s instructions as a mere casual conversation. From Carlo’s facial expression, it was clear that when he mentioned immediate severe handling in case of any occurrence, Carlo’s attitude was undoubtedly serious.

The two men dared not be the slightest bit careless, repeatedly instructing their subordinates to strictly control the quality of the renovated and newly built primary schools, and personally visiting the renovation sites to oversee and ensure there would be no quality issues.

Should any of the above incidents occur, even if the cause is unrelated to them, they would definitely bear a certain level of responsibility.

More importantly, if incidents occur despite Carlo’s prior instructions, they will lose Carlo’s trust.

Under the current Spanish Cabinet Government system, losing Carlo’s trust means something that doesn’t really need further explanation.

Even though Deputy Prime Minister Canovas is already a sure candidate for the next Prime Minister, if he loses Carlo’s trust due to the primary school building quality issue, everything he possesses might vanish into thin air.

With Prime Minister Prim not stepping out and Duke Serrano not opposing Carlo, the current Spanish government is essentially run by Carlo alone.

Carlo already has gained significant prestige among the populace, which provides him the confidence to control the government through both houses. Not to mention the fledgling Earl Canovas, even if Prime Minister Prim returns to politics, it may not be enough to contend with Carlo.

Of course, this is only in the context of mere political struggle. If the struggle escalates, leading to military deployment, it could result in another Spanish civil war, and the outcome would then be unpredictable.

The actions of the education department were swift, and in just over three months, the number of completed renovated primary schools reached over a dozen.