Empire Rising: Spain

In the era of electricity, the achievements of the Spaniards are indeed numerous. I think we can cooperate with the Spaniards in this area by exchanging some of the industrial technology we excel in for their electrical technology.”

Prime Minister Bismarck glanced at William I, and seeing that William I did not object, Bismarck then nodded and made his decision: ”Let the diplomatic ambassador contact the Spanish Government and inquire about the prices of Spanish power generation equipment and electric lamp technology.”

No matter the cost of the City of No Sleep, we must keep up. Electricity brings more than just illumination. If we can achieve good results in the electric industry, perhaps Germany will have a brighter future.”

At this time, Prime Minister Bismarck still held significant power. With his order, the German Government became busy, each engaging in their own tasks.

Contrary to the decisive German Government, France, with its deep animosity towards Germany, was caught in a dilemma.

As a major power directly bordering Spain, the news of Madrid’s Nocturnal City first reached France’s interior.

Before the French Government could react, the impatient citizens of Paris started a protest, demanding the government construct a City of No Sleep to demonstrate France’s strength.

The protests of the Parisian citizens made the French Government anxious, with major officials even afraid to make public appearances.

Unable to find the government, the Parisians turned their anger to surround the Paris City Government. After all, the Paris City Government is still the government, and criticizing them is undoubtedly correct.

Inside the Paris City Government at this moment, the official serving as Mayor of Paris looked grim. He attempted to contact the government by telegraph, but the response was for the Paris City Government to handle it themselves.

Isn’t this a joke? How is the Paris City Government supposed to handle it? Should they follow the citizens’ opinions and install street lamps in every corner of Paris?

Anyone with eyes can see this is a substantial expense. For the Paris City Government, no matter how affluent their finances are, they absolutely cannot afford such a massive expense.

It’s important to know that the political systems of European countries are relatively clear. While the Paris City Government’s finances are relatively affluent, they are also responsible for maintaining the entire urban infrastructure of Paris and paying the salaries of all Paris City Government officials.

As the largest and most prosperous city in France, Paris generates the most fiscal revenue among all French cities. This also means Paris has difficulty receiving financial allocations from the government, with various expenses typically overcome by the City Government withholding fiscal revenue.

No matter how wealthy the Paris City Government is, they cannot independently bear the cost of installing street lamps. Previously, due to the Franco-Prussian War, Paris’s urban areas suffered varying degrees of damage.

The reconstruction of urban areas alone left the Paris City Government with a significant debt, which took several years to repay fully.

If the Paris City Government relied solely on itself to install street lamps, by the time they are built, several generations of Parisians would have come and gone.

While expressing dissatisfaction and resentment toward the government, the Mayor of Paris also ordered officials to lock the City Government’s doors to prevent discontented citizens from storming the City Government directly.

The combat prowess of the Parisian citizens is no joking matter. If the citizens storm the City Government, no one can guarantee what might happen.

The Mayor of Paris certainly does not wish for such a protest to escalate into an armed conflict, ultimately evolving into a bloody revolution.

Judging by past experience, the success of a revolution is not what matters; what matters is that once a revolution erupts, it is the Paris City Government’s officials who bleed first.

The varied attitudes of the various governments toward Madrid’s Nocturnal City actually reflect their understanding of the electric industry.

Germany’s ability to become one of the fastest-developing countries during the Second Industrial Revolution is not without reason. The entire nation, from top to bottom, has an exceptionally high sensitivity to the electric industry. They have long recognized the changes electric industry brings to industrial technology and regard such technology with significant importance.

As for the United Kingdom and France, it cannot be said that they do not value it. The issue is that constructing a City of No Sleep requires substantial financial input, and the extensive use of electricity would impact the existing industrial system.

Carlo did not pay too much attention to events in other countries, as, following the successful debut of the City of No Sleep, Spain itself was quite busy internally.

The success of the City of No Sleep also marks the official entry of electricity into commercial use, allowing citizens to experience this brand-new energy by paying for it.

Of course, at this time, the cost of electricity remains relatively high. Even after the birth of high-power generators which have reduced the cost of power generation, Madrid’s power generation cost is still as high as around 1.6 Pesseta per kilowatt-hour.

Power plants need a certain profit margin to continue operating, and there are significant losses during the transportation of electricity.

This results in Madrid’s electricity fees to be as high as 2.5 Pesseta per kilowatt-hour, making the cost of using electric lamps for illumination relatively high for ordinary people.

Based on the power of electric lights, a 15-watt bulb consumes 0.015 kilowatt-hours in one hour, while a 35-watt bulb consumes 0.035 kilowatt-hours in one hour.

Assuming a household needs to install four small bulbs, with each bulb operating for an average of one hour each night, each household’s electricity cost would be as high as 0.15 Pesseta per day, translating to 54.75 Pesseta annually.

And Spain’s per capita annual income is only 139.71 Pesseta, making each household’s annual electric bill nearly 40% of the per capita annual income.