Chapter 221 Centering Solution

The Cuban colony is so important to Spain, which is why the cabinet ministers expressed shock and surprise when they heard Frank, the Secretary of Colonial Affairs, saying that the Cuban colony was probably not that important.

How important was the Cuban colony?

In 1876, the Spanish government's total fiscal revenue was 793.3 million pesetas, which was also the highest fiscal revenue in Spain in the past ten years.

The revenue brought by the Cuban colony to Spain was as high as 58.27 million pesetas, accounting for 7.3% of Spain's total fiscal revenue.

The reason why the ratio does not seem to be high is that one of the reasons is that Spain has achieved good development in recent years, and fiscal revenue has also been rising with the development of Spain.

The second is that when Archduke Serrano quelled the Cuban rebellion last time, he signed a tax agreement with the local people in Cuba, allowing the Cuban colony to retain more tax revenue locally. This resulted in temporary stability in the Cuban colony.

58.27 million pesetas is definitely not a small number. The Cuban colony is also the only colony among all the colonies controlled by Spain with a net income of more than 20 million pesos. (The peso was the currency of the Spanish colonies and was equal in value to the native pesetas)

Compared with Cuba, the Philippine colony, which is larger and more populous, provided Spain with only 12 million pesetas in revenue last year, which also shows the importance of the Cuban colony.

For the Spanish government, giving up the Cuban colony meant giving up nearly 60 million pesetas in revenue. How could such a proposal not shock the cabinet ministers?

Now that the proposal has been made, Minister Frank will naturally not back down halfway. He first nodded to Archduke Serrano, who reminded him kindly, and then continued to express his point of view: "

Gentlemen, of course I know that the Cuban colony brings us nearly 60 million pesetas a year. But at the same time, we should also consider the harm brought to us by continuing to hold the colony of Cuba.

Although Cuba only has a population of one million, both white and black people in Cuba are resisting our rule. The last time I traveled to Cuba, even the slaves on the plantations were clamoring for autonomy and independence.

Faced with this kind of Cuba, do we have to continue to suppress it? The main reason why the last suppression only cost 50 million pesetas was that the tax bill turned some planters over to us.

But sooner or later the appetite of these planters will grow bigger, and either we will continue to give in, or we will have to continue sending troops to suppress the rebellion in Cuba.

If each counterinsurgency requires tens or even hundreds of millions of beetas, is the income of the Cuban colony really so important?

And don’t forget, the Cuban colony is on the doorstep of the Americans. The chaos in Cuba is absolutely inseparable from the Americans.

Unless we are ready for a war with the United States, let's leave this problem to other countries. If we can exchange for a colony of equally high value, it will not be a heavy loss for us.

Cuba's sugar industry and tobacco can indeed earn a lot of revenue, but Cuba is not irreplaceable in these two industries. "

After Carlo gave Minister Frank this arduous task, Minister Frank carefully prepared his rhetoric to ensure that he could persuade these cabinet ministers and at least have enough reasons to prove that his point of view was correct.

For Spain, Cuba is the only remaining Spanish colony in the Americas and the last witness of the Spanish colonial empire.

Not only was the Spanish government unwilling to lose the colony of Cuba, the Spanish were also unwilling to lose this colony that they had held for hundreds of years.

Even if Secretary Frank can prove that his point of view is correct, it will be difficult to get cabinet ministers to agree to give up the Cuban colony.

After all, if you abandon the Cuban colony at this time, if there is any problem, you will be the one to take the blame. If the Cuban colony is not abandoned at this time, even if Cuba becomes independent in the future, it will have nothing to do with the current cabinet government.

For cabinet ministers, when considering an issue, they must first consider the impact on themselves, and only secondly consider the impact on Spain.

It would be absolutely difficult to get them to agree to give up the Cuban colony.

Carlo looked around. Some of the cabinet ministers were carefully thinking about the views put forward by Minister Frank, while others seemed to be in a daze and did not seem to care about what Minister Frank said.

Seeing that no one stood up to support his point of view, Minister Frank paused, and then continued: "The biggest disadvantage of the Cuban colony for us is that it is too far away from the Spanish mainland.

Once a rebellion broke out in the Cuban colony, we would have to travel across the ocean to put down the rebellion. If we can acquire a colony closer to our homeland and carry out a long-term localization strategy, perhaps we can directly turn it into our homeland.

There is still a large area of ​​land in Africa that has not been explored, and we can also exchange African colonies from other powers. For us, the African colonies were closer and more convenient for us to manage. "

Although the warship technology of various countries is constantly upgrading, the current speed of ironclad ships is only about 13 knots, which is about 24 kilometers per hour.

The distance between the Spanish mainland and the Cuban colony is about 7,400 kilometers, and this is only the straight-line distance between the two. You can't cross the Atlantic Ocean in a straight line, after all, there is no supply along the straight line.

The straight-line distance is as high as 7,400 kilometers, which also means that the distance from the Spanish mainland to the Cuban colony is at least nearly 10,000 kilometers.

For Spain, traveling thousands of miles to Cuba to rebel is a very difficult process, and the military budget for suppressing the rebellion will also increase several times.

After all, Spain is no longer the former empire on which the sun never sets, and it is not all good for Spain to continue to hold the Cuban colony.

Minister Frank also seized the issue of the Cuban colony and put forward his own views, which is indeed the current risk of Spain colonizing Cuba.

Spain is not afraid of an American alone, because at this time, the impression that the United States gives to Europeans is the prosperity of the East and the chaos of the West.

The eastern United States is the earliest colonized area, and it is also the most developed and densely populated area in the United States.

Although the United States does not ban guns, the order in the eastern United States is still relatively safe and prosperous compared to the west.

But the western United States is quite chaotic. The Wild West is not a name for nothing. Gangs, criminals, stowaways and gold diggers together make up the Wild West. Gunfights happen from time to time, and gang fights are countless.

In addition to this impression, the impression that the United States leaves on Europeans can be traced back to the colonial period hundreds of years ago.

There are gold mines everywhere in America, which also makes a large number of gold diggers try every means to go to the United States to pan for gold.

The United States has absorbed a large number of people with its gold mines. Every year, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of European immigrants travel across the ocean to the United States, where there are more opportunities, to survive, including stowaways and laborers from all over the world.

As an independent colonial country, the United States is quite lucky. They don't even need to pay much attention to population development. Every year, a large number of immigrants and stowaways come to the United States.

But they are also unfortunate. These immigrants come from various countries and regions all over the world, and the United States is one of the few countries in the world that has gathered whites, blacks and yellow people.

The white people in the United States are basically descendants of European immigrants, and many of them are immigrants who have only recently come to the United States.

Most of the blacks were slaves brought to the United States from Africa during the slave trade. They had obtained the status of freemen after the Civil War and were already formal American citizens.

The composition of the yellow race was more complicated. Most of them were stowaways from Asia or gold diggers attracted by gold mines.

In California in the western United States, there is a city called San Francisco. This was originally a land discovered by the Spanish, which attracted a large number of stowaways and gold diggers.

The yellow gold diggers called San Francisco the Gold Mountain, implying that the gold here was piled up like a mountain, to describe the huge gold mine in San Francisco.

Later, Melbourne, Australia, was also called the Gold Mountain because it had a large number of gold mines. In order to distinguish the two Gold Mountain cities, San Francisco, which was first called the Gold Mountain, was called San Francisco, and the later Gold Mountain Melbourne was called the New Gold Mountain.

The US policy at this time was still in a low-key development period. They did not seek too much international influence, which also made European countries generally look down on the United States.

Of course, the strength of the United States at this time was indeed not strong, which was one of the reasons why European countries looked down on the United States.

After Frank, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, expressed his views, the cabinet meeting fell into silence.

No cabinet minister stood up to express his views, whether in agreement or opposition.

After pretending to look at Carlo's face several times, Deputy Prime Minister Canovas stood up, glanced at all the cabinet members, and then said: "Minister Frank, what you said is somewhat reasonable. But the Cuban colony is too important to us. No matter how it is handled later, it is not something that can be completed in a short period of time.

I suggest that we can leak some of the news to observe the attitude of the people. If the people support the replacement of the Cuban colony, we can naturally follow the public opinion, which will not cause public dissatisfaction.

If the people are opposed to giving up the Cuban colony, we can also treat the leaked news as a rumor and clarify it to the public in time.

What do you think?"

The reason why the cabinet ministers have been reluctant to express their views is actually that they are worried that the news of giving up the Cuban colony will be leaked and they will be attacked by the people.

Don't underestimate the patriotic enthusiasm of the Spanish. They can cheer when the country gains new colonies, and they can also be angry when the country loses colonies.

Before they are fully confident, they will not put themselves in danger, after all, this is a major event related to their future political career.

Hearing Canovas' proposal, Archduke Serrano nodded, stood up and said: "Minister Canovas' proposal is good, I think this is the most appropriate choice at present.

Regarding the Cuban colony, we must fully consider the opinions of the people. If the people are willing to give up the Cuban colony, then we should naturally give up the Cuban colony.

But if the people are unwilling to give up the Cuban colony, we can only fight for public opinion and for Spain.

Ladies and gentlemen, before we test the public opinion, I hope you can keep it strictly confidential. This matter concerns the entire cabinet government, and I don't want any information to be leaked outside the plan. "

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As he said, Archduke Serrano looked at several cabinet ministers of the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party, and the meaning of his words was quite clear.

The prime minister and deputy prime minister in the cabinet are both members of the Conservative Party, so at present, they only need to worry about whether the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party will leak the news.

As for the Conservative Party, only a fool would take the initiative to leak the news. After all, the prime minister and deputy prime minister are both members of the Conservative Party. Creating trouble for the cabinet government is equivalent to creating trouble for the Conservative Party, isn't it?

Sensing Archduke Serrano's gaze, several cabinet ministers of the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party nodded quickly, indicating that they would keep it strictly confidential.

Although Archduke Serrano's prime minister is more symbolic, the person who is really responsible for the cabinet work is Deputy Prime Minister Canovas.

But no one dared to ignore Archduke Serrano's opinion, except Serrano. In addition to the fact that the Grand Duke was highly valued by Carlo, another reason was that as the Minister of Defense, Grand Duke Serrano held military power.

Although Grand Duke Serrano's influence in the political arena was not as great as that of former Prime Minister Primo, Grand Duke Serrano's resume was also brilliant.

Prime Minister Primo served as the Governor of the Colonies, and Grand Duke Serrano also served as the Governor of the Colonies. Both of them came from the military and had brilliant military resumes.

Moreover, Grand Duke Serrano and Prime Minister Primo were the founders of the current Spanish government. They led the army to overthrow the rule of Queen Isabel.

With Grand Duke Serrano still holding military power, other cabinet members dared not ignore Grand Duke Serrano's opinions.

At this moment, Carlo suddenly coughed twice, and then rarely expressed his opinion in the meeting: "I also think Minister Canovas's proposal is good, let's do it this way. "

Since Carlo has expressed his opinion, other cabinet ministers will naturally not make any suggestions. Everyone is not stupid, and they all know who has the final say in the current Spanish government.

Carlo will not make a decision easily, but once Carlo makes a decision, even Archduke Serrano and Minister Canovas cannot stop it.

A king who controls the Senate already has a lot of power in his hands. Not to mention that Carlo has also obtained military power by forming the Spanish Military Committee. Carlo, who holds military power, has completely gained power. It is not an exaggeration to say that he has monopolized power.

The discussion of the cabinet meeting ended just like that, but Carlo was quite satisfied with the development direction.

Carlo did not think about giving up the Cuban colony immediately. This time, he let Minister Frank speak about giving up the Cuban colony. The view is actually a vaccination for the cabinet ministers.

The Cuban colony will be abandoned sooner or later, and Cuba, separated by the Atlantic Ocean, is not in Carlo's plan.

In the future, Spain will expand more to Africa, especially in Northwest Africa and near the Congo territory. These two areas are the lands that Spain really wants to expand.

If the remaining land can be exchanged for equivalent benefits, Carlo does not mind exchanging it.

These lands in Morocco can be localized in the future. In other words, this is land that Spain can control permanently.

And these lands in Cuba will be independent sooner or later. Even if Carlo replaces the residents of Cuba one after another, as long as there are residents born in Cuba, the concept of Cubans will never disappear.

It is better to take the opportunity to squeeze out the last bit of Cuba. interests, and then sold Cuba to other powers to cause some trouble for the Americans.

Hawaii had not yet been annexed by the United States at this time, and it could also cause some trouble for the Americans.

The United States could create conflicts with Spain in Cuba, and Spain could also create problems for the Americans in Hawaii.

Anyway, Spain did not have to worry about the threat from the United States at this time, as the United States did not have the strength to cross the ocean to attack Spain.

The American Civil War has only been less than 20 years, and the contradictions between the North and the South have not been eliminated in the United States.

Although the Civil War liberated a large number of plantation slaves in the United States, these black slaves did not significantly change their status after obtaining the status of freemen.

Racial discrimination still exists in later generations, not to mention the 18th century more than 100 years ago. 77 years.

At this time, the United States still adheres to the apartheid system, and blacks cannot step into white cities.

Blacks can never find easy jobs that whites can find. They can only do low-level jobs. Not only are they hard work, but their wages are much lower than those of whites.

Blacks can only serve as police in black cities, and they cannot get promoted. White police can deal with blacks at will, just by finding a seemingly reasonable reason.

When black police face white criminals, even if the whites are extremely evil, black police have no power to arrest them.

Even black police cannot enter white residential areas. Such a huge disparity in treatment is also a hidden danger in the United States.

To put it bluntly, the United States has only covered up domestic problems because of its rapid development. There are many problems in the United States, even more serious than Spain.

The population of Spain is all white, and the Catalans and Basques who really do not recognize Spain very much only account for a small proportion.

The United States is a country with three races: black, white and yellow. The United States has a large number of black people, who are also a factor of instability in the United States.

Unless the United States can completely solve the problems between blacks and whites, or solve one of the two, the problems in the United States will always exist.

In times of peace and prosperity, such problems are of course not a big deal, and they may not even cause chaos in the country. But in some unstable periods, such problems are fatal to the United States, and may even cause the division and civil war in the United States.

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