Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 225 Coca-Cola Company and the Formation of the Reserve Force
To promote the reserve plan, we must also take into account the attitude of the Spaniards.

After all, it was not a war period, and not all people agreed to expand the army. Carlo did not want the public to have the impression that he was militaristic, so it was necessary to take the lead in investigating and guiding the public opinion of the Spanish.

But Carlo soon found that his plan was somewhat redundant.

When the Spanish Sun first suggested in the newspaper that Spain should follow the example of other European countries and establish a reserve system to enhance Spain's military strength, it immediately gained the support of a large number of Spaniards.

This even formed a wave. According to the investigation of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, in the newly emerging beverage shops in Madrid, many citizens were excitedly talking about the reserve forces.

This newly-established beverage shop is the cola shop that Carlo had thought of when he was at the beach. Because the beverage is made from cola nuts, Carlo naturally named it cola.

At this time, the two cola giants, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, had not yet been born. Carloco was not polite at all and founded Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo in Madrid and Barcelona respectively.

Which of these two cola companies will be able to gain a large share of the Spanish cola market will depend on their marketing and business operations capabilities.

The original cola formula is not much different. The main flavor comes from the cola nut, and the difference in taste comes from the amount of bubbles and the addition of sugar.

These two beverage companies were warmly welcomed by the public as soon as they were established. The manufacturing cost of cola is not low, after all, a lot of sugar is added to it.

The current cost of a cup of cola is about 0.15 pesetas, or 15 cents. The price of Coca-Cola and Pepsi is the same, 0.25 pesetas per cup, and a cup is about 275 ml.

The biggest cost of cola is the sugar added to it, and the second is the glass bottle that packs it.

Fortunately, the demand for Coke has been increasing, which has led to both Coca-Cola and Pepsi placing large orders when producing glass bottles, which has effectively reduced the cost of glass bottles.

The profit of each bottle of Coke is 0.1 pesetas, and the daily sales of both coke companies have exceeded 5 bottles.

This also means that the two cola companies can earn a net profit of nearly 1 pesetas every day, and a profit of 365 million pesetas a year.

This data is still expanding, because it only represents the demand for Coke in Madrid and Barcelona. When the two Coke companies open their stores throughout Spain, each Coke company may sell more than 100,000 bottles of Coke per day, or even hundreds of thousands of bottles.

Carlo was also happy to see this. Apart from the high sugar content, cola made from kola nuts did not have many disadvantages.

Although cola nuts also have the risk of causing cancer, as long as you do not drink cola for a long time and in large quantities, you can effectively reduce the risk of cancer.

What's more, there are too many things in this era that are more dangerous and deadly than kola nuts. Compared with the foggy London and the wave of using heavy metals in paintings that had formed among aristocratic women before, Carlo felt that kola nuts were too safe.

Of course, when technology meets the requirements in the future, Coca-Cola will stop using cola nuts and switch to healthier extracts.

Back to the expansion of cola companies, Coca-Cola in Madrid and PepsiCo in Barcelona have become the two giants in the beverage industry in Spain, and have gradually begun to expand from the two major cities to surrounding cities.

Coca-Cola's main expansion direction is Toledo, south of Madrid, while Pepsi's main expansion direction is Zaragoza, west of Barcelona.

In addition to expanding within Spain, Spain also donated some Coke as a friendly gift in the arms trade with Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

These colas will be given free of charge to Russia and the Ottoman Empire in the name of health products and medicines. As to whether they will be used by soldiers or by dignitaries, Spain has no control over it.

There was still a long time before the real Coca-Cola Company was born. The two major cola companies in Spain hoped to occupy the entire European market before the birth of Coca-Cola Company, and even began to seek the American market.

By the time the real Coca-Cola Company was born, there might not be much market left for it to explore.

Although the price of cola is not high, this kind of drink often follows the routine of small profits but quick turnover. At present, in the two major cities of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the daily sales of the two cola companies combined have exceeded 10 bottles.

If we look at the whole of Spain, the sales of Coke could reach hundreds of thousands or even millions of bottles. If we expand this scale to the whole of Europe, the daily sales of Coke could reach an outrageous millions of bottles.

Of course, this also has to take into account whether the production of Coca-Cola can keep up. But it is undeniable that low-priced drinks like Coca-Cola also have huge potential, and the Coca-Cola market is still an extremely large market.

In addition to the carcinogenicity, cola nuts are rich in caffeine and theobromine, which can act like stimulants.

And unlike coffee, cola nut achieves physical excitement by directly impacting the nerve centers and the heart.

In addition to its stimulant effect, kola nut can also treat headaches, depression, whooping cough, asthma and bronchitis, etc., and has a digestive and diuretic effect.

It is precisely because of these many functions that Europeans of that era regarded cola nuts as a medicine and brought them back to Europe from faraway Africa.

The good news is that tropical Africa is home to an abundance of kola nut trees, and therefore a large number of kola nuts.

In addition to harvesting kola nuts from these natural trees, Spain is also carrying out artificial cultivation to ensure that the yield of kola nuts will increase.

Currently, due to the hot sales of Coca-Cola, kola nut plantations have become one of the options for opening plantations in Spanish colonies.

Also because Coke contains a lot of sugar, Spain also tried to establish a large number of sugarcane plantations in other colonies to replace Cuba, a major sugar producer.

Of course, before Spain completely lost Cuba, the trade routes between Spain and Cuba were still quite prosperous.

In addition to the fact that all sugar from the Americas is transported directly from Cuba, more than 60% of the sugar trade between Europe and Cuba is first transported from Cuba to Spain, and then from Spain to various European countries.

Thanks to Cuba, a major sugar producer, the price and cost of Spanish cola have been slightly reduced.

Currently, on some of the busiest streets in Madrid, you can see several shops with bright red signs. These are beverage stores opened by the Coca-Cola Company in Madrid.

When you buy Coca-Cola at a beverage store, you can not only get it chilled for free, but you can also rest in the public area of ​​the beverage store, etc.

The public area not only provides free newspaper news published by major newspapers in the past week, but also provides some books for customers to read.

Initially, the Coca-Cola Company attracted customers by offering health products and medicines and providing free newspapers and books in public areas.

But once customers tasted Coca-Cola, they fell in love with this drink that tasted great on the rocks.

Ice, bubbles and the unique taste of cola nut are all indispensable, and the combination of these three has created cola, a drink that has been extremely popular in later generations.

Not to mention that in this era when beverages are extremely scarce, Coke is a rare delicacy for the citizens of Madrid.

At the beginning, the Coca-Cola Company had to rely on the name of health products and medicines, plus free newspapers and books to attract customers.

Later on, this was no longer necessary. When customers came to a beverage store, the first thing they wanted to buy was Coke, and it had to be iced for more than two hours.

For citizens, drinking a sip of iced cola on a hot summer day can almost make the annoyance of work disappear.

If you look at the long-legged beauties passing by while drinking Coke, it means you will be in a good mood for most of the day.

It was precisely because the Coca-Cola stores provided the latest week's newspapers for free that a wave of heated discussion was set off when the Spanish Sun published a news article suggesting that the Spanish government set up a reserve system.

What surprised Carlo was that after learning the news in the newspapers, the Spanish people also suggested that the Spanish government establish a reserve system.

People felt that the 15-strong Spanish army was too few and could not protect Spain's security at all.

What's more, among the 15 troops, there are 1.5 guards and 4.6 colonial troops, and only 9 Royal Army troops are stationed in the mainland. "I didn't expect that the Spanish people seem to be more hawkish than the king." After hearing the report from the director of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Cardil, Carlo was a little amused and said this for a long time.

"This is a good thing for your Majesty. At least the reserve plan can be implemented smoothly." Kadier also smiled and congratulated Carlo.

Since being appointed as the director of the Royal Security Intelligence Service, Kadir has been working diligently. The Royal Security Intelligence Service has expanded rapidly and has now become Carlo's main agency for obtaining intelligence in Spain and even the entire Europe.

As the director of the Intelligence Bureau, Kadir is naturally trusted by Carlo. At present, Kadir is Carlo's absolute confidant, and the importance of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau is no less than that of the 1.5-man Guard Division.

Carlo nodded. Although the hawkish attitude of the Spanish people surprised Carlo, it was actually a good thing for Carlo.

In this chaotic era, it is not a good thing to love peace too much and oppose war. If there is not enough military force to protect your country, what awaits the people is not long-term peace, but long-term oppression and oppression.

What protects peace is not a heart that loves peace, but a sword that can kill the enemy.

Carlo was very clear about this point. Even though Spain was not in any danger of war at present, it still had to be prepared for danger and consider the possible threats that Britain and France might pose to Spain in the future.

After all, to put it bluntly, a strong Spain is bound to conflict with Britain. For Spain, the first thing to do after becoming strong is not to expand into Europe, but to retake Gibraltar occupied by Britain.

The issue of Gibraltar alone is enough to ensure irreconcilable conflicts between Britain and Spain.

It is simply that Spain is now too weak, causing the British to temporarily give up their plans against Spain and pay more attention to strong rivals like Russia.

When Spain's strength reached the level of the five major powers, the relationship between Britain and Spain was no longer so peaceful.

"In that case, let's push forward the implementation of the reserve plan in the name of the royal family." Carlo said with a smile.

Since it has been confirmed that public opinion in Spain supports the reserve plan, there is naturally no need for other MPs to promote the reserve plan.

After all, doing so can be said to be in line with public opinion. No matter who promotes the reserve plan, they will win the favor of the people.

A few days after the Spanish Sun published a news report suggesting that the Spanish government should set up a reserve force, Carlo submitted a plan for the establishment of a reserve force to the Military Committee in the name of the King of Spain.

Not surprisingly, the reserve plan was approved unanimously by the entire Military Committee.

The Military Committee, except for Carlo and the Prime Minister, was composed of high-ranking military officers. The Prime Minister was the Minister of Defense, Archduke Serrano, and Carlo was the one who proposed the reserve plan, so naturally, no one could oppose the reserve plan.

After all, this is also a good thing for the military. The expansion of the reserve force represents an increase in the strength of the army, and senior military generals will also improve their status.

After the Military Committee passed it unanimously, there was naturally no need for the parliament to say more.

The parliamentarians were not stupid, they would not oppose a proposal unanimously approved by the top military officers. Moreover, it was proposed by Carlo himself, the king.

In addition, this is a proposal that conforms to public opinion. Standing up to oppose the reserve system at this time is actually destroying one's future political career with one's own hands.

After being approved by the Military Committee and the House of Commons, Spain officially implemented the reserve system at the end of August 1887.

All Spanish male citizens aged 20 to 25, except for scientific researchers, college students and some special talents, must participate in the three-year reserve service.

Unlike normal troops, reserve soldiers are still able to perform their work, but they need to go to the training ground for at least one month of training during the annual training phase.

According to discussions at the Spanish Military Committee, these reserve soldiers will train for a total of three months each year in April, May and September.

While reserve soldiers are at training grounds, the companies and factories where they work should retain the soldiers' jobs, but may not pay salaries and other subsidies.

The salaries of these soldiers during the training period are centrally paid by the Ministry of National Defense, and their salaries are based on 1.2 times the average annual income of the Spanish people that year.

Although three months of intensive training are required every year during the three-year period of reserve service, there is income during this three-month training period, which can reduce the negative emotions of the people about being called up as reserves.

Although most people support the establishment of a reserve force, this does not mean that everyone wants to be a member of the reserve force.

It is necessary to appropriately increase the income of the reserve forces, and they only need three months of training. This expenditure is not that expensive compared to the purpose of forming a reserve force.

Since Carlo became King of Spain, in order to show that he values ​​the army, the average salary of Spanish soldiers has been about 1.3 times the average annual income.

The average salary of the most elite Royal Guards soldiers has reached 1.5 times the average annual income of the Spanish people, which is why the Guards attract ordinary soldiers.

Needless to say, officers' income is higher than that of ordinary soldiers. This is also the reason why a large number of high school graduates apply to military academies every year.

It is precisely because the income of soldiers and officers was increased under Carlo's leadership that the Spanish army's support for Carlo is still quite high.

As soldiers' incomes increased, more young people would naturally be willing to join the army. This was the best of both worlds for Carlo, as it would not only increase the army's loyalty to him, but also encourage more Spaniards to join the army, ensuring that the Spanish army could expand several times its size anytime and anywhere.

In other words, Spain's finances are not enough to support hundreds of thousands of troops, and there is indeed no danger of war at present.

Otherwise, judging by the current enthusiasm of the Spanish people to join the army, it would be easy for Spain to maintain an army of 30 to 50.

But doing so will not only put Spain's finances under tremendous pressure, it will also affect Spain's industry and economy.

It is easy to build a huge army of hundreds of thousands, but this also means that hundreds of thousands of manpower will be wasted. If these hundreds of thousands of manpower are used for agricultural and industrial production, Spain's agriculture and industry will be greatly improved.

With the official announcement of the reserve force plan at the end of August, the recruitment offices in Madrid were filled with young people of appropriate age who wanted to join the reserve force.

According to the Military Commission's regulations, the first batch of reservists will be maintained at 15 people. When some people meet the three-year service period of the reserve force, they will be selected to make up the 15 people.

Once the number of reservists exceeds 15, the Ministry of Defense will stop recruiting to ensure that the number of recruits does not exceed the planned number.

Spain formed a reserve force of 15 for national defense, but if it formed a reserve force of 20 or even 30, it would not be just for national defense.

Although Spain could indeed do so, at that time not only Portugal, but even the British would probably jump out to question Spain's intentions.

In order not to attract the attention of this famous troublemaker in the UK, Carlo strictly limited the size of the reserve to 15 people.

If the number of young people who sign up is less than 15, according to the reserve system, Spanish men aged 20 to 25 will be forcibly conscripted into the reserve force.

Even if the number of applicants exceeds 15, the Ministry of National Defense will still select these 15 people to ensure that the physical fitness of the reserve soldiers is also quite good.

5000 words two-in-one chapter, please support!

Let me say two things. First, the price of the weapons in yesterday’s chapter has been modified. The previous selling price was indeed too low, and the profit was too low and unreasonable.

The second thing is that the author will not stop updating during the New Year period. A minimum of 4000 words will be updated during the New Year period, and there will be more updates depending on the situation.

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(End of this chapter)