Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 229 Royal Matador Medal

As a collaborator on both sides of the Russo-Turkish War, Spain naturally received news when the war situation changed.

Although Carlo knew that the Russians won the Russo-Turkish War, he did not expect that the Russians would quickly gain a huge advantage despite the stalemate in the early stages of the war.

Fortunately, Spain had signed an arms trade treaty with Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Even if the war ended at this time, Spain had already made a lot of money.

Since the arms trade between Spain and Russia, Spain has introduced 30,000 Russian immigrants from Russia. Half of these 30,000 Russian immigrants stayed in mainland Spain and were arranged in Catalonia and Andalusia, while the rest were transported to various colonies.

Among them, the Congo Territory received more than 3000 Russian immigrants, which brought the resident population of the Congo Territory to more than 5000.

Of course, this is based on the premise that only the European population is counted. If the local indigenous people are included, the population of the Congo Territory is definitely an exaggerated number, at least in the millions.

Although Spain's development strategy in the Congo territory was not particularly bad, the number of local indigenous people has decreased by as much as 100,000 since Spain established the Congo territory.

Most of the natives died while Spain was building railways, and some died on the plantations.

The reduction of 100,000 people is nothing to Spain, after all, there are countless indigenous people on the African continent. The sacrifice of these 100,000 people is also worth it. At present, the Congo territory is developing rapidly. Plantations have been established on the plateau upstream of the Congo River, and the railway is basically fully open.

Just as Carlo was still regretting the inability to obtain a large number of laborers from Russia, the diplomatic department received a request from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Foreign Secretary Lord Everton approached Carlo with an urgent look on his face and reported the news to him.

"Austria-Hungary asks us to support them in diplomacy?" Carlo agreed without much hesitation and said with a smile: "Tell the Austrians that this is our obligation and responsibility as an ally.

But don’t forget to remind them that Spain is a weak country, that the economic crisis has left our industry and economy in shambles, and that Spain cannot afford to participate in a war in the Balkans.”

Carlo's attitude was very clear: he could give diplomatic support to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but joining the war was absolutely unacceptable.

After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is the biggest support that Spain can currently cling to, so diplomatic support is still simple.

But there is no need to think about war. If a war really broke out between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Spain would not be able to control the situation.

A war between countries of this level would involve millions of troops. What could Spain's 15 troops do? At most, they could only participate in one of the battles. Even a slight loss would cause Spain to suffer serious consequences. Joining the war would be completely unprofitable.

"The Russians won, and the Austrians began to get anxious." Carlo thought for a while and said, "But this is not the style of Franz Joseph I, unless the Austro-Hungarian Empire has other things to rely on.

Your Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been closely following the movements of the British and Austro-Hungarian Ministries recently to see if the British have come together with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ”Carlo ordered:

If Britain stood with Austria-Hungary for the security of Constantinople, the situation in the Balkans would be very interesting.

But this is not a bad thing for us. If the situation in the Balkans can be more chaotic, we will be less likely to attract the attention of other powerful countries. "

Foreign Secretary Lord Everton nodded to show that he understood.

The facts were exactly as Carlo had expected. Not only did the Austro-Hungarian Empire intend to stop the Russian attack, but the British also had this idea.

Just the next day, surprising news came from the Russo-Turkish War that a small British Royal Fleet had appeared in the Sea of ​​Marmara.

Although this squadron is not the main force of the Royal Fleet, it can also demonstrate the attitude of the British government, which is to fight with the Russian government at all costs for the safety of Constantinople.

At this time, more than 20 Russian troops surrounded the Plovdiv fortress, but after learning that the British fleet appeared in the Sea of ​​Marmara, the Russians finally slowed down their offensive.

Seeing that it was impossible to quickly capture Constantinople, Russia planned to achieve its strategic goals through diplomacy.

Anyway, the two sides in the war are Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Russia only needs to sign a contract with the Ottoman Empire to end the war.

This was bad news for Spain because as the Russian army slowed down its offensive, the consumption of weapons and ammunition on the front line also decreased significantly.

It was impossible for Spain to obtain large amounts of gold and mineral resources through arms trade. After all, the warring parties at this time had no plans to expand the scale of the battlefield.

Seeing that the situation in the Balkan Peninsula was not getting any more chaotic, Carlo turned his attention back to Spain.

As time came to November 1877, the national bullfighting event organized and held by Carlo finally came to an end.

This grand bullfighting event attracted the attention of millions of people across Spain and also promoted economic development in various regions and around Madrid.

The economic data for each region is not yet so detailed, but during the second round of bullfighting competitions held in Madrid from August to October, the major bullrings in Madrid were almost always packed.

Although there is no overall data for each industry, the fast food company previously founded by Carlo almost doubled its sales in the three months from August to October.

Ticket sales at major bullrings are also huge. Take Madrid's largest bullring, Plaza Lerta, for example. Because the second round of bullfighting is equivalent to the final, the ticket price is much more expensive than the first round of bullfighting.

The first round is only a preliminary competition in each region, the purpose of which is to select the best bullfighters from each region to come to Madrid for the second round of finals.

The lowest ticket price for the second round of bullfighting in Plaza Lerta is 0.35 pesetas, and that's for the particularly remote seats.

The ticket prices for medium-level seats are as high as 0.65 pesetas, and the ticket prices for some seats with excellent viewing positions are as high as 1.5 pesetas, and there is still a shortage of supply.

During the three-month finals period from August to October, there are at least three bullfights a week at Plaza Lerta, and every bullfight is packed.

In the Plaza de Lerta, which can only accommodate 3500 spectators, more than 15 tickets were sold during the three-month bullfight finals, and the ticket revenue was close to 10 pesetas.

One Plaza de Lerta is definitely not enough for the finals. In fact, during the three-month finals, more than a dozen bullrings with a capacity of more than 2000 spectators were opened around Madrid. The total ticket revenue in these three months was as high as hundreds of thousands of pesetas, not to mention that the major bullrings will have other profit projects, such as cooperation with beverage companies and food companies.

In fact, it was not just Carlo's fast food company that doubled its sales thanks to bullfighting events. Coca-Cola in Madrid also more than doubled its sales.

Especially in August and September, the climate in Madrid is still quite hot. A cup of iced Coke is quite refreshing in the hot weather, and the price of Coke is really not high, so Coca-Cola's sales almost doubled in these two months.

However, since October, the sales of Coke have gradually declined. There is nothing that can be done about it. Iced Coke can still retain the gas inside, but if the Coke is heated, the gas will all escape, and the Coke will lose its soul.

Naturally, not many people drink iced Coke in winter, which also causes Coke sales to decrease in winter, but will reach a new high in the summer of the following year.

Speaking of which, hosting such a bullfighting competition is quite rewarding.

According to statistics from various bullrings, the number of people who have watched bullfighting in Spain is at least 300 million, which is a very large number.

At least half of the Spanish people follow bullfighting events, and some of the best bullfighters win the love and praise of the people.

Each region is proud to have produced an excellent bullfighter. These bullfighters gathered in Madrid for the second round of the finals, which ignited the enthusiasm of people from various regions of Spain to travel and consume in Madrid.

From Carlo's fast food and beverage companies, we can also see how exaggerated the economic boost of such a grand bullfighting competition that attracts national attention is. In other words, there is no so-called GDP statistics in this era, otherwise Spain's GDP growth this year would definitely reach a new high.

It is worth mentioning that as the popularity of bullfighting competitions grows, Spanish bullfighting competitions have also attracted the attention of many foreign tourists in the second round of finals in the last few months.

According to government statistics, at least 8 foreign tourists came to Madrid to watch Spanish bullfighting in the three months from August to October.

Of the 30,000 foreign tourists, more than 10,000 were Portuguese, thanks also to the rail link between Portugal and Spain.

Most of the rest are Italians and French. After all, Italy and France are the European countries closest to Spain besides Portugal.

What makes Carlo feel gratified is that bullfighting not only attracts a large number of Spaniards, but also attracts the attention of many Portuguese.

The Portuguese and Spanish are very similar, and there is not much difference between the two, whether in language or religious culture.

Spain has a bullfighting culture, and Portugal also has a bullfighting culture.

However, compared to Spain where bullfighting culture is prevalent, the bullfighting culture in Portugal is not that popular, and bullfighting competitions are only held for 2 to 3 months a year.

In addition, the Portuguese government has not promoted or promoted bullfighting too much, which has resulted in Portugal's bullfighting culture not being very well-known.

On the contrary, the Spanish government attaches great importance to the national bullfighting competition held by Carlo.

The public opinion controlled by the royal family and the government are vigorously promoting this year's bullfighting, which has allowed almost half of the Spaniards to learn about the bullfighting.

Because of the close ties between Portugal and Spain, the Portuguese naturally learned the news and were quite curious about the bullfighting in Spain.

Although Carlo had no intention of annexing Portugal for the time being, it was impossible for him to say that he had no ambition for Portugal, a piece of fat meat that was so close at hand.

Since bullfighting can attract the attention of the Portuguese, Carlo will promote the popularity of bullfighting in the Iberian Peninsula more vigorously.

Attract Portuguese tourists through bullfighting and strengthen economic and cultural exchanges between Portugal and Spain. Anyway, there is no big language barrier between the two countries, and Portuguese people can even understand what Spanish people say without learning Spanish.

By strengthening economic and cultural exchanges, we can gradually influence all Portuguese people and make them less averse to Spain, which will also expand the possibility of Portugal's incorporation into Spain.

The domestic situation in Portugal is much worse than that in Spain today. If Portugal could be annexed to Spain peacefully during the chaotic period in Portugal, it would be the best outcome.

Even if Portugal cannot be incorporated into Spain through peaceful means, it can influence some Portuguese people and make them not averse to joining Spain.

Under the influence of these public opinions, Spain's expansion into Portugal would become more legitimate and reasonable, and it would be less likely to be rejected by the Portuguese after annexing Portugal.

In fact, the bullfighting competition was basically over as early as mid-to-late October. After several rounds of fierce competition, the best bullfighters in Spain were finally selected.

Of course, in addition to the bullfighter who wins first place, the top ten bullfighters in the country and even the top ten bullfighters in each region will receive different shares of financial rewards.

But only the first-place bullfighter can have the honor of being received by Carlo himself and be awarded the title of Royal Bullfighter of Spain.

The title of Spanish Royal Bullfighter is only awarded to one person each year, so this title is quite valuable.

After all, to win the title of Royal Bullfighter among a large number of bullfighters in Spain through round after round of bullfighting is not easy at all.

Bullfighting is not an entertainment activity, but a bloody and extremely dangerous challenge. Even the best bullfighters dare not underestimate the mighty and strong bull.

Bullfighting was a huge success, but there were also a lot of casualties during the bullfighting.

According to statistics from various regions, there were a total of thousands of bullfighters participating in bullfighting competitions in Spain this year, but only more than 100 were able to go to Madrid to participate in the second round of competitions.

The two rounds of competition resulted in hundreds of injuries, including more than a dozen bullfighters who were killed on the spot due to serious injuries caused by the bulls, and dozens of others died due to serious injuries and wound infections.

As bullfighting in Spain became more and more popular, hundreds of people would die in bullfighting every year.

This is a rather exaggerated number, and it also represents the high danger of bullfighting.

But compared to the profits brought by bullfighting, hundreds of casualties are acceptable to Spain.

Bullfighters take great risks in participating in bullfights, and if they succeed they will receive great rewards.

The top ten bullfighters in each region received checks of at least 300 pesetas, and some economically better regions issued checks as high as 500 pesetas, which is more than three times the annual income of an average Spaniard.

The top ten in the second round of bullfighting will receive a check for at least 1000 pesetas, and the first place winner will receive a check for 2600 pesetas, which is twenty times the average annual income of the Spanish people.

In addition to the generous check reward, what attracts bullfighters is the love and admiration from all over Spain.

After more than half a year of propaganda, the Spanish people have great admiration and praise for the bullfighters' bravery and fearlessness, and the bullfighters are also the most popular heroes in Spain.

During the bullfighting competition, several newspapers also published small picture albums about the bullfighting competition, which vividly told stories about bullfighters and made the bullfighting competition known and paid attention to by more Spaniards.

Judging from the results so far, Carlo's plan to establish the brave and aggressive attributes of the Spanish character through bullfighting has been quite successful.

Under the influence of this attribute, the formation of the Spanish reserve force was also quite smooth. The people did not seem to be afraid of death, at least they were not afraid of dying for their country.

Not to mention the reserve forces, some lawmakers have already proposed expanding the size of the Spanish army to bring Spain's armed forces back to the top level in Europe.

Unfortunately, this proposal was ultimately rejected because Spain does not currently need too many active troops, which would only create greater financial troubles.

But no matter what, the braver and more fearless the Spaniards are, the stronger the fighting effectiveness of the Spanish army will be, and this will not change.

Carlo is even more looking forward to the performance of the Spanish army in future wars. If this trend continues, the Spanish army will evolve into an elite army with extremely strong combat effectiveness, and may even be able to clash with the German army in the future.

Of course, this is under the condition that the number of Spanish troops and their weapons and equipment are all improved. If the number of troops is insufficient and the weapons and equipment are still very backward, then Spain will be seriously injured if it collides with any powerful country, let alone Germany.

In early November 1877, Carlo met with Sebastian Sharp, the only bullfighter who won after many rounds of competition, and awarded him the medal and title of Royal Bullfighter.

This Royal Bullfighter medal is of little use, it is only used to prove the identity of the Royal Bullfighter. However, it is the first Bullfighter medal issued in the first bullfighting competition, so it still has a certain commemorative value and significance.

At least Sebastian Sharp himself was very happy and excited when he received the medal. After all, it was a medal that Carlo personally awarded to him and made him wear it.

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(End of this chapter)