Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 261 Win-win cooperation
Carlo's plan to hold a tram exhibition was quite successful, as can be seen from the grand occasion on the day of the exhibition and the headlines of newspapers around the world the next day.

The tram not only attracted the attention of the European people and newspaper media, but also attracted the attention of European capitalists and governments.

Before the exhibition ended, the German government had already contacted the Spanish government, hoping to obtain Spain's tram technology through the exchange of technical data, just like the previous electric technology.

Although Germany's Siemens is the inventor of the tram, judging from the tram technology currently demonstrated by Spain, Spain has already surpassed Germany in this regard.

In fact, it is not surprising. Spain is at the forefront of high-power generators and motors. Trams equipped with high-power motors are definitely ahead of German trams in terms of speed and passenger and cargo capacity.

After all, electric power technology is a brand new field. Germany respects Spain's achievements in this brand new field and hopes to synchronize such achievements with Spain through technological exchange rather than conducting slow research on its own.

The whole of Germany has seen the potential brought by electric technology, and they will not remain indifferent to this new technology.

It is no exaggeration to say that at that time, Germany was the country in Europe that attached the most importance to electric power technology except Spain. Germany attached much more importance to electric power technology than Britain and France, which was why they were able to achieve great achievements in the Second Industrial Revolution.

The Spanish government naturally accepted the German government's request for renewed cooperation.

Even if Spain does not make its existing tram technology public, Germany will surely master similar levels of related technology within the next few years.

It would be better to exchange some technology and funds from Germany or even other European countries while such technology is still valuable, which can also help promote the development of Spain's power technology.

If it is kept secret and not made public, major powers like Britain, France and Germany will also be able to develop similar technology in the next few years.

After all, the existing tram technology is not very advanced, and Spain cannot blockade other countries.

Like previous electrical technology, governments around the world are quite interested in tram technology.

After the German government, Britain and France also expressed their desire to introduce tram technology, followed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

Carlo welcomes cooperation requests from all countries. Whether it is the exchange of technical data or direct purchase with funds, Spain is the ultimate beneficiary.

While the Spanish government was discussing specific cooperation details with various governments, it was also expressing its desire to cooperate with capital to establish a tram transportation system in major cities.

Cooperation with various governments is only the first step. Only by cooperating with capital from various countries can the construction of Spanish trams be accelerated.

In the era without subways and buses, trams were the best means of transportation for urban residents. The trams in Madrid and Barcelona can be fully connected to the industrial areas in the suburbs, which can also promote economic exchanges between urban and industrial areas.

Workers in industrial areas can go to urban areas to spend money and rest in their spare time. Isn’t this the best way to promote economic growth?

The tram at this time was exactly the same as the subway in later big cities. Although the carrying capacity was much smaller than that of the subway, in Spain, a country without mega-cities, the carrying capacity of the tram was sufficient, and its role would naturally be quite obvious.

Because the news about the tram has been on the front pages of news in various countries, when Spain announced its intention to cooperate with capital to build a tram, it immediately attracted the attention of domestic and foreign capital.

In addition to the government and investors, power companies will also participate in the construction of the tram. This also led to these investors contacting Gram's power company as soon as possible, hoping to reach relevant cooperation with the Spanish government as soon as possible.

Although Carlo's plan is to fully popularize trams in cities in Spain with a population of more than 10, this cannot be accomplished in a short period of time.

The current priority is to build tram transportation systems in Madrid and Barcelona. Only these two cities with a large number of power stations are qualified to build tram systems.

If trams can be used to connect the urban and industrial areas of the two cities, it will be a huge boost to the two cities.

Of course, in addition to improving the economy, improving public sentiment is also something that needs to be given priority consideration.

Unlike more expensive electric lighting, the tram transportation system is intended to serve all residents of the two cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

This also means that the cost of taking the tram will definitely not be too high, at least it will be within the range that the public can afford.

Imagine that when a city has very convenient and cheap public transportation, will the people involuntarily thank the government for its efforts?

The answer is definitely yes. While the people are thanking the government, they will also naturally thank the ruler of the country of Carlo.

Building trams can not only promote Spain's economic development, but also effectively improve the morale of the Spanish people. Why wouldn't Carlo do it?
Although it is only necessary to establish a tram transportation system in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the investment required is still huge due to the large size of the two cities.

According to the joint plan of the Spanish government and two municipal governments, Madrid will build at least six tram lines, four of which will be located within the city of Madrid, which is also the core urban area of ​​Madrid.

One of the remaining two tracks connects directly to an industrial area on the outskirts of Madrid, which is home to most of the factories and other businesses around Madrid.

The remaining tram line connects the University City of Madrid, the Royal Academy of Sciences and a large experimental area. This tram is specially designed for college students and scientific researchers.

Carlo has also looked at Madrid's tram track plan, which can generally meet Madrid's public transportation needs.

As for people who are not on the rail line, they can only make do with walking a distance and then taking the tram.

After the tram tracks are built, the tram operating company will arrange the number of trams according to specific demand.

Tracks with higher passenger volumes will dispatch more trams, and vice versa. Although trams are urban public transportation, they must earn the money they deserve.

Only when these capitals earn the money they deserve will they be satisfied and willing to invest in the next urban construction in Spain.

If the first cooperation fails, the capital will not be so optimistic about investing in Spain's construction in the future.

In the case of Spain's lack of domestic capital, it is still necessary to cooperate with these foreign capitals. The construction of a country cannot be done alone, and the appropriate introduction of foreign capital will only benefit Spain's development and not harm it.

Compared to Madrid, which needs to build six tram tracks, Barcelona only has four.

Three of them are tram lines in Barcelona city, and a longer tram line will connect the industrial area on the outskirts of Barcelona. The main reason why Barcelona has two fewer tram lines than Madrid is that Barcelona does not have such a dense university town, and it is not the capital of Spain, so the government's support is less.

However, the tram tracks connecting Barcelona's industrial areas are longer and will pass through and surround most of Barcelona's industrial areas.

If Madrid has the most tram tracks, then Barcelona has the longest tram tracks. After all, it is the largest industrial area in Spain, so it must be given due attention.

In order to build and operate trams in the two cities, Spain will establish Madrid Tram and Barcelona Tram.

Madrid Tramway has invested a total of more than 6200 million pesetas, with the Spanish government investing 1000 million pesetas, the Spanish royal family investing 500 million pesetas, the Madrid City Government investing 700 million pesetas, and Spanish National Electricity Company investing technology equivalent to 1500 million pesetas. The remaining 2500 million pesetas will be put to public bidding, inviting domestic and foreign capital to join.

Barcelona Traction invested more than 7500 million pesetas, the Spanish government also invested 1000 million pesetas, the royal family still invested 500 million pesetas, the Barcelona City Government invested 1000 million pesetas, and the power company also invested 1500 million pesetas in technology.

The remaining investment of 3500 million pesetas will also have to be made up by domestic and foreign capital, which is also done to reduce government fiscal expenditure.

The total investment in the two city tramways is as high as 1.37 million pesetas, which is not a small investment.

The investment that capital can intervene in is as high as 6000 million pesetas, which is close to half of the total investment.

If the Spanish government relies solely on its own efforts, the 6000 million pesetas can be raised, but it will obviously affect construction in other areas.

The Spanish government's total fiscal revenue last year was only 9.325 million pesetas, and its fiscal surplus was a pitiful 970 million pesetas.

For the Spanish government, every penny must be carefully calculated so that the development of all aspects can be taken into account, rather than just focusing on one or a few of them.

After all, the Spanish government still has a lot of foreign debt to repay, so it still needs to save what it can.

As long as the construction of the tram is successful and profitable, the initial cooperation between the Spanish government and foreign capital will end in a good way.

In this way, when they need to cooperate with these foreign capitals in the future, they will not have any concerns, and the capital power that Spain can mobilize will be stronger.

Although the royal family's combined investment in tram technology for the two cities was only 1000 million pesetas, the royal family actually controlled more than that.

The royal family controls the vast majority of shares in Spain's national power company, Energia, which received an investment worth 3000 million pesetas in the form of technology investment.

In other words, the royal family's direct or indirect investment in tram construction reached 4000 million pesetas, accounting for about one-third of the total investment.

Coupled with the investment of the Spanish government and the two city governments, it can ensure that the Spanish government has sufficient say in trams.

This is also the reason why Carlo is confident in introducing foreign capital. As long as the combined investment of Spain accounts for the majority, there is no need to worry that foreign capital will have the right to speak in turn.

In order to encourage scientific research in Spain, Carlo plans to establish relevant awards to recognize and reward these researchers.

Such an award is certainly not the Nobel Prize of later generations, but rather an encouraging medal for scientific research.

Since the purpose is to encourage scientific innovation, the selection of the award is not very strict. As long as you have the concept of scientific innovation and have achieved certain results in the corresponding research, you can apply to the award's review committee for the award.

Of course, awards are awards, and the selection process will certainly not be too simple, to prevent such awards from becoming commonplace and ultimately being ignored.

According to Carlo's plan, awards such as the Science Innovation Award and the Technology Contribution Award will only be selected once a year, and the total number of winners of all awards will not exceed ten people or teams.

Because the purpose is to encourage scientific innovation, the rewards are not just simple money, but also include free trial of scientific research sites, exemption of water and electricity charges used for scientific research, and other assistance.

If necessary, the winners can also apply for tax exemption for scientific research projects, thereby reducing the scientific research funds required for the projects.

Especially for those private scientific research teams, whether it is the salary income of researchers or other expenses, they basically need to pay taxes.

If this part of the tax can be reduced or exempted, it will save a lot of money for such private scientific research teams.

In Europe, the most lacking thing for private scientific research groups is R&D funds. The effect of this is also obvious, that is, it allows these small-scale research groups to have more funds, so that the research funds in their hands can be put to practical use.

Such awards are small-scale and generally not difficult to obtain. Moreover, the selection will only be conducted in Spain. After all, Carlo's goal is to encourage scientific and technological innovation in Spain, not to encourage scientific and technological innovation in the world.

Of course, where there are small prizes there are big prizes.

The big prize will definitely be similar to the Nobel Prize in later generations. The application requirements will be quite strict and there will be very rigorous review.

If the previous small awards can only get financial rewards and certain support policies, then the formal big awards will get more.

In addition to more funding and stronger support policies, winners of major awards may even be awarded titles, becoming part of the Spanish aristocracy.

Of course, the big awards will not only be given to scientific researchers, but also to experts in multiple fields, to select the most capable and contributing scientists in Spain, Europe and the world.

The purpose of the small award is to encourage scientific and technological innovation in Spain, and the purpose of the large award is to attract top scientists and related scientific research talents to Spain.

Spain offers generous rewards to winners of major prizes, and the purpose of this reward is to attract these people to stay in Spain.

Of course, it would be even better if the award winner is Spanish. In short, whether or not they are Spanish, the award winner will receive quite generous funding, support policies and a series of other rewards.

However, in order to obtain the reward of Spanish nobility, one must join Spanish nationality. I believe that the attraction of noble titles is still sufficient. Becoming a Spanish noble through scientific research may not be a powerful means to attract foreign scientists.

(End of this chapter)