Empire Rising: Spain

Under the premise that both parties had the intention for peace negotiations, the meeting between Carlo and Ambassador William ended swiftly.

The Dutch were unwilling to engage in more intense disputes with Spain at this time, after all, the Netherlands’ regime change required a stable environment, and the Netherlands did not have enough strength to confront Spain.

As for Carlo, he likewise did not wish to be too flamboyant, thereby attracting the attention of the British.

In fact, this conflict was entirely brought upon by the Dutch themselves. If the Dutch had not acted recklessly, Carlo would not have had much interest in the Dutch East Indies.

Although this colony also had considerable economic value, the issue was that in addition to Spain, the British, who truly mastered the Indian Colony, were also paying attention to this territory.

The United Kingdom regarded India as a treasure, which also meant that the UK had to ensure stability in the areas surrounding India to ensure that the Indian Colony would not encounter significant problems.

Southeast Asia’s distance from India was neither too far nor too close, so it was quite normal to garner the British’s attention.

Not to mention, East Asia had an extremely large market, which had attracted the attention of many European Powers.

According to the preliminary agreement discussed between Carlo and Ambassador William, the so-called uprising in the Kutai Sultanate would be quelled by the Spanish and the Lanfang Republic. After quelling it, the division of land naturally had nothing to do with the Netherlands.

Besides, the Netherlands also needed to pay certain reparations to Spain, as the uprising on Borneo did affect the Spaniards located there.

Moreover, within three months, the Netherlands needed to transfer at least 30 settlement outposts in New Guinea to Spain, and these outposts had to be located near existing Spanish outposts.

The sincerity of the Dutch apology could be considered quite earnest, and it was precisely because of this sincerity that Carlo promised in person that Spain would absolutely not hold the Netherlands accountable for any responsibility, nor would it use this as a reason to wage war against the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.

In fact, if the Dutch side was willing, Spain could also sign a non-aggression pact with the Netherlands, stipulating that both parties would not infringe upon each other’s colonies and would respect each other’s colonial rule.

After reaching an agreement with Ambassador William, the matters on Borneo could be considered resolved.

Once the army of the Lanfang Republic occupied the entire Kutai Sultanate, the Spanish Colonial Defense Corps stationed in the Brunei Sultanate could move south to take over this land.

After all, this area spanned over 100,000 square kilometers, and Spain had no reservations about claiming it.

Carlo was currently contemplating whether it would be more appropriate to completely merge this land into the Philippine Colony or establish a large new colony on Borneo.

Currently, the area of the Philippine Colony already spanned as much as 440,000 square kilometers, making it the largest Spanish-controlled colony aside from the Congo Territory.

If the Kutai Sultanate were added, the area of the Philippine Colony would surpass 500,000 square kilometers, larger than mainland Spain itself.

The indigenous population on this colony was not small either. In the Philippines alone, the indigenous population reached millions, and including the indigenous people residing in the Kalimantan Region, the total indigenous population of the Philippine Colony would approach ten million, increasing the difficulty of governance.

Considering that establishing a new colony would increase Spain’s colonial investment costs, Carlo temporarily decided to incorporate the Kutai Sultanate into the Philippine Colony and postpone colonial expansion there.

Going forward, aside from New Guinea, the Philippine Colony would honestly focus on developing the already occupied lands and have no interest or colonial initiatives outside of its territory.

With the issue on Borneo resolved, Carlo turned his attention to the dissemination of electricity.

Last Christmas, Madrid’s Nocturnal City became the most sensational news in all of Europe, and to this day, many media outlets continue to mention it repeatedly.

The main reason was that until now, no other country had been able to build a City of No Sleep like Madrid; it still remained unique to Madrid.

As European Powers led by the UK, France, and Germany followed the Nocturnal City project, Spain had already initiated projects regarding the widespread electrification of Madrid and Barcelona.

Although electricity currently could only be used for lighting, it could still provide considerable convenience to humanity. Whether for daily life or industrial production, more effective lighting was very useful.

Carlo’s emphasis on electricity was vividly evident. Since Madrid’s Nocturnal City, all factories and enterprises of the Royal Family had signed orders with power companies, not only connecting power to companies and factories but also purchasing various sizes of bulbs for lighting.

An electric power boom had started in Spain, with everyone taking pride in being able to use a bulb for lighting.

Although this craze had not yet swept through the civilian population, among the nobles and capitalist classes in Spain, the fondness for electricity and bulbs was already visibly pronounced.

In fact, thinking about it seems quite normal. People of later generations were accustomed to the brightness of city lights at night, and when the city had a power outage one day, people would be unaccustomed to it.

So when people of this era felt the brightness and convenience brought by electricity, they naturally would find every way possible to enjoy such convenience.