However, if one stands on the side of the Spanish nobility, not only will it offend Pri Minister Prim, but it will also undermine the progress of reforms in Spain.
Carlo, naturally, understood the harm that the vast lands controlled by the Spanish nobility posed to Spain, and naturally wished to reclaim as much of the land from the nobility as possible.
Yet, as the greatest noble himself, the King couldn’t simply co out directly against the noble class. After receiving Pri Minister Prim’s request, Carlo indicated that he would have loyalist noble Duke Jacopo give friendly suggestions to so of the Spanish nobility, while he himself would not make an appearance.
Carlo certainly would not offend a large number of Spanish nobles at a ti like this. Although many of these nobles have already beco parasites of the state, they are indeed Carlo’s largest supporters at the mont.
At least, Carlo would wait until he had complete control of the country’s power and had minimized the nobility’s influence on the military before attempting to take action against so nobles.
For now, it’s best to stay away from Pri Minister Prim’s reforms. The current nobility still has quite a significant influence, with many nobles holding positions in both the governnt and the military. This is why Pri Minister Prim, despite holding military and governntal power, is still cautiously probing the nobility rather than taking direct action.
While expressing support for Pri Minister Prim’s reforms, Carlo also set forth his own demand, which was that if the nobility strongly opposed, Carlo himself would convene the Spanish Parliant to forcibly repeal the bill.
This served as Carlo’s fallback to declare to the nobility that he had nothing to do with this incident.
Currently, the King still very much needs the support of the nobility, and Carlo would not damage the good relations with the nobility unless absolutely necessary.
As expected, once the bill was introduced in Parliant, it imdiately attracted substantial attention from the nobility.
In Spain, the higher the title a noble bears, the more land that noble controls.
As large landlords, the nobility naturally did not wish to see the governnt promulgate this bill reducing peasant land rents, as it directly affected their own profits.
Although after the bill’s enactnt nobles could still retain 40% of the land rent, their inco would be reduced by at least two to three tenths compared to before.
To prevent noble unrest, Pri Minister Prim even mobilized the original Revolutionary Army to garrison in Madrid and personally sought to persuade Duke Serrano.
Compared to power, Duke Serrano placed less importance on land. Like Pri Minister Prim, he was a bestowed noble, not inheriting his title.
Although having reached the peak among Spanish nobility with a Grand Duke title, Duke Serrano did not own much land; instead, his main inco ca from shares in the Royal United Bank.
Additionally, there were the newly conferred modern nobles by Carlo. Though modern nobles also held so land, it was vastly inferior to the old nobility’s holdings.
They did not mind the bill, as it didn’t significantly affect their interests.
Under the influence of Pri Minister Prim and Duke Serrano, although the nobility collectively expressed dissatisfaction with the bill, quite a few nobles supported it.
While most nobles owned vast lands, it didn’t an all were imnsely wealthy.
In reality, across Europe, nurous noble families suffer financial mismanagent yearly, with many due to bankruptcy being forced to sell off their properties.
Indeed, Spain has many nobles, but its economy is only so-so. Those who truly beca rich are only the great nobles.
Earls and Barons aren’t exceptionally wealthy, and their fortunes could go bust if mismanaged.
With the governnt introducing a policy of purchasing land at high prices, many nobles who urgently needed funds due to bankruptcy actively sold their lands to the governnt.
Pri Minister Prim also urgently needed noble-initiated land sales to demonstrate, thus raising the purchase price to 1.5 tis the market rate.
To prevent nobles from temporarily acquiring farrs’ lands for resale to the governnt at a profit, the Spanish Governnt also enacted the Land Trading Law, permitting farr-owned land sales only to the governnt, which offered above market prices to ensure farrs wouldn’t incur losses.
Of course, unless it’s desperation, most farrs wouldn’t want to sell their lands. Farrs rely on land for their livelihood; losing this livelihood would leave them with no ans for survival.
Those genuinely selling land were large landlords or farrs who couldn’t sustain themselves.
With these nobles voluntarily offering land, the previously angered noble class beca divided.
Moreover, the bill wasn’t overly harsh on the nobility; while incos did decrease, the reduction wasn’t substantial.
The diminished inco wasn’t enough to unite the nobles against the governnt, especially now that the governnt isn’t like it was a few years ago. Pri Minister Prim’s reforms have significantly increased governntal support among farrs, with whom the nobility often interacted, thus aware of the governnt’s popular backing.
Additionally, since Marshal Serrano and Pri Minister Prim themselves were part of the nobility, their non-opposition to the bill allowed so nobles to perceive deeper implications.
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