Empire Rising: Spain - Chapter 240 - 162: The Expedition Team’s Great Harvest

The successive rebuttals from the two individuals made Ruiz’s expression change unpredictably, and he turned his gaze to Prime Minister Prim.

Prime Minister Prim knew Ruiz’s intentions well, but if he were to follow Ruiz’s idea, Spain might face division.

“The government naturally respects the sovereignty of the Royal Family.” Prime Minister Prim concluded the matter, speaking slowly: “Cooperating with the Royal Family to develop the land in the Congo River Basin is inevitable, that is one thing.”

Upon hearing Prime Minister Prim say this, Ruiz could only sit down, realizing that he had been utterly defeated in this debate.

“Your Majesty, does anyone else know about the expedition team’s actions?” After ending the debate, Prime Minister Prim finally turned his gaze to Carlo and posed his question.

The confidentiality of the expedition is extremely important. If it cannot be kept secret, while Spain is colonizing, the land will attract other colonizers as well.

If there is a competition for colonization, Spain does not necessarily have an advantage. After all, the land of Africa draws attention not only from Spain, but also from countries like England and France.

“Currently, no one else knows.” Carlo said with a smile: “The expedition team is protected by armed forces, and so far they have not encountered other teams along the way.

The expedition team has currently established more than twenty strongholds, and in terms of colonization, we have already gained the upper hand.”

Upon hearing that no one knows about the exploration of the Congo River Basin, Prime Minister Prim sighed in relief. If Spain could take the lead in colonizing the lands in the Congo River Basin, even if old colonial powers like England and France join later, there is no concern about falling behind in colonial competition.

“Does anyone have good suggestions for the development and colonization of lands in the Congo River Basin?” Prime Minister Prim turned his gaze to other members of the Cabinet and posed his question.

“Your Majesty, Prime Minister. According to this topographical map, the plains of the Congo River Basin are not far from our Guinea Colony.

If we can use railways to link Guinea and the plains of the Congo River Basin, it will accelerate the establishment of our colony and promote the development of the plains region.

At the same time, we should build railways along the Congo River directly to the coast, and further control the Congo Kingdom along the coast. The southern part of the Congo Kingdom is already under Portugal’s control. If we do not act quickly, the Portuguese might learn about the matters in the plains of the Congo River Basin.

Although Portugal is a small nuisance, if news spreads from Portugal to all of Europe, it would pose a greater burden on our colonization.

Therefore, I suggest that the entire immigration effort can be divided into two steps and carried out simultaneously. On one hand, we mobilize manpower from the Guinea Colony to construct a railway linking the two colonies; on the other hand, we organize a new workforce to control the coast west of the Congo River and gain control of the land north of the Congo River to Guinea.

In this way, we will establish a vast and enormous colony, possibly creating another Viceroyalty of New Spain.” Minister of Industry Canovas stood up and proposed his suggestion.

The primary step in establishing a colony is to construct railways to transport materials and military forces. This is actually the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, but due to Ruiz’s previous poor performance, Canovas directly replaced the Ministry of Transport in presenting the plan.

“Hmm.” Prime Minister Prim nodded, finding such a proposal quite acceptable.

This approach is similar to how Spain previously conducted colonization. Relying solely on redeploying colonial teams would take several months before the colonization truly begins.

However, if materials and manpower are prepared from the Guinea Colony simultaneously, it would undoubtedly save a considerable amount of time.

Although Spain’s Guinea Colony is not large in scale, it is nonetheless a formal colony with certain immigrants and stationed troops.

Even if some problems arise during colonization, the military from Guinea can resolve them. If it relied on transporting from Spain’s mainland, the round trip would take too long and likely cause delays.

“How many troops do we have in Guinea?” Prime Minister Prim turned his gaze to Minister of Defense Serrano, inquiring about the garrison in the Guinea Colony.

“After our military expansion, the garrison size in the Guinea Colony has been increased to a Colonial Defense Corps. But if the Congo River Basin indeed has such vast plains, the scale of one Defense Corps might not suffice.” Duke Serrano answered.

The Guinea Colony is merely a small-scale colony established by Spain in the Guinea region, and the colony’s range is limited to the nearby coast, with a small area.

Previously, there were only 1,000 garrisoned troops here, and if not for the comprehensive expansion of the Spanish Army, the garrison size might have still remained around 1,000 troops.

Prime Minister Prim also nodded, clearly agreeing with Duke Serrano’s opinion: “It seems it is time to increase troops in Guinea, but we also need to find an appropriate excuse.”

Not only does Spain have colonies near Guinea, but the United Kingdom, France, and Portugal all have colonies there.

Especially the Portuguese São Tomé and Principe Island, which are across the sea from Spain’s Guinea Colony. If Portugal learns of Spain sending additional troops to Guinea, they will definitely reinforce São Tomé and Principe Island’s guards and closely monitor Spain’s moves in the Guinea Colony.