This created the magnificent usury empire of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but at the same time, it buried the development within France.

Historical data also shows that France’s development has been stagnant since the Franco-Prussian War.

In 1875, France’s steel production reached as high as 256,000 tons. In comparison, the United Kingdom’s steel production at the time was only 719,000 tons, and both Germany and the United States were producing less than 400,000 tons each.

At this time, France was not far behind Germany and the United States in terms of industry; it was still a strong industrial nation.

However, in the following years, the scale of French industry did not experience much growth.

By 1880, the United Kingdom and the United States had both surpassed one million tons in steel production, while Germany reached an impressive 624,000 tons.

Meanwhile, France’s steel production was only 389,000 tons, about one-third of that of the United Kingdom and the United States, and two-thirds of Germany’s.

Yet, this was not the moment of France’s greatest lag. By 1885, the United Kingdom’s steel production had reached as high as 1,917,000 tons, with the United States following at 1,739,000 tons.

Germany’s growth was also formidable, with their steel production nearly doubling from five years earlier, reaching 1,202,000 tons.

In contrast, France’s steel production was only 554,000 tons, a far cry from the two-thirds of Germany’s it had been a few years prior, now reduced to less than half by 1885.

It was during France’s poor performance in this period that Carlo saw hope for Spain to surpass France in industrial terms.

Last year, Spain’s steel production was around 200,000 tons, while France’s was 300,000 tons. If the third phase of the Barcelona Industrial Base could be completed, Spain might truly have a chance to surpass France in steel production within the next few years.

Although steel production does not represent the entire industrial scale, it is closely related. After all, only when the domestic industrial scale and demand are relatively high will there be enough orders for steel plants to produce steel.

After signing a cooperation agreement with the Krupp Company, Carlo’s purpose in the Ruhr District was largely fulfilled.

The steelmaking technology in other steel factories in the Ruhr District was either on par with or inferior to that of the Krupp Company, so Carlo saw no need to visit again.

Collaboration with Krupp Company already met Carlo’s needs in terms of steelmaking and artillery technology, making this trip to Germany an unexpected success for Carlo.

After signing the contract, Carlo did not stay in Germany for long.

After all, the subsequent visit to France was the main event, as the assistance to be gained from the French was Carlo’s true concern.

France’s gradual transformation into a usury empire certainly impacted its own development, but for Spain, it was rather advantageous.

Germany’s private capital may not be weaker than France’s, but such capital was needed domestically to further Germany’s industrial development.

This resulted in a situation where, despite Germany’s strong industry, it lacked ample funds to assist Spain’s development.

In contrast, France was different. France adopted an altruistic attitude, having enough funds to help Spain develop; this is why Carlo was more willing to cooperate with France.

No matter how Spain’s relationship with France might evolve, France was currently the most likely country in Europe to provide the most loans to Spain, which alone was a sufficient reason.

Carlo did not choose to travel by train from Austria to Germany of such pomp, but instead proceeded northward from the Ruhr District and then took a ship at a port to a French port.

The reason was, of course, the competitive relationship between Germany and France. If he openly took a train from Germany to visit France, it would not sit well with the Germans, and the French might suspect Carlo’s intentions.

Since France had become a republic, naturally, there would be no Crown Prince and King to receive him.

Upon arriving in Paris, Carlo was arranged by the French Government to stay in a manor in Paris.

Of the three countries visited this time, France, excluding Austria-Hungary, was possibly the most openly receptive towards Carlo.

The primary reason was that France needed Spain to break through Germany’s blockade.

In discussions with the French Government, Carlo mentioned wanting more interest-free and low-interest loans from France and requested more industrial and other assistance.

The French, naturally, did not refuse but also proposed their own conditions, as the French were not fools who would give without return.

Among all the conditions proposed by the French, the first one was to prohibit Spain from reaching any diplomatic or military agreements with Germany.

The purpose of this was to prevent Spain from joining the alliance Germany was forming to isolate France; Carlo understood the French intention and readily agreed.

The second demand of the French was to establish closer trade relations with Spain.

Carlo had no objections to this. After all, the vast agricultural output of France was a good option for Spain to avoid a food crisis, and trade with France would not be a loss for Spain.

Of course, protecting Spain’s industry was also very necessary. The impact of the economic crisis on Spain was relatively mild, and the prices of domestic industrial products were still comparatively high compared to European ones.

Due to the impact of the economic crisis, the prices of industrial products, especially steel products and mechanical processing products, in European countries had fallen to a low point. If these products flooded into the Spanish market, they would undoubtedly impact Spanish factories.

Given that the quality of these industrial manufactured goods was more or less similar, the public would naturally prefer the cheaper options.

This means that Spanish domestic factories would either have to lower their prices or face the problem of shrinking market share.

Carlo, unwilling for the Spanish industry to suffer considerable impact from the influx of foreign industrial goods, explicitly stated in his agreement to the French proposal to deepen trade cooperation that Spain would not temporarily import French industrial manufactured goods.

The French Government had no intention of forcibly making Spain import industrial manufactured goods. After all, their objective in proposing deeper trade cooperation was to economically influence the Spanish Government.

As long as Spain deepened its cooperation, and the large influx of French capital into Spain, French capital was destined to have a certain influence.

This would also ensure that Spain was closer to France, which was the true goal of the French, and the carefully thought-out strategy of the French Government to ensure Spain did not lean towards Germany.