The Spanish fought with the Mexican rebels in Mexico for several years, spent a lot of money and owed a lot of debts. Recently, other colonies in the Americas have also begun to experience various instability. In order to stabilize the colonies in the Americas and to repay the various debts that will be due, the Spanish had to start negotiations with the rebels.

After referring to France's successful experience in dealing with the Santo Domingo colony, Spain proposed to solve the Mexico problem in the Santo Domingo model. Representatives of the two sides negotiated for a month in France, and the Mexicans finally gained independence through redemption. Of course, they owe the French a lot of money. On the other hand, the Spanish not only paid off the loans, but also had a lot of surplus by relying on the money they received. Considering that this was more than the interest on ransom, plus the money saved by reducing garrisons, various institutions, etc. The Spanish calculated that the Spanish government did not seem to have much less money than when they controlled Mexico before.

The main reason for this situation is that Spain's plundering efficiency in Mexico is too low. In fact, the money Spain gets from Mexico every year is actually quite limited. But on the other hand, Spain's excessive taxation in Mexico has caused complaints from the people, which can be said to be a huge crime. The reason why the Spanish government did not get much money in the end is that too much money is lost by the people who handle it; secondly, one of the consequences of the excessive taxation is that the cost of maintaining stability is too high, and a large part of the money obtained from the excessive taxation is consumed.

Among these two, the second one is fine, but the first one, well, those who can play with drifts are very powerful and influential. Their interests are actually affected. So for such a treaty, although the treaty brings back a lot of money, although the treaty still stipulates that Mexico is still a member of the Spanish Federation and still recognizes that the Spanish king is the head of Mexico. However, these guys who have suffered economic losses still try their best to attack the Spanish government and lose their power and humiliate the country.

In order to respond to these accusations, the Spanish government also needs to do something to safeguard national interests. So taking back Gibraltar is naturally the best choice.

First of all, this place is under the nose of Spain. Once it is taken back, all Spanish people can see it. Unlike those places in South America, where the distance is far away, even if the area is many times that of Gibraltar, the Spanish people generally cannot see it. Even if they cannot be taken back, the Spanish government's patriotic airs have been put forward at least, right?

Secondly, the Roman Empire has now put the "Carthy" hat on the British, and then the French jumped out and slapped the British in the face on the grounds of "I told you not to wear a hat". Obviously, the UK was already a little bit about the wall and pushed everyone. At this time, they jumped out and shouted that they wanted to take back Gibraltar. The British could not do anything to them. It can be said that there is basically no risk. Since that is the case, why not shout?

The Spanish suddenly jumped up on this matter at this time, which was very in line with the interests of France. So much so that Napoleon said this: "Although King Carlos IV is generally stupid, he is still very agile in this matter."

Of course, it is not enough to attract the attention of the British. The Spanish Navy was once very powerful. Once upon a time, in the Sail Age not long ago, Spanish battleships were the largest and most powerful in the world. The battleships of the "Super Holy Trinity" with four layers of gun decks and 140 cannons were even listed as "Super Class Ship".

However, since entering the steam era, the Spanish navy has quickly fallen behind. Because of its lack of industrial capabilities, Spain's new warships have to be purchased entirely. As we all know, true defense modernization cannot be bought.

The Spanish Navy can only import warships to France. The weapons, especially warships representing the highest military technology level, have amazing profit margins when conducting trade. Especially if this kind of trade is like collecting protection fees, it is even more so. Just like the dog owners in later generations, buying four fast frigates (littoral combat ships) you saw, the total price is as high as 6 billion US dollars, with an average of 1.5 billion US dollars each. It is much more expensive than the 10,000-ton large-scale destroyer of a major Eastern country.

The situation in Spain today is similar. They purchased five so-called armored cruisers from France, and these warships cost enough for the French to build four Super A cruisers. Of course, this is not because the French asked for the price too dark. In fact, for the old allies, the original asking price of the French was really not considered a bad one. However, after the Spanish in charge of the procurement, the price of French warships suddenly increased a lot after a difficult negotiation with the French. As for why it happened, after a difficult bargaining, the price of French warships rose a lot in the final agreement. I really don’t know this. It is not enough. In later generations, this situation often occurs in arms sales cases in some countries.

Of course, if you shout, it would be fine if the British could force the British to hand over Gibraltar, but if Spain really wanted to fight, Spain would not agree. Because the ghost place in Gibraltar is too easy to defend and difficult to attack. That place is a steep stone mountain. For many years, the British have dug the stone mountain to rat holes everywhere. In those rat holes, there are hidden cannon positions everywhere, with a large number of cannons hidden. These cannons have tested firing tables, and their firing worlds can cover each other. So if you attack such a fortress, it would be a waste of people.

But when the Spaniards raised the issue of Gibraltar's ownership and asked the French for help, the French proposed another set of feasible offensive measures.

This plan is to blockade the Gibraltar Fortress.

Of course, there is no problem with the land blockade of Gibraltar Fortress. Because the land is all under the control of the Spanish. However, the supply of Gibraltar Fortress has never been relied on land. Gibraltar Fortress itself is an important military port, and its supply almost all comes from sea routes.

With Spain's maritime power, it is not enough to block the Gibraltar Fortress. This is especially true after the navy's technological revolution.

However, the emergence of a weapon made this blockade possible. This weapon is mine. Spain can completely rely on mines and use nighttime attacks to block Gibraltar.

Of course, doing so is a total act of war. However, Talleyrand said that as long as Spain does not recognize it, France will believe that Spain is not the first party to launch the attack. As for who set up the mines, maybe it was the Americans, who knows?
Chapter completed!