Since it has been decided that the royal family will pay for it, the first step is naturally to make money.

Alfonso doesn't have much money in his hands at the moment.

Most of the state-owned enterprises have just started, except for some resource enterprises, there is no intention of giving dividends.

The annuity that the government should give him this year was also directly transferred back by him through a loan, and he didn't see a cent of real money.

Not only did the Spanish side not make much money, but the French business was also affected by the war.

All in all, Alfonso's income this year is around £2.4 million.

It seems like a lot, but it cost 400,000 just to buy the crown a few days ago.

The money also supports the 8,000-strong Royal Guard, half of their salaries and operational needs to be borne by the Progressive Party, and the rest by the Progressive Party.

These fixed costs alone alone amount to millions every year.

And the members of the royal family spend no less than they do on politics and military.

Alfonso himself is quite frugal, mainly because he can't find much money in Europe in this era, after all, he doesn't like to build churches.

The only hobbies are horse racing and card playing, and horse racing is still a positive one.

But Isabella's life is particularly luxurious, and after returning home, it is quite a bit of revenge consumption.

Although it is no longer the same as before, it is no longer necessary to execute people at every turn, but the money that should be spent is not less spent.

Most of them were used to build churches, manors, and castles.

Throughout Madrid, there are at least 10,000 people, either directly or indirectly, who serve Alfonso's mother and his two sisters. (At its peak, half of Madrid's people lived on the royal family)

Because of Isabella's existence, the balance of the royal family's account is almost 0.

Thankfully, Spain is about to undergo religious reform, and all the money that is now flowing into the church's wallet will have to be spit out after a while.

After much thought, Alfonso approached Edward and asked him to help him get in touch and take out a £1.2 million loan from Barclays Bank at a relatively good interest rate.

£900,000 of that will go to Spanish Tobacco.

It stands to reason that the initial production is almost sufficient.

However, Alfonso wanted to make the stall bigger, so he approached Edward again and offered to finance some of the tobacco.

"So you mean that I set up a separate tobacco company, which only grows tobacco and does not sell cigarettes, and supplies exclusively to Spain?" Edward was surprised.

At the end of the war, the country was urging him to go back, but he didn't expect to be picked up a handful of wool before leaving.

"You said you wanted me to make a fortune, and that's what you said?"

"Of course." Alfonso nodded, as a matter of course.

"Can't you just let me directly invest in West Tobacco? You spent £900,000 to raise 42% of the shares, and I'll invest another 4 or 500,000 no problem. ”

"No, the nature of state-owned enterprises cannot be changed." Alfonso flatly refused: "Forget about the royal family, private shareholding is absolutely not allowed, not to mention that you are still a foreigner." ”

"......" Edward was the first time he had seen such a strong begger - yes, it was a begging, and in his mind, the business would be lost.

Cigarettes did not officially enter the commercial market until more than 20 years ago, and the audience is quite large, but in the whole of Europe, it is not very large.

"You've developed a machine that can mass-produce cigarettes? Or do you have a way of making irresistible cigarettes? Edward asked coldly, he was not stupid, there must be a reason for such an unusual behavior.

Alfonso is not shy about it, and even if Britain knew, it would definitely be too late to develop a machine.

"Yes, we have developed a cigarette machine with a production efficiency that can reach more than ten times or even nearly a hundred times that of today."

But hearing this, Edward not only did not feel relieved, but even more sad.

"Alfonso, have you ever thought that even if you could produce cigarettes that could fill the entire Atlantic, there would be a limit to the number of smokers. There are only two nobles I know who smoke, and they still smoke and play in their spare time.

You spend millions on growing tobacco and organizing companies, and you can't absorb such a small market. ”

Edward said the truth, he didn't want his good brother to step on the pit, but Alfonso just smiled.

The market is not big now, but that's only because it's expensive, and most people haven't tried it.

As long as people can try it once, the percentage of smokers who convert is extremely high.

Historically, after the cigarette companies in the United States matured, it took less than 10 years for the United States to increase the number of smokers by nearly 10 million by relying on a strong advertising campaign.

This is still the action of a private company, and the Spanish state-owned enterprises have ended up, and the effect is absolutely not the same.

As for Edward's statement that there is no addiction, Alfonso scoffed at it, and people didn't realize the power of cigarettes at all.

The two nobles seemed to be just sucking and playing, maybe they wouldn't be able to hold it back if they didn't suck it for a while.

Of course, there is really no possibility of addiction, after all, the physique and willpower of the aristocracy are generally higher than average.

After organizing the language, Alfonso explained to Edward:

"The lives of ordinary people are not as nourishing as those of the aristocracy, and cigarettes are a good adjustment to their empty lives.

Trust me, as long as the price can come down, this thing will definitely be in short supply, faster than you can ask for money from your mother. ”

"Really?" Edward didn't believe it at all, but seeing Alfonso's sworn look, he agreed:

"You lose 900,000, I don't have anything to lose 500,000, you find someone to see me when you go back, and I will give him 500,000."

"......," Edward said, and Alfonso always felt like he was cheating on his friends.

The other party asked him to send someone, obviously thinking that the money would definitely be gone.

But no matter what, the start-up capital of the tobacco company has finally been settled.

Spanish Tobacco has also become the second largest state-owned enterprise in Spain and will become the largest in one year's time.

Alfonso was convinced of the money-making power of cigarettes, and even electric lights could not surpass them.

Under the supervision of the highest management, the employees of the state-owned enterprises showed unparalleled efficiency and negotiated the purchase and planting of land in a very short time.

These millions of foreign capital have been smashed, and thousands of jobs have been created in Greece and Ottomans respectively.

And indirectly led to the employment of nearly 10,000 people.

Tangible benefits are better than any words, and the two countries soon found out that Spain is very good and can deal with it!

This investment was important for both the Ottomans and Greece, and the timing was just right.

Greece has been following Britain all this time, but Britain has only hindered Russia's progress by liberating the small Balkan states, and has not paid much attention to them and has not helped Greece much.

Greece has been half-dead, and Spain's investment can be said to be a complete relief.

The Ottomans were not much different, although they were much larger than Greece, but they were politically unstable.

The Ottoman Sultan Abdul Aziz I made great efforts to expand the navy, and although the navy developed rapidly, this led to a high deficit, and the country was already dissatisfied with him.

This investment would not only provide him with tangible funds, but would also add another proof of the successful Westernization of the Ottoman Empire.

It just so happened that because of the unpleasant quarrel between the Ottomans and Italy because of the merchant ship incident, they were also looking for a new trade partner.