"How many troops do we currently have available for Morocco?" Carlo asked after a moment of careful thought.
Seeing that Carlo had an idea, Serrano quickly replied, "20,000 Spanish army troops can be dispatched at any time, Your Majesty.
If we add the troops stationed in Ceuta and Tetouan, we can mobilize about 30,000 troops, which is completely sufficient to deal with the Moroccan army."
Ceuta and Tetouan are cities in Morocco that were occupied by Spain through force, so naturally, they require more troops to maintain order.
Spain also regards these two cities as bridgeheads for colonizing Morocco. Whether during Queen Isabella II's reign or now, the garrison in these two cities has never been reduced.
"What does the Government plan to do?" Carlo looked at Prim.
"Make the situation in Ceuta more lively, which will affect the entire Morocco region," Prim said with a smile. "As long as these Moroccans' rebellion causes casualties among Spanish civilians, it will be the time for our army to declare war on Morocco."
The Moroccan government cannot escape responsibility for the rebellion of the Moroccans. As long as it causes casualties among Spanish civilians, Spain will have sufficient reason to intervene in the situation in Morocco by force.
Once war breaks out, the final outcome will no longer be up to the Moroccan government.
If the Great Powers do not intervene, it is not impossible to directly turn Morocco into a colony. Anyway, it is not far from the Spanish mainland, and it is quite convenient to launch a rebellion.
By continuously exploiting Morocco, Spain can accelerate its industrial construction and economic growth, and also divert domestic conflicts.
"Very good, let's do that," Carlo nodded, no longer hesitating.
"As you command, Your Majesty," Prim smiled and nodded upon hearing this, and left the Royal Family with Serrano.
Although Spain is not a Great Power, its desire for colonies is no less than that of Great Power countries. As the world's first empire on which the sun never set, Spain once possessed vast colonies.
Although there are very few colonies left now, the Spanish Government, including Prime Minister Prim, still has a desire for colonies.
This was also the norm for European countries in this era. If Spain and Portugal showed European countries the huge income brought by colonization during the Great Age of Discovery, then the strength of Great Britain made European countries' ambitions for colonization continue to expand.
Basically, every European country has the idea of expanding its colonies.
The fact that countries like Portugal and Belgium have colonies in Africa is enough to prove the influence of colonization on European countries in this era. This can quickly make a country rich without requiring too much investment.
When Prim and Serrano walked out of the Royal Family, Carlo called for the butler, Loren.
Prim and Serrano's desire for Morocco also reminded Carlo. Although Africa is very large, almost all the Great Powers are focusing their attention on this continent.
If Spain does not participate in the scramble for Africa early, perhaps only uninhabited deserts and sparsely populated primary forests will be left for Spain in the future.
Africa has an area of up to 30 million square kilometers, with countless mineral resources and inestimable economic value.
Being able to occupy a part of Africa will be a good help for Spain.
Since the Government is keeping an eye on Morocco, Carlo naturally set his sights on other areas of Africa, such as Congo, which Belgium historically obtained.
There were too many reasons for Belgium to obtain Congo, but ultimately, it was because several European Great Powers did not want the other to obtain this land.
And the Belgian King happened to appear at this time and began the exploration and occupation of Congo.
Compared to Congo being occupied by other Great Powers, Belgium, with significantly weaker overall strength, was naturally not a threat.
It was also because of this that this land finally fell into Congo's hands, allowing Congo to snatch this piece of rich land from the hands of many Great Powers.
How large was the Congo colony obtained by Belgium? The total area was as high as 2.34 million square kilometers, and it had a large amount of mineral resources.
Congo's copper reserves are about 75 million tons, accounting for 15% of the world's total reserves, cobalt reserves are about 4.5 million tons, accounting for 50% of the world's total reserves, and tantalite reserves are about 30 million tons, accounting for 80% of the world's total reserves.
In addition, Congo also has 206 million carats of diamond reserves and extremely rich iron ore, non-metallic minerals, and other resources.
In addition to minerals, Congo also has large reserves of oil and natural gas, and its economic value is definitely far beyond that of ordinary colonies.
Of course, what made Carlo even more excited was that Congo had a large amount of uranium ore, and the purity of this uranium ore was extremely high.
Uranium-235 extracted from uranium ore is the main raw material for making atomic bombs. If Congo can be occupied, it will be of considerable help when Spain develops atomic bombs in the future.
Higher purity uranium ore can help Spain better extract uranium-235, which is very important for Spain's future strategic deployment, and its importance is comparable to Congo's other mineral resources.
If nothing else, just these high-purity uranium ores made Carlo decide to take down Congo at all costs.
Currently, Spain's biggest enemy in taking down Congo is actually Belgium, or rather, King Leopold II of Belgium.
This is because King Leopold II of Belgium did not use Government funds during the colonization of Congo. All expenses came from the property of the Belgian Royal Family.
This also led to Leopold II successfully turning Congo into his own territory after obtaining the right to rule Congo.
Carlo does not think he will lose to Leopold II in this colonial scramble. After all, he can also rely on the Spanish Government, and the Spanish Government is much stronger than Belgium.
Even if it is not elevated to the national level, Carlo is confident that he can defeat Leopold II.
By the time Spain's five-year Industry development plan is completed, Carlo's factories will have long been making a fortune.
At least in terms of spending money, Carlo is really not afraid of Leopold II. Anyway, with his vision from later generations and vast capital, Carlo can always earn enough funds.
For example, the engine research being carried out by Benz and others. Once cars are manufactured and production costs are greatly reduced through assembly line production, the sales of cars will be enough for Carlo to never worry about funding problems again.
How much property did Leopold II have? How much does he dare to take out to fight Carlo in the colonial struggle?
When Carlo explored the Congo region earlier than Leopold II, it was already destined that Leopold II would be at a disadvantage in this colonial struggle.