As time entered February 1874, the atmosphere of the cabinet election became more intense.

However, the outcome of such cabinet elections was actually predetermined even before the election. The Progressive Party, led by Prime Minister Prim, still held the majority of the parliamentary seats, which meant that Prime Minister Prim was 100% certain to become the Prime Minister of the new cabinet government.

Indeed, things turned out as expected.

Prime Minister Prim was successfully re-elected as the Prime Minister of the second cabinet government with a vote rate of over 81%.

The Spanish House of Representatives has a total of 208 seats, with the Progressive Party occupying 106 seats, accounting for over 51%.

The Liberal Party, which supports reform, holds 42 seats, accounting for more than 20%.

The votes held by these two parties alone exceeded 148, far surpassing the 60% of votes required to become Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

The Conservative Party, controlled by Canovas, is the second largest party in the Spanish House of Representatives, with precisely 52 seats, occupying 25% of the total seats.

Currently, the seats in the Spanish House of Representatives are basically controlled by these three major parties, with only 8 seats belonging to independent individuals and other parties.

This also led to a result that even if Prime Minister Prim did not run, the position of Prime Minister would only be elected from the Progressive Party, the Liberal Party, and the Conservative Party.

Considering the seats occupied by the Progressive Party have already surpassed half of the total seats in the House of Representatives, in the next cabinet government election, whoever can succeed Prime Minister Prim as the leader of the Progressive Party may possibly, with the help of the Progressive Party, become the new Prime Minister of Spain.

After Prime Minister Prim was successfully re-elected, he quickly submitted the list of ministers of the second cabinet government to Carlo.

Earlier, Carlo had already communicated with Prime Minister Prim and demanded the two positions of Minister of Industry and Minister of Agriculture.

For the Spanish Cabinet Government, among the various departments, the most important ones are three: Defense, Finance, and Industry.

Currently, only Serrano can qualify for the position of Minister of Defense. This is not out of consideration for ability, but because of Duke Serrano’s prestige in the military and for balance.

Even if the position of Minister of Defense cannot be held by Carlo, at least it should be controlled by someone who can maintain neutrality between Prime Minister Prim and Carlo.

Duke Serrano is qualified because, apart from having prestige in the Spanish Military equal to that of Prime Minister Prim, his relationship with Prime Minister Prim is not close; it’s merely a cooperative relationship.

If one of Prime Minister Prim’s subordinates controlled the Defense Department, it would indeed be a situation of holding both financial and military power, enough to threaten Carlo’s royal authority.

Hence, regardless of the circumstances, Carlo cannot concede the position of Minister of Defense, and can only let Duke Serrano continue to serve, until new outstanding generals are cultivated by the Spanish Military.

Duke Serrano is also happy about this. The Spanish Minister of Defense commands both the navy and the army, having considerable power.

Continuing to stay in the powerful position of Minister of Defense is naturally much better than retiring early. Although Duke Serrano is already 63 years old this year, it doesn’t mean he is willing to part with power and retire early.

Prime Minister Prim is unwilling to give up the position of Minister of Industry, but faced with Carlo’s request, he is helpless.

Although Carlo’s attitude seems to be just discussing, Prime Minister Prim understands that he cannot refuse.

Refusal would not mean much, but it would definitely damage the previously good cooperation between the state authority and royal authority in Spain. Future reforms and development plans that Prime Minister Prim wants to promote are also destined not to receive strong support from Carlo.

After much thought, Prime Minister Prim eventually agreed to Carlo’s demand, allowing the former Minister of Agriculture, Canovas, to serve as the new Minister of Industry in the new cabinet government. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

However, this created a new problem: how should the position of the former Minister of Industry, Manuel Ruiz Soria, be addressed?

Ruiz is not a minor figure; he is the second figure in the Progressive Party and is very likely to take over the Progressive Party after Prime Minister Prim retires.

Being in charge of one of the three major departments, the Ministry of Industry, is enough to prove Ruiz’s prestige in the Progressive Party. Unashamedly, even without Prime Minister Prim, Ruiz could rely on his influence in the political arena to enter the cabinet government and even compete for the position of Prime Minister.

The Minister of Finance is still held by Ewald, who is highly trusted by Prime Minister Prim, which means Ruiz can only seek other positions in the second cabinet government, having no concern with the three major departments.

Although Prime Minister Prim is troubled, he can only strive to solve Ruiz’s problem to avoid issues within the Progressive Party.

After much thought, Prime Minister Prim finally came up with a solution, which is to split the current Ministry of Industry into two departments: the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transport.

Currently, Spain’s industry department is very large, with its management business being diverse. Previously, because Spain’s industry was not large, it was very normal for the Ministry of Industry to comprehensively manage all business related to industry.

But the current situation is different from before. Spain’s industry has already achieved considerable growth, and the improvement brought by the two industrial bases is visible to the naked eye.