Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 37: Chapter 36: Palace Guard Expansion

Prim is truly a man of his word.

The day after he mentioned the abolition of the tithe to Carlo, he had his party members submit a proposal to abolish the tithe in the House of Representatives.

The current House of Representatives, rather than being a place for collective deliberation, is more like Prim’s personal forum. With control over the majority of the seats, Prim easily passed the proposal, thus abolishing the tithe that had burdened Spanish peasants for centuries with such ease.

Before the peasants could even react, the Spanish Parliament was completely bewildered.

Pedro, the chief archbishop of the Spanish Parliament and the Archbishop of Toledo, was full of questions as he incredulously stared at the newspaper in his hands.

The newspaper boldly stated that, according to the vote of the House of Representatives today, the tithe had been abolished throughout Spain, effective immediately!

“Damn it, the government has no right to cancel our tithe, it’s a right granted by God!” Archbishop Pedro felt a pang of pain in his heart thinking about the substantial income he would lose each year due to the abolition of the tithe, angrily glared at the newspaper, and said through gritted teeth.

“Bishop, what should we do?” one of Pedro’s subordinates approached and asked.

“What should we do? What else can we do?” Archbishop Pedro cast a disgruntled glance at his subordinate and said with a hint of displeasure, “Do we have an army? Can we resist Carlo and Prim’s rule over Spain?

What we need to do now is to wait and see, and formulate our plans after Carlos Faction and Prim decide who the victor is.”

Although Archbishop Pedro was distressed over the lost taxes, it didn’t mean he would lose his rationality over it.

The tithe basically exploited Spanish peasants, who were currently staunch supporters of Carlo and the Primor Government.

The peasants were already dissatisfied with the long-term collection of the tithe by the Church, and if the Church opposed it now, wouldn’t that just play right into Prim’s hands?

Without the tithe, the Church could still secure its income through other means. However, if they opposed the Spanish Government over the tithe, wouldn’t they face retribution after a future war victory?

As the chief archbishop of Spain, Archbishop Pedro’s words carried significant weight.

And so, after the government announced the abolition of the tithe, the Spanish Church made no moves, acting as though it had nothing to do with them.

Both Carlo and Prim were somewhat surprised upon hearing the news. Prim had prepared to deal with the Church, but who would have thought these greedy bishops would be willing to give up their major source of income?

The most excited people across Spain, of course, were the peasants who lost at least a tenth of their income every year due to the tithe.

Abolishing the tithe was beneficial to all of Spain, except for the Church, who collected it directly.

Without this harsh heavy tax, the income of Spanish peasants would see a significant rise, and the government’s tax revenue would also correspondingly increase.

With a bit of spare money in their hands, peasants would naturally stimulate Spain’s economic growth. This would be beneficial for the future development of Spain’s industry, after all, only when the people have money will they buy industrial products.

After the abolition of the tithe, Spaniards’ satisfaction with the government and Carlo rose substantially.

Especially after experiencing assassination events, Spaniards began to genuinely recognize Carlo and believe in his grand vision of making Spain great.

Whereas before, Carlo was more of a foreign monarch in the minds of Spaniards, now he had become truly one of their own.

Since everyone was one of their own, it was obvious who the outsider was.

Yes, it refers to you, the one blocking government reforms and affecting the income of peasants and workers, the false King Carlos VII!

Although the lower classes are easily swayed by public opinion, it does not mean they cannot distinguish between the good and the bad.

During Carlo’s reign, the Spanish Government was undergoing reforms and tax reductions, and the lives of peasants were increasingly improving.

Although the Carlos Faction claimed that reforms would affect factory profits, leading to bankruptcies and job losses for workers.

But weren’t the reforms in Madrid proceeding well? Not only was there no sight of factory bankruptcies, but workers also received their full wages for the first time.

Although Spaniards were unaware of the situation in the Catalonia Region, considering that King Carlos VII supported by the Carlos Faction also hailed from the Bourbon family.

The Bourbon family’s reputation needs no explanation, it’s that devilish family Spaniards shudder to mention.

And who were the supporters of the Carlos Faction? Catalans? Basque?

Looking at the orthodox Spaniards living around Madrid, is it not clear who the scourge of Spain is?

For Spaniards, who make up the majority of Spain’s population, would they support those minority groups that want to split the country?

For this reason, the chaotic situation in Spain was already clear. Carlo and Prim hoped for more forces to stand up and support the Carlos Faction, so they could resolve the issue once and for all.

The most regrettable thing at the moment was the Church not standing up against the government, otherwise, the vast lands owned by the Church, whether rented low-rate to peasants or awarded to soldiers for military merits, could boost the government’s reputation once more.

After waiting a few more days, confirming that the Church really had no intention of supporting the Carlos Faction, Prim regretfully organized troops to pacify the rebellion north.

However, to protect Carlo and Madrid’s security, Prim left behind a force of less than ten thousand troops, more than enough to defend Madrid.

Moreover, the populace surrounding Madrid was exceptionally supportive of the government. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that if the Carlos Faction truly reached the vicinity of Madrid, Carlo could rally tens of thousands of militia to join the fight with just a wave of his hand.

And with Madrid at the heart of the Spanish congregated area, for the Carlos Faction to reach there before the main Spanish forces could react would be as challenging as directly defeating the Spanish Army head-on.

While Prim marched north to quell the rebellion, Carlo wasn’t idle in Madrid.

After settling accounts with the factory owners around Madrid, Carlo ended up with several million more Peseta at hand.

This proved that these factory owners weren’t unable to pay the workers’ wages. They had the funds to fully pay all workers, but they weren’t willing to do so.

This fortuitously benefitted Carlo. With this unexpected wealth, Carlo could also expand his Palace Guard and form a true Royal Guard Army.

However, considering the available funding and the combat capability post-expansion, Carlo only planned to expand the original 500-man Palace Guard to a roughly 2,500-man Guard Corps.

The Guard Corps would consist of two Guard Infantry Battalions and one Guard Cavalry Battalion, each infantry battalion having about 1,000 soldiers, and the cavalry battalion having about 500 soldiers.

Though there wouldn’t be a separate artillery battalion, Carlo planned to equip each Guard Infantry Battalion with two to three cannons to enhance the overall firepower of the Guard Corps.

Once expanded, the Guard Corps will undertake the responsibility of protecting the Imperial Palace and Carlo, and serve as a unit directly under Carlo’s command.