Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 73: Chapter 72: Visiting Italy

Ensuring the Electricity Laboratory and Engine Research Room are both running smoothly, Carlo finally breathed a sigh of relief and decided to personally travel abroad to recruit some talents to join Spain.

Speaking of which, since Carlo became the King of Spain, he hasn’t left Spain until now.

The current situation in Spain has stabilized, with Prim and Serrano holding the fort at home, there’s naturally no need to worry about any unexpected events in Spain.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Carlo decides to return to Italy to not only conduct a diplomatic visit with the Italian Government, but also to attract a batch of Italian technical talents and scientists to Spain.

The reason for choosing to go to Italy is firstly because King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II is Carlo’s father, which in some extent, will assist Carlo’s talent attraction plan.

Although the overall illiteracy rate in Italy is high, most of those who lower the level are the farmers in Southern Italy.

If we only look at the industrial, economic and educational situation in Northern Italy, it’s evident that the original Sardinian Kingdom’s reforms were quite successful, which is the reason the Sardinian Kingdom eventually unified Italy.

Compared to the corrupt and autocratic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the more enlightened and powerful Sardinian Kingdom garnered more support for Italian unification, including Italy’s true war god Garibaldi.

Yes, another purpose of Carlo’s visit to Italy is to recruit some military talents from Garibaldi.

Currently, Giotto has been promoted to the commander of the Royal Guard Corps, and his military capabilities make Carlo very satisfied.

Moreover, in the Red Army established by Garibaldi, quite a few talents emerged, with many later becoming members of parliament or even cabinet ministers, and it’s not unheard of for some to reach the position of Prime Minister.

If a few talents can be attracted to Carlo’s allegiance, it would considerably enrich Carlo’s available pool.

Considering the successful reforms of the Sardinian Kingdom, when Prim heard about Carlo’s visit to Italy, instead of refusing, he requested Carlo to take some officials to learn from Italy’s advanced reform experiences.

Italy, after all, is a major power, surely there are aspects worthy of Spain’s study. Even more so since Italy isn’t weak in industrial and economic aspects; it’s merely the average that was lowered after the consolidation.

In fact, Italy’s military industry is quite strong, and its naval research and manufacturing capabilities are Europe’s best, far surpassing Spain.

Just like that, Carlo’s initial delegation rapidly expanded from less than 200 to more than 500 people.

To ensure the safety of Carlo and the entire delegation, the accompanying troop numbers were increased from the initially planned hundred-member Guard Army to a troop of over 300 members.

After all, it’s the King leading a large group of officials for a formal diplomatic visit, which the Spanish Government highly regards.

Most of Spain’s originally small-sized navy set sail to provide escort for a yacht carrying the King and numerous officials.

On the other side in Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II also received Carlo’s request for a diplomatic visit.

There’s certainly no reason to refuse such a request, Vittorio Emanuele II decisively approved Spain’s diplomatic request and instructed the government to prepare to receive Carlo.

Since Carlo was originally a Prince of Italy and now is the King of Spain, the reception for Carlo should not be low.

Seeing the King’s smile upon hearing Spain’s diplomatic visit request, current Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza immediately understood the etiquette for receiving Carlo.

Do we even need to ask? Everything according to the highest standards.

Yet again, a familiar and uncomfortable sea voyage. The sailing speed of ships in this era is far from fast, and combined with the bumpy feeling on sea, made Carlo somewhat irritable.

The good news is, the distance between Spain and Italy isn’t far, thus this uncomfortable sea journey actually won’t take too long.

Rome.

That day’s Rome port was bustling. Italian Prime Minister Giovanni and Crown Prince Umberto personally waited at the port for Carlo’s arrival, offering Carlo and Spain ample respect.

Watching a yacht escorted by Spanish warships slowly approaching the port, Crown Prince Umberto had mixed feelings.

Never did he expect that his often-ill brother would become king earlier than himself, while he still needs to wait for an unknown period to ascend to the throne.

However, as the eldest son and Crown Prince, Umberto’s future ascension is relatively secure. While his feelings are complex, he does not harbor much jealousy towards Carlo.

Once the yacht stabilized, the Royal Guard was the first to disembark, forming a queue awaiting Carlo.

Under everyone’s gaze, Carlo slowly made his way to the port, followed by several Spanish officials.

Prime Minister Giovanni and Crown Prince Umberto swiftly stepped forward, demonstrating their hosts’ decorum: “Your Majesty Carlo!” “Carlo!”

“Brother Umberto! Prime Minister Giovanni!” Carlo also laughed, stepping forward to engage in pleasantries with the two.

“Prime Minister Giovanni, there’s no need for such formality. For me, returning to Italy feels like returning home.” Carlo said with a smile.

The presence of multiple Italian officials behind Prime Minister Giovanni proved Italy’s emphasis on Carlo, which greatly pleased Carlo.

If he recruits some talents in Italy, it seems the Italian Government wouldn’t mind too much?

After all, Italy’s population far exceeds Spain’s, and Northern Italy’s educational situation is much better than Spain’s, ordinary talents shouldn’t be overly valued.

Moreover, besides being the King of Spain, Carlo is also the distinguished Duke of Chablais in Italy.

This is characteristic of European nobility, although a king’s title is far superior to a duke’s, a king can concurrently hold a duke’s title.

Before completing reforms in Spain, the title of Spanish King is also quite complex.

Carlo’s predecessor, Queen Isabel, had an extremely long noble title encompassing many king titles like Castile, Leon, Aragon, and numerous duke and earl titles.

However, since Queen Isabel, Spanish rulers have only held the title of King of Spain, with all other titles consolidated within.

Prime Minister Giovanni did not claim credit for preparing the grand welcome ceremony, but attributed all the credit to King Emanuele and Crown Prince Umberto: “It was all at the behests of His Majesty and His Highness the Prince, I merely acted on their behalf.

But I still want to say, esteemed His Majesty Carlo, welcome back to Italy.”