Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 77: Chapter 75: Hunting

Carlo also didn’t expect to solve most of his long-standing funding issues after coming to Italy.

With this funding, the expansion of steel mills and other factories over the next few years should not worry about funding issues.

The Spanish Government also hopes to borrow a batch of loans from Italian bankers, and there won’t be too harsh additional conditions. This is already quite a good outcome.

If those officials can’t obtain loans from Italian bankers, then other countries basically shouldn’t count on it.

Because these bankers are willing to lend the money because they can earn enough interest as income through the loans and also make a fortune with some extra conditions.

Here in Italy, with Carlo’s connections, Italian bankers shouldn’t ask for too much, and Emanuele II wouldn’t let those bankers set excessively harsh conditions.

But in other countries, they wouldn’t care about the Spanish Government’s plight. As long as capitalists can earn enough profits from the loans, and as long as the government benefits somehow, who would care about the harm inflicted on the Spanish Government?

In the afternoon, Carlo appeared at a hunting ground in the suburbs of Rome.

This place is over 30 kilometers away from the city center of Rome, and after the capital of Italy moved to Rome, it was designated as the royal hunting ground by the Italian Royal Family for family members to hunt and enjoy leisure.

Carlo, dressed in casual clothes, followed Emanuele II, with Crown Prince Umberto and Duke Amadeo nearby.

In the dense forest, wild animals occasionally flashed by.

Emanuele II clearly enjoyed such a hunting ground very much; he took a shotgun from the guards, patiently aimed at the target, and then pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A deer fell dozens of meters away, its four hooves still kicking randomly, but it was already too late.

“You should give it a try too, Carlo. Hopefully, a year-plus of being King hasn’t made you forget how to handle a shotgun. I certainly wouldn’t want my son to forget how to use a firearm.” Emanuele II gestured for Carlo to take the shotgun, smiling as he spoke.

With the development of firearms, proficient use of current firearms has long been a subject European nobles need to learn from a young age.

Traditional elite-style noble education required learning a variety of subjects, which reflects the nobility’s expectations for their children, hoping to cultivate them into talents.

Even in terms of languages, besides the frequently used French by European nobles, English and German must also be capable of brief exchanges.

Carlo didn’t waste words either, he took the shotgun from his father Emanuele II, loaded it with ammunition, and began to search for his prey.

Bang!

After the gunfire, everyone looked toward the noise, and a gray-haired wild rabbit had met its end.

“Haha, not bad, it seems you haven’t forgotten this part of your education either.” Emanuele II nodded satisfactorily, speaking to his child:

“Shotguns can temporarily be unused, but they can’t be completely absent. Only by holding the shotgun in your own hands can a hunter get the most basic sense of security.

Carlo, you’re doing great in Spain, but not great enough. You need to know that at crucial moments, you can only trust yourself, understand?

Being a King isn’t that easy; the Republican Faction is trying every way to knock you off the throne, and the Liberal Faction appears manageable, but in reality, they want a King who does nothing, just knows how to play.

The current Spanish Government seems stable, but that’s just on the surface. Prim is nearly 60 years old, right? How many more years can he hold out?

Child, you should start making your own plans. Whether the throne is stable or not should be decided by you. External forces will eventually be lost, and you’ll ultimately have to face the Spanish republicans and the liberal forces alone.”

Seriously speaking, Italy and Spain do have something in common.

Both countries are troubled by the Republican Faction, and remnants of forces in the States that were annexed into Italy are also seeking autonomy.

The difference is that the Sardinian Kingdom’s forces are still highly loyal to Emanuele II, and the honor of unifying the Kingdom of Italy is enough for Emanuele II to be remembered by all Italians.

Of course, Carlo understands what Emanuele II is saying, and Carlo also understands the principles mentioned.

The phrase “Political power comes from the barrel of a gun” is timeless in any era. Carlo wants to secure his throne, and he must hold a sizable military force in his hand.

The current Royal Guard Corps is only 2,000 strong, and while it’s enough to secure the Royal Palace, thinking it could maintain his regime is a mere illusion.

Only by expanding influence to the Spanish army and gaining loyalty from most of the army can he truly stabilize his royal power.

These things Carlo is also considering, and even acting upon.

But at the moment, Carlo is short on capable hands, and with Prim and Serrano, two major military figures, still around, it’s not suitable to openly promote confidants in the army.

“I know, Father. But I just don’t have enough talent at hand. Why don’t you send a few talents from the Turin Military Academy my way?” Carlo said with a smile.

No matter how the Italian army performed in World War I and World War II, the graduates from the Turin Military Academy at this time certainly have some caliber.

As for why the Italian military wasn’t strong later on, it’s probably largely related to the lack of unity within the army.

The lack of cohesion among soldiers greatly affects the combat strength of the army.

Italian soldiers seem like mere workers lacking the courage to fight for and die for the country, unable to demonstrate strong will and combat strength when facing enemies.

Emanuele II looked helplessly at his son without the slightest hint of anger: “Even I don’t have enough excellent graduates from the Turin Military Academy, where am I supposed to find a batch of graduates for you?

Moreover, you are the King of Spain; how can you abandon Spaniards and instead heavily use Italians?”

Carlo certainly never thought of relying heavily on officers trained by the Italian Military Academy. Upon hearing Father Emanuele II say this, Carlo immediately began pretending to be poor:

“Father, I also want to train Spain’s own officers. The problem is that Spain’s military academy system is already noticeably outdated, lacking excellent military commanders to impart knowledge to the academy students.

Could you lend me a few professors from the Turin Military Academy?”

Emanuele II knew his son’s ideas well, and with a bit of annoyance, he said: “The German Empire has the strongest land army in Europe; if you want to build an officer training system, why not cooperate with the Germans?”