Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Italian Sun

The first task Carlo assigned to Loren was to possess a legitimate newspaper.

Whether it was acquiring an existing newspaper or starting one from scratch, Carlo only needed one result.

To demonstrate his abilities to Carlo, Loren placed great importance on this task.

In just two days, he investigated the existing newspaper institutions in Italy and shortlisted newspapers with potential that could be acquired.

Il Sole 24 Ore, this is the newspaper Loren ultimately proposed.

This is a newspaper founded last year, currently with some recognition in the business circles of Milan.

However, this newspaper persisted into later generations and even became one of Italy’s top ten media outlets.

Such an achievement indicates the undeniable potential of this newspaper.

This also means that Loren, who selected this newspaper, indeed has a very unique and excellent vision.

After determining the acquisition target, Carlo assigned Loren the next task — the proper acquisition of this newspaper named Sun Newspaper.

This highlights the benefit of having subordinates to command, at least Carlo, despite being a prince, doesn’t have to personally handle some tasks.

The acquisition went relatively smoothly.

At this time, the Sun Newspaper was just a small press, and its founders couldn’t resist the temptation of Carlo’s increased purchase offer.

From proposing the acquisition to obtaining all the shares of the Sun Newspaper, Carlo used less than four days.

Unfortunately, because the Sun Newspaper is currently just a small press, it can only sell about 1500 copies a day, a revenue barely sufficient to sustain the newspaper itself.

However, Carlo’s goal is not immediately about making the newspaper profitable. The purpose of the newspaper isn’t to earn just a small amount, but Carlo’s objective is to flood Italy’s streets with cheaper and more popular newspapers, thereby increasing his control over Italian public opinion.

Whether remaining in Italy or in the future seeking an opportunity to become the King of Spain, experience in the newspaper field can smooth Carlo’s path to establish an opinion empire.

Once public opinion is controlled, achieving many things becomes much easier. At least when the public supports him, Carlo will hold the initiative.

Nevertheless, compared to other mid-sized private newspapers, the Sun Newspaper under Carlo’s control still has significant advantages.

At least leveraging his status as a Prince of Italy, Carlo could publish some content not so easy to pass through censorship, like political news that concerned the populace.

This isn’t the era when newspapers had no market at all. If there is good news and content, expanding the newspaper’s circulation and achieving profitability is quite straightforward.

Loren, being currently Carlo’s only subordinate, naturally took on the responsibility of managing the Italian Sun and was wholly in charge of its expansion.

Carlo set several plans for Loren.

First, within the next two years, the Sun Newspaper’s daily sales should increase from 1500 copies to at least 7500 copies.

Considering that the Sun Newspaper is located in Milan, a prosperous city in northern Italy, and can extend its reach to nearby Turin and Genoa, this sales target isn’t actually very high.

The second requirement is that the Sun Newspaper must become a well-known media outlet in Northern Italy and have a certain level of credibility among the public.

If the content published by the newspaper cannot be trusted by the people, then the newspaper’s existence becomes unnecessary.

After all, the primary goal of public opinion manipulation is for people to believe in the discourse, which is also one of Carlo’s expectations for Loren.

Additionally, within two years, the Sun Newspaper should become profitable and strive to control more newspaper outlets.

Even though Carlo’s intention isn’t to make money through the newspaper, since this industry could break even, Carlo surely wants to allocate funds to more crucial areas.

As for founding or acquiring more newspapers, it’s naturally to enhance control over public opinion for Carlo.

In Carlo’s vision, the Sun Newspaper will primarily focus on political news and international affairs in the future, while smaller newspapers can fill in the gaps with entertainment news and various gossip.

After all, if a credible newspaper reports on some gossip and side stories, it would absolutely damage its credibility.

While Loren is diligently executing Carlo’s tasks, Carlo on the other hand, is contemplating the current map of the Kingdom of Italy.

Although the fragmented Apennine Peninsula has been largely unified into a complete Kingdom of Italy, there are still two areas not yet returned to Italy’s embrace.

The northern Venice Region is still controlled by the Austria-Hungary, and the most important city for Italy, Rome, still belongs to the Pope State.

Although the Pope State seems to be the easier target, unfortunately, it is backed by France.

At this point, France isn’t the nation humorously referred to as a surrenderer during World War II, but the French Empire illuminated by the afterglow of Napoleon.

Because Germany has yet to unify, France is practically the hegemon of Western Europe and the foremost land force in Europe.

Hence, supported by France, the Pope State continues to hold Rome, forcing Italy to temporarily have its capital in Florence.

However, Carlo is not in a hurry about this.

Historically, the unification of Italy by the Sardinian Kingdom can be described as effortless; they barely faced any tough battles.

The largest nation in Southern Italy, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was decayed, easily destroyed by Garibaldi’s expedition of thousands.

In Central Italy, the states were not at all comparable in scale to the Sardinian Kingdom and had no choice but to comply in the face of unification trends.

The truly challenging obstacles were overcome by leaning on Prussia. The Austro-Prussian War saw Prussia distracting the Austrian Empire, leading to the recovery of the Venice Region.

The Franco-Prussian War, through the French guarding against the Prussian Army, allowed for the smooth takeover of Rome.

These seemingly insurmountable issues were effortlessly resolved, and although it was the Prussian Army that broke these barriers, it was the Kingdom of Italy that ultimately reaped the benefits.

Carlo has a certain understanding of the period marked by Prussia’s rise.

Coincidentally enough, this year happens to be 1866, the very stage where the Austro-Prussian War is about to erupt.

If history follows its course, the Austro-Prussian War should commence within the next six months, Prussia will accelerate the unification of Germany, and Italy will reclaim the northern Venice Region.

Facing such a pivotal historic moment, Carlo cannot let the opportunity slip away. Though direct interference in the Austro-Prussian War isn’t possible, as a participant of the Kingdom of Italy, Carlo can at least slightly alter the course of history.