Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Persona Is Paramount

Since the newspaper is now in hand as a tool for influencing public opinion, the next crucial step is to create a popular persona.

If a persona is crafted well, Carlo can be perceived by the public as siding with the majority, even without taking any action.

As a member of the royal family, a friendly and compassionate nature is predestined to be well-received.

The public certainly does not want their royalty to appear aloof, which is why, in later generations, monarchs led by the British king consistently portray an amicable and benevolent image.

Whether presented to the Italian or European public, rigid conservative views are destined not to be welcomed.

Though monarchies house a substantial number of conservatives, in Italy and the Spain Carlo aspires to, the reform faction is truly what the people wish to see.

However, although Carlo wants to establish a reformist image, he will definitely not offer any opinions on Italy’s reform.

Reform is one thing, but who leads this reform is the truly important issue. Supporting and having faith in reform is Carlo’s weapon, but if he were to meddle directly with the reform, it would be counterproductive.

No government likes a king who meddles in every aspect of the country. If Carlo wants to become the King of Spain, he must first understand how to be a mascot, refraining from interfering everywhere.

On February 21, 1866, Italy’s Sun Newspaper published an article authored by Carlo titled “We Want Bread, Pasta, and Milk,” successfully firing the first shot at building an image of caring for the people.

In this entirely uplifting article, Carlo repeatedly emphasized the importance of the lower Italian populace, especially the farmers of Southern Italy.

He also summarized in the article: Whether in Italy or Europe, the needs of the people are not complex; they simply wish to be well-fed and warm.

If the government could focus more on the lower population, perhaps the people’s lives would be happier.

The entire article did not contain profound reasoning, instead depicting Carlo as a prince bored with nothing to do and overflowing with compassion.

Although many lower-class citizens developed a favorable impression of Carlo due to this report, government officials were disdainful.

Caring for the lower-class’s lives? Sounds pleasant, but isn’t it still the government footing the bill?

Not to mention the fiscal budget required to improve all the lower-class lives in Italy; wouldn’t it be better to invest this money in areas Italy needs more, like military construction and industrial development?

As for those lower-class civilians, ensuring they don’t starve is already good enough; which noble lords would be concerned if commoners are well-fed or warm?

Because Carlo really lacks capable personnel, this report only had a certain influence around Milan, not even reaching Florence.

But as for Carlo’s plan, it successfully took the first step. Regardless of the thoughts of the government and nobility, what needs to be done first is to make the people believe that Carlo is a prince concerned with lower-class groups, even overflowing with compassion.

Such a character will certainly not be disliked by the populace, because an overwhelming majority of any nation comprises the lower class, which no political system or ideology can change.

It’s a pity Carlo is still too young; many arrangements cannot be smoothly executed and require spending considerable time and effort completing traditional aristocratic elite education in Italy.

Though merely a prince, his position in the line of succession for the throne is basically impossible, ranked third.

Nonetheless, Vittorio Emanuele II pays close attention to Carlo’s education and training. As Vittorio Emanuele II’s youngest son at present, Carlo undoubtedly receives the most paternal affection and focus.

This year, Carlo is nearing the age of 15, having basically completed early elite aristocratic education.

According to Vittorio Emanuele II’s plan for Carlo’s training, Carlo has two options. One is to choose management and economics for in-depth study, facilitating the proper handling of his lands and assets in the future.

The other option is to attend a military academy, becoming a glorious Italian officer, contributing to the royal family and nation.

For Carlo, who has already made plans in his heart, the most suitable choice is clearly to attend military academy and cultivate his military capabilities.

More importantly, attending military academy might allow him to meet some officers with good military capabilities despite lacking notable reputations, thus accumulating his network.

Unfortunately, Carlo is not the first in line for the throne, the Crown Prince. Otherwise, he could entirely rely on the identity of the Crown Prince to build a palace guard, cultivating his armed forces from scratch.

Although post-unification Italy has qualified to compete among great powers, its foundation remains too shallow; even now, the situation with military academies is similar.

Later generations’ world’s top ten renowned military academies lack Italy’s presence, and even now, Italy has few worthy military academies to choose from.

The most reliable academy choice presently is the Turin Military Academy located in the capital of the former Sardinian Kingdom.

This military academy, situated in the Savoy family’s stronghold Turin, is a key institution for cultivating military backbones in the Sardinian Kingdom.

Vittorio Emanuele II maintains a supportive attitude toward Carlo’s aspiration to attend military academy.

This is quite common for Western monarchies. For the kings of these monarchies, the people they trust most are royal family members and nobles.

Turin Royal Military Academy mainly trains officers for infantry and artillery, whereas the Royal Military Academy of Milan trains cavalry officers.

This is why Carlo directly chose the Turin Royal Military Academy—firstly because Carlo doesn’t need to charge into battle personally, and secondly, because cavalry will be phased out in the coming decades, and the terrain of Spain and Italy doesn’t suit large-scale cavalry charges.

Actually, compared to the instructors at the Turin Royal Military Academy, Carlo admires a legendary Italian name more: Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the three great contributors to Italian unification, a hero of two worlds.

If purely discussing military capabilities, Garibaldi is undoubtedly the finest modern Italian military commander.

Even later generations’ historians only mention three brilliant contributors when describing Italian unification, the so-called three founding fathers of Italy.

“Italy’s unification owed to Mazzini’s ideas, Garibaldi’s swords, and Cavour’s diplomacy.”

From this statement, one can discern how outstanding Garibaldi’s military talent was.

But unfortunately, among Italy’s three founding fathers, only Prime Minister Cavour belonged to the Sardinian Kingdom faction; Mazzini, who created the idea of Italian unification, was thoroughly republican, an enemy to monarchy.

And Carlo’s profound admiration for Garibaldi, despite Garibaldi never openly opposing monarchy, he has repeatedly leaned towards republican systems, not trusted by monarchies.

Though Garibaldi selflessly contributed to Italy’s unification progress, handing over the entire Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’ territory to Sardinian Kingdom governance resolutely.

Still, Garibaldi’s high esteem in the military and his past support for republicanism prevent him from entering the new Italy’s upper echelon.