Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 52: Chapter 51: The Perfect Plan

“What? Prime Minister Prim was assassinated?” Upon hearing Loren’s report, Carlo instantly lost any trace of sleepiness and hurriedly asked, “Is the Prime Minister alright? What’s the situation now?”

For Spain at this moment, the loss of Prime Minister Prim would be unbearable.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Prim’s importance to Spain at this point far surpasses that of Carlo as King.

Carlo is still too young to possibly command all of Spain’s forces to obey.

It is only Prim, with a military background and great prestige in both military and political spheres, who can currently suppress those with ulterior motives.

In this regard, Serrano is much inferior.

Although Serrano also comes from the military and has a certain reputation in the political arena,

Serrano leans towards conservatism and has not obtained the support of the Reform Faction and the Progressive Party.

Perhaps Serrano’s personal loyalty to Carlo is higher than Prim’s, but he is not suitable to be Spain’s Prime Minister; he is more suited for a military position such as Secretary of State for War.

Prim and Serrano, one civil and one military, are Spain’s best configuration at the moment.

Any accident involving either of them is something Carlo doesn’t want to see.

“Prime Minister Prim wasn’t injured, but when the guards pursued the assassin, they only found two bodies,” Steward Luo Lun said with a somewhat peculiar expression.

“Two bodies?” Carlo was stunned for a moment, then reacted: “So they were silenced? Are there any concrete clues?”

“Not yet.” Steward Luo Lun shook his head, somewhat helplessly saying, “It was evident that the people behind this were well-prepared. Besides the two unidentified assassin corpses, even the weapons used for the assassination were picked up.”

Carlo nodded. Since Prime Minister Prim was unharmed, dealing with the subsequent matters became easier.

“Investigate thoroughly. Don’t overlook any corner of Madrid. I want to know who is trying to assassinate our Prime Minister, who wants to ruin our reform and Spain.” Carlo said with a blank expression.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Loren nodded, going off to convey Carlo’s orders.

Although there were no clues, Carlo already had a rough idea of who might have attempted to assassinate Prim.

The motive for assassinating Prim is most likely his reform. Currently, the reform goes against the interests of factory owners, the Church, and the aristocracy. Only these three powers would have the capability to send an assassin for Prime Minister Prim.

However, the factory owners probably don’t have such power. To dispatch assassins and also prepare to silence them means having subordinates who are utterly loyal.

Most factory owners who haven’t been accounted for in Madrid are small-scale, and they couldn’t possibly nurture such loyal assassins.

This indicates that the most probable forces behind the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Prim are either the aristocracy or the Church.

Although Carlo has garnered the support of most aristocrats through the Royal Council, it doesn’t mean that some aristocrats are without grievances against the government’s reforms.

What is the best method to stop reform? Obviously, it’s to eliminate the person initiating the reform directly.

No matter who plotted this assassination, it is a severe provocation to the current Spanish government. Whether it’s the aristocracy or the Church, it’s a favorable situation for Carlo.

As long as some evidence can be held, Carlo can openly and justly liquidate the aristocracy or the Church.

If Carlo was previously concerned about garnering opposition from the entire aristocracy by liquidating some of them, he can now do so with more confidence, having secured the support of most aristocrats through the Royal Council, as long as he ensures the interests of those who support him are unscathed.

As for the Church, there’s no need for much discussion. The Church’s power is an obstruction for both Carlo and the Spanish government, and the sooner it is liquidated, the more beneficial it will be for Spain.

Carlo is quite envious of the vast lands under the Church’s control. Whether leasing them cheaply to the populace, rewarding soldiers with them via military achievements, or using them to establish large royal farms, all these options are better than letting the Church retain them.

As a Catholic country, the church’s influence in Spain is substantially large.

Only by controlling the entire Church can Carlo effectively enhance his influence and increase Spain’s stability.

The Church’s indoctrination capability exceeds that of the government. Massively promoting the concept of a unified Spain through the Church, allowing the people of Catalonia and the Basque Region to accept their identity as Spaniards, is also part of Carlo’s agenda.

The Church’s schools can also strengthen the promotion of the Spanish language. Currently, many newspapers and enterprises in the Catalonia and Basque Region still use their regional languages, which is also a reason for the continuous emergence of separatists in these two regions.

Only by using one common language, Spanish, can the probability of the birth of separatists in these two regions be reduced and assimilation maximized.

Late at night, in a certain manor.

“What? The plan failed?” Duke Osuna looked at the man called Shadow incredulously, and asked in shock.

“Prim’s carriage was reinforced with steel plating, and the weapons the two assassins had were not sufficient to penetrate the steel plating,” Shadow shook his head, saying helplessly.

“Damn, is that what you call meticulous preparation?” Hearing that the assassins only had two ordinary rifles, Duke Osuna almost laughed in anger.

If the steward hadn’t already been silenced, Duke Osuna might have even considered torturing him personally.

“How was the aftermath handled? No one found out, right?” Duke Osuna looked at Shadow, asking hastily.

“Everything’s been taken care of. I’ve dismantled and scattered those two rifles; no one will find them,” Shadow said.

“That’s good. Damn Torres, he ruined my plan. Looks like Prim will just have to live for a while longer,” Duke Osuna still lamented the unsuccessful assassination, with no trace of sympathy for having disposed of his steward.

It’s only natural, given that Duke Osuna, being one of the aristocrats with the most land, couldn’t possibly have just one steward, right?

Torres was merely the manager of a portion of the industry in Madrid and had only been the steward of the manor for a few years, so he naturally hadn’t gained Duke Osuna’s complete trust.

Since there was no trust, it was natural for him to be silenced after the assassination.

“The government will likely investigate this assassination thoroughly. Your Grace, should you lay low for a while?” Shadow suggested.

Being a prime minister assassination isn’t something trivial; the government’s scrutiny will likely be intense. Especially with Prim unharmed, it’s expected that both the aristocracy and the Church will be under investigation.

“No need for now. Shadow, you must have faith in your cleanup abilities.” Duke Osuna smiled, showing no trace of panic: “Let Prim investigate. What can he discover about two Italians?

Oh, and perhaps when Prim finds out the assassins were Italians, we might even have a good show to watch.

Don’t forget, our king is an Italian too, isn’t he? I can’t wait to see whether Prim will suspect the King, haha.”

Duke Osuna meticulously planned this assassination.

The two assassins were Italians who entered Spain under the guise of laborers, and prior to the assassination, their records showed them as ordinary people.

This manor was just one of the many properties of Duke Osuna; hardly anyone knew who the steward was.

Especially since Torres only became the manor’s steward a few years ago, those aware of this were even rarer.

Perhaps Prim will turn Madrid upside down without finding any useful information. When that happens, would Carlo, who is also Italian, truly not be suspected by Prim?

Even if he couldn’t succeed in assassinating Prim, at the very least, creating tension between Carlo and Prim is Duke Osuna’s plan.

As long as the relationship between Carlo and Prim is strained, Carlo won’t fully support Prim’s reforms, as that would significantly elevate Prim’s personal prestige.

This way, Duke Osuna’s objective can be partially met too, which is to halt Prim’s reforms to ensure his interests do not suffer tremendous losses.

Even if all plans fail, Duke Osuna has no suspicion upon him, allowing him to wait for another opportunity to assassinate Prim—what one might call the perfect strategy.