Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Trumped-Up Charges

The assassination of Prime Minister Prim also alerted Carlo to the necessity of having a loyal intelligence organization to inquire about information on his behalf.

Whether it’s monitoring domestic Spain, infiltrating the Republican Faction and opposition, or probing the movements and news of foreign countries, it’s all very necessary.

To ensure the loyalty of the intelligence department, Carlo decided that the training of intelligence personnel should start from a young age.

In an era where life expectancy is not long, the number of orphans is still relatively high, and Carlo’s target is precisely these orphans in Spain.

Orphan childhoods are generally quite tragic, and Carlo only needs to provide them with a normal living standard to make them feel grateful.

By the time these orphans grow into qualified intelligence agents, their loyalty to Carlo will be higher than that of ordinary people.

The downside, however, is that it takes a long time to train them, with a time cost of at least ten years, or even longer.

Fortunately, Carlo himself is still young, and he has all the time to wait for these orphans to grow into excellent intelligence agents.

However, considering that some intelligence personnel are needed currently, while waiting for these orphans to grow, he can also prioritize training a batch of relatively ordinary intelligence personnel for immediate use.

On Prime Minister Prim’s side, a sweeping investigation into the assassination has already begun.

However, finding clues in vast Madrid is difficult, at least not achievable in a short period of time.

But are the clues really that important?

This assassination is actually an opportunity, allowing Carlo and Prim to have ample reason to liquidate the opposition within the government.

Assassinating the Prime Minister is undoubtedly a very serious crime. Regardless of who this crime is pinned on, it can easily lead to a thorough cleanup.

With the Carlos Faction having been suppressed, who else could challenge the increasingly stable Spanish Government?

On the day following the assassination, Prim sought a meeting with Carlo and proposed using the opportunity of this assassination event for a comprehensive plan to purge the Church.

Who was the mastermind behind this is no longer important. What matters now is to use this opportunity to liquidate the Church and take over the large tracts of land they own.

It’s important to know that much of the Church’s land is tax-exempt, and the Church collects taxes on these lands, which go into their own pockets.

If these lands can be taken over, not only would it increase agricultural tax revenue for the government, but it could also lease the land at low prices to civilians, increasing the per capita arable land area.

The reason for the low income of Spanish farmers, aside from previously high agricultural taxes bearing harsh burdens like the tithe tax, is also due to the continuous reduction in per capita arable land area.

Although Spain’s land area is not inferior to that of great power countries, a significant portion is held by nobles and the Church.

Spain only has a population of over 16 million, logically speaking, the per capita arable land area should be leading compared to the land-scarce, populous great power nations.

But in reality, Spain’s per capita arable land area ranks only at a medium level compared to European Powers. With insufficient arable land for farming, naturally, there wouldn’t be high agricultural income.

Carlo naturally had no objections. Resolving the Church, a hindrance to reform, was beneficial both for the Spanish Government and Carlo.

The next day, the Spanish Government publicly reported on the assassination of Prime Minister Prim, announcing that Madrid was again under martial law, allowing entry but no exit until the assassination was thoroughly investigated.

Soon, police swarmed the streets and alleys of Madrid. Their initial actions were to collect clues about the assassination, but within a few days, it transformed into a roundup of Church Influence.

Although the scope of the roundup didn’t solely include the Church, they had the highest number of arrested members.

This also drew the attention of the Spanish Church, which immediately began negotiations with the Spanish Government.

For Spain’s chief Archbishop Pedro, the government’s actions seemed to disregard the Church excessively.

Although the government presented some evidence, it was clearly insufficient to imprison some members of the Church.

Anyone with eyes could see that the government was using this opportunity for a Church purge, sparking dissatisfaction and anger among many Bishops within the Spanish Church.

“Archbishop Pedro, we can’t remain passive. If we continue to wait, perhaps we’ll be the ones arrested tomorrow,” said a Bishop from the Church.

“God, has Prim gone mad? With such an insane roundup of Church members, isn’t he afraid of our retaliation?” Archbishop Pedro also was taken aback.

Initially, he thought that by relying on the Church’s esteemed reputation and position in Spain, it could stand firm amid Spain’s reforms.

But unexpectedly, just one assassination event led Prim to wield the axe towards the Church; the unprepared Church had seen many of its members arrested.

“Bishop, are we just going to allow the government to arrest us? This assassination clearly has nothing to do with us, on what grounds does the government arrest us without any evidence?”

The Bishops within the Church were all exceedingly agitated. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every one of them present was at risk of being arrested.

Previously, they were revered Bishops, now they’ve become targets for government arrest, trampling on the Church’s authority.

Archbishop Pedro’s expression remained calm, but internally, he was unsettled. To be honest, Pedro didn’t have any confidence in confronting the government relying solely on the Church’s power.

The fate of the Carlos Faction was still crystal clear; the Church was clearly incapable of opposing the government at present, after all, this was no longer the era where everyone ardently believed in the Church and God.

Just the tithe tax alone made the farmers very displeased with the Church. Even if the Church incited rebellion now, it would likely only attract those fervent believers in God.

“Don’t act rashly for the time being, I will seek an audience with the King to explain the situation.” After contemplating for a moment, Archbishop Pedro decided against taking risks.

If a rebellion against the government succeeded, that would be good, but if it failed, the outcome for these Bishops might not be favorable.

At worst, they’ll lose some personal benefits, but as long as he can maintain his Archbishop position, he could still acquire donations from those passionate believers through various means.

“You should also investigate whether any of your subordinates are related to this assassination. If they are, resolve it quickly, don’t drag the Church down.” Glancing at the Bishops with varied expressions, Archbishop Pedro gave his final instruction.