Empire Rise: Spain-Chapter 18: Victory

Primó’s investigation soon ended, and he also informed Vittorio Emanuele II of the final king candidate.
Yes, Carlo emerged victorious from the competition between him and Amadeo, and he was about to become Spain’s new king.
The reason Carlo was able to win this competition was actually more due to Carlo’s support for reform, as well as Garibaldi’s praise for Carlo.
When Juan Primó de Rivera was drawing up the list of candidates for the Spanish throne, he had sighed and said, “Finding a king in Spain who supports democracy is like finding an atheist in heaven.”
Although a constitutional system had nominally been established during Isabella’s reign, Queen Isabella still controlled a great deal of power, and the kingdom government was quite ignorant and feudal.
Primó was already tired of this extreme authoritarianism. When searching for a new king candidate for Spain, Primó also repeatedly mentioned the necessity of reform and democratization.
The king can master power, but he absolutely cannot monopolize it.
In this regard, Carlo, who had contact with Garibaldi who once supported republicanism, was clearly more advantageous.
Amadeo had no particular shortcomings and even had an advantage in age. If it were a stable Spain, Amadeo would undoubtedly be the rightful king candidate for Spain.
But the current Spain was riddled with problems, and Amadeo was powerless against Spain’s current situation. If deep reforms were to be carried out in Spain, it would require the monarch and his ministers to be of one mind, jointly promoting Spain’s comprehensive reform.
In this regard, Carlo would be more advantageous than Amadeo. Even if Carlo’s support for reform was not as firm as imagined, Primó could completely push through reforms by monopolizing military and political power.
After all, a 19-year-old king was easier to control than a 25-year-old king, which was very important for Spain’s reform.
There was also Garibaldi’s evaluation of Carlo.
In his investigation of Carlo and Amadeo, Primó discovered that the relationship between Carlo and Garibaldi was even closer than imagined.
Not only did Garibaldi publish several articles in the Italian Sun Newspaper, but his second son Giuseppe was also Carlo’s court guard officer.
Allowing his own son to get close to Carlo also meant that in Garibaldi’s heart, Carlo was at least not that arrogant and ignorant prince who could not see the situation clearly.
Combined with the Italian Sun Newspaper’s previous influence on Spain, it could basically be concluded that Carlo had long anticipated Spain’s king selection and was already preparing in advance.
Primó himself still wanted to cooperate with a smart king. If possible, achieving the close relationship between King of Prussia Wilhelm I and Prime Minister Bismarck was not out of the question.
Decades ago, Prussia was also a country casually invaded and humiliated by France. But after undergoing various reforms for several decades, Prussia had leaped to become one of the most powerful countries on the European Continent, and the war with France was also a key focus of Primó’s attention.
Primó did not crave for reformist Spain to become as powerful as Prussia. For Primó, what he hoped for was to see Spain achieve revival and return to the seat of a first-class great power and great power in Europe.
In this regard, Primó was still very confident. If a monarch who supported his reforms could emerge, perhaps Spain’s revival was not a dream, but a reality that could be seen in 20 years.
Carlo’s mood was complex.
Although winning this competition was something Carlo had always looked forward to, upon suddenly learning that he was to become the king of Spain, Carlo felt somewhat nervous and hesitant.
To speak seriously, reviving Spain in 1869 was absolutely the most difficult challenge among the great powers of Europe.
Spain started with a hopeless situation. Internally, republicans, reformists, conservatives, and Carlists were mutually creating trouble, resulting in constant chaos.
Externally, Britain and France would not allow Spain to become too powerful. For Spain to revive, the first to confront would be the United Kingdom and France.
This was absolutely a hellish difficulty starting point, no less challenging than Poland counterattacking Germany at the start of World War II.
After slightly adjusting his mindset, Carlo still decided to go to Spain, and firmly go to Spain.
Since he had transmigrated to this world, if he did not boldly strive once, how could he live up to this transmigration opportunity?
Moreover, Britain and France were not absolutely invincible, and at least the Spanish Mainland was very safe.
Neither Britain nor France would allow the other to occupy Spain’s land; at most, they would only block the expansion of the Spanish Navy and colonies.
In any case, Spain was not the only one needing colonies now, and leading the opposition to Britain and France would absolutely not be Spain.
For the first five years or even the first ten years of Carlo ruling Spain, the most important thing was still to deal with Spain’s internal conflicts and implement reforms to improve Spain’s comprehensive national strength.
After this competition ended, Carlo met with his brother Amadeo.
Setting aside this competition, the relationship between Carlo and Amadeo was still acceptable. Although not as close as Carlo and the already deceased Prince Oddone, it was not just superficial brothers.
Amadeo smiled and congratulated Carlo on becoming the king of Spain, with a hint of regret but not much unwillingness.
Of course, Carlo would not take the initiative to make an enemy of his brother. During the important stage of Spain’s reform, Italy would be an important ally for Spain.
Whether it was his old father ruling or the future Crown Prince Umberto inheriting the throne, Carlo wanted to maintain good relations with Italy.
After all, Italy was also a fallback; if Spain was truly beyond saving, he could at worst flee back to Italy like Amadeo in history and be a carefree duke.
Also coming to congratulate Carlo was Carlo’s eldest brother, Crown Prince Umberto.
Crown Prince Umberto was the heir to the Italian throne, so he did not participate in this competition. Because he was designated as crown prince from birth, Crown Prince Umberto was fairly friendly toward his several younger brothers.
In his father’s office, Carlo met the somewhat reluctant old king.
“Son, I truly didn’t expect you to win the competition against Amadeo. But no matter what, I still have to congratulate you on soon becoming the king of Spain.” Vittorio Emanuele II looked at Carlo with a complex expression, his face showing a bit of surprise and some reluctance.
“Have you met with Primó? When do you plan to go to Spain?” After expressing blessings to Carlo, Vittorio Emanuele II followed up with two questions.
“Not yet, Father. If possible, I want to go to Spain a bit earlier, to understand everything about Spain a bit earlier.” Carlo shook his head and replied.
First update, seeking support!（The previous calculation of travel time between Rome and Madrid has been corrected）