Empire Rise: Spain-Chapter 20: Arrival In Madrid

On August 17, 1869, Carlo brought his three trusted aides—Giuseppe, Camann Esposito, and Andrew Rosso—along with dozens of servants, cooks, tailors, and physicians personally selected by his father Vittorio Emanuele II, including a court guard of around 500 men, and they grandly boarded the steamship bound for Spain.
Carlo was very satisfied with the court guard his father had entrusted to him. At Carlo’s strong insistence, most of the soldiers in this court guard had participated in the Italian Unification War, and many came from under Garibaldi’s command.
The combat effectiveness of these soldiers was guaranteed, and with Giuseppe Garibaldi’s second son as their commander, there was no need to worry about their loyalty.
Moreover, the families of these soldiers would also follow Carlo to Spain, which was another means to ensure their loyalty.
In simple terms, from now on, these soldiers would all be under Carlo’s command. Carlo also needed to provide them with military expenses and weapons and equipment in exchange for their absolute loyalty.
With this foundation of 500 men, it would be much easier for Carlo to expand his guard in the future. After all, to form an army, besides carefully selecting the top commanders, it was equally necessary to have some grassroots officers who had truly experienced war, in order to speed up the army’s formation and shape the soul of an elite army.
On the largest steamship in the fleet, Camann Esposito and Andrew Rosso were excitedly gazing at the vast Mediterranean Sea, their moods exceptionally stirred.
When they learned that Carlo was an Italian prince, the two were extremely excited. They had originally thought Carlo was just a noble scion, but his identity was even higher than they had imagined.
And just a few days ago, when they heard from Carlo himself that he was about to go to Spain for his coronation as king, their shock was unparalleled.
This also led to both of them expressing enthusiastic agreement when Carlo invited them to go to Spain.
After all, with their commoner identities, staying in Italy offered no great paths for promotion, and advancing upward was very difficult.
There were no shortage of excellent graduates like them, and Italy did not have much space for them to train freely.
But going to Spain would be completely different. Carlo did not have many usable people under him, and they were his most trusted among the trusted, so they would naturally get ample training.
Although they would start as deputy captains of Carlo’s court guard, Carlo had promised that this court guard would soon expand to the strength of a brigade.
Whether Camann Esposito or Andrew Rosso, both could take on the role of regimental commander in the expanded guard brigade. This was far better than their prospects if they stayed in Italy, where their captain ranks could only command at the company level.
At this point, both were utterly devoted to following Carlo, and they had also persuaded their families to go to Spain with them.
The fat and thin duo were not fools; they knew what they needed to do to show their loyalty in order to gain Carlo’s heavy use.
Of course, Carlo had also seen their efforts. If these two guys truly had good ability, Carlo would not mind letting them grow into figures who could stand on their own in the Spanish army.
If their abilities were mediocre, they would become exemplars for Carlo’s “thousand gold for a horse bone” strategy, entering important positions in departments like the Ministry of Defense or the Staff Department.
After several days of sailing, the fleet finally approached Barcelona in the Catalan region.
The Barcelona port appeared packed with people, surrounded by crowds everywhere, seemingly welcoming Carlo’s arrival.
“Your Majesty, Regent Serrano is already waiting for you at the port.” Seeing Carlo look puzzled, Primó came up and said to Carlo with a smile.
Hearing Primó say this, Carlo immediately understood that these crowds had been prepared in advance by Serrano, just to make Carlo’s arrival in Spain less awkward.
If Carlo came to Spain with no one to welcome him, and even the public showed no attitude toward it, the only one embarrassed would be Carlo, along with the government that had chosen him as king.
Carlo nodded, his smile unchanged: “Where is Mr. Serrano?”
Following Primó’s guidance, Carlo and his group slowly walked onto the port under the guard’s escort and headed to the location of the Spanish government.
The moment Carlo stepped onto the port, the band that had been prepared there played Spain’s national anthem《 Royal March》.
Using this piece here was perfect, not only highlighting the importance given to welcoming the new king, but also emphasizing Spain’s monarchy, giving Carlo sufficient face.
“Your Highness!” The various officials of the Spanish government saluted Carlo one after another.
Since Carlo had not yet sworn the oath to the constitution and been crowned King of Spain, his identity was still that of an Italian duke.
However, the oath could be taken at any time, unlike the coronation ceremony, so the crowd showed no slack toward Carlo.
Primó and Serrano smilingly introduced the various officials of the Spanish government to Carlo, and under the welcome of the numerous officials, Carlo entered Barcelona.
This was just a stopover. After a brief rest, Carlo would set off with the officials on the journey back to Madrid.
The good news was that although Spain did not have many railway kilometers, it had nearly 5,000 kilometers of railway mileage. And Barcelona, as a major city on the east coast, naturally had a railway connecting to Madrid.
But the bad news was that the railways of this era ran extremely slowly, and the riding experience was far inferior to that of posterity.
For Carlo, this stretch from Barcelona to Madrid might be even worse than the bumpy days at sea on the Mediterranean.
But the good news was that once back in Madrid, Carlo could reside in the massive Madrid Royal Palace.
This was the palace known as Europe’s third largest, surpassed only by the Palace of Versailles and Schönbrunn Palace in luxury. This also reflected the extravagance of Spain’s Bourbon Dynasty; at least in terms of the royal family’s food, clothing, and daily needs, the successive Kings of Spain from the Bourbon Dynasty had never been stingy.
On August 23, 1869, Carlo finally arrived in Madrid, and Primó returned to Spain’s political center after many days.
Although Carlo wanted very much to tour Madrid of 1869, after days of travel fatigue, he had no energy left to think of other things.
The accompanying officials and soldiers felt the same way.
On the first day of arriving in Madrid, Carlo simply took his trusted aides and servants to the Madrid Royal Palace and slept comfortably in the clean king’s bedchamber that had been prepared in advance.
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