Empire Rise: Spain-Chapter 32: Capitalist Uprising

“Very good.” Carlos VII nodded quite satisfiedly. The impatience in his eyes was almost overflowing: “Now we just wait for those dissatisfied factory owners to jump out on their own, delivering a fatal blow to that guy Primó who disrespects the Bourbon Dynasty.
Only the Bourbon family is the master of Spain. Savoy should stay in Italy; they are not worthy of touching Iberia.”
The situation in Spain was now very clear. Everyone believed that those capitalists who loved money like their lives would not abandon resistance; they would definitely go to any lengths to protect the money in their hands.
And the facts were indeed so.
The counterattack from the factory owners and capitalists came quickly.
On January 19, 1870, the Madrid Workers’ Newspaper published an article condemning the government.
This article never mentioned the purpose of the labor law to guarantee workers’ income; instead, it denounced the government for blindly demanding factories and enterprises to bear extra expenditure regardless of their income.
At the end of this article, it also mentioned that if the government did not promptly repeal such erroneous decrees, it would very likely cause a large number of factories and enterprises across Spain to go bankrupt, thereby leading to massive worker unemployment and affecting workers’ income.
This article seemed reasonable but could not withstand scrutiny.
The extra expenditure on factories and enterprises mentioned in the article was actually the salaries they should have paid to the workers anyway.
If paying workers their due salaries would cause factories and enterprises to go bankrupt, then what was the point of such factories and enterprises existing?
Before Carlo’s public opinion tactics could counterattack, the capitalists’ second move came.
On January 20, the currently popular Spanish Sun Newspaper was attacked.
The attackers first smashed the newspaper office’s windows with stones and other hard objects, then climbed in and destroyed some equipment for printing newspapers.
Carlo was somewhat annoyed by the capitalists’ fearlessness toward the government and royal power, and he resolved to exclude big capital from Spain’s ruling class.
On January 21, the Spanish Government swiftly passed the 《Spanish Labor Law》 legislation and announced that it would strictly enforce labor law provisions starting immediately, requiring all factories and enterprises in Spain to pay workers’ salaries weekly or monthly, with tenfold fines for arrears, and severe cases resulting in the sealing of factories or enterprises.
As soon as such a decree was announced, it immediately caused an uproar among the capitalist class.
The capitalists had originally thought that Primó and Carlo would back down, but they did not expect them to firmly oppose capitalism.
To protect their wallets, the capitalists chose to unite, wanting to emulate Primó from before and reignite the revolution in the Kingdom of Spain.
On January 22, factory owners and business owners around Madrid united, inciting some workers and radical republicans, leading to a large-scale parade breaking out on the streets of Madrid.
It had to be admitted that the capitalists’ brainwashing of workers was effective. Some workers, upon hearing in the newspapers that factories bearing extra expenditure would go bankrupt, also began to worry about losing their jobs.
Although most workers were rational, a small portion still chose to stand with the capitalists under such worries.
After the parade broke out, Primó ordered the army to suppress it while secretly mobilizing troops to control order in Madrid.
The purpose of these capitalists was certainly not just the parade; Primó’s attention could not be entirely drawn by these parade groups.
For Primó, who was well-versed in military affairs, these little moves by the capitalists could not escape his eyes.
Sure enough, at the same time as the parade was suppressed, another smaller-scale parade group, carrying all sorts of weapons and equipment, marched grandly toward the Royal Palace of Madrid and Parliament.
In the eyes of these capitalists who had once participated in the Spanish Revolution, revolution was still very simple. They just needed to take advantage of the chaos to occupy the Spanish Royal Palace and government, and the king and government officials would surrender without a fight.
They did not even need to act themselves; the palace guards and Spanish Army would defect to them on their own.
When these people marched grandly close to the palace, they were completely dumbfounded.
The palace was not chaotic like in the previous revolution, and what greeted them was not defecting Spanish troops.
Looking at the court guard in the distance standing ready, many in the riot group swallowed hard, as if seeing the situation clearly.
“By His Majesty’s order, if you abandon your weapons and surrender now, His Majesty will only pursue those who launched the rebellion. If anyone dares to take one step forward, it will be regarded as rebellion against His Majesty and Spain, and they will be executed on the spot!” Court Guard Captain Giuseppe, riding a black steed and holding a spear made in Italy, shouted to the rebel group not far ahead.
“Do not be fooled by him; no one will forgive us, not even God. Our only choice is to storm the palace and make Spain a true republic; God will bless us!” Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, the leader in the rebel group hurriedly incited the crowd’s emotions to salvage the crumbling morale.
“The purpose of the labor law is to protect your interests; those greedy factory owners will not go bankrupt just because they pay your salaries. Wake up, subjects! Look behind you; those greedy capitalists are the enemies of all Spaniards!
In the name of God, in the name of the King of Spain, I guarantee to you that you will not lose your jobs, nor will you be held accountable for today’s events.
You have been deceived, blinded by evil capitalists. But now is not the time to repent to God; we need to defeat all of Spain’s enemies together—those greedy capitalists—before anything else.
Please believe me; for Spain, please put down your weapons.” Seeing the rebel group’s morale somewhat crumbling, Carlo naturally would not miss this good opportunity and shouted toward the group not far away.
Hearing Carlo’s call, many in the rebel crowd were somewhat moved.
There were not many in the rebel group who were wholeheartedly selling their lives for the capitalists. The workers were worried about losing their jobs; if their jobs could be guaranteed, why would they stand up against the government and king?
As for those radical republicans, they certainly would not turn coat just because of a few words from Carlo.
But for Carlo, this was actually a good thing; those who did not put down their weapons could naturally be sent to meet God immediately.
After thinking carefully for a moment, many workers were still willing to believe their king. After all, the few things this new king had done since taking office were all good for them; did that not inspire more trust than those capitalists who docked wages?
With such thoughts, many deceived workers put down their weapons and involuntarily distanced themselves from the capitalists’ lackeys and radical republicans.
“Very good, subjects. Those who have put down their weapons can come over; I guarantee in the name of God that you will still be subjects of Spain, and this matter has nothing to do with you.” Seeing that many on the opposite side had already put down their weapons, Carlo nodded satisfiedly and said to the crowd opposite with a smile.
Hearing Carlo say this, the workers opposite hurriedly walked toward the court guard. Some of the capitalists’ lackeys, seeing no chance of victory, also abandoned their weapons, disguised themselves as ordinary workers, and surrendered to the court guard.
First update, seeking support!