Chapter 109: Military Academy Graduates
During his few days in Vienna, the news of Carlo and Archduchess Sophie’s engagement spread throughout Europe.
The marriage alliance between the King of Spain and the princess of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was absolutely a union of the strong, and it might even change the situation in the Mediterranean Sea.
Precisely because of this, more than one or two countries paid attention to this wedding. Even King Louis I of Portugal personally sent a congratulatory telegram.
Speaking of Louis I, he was still Carlo’s brother-in-law. Carlo’s sister Maria Pia was his queen, and the couple had two children. Their married life had been quite affectionate before.
But after Maria Pia discovered the King’s countless lovers, their marital relationship became increasingly worse.
Who could be blamed for this? It could only be blamed on Louis I’s brother Pedro V dying at the age of 24 without leaving any heirs. Louis, who originally had no hope of inheriting the throne, obtained the Portuguese throne that fell from the sky.
Since he had not been cultivated as the heir to the throne, no one cared if Louis was a bit romantic. By the time he became king, he was already an adult, so naturally no one would control him even more.
Speaking of Louis I, this king was still quite popular in Portugal. He implemented the policies formulated by his brother, such as abolishing slavery and also abolishing the death penalty in civil crimes.
But if it came to political talent, Louis I’s political talent could only be described as poor. In this constitutional monarchy country of Portugal, his power was too constrained. Over the past ten years since he took office, the situation in Portugal had not improved much.
As for why King Louis was so proactive in congratulating Carlo and Spain, it was certainly not because of his kinship with Carlo.
In fact, the royal families of European countries more or less had some kinship, and this bit of kinship was nothing in the face of national interests.
What truly prompted Louis I to proactively congratulate was actually the enormous strength gap between Spain and Portugal.
Having a strength gap was one thing, but Portugal’s only neighboring country was Spain.
As the only two countries on the Iberian Peninsula, conflicts between Portugal and Spain occurred frequently.
Portugal was often the one being bullied, which was also why Louis I, as the King of Portugal, was so proactive.
Previously, with the support of the British, the Portuguese did not need to worry about Spain taking action. But now that Spain was on good terms with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it might not fear Portugal backed by the British.
Of course, Carlo understood the meaning of Louis I. In the short term, Spain did not plan to provoke the British again.
The British would not agree to Spain monopolizing the Iberian Peninsula unless Spain possessed strength sufficient to counter the British.
After returning to Madrid, Carlo had Butler Loren begin preparations for the wedding a year later.
In addition to the royal family making preparations, the Spanish Government also attached great importance to the wedding a year later and expressed willingness to invest 2 million pesetas to prepare a century wedding for Carlo.
Carlo also knew the government’s intentions. It seemed like an investment of 2 million pesetas, but the government could earn more from cooperation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
If the Austro-Hungarian Empire casually supported some technology in the industrial aspect to Spain, Spain’s harvest would far exceed 2 million pesetas.
With the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain would not need to live in fear on some diplomatic levels and would not need to worry about the influence of other great powers. This was the most important.
When the Spanish people learned that the future queen of Spain was Archduchess Sophie of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the public’s attitude was also supportive and optimistic.
Thanks to policies such as agricultural tax reduction and the abolition of the tithe, Carlo had already gained a certain good impression in the hearts of the Spanish people.
Moreover, Archduchess Sophie was the eldest daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. To the Spaniards, the two were a quite compatible pair.
Even some small civilian newspaper offices published all sorts of colorful love stories about Carlo and Archduchess Sophie to attract attention.
Things like love at first sight, mutual affection, and so on attracted many Spaniards to purchase newspapers. This was enough to show that the Spanish people’s current supportive attitude toward Carlo was generally quite popular.
Although these small newspaper offices had the suspicion of using Carlo for sensationalism, they had not greatly affected the royal family’s prestige after all, so Carlo did not plan to manage them.
Of course, if there were those who maliciously fabricated false news, attempting to influence the royal family’s prestige and sabotage the royal family’s image in the public’s hearts, such behavior naturally had to be firmly prohibited and punished.
Spain’s control over newspaper offices was overall still strict. Although it was much more relaxed compared to the reign of Queen Isabella, Prime Minister Primó still established a relevant news review department on Carlo’s advice, specifically to review the newspapers printed by various newspaper offices.
As long as the content published in the newspapers had passed the government’s review, using Carlo for a bit of sensationalism was actually no big deal.
Anyway, whether big newspaper offices or small ones, none dared to smear the royal family. Such reports could even increase the public’s fondness for Carlo to a certain extent.
Of course, it could also avoid the result of stories becoming more and more exaggerated through word of mouth. Carlo deeply knew how exaggerated the spread of rumors could be. Without these newspapers providing a story harmless to the royal family, who knew what version Carlo and Archduchess Sophie’s love story would become after being passed around by the public?
As time came to the end of April 1871, Carlo also ushered in a very important day, which was the first graduation ceremony after the expansion of the Madrid Royal Military Academy.
Nearly two years had passed since the reform of the Royal Military Academy. The students who were at the Royal Military Academy before the reform finally welcomed their graduation day.
As military academy students who faced the military academy reform during their school time, they were both fortunate and unfortunate.
The fortunate part was that after the reform, the Royal Military Academy would receive even more attention from Carlo and the government. As the first batch of graduates cultivated by the Royal Military Academy after the reform, they were destined to be reused in the army in the future.
But the unfortunate part was that because the Royal Military Academy was reformed, all their previous learning time at the military academy was reset to zero.
No matter which class of military academy students, they actually became freshmen after the reform. After nearly two years of military academy study, they finally graduated and became low-level officers with the rank of lieutenant.
The first batch of graduates from the Madrid Royal Military Academy numbered over 400, which was good news for Carlo.
The problem of Spanish officers being in short supply could finally be alleviated, and there was even hope that a few could grow into senior officers at the general level among these 400-plus people.
As the honorary dean of the Royal Military Academy, Carlo certainly could not miss the graduation ceremony of the military academy’s first class of students.
These graduates were theoretically his own disciples, so Carlo certainly would not miss the opportunity to win them over. He also wanted them to understand exactly who they should be loyal to.
Moreover, these graduates were basically Spaniards. Their promotions in the army would not face any obstruction. Only when this batch of Spaniards became the middle and upper levels in the army could Carlo’s influence truly infiltrate the army.
Once Carlo’s influence truly infiltrated the army and he controlled at least more than half of the army, Carlo’s power would gradually expand, eventually replacing Prime Minister Primó’s power and completing the handover of leadership of the Spanish Government.
April 28, 1871, outskirts of Madrid, inside the Royal Military Academy.
Bathing in the warm sunlight, Carlo successfully arrived at the Royal Military Academy and walked toward the large conference hall inside the academy.
Over 400 military academy students about to graduate were gathered here, and their graduation ceremony was also being held today.
It seemed they had already learned the news of His Majesty the King’s arrival. The military academy graduates were mostly looking forward eagerly, involuntarily standing up and staring at the entrance of the conference hall.
Suddenly, several soldiers of the Royal Guard opened the doors of the conference hall and stood guard at the entrance.
All the teachers and students in the conference hall immediately knew the king had arrived. Everyone stood up one after another, welcoming their king with applause and cheering.
Hearing the cheers from this group of graduates, Carlo’s mood became even more wonderful. These 400-plus people were not just simple military academy graduates; they were also the help for Carlo to control the army in the future.
Under the intense gazes of many military academy graduates, Carlo walked to the podium at the center of the conference hall with a smile on his face and began his passionate speech: “
Excellent graduates of the Royal Military Academy, excellent teachers of the academy, good afternoon everyone! I am very happy to meet you. The royal family will absolutely not forget everyone’s efforts over the past few years.
Everyone present is the elite of Spain and also the hope for Spain’s future. I hope that after graduation, you can continue to work hard, become excellent Spanish soldiers, and become heroes trusted by all Spanish people.
The Spain of the past was brilliant and great, but the Spain of now has long fallen from the altar. We lost our Latin American colonies, we lost Gibraltar—what else can we afford to lose?
Classmates, I hope that after entering the army, you can remember your mission, remember every Spaniard’s mission, which is to make Spain great again!
Spain is large, but we can no longer afford to lose anything. We must use every means to protect our territory and protect every Spaniard.
Recasting Spain’s glory is the duty of all Spaniards! When all of us are striving for Spain’s greatness, Spain’s power will be unstoppable by anyone.
Please let us shout together with the loudest voice: ‘Make Spain great again! Long live Spain!'”
“Make Spain great again!”
“Long live Spain!”
Third thousand words second update, seeking support!
