Chapter 46: Jacobo’s Private Banquet
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. The construction of the Royal United Bank has been very successful. Perhaps this year Spain will give birth to a super-large bank with over a million depositors.” Duke Jacopo of Alba smiled and flattered Carlo.
“You are also a shareholder of the United Bank. With the United Bank’s achievements, every shareholder has a share.” Carlo smiled and nodded, quite satisfied with the achievements of the Royal United Bank.
Just now, butler Loren reported that the Royal United Bank had as many as 684 depositors that day, with total deposits exceeding 18 million pesetas, and per capita deposits reaching 26,870 pesetas.
Of course, such data actually had a lot of water content.
Among the 684 depositors, the vast majority were nobles who had received the news. There were three with deposits exceeding a million, namely Duke Jacopo of Alba, Duke Fernando of Albaquerque, and Carlo himself.
The real commoner depositors were actually only one or two hundred, which was also the reason why the per capita deposit was pulled so high.
This also showed how enormous the assets of the Spanish nobles were. The deposits they took out as a token of sincerity were just a drop in the bucket compared to their assets, but for Carlo, they were already quite important start-up funds.
18 million pesetas was already more than half of the assets Carlo had brought to Spain, and this was just the total savings obtained by the Royal United Bank on its first day of opening.
If the Royal United Bank could gain the trust of the public and attract a large number of Spanish people to make deposits, the funds available to Carlo would flow continuously.
With sufficient funds, Carlo could continuously layout the expansion of industry and the finance industry, earning more money.
In this era, making money was still quite easy, especially making money as a king. With the enormous capital brought by the Royal United Bank, Carlo could easily monopolize an industry sector, maximize the interests of a certain industry sector, and quickly fill his own pockets.
“Your Majesty, please do not miss tomorrow night’s banquet. A large number of nobles will participate then, and it is time for Your Majesty to meet these fellows.” Jacopo said with a smile.
Ever since Primó put down the Carlist faction rebellion, Jacopo had not had the slightest contempt for Carlo. Because he knew that from then on, Carlo’s throne would become very stable, and Carlo’s destiny would be tied to that of the Spanish nobles.
Disdaining Carlo as king at such a time would actually be disdaining himself as the king’s subordinate.
The nobles possessed transcendent status entirely because of the public’s obedience and support for monarchy. If the public no longer supported the king and overthrew monarchy, that would be when the nobles’ sense of superiority ceased to exist.
Although Carlo was an outsider, wasn’t the Bourbon Dynasty also outsiders? The House of Savoy still controlled the throne of Italy, but the Bourbon Dynasty currently controlled no country.
“Of course.” Carlo smiled and nodded.
“A banquet that you personally invited me to, Jacopo—what reason do I have not to go?” Carlo said with a smile.
Jacopo nodded, bid farewell from Carlo’s royal palace, and went back to prepare the banquet that he had long planned.
This banquet was held in Jacopo’s private capacity, with the greatest purpose being to show his attitude of loyalty to Carlo, and at the same time, to help Carlo thoroughly win over the Spanish nobles in the banquet.
After all, Carlo was an outsider, and to gain the recognition of the entire aristocracy, support from old-brand native Spanish nobles like Duke Jacopo was extremely important.
Jacopo naturally also understood that sending charcoal in snow was far more important than adding flowers to brocade. If he waited until Carlo had already won over some nobles before joining in, it would not be so easy to become Carlo’s confidant.
It must be known that although nobles possessed transcendent status, families were not eternally prosperous.
To ensure a family’s long-term prosperity, the first thing was to gain the king’s support and trust, and the second was to engage in political marriages with other nobles for mutual cooperation.
And in this banquet, Jacopo also had some of his own selfish intentions.
His daughter Anna was born in 1855 and was about to turn Carlo was born in June 1851 and was not yet 19, so their ages were not too far apart.
If Anna and Carlo happened to take a liking to each other at the banquet, perhaps the status of the de Toledo family in Spain would rise to a higher level.
Even if she could not become the Queen of Spain, if she caught Carlo’s eye and became one of his mistresses, the Toledo family would not lose out.
After all, it was extremely normal for European monarchs to keep a mistress, and the chaotic lives among nobles were beyond ordinary imagination.
Time soon came to the day of the banquet.
The banquet was held in Duke Jacopo’s castle. The castle was located in the Madrid outskirts, not far from Toledo further south.
Jacopo attached great importance to this banquet and invited a large number of nobles from Spain to participate. However, due to venue limitations, the lowest rank of nobles who could participate in this banquet was count; viscounts and barons were basically ineligible unless they had higher prestige or status.
This was unavoidable. After all, the number of Spanish dukes, marquises, and counts was already as high as several hundred. Although due to distance, fewer than a hundred could come to attend the banquet.
But if including the female companions and family members brought by the nobles, having several hundred people participate in this banquet was no problem.
This was also roughly the limit of a private banquet. If there were more people, the banquet site would be quite chaotic, and safety for the attending nobles could not be guaranteed.
Especially since Carlo would also participate, security work still had to be tightened. If the banquet ended unhappily due to some accident, Jacopo’s preparations would be all for naught.
Carlo was also quite looking forward to this banquet.
Although he had already met many Spanish nobles at the last coronation ceremony, the nobles’ attitudes toward Carlo at that time were not so sincere.
Now with Jacopo’s support, plus Carlo’s throne already quite stable, the nobles had only one choice: to obey Carlo’s rule.
Tonight’s banquet was the beginning of Carlo thoroughly gaining the loyalty of the aristocracy, becoming the real King of Spain, and being able to exert his influence on the government through the aristocracy.
From tonight onward, Carlo would gain a large number of trustworthy subordinates. At least in terms of maintaining monarchy, these nobles would absolutely stand with Carlo.
When facing the republican faction, Carlo would not be alone; these nobles were Carlo’s best helpers and, aside from Carlo, the group in all of Spain most opposed to republicanism.
To gain Carlo’s sufficient trust and also to ensure the banquet proceeded smoothly without any accidents, when organizing this banquet, Duke Jacopo specially requested Carlo to dispatch a portion of the Royal Guard to help maintain order at the banquet site.
This also included simple body searches of banquet attendees to ensure no one carried weapons.
This point had also been discussed in advance with the attending nobles. After all, Carlo did not want anyone carrying weapons to sneak into the banquet and deliver a fatal blow when he was most relaxed.
His own life still had to be in his own hands; when necessary, no one could be trusted.
This was not that Carlo was unwilling to trust others; mainly, assassinations of kings in various parts of Europe were already too numerous to count, and Carlo was no fool.
Even if he could trust Jacopo, could he trust every noble attending the banquet? Even if all nobles were fine, could they ensure that no rebels were mixed in among their female companions?
Checking one by one was both time-consuming and inefficient; the best way was to ensure no one carried weapons, turning the castle hosting the banquet into a weapon-free safe zone.
Around six in the evening, Carlo rode in a carriage, slowly heading toward Jacopo’s castle under the escort of the Guard.
This carriage was also specially made, even having a steel plate that could be pulled down over the windows to prevent bullet penetration.
Because the carriage was embedded with steel plates and very heavy, it was pulled by four horses to ensure the carriage’s speed.
To ensure Carlo’s safety, two identical carriages left the royal palace at the same time, ensuring that even if there were assassins, they could not quickly determine which carriage Carlo was in.
A little after seven in the evening, Carlo’s carriage finally arrived at Jacopo’s castle.
Outside the castle, a large group of nobles had been waiting for a long time.
The nobles’ positions also reflected their status. At the very front were dukes like Jacopo, then marquises further back, and finally counts and a few viscounts and barons.
Beside the nobles were their female companions and family members; several hundred people stood outside the castle to welcome Carlo’s arrival, and the scene was quite lively.
“His Majesty has arrived!”
Seeing the carriage slowly approaching, Duke Jacopo hurriedly shouted, signaling the nobles to adjust their attire and not lose etiquette in front of the king.
Watching Carlo alight from the carriage supported by a maidservant, all the nobles together gave Carlo a standard noble salute, welcoming the king’s arrival with the highest courtesy.
“Good evening, my nobles.” Carlo also smiled and waved his hand, showing his close attitude toward these nobles.
Jacopo hurriedly stepped forward and said very respectfully: “Everything has been prepared, Your Majesty. Just give the order, and the banquet can begin at any time.”
“Well done, Jacopo. Alright, fellows, let’s go in and enjoy this banquet.” Carlo said with a smile, without the slightest air of a king.
Surrounded by a large group of nobles, Carlo slowly walked toward the inside of the castle, beginning to experience the uniquely Spanish private noble banquet.
First update of 3,000 words! Begging for support! Begging for follow reads! 6,000 words update today!
