Chapter 53: Fabricated Charges
Prime Minister Primó’s assassination also alerted Carlo that he must have an intelligence organization loyal to himself to gather news for him.
Whether monitoring Spain domestically, infiltrating the republican faction and opposition, or probing the movements and news of various foreign countries, all are very necessary.
To ensure the loyalty of the intelligence department to himself, Carlo decided to start cultivating intelligence officers from a young age.
In an era where life expectancy is not long, the number of orphans is still quite large, and Carlo’s goal is precisely these orphans in Spain.
Orphans’ childhood lives are generally quite miserable, and Carlo only needs to provide them with the living standards of ordinary people to make them grateful.
By the time these orphans grow into qualified intelligence agents, their loyalty to Carlo will also be higher than that of ordinary people.
However, the drawback is that it takes a very long time to cultivate them, with the time cost paid being at least ten years or more, and even more requiring ten to twenty years.
Fortunately, Carlo is not very old at this time and has plenty of time to wait for these orphans to grow into excellent intelligence agents.
However, considering that some intelligence personnel are also needed at present, while waiting for these orphans to grow up, a batch of relatively ordinary intelligence personnel can also be prioritized for cultivation to make do for now.
On Prime Minister Primó’s side, the major screening for the assassination has already begun.
However, finding clues in the vast Madrid is very difficult, at least impossible in the short term.
However, are the clues really that important?
This assassination is actually an opportunity, allowing Carlo and Primó to have sufficient reason to settle accounts with the government’s opposition.
Assassinating the prime minister is absolutely a very serious crime. No matter whose head this crime is pinned on, a major purge can be easily launched against them.
Under the premise that the Carlist faction has already been executed, who else can oppose the increasingly stable Spanish Government?
On the second day after the assassination, Primó sought an audience with Carlo and proposed taking advantage of this assassination incident to wipe out the Church in one fell swoop.
Who the real mastermind behind the scenes is no longer important; what is currently important is to use this opportunity to settle accounts with the Church and take over the vast lands possessed by the Church.
It must be known that much of the Church’s land is tax-exempt, and the Church collects taxes on these lands, with the collected tax revenue going into the Church’s own pockets.
If these lands can be taken over, not only can it increase the government’s agricultural tax revenue, but the land can also be rented out to commoners at low prices, increasing per capita arable land area.
The reason for the low income of farmers in Spain, besides previously high agricultural taxes burdening them with harsh heavy taxes including the tithe, is also the continuous decrease in per capita arable land area.
Although Spain’s land area is no less inferior compared to great power countries, a considerable portion of the land is held in the hands of nobles and the Church.
Spain only has a population of over 16 million, so in theory, per capita arable land area should lead great power countries with less land and more people.
But in reality, Spain’s per capita arable land area ranks only at a medium level compared to European great power countries. Farmers do not have enough arable land for planting, so naturally there will not be high agricultural income.
Carlo naturally has no objections. Dealing with the Church, this trouble opposing reform, is a good thing for both the Spanish Government and Carlo.
On the second day, the Spanish Government publicly reported the matter of Prime Minister Primó being assassinated and announced that Madrid has reinstated martial law, prohibiting exit until the assassination incident is investigated clearly.
Soon, the streets and alleys of Madrid were filled with fully mobilized police. The police’s initial actions were still collecting clues about the assassination incident, but within a few days it turned into arrests of Church forces.
Although the scope of arrests is not limited to the Church, the Church has the most people arrested.
This also attracted the attention of the Spanish Church, which immediately engaged in negotiations with the Spanish Government.
For Chief Archbishop Pedro, the government’s behavior is somewhat too dismissive of the Church.
Although the government also presented some evidence, this evidence is obviously not sufficient to send some Church members to prison.
Anyone with eyes can see that the government is using this opportunity to settle accounts with the Church, which has also caused dissatisfaction and anger among many bishops within the Spanish Church.
“Archbishop Pedro, we cannot sit idly by. If we continue waiting, perhaps tomorrow it will be us who are arrested,” a bishop of the Church said.
“God, has Primó gone mad? Arresting Church members so crazily, is he not afraid of our retaliation?” Chief Archbishop Pedro was also dumbfounded at this moment.
Originally, he thought that relying on the Church’s lofty prestige and status in Spain, it could ensure standing firm during Spain’s reforms.
But unexpectedly, just one assassination incident led Primó to swing the butcher’s knife at the Church, and the unprepared Church already has many members arrested.
“Bishop, are we just going to let the government arrest us like this? This assassination clearly has nothing to do with us; on what basis does the government arrest us without any evidence?”
The bishops within the Church were also furious. Not exaggerating, everyone present at this moment has the risk of being arrested.
Previously they were honorable bishops, but now they have become targets for the government to hunt and arrest; isn’t this trampling on the Church’s authority?
Chief Archbishop Pedro’s expression looked normal, but his heart was not calm at this time either. To be honest, relying solely on the Church’s strength to confront the government directly, Chief Archbishop Pedro has no confidence.
The fate of the Carlist faction is still fresh in memory, and the current Church clearly cannot contend with the government, after all, this is not the previous era when everyone was fanatically faithful to the Church and God.
Just the tithe alone has made farmers very dissatisfied with the Church. At this time, even if the Church incites rebellion, it can probably only attract those fanatical God believers.
“For the time being, do not act rashly; I will seek an audience with Your Majesty to explain the situation,” after thinking carefully for a moment, Chief Archbishop Pedro still decided not to take risks.
If resisting the government succeeds, that’s fine, but if it fails, their fate as bishops may not be good.
At worst, they lose some interests in their hands; as long as they preserve their position as archbishop, they can still obtain donations from those fanatical believers through various means.
“You should also thoroughly check if anyone under you has any relation to this assassination. If there is, deal with it quickly and do not drag down the Church,” glancing at the bishops with varied expressions, Chief Archbishop Pedro finally instructed.
Second update, seeking support!
