Chapter 77: Hunting
Carlo hadn’t expected that after arriving in Italy, the funding issue that had plagued him for so long would be largely resolved.
With this funding, the expansion of the steel mill and other factories in the coming years would basically not need to worry about funding issues.
The Spanish Government also hoped to borrow a batch of loans from Italian bankers, and there would basically be no overly harsh additional conditions—this was already quite a good result.
If those officials couldn’t obtain loans from Italian bankers, then other countries could basically be forgotten too.
The reason these bankers were willing to lend abroad was that they could obtain sufficient interest as income through loans, and also make a fortune through some extra additional conditions.
On the Italian side, thanks to Carlo’s relationship, the Italian bankers shouldn’t open their mouths too wide, and Emanuele II wouldn’t allow those bankers to offer quite harsh conditions.
But in other countries, they wouldn’t care about the life or death of the Spanish Government. As long as capitalists could earn sufficient interests from lending, and as long as the government could gain certain benefits from it, who would care about the harm suffered by the Spanish Government?
That afternoon, Carlo appeared at a hunting ground outside Rome.
It was more than 30 kilometers away from downtown Rome, and after the capital of Italy migrated to Rome, it was designated by the Italian Royal Family as a royal hunting area, provided for royal members to hunt and play.
Carlo was dressed in casual clothes, following behind Emanuele II, with Crown Prince Umberto and Duke Amadeo beside him.
In the dense forest, wild animals could occasionally be seen flashing by quickly.
Emanuele II clearly liked this hunting ground very much. He took a hunting rifle from the guard’s hand, patiently aimed at the target, and then pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A wild deer dozens of meters away fell with a sound, its four hooves still kicking wildly, but it was already beyond saving.
“You try it too, Carlo. I hope a year and a half of kingly life hasn’t made you forget how to hold a hunting rifle. I don’t want my son to not even know how to use a musket.” Emanuele II gestured for Carlo to take the hunting rifle and said with a smile.
With the development of firearms, proficient use of existing firearms had long become a project that European nobles needed to learn from childhood.
The projects in traditional elite noble education were varied, also full of nobles’ expectations for their children, hoping to cultivate their children into talents.
Even in terms of language, besides French Language commonly used by European nobles, English language and German were also needed for simple communication.
Carlo didn’t waste words either. He took the hunting rifle from his father Emanuele II’s hand, loaded the ammunition, and then looked for his own prey.
Bang!
After a gunshot, everyone looked toward the sound, and a gray-furred wild rabbit was already dead.
“Haha, not bad. It seems you haven’t forgotten this aspect of education.” Emanuele II nodded satisfiedly and said to his child:
“A hunting rifle can be put aside temporarily, but it can’t be completely absent. Only by holding the hunting rifle in your own hands can it give the hunter the most basic safety.
Carlo, you’ve done well in Spain, but not well enough. You have to know that in critical moments, the only one you can trust is yourself, understand?
Being king isn’t that easy. The republican faction will try every means to push you off the throne. The liberals seem easy to control, but what they actually want is a king who does nothing and only knows how to play.
The current Spanish Government seems stable, but it’s only on the surface. That guy Primó should be nearly 60 years old by now, right? How many more years can he hold on?
Child, you should make your own plans. Whether the throne is stable or not depends on what you say counts. External forces will eventually be lost one day, and you will eventually have to face the republican elements and liberal forces in Spain alone.”
Speaking of which, Italy and Spain were somewhat similar.
Both countries were troubled by the republican faction, and the remnant forces of the states incorporated into Italy for various reasons were also seeking autonomy.
The difference was that the Kingdom of Sardinia’s forces still had high loyalty to Emanuele II, and the honor of unifying the Kingdom of Italy was enough to make Emanuele II remembered by all Italians.
Of course Carlo understood what Emanuele II was saying, and Carlo also understood the reason he spoke of.
The saying that regimes come from the barrel of a gun is timeless in any era. If Carlo wanted to secure his throne, he must also hold a sizable army in his hands.
The current royal guard regiment only had a scale of more than 2000 people, which was fine for defending the royal palace, but wanting to maintain his regime was simply wishful thinking.
Only by expanding influence to the Spanish Army and obtaining the loyalty of most of the army could his kingship truly stabilize.
Carlo was also considering these things, even taking action.
However, at this time, Carlo had too few available personnel, and with military heavyweights Primó and Serrano still around, it wasn’t suitable to promote confidants on a large scale in the army.
“I know, Father. But it’s just that there are too few talents in hand. How about you transfer a few relevant talents from the Turin Military Academy for me to use?” Carlo said with a smile.
No matter how the Italian Army performed in World War I and World War II, the graduates cultivated by the Turin Military Academy at this time still had some level.
As for why the Italian Army’s combat effectiveness was not strong later, it was probably largely related to low morale.
Without cohesion among soldiers, it would naturally greatly affect the army’s combat effectiveness.
Italian soldiers seemed to treat it like an ordinary job; they lacked the courage to fight and die for the country, so naturally they couldn’t erupt with strong will and combat effectiveness when facing the enemy.
Emanuele II looked helplessly at his son, without any hint of anger: “I don’t have enough excellent graduates from the Turin Military Academy for myself, where would I find a batch of graduates for you?
Moreover, you are the king of Spain. How can you abandon Spaniards and not use them, instead massively using Italians?”
Of course Carlo wasn’t thinking of heavily using officers cultivated by the Italian Military Academy. Hearing his father Emanuele II say this, Carlo immediately started whining again:
“Father, I also want to cultivate Spanish officers of our own. The problem is that Spain’s military academy system is already obviously backward, lacking excellent military commanders to teach knowledge to military academy students.
How about you lend me a few professors from the Turin Military Academy?”
How could Emanuele II not know his son’s intentions? He said grumpily: “The German Empire is Europe’s most powerful army nation. If you want to build an officer cultivation system, why not cooperate with the Germans.”
Riwandi 1/7 days, updated 2000/10000 words, seeking support!
