Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 14: Spanish King Selection
Time quickly came to 1869.

Although there is no news from Spain yet, Carlo is already making full preparations for the possibility of taking over Spain.

First of all, the public opinion force that Carlo has vigorously developed has achieved certain results.

The largest newspaper in Carlo's hands, Il Sole 24 Ore, had become the largest newspaper in northern Italy, with an average daily sales of more than 1868 copies in 2.4.

In addition to The Sun, Loren also founded several newspapers in northern and southern Italy under Carlo's instructions. The combined daily sales of these small and medium-sized newspapers amounted to more than 1 copies.

Carlo has also completed his initial deployment of public opinion. The various newspapers have tens of thousands of loyal readers and can influence at least hundreds of thousands of people.

As long as Carlo wanted, he could make hundreds of thousands or even millions of Italians aware of a piece of news in a short period of time.

This is extremely exaggerated in that era when transportation was extremely inconvenient and people mostly relied on horses, ox carts and other livestock to travel.

These newspapers, large and small, also brought Carlo an income of nearly 25 liras in two and a half years.

Thanks to Garibaldi's reputation, The Sun was able to quickly penetrate the market, otherwise it would not be so easy to make more than 200,000 lire.

As time entered February 1869, the Spanish parliamentary election officially arrived.

As in history, Primo, as the most powerful individual in the provisional government, coupled with his great reputation among the revolutionary army, successfully controlled the majority of seats in parliament.

This news made Carlo feel relieved. It meant that Spain would move towards a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, and Carlo still had a great hope of becoming the King of Spain.

As soon as the new Spanish Parliament was established, it announced that it would not abolish the monarchy, but would establish a national government under a constitutional monarchy to manage Spanish affairs.

Because the Spanish throne was unresolved, the parliament appointed the Prime Minister of the interim government, Francisco Serrano Domínguez, as regent of the Kingdom of Spain, and the Minister of War Primo as the new prime minister.

These two people were not only the two most prestigious people in the provisional government, but also two of the most supported generals in the revolutionary army.

This is actually the real reason why Spain continues to maintain the monarchy. After all, the two people with decision-making power both support the monarchy.

Thanks to the report promoting the advanced monarchy, the news that Spain continued to maintain the monarchy did not cause much waves.

As long as Spain is no longer ruled by a tyrant like Queen Isabella, the Spanish people's opposition will at least not be so intense.

The affairs of the parliament have come to an end for the time being. The most troublesome thing for Serrano and Prime Minister Primo has become choosing a suitable king for Spain.

Although they can choose freely among European royal families, the person they choose must also be recognized by the people.

Those with bad reputations cannot be accepted. The Spanish people cannot believe that such a king can do better than Isabel. If only a new Queen Isabel came to rule Spain, what would be the purpose of the Spanish revolution? Those with controversial origins cannot be accepted. For Spain, a king with noble birth and the support of a large family can stabilize the order in Spain.

If the new king's origin is controversial, it will be a new blow to Spain's constitutional monarchy, which has been established with great difficulty.

Adding to various other conditions, there are actually only a few European princes who are suitable to become the King of Spain.

After more than a month of screening, Serrano and Primo finally finalized a list of five people.

The first choice was Leopoldo, a prince of the German royal family. Born into the Hohenzollern family, with the support of the Kingdom of Prussia, which had just won the Austro-Prussian War, his origin and reputation met Spain's requirements.

The second choice is Ferdinand, who served as the regent of Portugal. Ferdinand's wife and son were both kings of Portugal. His performance as the king of Portugal (the queen's husband) and as regent was above the passing line, and his reputation was also quite good.

The third choice is Prince Amadeo of the Savoy dynasty in Italy. After the unification of Italy, it still has a say in the Mediterranean coast, and the prestige of the Savoy family in the European royal family has also seen a slight increase. For Spain, Amadeo may not be as reliable as the first two, but he is also a qualified candidate.

The fourth choice was also from the Savoy dynasty of Italy, Amadeo's younger brother Carlo. Carlo's disadvantage was that he was a little young, and he was still a few months away from turning 18. But Carlo's reputation in Italy was no less than Amadeo's, and the Sun's publicity for Carlo was still very effective.

Even many Italians like this youngest prince very much, because he is not too arrogant when traveling and greets Italian people in a friendly manner.

Under the influence of public opinion, some Spaniards also heard about the friendly prince of Italy. This is why Carlo was included in the candidate list. After all, Primo and Serrano both believed that the Spaniards would not reject a friendly king.

The last candidate was Queen Isabel's brother-in-law, the Duke of Ponte Pontepochal of Spain. However, considering the Spanish people's dislike for Queen Isabel and the possible hatred of the whole family, Primo ranked the Duke of Ponte Pontepochal at the end of the candidate list and considered removing him from the list.

After all, the selection of the King of Spain is extremely strict. Any shortcomings of the candidate will be magnified countless times, and any possible impact must be taken into consideration by Serrano and Primo.

What disappointed Primo was that as soon as the Spanish government gave Fernando a hint of the truth, Fernando directly refused the Spanish throne.

This also theoretically cuts off the possibility of Spain and Portugal uniting again. After all, Ferdinand's son is the current King of Portugal.

If Fernando could obtain the Spanish throne, the future King of Portugal would have the possibility of inheriting the Spanish throne and realizing the merger of the two Iberian countries.

Fernando's voluntary withdrawal reduced the list of five to four. After a long discussion with Serrano, Primo finally decided to remove the Duke of Puente Ponce from the list, which left only three candidates.

Although the selection of the king in Spain is kept relatively secret, there is no impenetrable wall in the world.

At this time, Primo and Serrano were still unaware of the significant impact their king selection would have on the European situation, and it might even directly cause the European hegemon to be trampled under the feet of other countries.

First update, please support!


(End of this chapter)