Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 20 Arrival in Madrid

On August 1869, 8, Carlo boarded a ship to Spain with his three confidants, Giotti, Carmen Esposito, and Dru Rosso, as well as dozens of servants, cooks, tailors and doctors personally selected by his father Vittorio Emanuele II, and a palace guard of about 17 people.

Carlo was very satisfied with the palace guards that his father had entrusted to him. At Carlo's strong request, most of the soldiers in this palace guard had participated in the Italian Unification War, and many of them came from Garibaldi's army.

The combat effectiveness of these soldiers is worth guaranteeing, and with the command of Garibaldi's second son, Giotti, there is no need to worry about their loyalty.

In addition, the families of these soldiers would also accompany Carlo to Spain, which was another means of ensuring their loyalty.

In short, from now on, these soldiers will be controlled by Carlo. Carlo also needs to provide them with military funds and weapons and equipment in exchange for their absolute loyalty.

With these 500 people as a foundation, it would be much easier for Carlo to expand his guards in the future. After all, if you want to build an army, in addition to carefully selecting the commander at the head, you also need some low-level officers who have truly experienced war to speed up the construction of the army and shape the soul of an elite army.

On the largest ship in the fleet, Carman Esposito and Andrew Rosso were looking at the vast Mediterranean with excitement, feeling extremely excited.

When they learned that Carlo was an Italian prince, they were very excited. They originally thought that Carlo was just a nobleman, but they didn't expect that Carlo's status was higher than they imagined.

And a few days ago, when they learned from Carlo that he was about to go to Spain to be crowned king, their shock was unparalleled.

This also led to the fact that when Carlo invited them to go to Spain, both of them excitedly expressed their agreement.

After all, as civilians, they don't have many good promotion paths in Italy, and it is very difficult to get promoted.

There are many outstanding graduates like them, but Italy does not have much space for them to exercise freely.

But if he went to Spain, it would be completely different. Carlo didn't have many available men, they were his most trusted men, and naturally they would get enough training.

Although he was only the deputy captain of Carlo's palace guard at the beginning, Carlo also promised that the palace guard would soon be expanded to the strength of a brigade.

Both Carman Esposito and Andrew Rosso could serve as the head of the expanded Guards Brigade. This was a much better prospect than if they stayed in Italy, after all, their lieutenant ranks could only serve as the commander of a company.

At this time, both of them were completely devoted to Carlo and persuaded their families to follow them to Spain.

The two guys, one fat and one thin, were not stupid. They knew what they had to do to express their loyalty in order to gain Carlo's favor.

Carlo certainly saw their efforts. If these two guys were really capable, Carlo wouldn't mind letting them grow into independent figures in the Spanish army.

If their abilities are mediocre, they will also become examples of Carlo spending a fortune to buy a horse, and enter the Ministry of Defense or the General Staff and other departments to hold important positions.

After several days of sailing, the fleet finally approached Barcelona in Catalonia.

The port of Barcelona seemed crowded with people, and was surrounded by crowds of people, as if welcoming Carlo's arrival.

"Your Majesty, Regent Serrano is waiting for you at the port." Seeing that Carlo was a little confused, Primo came up and said to Carlo with a smile. Hearing Primo's words, Carlo immediately understood that these people were prepared by Serrano in advance to make Carlo's arrival in Spain less embarrassing.

If Carlo came to Spain and no one welcomed him, and even the people had no attitude towards it, then the only ones who would be embarrassed would be Carlo and the government that chose Carlo as king.

Carlo nodded, the smile on his face not changing at all: "Where is Mr. Serrano?"

Following Primo's guidance, Carlo and his party slowly walked to the port under the escort of the guards and headed to where the Spanish government was located.

As soon as Carlo stepped into the port, the band that had been prepared at the port played the Spanish national anthem, "Royal March".

This song is very well used here. It not only shows the importance of welcoming the new king, but also emphasizes the Spanish monarchy and gives Carlo enough face.

"Your Highness!" The Spanish government officials saluted Carlo one after another.

Because Carlo had not yet sworn an oath of allegiance to the constitution and been crowned King of Spain, his identity was still the Duke of Italy at this time.

However, the oath can be taken at any time, which is different from the coronation ceremony, so everyone did not slack off on Carlo.

Primo and Serrano smiled and introduced Carlo to the officials of the Spanish government. Carlo entered Barcelona welcomed by many officials.

This is just a place to rest. After a short rest, Carlo will set off on the journey back to Madrid with the officials.

The good news is that although Spain does not have many kilometers of railways, it still has nearly 5000 kilometers of railway mileage. As a big city on the east coast, Barcelona naturally has a railway connecting it to Madrid.

But the bad news is that the railways of this era operated extremely slowly, and the riding experience was far inferior to that of later generations.

For Carlo, the journey from Barcelona to Madrid might be even worse than those bumpy days on the Mediterranean.

The good news is that once he returns to Madrid, Carlo will be able to live in the massive Royal Palace of Madrid.

This is the third largest palace in Europe, second only to the Palace of Versailles and the Schönbrunn Palace. This also reflects the luxury of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. At least in terms of the royal family's food, clothing and daily expenses, the Spanish kings of the Bourbon dynasty were not stingy.

On August 1869, 8, Carlo finally arrived in Madrid, and Primo returned to the political center of Spain again after many days.

Although Carlo wanted to visit Madrid in 1869, after several days of travel, he no longer had the energy to think about anything else.

The officers and soldiers who were traveling with him had the same idea.

On the first day of arriving in Madrid, Carlo only took his confidants and servants to the Royal Palace of Madrid, and slept comfortably in the clean king's bedroom that had been prepared long ago.

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(End of this chapter)