Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 37: Palace Guard Expansion
Primo is a man of his words.

I had just mentioned the abolition of tithe to Carlo the day before, and the next day I asked members of the same party to submit a proposal to abolish tithe in the House of Representatives.

The current House of Representatives is more like a single-handed deliberation by Primo than a general assembly. Primo, who holds the majority of seats in the House of Representatives, easily passed the proposal, and the tithe that has troubled Spanish farmers for hundreds of years was abolished so easily.

Before the farmers could react, the Spanish Parliament was completely confused.

The chief archbishop of the Spanish Parliament, Archbishop Pedro of Toledo, had a head full of question marks at this time, and looked at the newspaper in his hand with an expression of disbelief.

The newspaper clearly stated that according to today's vote by the House of Representatives, the tithe will be abolished throughout Spain, and will be implemented immediately!

"Damn it, the government has no right to cancel our tithe. This is the right given to us by God!" Archbishop Pedro felt very painful when he thought that the cancellation of the tithe would cause a large loss of his annual income. He stared at the newspaper angrily and said with gritted teeth.

"Bishop, what should we do?" Archbishop Pedro's subordinates came up and asked.

"What should we do? What else can we do?" Archbishop Pedro glanced at his subordinates unhappily and said with a little dissatisfaction: "Do we have an army in our hands? Can we resist Carlo and Primo's rule over Spain?

Now we have to wait and see what happens, and think about our plans after the Carlists and Primo decide on the winner."

Although Archbishop Pedro feels sorry for the canceled taxes, it doesn't mean he will lose his mind for the money.

The tithes basically exploited the Spanish farmers, who currently wholeheartedly supported the governments of Carlo and Primo.

These farmers were already dissatisfied with the church's long-term collection of tithes. If the church jumped out to oppose it, wouldn't it be playing right into Primo's trap?

Without the tithe, the church could still ensure its income through other means. But if it went against the Spanish government just for the tithe, wouldn't it be the church that would be liquidated in the future when the war was won?
As the chief archbishop of Spain, Archbishop Pedro's words are still very influential.

It is also for this reason that the Spanish Church did not take any action after the government announced the abolition of the tithe, acting as if it had nothing to do with it.

Carlo and Primo were both surprised when they heard the news. Primo had already prepared to deal with the church, but who would have thought that these greedy bishops would be willing to give up a large portion of their income?

The most excited people in the whole of Spain were, of course, the farmers who lost at least one-tenth of their income every year due to tithes.

The abolition of tithes would be a boon to all of Spain, except for the churches which levied tithes directly.

Without this harsh and heavy tax, the income of Spanish farmers will see a significant increase, and the government's tax revenue will also increase accordingly.

The farmers will have some spare money, which will naturally stimulate Spain's economic growth. This is also good for the future development of Spanish industry. After all, only when people have money will they buy industrial products.

After the abolition of the tithe, the Spaniards' satisfaction with the government and Carlo also increased significantly.

Especially after the assassination, the Spaniards truly began to recognize Carlo and believe in Carlo's grand dream of making Spain great.

If Carlo was more of a foreign monarch in the hearts of the Spanish before, then Carlo now has become a real one of theirs.

Since we are all one family, it is clear who the outsiders are.

Yes, I'm talking about you, the guy who blocked the government from making reforms and affected the income of farmers and workers, the fake King Carlos VII! Although the lower classes are easily influenced by public opinion, it does not mean that the lower classes cannot distinguish between the good and the bad.

During Carlo's reign, the Spanish government was carrying out reforms and reducing taxes, and farmers' lives were getting better and better.

Although the Carlos faction claimed that the reforms would affect the profits of factories, causing them to go bankrupt and workers to lose their jobs.

But isn’t the reform in Madrid going well? Not only have we not seen many factories go bankrupt, but workers have also received their full salaries for the first time.

Although the Spaniards did not know the situation in Catalonia, they considered that King Carlos VII, supported by the Carlists, also came from the Bourbon family.

There is no need to say much about the reputation of the Bourbon family. This is a devil family that everyone in Spain is afraid of.

And who are the Carlist supporters? Catalans? Basques?
Looking at the orthodox Spaniards living around Madrid, isn’t it clear who the scourge of Spain is?
For the Spaniards, who make up the majority of the Spanish population, would they support those minorities who split the country?
It is also because of this that the situation in the chaotic Spain has actually been clear for a long time, and Carlo and Primo are also eager for more forces to stand up and support the Carlists so that they can finally resolve it once and for all.

The most regrettable thing at the moment is that the church has not stood up against the government. Otherwise, the large amount of land owned by the church, whether rented to farmers at low prices or rewarded to soldiers in the form of land granted for military merit, would once again enhance the government's reputation.

After waiting for a few more days and making sure that the church really did not intend to support the Carlists, Primo organized his troops to the north to quell the rebellion with some regret.

However, in order to protect the safety of Carlo and Madrid, Primo still left an army of less than 10,000 people, which was more than enough to defend Madrid.

Moreover, the people around Madrid are extremely supportive of the government. It is no exaggeration to say that if the Carlos faction really reaches the vicinity of Madrid, Carlo can organize tens of thousands of militiamen to join the battle with just a wave of his hand.

Moreover, Madrid is located in the center of the Spanish settlement. It would be as difficult for the Carlos faction to reach Madrid before the main Spanish army could react as it would be to directly defeat the Spanish army head-on.

While Primo went north to quell the rebellion, Carlo was also busy in Madrid.

After liquidating the factory owners around Madrid, Carlo had millions more pesetas in his hands.

It turns out that these factory owners are not unable to pay their workers' wages. They have enough funds to pay all workers in full wages, but they are unwilling to do so.

This was also a good thing for Carlo. With this unexpected wealth, Carlo could also expand his palace guards and form a real royal guard.

However, considering the financial situation and the combat effectiveness of the Guards after their formation, Carlo only planned to expand the original 500-man palace guard into a guard regiment of about 2500 people.

The Guards Regiment consisted of two Guards Infantry Battalions and one Guards Cavalry Battalion, each with approximately 1000 soldiers.

Although there was no separate artillery battalion, Carlo planned to equip each Guards Infantry Battalion with 2 to 3 cannons to increase the firepower of the entire Guards Regiment.

After the expansion is completed, the Guards Regiment will be responsible for protecting the royal palace and Carlo, and will serve as Carlo's direct force under his full command.

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(End of this chapter)