Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 46 Jacobo's Private Party
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. The construction of the Royal United Bank has been very successful. Perhaps this year Spain will be able to have a super large bank with over one million depositors." Duke Jacopo of Alba complimented Carlo with a smile on his face.

"You are also a shareholder of United Bank. If United Bank achieves success, every shareholder will have a share." Carlo nodded with a smile. He was quite satisfied with the achievements of Royal United Bank.

Just now, butler Loren reported that the Royal United Bank had 684 depositors that day, with total deposits exceeding 1800 million pesetas, and an average deposit of 2.687 pesetas per person.

Of course, such data is actually very inflated.

Among the 684 people who deposited money, most were nobles who had received the news. Among them, there were three people who had deposits of more than one million, namely, Jacobo, Duke of Alba, Fernando, Duke of Albuquerque, and Carlo himself.

There are actually only one or two hundred real civilian savers, which is why per capita deposits are ultimately raised to a very high level.

This also shows how huge the assets of the Spanish nobles are. The deposits they took out to show their sincerity were just a drop in the bucket compared to their assets, but for Carlo, it was already a very important starting capital.

1800 million pesetas was already most of the assets that Carlo brought to Spain, and this was only the total deposits received by the Royal United Bank on its first day of opening.

If the Royal United Bank can gain the trust of the people and attract a large number of Spanish people to deposit money there, Carlo will have a steady stream of available funds.

With sufficient funds, Carlo can continue to plan the expansion of the industrial and financial sectors and make more money.

It was easy to make money in this era, especially as a king. With the huge capital brought by the Royal United Bank, Carlo could easily monopolize an industry, maximize the benefits of an industry, and quickly fill his pockets.

"Your Majesty, please don't miss the banquet tomorrow night. There will be a large number of nobles participating, and it's time for Your Majesty to meet these guys." Jacobo said with a smile.

Since Primo put down the Carlist rebellion, Jacopo no longer looked down on Carlo, because he knew that from then on Carlo's throne would become very stable, and Carlo's fate would be tied to the Spanish nobles.

When they looked down on Carlo as the king at this time, they were actually looking down on themselves as the king's subordinates.

The nobles have a superior status entirely because of the people's obedience and support for the monarchy. If the people no longer support the king and overthrow the monarchy, the nobles' sense of superiority will no longer exist.

Although Carlo was an outsider, weren't the Bourbons also outsiders? The House of Savoy still controlled the throne of Italy, but the House of Bourbons currently controlled no country.

"Of course." Carlo nodded with a smile.

"Why shouldn't I go to the party that you, Jacob, personally invited me to?" Carlo said with a smile.

Jacob nodded, said goodbye to Carlo's palace, and went back to prepare for the banquet that had been planned for a long time.

This banquet was hosted by Jacobo in his personal capacity. Its main purpose was to show his loyalty to Carlo and at the same time, to help Carlo completely conquer the Spanish nobles at the banquet.

After all, Carlo is an outsider. If he wants to gain the recognition of the entire aristocratic class, the support of old Spanish aristocrats like Duke Jacob is very important.

Jacobo naturally understood that helping someone in need was far more important than adding icing on the cake. If he waited until Carlo had won over some of the nobles before joining him, it would not be so easy to become Carlo's confidant.

You know, although the nobles have a superior status, their families will not last forever.

If you want to ensure the longevity of your family, the first thing is to gain the support and trust of the king, and the second is to enter into political marriages with other nobles and cooperate with each other.

At this banquet, Jacobo also had some selfish motives of his own.

His daughter Anna was born in 1855 and will soon be 16 years old. Carlo was born in June 1851 and has not yet turned 6, so the age difference between the two is not too big.

If Anna and Carlo had the chance to fall in love with each other at the banquet, perhaps the de Toledo family's status in Spain would have been further enhanced.

Even if she could not become the Queen of Spain, the Toledo family would not suffer any loss if Carlo chose her to be one of his mistresses.

After all, it was very normal for European monarchs to have a mistress, and the chaotic life among the nobles was unimaginable for ordinary people.

Time soon came to the day of the banquet.

The banquet was held in the castle of Duke Jacob, which was located on the outskirts of Madrid, not far south from Toledo.

Jacobo attached great importance to this banquet and invited a large number of nobles from Spain to participate. However, due to the limitation of the venue, the nobles who could participate in this banquet had to be earls at least. Viscounts and barons were basically not eligible to participate except for those with high prestige or status.

There was nothing that could be done about it. After all, there were already hundreds of dukes, marquises, and earls in Spain. Although due to the distance, less than a hundred people could attend the banquet.

But if we count the female companions and family members of the nobles, there is no problem for hundreds of people to attend the banquet. This is almost the limit of a private banquet. If there are more people, the banquet scene will be quite chaotic, and the safety of the nobles attending the banquet cannot be guaranteed.

Especially since Carlo would be participating, safety work had to be taken seriously. If the banquet ended unhappily due to some unexpected events, then Jacobo's preparations would be in vain.

Carlo was also looking forward to this banquet.

Although Carlo had met many Spanish nobles during the last coronation ceremony, the nobles at that time were not so sincere towards Carlo.

Now with the support of Jacobo and Carlo's throne already quite stable, the nobles have no choice but to obey Carlo's rule.

Tonight's banquet is the beginning of Carlo completely gaining the loyalty of the nobility, becoming the true King of Spain, and being able to exert his influence on the government through the nobility.

After tonight, Carlo will have a large number of trustworthy subordinates. At least in terms of maintaining the monarchy, these nobles will definitely stand with Carlo.

Carlo will not be alone when facing the Republicans. These nobles are Carlo's best helpers and the most opposed group to the republic in the whole of Spain besides Carlo.

In order to gain Carlo's trust and to ensure the smooth progress of the banquet without any accidents, Duke Jacobo specifically requested Carlo to send a part of the Royal Guards to help maintain order at the banquet when organizing the banquet.

This also includes a simple body search of those attending the banquet to ensure that no one is carrying a weapon.

This was also discussed in advance with the nobles attending the banquet. After all, Carlo didn't want anyone to sneak into the banquet with weapons and give him a fatal blow when he was most relaxed.

Your life still has to be in your own hands, and you can't trust anyone when necessary.

It’s not that Carlo is unwilling to trust others, but mainly because there have been countless assassinations of kings across Europe, and Carlo is not a fool.

Even if Jacobo could be trusted, could every noble attending the banquet be trusted? Even if all the nobles were okay, could they ensure that there would be no rebels among the female companions they brought?
Screening one by one is a waste of time and inefficient. The best way is to make sure that no one carries a weapon and turn the castle where the banquet is held into a weapon-free safe zone.

At about six o'clock in the evening, Carlo took a carriage and slowly drove towards Jacob's castle under the escort of the Guards.

This carriage was also specially made, and there was even a steel plate at the window that could be pulled down to prevent bullets from penetrating.

Because the carriage was inlaid with heavy steel plates, the entire carriage was pulled by four horses to ensure its speed.

In order to ensure Carlo's safety, two identical carriages drove out of the palace at the same time, ensuring that even if there were assassins, they would not be able to tell which carriage Carlo was sitting in in a short time.

At around seven o'clock in the evening, Carlo's carriage finally arrived at Jacob's castle.

Outside the castle, a large group of nobles had been waiting for a long time.

The positions of the nobles also reflected their status. The dukes like Jacobo stood in the front, followed by the marquises, and finally the earls and a small number of viscounts and barons.

The nobles were accompanied by their female companions and family members. Hundreds of people stood outside the castle to welcome Carlo's arrival, and the scene was quite lively.

"Your Majesty is here!"

Seeing the carriage slowly approaching, Duke Jacobo hurriedly shouted, signaling the nobles to dress properly and not lose their manners in front of the king.

Watching Carlo getting off the carriage with the help of his maid, all the nobles performed the standard aristocratic salute to Carlo and welcomed the king with the highest etiquette.

"Good evening, my nobles." Carlo also smiled and waved, showing his friendly attitude towards these nobles.

Jacobo stepped forward and said respectfully, "Everything is ready, Your Majesty. We are just waiting for your order. The banquet can start at any time."

"Well done, Jacobo. Okay, guys, let's go in and enjoy the party." Carlo said with a smile, without any airs of a king.

Surrounded by a large group of nobles, Carlo slowly walked into the castle and began to experience the private aristocratic banquet with unique Spanish characteristics.

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(End of this chapter)