Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 51 Assassination
The creation of the German Empire was a good thing for Carlo.

The Franco-Prussian War had already made Carlo worried a year in advance. If the situation in Europe changed because of Carlo's arrival, it would most likely affect Carlo's judgment of the future.

Although the time is different now, the situation is still moving slowly along the wheel of history, which means that Carlo's natural advantages as a time traveler still exist.

Although the unified German Empire had become one of the most powerful countries on the European continent, Carlo did not intend to get close to the Germans at this time.

Although Germany received a large amount of reparations from France, the Germans also needed a lot of money to develop their own country, and might not be able to come up with enough funds to support Spain to satisfy Carlo.

Another reason is that Spain’s extremely important geographical location means that it cannot easily take sides, otherwise it will inevitably arouse the fear and hostility of other powerful countries.

If Spain became a clear ally of the German Empire, it would truly become a common enemy of Britain and France.

France does not want to be attacked from both north and south by German forces, and Britain does not want to see the western gate of the Mediterranean being influenced or even controlled by other countries.

Before Spain becomes truly strong and able to decide its own destiny, the best way is to blur its position and waver between several powers.

As long as Spain does not make its position clear, it does not have to worry about any powerful country invading Spain.

Because no matter which country has ideas about Spain's homeland, other powers will not allow this power to occupy Spanish territory.

If France wants to invade Spain, the Germans will make trouble. If Britain wants to invade Spain, both France and Germany will make trouble. Needless to say, the Germans will not have any idea of ​​​​going to Spain due to their distance.

Only a temporary swing to the left or right can ensure Spain's safety in the early stages and achieve relatively stable economic and industrial development.

If it really takes a clear stand, it may soon be sanctioned by other powers, such as raising tariffs, restricting imports and exports, etc.

This is also the sadness of small countries, sometimes they really cannot control their own destiny. It seems to be wavering between two powerful countries, but in fact it is just to avoid offending either country and survive in the cracks.

However, the strategy of wavering is not always applicable. If the powerful countries have reached a life-and-death struggle, the strategy of wavering will make them more conspicuous.

No country will like a younger brother who is not firm in his stance. If one does not have the strength to be taken seriously and vacillates left and right before the decisive battle, he will most likely be targeted by both sides and become the one who dies the fastest.

Carlo's expectation for Spain is that the initial reforms will be successful within the next ten years and that it will have the strength of a great power, almost like Italy today.

In the next 20 years, we will be able to become a medium-sized power and gain the right to control our own destiny. At that time, we will no longer have to survive in the cracks between powerful countries.

As for the First World War that broke out more than 40 years later, Spain's reforms might have been completely successful by then, and Spain would have been able to leap from a chess piece on the chessboard to a chess player, or be a bystander and watch the development of the European situation.

Anyway, no matter which option is chosen, there must be a prerequisite, that is, Spain itself has a certain strength that can make those powers pay attention to it.

In Carlo's plan for Spain, military reform and economic and industrial reform are equally important and neither is dispensable.

Economic and industrial reforms can greatly enhance Spain's overall national strength and return it to the throne of a great power.

The reform of military strength is the only way to ensure that one's wallet is not damaged. Without sufficient military strength, the huge economy and industry will become fat meat in the mouths of the great powers.

In other words, the United States and Europe are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. If the United States were on the European continent, its development would probably not be so smooth.

The only good news now is that it is still early. In 1870, there are still more than 40 years before World War I, and Spain has enough time to carry out long and stable reforms in these 40 years.

Reform cannot be fast, but must be steady. Too fast a reform would arouse the indignation of a large number of domestic opposition forces, which would not be a good thing for Spain, which had just put down the rebellion.

May 1870, in a luxurious manor in Madrid, Spain.

This is one of the estates of the famous Spanish nobleman, the Duke of Osuna. As one of the top Spanish nobles on par with the Duke of Alba, the Duke of Osuna and his family own dozens of castles and estates throughout Spain, as well as a large amount of property, including countless lands.

Of course, one of the reasons why the Duke of Osuna became famous is the famous painting "The Duke of Osuna and His Family" painted by the famous Spanish painter Goya in 1788.

As one of the top nobles in Spain, the Duke of Osuna should have been enjoying his luxurious life.

But at this moment, the Duke's face not only did not show any relaxed smile, but his face was gloomy and he looked very unhappy.

Boom boom boom!
There was the sound of leather boots stepping on the floor, and then a middle-aged man in butler's clothes walked in and said to Duke Osuna respectfully, "It's ready, Your Highness, you can start the action at any time."

The Duke of Osuna shook the wine glass in his hand gently, and the deep red wine surged in the glass, and then gradually calmed down.

"Can you ensure the smooth implementation of the plan? You know, I don't want any accidents to happen. This plan can only succeed, not fail." Duke Osuna looked at his butler and put down the wine glass in his hand. "It will go smoothly, Your Highness. This plan has been carefully prepared. The two assassins who participated in the plan will be killed after the success to ensure that no more people will know about our plan." The butler nodded confidently, quite confident in his deployment.

"I hope so." Duke Osuna smiled, but it didn't look so innocent. He glanced at his butler, then left quickly.

"Go ahead, I hope you can bring me good news, may God bless you." Duke Osuna waved his hand, and the butler also took his leave.

About half an hour later, a sturdy man in a black robe walked in and saluted Duke Osuna respectfully: "Your Highness."

"Shadow, I'll leave the aftermath to you." A smile finally appeared on Duke Osuna's face at this moment, and he spoke without any context.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The man called Shadow never revealed his true face. He just nodded respectfully and left without making any sound.

After Shadow left his room, Duke Osuna picked up his glass again, glanced at the valuable paintings hanging in his room, laughed, and said to himself: "King? Prime Minister? Haha, how can an Italian become the king of Spain? If he doesn't even know the simple rules, how can he gain the support of the nobles?"

That night, the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Primo walked out of the palace with a tired look on his face.

Just now, he met with Carlo to report on the government's recent work and submitted a plan to Carlo on the Spanish military reform plan.

Carlo said that he would grant Primo the title of Duke in the near future and hold a celebratory banquet to celebrate the end of the Spanish civil war.

Since the banquet was held in the name of celebrating the end of the civil unrest, Primo could not refuse and could only repeatedly request that the scale of the banquet be reduced as much as possible and that more money be used for government reforms.

This back and forth discussion took several hours, and by the time the meeting ended it was already past 11 o'clock in the evening.

As the Prime Minister, Primo was used to working until the early morning every night. He got on the carriage and ordered his men to go to his residence.

The way back was groggy and the rocking of the carriage made Primo sleepy.

boom!
The sudden sound of a gunshot was so obvious that Primo woke up and the carriage slowed down at the same time.

"Damn, what's going on? Why are there gunshots in Madrid?" Primo asked.

"I'm afraid they are coming for us. Protect the Prime Minister!" The subordinates driving the car were actually guards who Primo agreed to after Carlo's repeated requests. They were all soldiers carefully selected from the Spanish army and they also carried weapons with them.

Although it seems that there is only one person driving the carriage outside, Primo is always accompanied and protected by secret guards whenever he travels, and there are at least ten guards.

Although Primo's carriage was not as unique as the royal carriage, it was also protected by iron sheets on the outside and had steel plates on the windows that could fall down.

Hearing that the gunshots might be directed at him, Primo pulled down the steel plate on the window and picked up the weapons that had been prepared in the carriage, without any panic in his eyes.

As a general who had personally led troops into battle, would Primo be afraid of a small assassination? No.

He is also surrounded by guards. Unless the enemy is a well-trained army of hundreds of people, or the opponent's shooting skills are very accurate and Primo can be killed with a few shots, the assassination will most likely fail.

Such obvious gunshots and fighting would quickly attract the police and army of Madrid. This place is not far from the royal palace, and the Guards could arrive in a short time.

boom!Boom!

The collision of several bullets and steel plates shocked the assassin and completely alarmed the guards who were secretly protecting Primo.

The assassins had no choice but to try to aim at other parts of the carriage, praying that the bullets would pass through the carriage and hit Primo inside.

As for whether Primo could be killed, there was no guarantee now. Who would have thought that a seemingly ordinary carriage would have steel plates?
Originally, bullets could easily penetrate the wooden carriage and hit the people inside, but if the entire carriage was protected by steel plates or iron sheets, the lethality would definitely be greatly reduced.

"Damn, what a bunch of rubbish!"

The butler hiding in the dark looked at the two assassins and cursed them, but the most important thing now was to cut the roots.

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(End of this chapter)