Chapter 14: The Selection of the Spanish King

Time quickly arrived at 1869.

Although no news had yet come from Spain, Carlo was already making full preparations for the possibility of entering Spain.

First was the public opinion force that Carlo had vigorously developed, which had already achieved certain results.

The largest newspaper in Carlo's hands, the *Italy 24-Hour Sun*, had already become the largest newspaper in Northern Italy, with an average daily circulation for the whole of 1868 exceeding 24, 00 copies.

Besides the *Sun*, under Carlo's instructions, Luo Lun had also founded several newspapers in Northern and Southern Italy; the combined daily circulation of these small and medium-sized newspapers also exceeded 10, 00 copies.

Carlo could be considered to have completed his preliminary deployment of public opinion forces. All the various newspapers combined possessed tens of thousands of loyal readers and could influence at least hundreds of thousands of people.

As long as Carlo wished, he could ensure that hundreds of thousands or even millions of Italians learned of a piece of news in a short time.

In this era where transportation was extremely inconvenient and the public mostly relied on livestock like horses and ox carts for travel, this was very exaggerated.

These various newspapers, large and small, had also brought Carlo nearly 250, 00 Lira in revenue over the two and a half years.

It was also thanks to Garibaldi's reputation that the *Sun* was able to quickly break into the market; otherwise, more than 200, 00 Lira would not have been so easy to earn.

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

Just as in history, Primo, as the most powerful individual in the temporary government, coupled with his immense prestige among the revolutionary army, successfully controlled the majority of seats in parliament.

This news made Carlo heave a sigh of relief; this meant that Spain would head toward a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, and Carlo still had great hope of becoming the King of Spain.

The new Spanish parliament had just been established when it announced that it would not abolish the monarchy, but would instead establish a national government under a constitutional monarchy to manage Spain's political affairs.

Because the Spanish throne remained vacant, parliament appointed the Prime Minister of the temporary government, Francisco Serrano Domínguez, as Regent of the Kingdom of Spain, and Minister of War Primo as the new Prime Minister.

These two were not only the two most prestigious individuals in the temporary government but also the two generals most supported within the revolutionary army.

This was actually the real reason why Spain continued to maintain the monarchy; after all, the two people with the power to decide both supported the monarchy.

Thanks to that report promoting the superiority of the monarchical system, the news that Spain would continue to maintain the monarchy did not stir up too many waves.

As long as Spain was no longer ruled by a muddled monarch like Queen Isabella, the Spanish people's objections would at least not be so intense.

The parliamentary matter had come to a temporary end, and for Regent Serrano and Prime Minister Primo, the most headache-inducing matter had become choosing a suitable king for Spain.

Although they could choose at will from the European royal families, the chosen candidate also had to gain the approval of the public.

One with too poor a reputation would not do; it was impossible for the Spanish to believe that such a king could do better than Isabella. If it were just a new Queen Isabella ruling Spain, then what was the purpose of the Spanish revolution?

One with a controversial background would not do. For Spain, a king with a noble background and the support of a great family could stabilize Spain's order.

If the new king's background were highly controversial, this would be a new blow to the constitutional monarchy that Spain had finally established.

Added to various other conditions, there were actually not many European princes left who were suitable to become the King of Spain.

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

The first choice was Prince Leopold of the German royal family. Prince Leopold was born into the House of Hohenzollern and was backed by the Kingdom of Prussia, which had just won the Austro-Prussian War; both his background and reputation met Spain's requirements.

The second choice was Fernando, who had served as the Regent of Portugal. Fernando's wife and son were both Kings of Portugal, and during his time serving as King of Portugal (the Queen's husband) and Regent, his performance was above the passing grade, and his reputation was also relatively good.

The third choice was Prince Amedeo of the Italian House of Savoy. Unified Italy still had a say along the Mediterranean coast, and the prestige of the Savoy family among European royal families had also seen a small increase. For Spain, Amedeo might not be as reliable as the first two, but he could be considered a qualified candidate.

The fourth choice also came from the Italian House of Savoy, and was Amedeo's own younger brother, Carlo. Carlo's shortcoming was that he was slightly young, still a few months away from turning 18. But Carlo's reputation in Italy was no weaker than Amedeo's, and the *Sun*'s promotion of Carlo was still very effective.

Many Italians even quite loved this youngest prince, because this little prince did not have much of an air about him when traveling and would also friendly greet the Italian public.

Under the influence of the public opinion force, a portion of the Spanish also heard of this friendly prince from Italy. This was also the reason why Carlo was able to enter the list of candidates; after all, both Primo and Serrano believed that the Spanish would not reject a friendly king.

The last candidate was Queen Isabella's brother-in-law, the Duke of Montpensier of Spain. However, considering the Spanish people's hatred for Queen Isabella and the potential "love me, love my dog" psychology, Primo placed the Duke of Montpensier at the very end of the candidate list and was considering removing him from the list.

After all, selecting a King of Spain was extremely strict; any minor shortcoming of a candidate would be magnified countless times, and any potential impact was something Serrano and Primo had to consider.

What disappointed Primo was that just as the Spanish government released a bit of wind to Fernando, Fernando directly rejected the Spanish throne.

This also theoretically cut off the possibility of Spain and Portugal uniting once again, as Fernando's son was the current King of Portugal.

If Fernando could obtain the Spanish throne, the future King of Portugal could potentially inherit the Spanish throne, realizing the merger of the two Iberian countries.

Fernando's voluntary withdrawal turned the list of five into four. After a long discussion with Serrano, Primo finally decided to remove the Duke of Montpensier from the list as well, which resulted in only three candidates remaining on the list.

Although the work of selecting a king for Spain was kept relatively confidential, there were no airtight walls in the world.

At this time, Primo and Serrano did not yet know what a significant impact their king-selection work would have on the European situation, and that it would even directly lead to a European hegemon being trampled underfoot by other countries.

First update, seeking support!

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(End of chapter)