Chapter 194: One-Day Prime Minister

The news that Prime Minister Primo had been assassinated, left severely wounded and in a coma, quickly spread through various channels to most of Madrid, and even the entirety of Spain.

Whether they were ministers of the Spanish cabinet government or members of the House of Representatives, all were taken by surprise.

Since the revolution and Primo's election as Prime Minister of Spain, he had firmly held the reins of Spanish politics and was absolutely the anchor of the government.

If Prime Minister Primo were present, even in the face of immense chaos, the officials would have the confidence to quell it under his leadership.

But now that Prime Minister Primo was severely wounded and in a coma, there was an urgent need for another influential person who could step forward to stabilize the situation; who would this person be?

At this moment, the Spanish government quickly split into two factions. One was led by Minister of Transport and Communications Ruiz, with members consisting mostly of the Progressive Party. They believed that the parliament should immediately elect an acting Prime Minister to stabilize the situation in Spain until Prime Minister Primo awoke, at which point the position of acting Prime Minister would be abolished.

Meanwhile, the Conservative Party, led by Minister of Industry Canovas, believed that the most important task at present was to bring back Luo Si from Southern Morocco and have His Majesty the King issue orders to stabilize the situation.

The Progressive Party was originally the largest party in the Spanish parliament, but because they lacked the leadership of Prime Minister Primo, they ended up in a stalemate with the second-largest party, the Conservative Party.

While the parliament was arguing heatedly, the actions of the rebellious nobles had already begun.

Under the malicious instigation of certain individuals, the workers' parades in some areas incorporated elements of chaos and violence, turning the original protests into conflicts with the local police.

When the conflicts began, even workers who were not originally opposed to the government could not interfere with the progression of the clashes.

The final result was that quite serious conflict incidents broke out on several streets in Madrid, with casualties among both the protesting workers and the police maintaining order.

The conflict incidents changed the landscape of the arguments in the Spanish parliament. Minister of Transport and Communications Ruiz suddenly gained the support of the Liberal Party and was elected as acting Prime Minister of Spain with a majority of parliamentary votes, fulfilling the duties of the Spanish Prime Minister while Prime Minister Primo was wounded and in a coma, with his term ending automatically when Prime Minister Primo awoke.

Having overcome ten thousand difficulties to become the acting Prime Minister of Spain, Ruiz was in high spirits. He certainly knew that Prime Minister Primo's injuries were not light, and he also knew that even if Prime Minister Primo could be saved, his physical condition would take a sharp turn for the worse.

Although his nominal term as acting Prime Minister was only for the duration of Prime Minister Primo's injury, in reality, it was a form of experience that no one else could obtain.

If Prime Minister Primo were to retire in the future, who else could take the mantle of Prime Minister from him? Naturally, it would be him, the man who had once served as acting Prime Minister; this would be a great help for his future as the new Prime Minister of Spain and as the new leader of the Progressive Party.

As for such a small workers' parade, Ruiz did not take it seriously at all.

On the afternoon of November 5, 1875, Ruiz, who had just been elected acting Prime Minister of Spain, immediately announced an order for the army stationed in Toledo to march north to Madrid, declared martial law in Madrid, demanded that the protesting workers disperse, and promised to seek justice for the workers.

Although Madrid also had a garrison, Ruiz was clever enough not to mobilize the main force in Madrid. Why? Because Grand Duke Serrano had moved his Ministry of Defense office to the military camp in Madrid, and the Madrid army was completely controlled by Grand Duke Serrano; Ruiz was not stupid.

The Madrid army was certainly closer, but it was also more capable of threatening his position as acting Prime Minister. His ideology as a radical reformer did not align with that of a conservative noble like Grand Duke Serrano; if Grand Duke Serrano were to stage a military coup, that would be a huge problem.

Therefore, even if it meant mobilizing troops from Toledo, dozens of kilometers away, Ruiz was unwilling to mobilize troops from the outskirts of Madrid, which were closer.

What Ruiz did not expect was that before the Toledo army arrived, he encountered a new surprise.

If one were to say that these rebellious nobles were quite dissatisfied with Prime Minister Primo, then their feelings toward the even more radical reformer Ruiz were naked hatred and disgust.

Prime Minister Primo's reforms would take the nobles' opinions into account and would not drive them to extinction. But Ruiz's reforms were extremely radical; he had even once supported the abolition of the Spanish monarchy to establish a completely republican and democratic Spanish state.

To the rebellious nobles, Ruiz was also a trouble that absolutely had to be removed. If Ruiz were allowed to seize power, this guy would definitely find an opportunity to push for a Spanish republic.

The rebellious nobles were still waiting to welcome back Queen Isabel and regain their noble privileges; they did not want Spain to have already become a republic before the Queen returned.

If that were the case, what would be the point of the Queen returning? Would she have to apply for a Spanish Republic resident ID card?

While quickly preparing for an armed rebellion, the rebellious nobles were also spreading all sorts of rumors unfavorable to Ruiz.

For example, claims that Prime Minister Primo was actually assassinated by people sent by Ruiz, with the goal of seizing power in Spain after Prime Minister Primo fell into a coma.

There were also reports that Ruiz owned several large factories and was even more hateful than the factory owners who had been exposed, all in an attempt to smear Ruiz, who had become acting Prime Minister.

At this moment, Ruiz was also feeling a massive headache. Having just become acting Prime Minister, he hadn't enjoyed the power for long before his reputation had already been smeared in such a way.

However, the most important thing at the moment was to end this workers' parade that had spread to most of Madrid; otherwise, the government would not be able to spare the effort to resolve other matters.

To ensure the stability of Madrid, Ruiz issued a new order: the police responsible for maintaining order could use firearms under dangerous conditions to stop the workers' parade from evolving into an armed conflict.

But what he did not expect was that this order instantly ignited the situation of the workers' parade.

Originally, the police did not intend to take the initiative to fire on the worker groups, but they could not withstand the malicious guidance and fanning of the flames by the rebellious nobles within the worker groups.

When someone in the chaotic crowd fired at the police, even if the police were unwilling to fire on civilians, they had to use the firearms in their hands for the sake of their own personal safety.

The fatal consequence of this was that in a short period of time, several parade sites were ignited, and the cumulative casualties of workers and police quickly reached hundreds.

"What?" Ruiz, who had just learned of the casualty reports, showed a look of shock on his face and asked incredulously: "Who told them to fire first? Didn't I say that firearms should only be used in the most dangerous moments?"

"Mr. Prime Minister, it was not our police who fired first, but someone in the crowd who attacked them with gunfire first," the Minister of Public Security explained with a bitter smile: "The crowd fell into chaos after the shots were fired, and our police suffered heavy casualties."

"In order to maintain the stability of the situation, they had no choice but to fire warning shots into the air to force the crowd back."

"Damn it." Ruiz pounded the table twice; his mood at this moment was not very pleasant.

The current situation had reached an even more critical juncture; if the workers' parade was not handled well, it could very likely evolve into civil unrest against the government.

"Where is our army? How much longer until they arrive in Madrid?" Ruiz asked.

Only by holding the army in his hands could he ensure the stability of Madrid and sit securely in his position as acting Prime Minister.

As for whether using the army to suppress the parade would cause fierce resistance from the workers, that was no longer a question Ruiz wanted to consider.

After all, only by resolving the current workers' parade would the Spanish government have the opportunity to consider other issues. If even the workers' parade in Madrid could not be resolved, then there was no need to consider anything else; the workers themselves would overthrow the government.

"The Toledo army sent word this morning that they have already begun their operation. Based on the distance between Madrid and Toledo, they should be able to arrive in Madrid in half a day at most," the Minister of Public Security replied.

Ruiz did not dare to trouble Grand Duke Serrano to mobilize the army, but instead contacted the garrison in Toledo directly in his capacity as acting Prime Minister.

Although he was acting in the capacity of Prime Minister, he possessed the powers of the Prime Minister, including the power to mobilize the army in emergency situations.

Hearing the news that the army was about to arrive, Ruiz nodded with relief and then ordered: "When the army arrives in Madrid, immediately suppress the workers' parade."

"I do not want to see any parade groups on the streets tomorrow; Spain should enter a state of stability by tonight."

"I understand," the Minister of Public Security nodded.

On the other side, inside the Madrid military camp, Grand Duke Serrano was communicating with Luo Si via telegraph.

Grand Duke Serrano reported in detail on the current situation in Madrid and the fact that Minister of Transport and Communications Ruiz had become acting Prime Minister with the support of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party in parliament.

Luo Si's reply to this was that since the Spanish government had an acting Prime Minister, Grand Duke Serrano naturally did not need to be in a hurry to come forward.

Originally, Luo Si only intended to deal with the rebellious nobles and the remnants of the Bourbon dynasty during this chaos, but since the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party were both interfering, it was naturally more important to let them fight like dogs and enjoy the show.

As long as Luo Si was unwilling, it was impossible for Ruiz to suppress the workers' parade. Because the military power of Spain was completely concentrated in the hands of Grand Duke Serrano, and Grand Duke Serrano took his orders from Luo Si.

Originally, Prime Minister Primo also had a great influence on the army, but after he fell into a coma from his severe injuries, there was absolutely no one left who could rival Grand Duke Serrano in terms of influence over the army.

Don't look at Ruiz playing a little trick by mobilizing the Toledo army; in reality, the commander of the Toledo garrison had long since sent a telegram to ask for Grand Duke Serrano's opinion.

If Grand Duke Serrano had refused, the Toledo army would not have moved at all, let alone cooperate with Ruiz's orders on the surface.

On the evening of November 5, the rebellious nobles led a small number of troops to attack the Madrid police and obtained a batch of weapons and equipment.

Through this batch of weapons and equipment, the number of rebel troops quickly expanded to hundreds. Hundreds of people, coercing several thousand workers, attacked the Spanish government and parliament, and even raided several military supply warehouses established by the security department in Madrid.

During this time, some groups also attacked the Wang Gong, but as early as the moment the workers' parade began, the Imperial Guard Division had already stationed itself around the Wang Gong.

Let alone an armed force of hundreds, even an armed force of tens of thousands would not be able to capture the Wang Gong in a short period of time.

The rebellious nobles returned empty-handed and could only set their sights on other relatively important places, such as the Spanish government building, the parliament building, and the residences of key government officials.

Because they were caught off guard, the Spanish parliament building was quickly occupied, and some police and rebel troops engaged in fierce fighting on the outskirts of the government building.

The Spanish government, on the contrary, was retreating steadily in the face of the rebel troops, and the Toledo army that Ruiz was pinning his hopes on was still moving slowly south of Madrid.

Luo Si's goal was to make the waters in Madrid even murkier, so although Grand Duke Serrano did not explicitly state it in his reply to the Toledo army's telegram, he hinted that the Toledo army should delay its march.

The distance between Madrid and Toledo was only 70 kilometers, and the base of the Toledo army was even further north of Toledo city, only a little over 50 kilometers away from Madrid city.

But it was this distance of over 50 kilometers that allowed the Toledo army to walk from morning until evening and still be ten or twenty kilometers away.

The Toledo army's deliberate slowing of its pace left the Spanish government with no means of resistance when facing the rebel troops. Although there were many police in Madrid, they were all dispersed throughout Madrid to maintain order and prevent the parade groups from creating chaos.

The police protecting the government building and the parliament building only added up to a few dozen people; in the face of hundreds of armed personnel holding firearms and a group of over a thousand workers combined, a few dozen police were truly a bit thin.

"Damn it!" Ruiz, inside the government building, was pale; he knew he was finished.

The workers' parade had turned into a rebel force, which meant that a small-scale civil war had broken out in Spain under his watch. Regardless of the outcome of this war, with Prime Minister Primo in a coma from severe injuries, he was definitely the primary candidate to take the blame.

With a reputation for causing a Spanish civil war, let alone continuing to run for the next Prime Minister of Spain, it would already be a good result if he wasn't liquidated.

What's more, the rebel army had already reached the outside of the government building; now, even if Ruiz wanted to escape, he couldn't.

The pale-faced Ruiz still wanted to make a final resistance; he asked with a hoarse throat: "Where is the Toledo army? Have they reached Madrid?"

The Minister of Public Security first shook his head, and then a telegram was received inside the government building.

After reading the full content of the telegram, the Minister of Public Security walked up with a strange expression and handed the telegram to Ruiz.

"Mr. Acting Prime Minister, you had better see for yourself. The Toledo army has arrived, but they have gone to the south of Madrid to report to Grand Duke Serrano."

Ruiz's pupils dilated instantly, and then he slumped into his chair, pale-faced: "It's over!"

(End of chapter)