Chapter 236: The Funeral and the Meeting

Victor Emmanuel II eventually passed away, but he left with a smile on his lips, at least having no regrets.

After the old King passed, the Italian government immediately began preparing for the old King's funeral with all its might.

In fact, the government had been quietly planning the old King's funeral ever since Victor Emmanuel II became seriously ill.

But since he had not yet passed, the planning could only be carried out in secret, and certain aspects still required a long time to perfect.

As the unifier of Italy, the funeral of Victor Emmanuel II had to be of the highest standard. Crown Prince Umberto specifically issued an order to the government that the preparations for his father's funeral must be conducted with the highest standard, and no budget could be spared in any aspect.

Fortunately, the unified Italy could be considered a wealthy nation, and the northern regions of Italy were able to provide the Italian government with substantial fiscal revenue every year.

Even setting aside tens of millions of Lira to prepare for Victor Emmanuel II's funeral was an easy task for the Italian government.

Moreover, the cost of the funeral was far from reaching that figure. The Italian Lira and the Spanish Peseta were similar in value, and currency in this era was still quite valuable.

According to the Italian government's estimates, even if Victor Emmanuel II's funeral were held at the highest standard, the funds spent would definitely not exceed 5 million Lira.

The moment Victor Emmanuel II passed away, the Italian government announced the news to the public and declared that the old King's funeral would be held one week later.

The Italian public was relatively reluctant to see the old King go. Of course, this applied to the people who originally belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

As for the Italian people in other regions, they had been under Italian rule for less than ten years, so how could they have developed feelings of affection for King Victor Emmanuel II during this decade?

After the old King passed away, Crown Prince Umberto naturally inherited the Italian throne and became the new King of Italy.

However, because the Italian government had to prepare for the old King's funeral, King Umberto's coronation ceremony was scheduled to be held half a year later.

But before the coronation ceremony, Umberto was already the official King of Italy. Because his father was the first King of Italy, King Umberto naturally became the first Italian King named Umberto, that is, King Umberto I of Italy.

In fact, the old King Victor Emmanuel II could have changed his title from the Second to the First after the founding of Italy, but to appease the emotions of the people of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the old King continued to use the title he held during his time in the Kingdom of Sardinia; this is also the reason why he was called Victor Emmanuel II despite being the founding monarch of Italy.

According to the Italian government's plan, the unifier of Italy, hailed as the Father of the Fatherland of the Italians, Victor Emmanuel II, would be buried in the Roman Pantheon, a magnificent palace with a history of nearly 2, 00 years.

The initial construction of the Roman Pantheon dates back to 27 BC, and it was later rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 118 AD.

During the Roman Empire, the Pantheon was a temple dedicated to the Roman gods, and after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Pantheon was converted into a Christian church.

Because Europe had a tradition of burial in churches, many outstanding historical figures were buried here, such as the youngest of the three masters of the Renaissance, the famous Italian painter Raphael Sanzio.

After Victor Emmanuel II passed away, Carlo and his two older brothers personally carried their father into the coffin that had been prepared long ago.

The old King's coffin was a massive stone sarcophagus, with the bottom of the sarcophagus lined with thick charcoal to prevent water and moisture.

A blanket printed with the House of Savoy crest was spread over the charcoal, and the old King's body was wrapped within it. As the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II's burial goods were not luxurious.

Normal European monarchs liked to include many jewels and gold coins, deluding themselves that they could take these riches with them to heaven.

But whether such greed could lead them to heaven was hard to say, and Victor Emmanuel II clearly did not have such thoughts.

Among the old King's burial goods, many were simply daily necessities. These included the nightgown of his first wife, Carlo's mother, Grand Duchess Adelaide; the military cap of Carlo's older brother, the late Prince Oddone; and the clothing of Carlo's two younger brothers, the two Princes Vittorio Emanuele who also died young.

Besides these, the old King's burial goods consisted only of a few books he enjoyed reading and some old photographs; there was nothing else.

From this, one can see that what the old King wanted after death was not luxurious burial goods, but warmth and memories.

Although the price of each burial item was not high, for Victor Emmanuel II himself, these were the most precious memories of his life.

At eight o'clock in the morning one week later, the Italian government officially held the funeral for Victor Emmanuel II.

Although some Italians did not care about the King's death, many people who were fanatical about Italian unification flocked to Rome to attend the funeral of this great monarch.

Around 8: 0 in the morning, the bells of Rome tolled 58 times, representing the old King's 58-year life journey from 1820 to 1878.

The carriage carrying the old King's remains moved slowly toward the Pantheon, and the Italian people along the way offered their highest respect and endless blessings to this monarch who unified the country.

They hoped that this king of great achievements would reach heaven after his death, and also hoped that the old King's successor would be a kind and approachable king.

Carlo and his two older brothers rode horses personally alongside the carriage, accompanied by King Luís of Portugal and Count of Moncalieri Napoleon Jérôme Bonaparte; because they were the old King's sons-in-law, they also joined the funeral procession.

Three European kings personally escorted Victor Emmanuel II to the Roman Pantheon, which made the scale of the funeral even more grand.

In addition to the two kings, Carlo and Luís, who personally supported the coffin, many monarchs and important high-ranking officials from other countries attended the old King's funeral.

Italy was, after all, a second-rate power, and even great powers could not completely ignore Italy's existence.

All five traditional European powers sent envoys, and Emperor Franz Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire even sent the Imperial Crown Prince Rudolf to attend the old King's funeral.

When the old King's remains arrived at the Pantheon, the funeral proceedings officially began.

First, the bishop praised the achievements of Victor Emmanuel II, hailing him as an example for all Christian believers, who spent his life serving Italy and the Italian people.

As the king who unified Italy, Victor Emmanuel II had many achievements that could be praised. At least the public's praise for him was true; under his leadership, Italy completed its unification and officially became a country at the level of a great power.

After the bishop's praise, the Italian Prime Minister stepped forward and recited a passage from the Gospel of John in the Bible at the funeral, blessing Italy's great king to step into heaven soon.

After this segment, there was a three-minute moment of silence for the entire assembly.

Because it had been arranged beforehand, from 11: 5 to 11: 8, the bells of all the churches in Rome rang out, mourning for the great king together for three minutes.

After the silence ended, the state funeral proceedings officially concluded.

Victor Emmanuel II's remains would be placed in the tomb of the Pantheon, and future generations could also come to the Pantheon to pay their respects to the old King.

Carlo finished attending the entire funeral, and by the time he returned to his residence, it was already evening.

Alone in his room, Carlo's mood was quite complex. After the passing of Victor Emmanuel II, the connection between Carlo and Italy would be completely severed.

Although the current King of Italy was his older brother, Carlo understood that in the future, the relationship between Spain and Italy would gradually become distant.

Although Spain and Italy remained allies, this alliance was considered more for their own interests, and family ties became secondary.

However, this was also fine; Carlo could devote himself entirely to the development of Spain. If any problems arose within the Italian royal family in the future, Carlo would also be willing to protect his brother's descendants.

Of course, it would be best if no problems arose. The rule of the House of Savoy could continue to be passed down in Italy, which was exactly what Carlo's father, Victor Emmanuel II, had hoped for.

After the funeral, Umberto, who had become King, became busy instead.

During the time the old King was seriously ill, it had been Umberto handling government affairs. And after he officially became King, he still needed to complete the handover with the current cabinet government.

Even though he had been handling government affairs before, the power of a Crown Prince and a King were completely different. Carlo understood this; after all, if a king could not control the cabinet government, it meant that the king had lost his power from then on.

In Italy, there was one more person Carlo wanted to see, and that was Garibaldi, who had also made outstanding contributions to the unification of Italy.

Garibaldi faded from the public eye after the unification of Italy and lived in seclusion on Caprera Island.

But after Victor Emmanuel II became seriously ill, he re-employed Garibaldi.

Just like that, Garibaldi was elected as a member of parliament in Rome and was personally received by Victor Emmanuel II.

The two reached a unified opinion on the situation in Italy; neither Victor Emmanuel II nor Garibaldi wanted to see the Italy they had worked so hard to unify fall back into division.

However, although he was elected as a member of parliament, Garibaldi still spent most of his time on Caprera Island. The main reason for this was the deterioration of Garibaldi's physical condition, which made his energy far less than before.

After Victor Emmanuel II became terminally ill, Garibaldi was also considering his own affairs.

However, because his two sons were far away in Spain, Garibaldi still placed more of his emotions on patriotic feelings and constantly provided his own suggestions for the decisions of the government and parties.

According to historical experience, Garibaldi did not have much time left. Carlo still admired this great man of Italy quite a bit.

Moreover, Garibaldi's two sons were both serving under Carlo, so for both personal and official reasons, Carlo needed to see Garibaldi in person.

Unlike the appearance of an ordinary Italian farmer that Carlo had seen the first time, this time when he saw Garibaldi, he was clearly much more aged and decadent.

But thinking about it, it was normal; Garibaldi was a full 13 years older than Victor Emmanuel II, and he was now 70 years old, which was definitely a ripe old age.

The gold content of 70 years old in this era was comparable to 90 years old in later generations; after all, the average life expectancy was only thirty or forty, and living a long life was definitely a rare existence.

Garibaldi was not surprised by Carlo's arrival because Carlo had sent someone to notify him in advance.

After all, Garibaldi was already serving as an Italian member of parliament and could not spend all his time on Caprera Island.

The reason Carlo notified him in advance was also to prevent himself from making a wasted trip.

Seeing Carlo again, Garibaldi felt some emotion.

When he first had contact with Carlo, Carlo was just an ordinary prince of Italy, and he was only 16 years old.

But he did not expect that Carlo would succeed in the Spanish election and become the new King of Spain. That was not all; after becoming the King of Spain, Carlo reclaimed a certain amount of power through various means and worked closely with Spanish Prime Minister Primo, making Spain more powerful through reforms.

Although he had determined earlier that Carlo had a certain amount of ambition and ability, Garibaldi did not expect Carlo to be so excellent, able to secure his throne in a very short time.

"Long time no see, Your Majesty Carlo." Garibaldi spoke first, saying with a smile.

"Long time no see, Mr. Garibaldi." Carlo also nodded and stepped forward.

"Time flies so fast! We old guys have all reached the time to meet God." Garibaldi said with quite a bit of emotion.

"The development of the country still cannot do without meritorious officials like you, and the peace and stability of Italy still need you to maintain." Carlo replied.

Although Italy looked stable, there were also some problems internally.

The current Italy could be divided into four parts: the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was originally under the rule of the House of Savoy, was the first part; the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the south was the second part; Rome, originally controlled by the Papal States, was the third part; and the various states in northern Italy were the fourth part.

Among these four regions, the problems were most serious in the various states of northern Italy.

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the south was a feudal autocratic country, and the Sicilians did not reject Italian rule.

After all, during the period of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the exploitation and oppression they suffered were much more severe than during the Italian period.

The industry and economy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were relatively backward; although there were reasons for the lack of mineral resources, the autocracy and corruption of the kingdom were also a major factor.

Unlike the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the industry and economy of the various states in northern Italy were relatively developed, and more thoughts and ideologies were born among the residents here.

Republican ideology took root here, which also led to many supporters of the republican system in Italy. The biggest problem currently faced by the Kingdom of Italy was that these republican supporters were trying to subvert the rule of the kingdom.

Fortunately, Garibaldi saw the danger that the republican system brought to Italian unification. If the republican elements in Italy were not restricted, they would definitely destroy the current unified state of Italy.

The reason why Garibaldi was willing to support the Kingdom of Sardinia of Victor Emmanuel II was precisely because he saw the bonus that a monarchical country brought to unification.

Monarchy might not be the best for Italy, but for an Italy that had just been unified, it was the easiest to maintain stability.

The reason why Victor Emmanuel II re-employed Garibaldi after becoming seriously ill was precisely because he saw the threat that the republican system brought to Italy.

If it relied solely on Crown Prince Umberto, it would be difficult to fight against the republican elements in Italy. But if Garibaldi was also willing to contribute, it would not be difficult to suppress the republican elements in Italy.

Hearing Carlo's words, Garibaldi nodded.

The reason why he was willing to come out of retirement after more than ten years of seclusion was mainly because he saw the threat of the republican system to Italian unification.

This was actually the same reason why Spanish Prime Minister Primo chose to continue the monarchy; only a monarchy could maintain the unity of the country.

If the current Italy were to transform into a republican system, it would inevitably split into several states. This was what Garibaldi, who single-handedly facilitated Italian unification, was least willing to see, and he was also willing to continue to cooperate with the House of Savoy for the sake of Italian unification.

"Fortunately, King Umberto's ability is also quite good, and the stability and peace of Italy can continue to be maintained." When talking about Umberto, Garibaldi also expressed affirmation for Umberto.

Umberto was the heir to the throne carefully cultivated by Victor Emmanuel II, and his ability was at least qualified.

At least during Umberto's reign, Italy would not have any major problems. But to let Italy completely solve the problems brought by the republican elements, one must pray for the birth of a monarch in Italy who truly has great ability and grand strategies.

Thinking of this, Garibaldi could not help but look toward Kaluo, his expression carrying a hint of regret.

In his view, Kaluo's ability was higher than that of King Umberto.

Moreover, Kaluo was younger and could sit on the throne for longer, meaning there would be more time available to solve Italy's problems.

But unfortunately, Kaluo had become the King of Spain early on, and had no connection to Italy.

Garibaldi only hoped that King Umberto's son, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, could grow into an excellent monarch like Kaluo as soon as possible, or at the very least, grow into a qualified monarch like his father, King Umberto.

Only in this way could the Italian throne be passed down stably, and the situation in Italy remain stable for a long time.

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(End of chapter)