Chapter 291: The Death of Prime Minister Primo

Facts proved that in terms of Garibaldi's funeral, Umberto I had indeed made a good move.

As a national hero famous throughout Europe and America, the news of Garibaldi's death shocked all of Europe and also drew the attention of many countries in the Americas.

Due to the distance, the American countries could only authorize their ambassadors stationed in Rome to represent them in attending Garibaldi's funeral to commemorate this famous classical hero of Europe and America.

Countries closer by all sent their own representatives, and even great powers like France and Germany were no exception.

It is not common in Europe for a funeral to attract the attention of so many countries. Apart from those ancient great nobles and the rulers of various nations, few people's funerals could attract the attention of so many countries.

Because of the generous donation from the Italian royal family, Garibaldi's funeral became even more grand and luxurious.

Although Garibaldi's last wish was to be buried in the family cemetery on Caprera Island, this did not mean the entire funeral process had to take place on Caprera Island.

In fact, the funeral was held at the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa. Garibaldi's body would be kept there for several days for the public to pay their respects and mourn.

On June 3, 1882, Italy dispatched naval warships to transport Garibaldi's body from Caprera Island to Genoa.

Behind the warships, civilian vessels of all sizes followed spontaneously, forming an extremely spectacular funeral fleet.

Italians spontaneously stopped work and classes, racing to Genoa to pay their respects to this national hero. The Italian government also simply announced a nationwide suspension of work and classes, once again gaining a wave of public favor.

The funeral process was not much different from the funerals of European nobles. Garibaldi's body was transported past the port of Genoa and the shipyard where he worked in his youth, before arriving at the Cathedral of San Lorenzo.

After lying in state for three days, Garibaldi's body was then transported without delay back to Caprera Island, where it was buried in the family cemetery after the funeral ceremony was completed.

After the entire funeral process concluded, many Italian citizens were still unwilling to leave. Caprera Island, with an area of only 16 square kilometers, almost instantly became a famous tourist attraction in Italy, with dozens or hundreds of people landing on the island every day to commemorate Garibaldi.

If it were not for the small size of the island and the relatively small port, I am afraid even more Italians would have come to Caprera Island every day.

It was already several days later when Steward Luo Lun returned to Spain.

Qiaodi remained in Italy; he intended to spend more time with his mother before returning to Spain.

Originally, Qiaodi intended to invite his mother and his sister's family to live in Spain. They could look out for each other if they were all in Spain, and his official position as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard was enough to support a large family.

But Qiaodi's proposal was quickly rejected by his mother. She and Garibaldi had lived in seclusion on this island for more than ten years, so naturally, she did not want to move to Spain.

Furthermore, Garibaldi had already been buried on Caprera Island, and she did not intend to leave her husband.

Qiaodi felt helpless; he could only spend as much time as possible with his mother and sister, leaving them a sum of money to ensure their livelihood.

In fact, Garibaldi's life in his later years was not as miserable as it was in history. Because Garibaldi had been publishing articles in newspapers for more than ten years, he had earned a lot of royalties over these years.

The royalties Garibaldi earned added up to at least a million Lira, which was not a small sum.

This money alone was enough for Qiaodi's mother and sister to live very well, and although Qiaodi knew they were not short of money, he still left behind a large sum.

This could be considered Qiaodi's guilt and compensation. After taking up his post in Spain, Qiaodi had almost no opportunity to be by his family's side.

Since the last time Qiaodi met with Garibaldi when Carlo moved to Spain, Garibaldi never saw his two sons again until his death.

For Carlo, the funeral of Garibaldi, which had already passed, was no longer important.

Because on the very day Steward Luo Lun returned, the doctor of former Prime Minister Primo reported to Carlo that Prime Minister Primo was critically ill and could pass away from his illness at any time.

Although Carlo had long been prepared, he still couldn't help but sigh when he learned that Prime Minister Primo was critically ill.

In recent years, people Carlo knew well had been constantly departing from him.

Vittorio Emanuele II was the first, Garibaldi was the second, and then it was Prime Minister Primo's turn.

But then again, being able to live for so many years in this era with extremely poor medical conditions could be considered lucky for them.

Even Vittorio Emanuele II, the youngest among them, was nearly 58 years old when he died. Although it was not considered a long life, it could not be considered an early death either.

The arrival of bad news was very sudden.

On the third day after the doctor notified Carlo that Prime Minister Primo was critically ill, which was June 13, 1882, Prime Minister Primo had already lost his breath.

After learning the news of Prime Minister Primo's death, Carlo immediately rushed to the hospital where Prime Minister Primo was. The death of this former prime minister also shocked the Spanish government, and most of the officials in the cabinet government went to pay their respects.

Looking at Prime Minister Primo, who had lost his breath on the hospital bed, Carlo sighed helplessly again, and then discussed the details of Prime Minister Primo's funeral with Prime Minister Canovas.

As a former prime minister of Spain, Prime Minister Primo's funeral must be held grandly. Like Garibaldi, Prime Minister Primo was also a national hero of Spain, and he certainly deserved the highest level of funeral treatment.

Carlo specifically instructed Prime Minister Canovas not to worry about the expenses when holding the funeral for Prime Minister Primo.

Carlo intended to donate 500, 00 Pesetas for the funeral expenses, and the government only needed to cover the remaining shortfall.

Prime Minister Canovas naturally had no objections. Reasonably and emotionally, he had to strongly support the grand holding of Prime Minister Primo's funeral.

More than ten years had passed since Carlo ascended the throne, yet Spain had only produced three prime ministers so far.

Grand Duke Serrano, who served as prime minister during the provisional cabinet period, was a relatively special case; he served as prime minister only to act as a transition between Prime Minister Primo and Prime Minister Canovas.

This actually meant that the power in Prime Minister Canovas's hands was inherited from Prime Minister Primo.

As early as when Prime Minister Primo was in power, Count Canovas had successively served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Industry, and at that time, Prime Minister Primo had taught Canovas quite a lot.

It was precisely because of Prime Minister Primo's guidance that Canovas was able to exercise sufficient ability, eventually successfully taking over the power of the prime minister and becoming the existence in Spain who was below one person but above ten thousand.

For Prime Minister Canovas, holding a grand funeral for Prime Minister Primo was also for his own good.

The more Spain values its former prime ministers, the more the future Spanish government will value him after Prime Minister Canovas retires.

Although Prime Minister Canovas currently enjoys Carlo's trust, who can guarantee that they will always sit on the throne of the prime minister?

For Prime Minister Canovas, ensuring that he can have a good end after retirement is just as important as being re-elected.

After Carlo and Canovas reached a consensus, there was no longer any suspense regarding the expenses for Prime Minister Primo's funeral.

This funeral would be held at an extremely high standard, and Prime Minister Primo was about to become the first person to be buried in the Iberian Cathedral.

The Iberian Cathedral was a church ordered to be built by Carlo and was also the direct church of the Archbishop of Spain.

In Carlo's plan, the future coronation ceremonies of Spanish kings, as well as the weddings and funerals of royal family members, would all be held at the Iberian Cathedral; from this aspect, one can see the importance Carlo placed on Prime Minister Primo.

The Iberian Cathedral would bury meritorious officials who had made outstanding contributions to Spain. After Prime Minister Primo, more people would be buried in the Iberian Cathedral.

Of course, in order to reflect the merits of those buried in the church, the final number of people buried in the church would not be too many, at most only about a hundred people.

To plan for the future, during his reign, Carlo would only select a dozen or so meritorious officials with outstanding contributions to be buried in the Iberian Cathedral.

This also meant that whoever could finally receive this honor would be remembered by history and become the most outstanding politician or general in Spain during Carlo's reign.

When they learned that Prime Minister Primo would be buried in the Iberian Cathedral, neither Grand Duke Serrano nor Prime Minister Canovas felt the slightest surprise.

Reasonably and emotionally, Prime Minister Primo was the person most qualified to be buried in the Iberian Cathedral.

It was precisely because Prime Minister Primo died the earliest that the order of candidates buried in the Iberian Cathedral became reasonable.

In the entire Spanish political scene and military, one could no longer find an existence whose merits were comparable to Prime Minister Primo.

The reason why Spain was able to achieve revival was that the reforms promoted by Prime Minister Primo definitely deserved the greatest credit. This also made Prime Minister Primo's merits far exceed those of Grand Duke Serrano, making him the number one civil and military official of Spain in the true sense.

According to the Spanish government's plan, Prime Minister Primo's funeral would take place on June 17, 1882.

There were three days in between to notify various countries; after all, Prime Minister Primo was a former prime minister of Spain, and countries that had relations with Spain would certainly have to send representatives to attend Prime Minister Primo's funeral.

These three days were also the time for Spain to prepare for the funeral. The scale of Prime Minister Primo's funeral was destined to be very large; if there was not enough time to prepare, and the funeral ended up being a damp squib, it would be a laughingstock.

Whether out of respect for Prime Minister Primo or to maintain national prestige, no problems were allowed to occur in the segments of Prime Minister Primo's funeral, and the security during the funeral had to be strictly controlled.

When Spain announced the news of Prime Minister Primo's death to the outside world, the Spanish government immediately received replies from various European countries.

Although both were national heroes, there were differences between Prime Minister Primo and Garibaldi. Garibaldi also possessed huge prestige in Europe and America, which was the reason why those American countries took the initiative to send representatives to attend Garibaldi's funeral.

However, Prime Minister Primo's merits were basically dedicated to Spain, which also made his international fame not as high as Garibaldi's.

However, Prime Minister Primo was, after all, a politician who promoted Spain's reforms, so the European powers would naturally not be absent from Prime Minister Primo's funeral.

On the day Spain announced the news of Prime Minister Primo's death, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent telegrams to the Spanish government, indicating that they would send envoys to attend Prime Minister Primo's funeral.

In the following three days, basically all European countries promised to attend Prime Minister Primo's funeral.

At this time, Spain had, after all, returned to the throne of great powers, and ordinary countries really did not dare to ignore Spain's major actions.

Even great powers like Britain, France, and Germany generally had to give Spain some face. After all, everyone was a European country, and there was no need to tear each other apart without a conflict of interest.

Within Spain, when the Spanish public learned the news of Prime Minister Primo's death, their reaction was no weaker than that of the Italian public.

Many Spaniards spontaneously took to the streets, and they were commemorating Prime Minister Primo in various ways.

It had only been ten years since Prime Minister Primo's reforms, and most Spaniards knew exactly what Spain was like ten years ago.

It could be said that it was Prime Minister Primo's reforms that brought Spain the hope of returning to the ranks of great powers; without the foundation of comprehensive strength brought by the reforms, Spain would not have been able to return to the throne of great powers through two five-year plans.

For such a prime minister with outstanding merits, Spaniards had nothing but gratitude and nostalgia.

Many Spaniards unanimously offered their best wishes to Prime Minister Primo, hoping he could enter heaven.

Three days later, Prime Minister Primo's funeral was officially held.

Carlo attended Prime Minister Primo's funeral and gave a short speech at the scene, expressing Prime Minister Primo's achievements and praising him as Spain's most outstanding politician and the greatest contributor to Spain's revival.

After a series of cumbersome funeral segments ended, Prime Minister Primo was transported to the Iberian Cathedral amidst the reluctant gazes of the public; he would be buried forever in the Iberian Cathedral and be missed and mourned by every Spaniard who came to the church.

Prime Minister Primo had already been conferred the title of Duke by Carlo before, so there was no need to confer any more titles.

In order to commend the contributions Prime Minister Primo made to Spain, Carlo decided to donate 1 million Pesetas to Prime Minister Primo's family and resolve the worries of Prime Minister Primo's family.

His children would be key targets for cultivation by the royal family, and if things went smoothly in the future, they could also enter the political scene.

Prime Minister Primo's wife could also receive a subsidy from the government every year, and their whole family could enjoy a wealthy life.

(End of this chapter)