Chapter 52: A Foolproof Plan

"What? Prime Minister Primo has been assassinated?" Upon hearing Luo Lun's report, Gao Da instantly lost all sleep and hurriedly asked:

"Is the Prime Minister alright? What is the situation?"

For the current Spain, the loss of Prime Minister Primo is something that simply cannot be endured.

It is no exaggeration to say that at this moment, Primo's importance to Spain far exceeds that of Gao Da, who is the King.

Gao Da is still too young and cannot possibly make all the factions in Spain submit.

Only Primo, who comes from a military background and possesses immense prestige in both political and military circles, can currently suppress those factions with ulterior motives.

In this regard, Serrano is also far inferior.

Although Serrano also comes from a military background and possesses a certain level of prestige in the political arena,

Serrano leans toward the conservative faction and has not gained the support of the reformists or the Progressive Party.

Perhaps Serrano's personal loyalty to Gao Da is higher than Primo's, but he is not suited to be the Prime Minister of Spain; he is better suited for a military post like Minister of the Army.

Primo and Serrano, one civil and one military, are the best configuration for Spain at present.

No matter which one of them meets with an accident, it is something Gao Da is unwilling to see.

"Prime Minister Primo was not injured, but when the guards went to pursue the assassins, they only found two corpses," Steward Luo Lun said with a somewhat strange expression.

"Two corpses?" Gao Da was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "So they were silenced? Are there any specific clues?"

"Not for the moment," Steward Luo Lun shook his head and said helplessly: "The people behind this were clearly well-prepared. Besides the two assassins' corpses whose identities cannot be verified, even the weapons used for the assassination were taken away."

Gao Da nodded. Since Prime Minister Primo was unharmed, the subsequent matters would be easier to handle.

"Investigate it thoroughly for me; do not let a single corner of Madrid go unchecked. I want to know exactly who wants to assassinate our Prime Minister, and who wants to destroy our reforms and Spain," Gao Da said expressionlessly.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Luo Lun nodded and went to convey Gao Da's order.

Although there were no clues, Gao Da already had a rough idea in his heart about who might have assassinated Primo.

The reason for assassinating Primo is most likely due to his reforms. Currently, the reforms violate the interests of factory owners, the church, and the nobility; these are the three factions capable of sending assassins to kill Prime Minister Primo.

However, it is unlikely that the factory owner class has this capability. Being able to dispatch assassins and having planned to silence them means one must have sufficiently loyal subordinates.

Currently, the factory owners in Madrid who have not been liquidated are basically small-scale factories; they cannot possibly have the strength to cultivate die-hard assassins.

This also means that the faction most likely to have assassinated Prime Minister Primo is either the nobility or the church.

Although Gao Da gained the support of most of the nobility through the Royal Council, this does not mean that some nobles have no objections to the government's reforms.

What is the best way to stop the reforms? Naturally, it is to directly get rid of the person who launched the reforms.

No matter who planned this assassination, it is a serious provocation to the current Spanish government. Whether it is the nobility or the church, it is a good thing for Gao Da.

As long as he can grasp certain evidence, Gao Da can openly and legitimately liquidate the nobility or the church.

If the previous Gao Da was worried that liquidating a portion of the nobility would lead to opposition from the entire noble class, then now, having gained the support of most of the nobility through the Royal Council, as long as he ensures the interests of the nobles who support him are not damaged, he can basically deal with those nobles who oppose him with peace of mind.

The church goes without saying. The power of the church is an obstacle to Gao Da and the Spanish government; the sooner it is liquidated, the more beneficial it will be for Spain.

The vast amount of land held by the church also makes Gao Da quite covetous. Whether it is renting it to civilians at low prices, rewarding soldiers through land grants for military merit, or purchasing it to establish large-scale royal farms, it is far better than continuing to have it held by the church.

As a Catholic country, the influence of the church in Spain is quite enormous.

Only by controlling the entire church can Gao Da effectively increase his influence and improve the stability of Spain.

The brainwashing ability of the church exceeds that of the government. Using the church to promote the concept of a unified Spain on a large scale, and letting the civilians in Catalonia and the Basque country accept the concept that they are Spanish, is also one of Gao Da's plans.

Church schools can also strengthen the promotion of the Spanish language. Currently, many newspapers and enterprises in the Catalonia and Basque regions still use local languages, which is also the reason why there are constant separatists in the two regions.

Only by using the same language, Spanish, can the probability of separatists emerging in these two regions be reduced, and assimilation be achieved as much as possible.

Late at night, in a certain manor.

"What? The plan failed?" The Duke of Osuna looked at the man called Shadow with disbelief and asked in surprise.

"Primo's carriage was reinforced with steel plates; the weapons of those two assassins were simply insufficient for the bullets to penetrate the steel plates," Shadow shook his head and said helplessly.

"Damn it, this is what you call careful preparation?" Hearing that the assassins only used two ordinary rifles, the Duke of Osuna was almost angered to the point of laughter.

If it weren't for the fact that the steward had already been silenced, the Duke of Osuna would even have had the intention of torturing him personally.

"How was it handled? Won't it be discovered by anyone?" The Duke of Osuna looked at Shadow and hurriedly asked.

"It has all been resolved. Those two rifles were also dismantled and discarded separately by me; no one will discover them," Shadow said.

"That's good. Damn Torres, he ruined my plan. It seems I can only let Primo live for a while longer." The Duke of Osuna was still lamenting the failure of the assassination and felt no compassion for the disposal of his steward.

In fact, this is normal. As one of the nobles with the most land, how could the Duke of Osuna have only one steward?

Torres was only the manager of some industries in Madrid and had only been the steward of this manor for a few years; naturally, he had not yet gained the complete trust of the Duke of Osuna.

Since there was no trust, being silenced after the assassination was a matter of course.

"The government should soon thoroughly investigate this assassination. Your Grace, should you go outside to hide?" Shadow suggested.

The assassination of the Prime Minister is not a small matter; the government's investigation efforts should be very strong. Especially in the situation where Primo is unharmed, it is estimated that both the nobility and the church are in the ranks of being screened.

"Not for the time being. Shadow, you must trust in your ability to clean up," the Duke of Osuna said with a smile, without the slightest panic: "Just let Primo investigate. Two Italians—what can he find out?

Oh, perhaps when Primo discovers that the assassins are Italians, we will still have a good show to watch.

Don't forget that the King above our heads is an Italian. Will Primo suspect the King? It's truly something to look forward to, haha."

The Duke of Osuna had meticulously prepared for this assassination.

Both assassins were Italians who entered Spain as laborers; their information before the assassination was just that of ordinary people.

And this manor is one of the many properties of the Duke of Osuna; very few people know who the steward is.

Especially since Torres only became the steward of this manor a few years ago, those who know about this are even rarer.

Perhaps Primo could turn Madrid upside down and still not find any useful information. At that time, will Gao Da, who is also an Italian, really not be suspected by Primo?

Even if he cannot successfully assassinate Primo, at the very least, he must sow discord between Gao Da and Primo; this is the Duke of Osuna's plan.

As long as the relationship between Gao Da and Primo is destroyed, Gao Da cannot strongly support Primo's reforms, because this would greatly increase Primo's personal prestige.

In this way, the Duke of Osuna's goal can also be achieved, which is to prevent Primo's reforms from happening, to ensure that his own interests do not suffer too much loss.

Even if all the plans fail, the Duke of Osuna has no suspicion and can wait for an opportunity to assassinate Primo again; this is the so-called foolproof plan.

First update, asking for support!

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(End of chapter)