Chapter 56: Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency

To be honest, Carlo was also very curious about who exactly was behind the assassination of Prime Minister Primo.

Having the guts to assassinate the Prime Minister proved that this person had long been prepared; it could not have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

One must know that if the assassination failed, it would be difficult for someone without preparation to escape the government's rigorous screening.

Archbishop Pedro's choice to back down in the face of the government's accusations actually suggested that the Church was likely not the mastermind behind the assassination.

The only remaining factions capable of plotting the assassination were the nobility and the Republicans, which also meant that the Royal Council established by Carlo might not be as monolithic as it seemed.

However, this was also good news. Once the government and the Church jointly identified the mastermind, it would be time for Carlo to kick the traitors who were disloyal to him out of the Royal Council.

The Royal Council was one of the ways Carlo controlled the Spanish nobility, so naturally, he could not allow disloyal rebels to cause trouble within it.

The investigation would be left to Primo and Archbishop Pedro; Carlo did not have the time to focus on these matters and only needed to wait for the final result.

For Carlo, the most important thing was still his own industries, as having money in his hands was the ultimate truth.

On May 17, 1870, on this seemingly very ordinary day, the mysterious organization that Carlo had high hopes for was officially established and named the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency.

As the name suggests, this was a new organization specifically responsible for intelligence and espionage, training professional intelligence personnel, or what were known as agents.

Regarding the director of the Intelligence Agency, Carlo found the choice quite difficult. As the head of an important organization for Carlo to obtain domestic and foreign intelligence, the director had to possess both excellent ability and a high degree of loyalty.

In the end, the butler Luo Lun recommended a candidate to Carlo, one of the subordinates sent to Carlo by his father, Victor Emmanuel II: Kadir Bruno.

Victor Emmanuel II certainly would not harm Carlo. The subordinates he chose for Carlo were all loyal to the Italian royal family, so their loyalty to Carlo was naturally a given.

At the very least, in the foreign land of Spain, Kadir Bruno was already a candidate Carlo could trust and was worth utilizing.

At the very least, he was qualified to serve as the director of the Intelligence Agency for the time being. It would not be too late to consider other candidates after Carlo had cultivated his first batch of trusted subordinates in Spain through the relief of orphans.

After meeting Kadir Bruno in person, Carlo finally understood why the butler Luo Lun had recommended him.

Kadir Bruno looked tall, thin, and very ordinary, but through a few brief questions, Carlo determined that he was a good seed for intelligence work.

"Kadir, I have a difficult task that needs you to complete. Do you have the confidence?" Carlo looked at Kadir, whom he was meeting for the first time, and asked.

"Please command me, Your Majesty." Kadir Bruno did not hesitate in the slightest and responded immediately upon hearing Carlo's inquiry.

"Very good." Carlo nodded with satisfaction. As a leader, Carlo certainly did not want to see his subordinates hesitate or lack the confidence to complete a task when he was assigning one.

"I need you to establish an intelligence organization to gather important domestic and foreign intelligence for me. I need to know about all major events happening in Spain in a timely manner; nobles, factory owners, the Church, and even those officials and political parties are all within the scope of intelligence gathering.

Can you do it?" Carlo asked with a smile.

"As long as Your Majesty gives me enough manpower, I will find out even what vegetables Prime Minister Primo ate for dinner for you," Kadir Bruno said immediately.

"The target is, of course, not Prime Minister Primo." Carlo continued to smile and was not angry because of Kadir Bruno's words: "However, Prime Minister Primo is loyal, but who can guarantee that the next Prime Minister will remain loyal?

Your targets are all of Spain's officials, political parties, and powerful factions; I need to know their every move.

As for the manpower you need, you may choose from the Royal Guard, and you can also look for suitable talent among the common people. I will give you one year; one year from now, I hope the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency will be of some use."

"As you command, Your Majesty. If the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency cannot be of use in one year, I am willing to accept any punishment," Kadir Bruno guaranteed.

He understood that this was not just a task Carlo had given him, but also an opportunity—an opportunity to truly become Carlo's confidant and possess immense power.

Although this so-called Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency was nominally only for gathering intelligence on officials and factions, who could guarantee that the Intelligence Agency would not possess the power to dispose of them?

Kadir Bruno understood the moment he heard his mission that the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency was an important means for Carlo to understand outside information, and he was Carlo's eyes hidden in the dark.

Eyes could also turn into butcher knives at any time, swinging at those disloyal officials and factions when necessary.

The establishment of the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency was silent; even Primo did not know what Carlo was doing.

Aside from giving Kadir Bruno 500, 00 pesetas in funds and allowing him to pick people from the Royal Guard at will, Carlo gave Kadir Bruno no other help.

And Kadir Bruno's task was to initially build the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency into shape within this year and begin the work of gathering intelligence on domestic officials and factions.

One year later would be the time to test the results. If Kadir Bruno's Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency was successfully established and could be of use, he would be able to leap into becoming Carlo's confidant and enter the core of Spanish power.

But if the establishment of the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency failed, Kadir Bruno would not only lose this precious opportunity but also lose Carlo's trust.

Because of the special nature of the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency, the welfare and treatment of any intelligence personnel who joined the agency were top-tier.

The salary was much higher than that of Spanish soldiers and the Royal Guard, and if they were to sacrifice themselves due to intelligence work, the intelligence personnel's families would receive a sum of compensation to ensure they could continue to live.

If Kadir Bruno still could not train a batch of qualified intelligence personnel with money and men provided, then one would indeed have to wonder if there was a problem with his ability.

Carlo had also doubted at first whether Kadir Bruno could get the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency on the right track within a year.

But after hearing Kadir Bruno's selection criteria for intelligence personnel a few days later, Carlo dismissed his doubts.

The entire Royal Guard consisted of about 2, 00 men; after Kadir Bruno's strict screening and selection, fewer than 50 had the qualifications to join the Intelligence Agency—on average, only two out of every 100 Royal Guard soldiers passed the screening and selection.

Even with such strict selection criteria, it was enough to ensure that the screened intelligence personnel possessed decent capabilities.

After all, Carlo's Royal Guard were all people who had undergone strict selection in the military and among the public before they could enter; if one spoke purely of combat effectiveness, they were truly no worse than the regular Spanish army.

If the intelligence personnel were all selected with such care, Carlo had already begun to look forward to the role the Royal Spanish Security and Intelligence Agency could play in a year.

First update, asking for support!

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(End of chapter)