Rise of Empires: Spain

Chapter 5: Character Design is Paramount

Now that they have a newspaper as a weapon of public opinion, the most important step next is to create a popular persona for themselves.

If a person's image is well-crafted, they can be perceived by the public as being on the side of the majority, even without Carlo taking any action.

As a member of the royal family, his friendly and benevolent personality is bound to be welcomed.

The people certainly don't want the royal family above them to appear aloof and superior, which is why monarchs, especially the British monarch, have always presented a friendly and benevolent image.

Whether presented to the Italian public or the European public, rigid and conservative ideas are destined to be unpopular.

Although there are many conservatives in monarchies, for Italy and Spain, which Carlos wanted to visit, reformists are what the people really wanted to see.

However, although Carlo wanted to project an image of a reformer, he would never offer any opinions on reforms in Italy.

Reform is reform, but the real question is who will lead it. Supporting and being optimistic about reform is Carlo's weapon, but if he actually tries to interfere with it, it will be counterproductive.

No government likes a king who meddles in every aspect of the country. If Carlos wants to become King of Spain, he must first understand how to be a mascot and not interfere everywhere.

On February 21, 1866, the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore published an article titled "We Want Bread, Pasta and Milk" written by Carlo, which successfully fired the first shot in establishing the impression of caring for the people.

In this completely inspirational article, Carlo repeatedly emphasizes the importance of the Italian working class, especially the farmers in southern Italy.

The article also concludes that, whether in Italy or Europe, people's demands are not complicated; they simply want to be fed and clothed.

If the government could focus more on the lives of ordinary people, perhaps their lives would be happier.

The article doesn't offer any profound insights; it even portrays Carlo as a prince who has nothing better to do and is overflowing with love.

Although many people from the lower classes developed a favorable impression of Carlo because of this report, government officials dismissed it.

Taking care of the lives of the underprivileged? That sounds nice, but isn't it still funded by the government?

Putting aside the question of how much fiscal budget is needed to improve the lives of all the poorest people in Italy, wouldn't it be better to invest that money in areas where Italy needs it more, such as military construction and industrial development?

As for the common people at the bottom of society, it's already quite good if they can be kept from starving. Which noble lord has the mind to care whether the common people have enough to eat or wear?

Because Carlo had no one else available, this report only had some influence around Milan and didn't even reach Florence.

But for Carlo's plan, the first step has been successfully taken. Regardless of the government's and nobles' opinions, the first priority is to convince the people that Carlo is a prince who cares about the underprivileged and is even overflowing with compassion.

Such a character would never be disliked by the public, after all, the vast majority of people in a country are from the lower classes, which is something that no political system or ideology can change.

Unfortunately, Carlo is too young now, and many plans cannot proceed smoothly. He also needs to spend a lot of time and energy to complete the traditional Italian aristocratic elite education.

Although he was only a prince, he was ranked third in the line of succession to the throne, which was virtually impossible.

However, Vittorio Emanuele II paid close attention to Carlo's education and upbringing. As Vittorio Emanuele II's youngest son, Carlo undoubtedly received the most love and attention from his father.

Carlo is now nearly 15 years old and has basically completed his early elite aristocratic education.

According to Vittorio Victor Emmanuel II's plan for Carlo's upbringing, Carlo had two options. One was to choose to study management and economics in depth so that he could properly manage his land and property in the future.

Another option was to attend a military academy and become a distinguished Italian officer, serving the royal family and the nation.

For Carlo, who already had a plan in mind, the most suitable choice was to go to a military academy to cultivate his military capabilities.

More importantly, at the military academy, you might also get to know some officers who are not famous but have good military capabilities, and build your own network of contacts.

Unfortunately, Carlo wasn't the first in line to the throne, the crown prince. Otherwise, he could have easily used his status as crown prince to build a palace guard and cultivate his own armed force from scratch.

Although a unified Italy was qualified to compete with the great powers, its foundation was still too weak at this time, even in terms of military academies.

Italy was not among the world's top ten most famous military academies in later generations, and even now, there are actually very few Italian military academies worth choosing.

The most reliable military academy choice at present is the Military Academy of Turin, located in the former capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

This military academy, located in Turin, the stronghold of the Savoy family, was an important institution for training military leaders in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

King Vittorio Emanuele II supported Carlo's desire to go to the military academy.

This is quite common in Western monarchies. The kings of these monarchies trust members of the royal family and nobles the most.

The Royal Military Academy of Turin was primarily responsible for training officers in the infantry and artillery, while the Royal Military Academy of Milan was responsible for training officers in the cavalry.

This is also why Carlo chose the Royal Military Academy of Turin directly. After all, firstly, Carlo would not need to personally charge into battle, and secondly, cavalry would be phased out in the next few decades, as the terrain of Spain and Italy is not suitable for large-scale cavalry charges.

In fact, compared to the instructors at the Royal Military Academy of Turin, Carlo admired a legendary Italian name even more: Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the three great contributors to the unification of Italy and a hero of two worlds.

If we're talking purely about military capabilities, Garibaldi was undoubtedly the best military commander in modern Italy.

Even later historians only mentioned three outstanding contributors in their descriptions of the entire Italian unification event, namely the so-called Three Heroes of Italy.

"The unification of Italy is thanks to Mazzini's ideas, Garibaldi's sword, and Cavour's diplomacy."

This passage alone is enough to demonstrate how outstanding Garibaldi's military talent was.

Unfortunately, of the three founders of Italy, only Prime Minister Cavour belonged to the Sardinian faction, while Mazzini, who created the idea of ​​Italian unification, was a thorough republican and an enemy of the monarchy.

While Garibaldi, whom Carlo greatly admired, did not openly oppose the monarchy, he repeatedly sided with the republican system and was not trusted by the monarchy.

Although Garibaldi was extremely selfless in the process of Italian unification, even after acquiring the entire territory of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, he resolutely handed it over to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

However, Garibaldi's high prestige in the army and his history of serving the Republic prevented him from entering the new Italian leadership.