Spanish Revolution

The Austro-Prussian War could be said to have been the only major event before the Spanish Revolution.

Carlo's suggestion had achieved excellent results. The reward was that Vittorio Emanuele II now attached greater importance to Carlo's ideas and allowed him more autonomy.

For Carlo, the most important thing at present was still finding some capable subordinates for himself, so that he would not have to handle every single matter personally.

Although there were servants at the Royal Palace whom he could command, they were, after all, his father Vittorio Emanuele II's servants, and their loyalty was not necessarily reliable.

It was not quite appropriate for Carlo, given his status, to get acquainted with senior military officials and generals. But there was no problem with meeting fellow cadets at the Military Academy.

Other than Giotto, who had gone with Carlo to study at the Turin Military Academy, the only fellow cadets Carlo could be considered familiar with were Andrew Rosso from the infantry program and Caman Esposito from the artillery program.

The two were about Carlo's age and were also Carlo's closest companions in the entire Military Academy.

Andrew Rosso was a short, chubby fellow. Though he looked simple and honest on the outside, he had no shortage of crooked little schemes. Carlo valued his quick wits and ideas that soared like celestial horses racing across the sky.

Caman Esposito, on the other hand, was the complete opposite—tall and skinny, looking thoroughly malnourished.

If Carlo had not known that Caman's family background was enough to keep him fed, he might even have suspected that the fellow had been starved thin day after day.

These two, one fat and one thin, along with Giotto, who was already in his twenties, were the assistants Carlo planned to rely on for the time being.

The backgrounds of the two great kings of fat and thin could be trusted. Both were Savoyards, and after the Savoy region had been ceded to France, their families had moved to Turin.

Whether Savoy or Turin, both were the heartlands of the Kingdom of Sardinia. That was also why the two had been able to enter the Turin Military Academy.

Carlo's clothing and bearing were as different from those of ordinary Military Academy cadets as heaven was from earth. Perhaps the two had noticed some clues, but they tacitly kept their mouths shut.

After all, if Carlo wanted them to know, he would naturally tell them himself. Since he had not told them, it was naturally not yet the time for them to know.

After the Austro-Prussian War ended, Carlo's daily routine became extremely simple. Apart from occasionally asking Loren about the newspaper's plans and development, Carlo spent most of his time traveling between the Military Academy and the Royal Palace in Turin. From time to time, he invited Andrew, Caman, and Giotto to gatherings. His days were not thrilling, but they were still full of flavor.

As he continued his studies at the Military Academy, Carlo also discovered the only possible change in himself since crossing into this world: his physical condition had improved enormously.

This body had previously been sickly, plagued by major illnesses often and minor illnesses without end.

But ever since Carlo had come to this world, not only had his health completely recovered, he had even grown somewhat stronger and more robust through the Military Academy's training.

Carlo's Three Meals a Day had never been meager. Never lacking nutrition, he was only fifteen years old, yet had already reached a height of 1.7 meters, making him fairly tall.

Combined with his handsome features, the noble bearing of a royal family member, and his immense fortune, Carlo became the object of admiration for many young noblewomen in Italy.

It was only because this body was still too young. Otherwise, Carlo would not have been able to withstand the noble ladies' flirtatious glances.

But flirtation was one thing. When it came to choosing his future wife, Carlo still wanted to give the matter careful thought.

Although the West did not have the practice of exorbitant bride prices, it could not be denied that a good wife could indeed bring enormous benefits.

The country behind his wife would likewise be Carlo's support. He hoped even more to choose a Princess from the stronger nations of Germany or Russia for marriage.

As for France, the current hegemon of Europe, it was not within Carlo's considerations. If the Franco-Prussian War developed as it had in history, the royal family of France would not last more than a few years either.

The Turin Military Academy's course of study lasted three years. Upon graduation, cadets could generally enter Italy's army as junior officers.

Of course, those who entered the Turin Military Academy for further study as active-duty officers or soldiers only needed two years to graduate, and their ranks would be raised by at least one grade.

Carlo was naturally taking the first route. If he enrolled in 1866, he would have to wait until 1869 to graduate.

However, this did not conflict with Carlo's plans. After all, Spain's revolution would break out in 1868, and only after the First Spanish Republic fell would the monarchy be restored in Spain.

After graduating from the military academy in 1869, Carlo would still have one year. By the time Amadeo historically became King of Spain, Carlo would be nineteen years old, meeting Spain's requirements for selecting a king.

Amid his busy life at the military academy, time passed swiftly as well.

On May 30, 1867, Carlo attended the wedding of his elder brother Amadeo and Maria Victoria dal Pozzo, and gave them a gift.

Marriages between European royal families in this era were still quite tangled. If Carlo remembered correctly, his brother Amadeo's second wife would be the daughter of his own elder sister, Marie Letizia Bonaparte.

There had been no major events in 1867, but the international scene in 1868 was quite lively.

First, US President Andrew Johnson became the first president in United States history to be impeached by Congress. Fortunately for him, he escaped removal by a single vote and remained seated on the presidential throne.

Compared to that fortunate US President, Queen Isabella II of Spain was not so lucky.

As the first generation of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets, which had already withdrawn from history's stage, Spain's rotten Kingdom rule had developed an extremely severe divide between two poles.

The noble class lived in extravagance and waste, making fortunes from railway and real-estate investments. Even the residence built in Madrid by a guard from Andalusia was mocked by the public as being covered in embedded diamonds, enough to prove the luxurious lives of Spain's nobility.

Yet in stark contrast were the harsh lives of Spanish farmers and workers. Farmers possessed only land-use rights, not ownership, while the poor economy caused factories in Spain to close one after another.

Impoverished farmers and workers erupted in protest marches and uprisings time and again. They were brutally suppressed by the Spanish government, but the people's fury continued to build.

At last, the fury was ignited.

In September 1868, exiled soldiers led by Francisco Serrano and Juan Bautista Topete, who had once been elected to the Chamber of Deputies, led their supporters in an even larger uprising.

Because it erupted in September, the people in Spain also called this revolution the September Revolution.

The rotten Kingdom Government was utterly incapable of suppressing a revolution that exploded like a great blast. Farmers and workers eagerly joined the uprising, which swept across more than half of Spain in a short time.

More fatal still, Queen Isabella II of Spain's control over the army was far from perfect.

The soldiers had no goodwill whatsoever toward this absurd and debauched queen. Vast numbers of government troops turned their coats at the battlefield, accelerating the Spanish Revolution's progress. The Kingdom of Spain had fallen.

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