Spain's Royal Election

Time quickly flew by, and it was already 1869.

Although there was no news from Spain yet, Carlo was already fully preparing for the possibility of taking the Spanish throne.

First and foremost was the public opinion Carlo had been vigorously cultivating, which had already achieved some success.

The 24 Hours Sun Newspaper of Italy, Carlo's largest newspaper, had become the biggest newspaper in Northern Italy, with an average daily circulation exceeding 24,000 copies for the entire year of 1868.

In addition to the Sun Newspaper, under Carlo's instructions, Loren had also founded several other newspapers in both Northern and Southern Italy. These small and medium-sized newspapers combined had a daily circulation of over 10,000 copies.

Carlo had, in a sense, completed his initial deployment of public opinion influence. Collectively, these newspapers had tens of thousands of loyal readers and could influence a group of at least several hundred thousand people.

If Carlo wished, he could ensure that hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of Italians received a piece of news in a short period.

This was quite remarkable in an era where transportation was extremely inconvenient, and people mostly traveled by horse, ox cart, and other livestock.

These various newspapers had also brought Carlo nearly 250,000 Lira in revenue over two and a half years.

It was also thanks to Garibaldi's fame that the Sun Newspaper could quickly penetrate the market; otherwise, earning over 200,000 Lira wouldn't have been so easy.

As time entered February 1869, Spain's parliamentary elections officially arrived.

Just as in history, Primus, as the most powerful individual in the provisional government and with immense prestige among the revolutionary army, smoothly secured a majority of seats in parliament.

This news relieved Carlo, as it signified that Spain would move towards a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, giving Carlo a significant hope of becoming the King of Spain.

The newly formed Spanish parliament immediately announced that it would not abolish the monarchy but would establish a government under a constitutional monarchy to manage Spain's affairs.

Because the Spanish throne was vacant, the parliament appointed Francisco Serrano Domínguez, the Prime Minister of the provisional government, as the Regent of the Kingdom of Spain, and Primus, the Minister of War, as the new Prime Minister.

These two were not only the most prestigious figures in the provisional government but also two highly supported generals within the revolutionary army.

This was, in fact, the true reason Spain continued to maintain its monarchy, as the two individuals with decision-making power both supported monarchism.

Thanks to the report advocating for the superiority of the monarchical system, the news that Spain would continue to maintain its monarchy did not cause much of a stir.

As long as Spain was no longer ruled by a foolish monarch like Queen Isabella, the opposition from the Spanish people would at least not be as intense.

The parliamentary matters temporarily came to a close. For Serrano, who was involved in politics, and Prime Minister Primus, the most pressing issue became selecting a suitable king for Spain.

Although they could choose freely from the European royal families, the chosen candidate must also gain the approval of the public.

Those with a bad reputation were unacceptable; the Spanish people would not believe such a king could do better than Isabella. If Spain were to be ruled by a new Queen Isabella, what would have been the purpose of the Spanish revolution?

Those with controversial origins were also unacceptable. For Spain, a king with noble birth and the support of a prominent family was essential to stabilize the country's order.

If the new king's origins were highly disputed, it would be another blow to Spain's hard-won constitutional monarchy.

Coupled with various other conditions, the number of European princes ultimately suitable to become the King of Spain was quite limited.

After more than a month of screening, Serrano and Primus finally settled on a list of five candidates.

The first choice was Prince Leopold of the German royal family. Prince Leopold was born into the House of Hohenzollern and backed by the Kingdom of Prussia, which had just won the Austro-Prussian War. His background and reputation met Spain's requirements.

The second choice was Ferdinand, who had served as Regent of Portugal. Ferdinand's wife and son were both Kings of Portugal. During his tenure as King (husband of the Queen) and Regent of Portugal, his performance was above average, and his reputation was quite good.

The third choice was Prince Amadeo of the House of Savoy in Italy. Unified Italy had a voice along the Mediterranean coast, and the prestige of the House of Savoy among European royal families had seen a slight increase. For Spain, Amadeo might not have been as reliable as the first two, but he was still a qualified candidate.

The fourth choice also came from the House of Savoy in Italy, it was Amadeo's younger brother, Carlo. Carlo's drawback was that he was slightly young, still a few months shy of 18 years old. However, Carlo's reputation in Italy was no weaker than Amadeo's, and the Sun Newspaper's publicity for Carlo had been quite effective.

Many Italians even favored this youngest prince because he didn't put on airs when traveling and would greet the Italian people kindly.

Under the influence of public opinion, some Spaniards had also heard of this friendly prince from Italy. This was also why Carlo made it onto the candidate list; after all, both Primus and Serrano believed that the Spanish people would not reject a friendly king.

The last candidate was Queen Isabella's brother-in-law, the Duke of Ponte Caldelas of Spain. However, considering the Spanish people's aversion to Queen Isabella and the potential for them to dislike anything associated with her, Primus placed the Duke of Ponte Caldelas at the bottom of the candidate list and considered removing him.

After all, the selection of the King of Spain was extremely rigorous. Any minor flaw in a candidate would be magnified countless times, and any potential impact was something Serrano and Primus had to consider.

To Primus's disappointment, as soon as the Spanish government hinted at the possibility to Ferdinand, he directly refused the Spanish throne.

This also theoretically severed the possibility of Spain and Portugal uniting again, as Ferdinand's son was the current King of Portugal.

If Ferdinand had obtained the Spanish throne, the future King of Portugal could potentially inherit the Spanish throne, leading to the merger of the two Iberian countries.

Ferdinand's voluntary withdrawal reduced the five-person list to four. After a long discussion with Serrano, Primus ultimately decided to remove the Duke of Ponte Caldelas from the list as well, leaving only three candidates.

Although the selection of the Spanish king was being conducted relatively secretly, no wall is completely airtight.

At this time, Primus and Serrano were unaware of the profound impact their selection process would have on the European situation, even directly leading to the European hegemon being trampled underfoot by other nations.

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