On August 17, 1869, Carlo boarded a steamship bound for Spain with Giotto, Caman Esposito, and Dru Rosso, his three trusted confidants; several dozen servants, chefs, tailors, and physicians personally selected by his father, Vittorio Emanuele II; and a court guard of roughly five hundred men.
Carlo was quite satisfied with the court guard his father had assigned to him. At Carlo's firm insistence, most of its soldiers had taken part in the Italian Unification Wars, with quite a few having once served under Garibaldi.
These soldiers' fighting strength was assured, and with Giotto, Garibaldi's second son, commanding them, there was no need to worry about their loyalty either.
Moreover, the soldiers' families would accompany Carlo to Spain, another means of ensuring their loyalty.
Simply put, from this day onward, Carlo would have the final say over all these soldiers. In return for their absolute loyalty, Carlo would have to provide them with military funds, weapons, and equipment.
With these five hundred men as a foundation, it would be far easier for Carlo to expand his own Guard Army in the future. After all, to build an army, not only did its leading commanders need to be carefully selected, but it also required junior officers who had truly experienced war. Only then could the army be assembled more quickly and the soul of an elite force be forged.
On the fleet's largest steamship, Caman Esposito and Andrew Rosso stared excitedly at the boundless Mediterranean Sea, their hearts especially stirred.
When they learned that Carlo was a Prince of Italy, both had been tremendously excited. They had originally assumed Carlo was merely the son of some noble family, never expecting his status to be even higher than they had imagined.
Then, several days ago, they had learned from Carlo himself that he was about to travel to Spain to be crowned king. Their shock had been beyond compare.
Thus, when Carlo invited them to accompany him to Spain, both eagerly expressed their agreement.
As commoners, they had no particularly promising path for advancement if they remained in Italy. Climbing higher would be exceedingly difficult.
There was no shortage of outstanding graduates like them, and Italy did not have much room for them to spread their wings freely.
But going to Spain was an entirely different matter. Carlo did not have many capable men under his command; they would be confidants among confidants and would naturally receive ample opportunities to prove themselves.
Though they would begin merely as deputy commanders of Carlo's court guard, Carlo had promised that the guard would soon be expanded to the strength of a brigade.
Whether Caman Esposito or Andrew Rosso, both could serve as Regiment Commanders in the expanded Guard Brigade. That was far better than their prospects in Italy, where their junior officer ranks only qualified them to command at company level.
At this moment, both followed Carlo with unwavering devotion, and both had persuaded their families to accompany them to Spain.
The fat one and the thin one were not fools either. They knew what they had to do to demonstrate their loyalty and win Carlo's trust.
Carlo naturally saw their efforts as well. If these two truly proved capable, Carlo would not mind allowing them to become figures capable of holding their own in the Spanish Army.
If their abilities proved merely mediocre, they would still become examples of buying a horse's bones for a thousand pieces of gold, taking important posts in departments such as the Ministry of Defense or the General Staff.
After several days at sea, the fleet finally approached Barcelona in Catalonia.
Barcelona's harbor was a sea of people, crowds filling the surrounding area as though they had come to welcome Carlo's arrival.
"Your Majesty, Regent Serrano is already waiting for you at the harbor." Seeing Carlo's slight confusion, Primo stepped forward and spoke with a smile.
Hearing Primo's words, Carlo immediately understood that these crowds had been arranged in advance by Serrano, so that Carlo's arrival in Spain would not be so awkward.
If Carlo arrived in Spain without a single person to welcome him, and the public showed no reaction at all, then it would be Carlo and the government that had chosen him as king who would be left embarrassed.
Carlo nodded, the smile on his face unchanged. "Where is Mr. Serrano?"
Following Primo's guidance, Carlo and his party slowly disembarked under the escort of the guards and headed toward where the Spanish government was gathered.
The instant Carlo stepped onto the harbor, the band that had long been prepared there struck up Spain's national anthem, "Royal March."
The song was perfectly suited to the occasion. It not only demonstrated the importance attached to welcoming the new king, but also emphasized Spain's monarchy and gave Carlo sufficient face.
"Your Highness!" The officials of the Spanish government all bowed to Carlo.
Since Carlo had not yet sworn the constitutional oath and been crowned King of Spain, his current identity remained Duke of Italy.
However, the oath could be taken at any time, unlike the coronation ceremony, so no one showed Carlo the slightest neglect.
Primo and Serrano smilingly introduced Carlo to the various officials of the Spanish government, and amid the welcome of the many officials, Carlo entered Barcelona.
This was only a place to rest his feet. After a brief respite, Carlo would set out with the officials on the journey back to Madrid.
The good news was that although Spain did not have many railway miles, it still possessed nearly five thousand kilometers of rail lines. As a major city on the eastern coast, Barcelona naturally had a railway connecting it to Madrid.
The bad news, however, was that railways in this era moved exceedingly slowly, and the riding experience was far inferior to that of later generations.
For Carlo, the journey from Barcelona to Madrid might prove even more miserable than those days of pitching about on the Mediterranean Sea.
Fortunately, once he returned to Madrid, Carlo would be able to reside in the vast Royal Palace of Madrid.
This was a lavish palace reputed to be the third-largest royal palace in Europe, surpassed only by the Palace of Versailles and Schönbrunn Palace. In this respect alone, one could see the extravagance of Spain's Bourbon Dynasty. At least when it came to royal food, clothing, and daily living, the successive Bourbon Dynasty Kings of Spain had never been stingy.
On August 23, 1869, Carlo finally arrived in Madrid, and after many days away, Primo also returned once more to Spain's political center.
Although Carlo very much wanted to tour Madrid in 1869, after several days of exhausting travel by sea and land, he no longer had the energy to think of anything else.
The officials and soldiers traveling with him felt the same way.
On his first day in Madrid, Carlo merely brought his confidants and servants to the Royal Palace of Madrid, then slept soundly and comfortably in the clean royal bedchamber that had long been prepared.
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