Royal Military Academy of Madrid

King Carlo, now crowned, was deeply troubled.

For Spain to achieve revival, it needed a large influx of talented individuals to drive expansion across all its industries.

However, with an illiteracy rate as high as seventy percent, Spain was severely lacking in talent, particularly highly educated individuals trained in formal universities.

Spain actually had a long history of establishing universities.

The earliest, the University of Salamanca, was founded in 1218, making it 651 years old. Besides this, several other universities were hundreds of years old, far surpassing European nations with only a few formal universities.

But the problem lay precisely here.

Despite possessing so many long-established universities, Spain's emphasis on cultivating university-educated talent paled in comparison to major powers like England, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria.

Previously, the Spanish government's annual budget was more likely to be wasted on non-essential matters than invested in education to encourage more Spaniards to attend university.

Major institutions also failed to receive adequate funding for education, leading to a disastrous state in the cultivation of high-quality Spanish talent.

The shortage of talent was a constant issue, even affecting the military.

During Isabella's reign, the upper echelons of the Spanish military were largely controlled by the nobility, making it extremely difficult for commoners to rise to high ranks.

Although the current army had transformed from a revolutionary force, temporarily resolving this issue, the continued lack of mid- and lower-level officers remained a significant problem.

Furthermore, Carlo understood that this period marked substantial changes in military affairs. The linear infantry tactics that once dominated Europe during Napoleon's era had now become a "line up and get shot" strategy.

Even though France's overall strength surpassed Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, the sheer number of French linear infantry, established by Napoleon III in imitation of his uncle Napoleon, doomed France to a difficult fight.

Therefore, Carlo not only intended to expand the Royal Military Academy but also sought to adopt some of the excellent ideas and systems from the future world-leading German army to establish a stronger Spanish army and officer training system.

Of course, France was not entirely weakened. A Spain that completely emulated Prussia would also pose a significant threat to the French.

For Spain at this moment, avoiding trouble was better than inviting it. While the new military academy would learn from Prussian army systems and ideas, it would also incorporate concepts from the French army, drawing the best from both.

After Carlo proposed the idea of prioritizing university development to Primo, Primo readily agreed, stating that the Spanish government would allocate more funding to the education sector in the new year.

Seizing the opportunity, Carlo also acquired full ownership of the Royal Military Academy from the government for 3 million pesetas.

Primo, of course, understood the importance of the military academy. However, at this juncture, he felt it was better to cede ownership of the academy to Carlo and dedicate all his energy to Spain's reforms.

While this might allow Carlo to infiltrate the military with officers trained at the academy, that was a prospect years, even decades, away.

By then, Primo would be in his sixties, and his ability to continue as Prime Minister would be questionable.

Precisely because he was already 55 years old, Primo's sole desire was to see Spain revived; power struggles were no longer important to him.

With the ownership of the Royal Military Academy secured, Carlo's mood greatly improved, and his initial pretense towards Primo turned into genuine respect.

Regardless of how Primo might be judged historically, in Carlo's eyes, Primo was a heroic figure akin to Garibaldi.

Italy was fortunate to have produced Garibaldi, and Spain was fortunate to have Primo.

The only difference was that Garibaldi, due to his past association with republicanism, faced hostility from the Italian government and king. Primo, on the other hand, by supporting monarchism and Carlo's ascension to the Spanish throne, had earned Carlo's trust and strong support.

In high spirits, Carlo discussed the future development of Spain's military academies at length with Primo, who hailed from a military family, and invited Primo to become the honorary vice-principal of the Royal Military Academy of Spain.

Carlo himself would serve as the honorary principal, ensuring that all graduates of the military academy understood who had trained them.

Considering the diverse needs of the Spanish military for officers, the Royal Military Academy would be divided into two parts.

The main campus of the Royal Military Academy would remain in Madrid, responsible for training excellent junior officers for Spain. The academy's student body would consist of two groups: Spanish civilians willing to enroll and outstanding soldiers selected from within the Spanish army.

The other part, after the split, would establish a new military academy in Zaragoza, in the Aragon region, to be known as the Royal Military Academy Zaragoza Branch.

The purpose of the Royal Military Academy Zaragoza Branch would be to train senior officers for Spain, and it could also be called the cradle of Spanish generals.

These two military academies with different objectives would continuously train outstanding backbone officers and junior officers for Spain, enabling the Spanish army to maintain excellent combat effectiveness and flexible operational thinking, becoming a first-class European army.

While training Spanish officers, Carlo could also ensure their greater loyalty to him.

After all, as the King of Spain, Carlo was the nominal commander-in-chief and leader of the Spanish army.

The first lesson for all incoming students at both the Royal Military Academy of Madrid and the Royal Military Academy Zaragoza Branch in the future would be loyalty to the King and country.

With these officers, indoctrinated with the ideology of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism, Carlo could exert greater influence over the future Spanish army.

If the ideology of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism were integrated into the education of Spaniards from childhood to adulthood, it would create a perfect closed loop, enhancing the loyalty of all Spaniards to the monarchical system and to Carlo.

This was Carlo's ultimate goal for Spanish education. Only through subtle, pervasive influence and indoctrination from childhood to adulthood could Spaniards genuinely accept the monarchy and develop fervent loyalty to Carlo.

Having already received education at the Royal Military Academy of Turin, Carlo was familiar with the procedures of military academies.

After investing over 1 million pesetas in the Royal Military Academy of Madrid, the academy quickly expanded and began a large-scale recruitment drive following a simple selection process within the Spanish army and among civilians.

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