Now that he had a newspaper as a weapon of public opinion in hand, the next most important step was to craft a popular image for himself.
If an image was crafted well, then even without Carlo taking any action, the public would naturally assume he stood with the majority.
And as a member of the royal family, a friendly, people-loving character was bound to be welcomed.
The public certainly did not want the royal family above their heads to look lofty and untouchable. That was also why, in later generations, monarchs led by the British King always wore an amiable and benevolent appearance.
Whether it was displayed to the public in Italy or the European public, rigidly conservative ideas were destined to be unpopular.
Although monarchies also contained a great many Conservatives, for Italy and the Spain Carlo intended to visit, Reformists were what the public truly wanted to see.
However, although Carlo wanted to establish an image as a Reformer, he would absolutely not offer any opinions on Italy's reforms.
Reform was reform, but who would lead this reform was the truly important question. Supporting and favoring reform was a weapon in Carlo's hand, but if he actually started pointing fingers at the reforms, the loss would outweigh the gain.
No government would like a king who poked his nose into every corner of the country. If Carlo wanted to become King of Spain, he first had to understand how to be a mascot and not point fingers everywhere.
On February 21, 1866, the 24 Hours Sun Newspaper of Italy published an article written by Carlo, titled "We Want Bread, Macaroni, and milk," successfully firing the first shot in building his image as someone who cared for the public.
In this thoroughly sentimental piece, Carlo repeatedly mentioned the importance of Italy's lower-class citizens, especially the farmers of Southern Italy.
He also concluded in the article: whether in Italy or Europe, the demands of the people were not actually complicated. They wanted nothing more than enough food to eat and clothes to wear.
If the government could turn more of its attention toward the lower classes, perhaps the people would live happier lives.
The entire article contained no grand principles. It even portrayed Carlo as a prince with nothing better to do and compassion overflowing from his heart.
Although quite a few lower-class citizens developed a favorable impression of Carlo because of the report, government officials dismissed it with disdain.
Taking care of the lower classes' lives? It sounded nice enough, but would it not still come out of the government's coffers?
Leaving aside how much fiscal budget it would take to improve the lives of all Italy's lower-class citizens, would it not be better to invest that money where Italy needed it more, such as military construction and industrial development?
As for those commoners at the bottom of society, ensuring they did not starve to death was already quite good. Which noble lord had the mind to care whether commoners had eaten their fill or were properly clothed?
Because Carlo truly had no one under his command who could be put to use, this report only had a certain influence around Milan and did not even spread to Florence.
But for Carlo's plan, the first step had already been successfully taken. No matter what the government and nobles thought, the first thing was to make the public believe Carlo was a prince who cared about the lower classes, even one whose benevolence overflowed.
Such a character would absolutely not be hated by the public. After all, the vast majority of any country's population consisted of lower-class citizens, something no political system or ideology could change.
Unfortunately, Carlo was still too young. Many arrangements could not proceed smoothly, and he still needed to spend a great deal of time and energy completing the traditional noble education in Italy.
Though he was only a prince, his place in the line of succession was third, a position that was basically impossible to reach the throne from.
Yet Vittorio Emanuele II still paid great attention to Carlo's education and upbringing. As Vittorio Emanuele II's youngest son at present, Carlo undoubtedly received the most affection and attention from his father.
Carlo was nearing fifteen this year and had basically completed the preliminary elite aristocratic education.
According to Vittorio Emanuele II's plan for Carlo's upbringing, Carlo had two choices. One was to pursue further studies in management and economics, so that he could properly handle his own lands and property in the future.
The other choice was to attend a Military Academy, become a glorious officer serving Italy, and devote himself to the royal family and the nation.
For Carlo, who had long had plans in his heart, the most suitable choice was naturally to attend a Military Academy and cultivate his military capabilities.
More importantly, at the Military Academy, he might be able to meet officers whose reputations were not prominent but whose military abilities were excellent, and build up his network.
Unfortunately, Carlo was not the first heir to the throne—the Crown Prince. Otherwise, he could have used his status as Crown Prince to establish a palace guard and cultivate his own armed force from scratch.
Although unified Italy had already gained the qualifications to compete with the Great Powers, Italy's foundations were still too thin at this time, and this was true even in the field of military schools.
Italy had no place at all among the ten famous military academies of later generations. Even now, Italy did not actually have many military schools worth choosing from.
The most reliable military school choice at present was the Military Academy of Turin, located in the former capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
This military academy was located in Turin, the stronghold of the House of Savoy, and was an important institution for training military backbone personnel for the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Vittorio Emanuele II supported Carlo's desire to attend a Military Academy.
This was very common in Western monarchies. For the kings of these monarchies, the people they could trust most were royal family members and nobles.
The Royal Military Academy of Turin was mainly responsible for training infantry and artillery officers, while the Milan Royal Military Academy was responsible for training cavalry officers.
That was why Carlo directly chose the Royal Military Academy of Turin. First, Carlo did not need to personally charge into battle, and second, cavalry would be phased out within the coming decades. The terrain of both Spain and Italy was unsuitable for large-scale cavalry charges.
In truth, compared to the instructors at the Royal Military Academy of Turin, Carlo admired a legendary figure from Italy even more: Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the Three Heroes of Italian Unification and the Hero of Two Worlds.
Discussing military ability alone, Garibaldi was absolutely the finest military commander in all of modern Italy.
Even later historians, in their descriptions of the entire Italian Unification, mentioned only three heroes of outstanding merit—the so-called Three Heroes of Italian Unification.
"Italian Unification owed itself to Mazzini's ideas, Garibaldi's swords, and Cavour's diplomacy."
From this description alone, one could see just how outstanding Garibaldi's military talent was.
But unfortunately, among the Three Heroes of Italian Unification, only Prime Minister Cavour belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia faction. Mazzini, who had created the ideology of Italian Unification, was a thoroughgoing Republican and an enemy of monarchy.
Although Garibaldi, whom Carlo greatly admired, had never openly and clearly opposed monarchy, he had repeatedly aligned himself with republican systems and was not trusted by monarchists.
Although Garibaldi had been utterly selfless in the process of Italian Unification, even after obtaining the entire territory of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, he had resolutely handed it over to the Kingdom of Sardinia to govern.
Garibaldi's tremendous prestige in the army and his history of serving republicanism still kept him from entering the upper ranks of the new Italy.
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