Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 188: Bourbon Remnants

From the moment Carlo gathered people to discuss the Spanish flag modification proposal until the Spanish House of Representatives voted to pass the flag modification proposal, the entire process actually took less than 40 days.

The process of modifying the flag went quite smoothly, after all, the changes to the flag itself were not extensive.

The newly modified flag received unanimous praise in Parliament, as the new flag embodied in its coat of arms the five key regions that make up Spain: Castile, Leon, Navarre, Aragon, and Granada, while also highlighting the ruling position of the Spanish Royal Family’s House of Savoy.

For the officials, the gap between the new flag and the original flag was only in the coat of arms. Since the flags were not very different, there was naturally no need to risk offending the King by rejecting such a proposal.

After all, the proposal to modify the flag came from a member of the Conservative Party, and the Conservative Party would not modify the flag for no reason, which also indicated that the instigator behind it was very likely Carlo.

Spain’s first new flag was unveiled on October 15, Starting from that day, the Spanish flags hanging from the Spanish Government, Parliament, and Royal Palace were all replaced with the new flag, and the flag change was announced to all of Spain in the form of government announcements and news.

Because the new flag differed from the old one only in the coat of arms, Spaniards accepted the new flag quickly, with few people expressing opposition.

In fact, due to the addition of elements from regions like Granada, Aragon, and Navarre, it was welcomed by the people of those regions instead.

When replacing the new flag, the government’s announcements and news clearly marked the meanings represented by each part of the new flag’s coat of arms.

What delighted Spaniards was that the Spanish Government emphasized its power over both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar through the two Pillars of Hercules on either side of the coat of arms, an action that received strong support from Spaniards. As the once Spanish Empire, the Spanish people have a strong sense of pride and identity toward Spain, and Spaniards are willing to fight for the country.

Spain’s past weakness had little to do with the grassroots people, and more to do with the chaos among the government high-level and the selfishness of the Royal Family.

As the famous philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote in 1921: “From the monarch to the Church, Spain’s rulers have always been selfish. Whether it is this country’s monarch or the Church here, when have their hearts truly beaten for Spain? As far as we know, never. Their actions have been exactly the opposite. To guarantee their private interests, they have schemed meticulously, pretending that those goals are beneficial to the country.”

Under Carlo’s rule, Spaniards once again showed their patriotic side. Even Carlo did not need to use particularly favorable public opinion propaganda; Spaniards would spontaneously support any action by the government.

Even when the government previously announced military expansion, a large number of Spaniards eagerly signed up. Although higher soldier income was a factor, if someone really did not want to join the army, who would change their mind for just a slight increase in income?

Good things are often only brief.

Just a few days after Spain changed its flag, bad news came from France in the north: the former Queen Isabel II publicly declared that her son Alfonso was the heir to the Spanish throne and the true King of Spain, while Savoy’s Carlo was a usurper.

If it were just the ravings of the deposed queen alone, it could be ignored, but according to intelligence from the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, a small group within Spain’s noble system had already begun secretly contacting Queen Isabella, and their purpose was obvious.

Nobles rebelling against the king above them was relatively rare in general.

But considering Spain’s development over the past decade and the impact of various policies promulgated by the government on the nobles’ actual income, such an event did not seem surprising.

The Bourbon Dynasty ruled Spain for over a century, while Carlo had been in Spain for just over six years.

Some nobles were unwilling to accept the environment of decreasing income under Carlo’s rule; they preferred the period under Queen Isabella’s rule when they were unregulated, could exploit commoners without restraint, and enjoy their luxurious lives.

Since learning of this news, Carlo’s expression had never been good.

He had not expected that after the Bourbon family fled north to France, they would still be a scourge to Spain. However, this was indeed a good opportunity to thoroughly resolve the Bourbon family’s long-term influence on Spain and clear out some vermin for Spain at the same time.

As mentioned before, the main reason for Spain’s weakness lay with Spain’s government and Royal Family, as well as the Church and other high-level; the grassroots people bore no responsibility.

Although the Habsburg Dynasty also bore some responsibility for Spain’s weakness, the primary cause still lay with the Bourbon family, specifically Queen Isabella and her father Ferdinand VII.

October 27, Royal Palace of Madrid.

The Director of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Cadillac, entered the palace with a serious expression. When he saw Carlo, he first bowed very respectfully, then reported the news: “Your Majesty, we have investigated it clearly.”

Carlo then opened his eyes, a trace of coldness and disdain in his gaze, and said in a tone devoid of any emotion: “Tell me, how many of our noble lords participated in this incident?”

“Through our investigation, in these past few days, approximately 12 nobles have met privately multiple times and strengthened contact with Isabella in France.

These 12 nobles are led by the Duke of Osuna, and this small group seems to be expanding.” Cadillac slightly lowered his head, nervously reporting the specific news.

“The Duke of Osuna?” A faint smile appeared on Carlo’s face, and he nodded; the chilling smile did not diminish in the slightest: “Very good. Continue the investigation, but do not alert them. I want to see exactly how many vermin our country has. Before the final action, the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau should take no action at all; let them plot what they think is a successful conspiracy!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Cadillac nodded and respectfully withdrew.

“The Duke of Osuna?” After Cadillac left, the smile on Carlo’s face disappeared, his expression ice-cold and devoid of any emotion.

“Carlo, are you alright?” Queen Sophie walked to Carlo’s side, looking at him with concern as he emanated a cold aura.

“Is the situation serious? Do you need my father’s help?” Queen Sophie asked worriedly.

“No, the situation has not reached that point yet.” Carlo shook his head, his face once again restoring a warm smile, as if nothing had happened: “Alright, let’s not talk about this, Sophie.

How is the little one? How is he now?”

Speaking of their son, a gentle smile appeared on Queen Sophie’s face, and she said happily: “The little one just fell asleep. Carlo, time flies so fast; in the blink of an eye, the little one can already roll over.”

Carlo nodded, his smile undiminished: “When the little one can crawl, we should have our second child. The Spanish Royal Family has few heirs, and it depends on us two to branch out.”

Speaking of having children, a faint blush appeared on Queen Sophie’s face, but she still nodded.

Having received a noble education, Queen Sophie naturally knew the importance of nobles branching out. Without heirs to inherit the family estate, at best the noble title and property would fall to collateral branches, at worst leading to succession crisis for the family.

European nobles placed great importance on family inheritance and naturally wanted to avoid this phenomenon as much as possible.

How to avoid it? Of course, by having more children. Especially considering the issue of newborns dying young in this era, young newlywed noble couples in their twenties usually thought most about having children.

“Hahaha.” Carlo happily pulled his wife into his arms, gently scraping the tip of Queen Sophie’s nose, which was dotted with a faint blush, and said with a smile: “I’ve already thought of a name for the next child.

If it’s a boy, we’ll call him Martin; if it’s a girl, Sophia. What do you think?”

Queen Sophie nodded, having no objection to this.

Starting from the end of October 1875, a dark cloud began to flow in the shadows of Spain, sweeping across multiple regions.

Carlo was of course well aware of who these people were and what their purpose was. But for Carlo, now was not the time to settle accounts with them.

Letting them recruit more potential rebels and then catching them all in one net was Carlo’s ultimate goal.

No matter what, the Bourbon family remained a hidden danger for Spain. Only by thoroughly resolving this issue could Spain’s subsequent development be considered completely stable.

But soon, the development of events somewhat exceeded Carlo’s expectations.

The number of nobles contacting Queen Isabella quickly broke through 20 and slowly approached

The main reason so many nobles began contacting the Bourbon family was a piece of news that shocked even Carlo: the legitimate Bourbon Queen Isabella and the Bourbon’s Carlist faction had united.

Yes, for the Spanish throne, Queen Isabella chose to unite with the Carlist faction to jointly confront the now-established House of Savoy.

This left Carlo puzzled. Why, at the beginning of Carlo’s reign, had Queen Isabella not chosen to unite with the Carlist faction to crusade together?

If they had united when Carlo was not yet firmly established, they might have caused him greater trouble. But now, if not for Carlo’s indulgence, the situation Queen Isabella could stir up would not have grown this large.

In the end, the investigation by the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau gave Carlo the answer.

It was not that Queen Isabella was unwilling to unite with the Carlist faction in the early days of Carlo’s reign, but that the Carlist faction was unwilling to cooperate with Queen Isabella at the time.

After being driven out of Spain, in order to preserve the Bourbon family’s throne, Queen Isabella announced that she voluntarily abdicated and ceded the throne to her son Alfonso.

But such a proposal did not gain the agreement of people like Primó and Serrano. After all, they had just driven out Queen Isabella; if they enthroned her son as the new king, would it not mean their revolution had failed in another way?

Perhaps after Alfonso became the new King of Spain, these people who had pushed the revolution would face reckoning.

The reason the Carlist faction refused to cooperate with Queen Isabella was also simple: the two sides had a fundamental conflict over the throne’s candidate.

Queen Isabella supported her son Alfonso, while the Carlist faction supported “Carlos VII”.

After the Carlist faction’s complete defeat, they too were driven out of Spain and fled to France.

However, for various reasons, cooperation between Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction was only established years later in

Another major factor guiding Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction toward cooperation was the impact of the Spanish Government’s land rent reduction policy on Spanish nobles.

Spain’s early reforms had little to do with the nobles, but since the agricultural reform began, the nobles’ income had been greatly affected.

Some chose to accept the government’s reforms and continued to unite under Carlo’s rule. Naturally, some did not accept the government’s reforms and still wanted to return to the previous era in Spain, the era when nobles could exploit commoners without restraint.

It was under the influence and contact of this group of nobles that Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction finally united completely to jointly confront Carlo and attempt to restore Bourbon Dynasty rule over Spain.

Their union also achieved good results, with a small number of nobles quickly responding to their call and expressing willingness to help them restore Bourbon Dynasty rule.

From the historical restoration of Alfonso XII, it can be seen that the Bourbon Dynasty’s influence in Spain was significant. Even in posterity, the family ruling Spain remained the Bourbon Dynasty.

However, in this world, after successively driving out Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction, Carlo used public opinion power to vigorously propagandize the Bourbon family’s destruction of Spain, transferring all the public’s hatred for Spain’s weakness onto the Bourbon family.

Although after Queen Isabella publicly opposed Carlo’s rule, a small number of nobles contacted her, the commoners still strongly supported Carlo’s rule.

After all, the public were the ones actually living at the bottom of Spain; they naturally knew the difference between Queen Isabella’s rule and Carlo’s rule.

They deeply understood who truly cared for them and truly wanted to make Spain stronger.

Moreover, Spanish commoners did not want to see civil war arrive. For the public, a peaceful and stable environment was more important than anything.

Civil war would only bring misfortune to Spaniards, the pain of broken families and unnecessary sacrifice. Amid the surging undercurrents within Spain, with some nobles responding, it was the Spanish commoners who remained rational.

Of course, this also owed to the merit of the public opinion power mastered by Carlo. Although Carlo did not use public opinion power to dismantle Queen Isabella’s conspiracy, Queen Isabella similarly could not use public opinion to drum up momentum for herself.

Simply put, Queen Isabella’s actions had lost public opinion support in Spain, meaning that no matter how many nobles supported her, such actions would ultimately fail.

If Spain had not undergone military reform, Queen Isabella might still have had a chance. But after the military reform was completed, Spain’s military system was no longer what it once was.

In the previous Spanish Army, nobles had significant influence, but now in Spain’s new Royal Army, ordinary nobles could hardly insert their hands anymore.

Only nobles with real strength could continue to hold military positions after the military reform. For example, Prime Minister Primó and Grand Duke Serrano still held the rank of Army Marshal in the Spanish Army, with influence in the army absolutely in the top two.

The nobles supporting Queen Isabella, including the Duke of Osuna, had little influence in the Spanish Army.

With the help of the powerfully armed Guard, even if Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction united, Carlo had no worries at all.

The undercurrents in Spain also alerted Prime Minister Primó. Although Spain had no corresponding intelligence department, as the controller of the Spanish Government, Prime Minister Primó could not be deceived by some news and changes.

Upon learning the news, Prime Minister Primó hurriedly found Carlo to discuss countermeasures against Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction.

What astonished Prime Minister Primó was that Carlo’s face showed not the slightest panic, but was instead filled with ease and smiles.

Prime Minister Primó proposed methods to counter and prevent Bourbon remnants from inciting civil war, but Carlo’s method shocked Prime Minister Primó: to let the Carlist faction and Queen Isabella incite civil war, then suppress it with lightning speed, settling accounts with all rebels including Queen Isabella.

What was called civil war was actually more like a small-scale rebellion.

After all, most nobles had brains; they would also judge Spain’s situation and not rush over just because Queen Isabella waved her hand.

Even if dissatisfied with Spain’s reform policies, as long as the forces of Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction could not completely subvert the Spanish Government, they would not easily take sides.

Those who quickly sided with the Bourbon family were either confidants and loyalists cultivated by the Bourbon family to begin with, or those who had suffered major interest losses under Carlo’s rule; they could only save their interests by resisting Carlo and the current Spanish Government.

In the discussions between Carlo and Prime Minister Primó, Carlo stated that not only would he not stop them from rebelling, but he would actively create opportunities for them to incite a larger-scale rebellion.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Primó and the Spanish Army’s task was to quickly suppress after they rebelled and rapidly arrest the leaders who incited the resistance.

This included Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction far away in France, who would also face reckoning from the Spanish Government. If the French Government was unwilling to hand them over, Carlo did not mind using other means, after all, the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau’s agent system had already matured.

5100-word two-in-one chapter, seeking support!