The next day.
Amid his busy schedule, Umberto received a letter requesting a visit from Duke Capodimonte of Sicily, which somewhat surprised him.
The major landowners in the south were contacting one another to counter the Cabinet’s land policy, yet they had still sent someone to visit him in Rome; he could think of no other reason than that they wanted to probe his attitude.
However, since the man had come, he still had to meet him.
After all, Capodimonte’s influence was considerable, and if he could persuade him, the goal of land redemption might be achieved much more smoothly.
Umberto asked Sulmona to arrange a hotel to host this guest from the south.
At the same time, Umberto notified Basso to use the afternoon to compile information on Capodimonte.
After finishing work, Umberto arrived at the hotel under his control, where Capodimonte had already been waiting for a long time.
“Welcome to Rome, Duke Capodimonte.” Umberto reached out his hand to the forty-something Capodimonte in greeting.
“Thank you for the invitation, Your Highness.
I am deeply honored.” Capodimonte quickly reached out his hand, leaning forward slightly to show respect.
“Before coming, I heard that Your Highness was young, promising, and exceptionally bold.
Seeing you today, you truly possess a heroic and imposing bearing.” “Thank you for the Duke’s high praise.
Please, take a seat inside.” Although Umberto was the Crown Prince, he behaved very affably, without displaying any sense of majesty or aristocratic arrogance.
“Please go first.” Capodimonte certainly did not dare walk ahead of him; basic etiquette still had to be observed.
The two walked one after another into the top-tier private room.
Inside the private room, the meal had already been prepared, the wine had been opened, and there were no hotel employees present.
As Umberto’s assistant, Sulmona temporarily assumed the role of a waiter to ensure the privacy of the conversation.
According to etiquette, Umberto and Capodimonte first shared a drink to ease the atmosphere before going straight to the main topic.
“Duke, you came to Rome to discuss land redemption?” Capodimonte was somewhat caught off guard, but immediately adjusted himself.
“Yes, Your Highness.
My visit this time represents Sicily and the southern landowners.
I ask Your Highness to show mercy and abandon the land policy.” “As you know, the major families in the south have existed for hundreds of years and have become inseparable from the land.
When Italy unified the south, it promised to grant the landowners and nobles the greatest possible freedom and rights, and those promises should not be undermined.” Capodimonte spoke logically and reasonably.
“What you say is correct.
Theoretically speaking, the royal family needs your support to guarantee the rule of the House of Savoy.
However, times are changing, and outdated ideas should be discarded.” “Your Highness, the concept of land ownership has existed for thousands of years.
Throughout Europe, and even in countries around the world, land is regarded as one of the greatest forms of wealth.
You should be able to understand everyone’s feelings.” “I understand, but I am the ruler, and I must also empathize with the people.
As a ruler, I hope to improve the living conditions of the people.
Is there anything wrong with that?” “Your Highness, your thinking is understandable, but haven’t the other major powers carried out no large-scale land reforms at all and still allowed their people to live quite well?” “Duke, Italy is different from those countries.
Italy is still largely an agricultural country with a low degree of industrialization, and it cannot provide enough employment for tens of millions of people.
Of course, if you don’t want to sell the land, that is also fine.” Umberto changed the subject and suddenly stopped.
“Your Highness, what do you mean?” Seeing Umberto waiting for him to rush into stating his position, Capodimontefound it amusing.
He was not some hotheaded fool who would immediately blurt out, ‘As long as you don’t take our land, we are willing to support anything.’ Seeing that Capodimonte did not take the bait, Umberto thought to himself that the man was indeed shrewd and truly deserved to be one of the leading figures of Sicily.
It seemed he would have to spell things out and apply pressure directly.
“If you are unwilling to sell the land, then provide funds to the government to develop industry, infrastructure, and technology, expand the employment market, and gradually transform more than twenty million members of the agricultural population into industrial workers.” In short, spend money.
How the government collected that money would be another matter.
After hearing this, Capodimonte’s dark brown eyes deepened like the Mediterranean Sea.
“Your Highness, what exactly is your plan?” Umberto smiled and said, “I will arrange for the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct a nationwide land survey and increase the agricultural tax.
In addition, you major landowners in the south will provide ten billion lire annually to purchase low-interest government bonds.” “Your Highness, you are squeezing us.” Capodimonte understood that this Crown Prince intended to extract money from them no matter which method he used.
By controlling or bribing local officials, tampering with land registries, and concealing the true size of their estates, the southern landowners had maintained an actual tax burden of less than five percent.
If the government remeasured the land and obtained accurate records, their profit margins would be greatly reduced.
“Duke, ‘squeezing’ sounds a little harsh.” Umberto cared somewhat about the word; it was better not to say such things aloud when everyone already understood the reality.
The methods of taking money might differ, but in the end, it was still taking money.
“The path was chosen by yourselves; I didn’t force you.” Capodimonte shook his head.
“Your Highness, this path was not chosen by us; it was forced upon us by you.
But you seem to have forgotten that the south is different from the north.
Once we rise in rebellion, the government may not have the ability to deal with us.” “Rebellion?” Umberto chuckled.
“That little strength of yours may be enough to bully the locals, but against me, you have no chance of winning.” Umberto stood up and looked out the window.
“Actually, I rather hope you rebel.
That way, I can take away centuries of your accumulated wealth without spending a single penny.” “Do you know that, in order to purchase the land, I have prepared one hundred and fifty billion lire in government bonds, all of which must eventually be redeemed at maturity and pay interest every year?” “Spending that much money makes my heart ache.” Umberto waved his hand toward Sulmona, signaling him to bring over the prepared information for Capodimonte to examine.
“This is your basic information, your personal connections, and your criminal record.
Take a good look and see whether it would really be difficult for me to move against you.” Capodimonte did not believe him and took the documents, but the more he read, the darker his expression became.
The information was not entirely complete, but it covered the core personnel, including basic details, personal lives, work records, criminal activities, and even the mistresses and illegitimate children of a few individuals were recorded with astonishing clarity.
Cold sweat broke out across Capodimonte’s back, dampening his clothes.
“Your Highness, have you been investigating us all along?” Umberto turned back and smiled.
“That’s right.
Because I understand Italy’s national conditions very well, I naturally made preparations in advance.” “The reason I am telling you this is because I don’t want bloodshed to become the beginning of this reform.” “Those so-called local forces of yours are vulnerable before me.” Umberto’s expression suddenly turned cold as he directly issued a warning.
“I can also tell you that if you are formally declared rebels, the leaders will be tried and executed, their family members will be sent to Libya, and all of their civil rights will be stripped away.
As for their property, it will all be confiscated.” “If you take radical actions, such as indiscriminately killing innocent people, murdering government officials, or attempting to assassinate members of the royal family, then your family members will be executed as well.” “Hiss!” Capodimonte felt a piercing killing intent, and the person radiating it was only eighteen years old, which made it all the more chilling.
This Crown Prince, the future King, a man who had dared to seize control of the Cabinet, was indeed not simple.
“Your Highness, are you truly leaving us no way out?” Umberto sat down and had Sulmona hand over another document.
“The land bonds you receive will carry interest, guaranteeing you a basic income.
I will also grant you certain product or industry privileges to protect your returns.
You may establish enterprises in selected sectors and receive a ten-year tax-exemption period.” “As the head of a family, you should look further into the future.” “What do you mean by privileged products?” Capodimonte’s tone had become much more subdued.
At this point, he simply wanted to hear Umberto’s full proposal before making a choice.
“Some southern industries will be handed over to you to jointly operate and distribute, allowing you to profit from the price difference and guaranteeing a stable return.” “The annual income of you major landowners is only a few million lire at most, while small and medium landowners earn tens of thousands to several hundred thousand.
Calculated carefully, the dividends, bond interest, and income from privileged operations could even exceed what you currently earn.” “You can go back and think about it, bring my conditions to the south, and let them make their choice.
If there is no reply before the reform begins, then I will directly enforce the reform.
By that point, you will receive no such benefits, and some of you may even face judicial liquidation.” “Very well, Your Highness.” Capodimonte sighed weakly, because reality had deviated far too much from the plan he had imagined before coming, leaving him uncertain about how the situation would develop next.
“Come, try some of Rome’s specialty dishes.” Having achieved his purpose, Umberto became affable again.
Faced with this “warm hospitality,” Capodimonte ate until he was sweating profusely and barely remembered how he walked out of the hotel.