The next day, a group of landowners gathered at the Count of Turin’s villa in Rome to continue their discussion.
The Count of Turin felt the pressure from the King and his son because he had failed to state his position as planned the previous day, meaning that from then on, he would be treated no differently from the others.
The previous night, the King had not allowed the two of them to stay overnight at the royal palace, which in itself was a clear indication of his attitude.
“Gentlemen, there are only two paths before us: either compromise or go back and prepare for confrontation.” The Marquis of Saluzzo shook his head.
“It’s not that easy to confront them.
Do you still remember the Blackshirts?
They collapsed overnight.
The Army supports the Crown Prince.
Even if the Army splits, we would still be considered rebels.” “Marquis, are you compromising?” asked the representative of the Farnese family with a hint of sarcasm.
Italy had been integrated into a single country, but the lands of the various former kingdoms and duchies still remained; how could they possibly give them up?
The Farnese family was a branch of the Duchy of Parma, owning more than a hundred thousand hectares of land.
That was the inheritance left by their ancestors.
“If we don’t compromise, what else can we do?” The Marquis of Saluzzo looked at the crowd.
“During the Blackshirtsincident, some of you present must have received warnings from a mysterious organization.
I suspect they were the Crown Prince’s men.” The Count of Turin nodded.
“The probability is very high.” The Marquis of Saluzzo continued, “The royal family is giving up its land to win the hearts of the people.
If it truly comes to blows, we do not have the advantage.
Under circumstances where victory cannot be guaranteed, are you willing to lose all your property?” “The situation now is different from the Blackshirts incident.
The Crown Prince is a strong-willed ruler, and he will not compromise.
On the contrary, he has even prepared a way out for us instead of simply taking everything by force; there is still a difference between him and the Bolsheviks.” The Count of Turin frowned because what the Marquis of Saluzzo said was the truth.
Regardless of how many assets the people present possessed, if a real fight broke out, no one would be willing to exhaust their family fortune, and the final result would most likely be exile.
“But I am still very unwilling to compromise.
Besides, who can guarantee what will happen in the future?
What if we fail?” The representative of the Farnese family remained stubborn.
The Count of Turin had also considered this and could not make up his mind, so he looked at his cousin beside him.
“Duke of Aosta, what is your position?” “I will follow everyone’s decision.” The Duke of Aosta wanted to muddy the waters, so he refused to make a choice.
“My family has more than 30,000 hectares of land, which isn’t much.
Let me state my position first: I support the King and the Crown Prince.” The Marquis of Saluzzo was the first to state his position because without someone taking a stand, everyone else would continue hesitating.
“I’ll take my leave first.” The Marquis of Saluzzo left gracefully.
His family belonged to the purest royalist faction.
No matter what happened, siding with the royal family came first; future matters could be dealt with when they arose.
The departure of the Marquis of Saluzzo left the people present completely baffled.
Originally, everyone could have continued arguing and delaying for time, but they had not expected him to directly state his position and walk away.
“Count of Turin, what is your intention?” asked a noble representative eagerly.
“I support the King.” Apart from being a collateral member of the royal family, the Count of Turin was also an Armygeneral, a leading figure in Turin’s military and political circles, and one of the core figures of the conservative faction; above all, he was loyal to the King.
“Therefore, I choose to give up my land.” The Count of Turin was already under pressure because of his mistake the previous day and had to regain some trust, lest that elder nephew of his classify him as part of a treasonous faction.
“I give up as well.” The Duke of Aosta followed suit, unwilling to become a bellwether for the opposition.
Seeing the two collateral branches of the royal family state their positions, the rest of the crowd said they needed to reconsider and return home to hold family meetings.
…
Sicily.
The Capodimonte family estate.
After hearing Capodimonte’s account of what had happened, the people present were filled with righteous indignation, feeling that the Crown Prince looked down upon them.
“Duke, if all else fails, let’s assassinate him.” A particularly brainless person put forward the suggestion.
Slap!
Capodimonte slammed his fist heavily on the table, pointed at the man, and cursed, “Have you lost your mind?
Do you want everyone to be buried with you?
Once we take action, we will be washed in blood.
Before returning to Sicily, I heard that the Crown Prince is strengthening the Carabinieri, apparently preparing to deal with any possible resistance.” Aside from the Army, what truly terrified people was the Crown Prince’s intelligence capability.
“We are completely transparent before the Crown Prince.” “Does that mean we cannot resist?” Vittorio Saraceno gritted his teeth, feeling extremely unwilling.
The Prince of Palagonia nodded.
“Yes, compared with other regions, Sicily is actually one of the easiest places to suppress.
Moreover, the representative figures among the northern nobility, the Count of Turin and the Duke of Aosta, have already declared their support for the royal family.” “If we want to resist, we must fight to the end; otherwise, there will be no way out at all.” If they lost, everyone would lose everything.
Sicily’s centuries-old landed nobility would be dismantled in a single stroke.
“Why don’t we push the other collateral branches of the royal family in Naples to create some chaos and test the government’s attitude?” Vittorio Saraceno came up with a scheme.
Compared with Sicily, the family relationships in Naples were even more complicated.
Capodimonte nodded.
“We can give it a try.
If the result is favorable, it may also win over the fence-sitters in the north.” …
Naples.
The anti-rent movement in the northern countryside was growing increasingly intense, causing severe dissatisfaction among the landowners.
Ever since rumors of the land reform policy had spread into the countryside, the peasants had gradually become harder to control, and even the Church could no longer suppress them.
In the evening, at the headquarters of the Peasant Unity Association movement in Villanova, hundreds of peasants were summarizing and discussing strategies for reducing or refusing rent payments.
They had no idea that a pack of ferocious wolves was already approaching them.
By the time the crowd reacted, there was nowhere left to escape.
The president was a retired veteran.
Facing formidable enemies, he remained very calm.
“Rest assured, as long as we confront them together, I don’t believe they would dare to kill people indiscriminately.” However, no sooner had he finished his comforting words than he heard someone in the dense crowd give an order: “Kill them all.” More than a thousand members of the Camorra rushed toward the unarmed peasants and began slaughtering them wantonly.
This bloody massacre virtually wiped out more than three hundred members of the Unity Association.
The Camorra not only killed members of the Peasant Unity Association but also swept through the surrounding villages in blood, leaving corpses scattered across the fields.
In the eyes of these people, the lives of peasants were worthless and treated no differently from blades of grass.
After the slaughter ended, those who managed to flee sought out the Carabinieri and police everywhere, allowing the intelligence personnel in Naples to learn of the tragedy.
Shocked, they immediately reported the incident and then mobilized intelligence teams to track down the killers.
Rome.
Basso received the telegram and immediately went to the royal palace to report to the King and the Crown Prince.
After reading the telegram, Victor Emmanuel III flew into a rage.
“They are actually killing people so unscrupulously!
Do they regard the country’s laws as nonexistent?” The southern Mafia had always existed; it was a local force that the state had been unable to control, causing the government endless headaches.
Umberto sneered.
“Father, someone wants to test my bottom line, so I will let them know what true slaughter looks like.” “Basso, immediately mobilize the intelligence personnel around Naples, gather every available clue, and quickly identify the killers and their locations.
No matter how many people there are, I will kill them all.” “Yes!” Basso departed swiftly.
Umberto then called the Provisional 1st Brigade, ordering all currently available personnel to prepare for combat and be ready to depart at any moment.
“Umberto, they may have already reached a consensus.” Victor Emmanuel III grew worried.
“Rest assured, Father, I can hold them off.” Umberto had never been afraid of such direct threats.
“I will call General Marelli and have him mobilize the surrounding Carabinieri to encircle Naples.” “Please issue an order to the fleet in Naples to blockade the port and prevent a single person involved from escaping.” “Good.” Victor Emmanuel III immediately went to make the call, fully supporting his son’s actions.