On the morning of October 30, Umberto personally delivered a speech, ordering the fleeing and retreating Blackshirts to surrender themselves on the spot to local troops, the Carabinieri, or the police.
Anyone who refused would be treated as a mutineer.
Umberto’s speech was undoubtedly a heavy blow, snapping the fleeing Blackshirts back to reality.
They had set out full of ideals, only to flee in disappointment.
Some remained dissatisfied and unwilling to accept defeat, so they began attacking local civilians.
This time, however, they were arrested, and some were even shot dead on the spot.
Bullets were the harshest form of logic; most immediately realized that the Crown Prince was serious.
Seeing the government’s uncompromising stance, Blackshirts across the region came to their senses and chose to surrender their weapons to the Army.
Meanwhile, the Blackshirt leadership continued to flee, fearing retribution.
A meticulously planned “coup” had been extinguished in a single day.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued wanted notices offering generous rewards.
Citizens who captured fugitives or provided useful information would receive the corresponding bounty.
Thus, driven by money, the entire population was swept up in a frenzy of manhunts.
Compared with citizens in other regions, the people of Rome were focused on a more practical question.
Now that the Blackshirt crisis had been brought under control, how would the Crown Prince address the country’s persistent social unrest?
The various political factions in Rome were equally pragmatic in their concerns: Would the Crown Prince return executive power to the Cabinet?
Palazzo Chigi.
Umberto felt somewhat exhausted.
From the previous day until now, he had worked continuously for more than ten hours, getting less than three hours of sleep in between.
Naturally, he was running low on energy.
Fortunately, he was still young.
Looking at the mountain of documents piled before him, Umberto began to regret taking every matter into his own hands.
To improve efficiency, Umberto decided to rapidly restructure the Cabinet, delegate authority, lighten his administrative burden, and prepare for the reforms to come.
Before anyone could react, he intended to form a Cabinet composed largely of his own loyalists, ensuring that it remained firmly under his control.
Most politicians from the various parties were selfish, using public resources for personal gain.
As politicians, they excelled at grandstanding and empty rhetoric, yet were incapable of solving real problems, unwilling to take responsibility, and ready to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.
Weren’t they precisely the reason so many social problems had been dragged out indefinitely?
The public disliked them.
The Army disliked them.
So why would Umberto recruit them?
So they could argue endlessly?
Once he had made up his mind, Umberto wasted no time and gradually began replacing members of the former Cabinet while keeping the government functioning.
Among the ministers of the previous Cabinet, everyone except the Minister of Foreign Affairs was replaced.
Although Undersecretaries of State were not technically Cabinet-level officials, they still held considerable influence and were replaced as well.
Their replacements came from New Rome City, located in the experimental zone.
The mayor, along with the heads and deputy heads of the municipal departments, was transferred into the Cabinet, while the newly vacant municipal positions were filled by promoting reserve candidates.
Umberto also officially changed the title of Executive Undersecretary of State to Vice Minister.
Calling such senior officials “secretaries” sounded too insignificant to him; the title needed to sound more appropriate for a Cabinet position.
Other deputy positions retained the title of Undersecretary of State to reflect their lower rank.
Umberto moved quickly, removing nearly all the ministers and deputies of the original Cabinet within just three days.
He did not mistreat them, however.
Each received a fairly generous severance package, leaving them with little reason to complain.
Anything that could be solved with money was not truly a problem.
And anyone who dared to cause trouble had better make sure there were no skeletons in their own closet.
Umberto had plenty of methods at his disposal and was not afraid of pressure from opposition figures.
After all, for a young man, being somewhat radical was not necessarily a bad thing.
Umberto gave the new ministers one week to familiarize themselves with their responsibilities before holding a meeting to discuss reform plans.
There was no other choice.
Italy suffered from far too many ailments, and they could only be treated one by one.
Such a massive reshuffling of the Cabinet naturally attracted attention from every side.
However, no one openly stepped forward to oppose it, effectively accepting the outcome in silence.
Over those three days, illegal armed groups throughout the country obediently surrendered their weapons and gave up resistance.
Without their violence, public security suddenly improved so dramatically that many people found it almost unfamiliar.
Of course, it was not that these groups willingly wanted to surrender their weapons.
Rather, the Army and the Carabinieri had already been deployed, and there was no possibility of resisting regular troops.
Anyone who failed to disband or report within the specified time limit would immediately be branded a rebel.
Who had the courage to bear such a charge?
As for Mussolini and his associates, there was still no news.
No one knew where they had gone.
Umberto ordered the intelligence department to intensify the search, determined either to capture them or force them out of the country.
…
The Palace Gardens.
Victor Emmanuel III sat there fuming to himself, furious that he had allowed himself to be intimidated by Mussolini.
The Blackshirts, who had claimed to possess a million followers, had vanished in only four days, while the illegal armed groups that had once roamed the countryside had obediently surrendered their weapons.
“Your Majesty, don’t be so angry.
Take this opportunity to rest for a while.
You’ve been far too tired these past few years,” Queen Elena, ever thoughtful, advised her husband to relax.
“What do I have to be angry about?
I wish he’d ascend the throne sooner!” Victor Emmanuel III grumbled.
If that brat were not still so young, he would have abdicated on the spot.
Being forced into a corner and sidelined by his own son— What a humiliating affair.
“That won’t do.
Our son is still young; he cannot be overworked.
You still need to support him from behind, or those old fellows will bully him.” Elena rarely concerned herself with politics, but when it came to her son, she naturally had something to say.
“Hmph.
He’s very capable.
If I interfere too much, I’ll only get in his way.” Victor Emmanuel III’s resentment was clearly not going to disappear anytime soon.
“You’re only saying that because you’re angry, Your Majesty.
Having such a gifted son—and such a capable future king—is a blessing for the royal family.” As Elena prepared coffee for Victor Emmanuel III, she suddenly recalled a distant memory.
“Umberto learned to read at the age of three and showed extraordinary intelligence from an early age.
When he was four, he used my identity to open an anonymous account in Switzerland.
Two years later, he handed me a check for 500,000 pounds.” “Wait.” Victor Emmanuel III immediately interrupted Elena, staring at her in disbelief.
“How did I never know about this?” “I was the only one who knew,” Elena replied with a touch of pride.
“Hmph!
When he comes back, I’m going to ask him why he gave money to you but not to me.” Victor Emmanuel III finally began to understand where Umberto’s financial power and influence had come from.
If he had been capable of investing and making money through a Swiss bank at the age of four, then what could possibly stump him?
“Now that I think about it, I should have noticed his intelligence much earlier.
While other children struggled with their schoolwork, he had already finished the middle-school curriculum by the age of ten, graduated early from the military academy, and then went on to university.” “A son who excels in academics, martial arts, and making money has clearly inherited my excellent genes.” Victor Emmanuel III suddenly grew narcissistic, causing Elena beside him to roll her eyes.
Under Umberto’s influence, their family had become much more relaxed in private, almost like an ordinary household.
Another achievement that could be credited to Umberto.
At that moment, the royal butler arrived in the garden with a smile.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has returned.” “Our son is back!
I’ll go prepare something good for him to eat.” Elena quickly stood and hurried toward the palace.
Victor Emmanuel III reluctantly rose and slowly followed behind.
The Dining Hall.
Umberto devoured his food as though he had been starving for days.
Over the past several days, he had survived mostly on simple meals and had refused to have food sent from the palace.
Although his mother was the Queen, she often cooked personally to keep her skills sharp, and her food was genuinely delicious.
Umberto was not particularly demanding when it came to food, but when something tasted good, he naturally ate a little more.
“Child, slow down.
There’s plenty left.” Elena felt distressed when she saw how exhausted her son looked.
Umberto raised his head, gave her a simple smile, and continued eating.
Victor Emmanuel III sat alone in the living room, countless thoughts running through his mind.
Perhaps with an heir like this, Italy really could rise.
Let the boy do as he pleased for now.
If something went wrong, he could always step in and clean up the mess.
After thinking it through, Victor Emmanuel III felt much more at ease.
He suddenly called toward the dining hall.
“Don’t forget my 500,000 pounds!
Wait—more than ten years have passed.
You’d better double it for me!” In the dining hall, Umberto nearly choked.
Five hundred thousand pounds?
What five hundred thousand pounds?
Then he looked up and saw his mother smirking.
Suddenly, he remembered.
When he was six years old, he had given his mother 500,000 pounds.
Back then, Umberto’s gifts and allowances from the royal family had not been enough to finance his investments.
To make a fortune during the rubber bubble, he had no choice but to ask his mother for help raising capital, eventually gathering 500,000 pounds.
Using that money, he had made a staggering 10 million pounds, taking advantage of the stock-market knowledge he had acquired in his previous life.
Ironically, in that previous life, he had lost all the savings he had accumulated before the age of thirty-five in the stock market.
He had walked onto a rooftop, slipped, and fallen to his death.
“Mother, has Father been in a good mood these past few days?” “Very good.
Don’t mind him.” “That’s good.” After finishing his meal, Umberto walked into the living room with a smile and sat beside his father.
“Father, there are a few matters I’d like to discuss with you.” “What is it?” Victor Emmanuel III replied in an unfriendly tone, looking as though he had no interest in being bothered with trivial matters.
“I plan to strengthen the Carabinieri, and I need your support.” “Why strengthen the Carabinieri?” “The government cannot always rely on the Army to deal with internal crises.
Therefore, strengthening the Carabinieriand establishing a rapid-response force within them will allow us to handle regional emergencies without constantly deploying the Army.” The Italian Carabinieri were a national police force with military status, combining military law-enforcement duties with civilian public-order responsibilities and formally answering to both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Interior.
In practice, however, the Carabinieri had been established by the former king and had always maintained a particularly close relationship with the Crown.
“Do as you wish.
The Carabinieri answer to you now.” Victor Emmanuel III had already spoken with the commander of the Carabinieri.
Unless some exceptional circumstance arose, he had no intention of interfering with his son’s plans.
“Thank you, Father.” Umberto understood exactly what his father meant.