If you want to hold your destiny in your own hands, the only way is to keep climbing up, to become the ruler of the country, and to become the object of the people’s trust and obedience.
And in a country like Italy, there was only one way to do that: become the King of Italy.
But obviously, for Carlo, who had two older brothers above him, becoming the King of Italy was basically impossible.
However, this didn’t mean there was absolutely no chance.
According to the course of history, a revolution was about to break out in Spain, and the Italian House of Savoy was about to obtain the Spanish crown.
Although this crown would only sit on the head of the Savoy dynasty for three years, it was Carlo’s closest chance to a crown.
As long as he could outcompete his older brother, Prince Amedeo, Carlo had the hope of obtaining the Spanish crown and becoming the King of Spain.
But ultimately, this was just a plan, and realizing it would be fraught with difficulties.
Regardless, to prepare for the plan in advance, it was necessary to accumulate a certain amount of talent and wealth.
After all, to put it bluntly, without startup capital, all plans were just empty talk.
Speaking of property, the lands and castles under Carlo’s name were worth at least two to three million lire (1 pound was about 25 lire, roughly 7.33 grams of gold), which was quite valuable in this era before currency depreciation.
Unfortunately, most of these lands and castles could not be sold because they came from the royal family.
The only wealth Carlo could truly dispose of at his own will was the royal annuity he received every year, which averaged about 260,000 lire annually.
However, because Carlo was still a minor, these funds had been kept by his father, Victor Emmanuel II.
It was estimated that at least nearly three million lire had been saved up.
Carlo’s target was exactly this annuity of nearly three million lire.
If he could obtain the right to freely dispose of his wealth, these funds would be enough for him to accomplish many things.
The good news was that, judging by his father Victor Emmanuel II’s level of care for him, it should be very easy for Carlo to gain control over his own assets.
After all, Carlo’s mother, Archduchess Adelaide, had passed away over a decade ago, so there were no obstacles left for Carlo to obtain the disposal rights to his wealth.
Even though Carlo was not yet of age, this presented a perfect opportunity to acquire a reliable subordinate from Victor Emmanuel II.
Ultimately, Carlo’s wealth belonged to him personally.
Victor Emmanuel II might keep it for him until he came of age, but he couldn’t keep it for him for a lifetime.
And if the current Carlo wanted to properly manage and operate his wealth, he needed more capable assistants, such as a court steward.
In European courts, royal stewards were quite important.
A steward was not only a noble’s most capable and loyal assistant but also shared the fate of the entire noble family.
Moreover, in most cases, a position like a steward would often turn into an alternative hereditary system.
For example, Victor Emmanuel II’s steward, Belisario Bern.
His father had been the steward to the Sardinian King Charles Emmanuel III, and his son was very likely to become the steward to Crown Prince Umberto.
The Italian royal family trusted them implicitly, and these were the truly trustworthy subordinates.
If Carlo had a sufficiently loyal and capable steward to help him manage his wealth, he believed Victor Emmanuel II would feel at ease giving him the disposal rights to his assets.
So where would this sufficiently loyal and capable steward come from?
Naturally, he would be selected by Victor Emmanuel II from among his trusted subordinates.
A few days later, in the Italian King’s office, Victor Emmanuel II looked at his son Carlo with surprise and asked curiously, “Little Carlo, may I know your purpose for exercising the right to dispose of your wealth?” It wasn’t that Victor Emmanuel II begrudged the more than two million lire; it was just that this was a massive sum, and he didn’t want to see his child become corrupted by money.
“To invest in some businesses,” Carlo said, looking as if he were telling the exact truth.
He answered in detail, “That way, when brother Umberto and brother Amedeo get married, I will have money to buy them gifts.” Hearing Carlo’s answer, Victor Emmanuel II affectionately patted his head and said, looking both like crying and laughing, “Your money is already enough to buy them gifts, Carlo.
More than two million lire could build a warship.
You can’t possibly be thinking of giving them a fleet, child.” Carlo shook his head, looking quite serious.
“That isn’t my money, Father.
I want to use money that I truly earned to buy them gifts; that’s the only way I can feel happiness.” “Alright, child, you’ve convinced me.” Victor Emmanuel II smiled and nodded, saying helplessly, “What reason do I have to refuse?
That must be the best reason in the world.” “However, Carlo, I still must remind you.
Before you come of age, you need a capable and loyal steward to help you manage your wealth.
Of course, you have the final say on how to spend it, but you at least need someone who can figure out what exactly these more than two million lire of assets are, don’t you?” Victor Emmanuel II added as a reminder.
The value of the Italian lira was not much different from the French franc, and over two million francs in this era was absolutely not a small number.
Even converted into the most valuable precious metal of the time, gold, it would be over 700 kilograms, nearly a ton in weight.
This was why Victor Emmanuel II mentioned that Carlo must have a loyal and capable steward to help manage the property, because this sum of money was simply too large.
Carlo was naturally happy with this, as the talent pool of the Italian royal family was quite sufficient.
Although the Kingdom of Italy was newly established, its predecessor was the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Even if the Kingdom of Sardinia didn’t have much of a presence in Europe as a whole, there was no shortage of talents who were loyal to the royal family and had certain abilities.
Seeing that Carlo did not reject the idea of dispatching a loyal hand to help manage his wealth, Victor Emmanuel II also breathed a sigh of relief.
To show his fatherly side, Victor Emmanuel II then added, “To show my support for you, Carlo, I’ll round it up for you.
A full three million lire.
You can come to me to collect it at any time.” (END CHAPTER)