On August 17, 1869, Carlo, along with his three confidants Ricciotti, Carman Esposito, and Andrew Rosso, as well as dozens of servants, chefs, tailors, and physicians personally selected by his father Victor Emmanuel II, including a royal guard of about 500 men, grandly boarded a steamship heading for Spain.
Carlo was very satisfied with the royal guard his father had given him.
At Carlo’s strong request, the majority of the soldiers in this royal guard were veterans of the Italian War of Independence, and quite a few of them came from Garibaldi’s command.
The combat effectiveness of these soldiers was guaranteed, and coupled with the leadership of Garibaldi’s second son, Ricciotti, there was no need to worry about their loyalty.
Moreover, the families of these soldiers would also follow Carlo to Spain, which was another means of ensuring their loyalty.
Simply put, from now on, these soldiers would be entirely under Carlo’s command.
Carlo also needed to provide them with military funding, weapons, and equipment in exchange for their absolute loyalty.
With the foundation of these 500 men, it would be much easier for Carlo to expand his own royal guard in the future.
After all, if one wanted to build an army, aside from the leading commanders who needed to be carefully selected, some low-level officers who had truly experienced war were also needed to accelerate the army’s formation and forge the soul of an elite military force.
On the largest steamship of the fleet, Carman Esposito and Andrew Rosso were looking at the vast Mediterranean Sea with excited faces, feeling exceptionally thrilled.
When they learned that Carlo was an Italian prince, the two were extremely excited.
They had originally thought Carlo was just a son of a noble, but they never expected his status to be even higher than they had imagined.
And a few days ago, when they heard from Carlo’s own mouth that he was about to go to Spain to be crowned King, their shock was unparalleled.
This also resulted in both of them expressing their agreement with great excitement when Carlo invited them to head to Spain.
After all, with their commoner status, staying in Italy wouldn’t offer them very good avenues for promotion, and moving up the ranks would be very difficult.
Outstanding graduates like them were not in the minority, and Italy didn’t have much space to let them freely hone their skills.
But going to Spain was entirely different.
Carlo didn’t have many usable people under his command, so they were the most trusted of his confidants and would naturally receive plenty of practice.
Although they were starting out merely as vice-captains of Carlo’s royal guard, Carlo had promised that this royal guard would soon be expanded to the strength of a brigade.
Whether it was Carman Esposito or Andrew Rosso, both would be able to hold the position of regiment commander in the expanded guard brigade.
This was a far better prospect than staying in Italy; after all, their rank as company officers would only allow them to serve as commanders at the company level.
At this moment, both were dead set on following Carlo and had convinced their families to accompany them to Spain.
The chubby and skinny duo were not stupid either; they knew they had to do something to prove their loyalty in order to gain Carlo’s heavy reliance.
Carlo, of course, also saw their dedication.
If the abilities of these two guys were truly good, Carlo wouldn’t mind letting them grow into figures capable of taking charge independently within the Spanish army.
If their abilities were more mediocre, they would still become Carlo’s prime examples of buying horse bones with a thousand pieces of gold, entering departments like the Ministry of Defense or the General Staff to hold important positions.
After several days of sailing, the fleet finally approached Barcelona in the Catalonia region.
The port of Barcelona looked like a sea of people, surrounded by crowds on all sides, seemingly welcoming Carlo’s arrival.
“Your Majesty, Regent Serrano is already waiting for you at the port.” Seeing Carlo looking somewhat puzzled, Prim stepped forward and spoke to him with a smile.
Hearing Prim say this, Carlo immediately understood that these crowds had been prepared in advance by Serrano, purely so that Carlo’s arrival in Spain wouldn’t be too awkward.
If Carlo came to Spain and not a single person welcomed him, or if the public showed complete indifference, the only ones embarrassed would be Carlo and the government that chose him to be King.
Carlo nodded, the smile on his face unchanging: “Where is Mr.
Serrano?” Following Prim’s guidance, Carlo and his entourage, escorted by the guards, slowly walked onto the port and headed towards where the Spanish government was located.
The moment Carlo set foot on the port, the band that had been prepared long in advance struck up the Spanish national anthem, Marcha Real.
Using this song here was excellent.
It not only highlighted the importance of welcoming the new King but also emphasized Spain’s monarchy, giving Carlo ample face.
“Your Highness!” The members of the Spanish government bowed to Carlo one after another.
Because Carlo had not yet sworn to the constitution and been crowned King of Spain, his title at this moment remained the Duke of Italy.
However, the swearing-in could be done at any time, which was different from the coronation ceremony, so everyone did not slight Carlo in the least.
Prim and Serrano smilingly introduced the various officials of the Spanish government to Carlo, and amid the welcome of numerous officials, Carlo entered Barcelona.
This was only a place to rest their feet.
After a short break, Carlo would set foot on the journey to Madrid along with the officials.
The good news was that although Spain didn’t have many kilometers of railways, it still had nearly 5,000 kilometers of railway mileage.
And as a major city on the east coast, Barcelona naturally had a railway connecting it to Madrid.
The bad news was that the operating speed of railways in this era was extremely slow, and the riding experience was far inferior to that of later generations.
For Carlo, this journey from Barcelona to Madrid might be even worse than those few days of tossing and turning on the Mediterranean Sea.
But the good news was that once he returned to Madrid, Carlo would be able to reside in the massive Royal Palace of Madrid.
This was known as the third largest royal palace in Europe, a luxurious palace second only to the Palace of Versailles and Schönbrunn Palace.
From this aspect, one could also see the extravagance of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty; at least in terms of the royal family’s food, clothing, and expenses, the successive Spanish kings of the Bourbon dynasty had never been stingy.
On August 23, 1869, Carlo finally arrived in Madrid, and after many days away, Prim also returned to the political center of Spain.
Although Carlo really wanted to tour the Madrid of 1869, after several days of exhausting travel, he no longer had the energy to think about anything else.
The accompanying officials and soldiers shared the same thought.
On his first day arriving in Madrid, Carlo simply took his confidants and servants to the Royal Palace of Madrid, and inside the clean, pre-prepared King’s bedchamber, he slept comfortably for a good long while.