Garibaldi’s greatness was unquestionable.
The famous French literary giant Victor Hugo once said, “I do not wish to speak harshly, but I must tell a truth.
Among all the generals who fought for France, only Garibaldi was invincible.” And the Prussian general Werder also admitted after the Franco-Prussian War, “If all the French armies had been commanded by Garibaldi, then in the war of 1870, the captured military flags would probably have been more than just one.” It was exactly this general, who made his enemies involuntarily sigh and praise him, who due to various reasons did not enter the high echelons of the Italian government, but instead lived in seclusion on the small island of Caprera.
The good news was that because of Garibaldi’s high prestige in the hearts of the Italian people and the contributions he made to Italy’s unification, he was able to live a leisurely life in Italy without having to worry about being arrested by the government.
For such a figure revered by thousands, Carlo naturally wanted to meet him at least once.
A presumptuous visit would only cause annoyance, and considering Carlo was still quite young at this time, there was no rush.
However, this didn’t mean Carlo couldn’t contact Garibaldi right now.
In fact, Garibaldi’s retired life was quite colorful.
He had even published a novel called The Expedition of the Thousand, detailing the story of how he led an army of just a thousand men to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Thanks to Garibaldi’s reputation, the first printing of this book earned him a manuscript fee of up to 21,000 lire, or about 840 pounds.
Since Garibaldi had such an interest, Carlo certainly didn’t mind inviting him to serialize some stories in Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore.
If they were stories about Garibaldi’s combat deeds in the army, it was believed most of the Italian public would quite enjoy them.
Carlo’s Il Sole 24 Ore could also achieve rapid expansion relying on Garibaldi’s reputation, and Carlo could take this opportunity to get acquainted with him.
But all of this depended on whether Garibaldi himself was willing.
If Garibaldi didn’t want to publish articles in the Italian Sun newspaper, Carlo was completely helpless.
Because in Italy, Garibaldi’s personal prestige even surpassed that of the royal family.
The Italian public absolutely would not tolerate any slander against him.
In 1879, a journalist named Giovanni once wrote two stories personally attacking Garibaldi, and not long after, the journalist was assassinated.
If Garibaldi hadn’t personally launched a fundraising campaign for him and donated a pension to Giovanni’s widow, Giovanni’s family would probably have had to continue living amidst the condemnation of the Italian public.
This also indirectly confirmed Garibaldi’s greatness.
For Italy and the Italian people, Garibaldi was flawless.
In order to give Garibaldi a good impression, Carlo revised the letter he was going to send multiple times and even had Loren review it for any improprieties.
A few days later, on a small island called Caprera in northeastern Sardinia, Garibaldi’s peaceful life was broken.
After Garibaldi announced he would not receive any guests, this small island seemed to become his personal domain, with very few outsiders coming and going.
Furthermore, there were many soldiers on the island specifically to “protect” Garibaldi, which completely shut out visits from foreign guests.
Garibaldi, who should have been enjoying a leisurely life of fishing, was currently frowning deeply at a letter on his desk bearing the royal crest.
“What happened, Father?” Garibaldi’s second son, Ricciotti, looked at his frowning father and asked in surprise.
Since retiring to Caprera, this was the first time Ricciotti had seen his father frown, and it was over a letter at that.
If he hadn’t trusted his father Garibaldi’s character, Ricciotti would have even thought it was some mistress from the outside with a big belly demanding property.
“It’s nothing, Ricciotti.
Just a letter, a letter from the royal family.” Garibaldi looked at the letter on the desk, deep in thought, and subconsciously answered his son’s question.
“A letter from the royal family?” Ricciotti’s surprise grew stronger, and he couldn’t help but say, “The royal family wrote you a letter?
Has something happened again?” “It hasn’t reached that point yet, Ricciotti.” Garibaldi smiled and shook his head, saying self-deprecatingly, “Even if something did happen, they would absolutely not look for me, unless the crown on Victor’s head was in danger again.” “Then this is…?” Ricciotti’s curiosity remained undiminished as his gaze shifted to the envelope on the desk.
“It’s a letter from His Highness Carlo.” The faint smile remained on Garibaldi’s face as he said, “Speaking of which, I’ve met that little fellow before.
Has his health improved?” “It’s him!” Ricciotti nodded, saying somewhat happily, “Of all the people in the royal family, I only like His Highness Carlo.
It’s a pity His Highness isn’t the Crown Prince of the kingdom.” “Some things you can say here with me, but it’s best to keep your mouth shut outside,” Garibaldi glanced at his somewhat jubilant son and reminded him.
“If you don’t want to live in seclusion with me on Caprera for the rest of your life, you’d better show some respect to those folks in the royal family.” “I know, Father.
Did His Highness Carlo write because of something?” Ricciotti continued to ask, still full of curiosity about Carlo’s letter.
Garibaldi nodded, saying with a mix of tears and laughter, “This is probably the first time someone in the royal family has praised me to such a degree!
Little Carlo hopes I can publish articles in his Sun newspaper, preferably telling some stories about the Redshirts.” Ricciotti’s jubilant words closed the distance between Garibaldi and Carlo, and Garibaldi’s address for Carlo shifted from “His Highness” to “Little Carlo.” At this time, Carlo didn’t yet know that the Garibaldi he so deeply admired had actually interacted with the original owner of his body long ago, and that Garibaldi had a very good impression of Carlo.
But it was understandable.
Carlo (the original body) had been sickly since childhood, his father was busy with state affairs, and his mother had died early.
His personality naturally became timid but friendly to others.
Having seen too much of the arrogance and extravagance among nobles, it wasn’t surprising that Garibaldi had a favorable impression of Little Carlo.
“The Italian Sun newspaper belongs to His Highness Carlo?” Ricciotti’s excitement became even more obvious, and he said impatiently, “Father, didn’t you say before that you wanted to write out your stories for more Italians to read?
Isn’t this a great opportunity?” Looking at his somewhat cheering and jumping son, Garibaldi shook his head helplessly and said, “Although I can write these stories, it isn’t up to me whether more Italians can see them.
If my stories end up negatively affecting His Highness Carlo’s Italian Sun newspaper, the loss would outweigh the gain.
However, His Highness Carlo’s invitation is also very hard to refuse.
Let’s do this: I’ll first write a few stories that aren’t so annoying and see the reaction of those old folks in Florence.” Although it was often said that the ideology of Italian unification was created by Mazzini, no one could deny that Garibaldi’s pure and deep love for Italy also influenced the vast majority of Italians.
Although Garibaldi made outstanding contributions to Italy’s unification, he had been too close to republicanism in the past.
Stories adapted from true events might be sought after by the Italian public, but not necessarily by the Italian government and royal family.
Because of this, Garibaldi didn’t want his actions to affect others, especially Carlo, for whom he held a certain fondness.
(END CHAPTER)