Garibaldi ultimately accepted Carlo’s invitation to become a collaborator with Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore and publish his stories in the newspaper.
Although Garibaldi had some hesitation at first, once Carlo obtained permission from his father, Victor Emmanuel II, all obstacles vanished.
The reason Victor Emmanuel II agreed to let Garibaldi publish his articles was simple: after all, Carlo owned The Sun, and Garibaldi’s articles would still be subject to review.
It wasn’t possible for articles of any nature to be published.
As for whether Carlo would be duped by Garibaldi into agreeing to publish articles advocating for a republic, Victor Emmanuel II was completely unconcerned.
Loren was a talent he had personally selected; his loyalty to the royal family and support for the monarchy were trustworthy.
Carlo was, of course, very excited.
The Italian people’s attitude toward Garibaldi at this time was akin to the attitude of obsessed fans toward their favorite celebrities in later generations; the word “fanatical” wasn’t even enough to describe it.
Once Garibaldi’s articles were published in The Sun, Il Sole 24 Ore would instantly become one of the most famous newspapers in Italy and achieve extremely rapid expansion.
Perhaps the task Carlo had assigned to Loren wouldn’t take two years to complete, and Carlo would have more time to lay out other plans.
Time flew by, and soon three and a half months had passed.
Thanks to Garibaldi’s massive reputation, even though only two articles had been published in those three and a half months, it still made Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore one of the most famous newspapers in the entire Kingdom of Italy, easily hitting a daily sales volume of 10,000 copies.
The current Sun had achieved profitability and was utilizing Garibaldi’s fame to expand rapidly.
Because it was located in the developed industrial areas of northern Italy, the newspaper’s expansion faced no obstacles.
It was expected that daily sales could break through 20,000 copies this year, making it a major newspaper in the true sense.
This era was different from later generations; newspapers were already the most effective means for people of this time to get news from the outside world.
Although only 10,000 copies were sold, the number of people reading the newspaper was absolutely more than 10,000.
Considering family sizes of 3 to 5 people, the Italian Sun newspaper could influence a demographic approaching 50,000 people.
Through the word-of-mouth transmission of these 50,000 people, the news published in the paper could reach the ears of hundreds of thousands of Italians in a short period.
This was also the power that public opinion could manifest.
Now, when the masses’ recreational lives were not developed, the power of public opinion exerted by newspapers was immense.
The person responsible for delivering the manuscripts both times was Garibaldi’s second son, Ricciotti, and Carlo relied on these two meetings to cultivate a good relationship with him.
A tiger father begets no dog sons; this phrase was very reasonable to describe Garibaldi’s two sons.
In Garibaldi’s many military operations, both sons played relatively important roles, acting almost as Garibaldi’s assistants.
Moreover, compared to the aging Garibaldi, his two sons were in the prime of their lives, right at their physical peak.
To be honest, Carlo was quite envious of Garibaldi’s two sons.
Although they weren’t outstanding military talents compared to Garibaldi, their level was absolutely above standard.
Plus, having been influenced by Garibaldi for a long time, their personalities were not rigid.
It was a pity Carlo was still too young now, otherwise he would have had the idea of inviting Ricciotti to serve as his court guard.
As time moved into June 1866, Carlo’s originally calm heart finally became somewhat tense.
The good news was that the Austro-Prussian War would most likely play out the same as in history, because by the end of May, border clashes had already occurred between Prussia and Austria.
This was truly an unavoidable war.
Influenced by the overwhelming trend of German unification, it was destined that the two major powers within the German region, Prussia and Austria, would have to determine a victor.
Fortunately, Italy stood on the historically victorious side with Prussia.
Moreover, Italy could get an easy win, smoothly recovering the Venice region while the Austrians were defending against Prussia.
But the bad news was that in this war, the Italian army displayed an extremely poor performance, setting a “good” precedent for Italy in WWI and WWII.
If it weren’t for the fact that Prussia was too powerful at this time, the newborn Kingdom of Italy would probably have become a shooting star flashing quickly across the Apennine Peninsula.
For the current Carlo, how to influence his father, Victor Emmanuel II, was the most arduous problem.
Because the Italian army that was rapidly routed was led by his father, Victor Emmanuel II, and quickly fed kills to the enemy.
It was only because the southern front didn’t affect the Prussians in the north at all.
Otherwise, perhaps the world situation would have taken on an entirely different appearance.
Carlo understood that with his abilities and status, it was completely impossible to influence the development of the Austro-Prussian War.
To change Italy’s terrible performance in the Austro-Prussian War, he had to invite Italy’s true God of War at present, Garibaldi, to command the Italian army.
But this was exactly the most headache-inducing problem.
Under the current circumstances, it was basically impossible for Victor Emmanuel II to agree to let Garibaldi command the Italian army.
Left with no choice, Carlo could only take an indirect route, using another method to facilitate Garibaldi’s early entry into the war.
As time entered June, the border conflicts between Prussia and Austria became increasingly intense.
The two major countries in the north and south of the German region were destined to be unable to coexist peacefully for long.
Whoever won this conflict would unify the entire German region and achieve the strategic goal of dominating Central Europe.
The tense situation not only affected the entire German region but also influenced Prussia’s ally, Italy.
Victor Emmanuel II had already held two cabinet meetings regarding the tense situation in Germany and demanded that the Italian army be ready at any time.
Under such a tense situation, Carlo also began his attempt.
“Good heavens, Carlo, do you understand what you are saying?” In the luxurious small dining room of the royal palace, Victor Emmanuel II, who was originally enjoying his breakfast with a relaxed expression, now looked shocked as he stared in disbelief at his favorite son sitting across from him.
“Of course I understand, Father,” Carlo nodded, took a deep breath, and then said, “That’s why I understand the importance of this matter.” “I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation.
Otherwise, I will consider the dangers of letting you get close to Garibaldi.” At this moment, Victor Emmanuel II looked more like the King of Italy than an ordinary father, staring deeply and solemnly at Carlo as he enunciated word by word.
(END CHAPTER)