Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 188 Bourbon Remnants
From the time Carlo convened people to discuss the plan to amend the Spanish flag to the time the Spanish House of Representatives voted to pass the plan, the entire process actually took less than 40 days.

The process of modifying the national flag was quite smooth, after all, there were not many changes to the flag itself.

The newly revised national flag received unanimous praise in parliament. After all, the new national flag reflects the five important regions that make up Spain, namely Castile, León, Navarre, Aragon and Granada, in the shield emblem, and also highlights the ruling status of the Spanish royal family, the House of Savoy.

For officials, the only difference between the new national flag and the original national flag was the shield emblem. Since the difference between the national flags was not that big, there was no need to risk offending the king by vetoing such a proposal.

After all, the proposal to amend the national flag came from a member of the Conservative Party, and the Conservative Party would naturally not have nothing better to do than to amend the national flag. This also means that Carlo is most likely the mastermind behind the scenes.

Spain's first new flag was unveiled on October 1875, 10. It was also from this day that the Spanish flags hung by the Spanish government, parliament and royal palace were all replaced with the new national flag, and the change of the flag was announced to the whole of Spain in the form of government announcements and news.

Because the new national flag differs from the old one only in the shield emblem, the Spanish people accepted the new flag quickly and not many people expressed opposition.

It even became popular among people in these regions because of the addition of regional elements such as Granada, Aragon and Navarre.

When the new national flag was replaced, the government announcements and news clearly stated the meaning of each part of the new national flag shield.

What makes the Spaniards happy is that the Spanish government emphasized its power over both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar through the two Hercules Pillars on both sides of the shield, and this move has also been strongly supported by the Spaniards.

As the former empire on which the sun never sets, the Spanish people have a strong sense of pride and identity with Spain, and are willing to fight for their country.

Spain’s past decline had little to do with ordinary people, but more to do with chaos at the top of government and selfishness of the royal family.

As the famous philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote in 1921: "From the monarch to the church, the Spanish authorities have always been selfish. When has the heart of this country's monarchs, or this church, ever really beat for Spain? As far as we know, never. They have always acted just the opposite. In order to ensure their own interests, they have deliberately pretended that those goals are also for the benefit of the country."

Under Carlo's rule, the Spanish once again showed their patriotic side. Carlo didn't even need to use any favorable propaganda, the Spanish would spontaneously support any action of the government.

Even when the government announced the expansion of the army, a large number of Spaniards signed up. Although this is also due to the higher income of soldiers, if you really don't want to join the army, who would change their mind just because of a slightly higher income?

Good things are often only short-lived.

Just a few days after Spain changed its national flag, bad news came from France in the north. The former Queen Isabella II of Spain publicly declared that her son Alfonso was the heir to the Spanish throne and the true King of Spain, and Carlo of Savoy was a usurper.

It would be fine if it was just the deposed queen's solitary howling, but according to intelligence from the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, a small number of people in the Spanish aristocracy have begun to secretly contact Queen Isabella, and their purpose is obvious.

It was a rare event for the nobles to rebel against their king.

But if we consider the development of Spain in the past decade and the impact of various government policies on the actual income of the nobles, it does not seem surprising that such a thing happened.

The Bourbon dynasty ruled Spain for hundreds of years, and Carlo had only been in Spain for more than six years.

Some nobles were unwilling to accept the environment of decreasing income under Carlo's rule. They preferred the reign of Queen Isabella when they were not under anyone's control, could exploit the common people unscrupulously, and enjoy their luxurious life.

Carlo's face has never looked better since he learned the news.

Unexpectedly, after the Bourbon family fled north to France, they were still a scourge to Spain. However, this was indeed a good opportunity to completely resolve the long-term influence of the Bourbon family on Spain and at the same time clear some of the scourge for Spain.

As mentioned before, the main reason for Spain's decline should be attributed to the Spanish government, royal family, and high-level figures such as the church. The grassroots people are not responsible at all.

Although the Habsburg dynasty was partly responsible for the decline of Spain, the main blame should still be attributed to the Bourbons, more specifically Queen Isabella and her father Ferdinand VII.

October 10, Royal Palace of Madrid.

The director of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Kadir, walked into the palace with a serious face. When he saw Carlo, he saluted very respectfully, and then reported the news: "Your Majesty, it has been checked clearly."

Carlo then opened his eyes, with a hint of coldness and disdain in his eyes, and said without any emotion: "Tell me, how many of our noble lords were involved in this incident?"

“According to our investigation, during these few days, approximately 12 nobles met privately several times and strengthened their ties with Isabelle of France.

The Duke of Osuna is the leader of these 12 nobles, and this small group seems to be expanding. "Kadir lowered his head slightly and nervously reported the specific news.

"Duke of Osuna?" Carlo smiled faintly and nodded. His smile that made people feel cold did not diminish at all. "Very good. Continue the investigation, but don't alert the enemy. I want to see how many parasites there are in our country. Before the final action, the Royal Security Intelligence Agency should not take any action. Let them discuss the conspiracy they think will succeed!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Kadier nodded and retreated respectfully.

"Duke of Osuna?" After Cardil left, the smile on Carlo's face disappeared, and his face was cold and expressionless.

"Carlo, are you okay?" Queen Sophie walked to Carlo's side and looked at Carlo, who was exuding a cold aura, with a worried look on her face.

"Is the situation serious? Do you need my father's help?" Queen Sophie asked with a worried look on her face.

"No, it hasn't come to that." Carlo shook his head, and a warm smile returned to his face, as if nothing had happened: "Okay, let's not talk about this, Sophie.

How's the little guy? How is he now? "

Speaking of her son, Queen Sophie also showed a gentle smile on her face, and said happily: "The little guy just fell asleep. Carlo, time flies so fast, in a blink of an eye the little guy can already turn over."

Carlo nodded, with a smile on his face. "When the little one can crawl, we will have a second child. The Spanish royal family is small, and they rely on the two of us to expand the family."

Speaking of having children, Queen Sophie's face flushed slightly, but she still nodded.

After all, having received an aristocratic education, Queen Sophie certainly knew the importance of nobles having children. If there were no heirs to inherit the family business, at best the aristocratic title and property would fall into the hands of collateral branches, and at worst the family might become extinct.

European nobles attach great importance to family inheritance, so they naturally want to avoid this phenomenon as much as possible.

How to avoid this? Of course, just have more children. Especially considering the problem of newborns dying easily in this era, the most important thing that newlywed noble couples in their twenties think about is having children.

"Hahaha." Carlo happily embraced his wife, gently scratched the tip of Queen Sophie's nose which was dotted with a faint blush, and said with a smile: "I have already thought of the name of the next child.

If it's still a boy, let's call her Martin, if it's a girl, let's call her Sophia, what do you think?"

Queen Sophie nodded and had no objection.

Starting at the end of October 1875, a dark cloud began to move in the dark areas of Spain and swept across many regions.

Carlo certainly knew who these people were and what their purpose was, but for Carlo, this was not the time to settle accounts with them.

Carlo's ultimate goal is to let them win over more people who may rebel, and then catch them all in one fell swoop. No matter what, the Bourbon family is always a hidden danger for Spain. Only by completely solving this problem can Spain's subsequent development be completely stable.

But soon, things developed beyond Carlo's expectations.

The number of nobles who contacted Queen Isabel quickly exceeded 20 and was slowly approaching 50.

The main reason why so many nobles began to contact the Bourbon family was a piece of news that even Carlo was shocked, that is, the orthodox Queen Isabella of the Bourbon family and the Carlos faction of the Bourbon family had united.

Yes, for the sake of the Spanish throne, Queen Isabella chose to unite with the Carlos faction to deal with the already powerful House of Savoy.

This made Carlo wonder. Why didn't Queen Isabel choose to unite with the Carlos faction to fight together when Carlo first ascended the throne?

If the two had joined forces when Carlo was still not firmly established, they might have caused more trouble for Carlo. But now, if Carlo had not let it go, I am afraid that the situation caused by Queen Isabel would not have been so serious.

In the end, it was the Royal Security Intelligence Agency's investigation that gave Carlo the answer.

It’s not that Queen Isabella was unwilling to unite with the Carlists in the early days of Carlo’s accession to the throne, but that the Carlists were unwilling to cooperate with Queen Isabella at that time.

After Queen Isabella was driven out of Spain, in order to preserve the Bourbon throne, Queen Isabella announced that she would voluntarily give up the throne and give it to her son Alfonso.

But this proposal was not agreed by Primo, Serrano and others. After all, they had just driven out Queen Isabel, and if they supported Queen Isabel's son as the new king, wouldn't it mean that their revolution had failed in another way?

Perhaps after Alfonso becomes the new King of Spain, those who once promoted the revolution will be liquidated.

The reason why the Carlists refused to cooperate with Queen Isabel was very simple, that is, there was a fundamental conflict between the two sides over the issue of the candidate for the throne.

Queen Isabel supported her son Alfonso, while the Carlists supported "Carlos VII".

After the complete defeat of the Carlists, they were also driven out of Spain and fled to France.

However, due to various reasons, the cooperation between Queen Isabella and the Carlists was finally established a few years later in 1875.

Another major factor that led Queen Isabel and the Carlists to cooperate was the impact of the land rent reduction policy promulgated by the Spanish government on the Spanish nobility.

Spain's early reforms had little to do with the nobility, but since the agricultural reform began, the income of the nobility has been greatly affected.

Some people chose to accept the government's reforms and continue to unite under Carlo's rule. Naturally, some people did not accept the government's reforms. They still wanted to return to the previous era of Spain, to the era when the nobles could exploit the common people unscrupulously.

It was under the influence and connection of this group of nobles that Queen Isabeo and the Carlists were able to unite completely to deal with Carlo together and try to restore the Bourbon dynasty's rule over Spain.

Their alliance also had a good effect. A small number of nobles quickly responded to their call and expressed their willingness to help them restore the rule of the Bourbon dynasty.

The restoration of Alfonso XII in history also shows that the Bourbon dynasty had a great influence in Spain. Even in later generations, the family that ruled Spain was still the Bourbon dynasty.

However, in this world, after Carlo drove away Queen Isabella and the Carlos faction, he used the power of public opinion to vigorously publicize the Bourbon family's destruction of Spain, allowing the people to transfer all their hatred of Spain's decline to the Bourbon family.

Although a small number of nobles contacted Queen Isabella after she openly opposed Carlo's rule, the common people were still very supportive of Carlo's rule.

After all, the people are the ones who actually live at the bottom of society in Spain, and they certainly know the difference between the reigns of Queen Isabella and Carlo.

They definitely have a deep understanding of who is truly doing good for them and who truly wants to make Spain stronger.

What's more, the Spanish civilians do not want to see the coming of civil war. For the people, a peaceful and stable environment is more important than anything else.

The civil war would only bring misfortune to the Spanish people, the pain of broken families and unnecessary sacrifices. In the face of the dark clouds surging within Spain, with the response of some nobles, it was the Spanish civilians who remained rational.

Of course, this was also due to the power of public opinion that Carlo controlled. Although Carlo did not dismantle Queen Isabel's conspiracy through the power of public opinion, Queen Isabel was also unable to use public opinion to boost her momentum.

Simply put, Queen Isabella's actions have lost public support in Spain, which means that no matter how many nobles support her, such actions will ultimately fail.

If Spain had not carried out military reform, Queen Isabel might have had a chance. But after the military reform, Spain's military system was no longer what it used to be.

Previously, the nobles had a greater influence in the Spanish army, but now it is difficult for ordinary nobles to get involved in the new Spanish Royal Army.

Only truly powerful nobles could continue to maintain their military positions after the military reform. For example, Prime Minister Primo and Archduke Serrano still held the rank of Spanish Army Marshal, and their influence in the army was definitely among the top two.

Those nobles who supported Queen Isabel, including the Duke of Osuna, had little influence in the Spanish army.

With the help of the powerful Guards, Carlo would not worry at all even if Queen Isabel and the Carlos faction joined forces.

The undercurrent in Spain also alarmed Prime Minister Primo. Although Spain did not have a corresponding intelligence agency, Prime Minister Primo, as the controller of the Spanish government, could not hide some news and changes from him.

Upon hearing the news, Prime Minister Primo hurriedly found Carlo and discussed with him how to deal with Queen Isabel and the Carlos faction.

What puzzled Prime Minister Primo was that Carlo's face was not at all panicky, but rather full of relaxation and smiles.

Prime Minister Primo proposed ways to deal with and prevent the Bourbon remnants from provoking a civil war, but Carlo's method surprised Prime Minister Primo, which was to allow the Carlos and Queen Isabel to provoke a civil war, and to suppress it with lightning speed and liquidate all rebels including Queen Isabel.

It was called a civil war, but in fact it was more like a small-scale rebellion.

After all, most of the nobles still have brains, and they can judge the situation in Spain. It is impossible for them to run over just because Queen Isabella waved her hand.

Even if they are dissatisfied with Spain's reform policies, they will not easily take sides as long as Queen Isabella and the Carlos faction cannot completely overthrow the Spanish government.

Those who quickly sided with the Bourbon family were either confidants and loyal ministers cultivated by the Bourbon family, or had suffered significant losses under Carlo's rule. They could only save their interests by rebelling against Carlo and the current Spanish government.

During the discussion between Carlo and Prime Minister Primo, Carlo stated that not only would he not stop them from launching a rebellion, but he would also actively create opportunities for them and help them launch a larger-scale rebellion.

The task of Prime Minister Primo and the Spanish army is to quickly suppress the rebellion after these people have launched it, and quickly capture the leaders of the rebellion.

Including Queen Isabel and the Carlos faction in France, they will also be liquidated by the Spanish government. If the French government is unwilling to hand them over, Carlo does not mind using other means, after all, the Royal Security Intelligence Agency's agent system is already mature.

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(End of this chapter)