Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 209 Eldest Daughter Sophia

As time came to November 1876, Carlo was about to welcome his second child.

Fortunately, with the experience of the previous delivery, Carlo was no longer so nervous, although the birth of the second child was also taken seriously.

Because she had been recuperating for more than half a year before becoming pregnant, Queen Sophie was in very good health during her second pregnancy and did not face any danger during delivery.

In this way, in a fairly smooth manner, Carlo welcomed his second child, eldest daughter Sofia.

As early as when his first child was born, Carlo had already thought of the names of his eldest son and daughter.

The firstborn son was named Juan Fernando, the firstborn daughter was named Sofia, and if the second child was also a son, he would be named Martin.

Because of the birth of his first son, Carlo has no requirements for the gender of the second child. Carlo even hopes to have a daughter, after all, a little girl is much more reassuring than a little naughty girl.

Of course, Carlo was not worried about his children being naughty at all. The strict elite aristocratic education that Carlo personally formulated would not give them time to be naughty.

Prince Juan Fernando, who is only one and a half years old, has already begun to learn Spanish words and some simple sentences.

When he grows up a little, he will start to learn more knowledge and his life will really begin to get busy.

After all, he is Carlo’s eldest son, and there is a high possibility that the throne will be passed on to Juan Fernando in the future.

Therefore, Carlo was very serious about the training of Juan Fernando. He not only had to learn all kinds of education that traditional nobles received, but also had to learn a lot of newly discovered knowledge, as well as the history, politics, and psychology courses that were necessary for a monarch.

After that, he will have to serve in the army for 2 to 3 years and cultivate some confidants in the army before he can complete the entire training plan for the heir to the throne.

After that, Juan Fernando could gradually begin to get involved in government affairs, waiting for the day when Carlo would pass the throne to him.

As long as the whole training process goes smoothly, he will be the first in line to the Spanish throne. But if Juan Fernando performs poorly in the training process of the heir to the throne, Carlo will also consider passing the throne to a more outstanding child.

The King of Spain certainly represents great power, but it also represents arduous responsibilities and obligations. Carlo's attitude is very clear, if the ability is not enough, even the eldest son cannot inherit the throne.

Whether it is Juan Fernando or other princes who will be born in the future, the first 20 years of their lives will be very difficult.

But for princesses like Sophia, they don't have to suffer such hardships.

Of course, daughters also need to be trained, but after all, they are not the heir to the throne, so the training does not need to be so strict.

They only need to learn some cultural knowledge and then choose the major they are interested in. After they graduate from college, Carlo will arrange what they will do in the future.

After Princess Sofia was born, Carlo showed his love for his daughter. Not only did he take time out every day to play with the infant Princess Sofia, he also created a new title for her, the Duke of Arganda.

Arganda is a small city in the southeast of Madrid with a population of only a few thousand people. However, the scenery here is quite good. Carlo owns a large estate here as a reward for Princess Sofia.

Carlo loved his children very much. His eldest son Juan Fernando was granted the title of Duke of Montblanc as soon as he was born, and his eldest daughter Sofia was also granted the title of Duke of Arganda. Both of them were at the top of the Spanish aristocracy as soon as they were born.

This is not the end yet. When the two of them become adults, Carlo will give them more rewards.

The royal family's assets had already reached hundreds of millions of pesetas, and Carlo was not stingy with his children. Whether it was his eldest son or daughter or other children in the future, as long as they reached adulthood, they would receive a large amount of property as a reward.

These rewards include not only some land, manors, gold, jewelry, antiques, etc., but also some corporate shares and even complete control of some companies.

The future heir to the throne will definitely inherit most of Carlo's property, and as for the remaining children, Carlo will ensure that they have enough food and clothing for the rest of their lives, so that they can live a rich life even if they have no abilities.

For a whole month after Princess Sofia was born, Carlo took time out every day to be with Queen Sofia and Princess Sofia.

Although the infant mortality rate was relatively high in this era, it seems that both the eldest son Juan Fernando and the eldest daughter Sofia are in relatively good health.

Shortly after Princess Sophia turned one month old, it was Christmas 1876.

The palace was even more lively at Christmas this year. The royal family was growing at a rate of almost one person per year, which was definitely good news for the Spanish royal family.

The royal family now looks like a real one. Carlo and Queen Sophie, Prince Juan Fernando and Princess Sofia spent Christmas happily together. Although Princess Sofia just watched for a while in her crib and fell asleep, after all, it was a family of four staying together, which looked more lively and warm.

The news of Princess Sofia's birth once again set Spain on fire, but it did not cause the same sensation as Prince Juan Fernando's.

This is normal. After all, Juan Fernando is Carlo's eldest son and the future heir to the Spanish throne. It is normal to attract the attention of foreign governments and senior officials.

Although Sofia also had a noble status, she was only a princess after all, and only the royal families of Italy, Austria-Hungary, and a few other countries with blood ties to Spain sent her congratulations.

Compared to the birth of Princess Sofia of Spain, European countries were clearly more concerned about Queen Victoria's coronation as Emperor of India.

As early as May 1876, the British side had reached this fact, and Queen Victoria officially became the Queen of India and had her own title of Emperor.

Becoming an emperor definitely requires a coronation ceremony, and because it is the throne of India, the coronation ceremony can only be held in India.

The British were still worried about the Balkan Peninsula, but after waiting for several months, Russia had no intention of joining the war, which made the British completely relieved. The British government decided to hold the coronation ceremony of Queen Victoria in India on the first day of the new year and put the crown of the Indian Empire on the Queen of Britain.

Although the Indian throne was somewhat self-entertaining, the person who entertained herself was, after all, Queen Victoria, the ruler of Britain, and other countries still had to give her some face.

However, in the UK, people clearly have two completely opposite attitudes towards this Indian crown.

The small picture book titled "The Stain on the Queen's Head" had a circulation of over 90,000 in a short period of time. This small picture book attacked Prime Minister Disraeli in the form of cartoons, mocking him as a Jew with strong Orientalist ideas.

In the cartoon, Disraeli, appearing as Aladdin, is urging Queen Victoria to accept the crown of Empress of India.

The attitude of this album is also very clear, which is that Queen Victoria does not need an extra queen's crown, because the word "queen" easily reminds people of autocratic monarchy, rather than the constitutional monarchy that the British government currently maintains.

Another pamphlet also came to the same conclusion, and members of Parliament and the British people who supported such ideas generally believed that the outcome of the Crown Bill would undermine the principles of the British monarchy and that the title of the Indian throne was a lie.

The title of Empress of India is imperial, opposed to the British monarchy, is autocratic and arbitrary, puts individual rights above the public, and allows personal will to be put into law at any time and at will. It is an extremely wrong decision.

The opposition party even used the Queen's accession to oppose the ruling Conservative Party, believing that the Conservative Party completely ignored the needs of the public and was obsessed with its own political propaganda. Some extreme opponents even called the ruling Conservative Party a dictatorial party that advocates absolutism.

Even the famous British newspaper The Times expressed its opposition and criticism, believing that being crowned as the Queen of India was a manifestation of Queen Victoria's arrogance and hubris, and a betrayal of the principles of the British Constitution.

John F. Dickinson publicly stated that the Title Act was a complete violation of the collective will by Queen Victoria's personal will. The title of Queen legally determined India's vassalage relationship with Britain and would exacerbate the conflict between India and Britain.

At the same time, this would also legally confirm that the British Empire is heading for a new round of expansion, which is something that most British people do not want to see. The bill will cause personal demands to take precedence over public interests and will destroy the British Empire.

He believed that the fewer and simpler the British ruling principles in India were, the better the effect would be. The more prosperous the empire was, the tighter the policy towards India should be.

The "New Crown, Old Queen" cartoon also became a hotly discussed topic among the British government and the public, and the sensation it caused even overshadowed the fact that Queen Victoria was crowned the Queen of India.

The fundamental reason why it has aroused opposition from a large number of officials and democrats is the public's concern about the word "authority".

The British Empire had colonies far larger than any other country, but the colonies were not completely submissive and loyal to the British Empire.

The United States was once a British colony, but later chose independence. This also represents one thing, that is, the people in the colonies are not completely loyal to the British Empire, and they also have their own considerations for the British Empire.

Under such circumstances, whether Queen Victoria's coronation as the Queen of India would cause dissatisfaction in multiple colonies, including the Indian colony, was a question that some British officials and parliamentarians needed to consider.

Did the British Empire and Queen Victoria have authority over the colonies? Did the British Empire have complete control over the colonial governors? Should it increase its control over the colonies?

These issues are also the key issues discussed by the two major political parties and a large number of MPs in the UK, and are also the reason for the sensation in the UK.

But it was clear that these discussions alone could not sway Queen Victoria herself.

The fact that these opposing MPs were unable to prevent the bill from passing shows that both Prime Minister Disraeli and Queen Victoria wanted to see the British Empire control the throne of India.

On January 1877, 1, the ceremony of Queen Victoria's coronation as Empress of India was officially held in India.

Although there are many voices of opposition in the country, the British government still attaches great importance to this coronation ceremony.

Prime Minister Disraeli even attended the coronation ceremony in person, and the Indian colonial government also prepared a grand ceremony and a large number of extras for the Queen.

No matter how Indians reacted to the coronation of Queen Victoria, on the day of her coronation, more than 100,000 Indians warmly celebrated her coronation and shouted "Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
Queen Victoria was very satisfied with the lively scene prepared by the Indian colonial government. Being crowned as the queen also fulfilled her wish, and she looked at the Governor-General of India with great satisfaction and appreciation.

Carlo did not attach much importance to the coronation of Queen Victoria. The throne was a stain on Queen Victoria, and it did not add anything to her whether she had the throne or not.

Without the Indian throne, Queen Victoria was one of the greatest monarchs in British history. She ushered in the most glorious Victorian era of the British Empire, which was also the golden age of the British Empire's dominance over the world.

Fortunately, this stain was not too serious and would not affect Queen Victoria's reputation in the UK.

Compared to Queen Victoria's throne, Carlo was more interested in the development of the situation in the Balkans.

The reason why the British government was confident in holding the coronation ceremony was that Russia did not take any major actions in the Balkan Peninsula.

The war in the Balkans is still a war between the Ottoman Empire and several nations fighting for independence, and Russia is currently in the stage of secret support.

Through telegram exchanges with Franz Joseph I, Carlo also confirmed one thing, that is, Britain and Austria-Hungary underestimated Russia's ambitions in this Balkan War.

The British Empire arrogantly believed that Russia would not launch a war against the Ottoman Empire even though the British Empire clearly supported the Ottoman Empire. This was also the reason why Britain reduced its attention to the Balkan Peninsula.

After all, the Ottoman Empire has gained the advantage in the current war, and Serbia and Montenegro are obviously no match for the Ottoman Empire.

This is also the reason why Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire and won the war after launching the war in history.

Because the British Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not well prepared, they could only use diplomatic means to threaten Russia to give up part of the spoils of war after the war to ensure that they would not suffer too much.

(End of this chapter)