It takes only about ten minutes to drive from the Prime Minister's residence to the royal palace, and for Prince Juan, who has lived in this great city since he was a child, every street, every building and even every shop window along the road is all too familiar. Today's Madrid is bustling, lively and orderly, but behind this peaceful appearance, there are various undercurrents lurking in all corners of society, which are not difficult to detect but are deliberately ignored by the upper class. In the more than 20 years since the Bourbons ruled Spain, the country with a long history and the pinnacle of supremacy has continued to weaken, and its crushing defeat in the Spanish-American War brought it to the brink of collapse. In the past half century, although its economy and society have shown signs of strong recovery, they have always been only signs, and have not ushered in the kind of renewal and galloping rise of Ireland, and the working people have not been able to become the real beneficiaries of the rapid growth of industry and trade. Armed fights and assassinations are not uncommon, and the decline in social stability has had a sustained and far-reaching negative impact on the financial, tourism and other industries......

In a trance, the car had already driven into the Royal Palace of Madrid. Completed in 1764, this royal palace is known as the "Four Great Palaces of Europe" along with the Berlin City Palace, the Palace of Versailles in Paris, and the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna for its grand specifications, luxurious interiors, and numerous treasures. Since Carlos III, successive Spanish monarchs have lived here, including the current King Alfonso XIII. However, Alfonso XIII was not at the palace at this time, but "hunting" at the Palace of Sant'Ildefense, not far from Madrid, where the ambitious king had lived a life of emperor in frustration since the failure of the reforms introduced in the 3o's, spending most of the year outside of Madrid, and only returning to the strife on important holidays or celebrations.

Now in charge of the royal palace in Madrid are Alfonso, who has been regent for more than ten years, and his princess, who was born in Württemberg, Germany. The two have been married for many years and still have no children, and the second son of Alfonso XIII, the Duke of Anjou and the Duke of Segovia, lost the right to inherit the throne due to the marriage of nobles, so according to the Spanish law of succession to the throne, after Alfonso, the eldest son of Prince Juan, Juan Carlos, is the most advanced in the next generation to the throne. Even so, whenever he walked through this magnificent palace, Prince Juan always maintained a modest and cautious posture, and followed the attendants without squinting to any place designated by the **** Alfonso - sometimes his office, sometimes the back garden, sometimes the gallery, the hall of mirrors, the dining room or some ordinary corner.

This time, Prince Juan met his brother, who was always unpredictable, in the flower garden in the back garden.

It had just rained in Madrid, and the flower beds were full of wet mud, but Ah Fang, dressed in luxurious clothes, didn't care at all. He leaned down to observe a certain delicate red rose, but it seemed to be stimulated by the scent of roses, he sneezed violently, hurriedly took out his handkerchief, and then glanced at Prince Juan, who had been standing silently beside him for a while, and said, "What do you think of Joachim I, who has sent a telegram inviting me to fight against Italy?" ”

"As long as there are no major surprises, this should be a safe war." Prince Juan replied while quietly observing his brother's reaction, and seeing that there was nothing unusual, he continued: "In terms of national strength and military strength, the new United Kingdom is far superior to Italy, and with the huge 6-level machine of Austria-Hungary, as long as Germany does not interfere arbitrarily, they should be able to defeat Italy in a relatively short time, and then demand war reparations from Italy." If we enter the war, we should be able to gain some benefits from the Italians, but I am afraid that if the Italian government collapses under the weight of the defeat in the war, there is a possibility that Italy will break out into revolution, which will definitely affect the stability of the surrounding countries. ”

"What does the Italians have to do with the revolution? Alfonso asked disapprovingly, "We are separated from Italy by France, and if there is a revolution in Italy, the German royal family, the Austrian royal family, and the French government should be frightened." It is estimated that before the Italian Revolution spread to Spain, German, Austrian, and French troops had already poured into the Italian peninsula and forcibly helped the Italians maintain order! ”

Prince Juan hesitated for a moment, and reminded in a tactful way: "In all European countries, only Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and other small neutral countries have simple and unrevolutionary people, and the rest of the countries, regardless of strength or weakness, suffer from this problem. Those revolutionaries are not like the army, but they can be mixed in with the people, they are very difficult to identify, the army and customs cannot prevent them from entering the country, and there are hundreds of thousands of Italians who travel to and from our country by air, 6 and sea every year, and there are also revolutionaries with passports of many countries. In fact, once the revolution broke out in Italy, the whole of Europe was not immune to its effects! ”

Alfonso smiled confidently: "If Spain does not enter the war, Italy will not escape defeat, and then the government will collapse and the revolution will explode, and Spain will have to watch from the sidelines." On the other hand, if Spain had entered the war, it would have more say in the handling of Italy, or there might be a way to save the Italian government from collapse and the continuation of the Savoy dynasty. ”

Without thinking, Prince Juan bowed his head and respectfully complimented: "Your vision is always so long-term, and your consideration is always so thorough, that I am ashamed of myself!" ”

Alfonso didn't show much joy in such a compliment, but frowned, looking depressed: "It's a pity that we lack foresight of the arrival of this war, and our military preparations are close to zero, which is not conducive to our right to speak after entering the war, and the only chance to remedy it is now...... What conditions should we offer to the new United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary to enter the war in order to maximize the benefits? ”

"Personally, I feel that Italian capital and shipbuilding facilities are more conducive to the revitalization of the Spanish economy than the Italian colonies in Africa, but we may not have the full support of our two allies, who are also eyeing the Italian shipbuilding industry," said Prince Juan unhurriedly. In the conversations with the new United Kingdom Ministers, I sensed that they were inclined to use our power to establish a strategic bridgehead in North Africa, Belgium, Tripoli, Benghazi — we asked for one or two of these ports, to sublease them to the new United Kingdom to build a modern naval base for their navy to operate in the Mediterranean, and then to get from them the funds and equipment that we needed. ”

"Yes, the vast but barren territory of Africa is almost meaningless to us! Alfonso affirmed, "What we lack right now is the money, the equipment, the technology and the sense of pride that will unite the people, which are the key factors in Ireland's rapid rise." If we can get enough money from the rulers of the Hohenzollern dynasty to revive shipbuilding and manufacturing in the east, as well as the weapons and equipment needed to revive the military and improve the army. In addition, let our navy go into battle with the fleet of the new United Kingdom, and we should be able to regain the confidence of defeating the great power with minor losses! ”

Prince Juan said humbly: "As long as we show enough patience, I believe that they will meet all our reasonable requests, and as for what you said at the end, with my meagre knowledge and insight in military affairs, I am afraid that I will not be able to give any opinion that satisfies you." ”

Alfonso sighed: "As the prime minister of the Spanish Empire and the third in line to the throne, it is not enough to be proficient in politics and diplomacy, you must redouble your attention in military affairs, and let the officers admire and agree with you from the heart!" Do you understand? ”

Prince Juan had to smile bitterly: "It's not that I don't care, but I haven't had a talent for military affairs since I was a child, as you said, I will try my best to ask the instructors in the military academy for military affairs, and I hope to be able to achieve something." ”

I don't know how many times the two have been fighting each other. Alfonso continued to stop at this topic, and then jumped back to the point: "Now that we have reached an agreement, I will now be responsible for convincing my father that you will be responsible for diplomatic negotiations with the new United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary, and that we will try to obtain the best conditions for our entry into the war." How is it? ”

As the prime minister, Prince Juan has an unshirkable responsibility for this, and he bowed respectfully and said: "I will do my best to live up to my mission!" ”

Alfonso stretched out his hands to support his brother's shoulders: "I will leave as soon as possible to meet my father, until my father agrees to join the war, the content of today's conversation must not be revealed to the public, and the army cannot be mobilized in any way." If the new United Kingdom fleet arrives in our territorial waters, it will be executed in accordance with the terms agreed in advance and shall not be exceeded! ”

Prince Juan obeyed his brother's orders.

The major matters related to the fate of the country were basically finalized after the two talked in the flower garden for less than half an hour. It was still early in the morning, and Alfonso did not leave Prince Juan for lunch, nor did he send him to the gate of the palace, but stood there and watched him leave. After Prince Juan had gone away, the young prince of the empire turned back to the flower garden, and looked at the flowers here with admiration, thinking that if he had children and daughters under his knees, he would never easily let Spain risk getting involved in a war between the great powers, because he knew very well that Spain today was as corrupt and fragile as the Ottoman Empire twenty years ago, and to join the war in its current state was tantamount to letting an old man with old illnesses attend a feast, even if he ate the delicacies of the mountains and the sea, and drank the elixir and jade liquid. It is only a temporary pleasure, not only can it not have the effect of rejuvenating and regaining youth, but it may also be happy and sad and die suddenly. You must know that Spain's political, military, social and other fields of "sickness" have a long history, and it is impossible to cure it until a seismic change or a revolution that overturns and starts over, and this kind of change or revolution often causes great side effects of regime change and dynastic change. In the history of Europe, there are many monarchs who lost their thrones, went into exile or even lost their lives due to failed reforms or revolutions, not to mention the dismal fate of Tsar Nicholas II and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VII are still clearly engraved in people's minds, and the "advantage" over the last Tsar and Ottoman Sultan Alfonso is that he does not have to worry about his descendants having nowhere to stay......

(End of chapter)

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