Rise of Empires: Spain

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. The construction of the Royal United Bank is very successful. Perhaps this year Spain will have a super-large bank with over one million depositors." Duke of Alba Jacobo complimented Carlo with a smile.

"You are also a shareholder of the United Bank. The United Bank has achieved results, and every shareholder has a share." Carlo nodded with a smile, and was quite satisfied with the achievements of the Royal United Bank.

Just now, the housekeeper Loren reported that the Royal United Bank had 684 depositors that day, with a total deposit of more than 18 million pesetas, and an average deposit of 26,870 pesetas per person.

Of course, such data is actually very exaggerated.

Among the 684 depositors, the vast majority were nobles who received the news. Among them, there were three people with deposits of over one million, namely Duke of Alba Jacobo, Duke of Albuquerque Fernando and Carlo himself.

There were actually only one or two hundred real civilian depositors, which was why the average deposit per person was finally pulled very high.

From this aspect, we can also see how huge the assets of the Spanish nobles are. The deposits they took out to show their sincerity were just a drop in the bucket compared to their assets, but for Carlo, it was already a very important starting capital.

18 million pesetas was already most of the assets Carlo brought to Spain, and this was only the total savings obtained by the Royal United Bank on the first day of its opening.

If the Royal United Bank could gain the trust of the people and attract a large number of Spanish people to deposit money, Carlo would have a steady stream of funds available.

With enough funds, Carlo could continue to expand the industrial and financial sectors and make more money.

It was still easy to make money in this era, especially as a king. With the huge capital brought by the Royal United Bank, Carlo could easily monopolize an industry, maximize the benefits of a certain industry, and quickly fill his pockets.

"Your Majesty, please don't miss the banquet tomorrow night. There will be a large number of nobles participating at that time. It's time for your Majesty to meet these guys." Jacopo said with a smile.

Since Primo quelled the Carlist rebellion, Jacopo has no contempt for Carlo. Because he knew that from then on, Carlo's throne would become very stable, and Carlo's fate was tied to the Spanish nobles.

At this time, they despised Carlo as the king, and in fact, they also despised themselves as the king's subordinates.

The nobles had a transcendent status entirely because of the people's obedience and support for the monarchy. If the people no longer support the king, when the monarchy is overthrown, the nobles' sense of superiority will no longer exist.

Although Carlo is an outsider, aren't Bourbon also outsiders? The Savoy dynasty still controls the throne of Italy, and the Bourbon dynasty currently does not control any country.

"Of course." Carlo smiled and nodded.

"Jacopo, you personally invited me to the banquet, why shouldn't I go?" Carlo said with a smile.

Jacopo nodded, said goodbye to Carlo's palace, and went back to prepare for the banquet that had been planned for a long time.

This banquet was held in the name of Jacopo himself. The biggest purpose was to show his loyalty to Carlo, and at the same time, to help Carlo completely conquer the Spanish nobles at the banquet.

After all, Carlo is an outsider. If he wants to gain the recognition of the entire aristocracy, the support of Spanish native old aristocrats like Duke Jacobo is very important.

Jacobo naturally understands that it is more important to help others in times of need than to add icing on the cake. If he waits until Carlo has conquered some of the nobles and then joins them, it will not be so easy to become Carlo's confidant.

You know, although the nobles have a transcendent status, the family is not forever.

To ensure the long-term prosperity of the family, the first thing is to gain the support and trust of the king, and the second is to have political marriages with other nobles and cooperate with each other.

In this banquet, Jacobo also has some selfish motives of his own.

His daughter Anna was born in 1855 and is about to turn 16. Carlo was born in June 1851 and has not yet reached the age of 19. The age difference between the two is not too big.

If Anna and Carlo are lucky enough to see each other at the banquet, perhaps the status of the de Toledo family in Spain will be taken to a higher level.

Even if she couldn't become the Queen of Spain, the Toledo family would not suffer if Carlo chose her as one of his mistresses.

After all, it was normal for European monarchs to have a mistress, and the chaotic life among nobles was unimaginable to ordinary people.

Time soon came to the day of the banquet.

The banquet was held in the castle of Duke Jacobo. The castle is located on the outskirts of Madrid, not far from Toledo to the south.

Jacobo attached great importance to this banquet and invited a large number of nobles in Spain to participate. However, due to the limitation of the venue, the nobles who could participate in this banquet had to be earls at least. Viscounts and barons were basically not qualified to participate except for their prestige or high status.

There was nothing that could be done about it. After all, the number of dukes, marquises and earls in Spain was as high as hundreds. Although due to the distance, less than a hundred people could attend the banquet.

But if the female companions and family members brought by the nobles were counted, there was no problem for hundreds of people to participate in this banquet.

This is almost the limit of a private banquet. If there are more people, the banquet will be quite chaotic, and the safety of the nobles attending the banquet cannot be guaranteed.

Especially when Carlo will also participate, safety work must be paid attention to. If the banquet ends unhappily due to some accidents, then Jacobo's preparation will fail.

Carlo is also looking forward to this banquet.

Although Carlo had met many Spanish nobles at the last coronation ceremony, the nobles at that time were not so sincere to Carlo.

Now with Jacobo's support, and Carlo's throne is already quite stable, the nobles have only one choice to obey Carlo's rule.

Tonight's banquet is the beginning of Carlo's complete loyalty to the nobles, becoming a veritable King of Spain, and being able to exert his influence on the government through the nobles.

From tonight on, Carlo will have a large number of trustworthy subordinates. At least in terms of maintaining the monarchy, these nobles are definitely standing with Carlo.

Carlo will not be alone when facing the Republicans. These nobles are Carlo's best helpers and the most opposed to the republic in Spain except Carlo.

In order to gain Carlo's trust and to ensure the smooth progress of the banquet without any accidents, Duke Jacobo specially asked Carlo to send a part of the Royal Guards to help maintain order at the banquet when organizing the banquet.

This also includes a simple body search of the people attending the banquet to ensure that no one carries weapons.

This was also discussed in advance with the nobles attending the banquet. After all, Carlo does not want anyone to carry weapons into the banquet and give him a fatal blow when he is most relaxed.

His life still has to be in his own hands, and no one can be trusted when necessary.

This is not that Carlo is unwilling to trust others, but mainly because there are countless assassinations of the king in Europe. Carlo is not a fool.

Even if he can trust Jacobo, can he trust every noble who attends the banquet? Even if all the nobles were fine, could they ensure that there would be no rebels among their female companions?

Screening one by one was a waste of time and inefficient. The best way was to make sure that no one would carry weapons and turn the castle where the banquet was held into a safe zone without weapons.

At about six o'clock in the evening, Carlo took a carriage and slowly drove towards Jacobo's castle under the escort of the guards.

This carriage was also specially made, and there was even a steel plate that could be pulled down at the window to prevent bullets from penetrating.

Because the carriage was inlaid with heavy steel plates, the entire carriage was pulled by four horses to ensure the speed of the carriage.

In order to ensure Carlo's safety, two identical carriages drove out of the palace at the same time to ensure that even if there were assassins, they would not be able to tell which carriage Carlo was sitting in in a short time.

At about seven o'clock in the evening, Carlo's carriage finally arrived at Jacobo's castle.

Outside the castle, a large group of nobles had been waiting for a long time.

The positions of the nobles also reflected their status. Standing in the front were dukes like Jacobo, followed by marquises, and finally earls and a small number of viscounts and barons.

The nobles were accompanied by their female companions and family members. Hundreds of people stood outside the castle to welcome Carlo's arrival. The scene was quite lively.

"Your Majesty is here!"

Watching the carriage slowly approaching, Duke Jacobo hurriedly shouted, signaling the nobles to tidy up their clothes and not to lose their manners in front of the king.

Watching Carlo get off the carriage with the help of the maid, all the nobles gave Carlo a standard noble salute and welcomed the king with the highest etiquette.

"Good evening, my nobles." Carlo also smiled and waved, showing his close attitude towards these nobles.

Jacobo hurried forward and said very respectfully: "Everything is ready, Your Majesty. Just waiting for your order, the banquet can start at any time."

"Good job, Jacobo. Okay, guys, let's go in and enjoy this banquet." Carlo said with a smile, without the slightest airs of a king.

Surrounded by a large group of nobles, Carlo slowly walked into the castle and began to experience the private noble banquet with unique Spanish characteristics.

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