Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 578 Grand Duke of Finland
Giving the throne of either Finland or Estonia to his nephew might seem like a bad deal, or even more like a bargain for the Italian royal family.

But that's not actually the case. No matter who holds the throne, Spain will not lose control of Finland and Estonia.

Whoever becomes the king of Finland and Estonia will have to cooperate fully with Spain to keep their throne, which is why Carlos was able to pass the throne to his nephew.

Moreover, Carlo really didn't have many good options. Carlo only had three sons, and with his second son Martin clearly stating that he had no interest in the throne, his only choice was his youngest son, Alexander.

The grandchildren are all too young; perhaps they will only get a chance if such an opportunity arises after World War II.

However, at this point, with no suitable heir to the Spanish throne, Carlos had no choice but to select a member of the Italian royal family who was closely related to the Spanish royal family by blood.

If they were smart enough, they should have known who they should be grateful to after being put on the throne by Carlo.

If Carlo can't even see this, then he shouldn't be offering them help. Without the help of Spain and the Spanish royal family, it would be difficult for an outsider king to gain a foothold in a foreign country, and the throne would most likely return to Carlo's hands.

After discussions between King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and his cousins, it was finally decided that Vittorio Emanuele, the second son of the Duke of Amadeo and Count of Turin, was very interested in going to the Baltic coast to become a grand duke or king of a country.

It's worth noting that the naming conventions of the Spanish and Italian royal families for their princes represent two extremes.

Like most noble families in Europe, the Italian royal family does not care if their names are the same across three generations.

This has resulted in a large number of people in the Italian royal family being named Umberto, Vittorio Emanuele, and Carlo.

Vittorio Emanuele II had several grandsons named Vittorio Emanuele, and if they didn't all have their own nicknames, it would be really hard to tell them apart.

Carlo's nephew, who also had the same name, Vittorio Emanuele, was not highly regarded in the Italian royal family.

Although he was the second son of Duke Amadeo, his elder brother Emanuele Filipperto inherited his father Amadeo's title of Duke of Aosta, and his younger brother Luigi was also granted the title of Duke of Abruzzi.

Vittorio Emanuele, who was in the middle and neither here nor there, only received the title of Count of Turin from his father.

Turin is not only a major city in northern Italy, but also the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia before the unification of Italy.

However, there is a difference in rank between a count and a duke, and given that he was far from being a successor to the Italian throne, Vittorio Emanuele was not prominent among the members of the Italian royal family and was not valued at all.

Even his own title was mostly just a name.

Turin was, after all, the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and it was impossible for it to be officially granted to Vittorio Emanuele.

His father, Duke Amadeo, was a libertine who, despite never becoming King of Spain, was most famous for his numerous lovers.

Under such circumstances, Vittorio Emanuele received very little property, consisting only of a few manors and castles of some value, as well as some lands granted to him during the reign of Vittorio Emanuele II.

For Vittorio Emanuele, it was better to seek opportunities on the Baltic coast than to remain in Italy and live a life of idleness.

Although the country he received was one that Prince Alexander of Spain had rejected, it was still a country with an area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers and a population of over one million.

Such good fortune is something that would normally be completely out of reach, and Vittorio Emanuele was well aware of his good luck.

The ducal titles of their older and younger brothers, which they had once envied, now became the biggest obstacle preventing them from traveling to the Baltic coast.

Both men, as dukes, possessed considerable wealth in Italy. If they were to travel to the Baltic coast, their first priority would be dealing with their riches.

If you're in a hurry to sell, you'll definitely lose some money.

If it were Estonia, it would be better; although the country is not large, there would be little obstacle to ruling it.

If they end up getting Finland, then their decision to sell everything they own to go there will seem rather ridiculous.

If you end up selling everything you own and still can't secure your throne, you might as well stay in Italy and remain a wealthy duke.

Because Vittorio Emanuele's brother and younger brother both had this idea, he was the only one who ultimately expressed a clear interest in going to the Baltic coast.

With no competitors, there was not much to choose from, and Vittorio Emanuele III quickly determined the choice of the Italian royal family.

When Carlo learned that the Italians were sending Vittorio Emanuele to the Baltic coast, he was not surprised.

After all, compared to the eldest son of a nobleman, the second son is usually the least valued. Although the youngest son is the last to inherit the noble title, he is usually favored by the nobleman because of his youngest age.

The second son, however, is less favored than the eldest son in terms of title inheritance and has a rather awkward presence in most families.

In other words, the Spanish royal family, because Carlos already possessed a great deal of wealth, treated all three sons equally.

Apart from slight differences in succession to the throne, the rest, whether it was the proportion of wealth given to them or the noble titles they were granted, were roughly the same.

After the Italian royal family members who would be going to the Baltic coast were confirmed, Prince Alexander finally decided on his own destination.

Prince Alexander prefers the Grand Duchy of Finland to Estonia. While traveling to Finland presents a greater challenge, he believes that if the initial steps are successful, Finland's future development potential far surpasses that of Estonia.

Moreover, to put it bluntly, the difficulty of going to Finland to become the Grand Duke of Finland is nowhere near as great as Carlos coming to Spain to become the King of Spain.

Carlo faced a Spain that had just experienced a revolution that overthrew the old monarchy. At the time, power in Spain was almost entirely controlled by Prime Minister Primo, and Carlo was able to ultimately gain control of the Spanish government under such difficult circumstances.

Now, Prince Alexander faces only a small country like Finland. His status as Carlos's biological son is enough to ensure that, in most cases, the Finnish government will not dare to turn against Prince Alexander.

This also means that Prince Alexander has enough room to negotiate with the Finnish government, and even has the opportunity to achieve a win-win situation with the Finnish government.

After all, Prince Alexander and the Finnish government share the same goal: to make Finland stronger and more stable.

With Spain's help, this is entirely possible. Moreover, Finland has only recently gained independence, and it's unlikely that the country will produce a dictatorial prime minister like Primo, who seized military and political power through revolution.

As long as the monarchy of the Grand Duchy of Finland is not completely undermined, Prince Alexander is confident that he can change his situation through his own abilities, just like Carlo, and gradually make his country stronger.

To be fair, Carlo was also willing for his son to go to Finland.

After all, Finland's strength on paper far surpasses that of the Baltic states, a force that small Estonia cannot match. Although Carlo repeatedly stated that he could only offer Prince Alexander some assistance and couldn't help him in every way.

But the mere fact that he was Carlo's biological son was enough to give Prince Alexander no worries.

After all, Carlo was the de facto ruler of a superpower, and all of Europe had to give him face.

Even if the Finnish government were to fight the newly arrived Grand Duke for its own power, it would never break ties with the Grand Duke, much less threaten his life.

After all, the Grand Duke was backed by Spain, and any country that was not a superpower would pale in comparison to this powerful superpower.

Without any worries about the future, Finland's problems are actually much simpler.

Since his son possessed such courage, Carlo was naturally pleased to see it and was willing to help him.

After confirming that Prince Alexander would be going to the Grand Duchy of Finland, Carlo immediately instructed the Spanish government to begin the relevant preparations.

Meanwhile, Carlo was also discussing with Butler Laurent what kind of help they should give Prince Alexander to ensure that he could gain a foothold in the early stages of his journey to the Grand Duchy of Finland.

First and foremost, he needed an armed force that Prince Alexander could trust.

The number of personnel in this armed force should not be too large, otherwise it could easily provoke resistance from the Finnish government and the public.

After all, Alexander's rule over Finland was predicated on complete integration into the Finnish nation. Just like Carlos in Spain, Alexander would ultimately rely heavily on Finns.

After discussion, Carlo finally decided to give Prince Alexander a guard of about five hundred men.

This guard will be selected from the Spanish Royal Guard and Royal Guard, with priority given to soldiers who are willing to go to Finland.

The guard of 500 men was just the right number to ensure Prince Alexander's safety in Finland while also ensuring that the size of the guard would not provoke any resistance from the Finnish government.

If Prince Alexander needs more guards in the future, he can expand the force several times over based on the current 500-man guard.

In addition to this 500-man guard, Spain will also provide a considerable amount of weaponry, an interest-free loan of up to 50 million pesetas, and a small number of intelligence personnel from the Royal Security Intelligence Service deployed in Finland.

Although the Royal Security Intelligence Service (RSIS) is not well-known, the power it wields is in no way less important than that of the Royal Guard, and may even be more important.

After the world wars, no one would underestimate the role of intelligence.

Carlo's ability to so easily control data and intelligence from various European countries owes much to the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

After having the idea of ​​dividing the land from Russia, Carlo instructed the Royal Security Intelligence Service to expand as far as possible into the Baltic states and the Grand Duchy of Finland, and to train some personnel for future deployment.

Now is precisely the time to put these personnel to use. Although there aren't many intelligence agents deployed in Finland, their role is far more important for Prince Alexander, who is about to travel to a foreign land.

These people not only prevented Alexander from being blocked from information by the Finnish government, but also allowed him to gain a clearer understanding of the specific situation of the various forces within the Finnish government.

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." Only by clearly understanding the specific circumstances of the various forces and political parties within the Finnish government can we determine which parties can be widely appointed and which require our utmost vigilance.

In addition to these supports, there are also some support in terms of talent.

Talented individuals, particularly in the fields of business, politics, medicine, and education, are still very scarce for Prince Alexander.

Business acumen could help Prince Alexander manage his royal assets, enabling him to generate wealth rather than squander it.

Political talent was a crucial asset for Prince Alexander in the government. It was precisely because of the talent he brought from Italy that Carlo was gradually able to gain a certain degree of influence within the Italian government.

Without the help of these talented individuals, Carlo would have to rely on his own abilities to cultivate talent, which would definitely slow down his progress in gaining power.

The need for medical personnel is easy to understand; their main purpose is to take care of the health of Alexander's family.

In an era with relatively limited medical technology, Carlo still placed great importance on the health of his family. Just across the street from the Royal Palace of Spain lies the Royal Hospital of Madrid, Spain's largest and most luxurious hospital.

Carlo has invested heavily in the construction of this hospital. The hospital has also hired renowned European medical experts, meaning that the Real Madrid Hospital's medical standards are at least among the top five in Europe.

In addition to the investment in this hospital, the Royal Society also conducts research on medicine and pharmaceuticals, requiring substantial research funding each year.

In addition, Carlo also established the Royal Spanish Medicine Company to collect precious medicinal materials from all over the world and produce medicines.

Sending several specialists from Real Madrid Hospital to Finland is definitely more reliable than sending them to local Finnish hospitals.

However, current medical technology can only treat relatively simple illnesses. If someone has a serious illness, all one can do is pray for God's blessing.

Fortunately, perhaps it was a blessing from heaven. Carlo, who should have died young, survived tenaciously, and his health improved day by day.

Even now that he's older, Carlo remains in relatively good health. Judging from his current condition, he'll likely live to at least eighty or ninety, if not a hundred.

As the founder of the House of Savoy in Spain, the longer Carlos lived, the longer the future monarchs of Spain would live.

This was good news for the House of Savoy in Spain. The longer a monarch lived, the longer he could rule.

This not only means that the number of future successions to the Spanish throne will decrease, thus reducing the risk of political instability during succession.

This also means that if a king rules Spain for a long period of time, the political situation in Spain will be quite stable, and the overall policies will remain unchanged for a long time, rather than changing frequently with the change of rulers.

Of course, if the heir dies prematurely, a monarch living too long is not good news.

This could lead to the Spanish throne being passed down through generations, with the throne potentially falling into the hands of a younger grandchild.

Carlo also has corresponding measures in place. He plans to add a provision to the Spanish succession law that once the king is over 60 years old and the heir to the throne is over 25, the king must begin to consider abdication.

Once the king is over 70 years old and the heir to the throne is over 30 years old, the older king must abdicate to the next generation in order to ensure a smooth succession to the Spanish throne.

(End of this chapter)