My Italy

When the government finally prepared to provide disaster relief, some people started to provide disaster relief before they could. Everyone must have guessed this. Yes, the Savoy family, as a royal family, took the lead in starting large-scale relief. Funding provided by the royal family allowed many ships to sail to southern Italian ports carrying food from all over Europe.

As the king, Carlo certainly would not miss this opportunity. He personally distributed relief food to the people affected by the disaster, so that the suffering victims could feel the care and condolences from the royal family. This young majesty can be seen in Naples, Bari, Taranto and other places.

"God bless you."

Carlo placed a piece of relief food in the hands of a hungry victim, and the expression of gratitude on his face almost overflowed.

"Thank you, your merciful majesty. Thank you, your merciful majesty."

After sending this victim away, Carlo continued to say the same words to the next victim, gaining another heart.

This situation lasted until sunset, and Carlo returned to his Alton Manor in Palermo with his sore arms.

This manor is also the property of the royal family. As for the Norman palace where his father lived before, Carlo didn't want to live there anymore because of the assassination, so he changed it.

Of course, this time Carlo paid condolences to southern Italy, and the protection work was not lax. It was simply three steps, one post, five steps and one tip. If no one had any reason to see another assassination attempt, it would be really unreasonable.

Therefore, in addition to strict security inside the manor, the police also protect the outside of the manor with the same attitude.

Of course, Carlo's kindness in distributing food to the victims will not be affected by this. Every disaster victim who can come to Carlo has undergone strict inspection to ensure that he cannot cause any harm to His Majesty the King.

When Carlo returned to his residence, he didn't care about his sore arms and asked the guard beside him. "Your Excellency, Chief of Guards, are you back?"

"Your Majesty, the captain of the guard has not returned yet."

"Then when he comes back, call him over immediately."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

After giving instructions to the guards, Carlo had time to take care of his arm.

"Nia, come and rub my arm for me. Yesterday I found that it felt much better after you rubbed it."

Following Carlo's call, the soft little maid appeared in front of him.

Gentle little hands squeezed Carlo's shoulders, causing him to groan. At the same time, the light fragrance and white tenderness stimulated his senses from time to time, making him a little addicted.

"Nia, yes, just pinch here. It feels so good. Don't stop. By the way, my abdomen is a little swollen. Please pinch it for me. It hurts."

Nia, who was blushing, patted the part Carlo mentioned hard, making him take a breath.

"Da da da~"

Just when Carlo was about to have some more fun with the maid, a knock on the door disturbed his mood.

"What's up?"

Faced with being disturbed, Carlo didn't care to continue fooling around with the little maid and immediately asked.

"Your Majesty, the captain of the guard is back."

"Send him over immediately."

Temporarily letting go of the opportunity to develop a relationship with his little maid Nia, Carlo immediately summoned the captain of the guard who had just returned.

By the time the dusty captain of the guard appeared in front of Carlo, the little maid had already disappeared.

"Chief Guard, how was this meeting?"

Before the captain of the guard could speak, Carlo spoke first. Although this seems to be a slight neglect of the captain of the guard, on the other hand, it can also be seen that Carlo attaches great importance to this.

"Your Majesty, I met Mr. Garibaldi this time. He is very grateful for the aid you sent, but he believes that the victims of disasters in Italy need more help from the royal family, so he said there is no need to send him funds next time. He’s going to figure out how to deal with the redshirt struggles.”

"Then does Garibaldi agree to meet?"

"Your Majesty, has he agreed?"

Hearing the news, Carlo felt that his trip was worthwhile. Yes, this time he came to Palermo, apart from disaster relief, the most important thing was to meet with Garibaldi.

Because he knew that after the negotiations between Italy and France were completed, the government no longer needed Garibaldi, and he did not want to wait until the national hero was disappointed and returned to the small island of Caprera to think of a solution, because if that were the case , then everyone will pay close attention to his every move.

"Did Mr. Garibaldi say when we would meet?"

"Your Majesty, the sooner I follow your instructions, the better, so we have made an appointment to meet tomorrow morning."

"Well, I will announce to the public tomorrow that I will take a rest, and I will go to see Lord Garibaldi."

After a night of nothing, Palermo started a new day of life the next day.

King Carlo, who lives in Alton Manor, announced that he would have a day off at the manor today, which relieved the police chief responsible for peripheral security work. After all, for him, His Majesty's safety is the first priority, and he does not want to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor. a

But he didn't know that the person he needed to protect was no longer here.

Sam Street in Palermo is home to ordinary people, so it has a strong atmosphere of life. The children playing on the street, the woman washing clothes at the well and the vendors hawking on the street create a picture full of life. .

Carlo sat in the carriage and looked at this picture in trance.

The carriage he rode in was very ordinary. It didn't have any patterns to represent the family's logo. It was just like the carriages used by ordinary people. However, although the carriages are the same, the people are different. The driver driving the carriage is very powerful at first glance.

The carriage didn't walk on the street for long, and soon turned into an alley. The scene here is different, many young people gather here, and the queue is getting longer.

"Your Majesty, this is the Red Shirt Army recruiting people. Mr. Garibaldi is waiting for you inside."

"I see."

The carriage stopped at a small door on the side. After the captain of the guard, Baron Filmicchi, got out of the car with Carlo, he signaled to a man standing at the small door and they walked in.

The scene is different as soon as you enter. There are a sea of ​​people here, but they are all busy with their own things.

Under the leadership of the captain of the guard, Carlo and his party passed through them and came to a room on the third floor.

After a knock on the door, Carlo finally saw the national hero again.

"Hello Mr. Garibaldi, nice to meet you."

"Hello, Your Majesty, forgive me for not being able to pick you up in person. After all, there are a lot of people talking here. It wouldn't be good if I attract attention."

"It doesn't matter, I won't care about it."

After greeting Garibaldi, Carlo continued to speak enthusiastically to another person beside him. "Mr. Cosenz, it's nice to see you here, I know that a true Italian can never accept the pain that others impose on it."

Yes, it was Garibaldi's friend Cosentz who deserved Carlo's words.

"Nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I wonder if your Majesty is anxious to see us this time. Is there anything important?"

After all, he was Garibaldi's right-hand man. As soon as Cosenz arrived, he asked Carlo about the purpose of his trip.

"There is indeed something urgent that I want to inform you about."

Carlo organized his words and then spoke. "Are you aware of the secret negotiations currently underway between the government and the French?"

Before the two of them could answer, Carlo knew the answer from their surprised expressions.

Although the affairs of Prime Minister Despretis were very confidential, how could it be hidden from Carlo's eyes? As a royal family, the Savoy family was extremely well-informed in Rome.

As expected, the two of them were shocked and answered in unison. "We don't know."

"Your Majesty, can you tell me what's going on?"

"Can."

Carlo told the two of them about Prime Minister Despretis's attempt to divest Italy of its industries in Tunisia, and their expressions became more and more serious as they listened to his words.

The two of them are not fools. If the government has negotiated with the French, then Garibaldi's formation of the Red Shirt Army will be very embarrassing, because this kind of action without government support is bound to fail.

Although Garibaldi doesn't care about failure, no one will be happy to see the government stab itself in the back.

And Garibaldi, who was used to being stabbed, was also unwilling to see such a result.

Moreover, this is not the time of the Unification War, so he can give money and money to others as he wishes. Now facing France, Garibaldi has a complicated heart. But no matter how complicated it is, as an Italian, he must be on Italy's side.

"Your Majesty, thank you for informing us. This will give us time to prepare."

The personal thank you from the national hero did not satisfy Carlo, so he only asked one more question. "Sir, may I ask what you are going to do?"

Facing Carlo's inquiry, Garibaldi looked at each other and said after his old friend. "What else can we do, we can only dismiss them and let them go home."

Garibaldi's words made Carlo happy. Wasn't he coming to Palermo just to show up at this time?

"Both of you, it would be too wasteful to let the Red Shirt Army be disbanded like this. Think about it, these young people who are full of love for Italy in their hearts, after many hardships, were told that they were going to be disbanded. This will hit them, and it will also hit them hard. To all those who are proud of being redshirted, I think this is not good at all.”

Facing Carlo's impassioned speech, the two old men who had gone through many hardships did not know that the young majesty in front of them had other ideas. Although I don’t know what His Majesty has in mind, he seems to be pretty good after several contacts, so Cosentz didn’t wait for his old friend to speak before speaking to give him a chance.

"Your Majesty, what do you think should be done?"

Now that Cosentz has given himself a chance, Carlo of course needs to seize it.

"I also know the current difficulties of the Red Shirts. The main reason is that the government is no longer willing to provide human and material support. And as the government reaches an agreement with France, although the public still maintains a high voice of opposition, the government will no longer provide support. Support. This is very detrimental to the Red Shirt Army, and I don’t want to see it. I think it is important to ensure that the Red Shirt Army is a team with historical heritage, which is also important to the kingdom, so I hope that the Red Shirt Army can be retained Come down."

Hearing this, Cosentz couldn't help but speak.

"But Your Majesty, don't you consider the military's attitude?"

Why the Red Shirt Army was disbanded several times was because of the military's hostility to this team that was not under its control, and of course because of Garibaldi's strong republican ideas.

When Cosentz pointed this out directly, he also wanted to see how Carlo would resolve the military's opposition to this situation.

"Don't worry, I have given full consideration to the military's attitude. I think integrating the red shirts into the Guards system will reduce the military's opposition."

The Guards Carlo mentioned is led by both the military and the royal family. Of course, the Italian Guards are not as large as Russia. Currently there are only two regiments with less than 7,000 troops. They are stationed in Rome and are mainly responsible for defending royal family.

When Carlo said this, he couldn't help but ask. "Can I ask how many redshirts there are now?"

“There are currently 1,836 redshirts.”

"Very good," Carlo said very satisfied with this number. If there were too many red shirts, it would be difficult for him to arrange them. "I think the formation of the Third Guards Regiment will not disgrace the reputation of the Red Shirt Army."

Faced with Carlo's conditions, Cosenz and Garibaldi looked at each other before the national hero spoke. "Thank you for your Majesty's interest in the Red Shirt Army, but this matter is of great importance and we need to consider it."

Facing Garibaldi's answer, Carlo nodded in agreement. He had no intention of being agreed to on the spot, but he still couldn't help but ask. "There is no problem with this, but can I ask how long it will take to consider?"

"How many days will your Majesty stay in Palermo?"

"I'll stay three more days."

"Then we will give His Majesty an accurate answer in three days."

After getting satisfactory results, Carlo chatted with the two for a while and then left. In order to avoid attracting attention, Garibaldi and Cosenz did not see Carlo off. After Carlo's carriage left, the two of them looked away.

"What do you think of His Majesty Carlo's suggestion?"

Cosentz was the first to ask out of breath.

"I have no idea."

The gray-haired old man faced his friend's question and answered helplessly. The confusion in his eyes was visible to everyone.

Although he had been mentally prepared for this outcome, he found that he was still unable to bear it when it actually arrived. Why is it so difficult if you want to serve your country?

But when it comes to the future of the boys, he doesn't plan to make a direct decision.

"It doesn't matter what I think. Let's ask the boys for their opinions. They follow me with full expectations and trust me. I can't selfishly make decisions for them."

It seems that the government's decision this time has broken the heart of the national hero again, but Cosentz has no good solution for this.

Although his old friend has extremely high prestige among the people, the government and military's fear of him has not been reduced at all. It may take until his old friend dies to stop guarding him like a thief.

Garibaldi was also a resolute person. Once he made a decision, he had to carry it out. In the evening of that day, he summoned all the red shirts, informed them of the situation, and then let them decide for themselves.

Carlo was very satisfied with the result. 1,513 of the 1,836 people chose to join the Guards. Carlo was not made to wait any longer. The next day, Garibaldi sent someone to inform Carlo of the result, which made him unable to resist. He picked up the little maid next to him and vented his joy.

Even though the little maid's white and tender hands were beating Carlo's chest, she didn't make him want to put it down.

Whether it was Carlo's involuntary or intentional behavior, he didn't know, but he just felt that it felt good.

Carlo stayed for another day. After leaving the captain of the guard to solve the remaining problems, he returned to Rome. He still had plans to make.