My Italy

When Howard was prospering in the Far East, Carlo, as the man behind the scenes, was not very satisfied with his life.

Because he found that it was too difficult to push Italy to make small moves against France, and those experienced officials were simply unwilling to do so. Even among the young officials on his side, many are worried about this. He was deeply afraid of retaliation from France. The Army did not take a position for some unknown reason, which made Carlo extremely helpless.

Have all the blood of Italians been exhausted by the Roman Empire?

But there is good news, that is, among lower-level officials, there are many people who support taking measures against France. However, these people cannot affect the political trend at all. If the two sides are evenly matched, they can still play a role, but in the current situation, it is difficult for them to play a role.

"These people are really difficult to deal with."

Carlo, who had just talked with Speaker Leslie, sat down on the sofa and complained about the government's problems.

"Your Majesty, I think this matter cannot be rushed and requires patience."

Baron Felicius, who had just seen off the Speaker, saw the somewhat depressed king and immediately stepped forward to comfort him.

Facing the persuasion of the captain of the guard, Carlo raised his head and explained. "Patience is not suitable for the current situation. This is a decisive battle for me. I can't lose, you understand."

It is obvious that Carlo is a little impatient now, but it is not his fault. Although he is only in his teens on the outside, he is a thirty-year-old soul on the inside. He has tasted the taste of power and of course he is not willing to lose it like this. In addition, for Carlo, who is familiar with history, the power in Italy should be controlled by himself. After all, such a strange thing happened to him during time travel, so he has a certain degree of arrogance. Even if I am inexperienced and my methods are not as good as those old foxes, I know the direction of history. Can they know this?

"No matter what this time, I will push Italy to participate in the Far East."

Seeing Carlo gritting his teeth to express his attitude, Felici Mickey gave suggestions at this time. "Your Majesty, maybe you can ask His Excellency Alejard about this matter."

Ask the palace steward?

Carlo looked at his captain of the guard in confusion.

"Your Majesty, His Excellency Alejandr has served the royal family for more than forty years and is also acquainted with Prime Minister Cavour."

The captain of the guard stopped talking at this point, but Carlo understood.

It seems that this old man, who is usually quiet, has so much experience before.

Since the captain of the guard made it clear, Carlo would certainly listen.

Carlo appeared in front of him in the afternoon when the palace steward was resting.

"I didn't expect your residence to be so frugal."

Carlo was amazed by the palace steward's residence in the palace. A wicker chair, a small table, a standing wardrobe, and a single bed are the configuration of the palace steward's residence.

Regarding Carlo's visit, Alejard stood up and showed slight respect before telling the reason. "It's nothing. It's just a habit I've had for many years. I don't want to change it when I get older."

Looking at the frail old man in front of him, Carlo didn't know what to say, so he had to talk about the information he had learned. "I only found out about the manager's past experience after hearing other people talk about it. It was really surprising."

"Your Majesty, the captain of the guard must have told you this."

Faced with Carlo's words, Alejard did not deny it, but directly told the source of his information.

"That's right. If the captain of the guard hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that the steward had such a great reputation."

Carlo also did not deny it.

"This Felicity Mickey is really causing trouble for me."

After the old man muttered something, he raised his head and looked at Carlo. "I don't know, Your Majesty, what do you want from me?"

Facing the old man's inquiry, Carlo immediately told all the problems he encountered.

"Hmm...that's it."

After listening to Carlo's story, Alejard raised his own questions. "Why is His Majesty so serious about intervening in France's plans in the Far East? There is a high chance of failure in doing so."

Facing the old man's question, Carlo answered seriously. "It's for the market."

"market?"

"Yes, Italy is currently facing a very unfavorable situation. Domestic industrial products are becoming more and more sluggish due to competition from Germany. If we don't find a solution, it will get worse and worse. By then, Italian industrialization is likely to regress. So find a market for it. It is urgent, and currently the only market that can accept and accommodate Italian industrial products is the Far East market. However, this market is greatly affected by its government, and we must gain its favor..."

"So your solution is to help France while it's fighting?"

What Alejard hadn't finished speaking was directly spoken by the old man.

"That's right."

Carlo didn't deny it at all.

Chief Alejand asked another question. "Then have you ever thought about France's reaction after discovering our behavior?"

"I have thought about it and I have a solution." When asked, Carlo was quite confident. "If France threatens war, then we will just show off the three-nation military alliance."

Faced with Carlo's answer, Alejard did not give a reply, but continued to ask. "What if they use tariffs and trade as a means?"

"If this is the case, then we do not have no means of counterattack, but I believe the French are not necessarily willing to accept such a lose-lose result. Of course, if the French are stubborn, then opening up other markets can also help us tide over the difficulties. The key is Italian industry. There must be a way out for products, otherwise industrialization will be impossible.”

Carlo certainly knows that Italy's current exports to France are mainly various agricultural products and wine, which can make Italian farmers a lot of profits, but for the sake of industrialization, there must be trade-offs. Of course this is the worst case scenario, and Carlo doesn't think this will happen.

Obviously Alejard also thought not, so he then said with satisfaction. "Now that His Majesty has gained confidence, I, an old man like me, will give my last effort on Your Majesty's behalf."

Carlo, who got a happy result from the old man, left after chatting for a few more words.

After Carlo left, Alejard picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, is this Balke?"

"it's me."

"Yes, I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee."

"Let's meet at the same place then. It's been a long time since I tasted Old Rooney's craftsmanship. I don't know if I've regressed."

After putting down the phone, Alejard changed into dark clothes and put on a hat and went out.

There is a coffee shop called Rooney's at the corner of Bonnier Street in Rome. This coffee shop has been around for some years. The neighbors who live here know this, and the old Rooney is a very good person, so everyone likes to drink coffee here. .

Today, an old carriage stopped in front of the coffee shop, and a gray-haired old man stepped out of the carriage.

Seeing the customer coming, Rooney, the shopkeeper, immediately came up to him, but looking at the visitor, the old shopkeeper was a little curious. "Who are you?"

"Rooney, you can't even recognize me?"

"You are Mr. Alejard. I really didn't recognize you. We haven't seen each other for almost twenty years. Are you okay?"

"Not bad, working as a housekeeper in a wealthy family."

The old shopkeeper wiped his hands and quickly gave guidance. "Quick, please come inside, please come inside."

"Give me a quiet place, I'll talk to someone later."

"no problem."

Alejard was led to a corner seat by the window. It was not only quiet, but also unobtrusive and could see the outside. It was indeed a good location.

"Rooney, how have you been these past few years?"

"Thanks to your Excellency, life is not bad. I even have grandchildren now."

"That's good, that's good."

Speaking of which, Rooney would also like to thank Alejard. At that time, his coffee shop was spotted by someone and he used various methods to force him to resell it. Fortunately, Alejard, who was a customer at the time, stood up and stopped all this, so Rooney Sr. I have always considered him a lifesaver.

Now that the benefactor whom he has not seen for more than 20 years has appeared, Old Rooney must use all his skills to satisfy him.

So after chatting for a while, Old Rooney resigned. He needed to go to the kitchen to prepare it himself.

Alejard didn't wait long before an old man with the same white hair appeared in front of him.

"Alejard, if you are not retiring in the palace, why do you have time to invite me to drink coffee?"

The old man started talking nonsense as soon as he sat down.

"Balk, if it weren't for your mouth, you would be sitting in the position of Minister of War."

Alejard didn't say anything, but he immediately raised his voice when he mentioned the old man. "You think I'm willing to say that they are all a bunch of incompetent guys. If I don't scold them, I have no idea what I'm doing."

This grumpy old man's full name is Boras Balck. He has a very high prestige in the army. If he hadn't been foul-mouthed, he would have been able to take over as Army Chief of General Staff or Army Minister. But unfortunately, this man loves to troll. Although everything he said was justified, he still offended a lot of people, so he couldn't take these two seats.

"Okay, let's not talk about your business anymore. I am looking for you this time to ask, isn't your Army a hawk? Why don't you support His Majesty's plan?"

As soon as Alejard mentioned it, Balk immediately patted his thigh and said. "I know this."

Balk then told Alejard the reason in detail. It turned out that the reason why the military did not express its position was mainly due to the issue of the top military officials. They were worried about Carlo accepting the red shirts, so they were not very willing to support this matter.

After hearing Balk's story, Alejand said somewhat dumbfounded. "Isn't Garibaldi dead? Are you still worried about the Red Shirts?"

Alejard knew very well that Garibaldi's feud with the army could fill a book. But with all the people gone, it's a bit incredible that the army is still in disgrace.

Facing Alejard's incredulous expression, Balk's expression did not change. "Of course we know that Garibaldi is dead, but some of the changes in the Kings have worried many people. They hope to limit the red shirts to a certain range."

After hearing Balk's words, Alejard's expression became serious. After taking a sip of coffee, he spoke. "So how broad are the restrictions?"

"It's best to limit it to the Third Guards Regiment."

After hearing the conditions proposed by Balke, Alejard stood up immediately, and then stared at Balke. "This cannot be accepted. The conditions are a bit too much. They should not interfere in the affairs of the Guards. You should know this."

Balk said with a wry smile as he suffered the unreasonable disaster. "I also know that this request is a bit excessive, but I am just a messenger."

"You should stand up and express your opinion."

Speaking of this, Alejard glanced at Balk meaningfully and said something. "You must know that you are the kingdom's army. Your Majesty will eventually grow up."

Balk, who was a little embarrassed when Alejard looked at him, had a dull expression and nodded. "I think it is enough to limit the scope to the Guards. Of course, the size of the Guards cannot exceed 10,000 people, otherwise many people will be uneasy."

"I will report this condition to His Majesty, but based on my understanding of His Majesty, he will seriously consider it."

After saying that, Alejard didn't even drink the coffee, immediately got on the carriage and left.

Rooney, who came out with two cups of carefully brewed coffee, looked at the empty table with a surprised expression.

That evening, Carlo agreed to the Army's request and limited the Red Shirts to the Guards only, and limited their size to less than 10,000.

After Carlo nodded in agreement, the Army also joined the camp that supported Carlo's proposal, immediately forming a pattern of military support and government opposition.

This forced Prime Minister Despretis to face up to this trend. You must know that the government is not monolithic, and some people agree with Carlo's proposal.

Please collect and recommend. I feel like I don’t have either of these, and I don’t have enough motivation to code.