Chapter 37: Expansion of the Palace Guard

Primo is a man of his words.

He had just mentioned the abolition of the tithe to Carlo the day before, and the next day he asked members of the same party to submit a proposal to abolish the tithe in the House of Representatives.

The current House of Representatives is more like a single-handed discussion by Primo than a general discussion. Primo, who holds the majority of seats in the House of Representatives, easily passed the proposal, and the tithe that has troubled Spanish farmers for hundreds of years was abolished so easily.

Before the farmers could react, the Spanish Parliament was completely confused.

The chief archbishop of the Spanish Parliament, Archbishop Pedro of Toledo, had a head full of question marks at this time, looking at the newspaper in his hand in disbelief.

The newspaper clearly stated that according to the vote of the House of Representatives today, the tithe will be abolished throughout Spain, and it will be implemented immediately!

"Damn it, the government has no right to cancel our tithe. This is the right given to us by God!" Archbishop Pedro felt very painful when he thought that the abolition of the tithe would reduce his income a lot every year. He stared at the newspaper angrily and said with gritted teeth.

"Bishop, what should we do?" Archbishop Pedro's subordinates came up and asked.

"How? What else can we do?" Archbishop Pedro glanced at his subordinates unhappily and said with a little dissatisfaction: "Do we have an army in our hands? Can we resist Carlo and Primo's rule over Spain?

What we have to do now is to wait and see, and think about our plans after the Carlists and Primo decide the winner."

Although Archbishop Pedro felt sorry for the cancelled taxes, it did not mean that he would lose his mind for the money.

The tithes basically exploited the Spanish farmers, who currently support the government of Carlo and Primo wholeheartedly.

Originally, these farmers were dissatisfied with the church's long-term collection of tithes. If the church jumped out to oppose it, wouldn't it be Primo's trick?

Without the tithes, the church can still guarantee its income through other means. But if it goes against the Spanish government for the tithes, wouldn't it be the church that will be liquidated after the victory of the future war?

As the chief archbishop of Spain, Archbishop Pedro's words are still very influential.

It is precisely because of this that the Spanish church did not take any action after the government announced the abolition of the tithe, as if it had nothing to do with itself.

Carlo and Primo were a little surprised when they heard the news. Originally, Primo had been prepared to deal with the church. Who would have thought that these greedy bishops would be willing to give up the bulk of their income?

The most excited people in the whole of Spain are, of course, the farmers who lose at least one-tenth of their income every year because of the tithe.

The abolition of the tithe is beneficial to the whole of Spain, except for the church that directly collects the tithe.

Without this harsh and heavy tax, the income of Spanish farmers will usher in a significant increase, and the government's tax revenue will also increase accordingly.

The farmers have a little spare money in their hands, which will naturally stimulate Spain's economic growth. This is also good for the future development of Spanish industry. After all, only when the people have money in their hands will they buy industrial products.

After the abolition of the tithe, the Spaniards' satisfaction with the government and Carlo has also increased significantly.

Especially after the assassination, the Spaniards really began to recognize Carlo and believe in Carlo's grand dream of making Spain great.

If Carlo was more of an outsider monarch in the hearts of the Spaniards, then Carlo has become a real insider in the hearts of the Spaniards now.

Since everyone is inside, it is clear who is the outsider.

Yes, I'm talking about you, the guy who blocked the government from reforming and affected the income of farmers and workers, the fake King Carlos VII!

Although the lower-class people are easily influenced by public opinion, it does not mean that the lower-class people cannot distinguish between the good and the bad.

During Carlo's reign, the Spanish government was carrying out reforms and reducing taxes, and the lives of farmers were getting better and better.

Although the Carlos faction kept saying that the reform would affect the profits of the factory, causing the factory to go bankrupt and the workers to lose their jobs.

But isn't the reform in Madrid going well at present? Not only did we not see several factories go bankrupt, but the workers also received their full salary for the first time.

Although the Spanish do not know the situation in Catalonia, considering that the King Carlos VII supported by the Carlists also comes from the Bourbon family.

Needless to say, the reputation of the Bourbon family is a demonic family that everyone in Spain is afraid of.

And what kind of people are the supporters of the Carlists? Catalans? Basques?

Look at the orthodox Spaniards living around Madrid. Isn't it clear who is the scourge of Spain?

For the Spaniards who make up the majority of the Spanish population, will they still support those minorities who split the country?

It is precisely because of this that the situation in the chaotic Spain has long been clear. Carlo and Primo also hope that more forces will stand up to support the Carlists so that they can solve it once and for all in the end.

The most regrettable thing at present is that the church has not stood up against the government. Otherwise, the large amount of land owned by the church, whether rented to farmers at low prices or rewarded to soldiers by granting land for military merit, can once again improve the government's reputation.

After waiting for a few days again and confirming that the church really did not intend to support the Carlists, Primo organized the army to go north to quell the rebellion with some regret.

However, in order to protect the safety of Carlo and Madrid, Primo still left an army of less than 10,000 people, which was more than enough to defend Madrid.

Moreover, the people around Madrid are currently very supportive of the government. It is no exaggeration to say that if the Carlists really hit the vicinity of Madrid, Carlo can organize tens of thousands of militia to join the battle with just a call.

Moreover, Madrid is located in the center of the Spanish settlement. It is no less difficult for the Carlists to reach Madrid before the main Spanish army can react than to directly defeat the Spanish army on the front.

While Primo went north to quell the rebellion, Carlo was not idle in Madrid.

After clearing the factory owners around Madrid, Carlo actually had several million more pesetas in his hands.

It turns out that these factory owners are not unable to pay the workers' salaries. The funds in their hands are completely enough to pay all workers in full wages, but they are not willing to do so.

This also makes it cheap for Carlo. With this unexpected wealth, Carlo can also expand his palace guards and form a real royal guard.

However, considering the financial situation and the combat effectiveness of the guards after they are formed, Carlo only plans to expand the original 500-man palace guards into a guard regiment of about 2,500 people.

The guard regiment consists of two guards infantry battalions and one guards cavalry battalion, each infantry battalion has about 1,000 soldiers, and the cavalry battalion has about 500 soldiers.

Although there is no separate artillery battalion, Carlo plans to equip each guards infantry battalion with 2 to 3 cannons to increase the firepower of the entire guard regiment.

After the expansion, the guard regiment will take on the task of protecting the palace and Carlo, and will serve as Carlo's direct troops under his full command.

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