The first task Carlo assigned Laurent was to acquire a legitimate newspaper.
Whether it was buying an existing newspaper or starting one from scratch, Carlo only needed a result.
To show Carlo his skills, Laurent approached this task with great seriousness.
In just two days, he investigated the existing newspaper organizations in Italy, filtering out those with potential and the possibility of being acquired.
Il Sole 24 Ore (The 24-Hour Sun) - this was the list of newspapers Laurent ultimately presented.
This was a newspaper founded last year, currently only known to some extent in Milan's business circles.
However, this newspaper persisted into later generations and even became one of Italy's top ten media outlets.
Achieving such success indicates the unquestionable potential of this newspaper.
It also means that Laurent, who selected this newspaper, definitely possesses a unique and excellent vision.
After identifying the acquisition target, Carlo tasked Laurent with properly acquiring the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
This also showed the benefit of having subordinates to delegate tasks; at least Carlo, despite being a prince, didn't have to personally handle everything.
The acquisition process went relatively smoothly.
At this time, Il Sole 24 Ore was, after all, just a small newspaper, and its founder couldn't resist the temptation of Carlo's increased offer.
From proposing to acquire the newspaper to obtaining all shares of Il Sole 24 Ore, it took Carlo less than four days.
Unfortunately, precisely because Il Sole 24 Ore was still a small newspaper at the time, the number of copies sold daily was only around 1,500, an amount that made it difficult even to sustain the newspaper itself.
However, Carlo's goal was not for the newspaper to be profitable immediately. The purpose of a newspaper wasn't to make a small profit; Carlo's goal was to flood the streets of Italy with cheaper and more popular newspapers to increase his control over public opinion in Italy.
Whether he remained in Italy or sought the opportunity to become King of Spain in the future, the experience gained in the newspaper industry would allow Carlo to lay the foundation for his media empire more smoothly.
Once public opinion was controlled, everything would become much easier. At least with the support of the populace, Carlo would hold the initiative.
That being said, compared to other small and medium-sized private newspapers, the Il Sole 24 Ore controlled by Carlo still had significant advantages.
At least by being the Prince of Italy, Carlo could publish content that would be difficult for others to get approved, such as current political news that the public cared about.
This wasn't the era of later generations when newspapers had virtually no market. With good news and content, it was quite simple for a newspaper to expand its circulation and achieve profitability.
As Carlo's only subordinate at the moment, Laurent naturally took charge of Il Sole 24 Ore in Italy and was solely responsible for its expansion.
Carlo set out several plans for Laurent.
Firstly, within the next two years, Il Sole 24 Ore's daily circulation should increase from 1,500 copies to at least 7,500 copies.
Considering that Il Sole 24 Ore was located in Milan, a prosperous city in northern Italy, and could also reach nearby Turin and Genoa, this sales target was not high.
The second requirement was that Il Sole 24 Ore must become one of the well-known media outlets in northern Italy and have a certain degree of credibility among the populace.
If the content published in the newspaper couldn't be trusted by the public, then the existence of the newspaper would be unnecessary.
After all, the primary goal of manipulating public opinion is to make the public believe the opinion, and this was one of Carlo's expectations for Laurent.
Also, within two years, Il Sole 24 Ore should achieve profitability and acquire as many other newspapers as possible.
Although Carlo's original intention wasn't to make money through newspapers, since the newspaper industry could inherently be self-sustaining, Carlo would use the funds for more important matters.
As for founding or acquiring more newspapers, it was natural to strengthen Carlo's influence over public opinion.
In Carlo's plan, Il Sole 24 Ore would focus on reporting political news and major international events in the future, while some smaller newspapers could fill the gap for entertainment news and various gossip.
After all, if a highly credible newspaper were to report on sensational news and gossip, it would damage the newspaper's credibility.
While Laurent diligently carried out Carlo's tasks, Carlo, on his end, was contemplating the existing map of the Kingdom of Italy.
Although the fragmented Apennine Peninsula had been largely unified into a complete Kingdom of Italy, there were still two areas that had not returned to Italy's embrace.
The region of Venice in the north was still under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while Rome, the most important city in Italy, remained a part of the Papal States.
Although the Papal States seemed like the soft target, unfortunately, France stood behind the Papal States.
France at this time was not the country ridiculed as a surrendering nation in World War II, but the French Empire basking in the afterglow of Napoleon.
Because Germany had not yet unified, France at this time could be said to be the hegemon of Western Europe and the foremost land power in Europe.
With France's support, the Papal States were able to continue holding onto Rome, which forced Italy's capital to remain in Florence.
However, Carlo was not in a hurry about this.
Historically, the process by which the Kingdom of Sardinia unified Italy could be described as winning by default; they didn't experience any difficult battles.
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largest state in Southern Italy, was corrupt and easily destroyed by Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand.
The states in Central Italy were completely disproportionate in size to the Kingdom of Sardinia and had no ability to resist in the face of the tide of unification.
The two significant challenges were effectively addressed by relying on Prussia. During the Austro-Prussian War, Italy was able to reclaim the Venetian region by depending on Prussia to distract the Austrian Empire. In the Franco-Prussian War, Italy successfully took control of Rome by counting on the French to guard against Prussian troops.
Though these two tasks seemed quite difficult, they were accomplished with relative ease. While it was the Prussian army that played a crucial role in these victories, it was the Kingdom of Italy that ultimately reaped the benefits.
Carlo had some understanding of this period of Prussia's rise.
As luck would have it, this year was 1866, the year the Austro-Prussian War broke out.
If following the historical trajectory, the Austro-Prussian War should begin in six months, Prussia would accelerate the unification of Germany, and Italy would also recover the northern region of Venice.
Facing such a significant historical juncture, Carlo naturally couldn't let the opportunity slip away. Although he couldn't directly interfere in the Austro-Prussian War, as a participant from the Kingdom of Italy, it was fine for Carlo to change the course of history just a little.