Since the South Morocco Colony was being established, the selection of the Governor for the South Morocco Colony naturally needed to be considered. Carlo still held his previous view that the current Governor of the South Morocco Colony was not of great use to him, and he also did not have a suitable candidate for the position.
It would be better to exchange benefits with Prime Minister Prim and consider future interests.
Yes, the purpose of Carlo's exchange of benefits with Prime Minister Prim was to plan for future power. Trading the position of Governor of the South Morocco Colony for a Cabinet Minister seat would not be a loss for either Carlo or Prime Minister Prim.
Because Carlo had already expressed his support for Prime Minister Prim's reforms, this Cabinet Minister seat would not only not affect Prime Minister Prim's reforms, but would also become an aid to Prime Minister Prim's reforms.
And the position of Governor of the South Morocco Colony could also increase Prime Minister Prim's influence to suppress those forces opposing the reforms. Carlo would not lose either. The colonial Governor ultimately needed to be appointed by Carlo, and the Governor of the South Morocco Colony would not resist Carlo's rule.
The exchanged Cabinet Minister seat would also allow Carlo to cultivate his trusted aides in the Government, preparing for the power transfer after Prime Minister Prim's future retirement.
Currently, the majority in the Government supports the monarchy, but this does not mean the future Government will remain this way. Carlo would not leave his fate to be controlled by others; only by holding enough say in the Government could he ensure that any accidents would not shake his power.
Hearing that Carlo wanted to exchange the position of Governor of the South Morocco Colony for a Cabinet Minister seat, Prime Minister Prim first frowned and pondered for a moment, then decided to agree.
"Your Majesty, your proposal is certainly acceptable. However, the Ministers of Finance and Industry cannot be easily moved; for other positions, I can think of a way," Prime Minister Prim said.
Although he agreed to exchange the colonial Governor position for a Cabinet Minister seat, this did not mean that Carlo could choose any department in the Cabinet. The most important were the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Industry. The Ministry of Finance controlled the country's funds, which Prime Minister Prim had to keep in his hands. The Ministry of Finance is very important to a country's Government department; the Spanish Minister of Finance is currently Prime Minister Prim's trusted aide.
In a country like England, the Prime Minister usually also serves as the Minister of Finance, which also proves the importance of the Ministry of Finance to the Government and the country. After all, the Ministry of Finance manages a country's money, and the scale of this fund is vast enough to exceed the imagination of ordinary people.
Prime Minister Prim's reforms required large amounts of funds everywhere, and he certainly did not want to give up supervision of the Ministry of Finance. The Industrial Minister, as one of Prime Minister Prim's plans for Spain's reform, was also quite important.
The position of Industrial Minister was basically a position everyone vied for, because Spain's Industry was destined to have significant growth in the future, and the Industrial Minister would basically gain credit effortlessly.
Aside from the Ministry of Finance and the Industrial Minister, although other departments were also important, exchanging them for a colonial Governor position was not out of the question.
Both Prime Minister Prim and Marshal Serrano had served as colonial Governors, which was not only a brilliant resume but also a way to train one's abilities.
Carlo nodded, not surprised by Prime Minister Prim's request. If Prime Minister Prim had allowed Carlo to choose any position in the Cabinet, there would have been a problem, as some Government departments in a country are always more important, and some are relatively less important.
Although neither Carlo nor Prime Minister Prim mentioned Marshal Serrano's Ministry of Defense, neither of them had any objection to the choice of Minister of Defense. Marshal Serrano's position as Minister of Defense was quite stable; even Prime Minister Prim, who had enough prestige in the military, would not easily remove Marshal Serrano from his position.
There was even less need to mention Carlo. Marshal Serrano himself was very close to the royal power represented by Carlo, so how could Carlo damage his relationship with Marshal Serrano? If it weren't for Marshal Serrano being older than Prime Minister Prim, Carlo might have even considered having Marshal Serrano lead a transitional Government after Prime Minister Prim's retirement, and then cultivate his own trusted aide to lead the Government after Marshal Serrano.
Carlo's choice was the Minister of Agriculture. As an agricultural country, the position of Minister of Agriculture in Spain was quite important. Furthermore, Spain had previously reduced taxes for farmers, and agriculture was destined to enter a golden period of development in the future.
The position of Minister of Agriculture was also destined to gain considerable credit in the future. Combined with the propaganda ability of Carlo's media empire, it was certainly possible to cultivate a representative figure with influence and support in both the political arena and among the people.
Hearing that Carlo had chosen the position of Minister of Agriculture, Prime Minister Prim nodded, without any objection. Their agreement was quickly reached. After Prime Minister Prim selected a suitable candidate for colonial Governor, he would submit it to Carlo for confirmation.
After Carlo's confirmation, the colonial Governor would be appointed, and the vacant position of Industrial Minister would also be nominated by Carlo. This was a relatively normal political exchange of interests, where both sides got what they needed, and the result was satisfactory to both Prim and Carlo.
After reporting on the specific work, Prime Minister Prim returned to the Government to preside over his affairs, while Carlo carefully selected a candidate for the new Minister of Agriculture.
Speaking of the candidate for Minister of Agriculture, Carlo actually had relevant candidates in mind. However, Carlo was not entirely sure if he could trust him, as this seat as Minister of Agriculture was not just one of the Cabinet Ministers, but also the beginning of Carlo's influence on the Government.
The candidate who made Carlo hesitant was named Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, one of the main representatives of the Spanish monarchists. As a conservative, Antonio expressed firm support for the monarchy and logically should have been an absolute supporter of Carlo. But the problem lay here. Antonio Cánovas del Castillo supported the monarchy and was Spanish, but he was an old official who had served as a Cabinet Minister during Queen Isabella II's reign and had been loyal to the Queen. Carlo even had some doubts about whether Antonio's loyalty was to the King, or to the Bourbon Family and Queen Isabella.
Facing this staunch monarchist from the Conservative Party, Carlo doubted his loyalty to himself, which was why Carlo was hesitant. However, in terms of political prestige and influence, Antonio was indeed a more suitable candidate. During Queen Isabella's reign, he had successively served as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Overseas Territories.
If Queen Isabella II's rule had not been overthrown, he even had hopes of becoming Prime Minister. Another point was that Antonio was born in 1828. He was 18 years younger than Marshal Serrano and 14 years younger than Prime Minister Prim, which was the golden age of his political career.
Carlo considered this when selecting him as a candidate; his age qualified him to wait for Prime Minister Prim's retirement and seek a significant political advancement after Prime Minister Prim's retirement.
Should he choose such a monarchist who seemed to only support the monarchy, but not himself? Carlo was a little hesitant.
After much thought, Carlo finally decided to meet with this old official from Queen Isabella's era to see if he could be used by him. If he could not be loyal to himself and be used by him, then it would be best to find someone else.
After all, Carlo was cultivating a transitional Government Prime Minister after Prime Minister Prim, not an ordinary Cabinet Minister. If he could not be trusted, the best way was to find someone he trusted.
Do not use someone you doubt, and do not doubt someone you use. If there is doubt from the beginning, the final result is bound to be bad.
In the resplendent banquet hall of the Madrid Royal Palace, Carlo met with Antonio and had a brief conversation. Carlo specifically chose Queen Isabella's favorite reception room as the location for meeting Antonio. This place was not only filled with antique paintings and calligraphy from Europe and around the world, but also featured various luxury goods, murals, and decorative items. The value of this reception room alone was as high as hundreds of thousands of pesetas, and those who were received in this reception room could generally only be the King's trusted aides.
Returning to this vast and luxurious reception room after several years, Antonio's mood was somewhat complex. The monarch before him had changed from Queen Isabella to the younger Carlo, and the Spanish Government had long since changed from an autocratic kingdom Government to a reformed constitutional Government.
"Your Majesty!" Antonio respectfully bowed to Carlo in a Spanish aristocratic manner, lowering his posture significantly.
"Mr. Antonio, it's a pleasure to meet you," Carlo smiled and nodded, gesturing for Antonio to sit on the chair next to him.
"I am also honored to meet you, Your Majesty," Antonio said humbly and respectfully, carefully sitting on the stool next to him, his demeanor not lacking in courtesy.
"You served as Minister of the Interior six years ago and Minister of Overseas Territories four years ago, is that right?" Carlo asked with a smile.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Antonio nodded, not yet understanding Carlo's intention.
"The position of Minister of Agriculture is about to become vacant. I plan to recommend you to Prime Minister Prim to serve as Minister of Agriculture. Do you have any thoughts?" Carlo continued.
"It is my honor, Your Majesty," Antonio immediately stood up, his eyes filled with gratitude towards Carlo.
"Please sit," Carlo again gestured for Cánovas to sit, and then said with a meaningful tone: "However, Mr. Cánovas, before recommending you as Minister of Agriculture, I would like to ask you a few questions."
"Your Majesty, please ask." Although Antonio did not know what Carlo was going to ask, he knew that what he needed to do now was listen quietly to the questions and then answer honestly.
"You served as a Cabinet Minister during Queen Isabella's time and expressed support for the Bourbon Dynasty during the interim Government. Mr. Cánovas, I would like to ask you, is your loyalty to the King, or to the Bourbon Family?" Carlo had a warm smile on his face, but his words made Cánovas break out in a cold sweat.
"I am certainly loyal to the King, Your Majesty!" Antonio quickly stood up and immediately explained: "You are the King of Spain, and the object of my loyalty will always be only one, which is you, King. The Bourbon Dynasty is in the past; the Spanish have chosen a more suitable King, and as a part of the Spanish, I will naturally also support the decision of the Spanish. Your Majesty, Cánovas is your subject, and will always only express loyalty to you."
Cánovas was not foolish; he certainly knew why Carlo was asking this. If his answer was incorrect, let alone the Minister of Agriculture Carlo had mentioned before, it was likely that Antonio's political career would not be smooth in the future. After all, Prim would not offend Carlo for Cánovas. Although Carlo's power was not great, he could still completely suppress an official. The political arena is not that pure now. In fact, if Carlo were the kind of King who held grudges, Cánovas might not even see the sun the next day after giving a wrong answer. Although he had indeed supported the Bourbon Dynasty in the past, with both Queen Isabella and the Carlist faction having been driven out, he naturally would not be blindly loyal to the Bourbon Dynasty.
"Of course, I believe you, Mr. Cánovas," Carlo smiled and nodded, seemingly having believed Antonio's statement:
"I was just asking. Of course, I believe in your loyalty. Mr. Antonio, I recommend you to Prime Minister Prim. You monarchists are my loyal subjects, and I will certainly not forget your contributions to the Kingdom."
Antonio nodded repeatedly and said very respectfully: "It is my honor to serve you, Your Majesty. Regardless of who Spain belonged to in the past, the Spanish people are always your loyal subjects now."
Carlo's goal, in addition to winning over Antonio, the representative of the monarchists, was also to use him to win over more monarchists to be loyal to himself. Because the Bourbon Dynasty had ruled Spain for over a hundred years, most of the monarchists still had a good impression of the Bourbon Dynasty. What Carlo had to do was make them understand that the Savoy Family was still the current master of Spain. If these monarchists could not be used by him, then the best way was to abolish them and cultivate a faction of monarchists loyal to the Savoy Family.
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I've fulfilled my promise and delivered 5 chapters this week. Here's hoping for the same success next week!