Chapter 713 - 330: Spring Outing (Part 2)

This also gave Carlo an advantage when taking over these palaces. According to Steward Loren’s statistics, the collections and various jewelry left by the Bourbon Dynasty in these palaces are worth at least over 50 million pessetas.

Among these, the weight of gold products and ornaments alone exceeds 10 tons. Just converting this gold into wealth is enough to make one the richest man in Spain at the time.

From this, we can see how exaggerated the exploitation of the former Bourbon Royal Family in Spain was. The money made during Spain’s colonial era almost all went into the pockets of the royal family, the nobility, and the Church, causing the Bourbon Royal Family to become exceedingly wealthy.

The Madrid Royal Palace became one of the three great palaces in Europe precisely because of the expenses the Spanish Royal Family invested in the renovation and remodeling of the palace. If this money had been invested in national development and industrial proliferation, Spain might have achieved something during the First Industrial Revolution.

When Carlo had little money at the time, he appropriated some assets to cash in, which facilitated the rapid development of the royal family’s enterprises.

Once Carlo gradually started to accumulate wealth, he seldom touched the treasures stored in these palaces.

The collections of the Aranjuez Palace still remain in various treasure rooms, including many exquisite porcelains, paintings and calligraphy from around the world, and other antiques.

Because the distance between Madrid and Aranjuez is only about 50 kilometers, even if the convoy moved very slowly, it still arrived at the Aranjuez Palace a few hours after departure.

Of course, Carlo and young Prince Juan Fernando did not choose to ride horses all the way. Although the royal family’s horses are carefully selected, such slow and long riding is still quite exhausting.

In fact, Carlo and young Prince Juan Fernando only experienced less than an hour of riding before returning to the spacious and comfortable carriage.

This carriage was the exclusive carriage of the Spanish Royal Family, generally used only when the King or Queen was traveling.

Because it is exclusively for the royal family, this carriage has been meticulously and luxuriously modified. Almost everything in the carriage is a luxury item, and a carpet covering the entire carriage might be worth decades of income for a Spanish family.

Due to the spaciousness of the carriage, even accommodating Carlo, Queen Sophie, and five little ones, it still does not feel crowded.

A large sofa is placed on both the north and south sides of the carriage, and the original spot for a table in the middle has been vacated, with a custom-made crib placed there instead.

Lying in the crib, needless to say, is Carlo’s youngest daughter, the not yet year-old Princess Christina.

Prince Alexander, who is a year and a half older than Princess Christina, is already two years old. He does not need a crib and is currently nestled in the arms of his mother, Queen Sophie, obediently admiring the scenery outside the carriage.

Carlo sits opposite Queen Sophie, with his eldest son, Prince Juan Fernando, and his eldest daughter, Sofia, sitting on either side of him.

This time Carlo specially brought along his eldest son to allow him to take a break from his busy studies, so he wouldn’t always be under stress.

However, midway through the journey, Carlo also briefly inquired about Prince Juan Fernando’s studies.

Currently, only his studies are relatively busy; Carlo’s second son, Martin, has just turned 6 years old, and not being the heir is one of the reasons his studies aren’t as complex as those of his brother, Prince Juan Fernando.

Of course, Carlo treats the education of his children equally. The education Martin and Alexander receive is also specially tailored by Carlo, aimed at making them traditional nobles while also considering and accommodating the developments of the era.

Carlo does not want his sons to be merely pleasure-seeking nobles. Carlo hopes that they can become the right-hand men of Prince Juan Fernando, jointly contributing to the development of Spain and the Savoy Royal Family.

Moreover, it is not impossible that the two little ones might gain their own fiefdoms in the future.

The future European situation will undergo changes, with more European countries becoming independent from the control of the great powers. In a primarily monarchical system, these European countries are likely to become monarchies.

At that time, securing two thrones for his sons will be relatively easy, and whether they want to be kings will depend on their choices then.

Of course, the prerequisite for securing thrones for them is Carlo’s confidence that they can be qualified kings.

If their abilities are insufficient to keep local officials and other forces in check, it would be better for them to obediently be good Spanish nobles.

Although a king symbolizes supreme power, that crown also represents duties as heavy as a mountain.

If a king can properly fulfill his duties, he can, of course, enjoy his power assuredly. But if a king cannot even fulfill his duties, how can the people be willing to let the king wantonly enjoy the power?

After testing Prince Juan Fernando’s studies, Carlo picked up a book and started reading it with great interest.

The cover clearly reads "Spanish History," and the entire book is brand new, seemingly not long after publication.

Speaking of which, the publication of this Spanish history is greatly related to Carlo. It was mentioned before that Carlo wanted to weaken the Bourbon Dynasty’s contributions to Spain while highlighting their harm.

Press propaganda is one strategy; subtly altering Spaniards’ perception of history in various ways is another.

However, this cannot be considered altering history by Carlo. The book is relatively objective, describing Spanish history from its unification to the present.

However, when introducing several kings of the Bourbon Royal Family, the book glosses over the deeds of earlier kings, focusing on the stories of Carlos IV and his son and granddaughter.

The last three monarchs of the Bourbon Dynasty—Carlos IV, Ferdinand VII, and Isabella II—their stories are like ridiculous legends, each more absurd than the last.

A third of the entire Spanish history book details their achievements, elaborating on how the once-great Spanish Empire declined more severely under their hands, leading Spain to become one of the countries with the lowest per capita income at the time.

Anyhow, the Bourbon family has completely left Spain, and some of the blame belonging to the monarchy is entirely placed on their shoulders.

For Carlo, he must clarify one fact: there is nothing wrong with the monarchy; the problem was with the Bourbon Royal Family at the time.

Indeed, newspaper propaganda combined with detailed historical narrative has deepened the Spaniards’ hatred for the Bourbon Royal Family.

Indeed, no one would have a good impression of a fatuous royal family. Moreover, besides the king being fatuous, the Bourbon Royal Family also led to the outbreak of the decades-long Carl’s War, which is one of the reasons Spain went into more severe decline.

While Carlo was engrossed in the book, the convoy was slowly approaching the Aranjuez Palace. The leading cavalry team approached the carriage and respectfully reported to Carlo: "Your Majesty, we have arrived at the Aranjuez Palace."

Hearing this, Carlo put down the book and said to his eagerly waiting children: "Alright, little ones, the Aranjuez Palace is waiting for you.

Let’s go and enjoy a wonderful holiday. I don’t mind letting you be accompanied by flowers tonight."

The carriage stopped at the square in front of the Aranjuez Palace, taking the entire palace into view. As it is only a residence, the overall architecture of the palace is not high, with the highest point being only about 4 stories.

But it cannot be denied that, after multiple renovations and expansions by the Spanish Kings over several hundred years, the palace before us has indeed attained a certain scale.

The Aranjuez Palace is located in Aranjuez Town, which is also where the name of this residence comes from. Previous Spanish Kings purposely chose to build the residence a few kilometers away from the town for tranquility.

This has made the entire Aranjuez Palace almost undisturbed, a peaceful and contented abode. Blue sky, white clouds, beautiful scenery—this is practically the truest depiction of the Aranjuez Palace.