Prim was a man of his word.
Just the day before, he had mentioned the abolition of the tithe to Carlo, and the very next day, his party submitted a proposal to abolish the tithe in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Chamber of Deputies at this time was less a chamber of public opinion and more a chamber of Prim's sole opinion. With the majority of seats in the assembly, Prim easily passed the proposal, and the tithe, which had plagued Spanish farmers for hundreds of years, was abolished with such ease.
Before the farmers could even react, the Spanish Parliament was completely dumbfounded.
The Chief Archbishop of the Spanish Parliament, Archbishop Pedro of Toledo, was filled with questions at this moment, looking at the newspaper in his hand with disbelief.
The newspaper clearly stated that based on the vote in the Chamber of Deputies today, the tithe across all of Spain was abolished, effective immediately!
"Damn it, the government has no right to abolish our tithe, this is a right granted to us by God!" Archbishop Pedro felt a pang of pain at the thought of losing a large amount of income each year due to the abolition of the tithe, glaring at the newspaper and saying through gritted teeth.
"Archbishop, what should we do then?" Archbishop Pedro's subordinate leaned in and asked.
"What to do? What else can we do?" Archbishop Pedro glanced at his subordinate irritably, saying with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Do we have an army in our hands? Can we resist Carlo and Prim's rule over Spain?
What we need to do now is wait and see, and only after the Carlists and Prim decide on the victor should we consider our plan."
Although Archbishop Pedro felt the sting of the abolished taxes, this did not mean he would lose his mind for the sake of that money.
The tithe primarily exploited Spanish farmers, and these farmers were currently staunch supporters of Carlo and the Prim's government.
These farmers were already dissatisfied with the church's long-standing collection of the tithe; if the church were to jump out and oppose it, wouldn't that just play into Prim's hands?
Without the tithe, the church could still secure its income through other means. But if it were to oppose the Spanish government for the sake of the tithe, and the war was won in the future, wouldn't the church be the one facing liquidation?
As the Chief Archbishop of Spain, Archbishop Pedro's words still carried considerable influence.
It was precisely for this reason that the Spanish Church made no move after the government announced the abolition of the tithe, acting as if it had nothing to do with them.
Upon hearing the news, both Carlo and Prim were somewhat surprised. Prim had originally prepared to deal with the church, but who could have imagined that these greedy bishops would be willing to give up the largest portion of their income?
The most excited people in all of Spain were, of course, the farmers who lost at least a tenth of their income each year due to the tithe.
Abolishing the tithe was beneficial to all of Spain, except for the church that directly collected it.
Without this harsh heavy tax, the income of Spanish farmers would see a significant increase, and government tax revenue would also rise accordingly.
With a little extra money in their hands, farmers would naturally stimulate Spain's economic growth. This would also be beneficial for the future development of the Spanish industry, as only when the populace had money would they purchase industrial products.
After the abolition of the tithe, the satisfaction of the Spanish people with the government and Carlo also increased significantly.
Especially after the assassination attempt, the Spanish people truly began to recognize Carlo and believed in the grand dream he spoke of, making Spain great.
If Carlo was previously seen by the Spanish people more as a foreign monarch, now he had become a true insider in their hearts.
Since everyone was an insider, it was clear who the outsider was.
Yes, I'm talking about you, the one who obstructs government reforms and affects the income of farmers and workers, the fake King Carlos VII!
Although the lower classes are easily influenced by public opinion, this does not mean that they cannot distinguish between good and bad.
During Carlo's reign, the Spanish government was undergoing reforms and tax reductions, and the lives of farmers were getting better and better.
Although the Carlists claimed that the reforms would affect factory profits, leading to factory bankruptcies and workers losing their jobs.
But wasn't the reform in Madrid progressing well currently? Not only were there a few factory bankruptcies, but the workers also received their full wages for the first time.
Although the Spanish people were unaware of the situation in Catalonia, considering that King Carlos VII, supported by the Carlists, also came from the Bourbon family.
The reputation of the Bourbon family goes without saying; they were the devil family that Spaniards spoke of with dread.
And what kind of people were the supporters of the Carlists? Catalans? Basques?
Looking at the legitimate Spaniards living around Madrid, wasn't it clear who was the scourge of Spain?
For the majority of the Spanish population, would they really support those minority groups who were splitting the country?
It was precisely for this reason that the situation in chaotic Spain was already clear, and Carlo and Prim were even eager for more forces to come out in support of the Carlists so that they could be dealt with all at once in the end.
The most regrettable thing at the moment was that the church did not come out against the government. Otherwise, the large amount of land owned by the church, whether leased to farmers at a low price or awarded to soldiers as military merit land, could further increase the government's prestige.
After waiting a few more days and confirming that the church truly did not intend to support the Carlists, Prim, with some regret, organized the army to march north to suppress the rebellion.
However, to protect the safety of Carlo and Madrid, Prim still left a force of less than 10,000 troops, which was more than enough to defend Madrid.
Furthermore, the populace around Madrid was currently exceptionally supportive of the government. It's no exaggeration to say that if the Carlists truly reached the vicinity of Madrid, Carlo could rally tens of thousands of militia to join the fight with a single call.
Moreover, Madrid is located in the center of the Spanish-speaking population. For the Carlists to reach Madrid before the main Spanish army could react would be as difficult as directly defeating the Spanish army in a frontal assault.
While Prim was marching north to suppress the rebellion, Carlo was not idle in Madrid.
After liquidating the factory owners around Madrid, Carlo's funds actually increased by several million pesetas.
It turned out that these factory owners were not unable to pay the workers' wages. They had enough funds to pay all the workers their full wages, but they were simply unwilling to do so.
This also benefited Carlo. With this unexpected wealth, Carlo could expand his palace guard and form a true Royal Guard.
However, considering the state of his funds and the combat effectiveness after the guard's formation, Carlo only planned to expand the original 500-man palace guard into a guard regiment of approximately 2,500 men.
The guard regiment would consist of two guard infantry battalions and one guard cavalry battalion, with each infantry battalion having approximately 1,000 soldiers and the cavalry battalion having approximately 500 soldiers.
Although there was no separate artillery battalion structure, Carlo planned to equip each guard infantry battalion with 2 to 3 cannons to increase the firepower of the entire guard regiment.
The expanded guard regiment would be responsible for protecting the palace and Carlo and would serve as Carlo's fully commanded direct force.
------------------------------------------------------------
Please support my work and gain access to 15 advanced chapters at [email protected]/Dannycifer.