It takes only ten minutes to drive from the Prime Minister's residence to the palace. For Prince Juan, who has lived in this great city since childhood, every street, every building and even every shop window along the road is very familiar. Today, Madrid is prosperous, lively and orderly, but behind this peaceful appearance, there are undercurrents lurking in every corner of society, which is not difficult to detect but is deliberately ignored by the upper class. In the past 20 years since the Bourbon ruled Spain, this country with a long history and a supreme peak has continued to decline. The disastrous defeat in the Spanish-American War once brought it to the brink of collapse.

Although its economy and society have shown signs of strong recovery, they have always been just signs. They have not ushered in the renewal of everything in Ireland, the rise of galloping horses, and the working people have not become the real beneficiaries of the rapid growth of industry and trade. Because of this, various party organizations such as the Republican Party, the Spear Party, the Workers' Socialist Party, and the Workers' Alliance have become increasingly prosperous. Various parties have used all means to get as many seats as possible in the general election. Strikes of all sizes have emerged one after another, fighting and assassination are common, and the decline in social stability has caused a continuous and far-reaching negative impact on the finance, tourism and other industries...

In a trance, the car had already entered the Madrid Palace. This royal palace, which was founded in 1764, is known as the "Four Great Palaces of Europe" together with the Berlin City Palace, the Palace of Versailles in Paris, and the Palace of Schonbrunn, Vienna. Since Carlos III, all Spanish monarchs have lived here, and the current king Alfonso XIII is no exception. However, Alfonso XIII was not in the palace at this time, but "hunting" at the Palace of Saint III, not far from Madrid. Since the failure of reforms in the 30s, this originally ambitious king has lived the life of the Supreme Emperor, spending most of his time outside of Madrid, and he will return to the constant disputes only on important festivals or celebrations.

Now the one who guards the Madrid palace is Alfonso, who has been in charge for more than ten years and his princess from Württemberg, Germany. The two have been married for many years and still have no children. The second son of Alfonso XIII, Anjou and the Duke of Segovia, lost the right to inherit the throne due to the intermarriage of nobles. Therefore, according to the Spanish law of succession of the throne, after Alfonso, Prince Juan's eldest son Juan Carlos was the most advanced in the next generation. Even so, whenever walking in this gorgeous palace, Prince Juan always maintained a modest and cautious attitude, followed the attendant without squinting, and went to any place designated by Alfonso, sometimes his office, sometimes a back garden, sometimes a gallery, a mirror hall, a dining room or some ordinary corner.

This time, Prince Juan met his brother who was always unpredictable in the flowerbed in the back garden.

It had just rained in Madrid, and the garden was full of wet soil. Alfonso, dressed in luxurious clothes, didn't care at all. He bent down and carefully observed a delicate red rose, but seemed to be stimulated by the fragrance of the rose. He sneezes suddenly, took out his handkerchief, then glanced at Prince Juan who was standing next to him for a short while, and said, "Joachim I sent a telegram to invite me to fight against my Imperiality. What do you think?"

"As long as there is no major accident, this should be a war of sure victory." Prince Juan answered, observing his brother's reaction calmly. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, he continued: "Whether national strength or military strength, the new United Kingdom is far better than Italy. With the huge six-machine machine of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as long as Germany does not interfere, they should be able to defeat Italy in a short time and then ask for war compensation from Italy. If we participate in the war, we should be able to get some benefits from the Italians, but what I worry about is that once the Italian government collapses under the pressure of war defeat, Italy may break out a revolution, which will definitely affect the stability of neighboring countries."

"What does the Italians have to do with us?" Alfonso asked disapprovingly, "We are separated from Italy by France. If Italy breaks out, it will be the German royal family, the Austrian royal family and the French government are scared. It is estimated that before the Italian revolution affects Spain, the German, Austrian and French coalition forces had already poured into the Italian Peninsula and forced them to maintain order!"

Prince Juan hesitated for a moment and reminded in a tactful way: "The people of European countries, only Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and other neutral small countries are simple and have no intention of revolution, and the rest of the countries have this problem regardless of strength or weakness. Those revolutionaries are not like the army, and can be mixed among the people, which is very difficult to identify. The army and customs cannot prevent their entry. However, there are hundreds of thousands of Italians traveling to our country by air, 6 routes and sea routes every year, and some revolutionaries hold passports of many countries. In fact, once the revolution breaks out in Italy, the whole of Europe will inevitably be affected by it!"

****Alfonso smiled confidently: "If Spain does not participate in the war, Italy will not be able to escape defeat. At that time, the government collapses and the revolution breaks out, and Spain can only watch the wall. On the contrary, if Spain participates in the war, there will be more say in dealing with the Italian issue, or there may be ways to save the Italian government from collapse, and the Savoy dynasty will be continued."

Prince Juan lowered his head without thinking and praised respectfully: "Your vision is always so long and your considerations are always so thorough, which makes me feel ashamed!"

For such compliments, **** Alfonso did not show much joy, but frowned, looking depressed: "It's a pity that we lacked expectations for the arrival of this war, and military preparations were nearly zero. This is not conducive to our ability to gain a voice after joining the war. The only chance to remedy is now... What conditions should we propose to the new United Kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to maximize the benefits?"

Prince Juan said slowly: "Compared with Italian colonies in Africa, I personally think that Italian local funds and shipbuilding facilities are more conducive to our revitalization of the Spanish economy, but our request may not be fully supported by the two allies, after all, they are also eyeing the Italian shipbuilding industry. In the conversation between the New United Kingdom, I felt that they tend to use our power to build a strategic bridgehead in North Africa, such as *******, Tripoli, and Benghazi. We asked for one or two of these ports to sublease the new United Kingdom to build a modern naval base for their navy to operate in the Mediterranean, and then get the funds and equipment we need from them."

"Yes, the vast but barren African territory is almost meaningless to us!" Alfonso affirmed. "What we lack at present is capital, equipment, technology and a sense of honor to unite the hearts of the people, and these are the key factors in the rapid rise of Ireland. If we can obtain funds from the masters of the Hohenzollern dynasty that are sufficient to revitalize the shipbuilding and manufacturing industry in the east, as well as the weapons and equipment needed to revitalize the military and improve the army. In addition, let our navy fight with the new United Kingdom fleet, we should be able to regain confidence in defeating the powerful with less losses!"

Prince Juan said respectfully: "As long as we show our patience, we believe that they will meet all our reasonable requirements, as for what you said in the end, with my pitifully few understandings and insights in military affairs, I am afraid that I will not be able to give any comments that satisfy you."

**** Alfonso said, "As the prime minister of the Spanish Empire and the third heir to the throne, it is far from enough to be proficient in politics and diplomacy. We must work harder in military affairs and make the officers admire you from the bottom of their hearts and agree with you! Do you understand?"

Prince Juan had to smile bitterly: "It's not that I don't care, but that I have no military talent since I was a child. As you said, I will try my best to ask the instructors in the military academy for military affairs, and I hope I can achieve something."

I don’t know how many times the two of them have discussed this kind of Tai Chi. For this kind of topic, **** Alfonso still clicked on it and then jumped back to the main topic: "Since we have reached a consensus, I will be responsible for persuading the father, you will be responsible for diplomatic consultations with the new United Kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and to maximize the conditions for our participation in the war. How?"

As the prime minister, Prince Juan had no choice but to blame him for his reverent hunching: "I will do my best to fulfill my mission!"

**** Alfonso stretched out his hands and held his younger brother's shoulder: "I will set off to see my father as soon as possible. Before my father agrees to join the war, the content of today's conversation must not be disclosed to the public, and the army cannot mobilize in any way. If the new United Kingdom fleet arrives in our territorial waters, it will be implemented according to the terms agreed in advance and must not be crossed!"

Prince Juan obeyed his brother's instructions.

The major event that concerns the fate of the country, the two of them talked in the flowerbed in less than half an hour. It was still early, and **** Alfonso did not leave Prince Juan for lunch, nor did he send him to the palace gate, but stood there watching him leave. After Prince Juan walked away, the crown prince of the empire, who was over 10 years old, turned back to the flowerbed, looking at the flowers here with love, thinking in his heart that if he had children and daughters, he would never easily let Spain venture into the war between great powers, because he knew very well that Spain is as corrupt and fragile as the Ottoman Empire twenty years ago. Taking part in the war in its current state is tantamount to letting an old man with old illness attend a feast. Even if he eats the delicacies and drinks nectar and jade liquid, it would be just a temporary pleasure.

, not only can it not be able to rejuvenate and regain youth, but it may also be extremely happy and sad, and suddenly die suddenly. You must know that the "sickness" in Spanish politics, military, society and other fields have a long history, and it must be cured by an earthquake-like change or a repeated revolution. This kind of change or revolution often causes huge side effects of regime change and dynasty change. In European history, there are many monarchs who lost their throne, exile or even lose their lives due to failure or revolution. Not to mention the distant past, the bleak fate of Tsar Nicholas II and Ottoman Sultan Mohammed VII is clearly imprinted in people's minds. Compared with the last Tsar and Ottoman Sultan, **** Alfonso's "advantage" is that he does not have to worry that his descendants have nowhere to stay...

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!