Chapter 606 - 288: The Hero in Twilight (Part 3)

Considering the future trajectory of history, after Carlo, Spain truly needs a ruler who can consolidate the territories established by Carlo.

If Carlo’s plan to annex Portugal and establish the Iberian Empire can be realized, then Spain will need several decades to absorb the entirety of Spain’s territories.

Once Portugal and Morocco are swallowed and digested, Spain’s potential will be infinitely expanded, making it truly capable of contending with major powers on the world stage.

Since the news of Garibaldi’s death has been confirmed, Carlo naturally would not remain indifferent. At the very least, he must send a trusted aide to attend Garibaldi’s funeral, especially since Garibaldi was quite supportive of Carlo in the past.

His two sons traveled from Italy to Spain to serve Carlo; one is currently the Commander of the Imperial Guard of Spain, and the other is the head of the Spanish Lanfang Military Guidance Team. Both are highly trusted by Carlo.

Carlo even considered attending Garibaldi’s funeral personally, but eventually decided to abandon this idea.

After all, Carlo is the King of Spain, while Garibaldi is a national hero of Italy, and the two have fundamentally no connection.

Even though Carlo had a good relationship with Garibaldi, it wasn’t to the extent that a king would personally attend the funeral.

Only kings and emperors from various countries might qualify for Carlo’s personal attendance at a funeral. Even monarchs of small countries would not have that privilege; only rulers of major powers would be eligible for Carlo’s personal attendance.

If Carlo insisted on going, it would only tarnish the prestige of the Spanish Royal Family. If a king does not value his own authority, who else would respect it?

Of course, considering that Giotto and Menotti are both serving him, Carlo finds it necessary to send someone with sufficient status, who can represent him, to attend Garibaldi’s funeral.

In fact, for Carlo, there is only one suitable candidate, and that is Steward Loren of the Spanish Royal Palace.

As the chief steward of the Royal Palace, Loren represents Carlo and the Spanish Royal Family externally, so attending Garibaldi’s funeral is certainly appropriate.

Soon, the Commander of the Imperial Guard, Giotto, also learned of his father’s death. He immediately came to request a meeting with Carlo, wanting to take leave to return to Italy for his father’s funeral.

Carlo naturally did not refuse; he not only immediately agreed to Giotto’s request but also arranged for Giotto to accompany Steward Loren on a warship to Italy.

To ensure the two could attend Garibaldi’s funeral as quickly as possible, Carlo decided to dispatch a warship to Italy.

This not only reflects Carlo’s regard for Garibaldi but also provides an opportunity to enhance the Italian public’s goodwill towards Carlo.

It should be noted that Garibaldi is recognized as an Italian national hero and one of the three great contributors to Italy’s unification.

In terms of public support, Garibaldi far exceeds Vittorio Emanuele II, the founding father of modern Italy.

This is also why Garibaldi was highly guarded against by the Italian Royal Family. If Garibaldi wished, he could, at any time, leverage his public support to initiate a revolution and elevate himself to the ruler of Italy.

When Giotto learned that Steward Loren would be attending his father’s funeral, he was very grateful to Carlo.

After all, Garibaldi made no contributions to Spain, and Carlo had no obligation to regard him so highly.

On the Italian side, when King Umberto I learned of Garibaldi’s death, he first displayed an almost imperceptible smile, and then his face showed a trace of regret.

Garibaldi’s death was considered good news for the Italian Royal Family, as the most threatening person to it was gone, thus solidifying its position.

However, his death was also a blow to Umberto I. A nationalist, Umberto I needed Garibaldi’s support to advance Italy’s military aspects.

Previously, during the colonial competition in Tunisia, it was precisely because of Garibaldi’s strong support that Italian public resentment was successfully provoked.

Without the support of this nationally trusted hero, Italy’s future path of nationalism and militarism would become much more challenging.

The majority of the public still desires a life of peace and stability. For ordinary citizens, war means only suffering, and those who go to battle are mostly common people.

Although the Italian Royal Family had been cautious of Garibaldi during his lifetime, as soon as Umberto I learned of Garibaldi’s death, he did not hesitate in immediately deciding to hold a state funeral for Garibaldi, allowing all Italian citizens to mourn Garibaldi.

The Italian Government did not conceal any news of Garibaldi’s death from the public.

This led to many Italians spontaneously traveling to Garibaldi’s former residence on Capri to pay their respects to the national hero in their own ways.

To maintain order, the Italian Government had to dispatch over a hundred police officers to Capri and counsel the Italian public.

The Italian Government stated that Garibaldi’s funeral would be held in Rome, and that citizens could go there to mourn Garibaldi.

It was precisely due to the Italian Government’s repeated statements that the Italian public’s intention to go to Capri to commemorate Garibaldi was alleviated.

For Umberto I, the previous suspicion towards Garibaldi was no longer important. What mattered now was how to make good use of Garibaldi’s funeral to boost the Royal Family’s favorability.

The greater the Italian Royal Family’s emphasis on Garibaldi’s funeral, the more the public’s goodwill towards the Italian Royal Family would increase.

Therefore, on the day the news of Garibaldi’s death was announced, Umberto I publicly declared a donation of 500,000 Lira for Garibaldi’s state funeral and, according to Garibaldi’s final wishes, arranged for Garibaldi to be buried in the family cemetery on Capri.