Rise of Empires: Spain

Chapter 209 Eldest Daughter Sophia

As time came to November 1876, Carlo was about to welcome his second child.

Fortunately, with the experience of the last delivery, although the birth of the second child was also taken seriously, Carlo was no longer so nervous.

Because of the half-year of recuperation before pregnancy, Queen Sophie was very healthy during the second pregnancy and did not face any danger during delivery.

In this way, Carlo welcomed his second child, the eldest daughter Sofia, in a fairly smooth way.

As early as the birth of the first child, Carlo had already thought of the names of his eldest son and daughter.

The eldest son's name is Juan Fernando, and the eldest daughter's name is Sofia. Of course, if the second child is still a son, he will be named Martin.

Because of the previous joy of the eldest son, Carlo has no requirements for the gender of the second child. Carlo even hopes to have a daughter. After all, a little cotton jacket is much more reassuring than a little naughty.

Of course, Carlo is not worried about his children being naughty. The strict elite aristocratic education formulated by Carlo himself will not give them time to be naughty.

Prince Juan Fernando, who is only one and a half years old, has already been taught Spanish words and some simple words.

When he grows up, he will start to learn more knowledge and really start a busy time.

After all, he is Carlo's eldest son, and the future throne is likely to be passed on to Juan Fernando.

Therefore, Carlo is very serious about the training of Juan Fernando. Not only does he have to learn all kinds of education that traditional nobles receive, but he also has to learn a lot of newly discovered knowledge, as well as the necessary history, politics, and psychology courses for monarchs.

Later, he will have to serve in the army for 2 to 3 years and cultivate some confidants in the army to complete the entire training plan for the heir to the throne.

After that, Juan Fernando can gradually start to get involved in government affairs, waiting for the day when Carlo will pass the throne to him.

As long as the entire training process is relatively smooth, he will be the first heir to the Spanish throne. But if Juan Fernando performs poorly in the training process of the heir to the throne, Carlo will also consider passing the throne to a more outstanding child.

The King of Spain certainly represents great power, but it also represents arduous responsibilities and obligations. Carlo's attitude is very clear. If the ability is not enough, even the eldest son cannot inherit the throne.

Whether it is Juan Fernando or other princes who will be born in the future, the first 20 years of their lives will be very hard.

But for princesses like Sofia, they don't have to suffer such hardships.

Of course, daughters also need to be cultivated, but after all, they are not heirs to the throne, so the cultivation does not need to be so strict.

They only need to learn some cultural knowledge and then choose the majors they are more interested in. After they graduate from college, Carlo will arrange what they will do in the future.

After Princess Sofia was born, Carlo showed his love for his daughter. Not only did he take time to tease Princess Sofia, who was still in her cradle, every day, he also created a new title for Princess Sofia, the Duke of Arganda.

Arganda is a small city in the southeast of Madrid with a population of only a few thousand people. However, the scenery here is quite good. Carlo owns a huge manor here, which is just as a reward for Princess Sofia.

Carlo loves his children very much. The eldest son Juan Fernando was awarded the title of Duke of Monteblanque as soon as he was born, and the eldest daughter Sofia also won the title of Duke of Arganda. The two were already at the top of the Spanish aristocracy when they were born.

This is not over yet. When the two come of age, Carlo will give them more rewards.

The royal family's assets have already reached hundreds of millions of pesetas, and Carlo will not be stingy with his children. Whether it is the eldest son and daughter or other children in the future, as long as they come of age, they will receive a large amount of property rewards.

These rewards include not only some land, manors, gold, jewelry and antiques, but also some shares of enterprises, and even complete control of some companies.

The future heir to the throne will definitely inherit most of Carlo's property, and Carlo will also ensure that the remaining children will have no worries about food and clothing in the second half of their lives, and they can live a rich life even if they have no ability.

For a whole month after Princess Sofia was born, Carlo would take time out every day to accompany Queen Sofia and Princess Sofia.

Although the infant mortality rate was relatively high in this era, it seems that both the eldest son Juan Fernando and the eldest daughter Sofia are in good health.

Shortly after Princess Sofia was one month old, it was Christmas of 1876.

The palace was more lively at Christmas this year, and the royal family was growing at a rate of one person per year, which was definitely good news for the Spanish royal family.

The royal family now looks like it should be. Carlo, Queen Sofia, Prince Juan Fernando and Princess Sofia spent Christmas happily together. Although Princess Sofia just watched for a while and fell asleep in her crib, it was a family of four staying together after all, which looked more lively and warm.

The news of Princess Sofia's birth once again ignited Spain, but it did not cause a sensation like Prince Juan Fernando.

This is normal. After all, Juan Fernando is Carlo's eldest son and the future heir to the Spanish throne. It is normal to attract the attention of foreign governments and senior officials.

Although Sofia is equally noble, she is just a princess after all. Only Italy, Austria-Hungary and a few royal families with blood ties to Spain have sent congratulations.

Compared with the birth of Princess Sofia of Spain, European countries are obviously more concerned about Queen Victoria's coronation as the Emperor of India.

As early as May 1876, the British side had reached this fact, and Queen Victoria officially became the Queen of India and had her own title of emperor.

Becoming an emperor definitely requires a coronation ceremony, because it is the throne of India, so the coronation ceremony can only be held in India.

The British were still worried about the Balkan Peninsula, but after waiting for several months, Russia had no intention of joining the war, which made the British completely relieved.

The British government decided to hold the coronation ceremony of Queen Victoria in India on the first day of the new year and put the crown of the Indian Empire on the Queen of Britain.

Although the throne of India is somewhat self-entertaining, the person who entertains herself is Queen Victoria, the ruler of Britain, after all, and all countries should give her some face.

However, in the UK, the public obviously has two completely opposite attitudes towards this Indian crown.

The small picture book named "The Stain on the Queen's Head" has a circulation of more than 90,000 in a short period of time. This small picture book attacks Prime Minister Disraeli in the form of cartoons, mocking him as a Jew with strong Orientalist ideas.

In the cartoon, Disraeli, who appears in the image of Aladdin, is instigating Queen Victoria to accept the crown of the Queen of India.

The attitude of this picture book is also very clear, that is, it believes that Queen Victoria does not need an extra queen's crown, because the word queen easily reminds people of autocratic monarchism, rather than the constitutional monarchy system currently maintained by the British government.

Another pamphlet also has such a conclusion. Members of Parliament and the British people who support such ideas generally believe that: the crown, the result of the bill will undermine the principles of the British monarchy, and the title of the Indian throne is a lie.

The title of Queen of India is imperial, against the British monarchy, an extremely wrong decision that is autocratic and arbitrary, with individual rights overriding the public, and personal will being put into law at any time.

The opposition party used the Queen's accession to oppose the ruling Conservative Party, believing that the Conservative Party completely ignored the needs of the public and was stuck in the ghost of its own political propaganda. Some extreme opponents even called the ruling Conservative Party a dictatorial party that advocates absolutism.

Even the famous British newspaper The Times expressed its opposition and criticism, believing that the coronation of Queen of India was a manifestation of Queen Victoria's arrogance and arrogance, and betrayed the principles of the British Constitution.

John F. Dickinson publicly stated that the Title Act was entirely a damage to the collective will by Queen Victoria's personal will. The title of Queen legally determined India's vassal relationship with Britain, which would aggravate the contradictions between India and Britain.

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At the same time, this would also legally determine that the British Empire was heading for a new round of expansion, which most British people did not want to see. The personal demands caused by the bill will be higher than the public interest and will destroy the British Empire.

He believes that the fewer and simpler the British ruling principles in India are, the better the effect will be. The more prosperous the empire is, the tighter the policy towards India should be.

The "New Crown, Old Queen" cartoon has also become a hotly discussed topic among the British government and the people, and the sensation it caused has overshadowed the fact that Queen Victoria was crowned as the Queen of India.

The most fundamental reason why it has aroused opposition from a large number of officials and democrats is the public's concern about the word "authority".

The British Empire has colonies far larger than other countries, but the colonies are not completely submissive and loyal to the British Empire.

The United States was once a British colony, but later chose independence. This also represents one thing, that is, the people in the colonies are not completely loyal to the British Empire, and they also have their own considerations for the British Empire.

In this case, whether Queen Victoria's coronation as the Queen of India will cause dissatisfaction in many colonies, including the Indian colony, is a question that some British officials and parliamentarians need to consider.

Does the authority of the British Empire and Queen Victoria override the colonies? Does the British Empire have complete control over the governors of the colonies? Should we increase control over the colonies?

These issues are also the key issues discussed by the two major political parties and a large number of MPs in the UK, and are also the reason for the sensation in the UK.

But it is obvious that these discussions alone cannot shake Queen Victoria herself.

From the fact that these opposing MPs could not prevent the passage of the bill, it can be seen that Prime Minister Disraeli and Queen Victoria are willing to see the British Empire control the throne of India.

On January 1, 1877, the ceremony of Queen Victoria's coronation as the Queen of India was officially held in India.

Although there were many voices of opposition in the country, the British government still attached great importance to this coronation ceremony.

Prime Minister Disraeli even went to the coronation site in person, and the Indian colonial government also prepared a grand ceremony site and a large number of extras for the queen.

No matter how the Indians reacted to Queen Victoria's coronation, more than 100,000 Indians celebrated Queen Victoria's coronation on the day of her coronation, and even shouted "Long live Her Majesty!"

Queen Victoria was more than satisfied with the lively scene prepared by the Indian colonial government. Being crowned as the queen also fulfilled her wish, and she looked at the Governor-General of India with great satisfaction and appreciation.

Carlo did not pay too much attention to Queen Victoria's coronation. This throne was a stain on Queen Victoria, and it did not add anything to Queen Victoria whether she had the throne or not.

Without the Indian throne, Queen Victoria was one of the greatest monarchs in British history, and she ushered in the most glorious Victorian era of the British Empire, which was also the golden age of the British Empire's dominance in the world.

Fortunately, this stain was not too serious, and it would not affect Queen Victoria's reputation in the UK.

Compared with Queen Victoria's throne, Carlo was more interested in the development of the situation in the Balkans.

The reason why the British government was relieved to hold the coronation ceremony was that Russia did not take much action in the Balkans.

The war in the Balkans is still a war between the Ottoman Empire and several nations fighting for independence, and Russia is still in the stage of secretly supporting it.

Through telegram exchanges with Franz Joseph I, Carlo also confirmed one thing, that is, Britain and Austria-Hungary underestimated Russia's ambitions in this Balkan War.

The British Empire arrogantly believed that Russia would not launch a war against the Ottoman Empire when the British Empire clearly supported the Ottoman Empire, which is why Britain reduced its attention to the Balkans.

After all, the Ottoman Empire has gained an advantage in the current war, and Serbia and Montenegro are obviously not opponents of the Ottoman Empire.

This is also the reason why Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire and won the war after launching the war in history.

Because the British Empire and Austria-Hungary were not too prepared, they could only use diplomatic means to threaten Russia to spit out part of the results after the war to ensure that they would not suffer too much.

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