To be honest, Carlo was also very curious about who was behind the assassination of Prime Minister Prim.
Having the guts to assassinate the Prime Minister proves that this person was well-prepared and it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision.
You know, if the assassination fails, it would be very difficult for someone unprepared to escape the government's rigorous screening.
Archbishop Pedro's choice to back down in the face of the government's difficulties actually indicates that the Church is likely not the mastermind behind the assassination.
The only remaining forces likely to have planned the assassination are the nobility and the Republicans, which also suggests that the Royal Council established by Carlo might not be a united front.
However, this is also good news. Once the government and the Church jointly screen out the mastermind, it will be time for Carlo to kick out the traitors in the Royal Council who are not loyal to him.
The Royal Council is one of the ways Carlo controls the Spanish nobility, and naturally, he cannot allow disloyal rebels to cause trouble within it.
The investigation will be left to Prim and Archbishop Pedro; Carlo doesn't have time to focus on these matters and only needs to wait for the final result.
For Carlo, the most important thing is still his own industries, as having money in hand is the real truth.
On May 17, 1870, on what seemed like a very ordinary day, the mysterious organization that Carlo had high hopes for was officially established, named the Spanish Royal Security Intelligence Agency.
As the name suggests, this is a new organization specifically responsible for intelligence and espionage, cultivating professional intelligence personnel, also known as secret agents.
Regarding the director of the Intelligence Agency, Carlo was quite hesitant about the candidate. As the head of an important organization for Carlo to obtain domestic and international intelligence, the director of the Intelligence Agency must possess considerable ability and high loyalty.
Ultimately, it was the butler, Laurent, who recommended a candidate to Carlo, one of the subordinates given to Carlo by his father, Victor Emmanuel II: Carter Bruno.
Victor Emmanuel II would certainly not harm Carlo. The subordinates he chose for Carlo were also loyal to the Italian royal family, and naturally, they also had loyalty to Carlo.
At least in the foreign land of Spain, Carter Bruno was already a candidate Carlo could trust and was worth using.
At least for now, he is qualified to be the director of the Intelligence Agency. It will not be too late to consider other candidates after Carlo has cultivated his first batch of trusted subordinates in Spain by providing relief to orphans.
After personally meeting Carter Bruno, Carlo finally understood why Butler Lorenzo had recommended him.
Carter Bruno looked tall, thin, and very ordinary, but through a few brief questions, Carlo confirmed that he was a good prospect for intelligence work.
"Carter, I have a difficult task that I need you to complete. Do you have confidence?" Carlo asked, looking at Carter for the first time.
"Please command, Your Majesty," Carter Bruno replied immediately without hesitation upon hearing Carlo's question.
"Very good." Carlo nodded with satisfaction. As a leader, Carlo certainly did not want to see his subordinates hesitate when assigning tasks, without even the confidence to complete them.
"I need you to establish an intelligence organization to gather important domestic and international intelligence for me. I need to know about all major events happening in Spain in a timely manner, including the nobility, factory owners, the Church, and even those officials and parties.
Can you do that?" Carlo asked with a smile.
"As long as Your Majesty gives me enough personnel, I will even find out what vegetables Prime Minister Prim had for dinner," Carter Bruno immediately said.
"The target is certainly not Prime Minister Prim," Carlo continued to smile, not getting angry at Carter Bruno's words, "However, Prime Minister Prim is loyal, but who can guarantee that the next Prime Minister will continue to be loyal?
Your target is all Spanish officials, parties, and powerful forces. I need to know their every move.
As for the personnel you need, you can choose from the Royal Guard, and you can also find suitable talents among the populace. I will give you one year. After one year, I hope the Royal Security Intelligence Agency will be able to serve its purpose."
"Yes, Your Majesty. If the Royal Security Intelligence Agency cannot function after one year, I am willing to accept any punishment," Carter Bruno promised.
He understood that this was not only a task Carlo was giving him but also an opportunity, a chance to truly become Carlo's confidant and possess great power.
Although this so-called Royal Security Intelligence Agency is nominally only for gathering intelligence on officials and forces, who can guarantee that the Intelligence Agency will not have the power to deal with them?
Carter Bruno understood as soon as he heard his task: the Royal Security Intelligence Agency is Carlo's important means of understanding the outside world, and he is Carlo's hidden eye.
The eye can also turn into a butcher's knife at any time, striking down those disloyal officials and forces when necessary.
The establishment of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency was silent; even Prim did not know what Carlo was doing.
Besides giving Carter Bruno 500,000 pesetas in funds and allowing him to pick anyone from the Royal Guard, Carlo did not provide Carter Bruno with any other assistance.
And Carter Bruno's task is to initially build the Royal Security Intelligence Agency into shape within this year and begin the work of gathering intelligence on domestic officials and forces.
One year later is when the results will be tested. If Carter Bruno's Royal Security Intelligence Agency is successfully established and can function, he will leap into being Carlo's confidant and enter the core of Spanish power.
But if the establishment of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency fails, Carter Bruno will not only lose this precious opportunity but also lose Carlo's trust.
Due to the special nature of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, the welfare and benefits of intelligence personnel who join the agency are top-notch.
Their salary is much higher than that of Spanish soldiers and the Royal Guard, and if they sacrifice their lives due to intelligence work, their families will receive compensation to ensure their families can live on.
If Carter Bruno cannot train a group of qualified intelligence personnel even with the money and people provided, then his ability should indeed be questioned.
Carlo initially also doubted whether Carter Bruno could get the Royal Security Intelligence Agency on track within a year.
However, upon hearing Carter Bruno's selection criteria for intelligence personnel a few days later, Carlo dismissed his doubts.
The entire Royal Guard consists of approximately 2,500 people. After Carter Bruno's strict screening and selection, fewer than 50 people were qualified to join the Intelligence Agency. On average, only two out of every 100 Royal Guard soldiers passed the screening and selection.
Even with such strict selection criteria, it is enough to ensure that the screened intelligence personnel possess considerable ability.
After all, Carlo's Royal Guard members are only able to join after undergoing strict selection in the military and among the populace. In terms of combat effectiveness alone, they are indeed no worse than the regular Spanish army.
If the intelligence personnel are all selected through such careful screening, Carlo is already beginning to look forward to the role the Royal Security Intelligence Agency can play after one year.
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