Carlo didn't have time to appreciate the hustle and bustle of Paris.
For Carlo, the most important industry in his future plans had not yet been established, and this had to be put on the agenda.
What industry, you ask?
Of course, it was a bank related to finance.
Since the Industrial Revolution, industry and finance have replaced agriculture as the two most profitable sectors.
Carlo already had more than a dozen factories, and it was now time to establish his own financial institution to expand his avenues for making money.
Carlo had been preparing for a long time to establish his own bank.
The most important thing for a bank is to ensure public trust; with public trust, people will voluntarily deposit money in the bank. Only when a bank has money can it make money, achieving a virtuous cycle of making money from money and generating continuous income.
Carlo had already made a good impression on the people of Madrid through several tax reduction policies, but this goodwill alone was not enough.
To reassure the public about the newly established bank, Carlo planned to enlist the support of Spain's noble lords.
As the three most influential classes in Spain (nobility, landowners, and the church), the Spanish nobles were quite extravagant.
Previously, because Carlo was an outsider, he had not received strong support from the entire noble class. Some nobles even chose to support the Carlists; they remained loyal to the Bourbon family, which had been entrenched in Spain for centuries.
After defeating the Carlists, Carlo faced no obstacles in exerting influence over the noble class.
Bringing the noble class together to establish a bank served two purposes: firstly, the noble class had more funds, which could help Carlo's bank gain a greater advantage in the early stages, allowing for faster expansion.
Secondly, it was about getting rich together with the noble class, making it clear to them who their king was.
Most nobles were likely quite sensible; after all, Carlo was the king recognized by the Spanish constitution and the people, a fact they could not change.
Only by gaining sufficient influence and voice within the Spanish noble class could Carlo ensure that his position and power as king remained unshaken.
The Spanish monarchy had a long history, and the power of the royalists could not be ignored. After gaining the full support of the royalists, the republican party, which posed a significant threat to the monarchy, would no longer be so fatal.
For the nobles, they certainly needed a capable monarch to lead them forward. The status of the nobility came from the king, which was why Carlo was confident in gaining the support of the noble class.
After all, if the biggest noble leader, the king, was gone, what would become of the remaining dukes and marquesses?
Carlo set his first target for recruitment in Toledo, south of Madrid. In Toledo, there was a nobleman with significant influence within the Spanish noble class: the Duke of Alba.
The House of Alba was one of the oldest noble families in Spain, possessing the most titles and land, and naturally, they were among the wealthiest of the nobles.
To be honest, Carlo was somewhat envious of the Alba family's wealth.
As an outsider king, Carlo's current wealth was quite meager. Apart from some castles left by the Bourbon family, Carlo possessed none of the vast lands that symbolized great nobility.
It is said that the king is the country's largest landowner, but in Spain, the scale of land Carlo owned was even less than that of some Spanish dukes.
The current Duke of Alba, Jacobo Luis Fitz-James Stuart-Ventimiglia, was born in 1835. It's worth noting that his wife and Napoleon III's wife were sisters, making him Napoleon III's brother-in-law.
To Carlo's relief, the Duke of Alba, Jacobo, was very respectful towards him and subtly expressed his intention to curry favor with Carlo.
When Carlo proposed establishing a bank in partnership with the nobles, the Duke of Alba, Jacobo, immediately vowed that he would invest in Carlo's bank and become its first depositor.
Although the conversation with Duke Jacobo lasted only a little over an hour, Carlo and Duke Jacobo quickly reached a consensus on the establishment of the bank and improved their relationship.
Duke Jacobo also invited Carlo to his private banquet, his intention to pledge allegiance was already clear.
Carlo naturally nodded repeatedly. Through the introduction of the Duke of Alba, Jacobo, Carlo could easily win over the group of nobles acquainted with the Duke of Alba, exerting his influence over the noble class.
Only by securing the loyalty of most nobles could the Spanish monarchy be truly transformed, and Spain could genuinely enter the era of the House of Savoy.
Interestingly, both Queen Isabella II and the Carlist claimant, Carlos VII, chose to flee north to France after their defeats.
However, France had now become a republic, and these nobles who fled to France for refuge might also be affected.
At the very least, life as a refugee in France would be difficult. Previously, Emperor Napoleon III of France had protected them, but now that French nobles were struggling to protect themselves, the position of these Spanish Bourbon refugees in France would be even more awkward.
Facts proved that most of these Spanish nobles were not fools.
After Prim suppressed the Carlist rebellion, these nobles had long intended to contact and pledge allegiance to Carlo.
All the nobles Carlo met agreed to his proposal to jointly establish a bank and expressed their willingness to become depositors, depositing a portion of their funds.
Even Prim, after multiple invitations from Carlo, finally agreed to join the joint bank, which filled Carlo with confidence about the bank's future development.
Of course, Duke Serrano, who was quelling the rebellion in Cuba, was also part of Carlo's invitation plan. However, Serrano's joining the bank would have to wait until his return to Madrid, so there was no rush for now.
With the support of the nobles, the preparations for the bank also went very smoothly.
On April 9, 1870, the first Royal United Bank officially opened its doors in Madrid, immediately drawing widespread attention.
From the very first day, a steady stream of nobles arrived to make deposits, lending the bank an air of prestige and ceremony. This grand display of aristocratic support created quite a stir among the public, and the Royal United Bank swiftly rose to become the most talked-about financial institution in the city.
On its inaugural day alone, the bank welcomed hundreds of depositors—most of them members of the nobility—eager to express their backing for Carlo. The show of financial confidence was especially evident among the dukes, whose deposits were measured in increments of 100,000 pesetas. Some even deposited over one million pesetas each.
Although one million pesetas amounted to less than 40,000 pounds at the time, such a sum was considered a substantial deposit by the standards of any Spanish bank in the 19th century.
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