Carlo, who had just been crowned, was experiencing a severe headache.
For Spain to achieve a revival, it needed a large number of talented individuals to contribute to the expansion of various industries.
However, with a literacy rate as high as 70%, Spain was currently most lacking in talent, especially highly qualified individuals trained in formal universities and colleges.
Speaking of which, Spain had a long history of establishing universities.
The earliest, the University of Salamanca, was founded in 1218, making it 651 years old. In addition, several other universities were centuries old, far surpassing European countries with only a few formal universities.
But this was also where the problem lay.
Despite having so many historical universities, Spain's focus on cultivating university-level talent was far less than that of major powers like Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria.
Previously, the Spanish government's annual budget preferred to be wasted on areas of little use rather than investing in education to encourage more Spaniards to attend university.
The major institutions also did not receive sufficient educational funding support, leading to a disastrous situation in the cultivation of highly qualified Spanish talent.
Even within the military, the shortage of talent constantly affected Spain.
During Isabella II's reign, the high-ranking officers in the Spanish army were mostly controlled by the nobility, making it very difficult for commoners to reach high positions.
Although the current army was transformed from the revolutionary army, temporarily eliminating this problem, the lack of continuity among middle and lower-ranking officers remained a significant issue.
Furthermore, Carlo understood that this period marked significant changes in military affairs. The linear infantry tactics that dominated Europe during the Napoleonic era had now become mere queuing up to be shot.
Although the French's overall strength in the Franco-Prussian War surpassed that of Prussia, the sheer number of French linear infantry units established by Napoleon III, in imitation of his uncle Napoleon, destined the French to face a difficult war.
Therefore, Carlo not only wanted to expand the Royal Military Academy but also wanted to learn some of the excellent ideas and systems from the future world's top army, the Germans, in the field of land warfare, to establish a stronger Spanish army and officer training system.
Of course, France was not completely weakened yet, and a Spain that fully emulated Prussia would also be a significant threat to the French.
For Spain at this time, avoiding trouble was certainly better than inviting it. While the new military academy would learn some of the systems and ideas of the Prussian army, it would also absorb some ideas from the French army, combining the strengths of both German and French land forces.
After Carlo proposed the concept of emphasizing university development to Prim, Prim readily agreed and stated that the Spanish government would allocate more budget for the education department in the new year.
Carlo seized the opportunity and acquired ownership of the Royal Military Academy from the government with 3 million pesetas.
Prim also understood the importance of the military academy. However, for Prim at this time, it was better to hand over the ownership of the military academy to Carlo, while he himself focused all his energy on the reforms in Spain.
While this might allow the officers trained by Carlo through the military academy to infiltrate the army with their influence, that would be several or even more than a decade in the future.
By then, Prim would be over 60 years old, and whether he could continue to serve as the Prime Minister of Spain would be a question.
Precisely because he was already 55 years old, achieving Spain's revival was Prim's only wish at this time; power struggles were no longer important to him.
Carlo, who had obtained ownership of the Royal Military Academy, was in high spirits at this time, and his attitude towards Prim changed from feigning compliance to genuine respect.
Regardless of how Prim is judged historically, in Carlo's eyes at this moment, he was indeed a heroic figure like Garibaldi.
It was Italy's honor to have Garibaldi, and it was Spain's honor to have Prim.
The only difference was that Garibaldi was viewed with hostility by the Italian government and king due to his history of siding with the republic. Prim, on the other hand, gained Carlo's trust and strong support because he supported the monarchy and Carlo becoming the King of Spain.
In a good mood, Carlo and Prim, who came from a military family, discussed a lot about the future development of Spanish military academies and invited Prim to become the honorary vice-principal of the Spanish Royal Military Academy.
Carlo would become the honorary principal of the Royal Military Academy, so that all graduates of the military academy would understand who trained them to be officers.
Considering the different needs of the Spanish army for officers, the Royal Military Academy would be split into two parts.
The main campus of the Royal Military Academy would still be located in Madrid, its purpose being to train excellent junior officers for Spain. The student body of the main campus would consist of two parts: one part would be students from the Spanish civilian population willing to apply for military academies, and the other part would be outstanding soldiers selected from the Spanish army.
The other part, after the split, would establish a new military academy in Zaragoza in the Aragon region, officially named the Zaragoza Branch of the Royal Military Academy.
The purpose of the Zaragoza Royal Military Academy was to train senior officers for Spain, and it could also be called the cradle of Spanish generals.
The two military academies, with different goals, would continuously train excellent core personnel and lower-level officers for the Spanish army, allowing the Spanish army to maintain excellent combat effectiveness and flexible operational thinking, becoming a first-class army in Europe.
While training Spanish officers, Carlo could also ensure that these trained officers had higher loyalty to him.
After all, as the King of Spain, Carlo was the nominal commander and leader of the Spanish army.
In the future, the first lesson at the Madrid Royal Military Academy and the Zaragoza Royal Military Academy would be loyalty to the king and the nation.
With these officers who had been indoctrinated with the ideology of loyalty to the king and love for the country, Carlo could exert greater influence on the future Spanish army.
If the ideology of loyalty to the king and love for the country were interwoven into the education of Spaniards from childhood, it would create a perfect closed loop, increasing the loyalty of all Spaniards to the monarchy and Carlo.
This was also Carlo's ultimate goal for Spanish education. Only through subtle influence and early indoctrination from childhood could Spaniards come to truly embrace the monarchy and develop sincere loyalty and fervent devotion to Carlo.
Having already received an education at the Turin Royal Military Academy, Carlo was quite familiar with the procedures of military academies.
After investing over 1 million pesetas in the Madrid Royal Military Academy, the Royal Military Academy quickly expanded and conducted large-scale recruitment after simple screening within the Spanish army and among the civilian population.
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