The young man wearing a felt hat pointed to the street: "There used to be three iron workshops in the San Giovanni District, but now there’s not even one left.
"Cheap iron products from France keep flooding into the city, taking away all their business, and the craftsn are left to make a living by polishing carriages for the nobles."
He paused, recalled the manuscript, and raised his arm: "We must drive out the French people and ban them from selling goods here to protect our ager bread!"
Those stirred up nodded vigorously: "That’s right, it’s all because of the French!"
"Only those shops selling French goods made money."
"The sofa workshop where my father worked also closed down. Now, the wealthy only buy industrial-clad French sofas..."
Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, the young man in the felt hat imdiately whispered, "I heard that many people will go to the Palazzo Pitti early next month to protest and urge His Majesty the King to order the expulsion of French goods. Everyone must attend!"
"Alright, I will go too!"
"Count in!"
In a room on the second floor of an elegant villa across the street, an Italian noble with a wig and a stern face was passionately saying:
"We are all daughters of Ro, we once led the civilization of the world, and now people seem to have forgotten all this.
"We are ’fellow townsn’ of Dante and Da Vinci, even the accent is so similar, it’s ti to end this division and restore the glorious Roman Empire!
"The Austrians have already rolled back to the other side of the Alps, now is a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity.
"The day we form the ’Italian Federation,’ we will have a land area and a vast population and market comparable to Austria and France.
"Any country in Europe must take Italy’s will seriously, just as they did hundreds of years ago when facing the Roman Empire!
"So we must unite and rid ourselves of the control of the French people..."
The sudden shout outside of "Drive out French goods" made him frown, and he gestured to the old man standing by to close the window.
Once the noise had subsided, he offered an apologetic smile to the dozen or so people seated around the long table and continued, "In fact, we have already gained widespread support from the Royal Family of various Northern Italian countries, with ample funding and significant influence.
"We will help those interested in advancing the great cause of the ’Italian Federation’ to win parliantary elections until they beco the president or speaker of their respective countries."
The middle-aged man sitting to his left imdiately spoke excitedly, "Count Costantino, I firmly support Italy’s reunification!"
"You are truly a hero of Italy, Mr. Baroni. The Milan Council must not be without your presence."
The others regretted being slow to act and rushed to express their stance as well, "For the Italian Federation!"
"The great Ro will rise again!"
"Let Italy unite!"
These individuals were influential politicians from republican countries like Milan, Genoa, and Lucca. If they could receive backing from a large organization, they would have a good chance of winning the elections.
Half an hour later, the eting concluded, and everyone headed to the banquet hall to enjoy dinner.
Count Costantino ca to the window and looked down at the young man in a felt hat who was still speaking at the street corner and said to the old servant beside him, "Albano, who brought that fellow here? And his speech content seems off."
The latter replied respectfully, "Master, that’s not one of ours, likely hired by a guild or organization."
Count Costantino nodded, "He speaks well. Perhaps we can try to have him work for us."
"Yes, Master."
That afternoon, Albano made contact with the young man who was stirring up the citizens. The two hit it off imdiately and arranged for their bosses to et the next day.
In a café in Florence, Wilson, the assistant to Sir Norris, the British trade representative in the Pope State, studied the noble sitting opposite him.
Earlier, the other party had already introduced himself as a mber of the "Young Italy" organization. Clearly, this was an Italian nationalist organization committed to promoting the unification of the various Northern Italian countries.
With a sincere smile on his face, Wilson asked, "By the way, you ntioned just now that you’ve also received support from certain royal families?"
"Indeed, Mr. Matt," nodded Count Costantino, "but I cannot disclose his information to you at this ti."
He wasn’t boasting; the Young Italy organization did have the support of the King of Sardinia, Emanuele IV.
In fact, the rapid developnt of the organization over the past two years was entirely thanks to the substantial financial input from the Sardinian Royal Family.
Yes, while the newly appointed Sardinian King appeared very deferential to France on the surface, he remained deeply resentful over the loss of the Savoy region.
But Sardinia was too weak to have the capability to contend with France. At that mont, he noticed the trend of Italian nationalism.
If he could bring the various Italian countries together under the banner of Italian nationalism, a force capable of confronting France and Austria could be ford.
Sardinia, as the most powerful country in Northern Italy, had a significant chance of obtaining leadership of a unified state.
Thus, with his help, the Young Italy organization wrote nurous articles arguing that all Italians belonged to the sa nation and disseminated them across various countries.
Recently, anti-French sentint had surged in Italy, resulting in protests and unrest among the public, providing them with a convenient opportunity to promote nationalism.
They also took steps from countries like Milan and Genoa to urge Congress to legally accept the concept of an ’Italian Federation.’
As for monarchist countries like Parma and Florence, once the surrounding countries rged into the Italian Federation, the economic, cultural, and other impacts would affect them.
If need be, they would incite civil unrest to force these royal families to agree to join the federation.
Wilson asked again, "So, how many people do you have in various Italian countries? Oh, to show our sincerity, let first share so of our details.
"We can simultaneously mobilize tens of thousands of people to demonstrate in places like Milan, Genoa, and Parma.
"Moreover, we have contacts with high-level officials in multiple countries."
Count Costantino smiled proudly, "Our organization can mobilize over a hundred thousand people. However, I don’t think protests and demonstrations would significantly aid our cause."
Wilson said solemnly, "If we don’t drive the French forces out of Italy, the royal families of each country will continue to receive continual support, and you... ahem, we will never achieve true unification!"
Count Costantino nodded thoughtfully, "You’re right. But rely protesting won’t nullify the ’Common Market Agreent’..."
Wilson chuckled, "But what if I can supply you with a large quantity of flintlock guns?"
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