He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 169

169. Tae-oh’s Situation

◈ Kensington, Theo Marriage Agency.

In his 5th-floor office, Tae-oh was flipping through the member registry, searching for a suitable groom for Princess Maria, when he let out a hollow laugh.

‘Ha—what am I doing?’

Tae-oh was startled to find himself consumed by jealousy as he searched for a groom.

He had been trying to distance himself as much as possible to avoid developing any feelings for the princess.

He treated her as formally as possible and tried not to read into her emotions.

There was a reason why Tae-oh was trying to block his feelings.

It was partly because Maria was a princess of a kingdom, but more so because of his own situation, where he couldn’t love anyone.

It had already been almost 15 years since he had transmigrated into the 18th century, but he still hadn’t found an answer as to why he came here.

Even now, he hadn’t changed his mind about wanting to return to the 21st century.

No matter how much money he made here, how well he was treated, or how praised his life was, he couldn’t shake the empty feeling of living a fake life on a theater stage.

‘Just as I suddenly came to the 18th century, I might return to the 21st century without any reason.’

As Tae-oh couldn’t let go of this expectation, it was hard for him to imagine loving someone, marrying, and having children here.

Moreover, he was afraid that if he developed deep affection for the 18th century he was currently living in and then returned to the 21st century, he would be overwhelmed by unbearable emotions.

If he had come here with a wife and children in the 21st century, he wondered if he could have endured the frustration and longing.

In that respect, he was grateful that he had fallen into the 18th century unmarried.

‘Right… love in this situation… I was being presumptuous. Let’s get a grip. I’m like a ghost who could disappear at any moment. I’m not in a position to care for anyone.’

Thinking that way, his feelings for Princess Maria became a little more organized, and he felt more at ease.

Instead, he was filled with the will to find her the best groom who could make her the happiest.

Tae-oh refocused and began to search the member registry diligently again.

◈ Early November 1788. Theo Marriage Agency, 5th-floor office.

Tae-oh had newly selected five suitable candidates for Princess Maria’s spouse and instructed Lucy on the necessary preparations.

“Have the information investigators thoroughly examine these gentlemen I’ve checked.

And if there are no problems, have Lucy arrange a place and time for Maria to meet with each of them.”

“Yes, I understand, CEO. But…”

“……?”

“I saw Princess Maria in the cafe early this morning.”

“…Is that so?”

Tae-oh reacted nonchalantly, but he was actually very concerned to hear that the princess was in the cafe on the first floor.

“Princess Maria must really like our cafe and this street. I see her often in the morning and when I leave work.”

“That’s good. I’m grateful that she likes our street.”

“Yes, but I saw Earl Dominici last time…”

Lucy was about to say something excitedly, but Tae-oh stood up and cut her off.

“Lucy, I’m sorry, but I have to go to Windsor Castle right now. I have something important to discuss with His Majesty the King. So please take care of the schedule preparations I mentioned.”

Lucy replied with a disappointed expression.

“Ah, yes. I understand. Please be careful on your way.”

“Okay, thanks for your hard work!”

*

*

*

Tae-oh came down to the first-floor stairs and looked toward the cafe entrance.

Fortunately, the princess was not visible.

He found his behavior of avoiding her absurd, but now his heart was wavering just by the fact that the princess was nearby.

Avoiding her as much as possible seemed like the best option he could take right now.

◈ Windsor Castle, King’s Presence Chamber.

“…Thus, he received the King’s surrender, prevented the dissolution of the National Assembly, and abolished all privileges of the nobility and clergy.”

The large-scale popular uprising in France, an absolute monarchy, shocked the royalist countries of Europe, including England.

“What on earth is the reason why the people are so agitated that they even confront the King?”

King George looked visibly uncomfortable.

Unlike France, England was a constitutional monarchy where the constitution took precedence after the Glorious Revolution [a pivotal event in English history where the monarchy’s power was limited], so the King’s power was greatly limited by Parliament and political parties.

However, in the 18th century, the influence of the British monarch was still immense, and he was performing the duties of a practical leader.

As such, King George could not help but be concerned about the French Revolution.

At that moment, the Chancellor of the Exchequer [the British government’s chief financial minister], who was next to him, replied.

“It seems that the King of France convened representatives from each estate across the country to discuss the imposition of new taxes as finances deteriorated, and that’s when things broke out.”

Before the revolution broke out, there was no one in France who wanted to lower taxes, and everyone was trying to get money.

Frequent wars, the upper class’s indiscriminate indulgence and luxury, and the ‘Eden Treaty’ with England drove France’s already poor national finances into further crisis. (The actual name of the treaty was the Eden Treaty, not the Sanderson Treaty.)

Eventually, as the national economy was on the verge of bankruptcy, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General [a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy, nobility, and commoners], gathering representatives from each estate to impose taxes on the nobility and clergy, who had been enjoying tax-exempt privileges.

However, the results of the Estates-General were not good, and when Louis XVI tried to dissolve the National Assembly by mobilizing troops, it triggered the anger of the Third Estate [the commoners and everyone else in France who wasn’t clergy or nobility].

And soon, the famous ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,’ the first declaration of human rights on the European continent, appeared.

A significant number of the French clergy and nobles, the first and second estates, who accounted for only 2% of the population, were busy abandoning their existing wealth and power and fleeing abroad to survive.

‘The first incident in which the people realized their power.’

As one historian said about the French Revolution, the Third Estate, the majority of the people who had become aware of their new rights, overturned the minority aristocratic ruling class system in an instant.

The ‘class order’ that had been oppressing them was destroyed overnight.

However, as the ‘invisible order’ that had suppressed and controlled the people disappeared, French society became a more chaotic world than before.

As described in Charles Dickens’ novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’

The French Revolution was the best of times and the worst of times,

It was the age of wisdom and the age of foolishness at the same time,

It was a time of faith and a time of doubt.

Everything seemed to be in front of them, but on the other hand, they were experiencing a serious contradictory era with nothing.

Thus, the emergence of a new power of the vast majority caused confusion full of contradictions and painful rites of passage.

A senior official opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“It happened just across the sea. If the actions of those ignorant French people are transmitted to our England, can we not guarantee our safety?”

As many French nobles had recently fled to England, anxiety was growing among the British nobles.

King George, who had been frowning, raised his head and looked for Tae-oh.

“Lord Sanderson! Where is Lord Sanderson?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Come out, come out quickly!”

Tae-oh, who was among the nobles, walked forward.

“Well, what do you think? How do you think this situation will unfold in the future? Is there a risk that we will experience the same riots as France? If so, what do you think is the best way to deal with it?”

At King George’s barrage of questions, the eyes of other ministers and nobles turned to Tae-oh all at once.

The ‘Eden Treaty’ was unfolding as Tae-oh’s negotiating team had predicted.

France suffered great losses due to poor harvests, and it became solidified in a form where England was completely overwhelmed by British high-value-added industrial products, and England was making huge profits.

Now, no one could ignore Tae-oh’s words.

The nobles, who used to look down on him for his humble origins, were unknowingly relying on Tae-oh when the world was in great turmoil.

‘…….’

The French Revolution, one of the greatest events that shook the history of the world.

Tae-oh, who was very interested in history, knew the process of the revolution in detail.

However, it was a history that was gradually changing due to his intervention.

He could no longer predict how small butterfly wings would change history.

Above all, he was most concerned about Horatio Nelson, the hero of the British Navy, who had not yet appeared.

However, according to Admiral Bentham, he was currently 30 years old and still a young soldier, so it was highly likely that he was not appearing on the front lines of history.

When you think about it, Admiral Nelson made a name for himself in the late 1790s and early 1800s in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, the Battle of the Nile, and the Battle of Trafalgar, where he died heroically.

Even if history is being pulled forward little by little, it is almost 10 years away since it is now 1788.

It was rather natural that his name was not yet known in England.

Tae-oh, who looked around at King George, ministers, and nobles who were full of worries about the outbreak of riots, opened his mouth.

“Rather than a popular uprising… I think we should prepare for war.”

The reception room buzzed at the word ‘war’ when they were talking about the French popular uprising.

King George asked.

“Did you just say war? Suddenly war? What is the basis for saying that?”

“There are two reasons.”

King George and his ministers held their breath and listened to Tae-oh’s argument.

“First, because of the great problems within France, France will eventually try to divert internal problems to external wars.

Second, if France succeeds in the revolution and maintains that state, other countries around it will try to erase the color of the French Revolution through war for fear that the revolution will be contagious.

In the end, whether France tries to wage war with surrounding countries or surrounding countries try to wage war with France, I think war will be inevitable.”

Now it was England that had ignited the development of industry. But war.

King George was in a quandary.

“No, what if France starts a big war at this time when the economy is rising? Huh- I can’t not believe Lord Sanderson’s words, but if that happens, it will be a big problem.”

King George, who had experienced enormous losses in the Seven Years’ War and the war with the North American colonies, sighed greatly at the word war.

“But, Your Majesty, crisis can be an opportunity.”

“Opportunity…?”

“That’s right. Unlike the continent where France is located, our country is surrounded by the sea, so even if a war breaks out, no country’s army can easily invade our country. Geographically, it is the best condition for defense.

Therefore, unlike other continental countries, we can take this as a good opportunity to develop the industry even further.”

King George asked with a puzzled expression.

“Even so, can’t France arrive in our England quickly? If a war breaks out in Europe, won’t the French army try to target our England first?”

The distance from Calais, France, to Dover, England, is only about 34 km, so it was a very short distance that could be reached by boat in less than a day.

“You saw it well. France will surely try to target England, which is a close and huge market, first. But it is still in a chaotic situation due to the popular uprising. There is a time buffer of several years until the chaos subsides and the war begins.

Therefore, if we strengthen our naval power and prepare well for war, they will not be able to set foot on our land.”

Tae-oh’s positive and confident predictions had the power to brighten the atmosphere in the reception room.

However, the Prime Minister still asked with a worried face.

“Leaving aside the war issue, now that the French people are attacking nobles and clergy and even receiving the King’s surrender, what do you think about the possibility that our people will be stimulated and move on to such actions?”

Tae-oh shook his head.

“If you think about why the popular uprising occurred in France, the answer is very simple.

In the meantime, French commoners have not been able to eat or dress properly due to floods, droughts, and cold damage. In addition, various unreasonable taxes and corvée [unpaid labor owed to a lord] problems have overlapped to awaken their anger.

In other words, if we revive the economy, improve the people’s food, clothing, and shelter to the extent that they can feel it, and improve the administrative system to impose taxes as reasonably as possible, it will be difficult for a revolt like the one in France to occur in England.

In addition, the French people expected that if they overturned this unreasonable world, a completely different and better world would unfold, but unlike what they thought, they would enter into slaughter and greater chaos, and they would find their former peace.

Therefore, our people, who are relatively stable in everything, will hardly feel the need for an uprising.”

“Hmm- that’s a valid analysis.”

The Prime Minister was relieved by Tae-oh’s words.

“However, in order for such peace to be maintained, it is essential to prepare for foreign attacks.

And as I keep emphasizing, a strong navy must be at the center of it.”

“A strong navy….”

King George nodded and pondered.

Horatio Nelson, who has not yet appeared.

Tae-oh was laying the groundwork in advance so that Nelson would not be able to exert his power properly because of the pulled-up history.