Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1182

1182. The Task He Left Behind (2)

“If cursing could bring about the best outcome, I would do it for three days and nights without rest, but it can’t. So, let’s try to find an answer now.”

“It wouldn’t be a problem if it were easy.”

“Hoo…”

The ministers sighed, unable to come up with an answer that made them think, ‘This is it!’

This was the same for Emperor Woo.

“It would be easiest to just lend the money and receive interest, but politics are involved, so there’s no easy answer. Hoo〜.”

Sighing and searching for an answer, Woo began to rummage through the documents piled beside him.

“The thing I understood least among the words of Tae Tae Sang Hwang [Great Retired Emperor, referring to Hyang] was ‘Solve a problem with a problem,’ but now I understand.”

Woo’s words referred to one of Hyang’s famous sayings.

And it was the saying that Hyang felt most misrepresented by.

He had said it to Wan when he was the Crown Prince, struggling with a difficult problem.

“You can’t find the answer just by staring at it. I advise you to put it down for a while and clear your head.”

“But, I can’t put it down because there are so many tasks with deadlines.”

“Isn’t it also a waste of time to just keep looking at it? If so, put that difficult problem aside and deal with the other, easier problems first. Solving easy problems can sometimes lead to solving complex problems.”

“I will do so.”

Wan followed Hyang’s advice and soon achieved positive results.

“I achieved truly good results by following your advice! I am always amazed by Your Majesty’s wisdom and want to learn from it!”

Hyang smiled and waved his hand dismissively at Wan’s words.

“Wisdom, what wisdom… It’s just from experience. The Crown Prince will naturally learn it as he gains more experience. Ah! You have to work hard for it.”

“I will do my best!”

Watching Wan bow and leave, Hyang muttered to himself.

‘The human brain is funny. It can’t multitask openly, but it can multitask subtly, right?’

However, as time passed, this was distorted into ‘Solve a problem with a problem,’ and Hyang felt unfairly portrayed.

“People will think I’m just eager to make people work! I’d rather they said, ‘Torment people you don’t like with work!’ because I’ve used that method often! Torment them with work once, then give them a carrot to make sure they can’t escape, and torment them twice! How sophisticated is that?”

While Hyang was grumbling like this in the Geunjeongjeon’s [main hall of the palace] sleeping quarters, Han Myung-hoi was suffering from an inexplicable chill while sleeping.

“Please let me resign… Not a promotion, but a resignation…”

Han Myung-hoi muttered in his sleep, shedding tears.

* * *

In any case, following Hyang’s golden saying, Woo picked up other documents.

“Let’s see… This is from the Board of Audit and Inspection. ‘Audit Report on Budget Execution’… Hmm…”

Woo, who was examining the report submitted by the Board of Audit and Inspection, suddenly froze.

“Wait! This! This is it!”

Woo, who had uttered incomprehensible words, picked up the brush next to him and began to write something on a blank sheet of paper.

The next morning, as soon as day broke, Woo headed straight to Sugang Palace [Hyang’s residence].

“I apologize for being so rude early in the morning.”

“No. If the Emperor is looking for me, time is not an issue, is it?”

Woo, looking relieved at Hyang’s words, took out a piece of paper from his chest and handed it over.

“You know that there is a lot of talk about lending money to France this time. So, I thought of something and would like your advice.”

“Hmm…”

Hyang, who received the paper from Woo and read it, immediately ordered the eunuch.

“Go and bring the Tae Sang Hwang [Great Retired Emperor, referring to Wan].”

“Yes.”

Hyang, who gave the order to the eunuch, smiled at Woo.

“It seems like a very good idea. Let’s add a little more to it.”

Wan, who arrived after being summoned by Hyang, read the plan and had a similar expression to Hyang.

“This is a very good plan, isn’t it?”

* * *

Woo, who had secured a revised plan with plenty of MSG [a metaphor for enhancements or additions] at Sugang Palace, immediately summoned all the ministers.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and France is trying to borrow money from us with the intention of rebuilding ports and various facilities, right?”

“That is correct.”

“And what we are worried about is that the money we lend could become a knife aimed at our throats, or create a bad precedent, right?”

“That is correct.”

“Then let’s make them realize what a terrible thing happens when they borrow money from us. At the same time, let’s prevent the money we lend from leaking to the wrong places.”

Woo, finishing his words, handed the revised plan to the Prime Minister.

Starting with the Prime Minister, the ministers who read the revised plan all raised their heads and smiled at Woo.

It was a smile called ‘Seoul’s Smile’ in the East, and openly called ‘Hyang’s Smile’ in Europe.

It was a malicious smile that said, ‘Let’s see you get screwed.’

“As expected of Your Majesty!”

* * *

Two days later, the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the French envoys.

“There have been many opinions regarding France’s request. So, we have reached a conclusion to some extent.”

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs began to speak, the French envoys became very nervous and listened attentively.

“What conclusion have you reached?”

“Before I tell you the conclusion, there is something I want to make clear. Are the envoys definitely here on behalf of the King of France? Is it okay to judge that what is agreed upon in this place is agreed upon by the King of France?”

The chief envoy of the delegation, with a stiff expression, answered the question of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“Most of the items are. However, for items that seem too excessive, we must wait for instructions from our home country.”

“Is that so? Hmm… Then I will now convey the Empire’s answer. The Empire has decided to accept France’s request. The interest rate will also be 2% per year.”

“Is 2% 2 Pour cent [French for ‘percent’]?”

“That is correct.”

“Thank you very much!”

The French chief envoy expressed his gratitude with a bright face at the answer of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Compared to the interest rates of the giant financial families of Italy, which basically start at 10% per year, it was almost free.

However, the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs that followed poured cold water on the atmosphere of the French delegation.

“However, there are conditions.”

-The Empire will lend the amount requested by France over 10 years.

-This fund must be used only for non-military purposes.

-To confirm this, the Empire will dispatch an audit team to constantly audit budget execution.

-The loan for the following year will be paid only if there are no abnormalities in the audit team’s audit.

-If the above conditions are well observed for more than 5 years, the interest rate can be lowered from 2% per year to 1.5% per year.

-Also, if the above conditions are well observed, the repayment of the loan will be suspended for 10 years.

The chief envoy, who heard the conditions spoken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asked with a stiff expression.

“Is the Empire interfering in France’s internal affairs?”

“Not at all! We will not interfere with the budget executed by France with taxes collected from the French people. We will only prevent the money given by our Empire from leaking into military areas.”

‘We don’t care what you do with the money you earn. But we can’t stand you doing something else with my money.’

This was the hidden meaning of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ words.

“Keueung…..”

The chief envoy, who only groaned after hearing the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs with a tired expression.

“It is difficult to draw a conclusion in this place, so please give us a document recording the proposal.”

“How many copies do you need?”

“Shi-, no, please give us ten copies.”

* * *

The delegation, who returned to the consulate with the proposal, went straight to the conference room.

The envoys and consuls, who thoroughly analyzed the proposal again, all sighed.

“It is a proposal that is uncomfortable to accept and too sweet to reject.”

The people gathered in the conference room all nodded at the evaluation of the Consul General in Seoul.

-We will not interfere with the part where France executes the budget secured by itself. However, we will definitely check where the loan we gave is used.

It was a sentence that might not be a big problem if you only look at the sentence. In a way, it could be the right of the creditor.

But the problem was the current situation in France.

As the economy was ruined by the defeat in the war, it was difficult to secure proper tax revenue.

In addition, unlike France, which suffered great military losses in the last war, its rivals, the Habsburgs and England, suffered no damage.

At least the Habsburgs were no longer able to think about other things due to the problem of restoring the completely ruined military power of Spain, but England was not in that situation.

Because of England, France had to restore its military power as quickly as possible, but the budget was holding it back.

Therefore, a plan was made to divert it to the military sector if they succeeded in borrowing the loan, but the Empire poured cold water on it.

“However, if we reject the Empire’s proposal, the interest rate is too attractive… Hoo〜.”

As the chief envoy sighed and complained, they could not let go of the Empire’s proposal because of the low interest rate.

“Even if the Empire directly audits, can’t we avoid it as much as we want if we are determined?”

The Second Consul shook his head at the words of the Deputy Envoy.

“The inspectors sent by the Empire will definitely belong to the Board of Audit and Inspection or the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Even the people of the Empire admit that they are the most vicious people in the Empire. Circumvention? Don’t even dream about it. They are the ones who have dealt with all kinds of circumvention.”

“Is it that serious?”

“The Empire’s people are people who would deceive even the devil when it comes to money, and they are the ones who shake them up.”

“Heo…..”

“There was even a saying that even the Jews who immigrated to the Empire become meek lambs in front of the National Tax Service officials of the Ministry of Economy and Finance… Anyway, ordinary circumvention will not work.”

“This is…”

As the situation became like this, the French were now spending the night worrying about the choice.

* * *

After that, the 고민 [Korean word meaning ‘worry’ or ‘anguish’] continued for almost a month, but the conclusion was not easily reached.

“Let’s negotiate more about the payment conditions.”

“Nope.”

The French’s 고민 [Korean word meaning ‘worry’ or ‘anguish’] deepened further at the Empire’s too firm answer.

Around the same time, the news came that the English envoys who arrived in Seoul had successfully completed negotiations and were returning, and the French’s bodies became even more heated.

“The English are said to be buying cruisers from the Empire, so we can’t afford to be vague. Let’s conclude by accepting the Empire’s proposal. If anyone has any objections, speak up now.”

The others agreed with the chief envoy’s decision in silence.

The next day, the French delegation, who visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, waved the white flag.

“We will accept the Empire’s proposal.”

“We welcome your wise decision.”

Three days later, the formal agreement on the provision of loans was completed, and the signing ceremony was held.

“I hope that this loan will ease the uncomfortable feelings between the two countries.”

“Your Majesty’s grace is boundless.”

The French delegation, who answered Woo’s congratulatory address, boarded the ship returning to France.

Following the ship, a Challenger-class battleship carrying the loan for one year and an audit team to audit the execution raised its anchor.

As an aside, the audit team that arrived in Paris foamed at the mouth after seeing the budget execution records of the French Ministry of Finance.

“Is this what you call work!”

“It’s a blessing that the country hasn’t collapsed even after doing this!”