I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 247

247. If You Get Caught, You Deserve to Be Hit (247/355)

< If You Get Caught, You Deserve to Be Hit >

Changdeok Palace, Seonjeongjeon Hall.

This private hall, serving as the Joseon king’s office to oversee state affairs since Gyeongbok Palace burned down, has been anything but quiet lately.

“So, are you saying that this Hong Gyeong-rae was truly plotting a rebellion?”

“He hasn’t acted yet, but he’s reportedly inciting people suffering from the famine and those in the Northwest who strongly oppose the court due to discriminatory policies.”

“Haa… the information from France was accurate. How could this be?”

The information Christian provided shocked Joseon considerably.

In particular, the young King Yi Gong was so surprised he felt like his soul had left his body.

“I heard France is far beyond Qing, requiring a long journey by ship.”

“Yes. Even with the fast ship France provided, it took a considerable amount of time. Had we used our own ship, it might have taken several months.”

“If that country is so far away, as the Chief State Councilor says, how could they have known about the schemes taking place here? And much faster than us.”

Even to the king’s question, the private hall remained silent.

Neither the three chief councilors nor the six ministers had a clear answer.

Frustrated, Yi Gong asked Seo Yong-bo again.

“Chief State Councilor, since you’ve been to France, I’ll ask you. How do you think they could have done that?”

“That is…”

He had to answer because he was specifically asked, but Seo Yong-bo was just as frustrated.

*How would I know that?* he thought. If he could, he would go directly to the Prime Minister and ask.

“They couldn’t have received the information from Qing… Qing wouldn’t be so knowledgeable about Joseon’s affairs…”

“Until now, Western countries have shown such ignorance of our culture. The tragedy of the Byeongin year [French invasion of Korea in 1866] was ultimately caused by that. But how can this be?”

It was truly fortunate that they had prevented the rebellion in advance.

The more they investigated, the more they realized the potential damage if this had developed into a full-scale revolt.

But that was even more of a problem.

How and through what route did France obtain this information?

“It’s a gentleman’s duty to repay a favor, but we’re troubled by the great favor we’ve received. What kind of demands will they make with this as an excuse…”

“Since we’ve agreed to conclude a trade treaty, shouldn’t we just move on with that?”

“If they don’t say anything, we can, but… how likely is it that they won’t make any demands? The greed of Westerners has been shown before.”

The Westerners were always a source of strife and disaster.

It wasn’t without reason that the court, which had initially watched them with a lenient eye, strictly prohibited them.

“Since the Chief State Councilor doesn’t know, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice should answer. You also went to France with the Chief State Councilor, didn’t you?”

Jeong Yak-yong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was reinstated for successfully completing his mission as an envoy to France, bowed deeply and answered.

“I suspect the French Prime Minister, Christian, was involved. His wisdom and insight were renowned even in Europe.”

“No, no matter how wise he is, how can he extend his reach to this distant land? Unless he has legendary clairvoyance…”

“If we formally conclude a trade treaty, I’ll subtly probe him. Wouldn’t we be able to find out how it happened then?”

“I don’t think they’ll tell us honestly, but… it seems we have no choice now. But concluding a trade treaty with France means… we have to reject Qing’s demands, doesn’t it?”

At the king’s question, which was almost a monologue, the private hall was silent again.

It wasn’t because they didn’t know the answer, but because it was such a sensitive and important issue that no one dared to speak first.

Yi Gong continued in a calm tone, as if he didn’t expect an answer anyway.

“As you all know, the envoy sent by Qing recently arrived at the court. They’re currently at war with France, so they’ve requested us to dispatch troops. Ministers, please give your opinions on how to deal with this issue.”

This case was too important for the Ministry of Rites to handle alone, so it was necessary to hear the opinions of all officials, high and low.

And in this case, it’s a universal law that the highest-ranking person takes the lead.

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Kim Jae-chan, the Chief State Councilor.

Feeling the unspoken pressure, he cleared his throat a couple of times and opened his mouth heavily.

“…Ahem, I am Kim Jae-chan, the Chief State Councilor. I dare to speak. It’s true that Joseon opposed the Ara people [Russians] at Qing’s request in the past. But that was only to strike the enemy entrenched in a place difficult for the Qing army to reach. This case is very different.”

“That’s right. I heard the French army is stationed near Nanjing.”

“If we dispatch troops, France may turn its troops this way on that pretext. You should consider that when making a decision.”

“But if we ignore Qing’s demands, we don’t know what kind of retaliation we’ll suffer in the future, do we?”

If it were the relationship between Joseon and Ming in the past, Joseon might have dispatched troops to fulfill the way of the gentleman [upholding moral obligations].

However, strictly speaking, Joseon didn’t have that much loyalty to Qing now.

If they could, they just wanted to pretend they didn’t receive the message and not get involved.

“Your Majesty! I am Seo Yong-bo, the Second State Councilor, and I’d like to speak. According to information from Dutch merchants recently, Qing has suffered an irreparable defeat against France. They won’t have the capacity to retaliate even if we don’t dispatch troops.”

“That novel where 100,000 fought against 20,000 and couldn’t kill a single person? I could have made it up more plausibly even if I wrote it.”

“Of course, I don’t believe all of it either. But so far, the facts of the information brought by the Dutch merchants have been close to the truth. That means that Qing’s defeat this time is undoubtedly true.”

“That’s a plausible statement. France may have exaggerated the casualties, but it’s unlikely they would have lied about losing and said they won.”

In any case, the Netherlands sent very reliable information in the last war as well.

Besides, France had helped them cut off the seeds of rebellion in Joseon this time, hadn’t they?

It didn’t seem like they would have sent completely absurd stories.

“Besides, if Qing really had the *yeoyu* [余裕,余裕, ample capacity], there would be no reason for them to ask us for support. Asking for troops in a war taking place in their own country would tarnish the prestige of the Middle Kingdom [China].”

“It’s difficult… it’s really difficult. Even if there’s little loyalty to Qing, it’s not right to take the side of the Westerners…”

“France is a Westerner, but the Prime Minister I saw in person had the appearance of an undoubtedly excellent Confucian scholar. Therefore, the current France, educated by him, should be distinguished from other Westerners.”

“Haa… if the Chief State Councilor says this, it must be true that the Prime Minister of France has the seeds of a gentleman.”

After hesitating for a moment, Seo Yong-bo closed his eyes tightly and nodded vigorously.

Since he had led the trade between France and Joseon, he needed to praise France in order not to be buried.

If Christian, as Jeong Yak-yong said, wasn’t a typical Westerner but someone who had awakened to the Way of Confucianism, then they would be trading with a country of gentlemen, not barbarians.

In other words, they could prevent any criticism that a person who had learned Confucianism had allied with barbarians.

So, he had to speak well of Christian unconditionally.

“What is the true Confucian scholar’s attitude that Zhuja [Zhu Xi, Song dynasty Confucian scholar] spoke of? Isn’t it to guide even the most violent and rootless people to the right path? The Prime Minister of France is living proof that Westerners can also be enlightened! The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice will agree with me.”

When Seo Yong-bo turned his gaze slightly, Jeong Yak-yong nodded as if he had been waiting.

When the two people who usually opposed each other spoke in one voice, the king had no choice but to agree.

“Since you say so, I’m also interested. I want to see him in person sometime. Then, let’s reject Qing’s request under the pretext of Hong Gyeong-rae’s rebellion. If we say a rebellion has occurred here, they won’t be able to make more unreasonable demands.”

“Your Majesty! If you allow me, I, Jeong Yak-yong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, would like to offer one more piece of advice.”

“Speak if you have a better way.”

“From what I saw in person, France is the rising sun, and Qing’s national fortune has reached its limit. France is faithfully implementing the ideals of benevolent rule and is doing its best to select and comfort the people. On the other hand, Qing is full of corrupt officials who deviate from the Way of Confucianism and wield their power as they please, so this trend was only a matter of course.”

A blatant statement praising the Westerners and belittling the Middle Kingdom flowed out in the Joseon private hall, but no one could stop it.

Rather, what could they say when the Westerners followed the ideas of Confucianism and Qing did not, and that’s why this happened?

“So, what are you trying to say?”

“Even if we leave it as it is, France’s status will soon rise to the sky. So, why don’t we owe them a debt at this time?”

“Debt?”

“Yes. We reject Qing’s support with a proper reason and tell France that Qing is trying to mobilize its vassal states. And if we say this is in return for the information they gave us, wouldn’t the problem that Your Majesty is worried about be solved?”

“Oh! That’s a great idea.”

If you receive information, it’s certainly reasonable to repay it with information.

There was no reason to reject this, as it could prevent a situation in which they would present more conditions in trade in return for informing them of the rebellion in the future.

Later, if this gets into Qing’s ears, there may be a strong backlash, but then we can just insist there’s no evidence.

This isn’t something they directly told them, but they can just say the information was leaked.

“Then, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Second State Councilor should take charge of this matter. I will entrust the relationship with France to you in the future.”

“Thank you for your grace!”

※※※

Only a month after the Qing army suffered a historic defeat in Jiangxi Province.

The French army, advancing north at an incredible speed, occupied Nanjing, the center of Jiangsu Province, for easy supply.

This city, the capital of the early Ming Dynasty, is arguably the center of the Jiangnan region [geographic area in China south of the Yangtze River].

However, Napoleon, who seemed ready to swallow Qing at any moment, surprisingly stayed in Nanjing for a long time, leisurely enjoying the old capital’s atmosphere.

He seemed to be watching like a third party as the French army’s movements caused an uproar in Uyghur, turned Beijing upside down, and spread repercussions throughout Asia.

“You seem to be in a better mood today? Were you so happy that the home country accepted your crazy demands?”

“Of course. Didn’t I say it? I’m the only one who sees through the Prime Minister’s deep intentions. Only I, Napoleon.”

“Lan and Grouchy heard that the Prime Minister couldn’t close his mouth in shock after receiving the report containing your actions…”

“I understand. Until now, no one has realized your true intentions, but I paved the way without listening to any other orders.”

Sensing that his friend’s delusion had begun to run wild, Davout clicked his tongue and forcibly changed the subject.

“Oh, by the way, did you receive a reply from Joseon?”

“The plan to mobilize the vassal states? Too naturally, they were all rejected, right?”

“What are you going to do? This time, it was caught that you were negotiating but doing something else behind the scenes.”

“If they do that to us, shouldn’t we do the same to them?”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Even though it’s overshadowed by the sun of malice, England, France is proud to boast the third-worst malice in Europe.

Honestly, it was frustrating because I had only been using formal methods so far, but if there’s a condition that I can hit the other party in the back of the head, that’s what I want.

Just thinking about what to do from now on makes me excited and my shoulders shake.

A gruesome smile spread across Napoleon’s lips as he sipped tea while looking at the royal tombs of the Six Dynasties.

< If You Get Caught, You Deserve to Be Hit > End