I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 279

Or Not

“Is this the right place to meet up?”

“Yes! This is the correct location!”

Having arrived at the border with Inner Mongolia, the Jiaqing Emperor finally felt he could breathe a sigh of relief and stretched his stiff shoulders.

“By now, those Joseon [Korean] bastards must be in a state of utter chaos.”

“Yes. They probably can’t even fathom how we evacuated so quickly. They must think they’re bewitched by a ghost.”

“This is the difference in caliber between those who look over the world. Ruling a small land naturally makes one’s perspective small as well. The King of Joseon is, at best, a man with a vision suited to his narrow land.”

“It’s absurd for the King of Joseon to try to scheme against Your Majesty, who rules the Middle Kingdom [China]. I believe it’s a natural order of the world.”

Recently, only bad things had happened, but it felt so good to get one over on someone after so long.

In reality, he was essentially being chased out of Manchuria, but the Jiaqing Emperor certainly didn’t see it that way.

If Joseon sent 20,000 troops beyond its borders and gained no real benefit, that alone was a loss tantamount to defeat for Joseon.

If they had captured the Son of Heaven and received the Primorsky Krai [a region in Russia], they could at least have deluded themselves into thinking they had gained land, but they couldn’t even do that.

Looking at this alone, Joseon would inevitably suffer irreparable losses from this dispatch of troops.

For a mere vassal state to dare defy his words, this is what happens.

As the Jiaqing Emperor was laughing at the King of Joseon, a group of cavalrymen raising a cloud of dust approached from the opposite side.

“We greet His Majesty, the Son of Heaven of the Middle Kingdom and the Great Khan of the Steppe! Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years! I am Borjigit Linchen, here to serve Your Majesty.”

“Oh, you’ve finally arrived. I’ve been waiting.”

The Borjigit family were the most influential figures in Inner Mongolia, descended from Genghis Khan or his brothers.

If such a person came out as a representative, it could be said that they had shown the greatest respect possible in welcoming the Son of Heaven.

“You’ve heard the story as well, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I’ve discussed everything with the Crown Prince and other officials. From now on, we will serve Your Majesty in comfort.”

“Oh, good. But what is the current military strength of Mongolia? There’s a low possibility, but the Joseon bastards might come after us. I heard their numbers are about 20,000.”

“You don’t need to worry about them. They won’t be able to harm Your Majesty’s sacred body in any way.”

He had heard that Inner Mongolia’s military strength wasn’t what it used to be, but Linchen’s voice was exceedingly calm.

Well, no matter what, there was no way the descendants of the Mongols, who once ruled the steppe, would be afraid of weaklings like Joseon.

“Good, good. Seeing your bravery puts my mind at ease. Then, I’ll be in your care until this war is over. I’ll reward you handsomely when the war is over, so there won’t be any regrets.”

“We are not doing this for rewards.”

“Hahaha! That’s the spirit of a true loyalist.”

The Jiaqing Emperor laughed heartily and got into the carriage prepared by the Inner Mongolians.

“Your Majesty, you must be tired from the long journey, so please have a cup of warm tea we have prepared.”

“Oh, you’re very well-prepared.”

He happily emptied the teacup and leaned back against the backrest, feeling sleepy.

Indeed, he seemed to have accumulated a lot of fatigue from being chased out in such a hurry.

But was it just because he was sleepy?

The direction the carriage was moving in seemed to be south, not north…

Logically, shouldn’t they be returning in the direction the Mongolian cavalry had come from?

Was it just his imagination, or did he feel like they were going in the opposite direction?

“Hey… are we going in the right direction?”

“Yes. We are going to the right place, so please don’t worry and get some sleep.”

“Is that so… I must be really sleepy. Then, I won’t refuse…”

Unable to overcome his fatigue, the Jiaqing Emperor eventually rested his chin on his hand and began to nod off.

How long had he been asleep?

“…Now mu…”

“Unforgivable…”

“…Your Majesty! Save…”

The Jiaqing Emperor opened his eyes after hearing something like screams from his close aides.

“What, what is it! Don’t tell me the Joseon bastards have invaded even here…”

The Jiaqing Emperor, who had almost jumped out of his seat, couldn’t finish his sentence.

He wouldn’t have been this surprised if he had really been caught by the Joseon army.

What the Jiaqing Emperor saw before his eyes were strange humans with pitch-black skin, whom he had never seen before in his life.

“What, what are these guys!”

“Oh dear. I was going to wake you up when everything was finished, but it seems the dosage was wrong.”

“Linchen, what are you doing! Immediately subdue those bizarre beings… don’t…”

The Jiaqing Emperor, who was about to burst into anger, sensed that something was wrong.

The ones standing in front of his tragically dead close aides were not those black-skinned monsters, but Mongolian cavalrymen.

The ones with weapons dripping with blood were not the black-skinned soldiers, but the Mongolian cavalrymen.

Looking at this alone, wouldn’t the conclusion be that it was Linchen and the Mongolian soldiers who killed his close aides, not those strange humans?

“Wh, what on earth is…”

“I apologize, but it is as you see. The Son of Heaven should be in the capital. That is the natural order.”

“What! Then, the place you guys are taking me is…”

“Yes. It is the capital.”

“Y, you bastards… you…”

The Jiaqing Emperor wanted to pour out something surging from within, but he couldn’t even do that.

How should he express his current feelings?

Anger, absurdity, bewilderment, despair…

All these emotions swirled in his heart and mind, creating endless question marks.

“Wh, why…”

“We have not betrayed you. We have merely decided to follow the Crown Prince’s will.”

“What? The Crown Prince? Are you saying my son betrayed me!”

“It is not betrayal, but a decision for the sake of the nation’s well-being. In exchange for handing over Your Majesty, France has promised absolute sovereignty and security for the Northeast Three Provinces [Manchuria] and Inner Mongolia.”

Linchen apologized with a face that didn’t seem sorry at all and continued speaking.

“We know better than anyone else, having fought against them, how strong France is. Didn’t a force of 300,000 in the south get annihilated by just 30,000? We were certain this would happen.”

“You fools! So what if that happened! Our Qing has enough national power to conscript another 300,000 even if 300,000 die!”

“That may have been the case in the past, but not now. Already, various ethnic groups in various regions are seeking their own way to survive and are breaking free from the state’s control. We are simply doing the same.”

“If you do that, the head of our people will no longer be able to call himself the Son of Heaven. Is that the Crown Prince’s will? Is that foolish choice to abandon the throne of the Son of Heaven really coming from my son’s head!”

“One lets go of what one cannot hold. We saw even greater sincerity in the Crown Prince’s actions.”

Even if the words are eloquent, isn’t it just the logic of the defeated?

What a ridiculous thing to say.

“No matter how much nonsense you spout, what you’re doing is treason! But if you change your mind now and kill those blacks, I won’t hold you responsible. So, understand the situation properly and kill them! That is the Son of Heaven’s command!”

“We will safely escort you to the capital.”

Linchen didn’t even pretend to listen to the Jiaqing Emperor’s words and locked the carriage door.

“Y, you bastards! I am the Son of Heaven of the Middle Kingdom! No, I command you as the Great Khan of the Steppe! Open this door right now, you Mongolian dogs! Aaaaaaaagh!”

Even if a dog barks, the carriage moves on.

No one listened to the Jiaqing Emperor’s empty cries as he banged on the door and wailed.

The soldiers of the 2nd Corps, who had come to secure the Son of Heaven, simply watched this unfortunate scene with awkward expressions.

※※※

Around the time I received a report that the British and Russian forces seemed to have set up camp in the Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, the person I had been waiting for so eagerly arrived in Beijing.

The original owner of the Forbidden City, which had been left empty until now.

The Son of Heaven of the Middle Kingdom, whom I had asked to see so many times, but who had been stingy enough to only send an agent and never tried to look this way.

The Jiaqing Emperor was respectfully led by the Mongolian army to the Cultural Palace, where I was.

“It’s the first time we’ve met like this. I am Louis Christian, the Prime Minister of France, meeting the Emperor of Qing.”

“…”

Perhaps he had been under a lot of stress while coming to Beijing, as the Jiaqing Emperor’s eyes were darkly sunken.

“It seems your health has deteriorated due to the long period of refuge. I will send a skilled doctor to examine you right away.”

“…Are you the Prime Minister of that France…”

Was he ignoring my words… or was he so out of his mind that he couldn’t even hear them?

I left only the guards and had the others step back, then politely offered him the seat of honor.

“Please sit here first. It would be impolite to have the Emperor of the Great Qing Empire stand while we talk.”

“The Son of Heaven? Are you calling me the Son of Heaven?”

“If not Your Majesty, then who is the emperor of this country? There is no one in this world who would deny such an obvious fact.”

In the first place, if he weren’t the Son of Heaven, would anyone treat a man who now has no power or real authority, even superficially?

“The Forbidden City is my palace. You’re running around my palace like it’s your own backyard, and you say you acknowledge me as the Son of Heaven?”

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding, but I clearly stated when the armistice treaty was signed that if Your Majesty returned to the Forbidden City and fulfilled the agreements we made, we would vacate this place at any time. Yet, wasn’t it Your Majesty who stayed in the temporary palace until the very end?”

“That’s because… I, the Son of Heaven of the Middle Kingdom, could not endure such humiliating conditions! Weren’t you guys aiming for that from the beginning, presenting outrageous conditions!”

“Was that so? But if you had followed my words back then, this situation wouldn’t have happened. In the end, it is not I, but Your Majesty, who has brought about all of this.”

The Jiaqing Emperor, who had been full of anger, could only glare at me with eyes flashing with hatred, unable to refute any further.

Frankly speaking, he only did what I told him not to do, and that’s how he ended up in this state, so it would be shameless to blame me.

Of course, if you ask me if I really didn’t know that would happen, I would feel a little guilty, but anyway, it’s an undeniable fact that the Jiaqing Emperor was crushed by a disaster he brought upon himself, right?

“Anyway, Your Majesty, now that you have returned here, shouldn’t we have constructive discussions for the future of Qing and France?”

“…Do you mean to have armistice talks?”

“Armistice talks? That’s over now. The home country has belatedly realized that it is no longer possible to have a peaceful resolution with Qing.”

No matter how much we make a peace agreement, they secretly sign backroom deals with other countries, so what can we trust to continue the relationship?

Even the National Assembly in the home country has already gathered opinions to refuse any offers from the Qing Dynasty to conclude a truce or armistice agreement.

“Then what kind of discussion are you suggesting? I’m telling you, I have no intention of making a surrender declaration! Even if a knife is held to my throat, I have no intention of kneeling before the Westerners!”

“I understand. I respect that.”

All that’s left is pride and spite, so I didn’t expect him to surrender willingly from the start.

But even if you try to endure with sheer spite, it’s impossible if you don’t have the foundation to do so.

“What we want is just one thing. Here is a list of petitions from the ethnic groups who want independence, all neatly organized, so all you have to do is put your royal seal on them. And of course, it goes without saying… Your Majesty cannot refuse this.”

“Wh, what…!”

Of course, he’ll say he doesn’t like it, but as I said, he doesn’t have a choice.

Still, the last thing he does as the Son of Heaven will be a good thing for all mankind, so he can go with pride, right?

Or not.

End of Or Not