I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 324

The great empire of a glorious past.

Even amidst the ruins of an empire relegated to history, battles raged on.

They say even a wealthy man can survive for three years after bankruptcy, but the remnants of the Qing Dynasty couldn’t even manage that.

Yet, no matter how ruined, it remained a sacred place for those who once believed it was everything.

One reason for the escalating chaos was the imperial family’s retreat from Beijing to Manchuria.

Beijing became a land without a master.

The unfounded delusion that whoever occupied the Forbidden City would become the new head of the imperial family spread throughout the Central Plains.

Some scoffed at this nonsense, but deeply ingrained perceptions of thousands of years don’t easily change.

Ethnic minorities on the periphery were less inclined to believe it, but Han-Chinese-centered states closer to the Central Plains grew increasingly assertive.

“Beijing was originally the capital of Yan. It is only right that we, the successors to that legacy, should occupy it.”

“What nonsense are you spouting from centuries ago? Beijing is the center of the world, so it is right for our Jungwon State [Jungwon literally means ‘center plain’], which uses the ‘center’ character, to occupy it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Since ancient times, the emperor has performed the Bongseon ceremony [a ritual to receive the Mandate of Heaven] at Mount Tai. Shouldn’t the center of the world be our Shandong, which encompasses Mount Tai?”

All sorts of absurd justifications arose, and the escalating conflicts soon erupted into battles.

As battles broke out, each state naturally armed itself, and as they armed themselves, the scale of the conflict grew, creating a vicious cycle.

Some commented that the Spring and Autumn Warring States period [a period of intense warfare in ancient China] had been reborn in the 19th century, and the conflict showed no signs of abating.

There were several reasons for this, but the primary one was clear.

Most of the states carved out from the Qing Dynasty hadn’t yet escaped their feudal structures.

Furthermore, many of those conscripted as soldiers lacked modern military training, and their weaponry was naturally poor.

This situation made the strategy of overwhelming with numbers still effective, leading each state to rack their brains and spend money to gather young men.

They gathered people so thoughtlessly that there were even instances where 200,000 men were mobilized in a single battle around Beijing.

As things reached this point, a common thought began to take root in the minds of those wielding military power in each region.

-Now that it has come to this, shouldn’t I unify the world?

Unifying the world.

For those born and raised under the Qing Dynasty, it was an intoxicating idea.

For those who grew up listening to tales of Eastern heroes, it was a kind of romantic aspiration.

If such a statement were made in the Western world or in East Asian countries undergoing modernization, it would be dismissed as nonsense, but unfortunately, the Central Plains was different.

Since most of the land had not yet fully modernized, the general level of awareness among the people was not much higher than during the Qing Dynasty.

It takes two to tango.

The number of states captivated by the plausible ideology of reunifying the Central Plains continued to grow, and the chaos in Northeast Asia showed no signs of improving.

And recently, influential figures from Fujian, Henan, and Hunan provinces, caught up in this chaos, were secretly holding meetings.

“Oh, welcome.”

“…Have you been well? I would like to ask, but it would be a waste of time. I guess we’re all in the same boat.”

The young man removed the hood he wore to conceal his face and tossed it roughly on the table before sitting down.

“How is the situation in the north?”

“It’s just madness, utter madness. There’s no one like those crazy bastards.”

“No, first they were running around like madmen with flowers in their hair, trying to occupy Beijing, and now they’re unifying the world? Is this the Romance of the Three Kingdoms [a famous historical novel about warring kingdoms in ancient China] now?”

“Actually, the king of Later Yan calls himself Yuan Shao [a character from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms], who didn’t fail.”

“Yuan Shao my ass. Then tell him to hurry up and die at Guandu [a famous battle where Yuan Shao was defeated].”

Why are they causing trouble for us when they can just play their little land-grabbing game among themselves?

The problem was that this storm of madness was gradually moving south, and it was unavoidable.

Zeng Lin-seo, the 69th-generation descendant of Zengzi [also known as Zeng Shen, a Confucian philosopher] and representative of Hunan Province, ceased his lamenting and carefully offered his opinion.

“Now that we’ve gathered like this, let’s discuss countermeasures. What is Fujian Province going to do?”

Until its demise, the Qing Dynasty adhered to the Haijin policy [a policy of maritime prohibition], which forbade residents from going to sea.

As a result, numerous villages on the coast of Fujian Province, adjacent to the sea, were devastated, and the people of Fujian Province were even treated as traitors who colluded with foreign countries.

However, recently, Fujian Province has been trading with foreign countries the fastest among the states that have broken away from the Qing Dynasty, and it is growing rapidly day by day.

And at the center of it was Lin Zexu, a young man from Fujian Province.

Because of his proven track record, no one, despite his youth, showed a contemptuous attitude towards him.

Lin Zexu confidently looked around at the representatives of other states and began to speak.

“First of all, we must consider armed conflict as an inevitable constant. In particular, Henan Province, located relatively far north, is the most vulnerable.”

“That’s right. There are crazy bastards swarming right above us.”

“Unfortunately, Fujian and Hunan cannot provide immediate support. Therefore, we must prepare in advance, but that’s easier said than done.”

Lin Zexu looked back at the head of the Yuan family, a prestigious family from Shangqiu who came as a representative of Henan Province.

In fact, in his opinion, the Yuan family was also one of those who could succumb to that madness at any time.

To be honest, he didn’t trust them.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to say that, so he concealed his true feelings as much as possible and suggested a neutral solution.

“First, let’s announce that we have formed an alliance. That alone will serve as a deterrent. And let’s contact Guangdong, France.”

“France?”

“Yes. In fact, the first region to be swept up in the madness in the north should have been Manchuria, because Emperor Daoguang [the Qing Emperor from 1820 to 1850], who claims to be the emperor, is still alive and well there. But look, even the northern bastards who are running around like wild horses with their tails on fire don’t even dare to enter Manchuria.”

“Manchuria is an ally of France…”

The reason why France hasn’t intervened in the Northeast Asian front so far is simple.

The Northeast Asian states were thoroughly fighting among themselves and didn’t threaten France’s allies.

Therefore, there was no justification for intervention.

They might intervene if their safety is threatened, but that didn’t seem likely for the time being.

That’s because the battle is only taking place in the north, and there is no chance that they will get involved with Guangdong.

“First of all, we need to contact Guangdong, France, and find out how they view the current situation. And if there are any advantages we can leverage, let’s use them as much as possible.”

“Will that be as easy as it sounds? France has basically declared that it will not intervene in Asian countries.”

“So we have to make them intervene.”

In fact, Lin Zexu didn’t know exactly how strong Guangdong, France, was.

He knew that the main force of France, which had ravaged the Qing Dynasty in the past, had returned to Europe, but he wondered what the new forces would be like.

However, one thing was certain no matter what.

Even if Guangdong, France, was weaker than the French army that attacked the Qing Dynasty before, it couldn’t be weaker than the northern rabble.

“But Representative Lin, even if we form an alliance among ourselves, how are you going to contact France?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do it myself.”

“Oh! If you do that, we’ll be very reassured.”

“As expected, Representative Lin. We’ll trust you then.”

Many of the states that separated from the Qing Dynasty still had ambiguous relations with France.

In this situation, if Fujian takes the lead, there is nothing bad for the others.

However, Lin Zexu also had his own thoughts.

‘Those incompetent old farts are trying to get something for nothing.’

After gathering them in one place like this, he immediately understood.

In fact, only the state has changed, but the way of thinking of those in the upper positions is no different from when they were in the Qing Dynasty.

If they continue to work with these people, they will be lumped together and regress.

In that respect, this war was not a crisis but an opportunity.

An opportunity to sever ties with the old system and seize a new lifeline.

If the times have changed, you have to adapt.

Those who don’t understand this will eventually be left behind.

Like those who are making a fuss up there.

※※※

There are too many things to take care of.

The position of Governor-General isn’t bad.

There are many powers to enjoy, everyone bows to him, and he can freely pursue his goals.

But the responsibility that increases in proportion to that is truly a burden.

In particular, Guangdong, France, is the most unique of France’s overseas territories, so the burden is even greater.

How quickly this place can be Gallicized, like the New World, depends entirely on the achievements of the current Governor-General, Robespierre, himself.

The time when he falters could be delayed by a generation or two.

This was a fact that Christian himself had directly stated.

From then on, the position of Governor-General here was not so comfortable.

He had a small wish to become the Governor-General of Arabia, which had no intention of directly merging it into the territory of the home country, but what could he do?

If he didn’t like it, he would have to become Christian, who had the power of personnel, but he hated that even more.

“When I was young, I thought everything would be fine if I just climbed the ladder…”

“Governor-General, here is news from the north. Another battle has broken out on the border between Hebei and Shandong. What should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do? Send a statement that France supports a peaceful resolution and wait for instructions from the home country.”

What the hell did these annoying bastards eat that they’re fighting all the time?

‘What? Unifying the world? Correcting the chaos?’

When he first heard it, he thought someone was making fun of him.

But what was really surprising was their way of thinking.

“Come on, let’s quickly organize the report and send it to Paris. Do you know why science and technology are developing? It’s so that scientists can devote themselves to research every day to use it at times like this.”

“But if we just keep waiting for His Majesty’s instructions, you may have doubts about the Governor-General’s abilities…”

“Oh, really? That’s good news. I hope you do. Then I can go to a slightly less important position in the next reorganization, right?”

When he was young, he briefly dreamed of leading a republic while dreaming of a revolution.

At that time, he thought that everything would be over if he just went up and pushed through with just policies.

But now that he sees it, what a joke.

If he had really seized power, he probably would have ruined the country.

Or he would have been dragged to the guillotine and his head would have been cut off before he ruined the country.

“Just keep pretending to be incompetent like this…no. Then I’ll be remembered in history as the worst incompetent Governor-General who delayed the Gallicization of Guangdong. That won’t do. Then how can I get out of this hell?”

Robespierre cried sincerely when he heard the news that Christian had failed to abdicate a few years ago.

Tears just kept coming out because he was sad.

It was because he was going to step down himself, using the excuse that the lord he was serving had stepped down when Christian stepped down.

‘Oh, come on, how can someone who does everything he wants not be able to retire? Actually, didn’t he do it on purpose? He’s addicted to power.’

If he had only had a little less experience as Governor-General, he might have seriously suspected this.

But now he knows.

The feeling of a flower that wants to fall when the time comes.

“Okay, if I can’t step down, how about making a contribution to this situation and demanding compensation with dignity? Then His Majesty won’t keep me here, right?”

“That sounds good. A man named Lin Zexu, who came as a representative of Fujian, is asking to see the Governor-General. What should we do?”

“What? Why are you telling me that now? Bring him in right now! My escape route…no, that Lin Zexu.”

The situation in Asia, where each party’s interests were intertwined, was changing breathlessly.