I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 155

The Great Asian Mess (2)

Living in the 19th century, the most inconvenient thing is undoubtedly the slow speed of information transfer.

I can’t even dream of smartphones.

How many times have I wished for telegrams, let alone telephones?

Still, I’m investing heavily in Samuel Morse to launch telegraph businesses in both Canada and the United States. We should see results by next year at the latest.

Once that pays off, it will spread to England as well. If I wait a few years, this frustrating situation that makes me want to explode should be resolved.

However, it will still take many years to establish a communication network spanning continents, and inevitably, news from Asia will reach me late.

This is something I can’t change, no matter how hard I try; improvement is impossible.

With the technology of this era, overcoming that physical distance is nothing more than a fantasy.

Because of this, I was busy planning how to undermine the East India Company in India, completely unaware of the events unfolding in Asia.

If I can dismantle the East India Company as smoothly as possible and cultivate local Indian support for the British royal family, I can make Victoria the Empress of India more seamlessly than in the original timeline.

Then, my position as her husband will naturally rise as well.

At the same time, Rothschild and I will divide and conquer the Indian-related businesses currently held by the Baring family, taking a significant share of the profits.

Fortunately, Rothschild is more cooperative in this area than expected.

Apparently, I have an unparalleled “scent of money,” so I have to admit they have an amazing nose for profit.

Since their inherent weakness as Jews prevents them from stepping into the forefront of power, they have no choice but to be supported by someone like me.

I also have a status that makes it difficult to step forward directly, but perhaps that’s why we have more in common.

My actions of not discriminating against Jews likely appeal to them as well.

“As you instructed, Your Highness, I investigated the East India Company’s operations in India. As expected, the East India Company has quite a few businesses linked to the British government, and among them are some precarious ventures that don’t seem very stable.”

“Perfect. If we dig into that, we can easily tarnish the East India Company’s reputation.”

I already find it hard to tolerate their obsession with opium production to compensate for their declining profits, so if I can dismantle it all this time, I would feel so relieved.

“Ah, and there’s one more thing I need you to do. Your family has considerable influence not only in Great Britain but also in France.”

“Yes. Our family has accumulated a lot of wealth in France as well.”

“As you know, Egypt has wanted to build a canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea for a long time. Since Egypt became virtually independent from the Ottomans a few years ago, this movement has accelerated even further. But if we actually build a canal, wouldn’t it be more likely for them to negotiate with France, which doesn’t have such a good relationship with Egypt, rather than us?”

“That’s true.”

In reality, Egypt opened the canal in cooperation with France in the original timeline, but after France was brutally defeated by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, England was able to buy a large amount of the canal’s shares.

However, it doesn’t make sense to hope for such luck in this era, so it’s necessary to move more quickly before Egypt takes action.

“I want you to use all the means at your disposal to make France react negatively to the canal construction. Or you can bribe Egypt to negotiate with us first. The point is to secure a favorable position for canal construction before France gets too involved in Vietnam.”

“I understand. Then I will discuss it with my relatives in France.”

In the future, there will be many opportunities to send merchant ships and warships to Asia, so the Suez Canal must be held by the British Empire no matter what.

What if Egypt doesn’t listen?

We can use Rothschild to orchestrate a large-scale financial scam and bankrupt the Suez Canal Company altogether.

In the original timeline, when France set the tolls like a thug, didn’t England openly interfere with the construction in protest?

Of course, if I do it, I won’t make it so obvious like a novice.

Businesses that require huge amounts of money, like canal construction, can easily be driven to bankruptcy if you deliberately interfere with them in the middle.

While Russia and France are preoccupied with local issues such as the Primorsky Territory [a region in southeastern Russia] and Vietnam, I will lay the groundwork for the British Empire’s 100-year hegemony.

As I was happily thinking of various schemes, feeling like I was back in my element after a long time, Disraeli, who was furious, arrived with a report from Asia.

“Those yellow mon… I mean, I’m sorry. The idiots in Asia seem to have finally gone crazy.”

“Gone crazy? Did Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] cause another incident?”

The first people who come to my mind when I think of people causing trouble are from Joseon, which is sad, but what can I do?

My hometown is still full of our Confucian old men.

However, Disraeli, who took two letters from his pocket, told a story that even I didn’t expect at all.

“It’s not Joseon. The agreement to mediate between Joseon and Russia has been smoothly drafted. The problem is Japan over there.”

“Japan must have asked to be included as well. I knew it would happen from the beginning.”

“The problem is that… those guys must have eaten something wrong, because they sent an invitation to invite Your Highness.”

“…Excuse me? Are you telling me to go to Japan now?”

“The Governor-General of Shanghai was so dumbfounded that he didn’t know whether to get angry or not. Originally, he was just going to ignore it, but the top authority there, the Shogun Tokugawa [military dictator of Japan], wrote a personal letter to Your Highness, so he brought it to show you first. He earnestly asked that only Your Highness should open it, so no one has read it yet.”

How dare a mere Asian country in that distant Far East tell the British Empire’s head of state to come and go? Are they really crazy?

It’s no wonder Disraeli is furious after hearing this news.

“What does the parliament say?”

“The prevailing opinion is to reject it outright and send warships to those ignorant people to threaten them to open the country instead of talking nonsense.”

This is also a matter related to the pride of the British Empire, so both the ruling and opposition parties have no choice but to condemn Japan.

Perhaps most of the lawmakers are genuinely angry, like Disraeli.

“I’ll have to see what nonsense my distant cousin has written before making a decision.”

With half anticipation and half absurdity, I tore open the letter from the person who fabricated my genealogy.

Thinking that I could speak Japanese but not read it, they enclosed an English translation prepared with the help of a Dutch merchant.

-To His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort of the Great British Empire. First of all, I sincerely apologize for making you uncomfortable with this untimely request for a visit. This is due to the complicated domestic situation, and I would like to emphasize that this proposal is by no means intended to underestimate you or the Great British Empire.

I, Tokugawa Ieyoshi, the Shogun of the Shogunate [Japanese military government], have always admired Your Highness’s reputation and have hoped that this country can develop like the Great British Empire. The reason why I am making this regrettable proposal is because all the people of this country have a desire to have the honor of seeing Tokugawa’s hero, who is succeeding in Europe, in person.

I know that it will cause too much trouble, and I am just sorry and regretful, but if Your Highness would step forward, it would be of great help to the friendly relations between the two countries, and the 30 million people of the archipelago will praise Your Highness’s generous decision and trust and follow the Great British Empire like a brother country.

The letter was so detailed that it was immediately clear that Tokugawa Ieyoshi was not the one who spearheaded this.

It seems that while he was hesitant, public opinion arose around him to invite me, and he was swept away by the current as if he was being pushed from behind.

But that’s just their situation, and there’s not a single reason for me to care.

I would have simply ignored it as usual, but the content that Ieyoshi added at the end caught my attention.

-Of course, I know very well that it is too shameless to ask for Your Highness’s understanding with words alone. Therefore, if Your Highness would kindly visit, we will actively promote trade between the Great British Empire and the Shogunate, and we will accept all the conditions that Your Highness desires.

Currently, the entire archipelago is thrilled and cheering for the success that Your Highness, a descendant of Tokugawa, has achieved in Europe. I, too, will spare no effort to unite all of Asia with Your Highness in the future, so I dare to ask you to give a positive answer. We will do our best to prepare so that the time spent traveling here will not be in vain.

It’s not just about signing a trade treaty, but also about accepting any conditions I want in the process, which is honestly not a bad offer.

Logically, they must know how much risk this would pose for the Shogun’s side, but the fact that they are doing this means that they are not in a position to be picky.

Depending on what I do, it might be possible to not only open Japan but also turn it into a semi-dependent state.

It would be too obvious to provoke their antipathy, so we need to approach it carefully, but what does the British Empire do best?

That’s Divide and Rule. The so-called divide and conquer.

Since the Shogun has personally identified me as Tokugawa in his personal letter, there is a clear basis for this side to intervene in the event of an emergency.

Also, since this is an internal matter, we can draw a clear line so that countries like France and Russia cannot interfere.

Having finished all these calculations, I followed Disraeli to the House of Commons and announced my intention to accept the Japanese invitation.

“No, Your Highness! You haven’t been back from Canada for long, and now you’re going to Asia!”

“Even though their king invited you, we can just ignore this rude proposal!”

“That’s right. It would be a laughing stock for other countries if the head of the Great British Empire visited the Asian frontier.”

“Now, now, I understand all of your feelings. But my dear distant relative, Shogun Tokugawa, sent me a personal letter. He said that he wants to establish diplomatic relations with the Great British Empire and open the country, but he needs some help to persuade local public opinion.”

“No, they have to do that themselves, why are they trying to drag in Your Highness…”

“Asian countries are currently feeling considerable fear towards Europe. Moreover, Russia attacked Qing China [last imperial dynasty of China] this time. So, that kind of reaction is inevitable. And strictly speaking, this is an opportunity for us.”

After adapting the contents of Ieyoshi’s letter appropriately, I showed the lawmakers a huge world map centered on Asia.

“Japan is in a strategically important location. If we put both Joseon and Japan under our influence, we can completely block Russia from daring to venture out into the Pacific. Moreover, there will be many opportunities to access Asia through the Pacific in the future, and in that case, we need a location where we can stably supply coal.”

If you launch a ship from mainland Europe towards Asia, it will take nearly 3 months one way at this point when the canal is not completed.

However, if you cross the Pacific from California, the distance is close enough to be sufficient for a round trip in 2 months instead of one way.

However, unlike having coal supply locations in various places such as the Cape of Good Hope, India, and Singapore, there were not many places to supply coal when crossing from the Pacific.

Although we recently acquired Shanghai and Tainan, it is overwhelmingly more efficient to supply from Japan.

“But still, there’s no reason for Your Highness to go in person…”

“If someone else goes, it will be a treaty between two countries, the Great British Empire and Japan. But since they call me Tokugawa over there, if I go, we can portray it as not two completely separate countries, but brother countries exchanging with each other. That means we can completely exclude France, which is always sniffing around to get involved.”

We need to clearly define the relationship like this so that we can unilaterally intervene in the event of a possible situation later.

And I was hiding it because there was no need to bring it up here, but this was also an opportunity to attract the immigrants I had been hoping for.

They clearly said that they would actively accept the conditions I wanted, right?

“Although it is a difficult journey, if the hegemony of the Great British Empire can be further solidified through this, I, Killian Gore Hanover, will gladly visit Asia as a relative of Tokugawa! All for the Great British Empire!”

The lawmakers applauded my patriotism, which was tearful to anyone who saw it, and paid tribute to my loyalty to the country.

I’m not a sailor, and I’m sick of the monotonous life on board, but you have to seize the opportunity when it comes.

They’re opening mid [a reference to a strategy in the game League of Legends, meaning to take advantage of an opportunity], so why wouldn’t I go in?