I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 162

Becoming a Hidden Power in the British Empire 162

The Crowning Touch

“Ehehehehe!”

The predictions were spot on.

As the peace treaty passed and its contents became known, endless requests poured in from everywhere.

Even though Japan had a policy of isolation, it wasn’t a country completely closed off to outside information.

They were well aware of the unequal treaties that Qing China, India, and Southeast Asian countries had with the European powers.

That’s why they knew how moderate this peace treaty was.

Above all, what caught people’s attention was the East Asian Advancement and Development Fund, personally requested by the Emperor.

It was stated that intellectuals and laborers would be sent to Canada, but a clause was also subtly inserted that the children of daimyos [feudal lords] and hatamotos [high-ranking samurai] would be sent to London.

So, the next events were as predictable as fire.

Not only those who initially flattered and fawned, but even the stubborn ones who suspected it was just another act of aggression came in droves.

“Your Highness! Is it true that the sons of daimyos and hatamotos can study in London instead of Canada?”

“Actually, my third child is particularly bright…”

“Are there any specific criteria or qualifications for selection?”

Of course, it was the most powerful nation of the current era, having beaten Qing China to a pulp and planting flags all over the world.

If it were a country with no connection to them, it wouldn’t matter, but since they had signed a peace treaty and were about to engage in trade, they would inevitably be influenced by them.

In particular, those who had long focused on commerce and accumulating wealth quickly grasped the trend.

In the future, whether they liked it or not, the only way for Asian countries to survive was to develop rapidly and increase their national power.

However, development isn’t something that happens just because you want it to; ultimately, you need to set the right direction and have people who can lead others there.

In other words, those who can become such talents will be highly valued in Japan’s future.

Going to London, seeing and learning about advanced civilization, would be enough to be treated as enlightened intellectuals and walk around with their shoulders puffed up for a while.

The hearts of parents with children never change, whether in the past, present, or distant future.

Even among the upper class, or rather,

The more wealth and possessions the upper class has to pass down, the more pronounced this tendency becomes.

Hoping that their children receive the best education and further enhance the family’s prestige is a universal human desire.

“The qualifications won’t be that strict. If I had to say, anyone who can contribute to the friendly relations between our two countries will be welcomed.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Then, could you possibly do something about my nephew… This child is truly bright and very interested in advanced Western technology.”

“Not to brag, but my son is the brightest child in our domain. He is more than capable of building a bridge of friendship between our two countries, so I would be grateful if you could help him.”

In fact, if you were from a truly wealthy family, sending your children to study abroad at your own expense wouldn’t be too difficult, now that the two countries had established diplomatic relations.

Nevertheless, the reason they were so desperate was that this was a study abroad program arranged at the request of the Emperor by the British Empire’s envoy.

The daimyos of Japan didn’t show it, but they were aware of the gap between the British Empire and Japan.

Especially since William Parker brought a fleet of his country’s latest steamships to escort me, they couldn’t help but know.

‘Even if we poured in our entire navy, we wouldn’t be able to defeat the escort force that the British Empire brought to protect His Highness Killian.’

With such a large difference in national power, how much could the sons of daimyos, who were considered influential in this country, be treated in the capital of the British Empire?

Their status was certain, so they might be treated with respect on the surface, but who knew what they were really thinking.

However, if they went with a group directly supervised by the British Empire’s envoy, there was a high possibility that they would be treated with utmost care to avoid tarnishing the envoy’s reputation.

In addition, when they returned to Japan, they would have the Emperor’s certification that they had learned excellent knowledge abroad.

Everyone knew the value of this, and even the lords of the Choshu and Satsuma domains were asking to send their sons, cousins, or younger brothers to study abroad.

And this was beneficial not only to me but also to the British Empire.

The daimyos, not knowing the future, might expect their children to learn well and become the leaders of their country’s modernization, but would it really go as expected?

What would children who had only received Japanese education all their lives feel when they went to London, the fastest-growing city in the world?

Unlike Canada, which was intended to nurture intellectuals, the children of high-ranking officials coming to London would receive customized education tailored to them.

To make them pro-British Empire to the bone.

They would be the first to experience all sorts of modern conveniences and feel that the only way for Japan to have a future was to be on the same boat as the British Empire.

And they would return to their home country when the civil war between the Shogun and the stubborn domains was over and a government that suited my taste was established.

The way they would rebuild Japan, given the weighty task of reconstructing the new Japan, was as clear as an 8K UHD screen.

“Everyone, please rest assured. The East Asian Advancement Fund is a study abroad program guaranteed by Killian Gore, the Emperor of Japan, and the Shogun. It’s not a small-scale selection of five or ten people. If you are here today, you can all be allocated at least one spot, so just think about who you want to send to study abroad.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Thank you, thank you!”

“I will repeatedly emphasize to my son to become a great man like His Highness Killian.”

I smiled with the daimyos, whose mouths were wide open, and gave them many more words of blessing.

Assimilate commoners and intellectuals in Canada, and provide early education to the children of the ruling class so that pro-British Empire ideology takes root early on.

It would be a massive undertaking involving almost all classes, but it was safe to say that the first step had been taken successfully.

Large-scale emigration of commoners might still be impossible, but things would change if a civil war broke out.

I would only be providing a place where the anxious citizens of allied countries could safely take refuge.

If anyone wanted to return later, they would be allowed to return as much as they wanted, so there would be no grounds for complaint.

With this, everything I had to do in Japan was done.

Except for one thing.

* * *

Mori Takachika, whose meeting with Killian had gone better than expected, came out with satisfaction.

He didn’t have any children to send to London yet, but he had arranged to send his bright cousins to London.

If those children returned, it would further help the Choshu domain prosper.

“Satsuma and Tosa will also be sending students, so I hope they don’t fall behind those children.”

“Don’t worry. That child also has the pride of representing the Choshu domain, so he will study with all his might.”

“That’s right. The Shogun seems to think that his power will increase further with this treaty, but that’s a big mistake. The introduction of advanced civilization means that this country will know how far behind it is.”

As time goes on, society will inevitably become more unstable, and we can blame it all on the Shogun.

The justification for reverence for the Emperor and expulsion of foreigners will not change much even if they establish diplomatic relations with the British Empire, so from a broad perspective, what we have to do is no different from before.

Increase our power, build up our military strength, weaken the Shogunate’s influence, and seize power ourselves.

Satsuma and Tosa had also agreed to join this cause.

The variable is how much power the British Empire will give the Shogun with this treaty.

Killian Gore, whom I met in person, didn’t seem to have such a belligerent personality.

Judging from his actions so far, he was a docile person, unlike someone with foreign blood, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.

In the end, considering various factors, the important thing is to accept the British Empire’s new civilization as quickly as possible after the opening of the port and increase our power.

And fortunately, such a golden opportunity came.

“Excuse me, are you Mori Takachika from the Choshu domain?”

“Yes, who are you?”

“I am Peter, a lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. Actually, my relative has a business that supplies goods to the military, and he is looking for someone who can be a good partner in Japan. I heard that the Choshu domain is one of the wealthiest and most substantial regions in Japan, so I came to see if you would be interested in working with us.”

“What kind of partnership are you talking about?”

“When the port opens, many goods will come in through the port. By the way, the British Royal Navy in Asia is currently replacing old weapons with new ones. In other words, it is possible to secretly take out the old weapons. Of course, even old weapons have performance that cannot be compared to the weapons used in Asia.”

“Hoo…”

So, he’s saying he’ll smuggle weapons out for us to buy at a reasonable price, which would be like hitting the jackpot if it were true.

However, Mori was not naive enough to accept such an unexpected stroke of luck at face value.

“Why did you choose our Choshu?”

“As I said, it is currently the most prosperous region. Being prosperous means you have a lot of money. Besides, this is what I heard from our admiral, but His Highness the Duke seems to have a good impression of the Choshu domain. What was it… Semurai? Spirit, they say.”

“Samurai spirit.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. So, wouldn’t we want to trade with a region that has the resources to buy goods and is interested in military affairs? We’re not just going to do this for a day or two, so we want to attract customers who will buy goods from us in the long term.”

“But isn’t that illegal? You’ll lose your head if you get caught?”

“Ah, I won’t get caught. I’m not the only one doing this, everyone else is doing similar things, so why would I be the only one to get caught?”

At this moment, Mori felt a strange sense of kinship.

Even though it is the strongest country in the world, is it still an island nation at its core?

He was so casually talking about doing things that would harm the country in order to gain personal gain.

However, for the Choshu domain, this was an opportunity to receive a large supply of excellent weapons, so there was nothing particularly bad about it.

Even if they get caught later, we can just say that we heard that the goods were distributed through legal channels.

“Then we have no objection either. However, trust is needed at first, so no upfront payments. We will check the quality of the goods at the place of delivery and give you silver or gold.”

“Of course. We will carefully select and bring them, so please trust us without worrying about the quality. Then I will visit you again before leaving.”

As the man named Peter smiled and left, Mori, who was watching his back, desperately took a deep breath to avoid getting too excited and turned around.

As that man said, even if they are old weapons left over from the British Empire, they are still unparalleled new weapons in Japan today.

If we steadily receive them and build up our strength for several years, the military power of the Choshu domain will surpass Satsuma and Tosa, and may even be able to compete with the Shogun alone.

When that time comes, we will be able to bring down the Shogun for whatever reason.

‘No. It’s not too late to judge after seeing how well he actually brings the weapons.’

I don’t want to get my hopes up and then get betrayed and disappointed.

Everything will be after the right weapons are in my hands.

Mori decided that he would never let his guard down until the very last moment.

* * *

After finishing all the schedules in Japan, I left Edo [old name of Tokyo], which I hadn’t grown fond of, with even more fanfare than when I entered.

The treaty was successfully concluded, and preparations were made to stick to them like leeches and suck their blood.

And since I had James’ people make a connection to bring weapons to Choshu, all that was left was to wait for the time to ripen.

“Welcome back! Your Highness the Duke! You must have worked so hard while you were in Japan!”

“It’s okay. They treated me very well over there.”

“Still, it wouldn’t have been very comfortable to stay in a strange foreign land.”

“That’s true. Was there any contact from the home country while I was away?”

“There was none from the home country. However, there are guests from elsewhere who want to see Your Highness the Duke.”

“Guests? Did the Qing [referring to Qing Dynasty China] come to whine about punishing the Russian bastards?”

I thought that was the only kind of person who would come to see me, but surprisingly, the governor immediately shook his head.

“They came from Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom]. They say they have something urgent to tell you about the mediation agreement with Russia. Would you like to meet them?”

“Joseon? That’s unexpected. I’m a little tired from the long boat ride, so let’s agree to meet tomorrow or the day after.”

“Then I’ll let them know that you’ll be meeting them.”

Of course, of course. I have to meet them.

It seems they heard that I went to Japan first and rushed over, so I have to listen to what they have to say.

I wonder how much reason has returned, or if they are still out of their minds and spouting nonsense.

Well, let’s listen with a happy heart.