I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 276

< Tidying Up >

About three days after granting Kim Jwa-geun permission to sway public opinion in Joseon.

I was in the middle of a hectic schedule, making final preparations before meeting with the French Minister.

It’s always the same, but whenever I try to leave, there are so many things to prepare in advance.

It’s a moment when I realize once again how precious real-time communication, which is taken for granted in modern times, truly is.

Yes, I’ve decided.

Once this business trip is over, I’m going to commercialize the telephone, no matter what.

I know the behind-the-scenes story of the telephone roughly, so if what I heard is correct, commercialization will be possible much earlier than in the original history.

Then, wouldn’t it be possible to cover some of the inconveniences that cannot be fully covered by the telegraph?

Even though I won’t be staying for years like during the last war, Asia takes months just to travel back and forth, so no matter how much I prepare, it feels endless.

First, I need to discuss with Wellesley the direction of the next parliament and the cabinet composition, and then I need to plan the royal family’s affairs in advance.

Although the children are still young, the twins are now at an age where they need to start receiving formal education, so I need to pay special attention to them. Above all, I need to review the ongoing projects.

Not only the steel business in Great Britain but also the industrialization trend in Canada, resource extraction, and development.

Lastly, the canal construction is currently in its early stages, so it needs to be carefully monitored.

Anyway, as I was struggling, buried in this mountain of documents, the guest I had been waiting for arrived.

“Your Royal Highness, it’s an honor. Thank you for calling me before I return to France.”

“Thank you for coming so quickly, even though you must be busy preparing for your return. Please, have a seat. I have some exquisite wine from the French delegation.”

“Are you serving the French Minister top-quality wine from the French delegation? Hahaha.”

French Foreign Minister Louis looked at the mountain of documents piled up in front of me, clicked his tongue, and sat down.

“The Royal Family of Great Britain seems to have a lot of work.”

“Is France any different?”

“It’s not that we don’t have work, but we hardly have any of this kind of paperwork. It’s mostly about handling external schedules.”

“Actually, we’re similar. I’m just the exception.”

Because I’m in charge of so many things, I can’t properly understand the situation just by receiving reports from subordinates.

That’s why I have to receive reports on essential matters in advance, but I have only myself to blame for taking on all this work.

“Still, it doesn’t seem right to handle this much work every day… Aren’t you doing work that you should be doing in the future?”

“You’re quick to notice. If I had to work like this every day, I would definitely throw my hands up and quit.”

“And yet, you brilliantly led the Expo. Your Highness’s stamina is truly amazing.”

“That was also a few years ago. Things are different now than they were a few years ago. It may sound strange coming from someone who is still quite young, but in my twenties, I could stay up for two days straight, and just one day of rest would make me feel fine.”

Minister Louis, who is now past middle age, probably thinks it’s nonsense, but there is a clear difference between your twenties and thirties.

I sipped wine with Louis for a while, chatting about trivial matters, before gradually shifting the topic to the main point.

“By the way, Ambassador Kim Jwa-geun visited me a few days ago.”

“Is that so?”

“He said that you asked him various questions in France.”

In fact, I was the one who called him, but Kim Jwa-geun himself was originally planning to organize and inform me of the details, so it’s not exactly a lie.

“Ah, yes… I just wanted to confirm a few things.”

“Are you perhaps worried that Great Britain will devour all of Asia?”

“…Haha. It’s not exactly that.”

“Is that so? I thought France was showing great interest in the Indochina Peninsula.”

When France’s most important Asian colonial project was directly mentioned, Minister Louis couldn’t openly deny it and gave a bitter smile.

“Annam [historical name for a region encompassing modern-day Vietnam] is a place that the home country pays a lot of attention to. Doesn’t Great Britain react sensitively when India is involved?”

“Ah, just so you don’t misunderstand, I don’t want to blame France. France is Great Britain’s ‘most’ precious ally, so why would I say anything bad over something like this?”

Noticing that I emphasized the word ‘most’, the Minister’s face brightened.

“Then, the reason Your Highness invited me is perhaps…”

“Yes. I invited you here to personally clear up any misunderstandings so that you don’t waste your energy worrying about unnecessary things.”

As if trying to gauge the truth of my words, Louis didn’t open his mouth for a while and just kept drinking his wine.

“What misunderstandings are you referring to?”

“To put it simply, Great Britain is not very interested in Annam.”

“…Is that Your Highness’s personal opinion, or is it Great Britain’s official policy?”

“It’s easiest to understand if you just think of it simply. Don’t you know how many regions Great Britain is putting effort into right now? To try to swallow the countries of the Indochina Peninsula on top of that? It’s physically impossible.”

To be honest, it’s not impossible if we push ourselves.

France was worried that Great Britain would conquer Yunnan by force.

If we were to seize the throne of the Qing Dynasty [China’s last imperial dynasty, ruling from 1644 to 1912] as the rumors suggest, and then demand tribute from the Nguyen Dynasty [the last ruling family of Vietnam], we could easily gain a foothold in Vietnam.

Therefore, I added a little explanation to reassure France.

“What we’re aiming for is that vast continent and the Northeast Asian countries that extend next to it. We need to choose and focus. If we try to eat everything, we’ll end up not getting anything right. So we’re giving up cleanly.”

“…So, Great Britain will take Northeast Asia, and France will take Indochina. Is it safe to understand it that way?”

It seems truly impure to talk about eating up countries that already have owners, but if they listened when told not to, would that be Elan [a French term implying vigor, spirit, and enthusiasm]?

Unfortunately, Great Britain cannot afford to antagonize France and diminish its national power for the sake of Vietnam, which is a complete stranger.

I don’t particularly intend to do so, but even if I were to issue such an order, no one in Great Britain would sympathize with it.

“You can understand it that way.”

“But Your Highness easily established diplomatic relations with Korea and Japan in Northeast Asia, didn’t you? Why not with Annam…?”

“That’s simple. I’m Li [referring to Li Hongzhang, a prominent Qing Dynasty statesman] and Tokugawa [referring to the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan], but not Nguyen [referring to the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam].”

“Ah. I understand perfectly.”

Perhaps this was the most effective, as Louis smiled broadly and poured himself another glass of wine.

But in all things, there must be give and take. There must be something to receive if there is something to give.

The reason for alleviating concerns about Vietnam is not simply because I like Elan too much.

It’s just that I’ve prioritized things so that the attention that needs to be paid to Europe is not diverted to Asia.

“Now that I think about it, the next Expo is scheduled to be held in Paris, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Great Britain set the bar so high with its first event that it’s a bit of a burden, but we’ll do our best to host it.”

“Excluding the host country, France is practically the winner of this Expo. Ah, but Prussia must be sharpening its knives, so you can’t let your guard down.”

“Prussia, well, maybe in the distant future, but it’s still far off.”

“That’s true, but it’s a country whose distant future is uncertain. If Prussia, which is emerging now that Russia has calmed down, defeats Austria and takes the lead in the German Confederation, it’s hard to predict how strong its power will become, wouldn’t you say?”

If you only focus on Asia to expand colonies, you’ll be pushed back in Europe.

I don’t need to explain it in detail. This much should be enough to awaken France’s sense of urgency.

I wish we could all get along harmoniously without engaging in pointless, drawn-out fights, but after seeing this Expo, the festival for all people, I became convinced.

People just don’t understand when you only talk to them.

War is bound to happen, no matter how tiresome it is. In the not-so-distant future.

Definitely.

* * *

The news coming from Qing China was becoming increasingly ominous, and Wellesley, who had received a hint from Killian, finally brought up the topic in Parliament.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today’s agenda is the incident that everyone is aware of. How should Great Britain respond to the increasingly violent riots in Qing China? The Foreign Office has concluded that we must intervene immediately to protect the safety of Great Britain’s merchants.”

“…Prime Minister. Isn’t that interference in internal affairs? Qing China hasn’t asked for help, but we’re interfering arbitrarily. Of course, I know that the merchants are anxious because the riots are intensifying, but there hasn’t been any real damage yet.”

“Mr. Gladstone, according to your words, we should only intervene after the merchants have been sacrificed. Is that a responsible attitude for the government to take?”

“Mr. Disraeli, your intentions sound good at first glance, but the world calls it interference in internal affairs when you arbitrarily interfere in the affairs of other countries in that way.”

The clash between Disraeli, who freely expresses imperialistic tendencies, and Gladstone, who points it out, is nothing new.

If we stand by and watch here, they will just argue and bicker with each other throughout the entire meeting, wasting time.

Wellesley waved his hand to stop the argument before it got any longer, and he organized the situation.

“Now, now, both of your arguments have merit. However, the reason I’m bringing this up as a formal agenda item is that we recently obtained information that we cannot ignore.”

“There was such information?”

“I’m hearing this for the first time.”

Of course, it’s the first time they’re hearing about it. From the moment Killian first received this information, he was told to keep it secret for the best timing.

And now, from the perspective of an objective third party, Qing China has reached a level where it cannot control these riots. Now is the best time to release this information.

“Logically, how can we possibly grasp every single thing that happened in that distant Qing China? In other words, the fact that it has reached our ears here means that this is a very serious matter.”

“What on earth is happening that makes the Prime Minister react like this?”

“Those who are rebelling in Qing China and greatly expanding their power are greatly insulting the Royal Family of Great Britain.”

“…Excuse me? What does that mean?”

Gladstone, who had been glaring, ready to see what kind of absurd logic would be used to justify the invasion, blinked blankly and asked again.

“It means exactly what it says. The leader of those rioters, Hong Xiuquan [leader of the Taiping Rebellion], is making absurd claims that he is the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus Christ.”

“Well… that’s usually the case with leaders of pseudo-religions. But what does that have to do with our Royal Family?”

“The problem is that Hong Xiuquan used our Royal Family when he first gathered followers. To further emphasize the incompetence of Qing China, he spread false information that he had a close relationship with Great Britain, which had defeated Qing, to strengthen his position. Hong Xiuquan has secured several witnesses who say that he is on friendly terms with His Royal Highness, and that Hong Xiuquan is capable of overthrowing Qing and rebuilding it, just as Great Britain did.”

Of course, Killian was just a minister at the time, not a royal consort, but that was then, and now he is a respectable consort of this country.

To drag a member of the Royal Family into this and spread false information is not just nitpicking, but a blatant and serious problem.

“…No, what kind of crazy person is…”

“Isn’t he out of his mind?”

“What will happen if such a pseudo who calls himself the son of God continues to gain power? Even if Europe doesn’t, people in Asia may misunderstand that the Royal Family of Great Britain has a close relationship with such a pseudo-religious group. Therefore, it is the judgment of myself and the Foreign Office that we must take action before the situation becomes more serious.”

The Royal Family of Great Britain has a close relationship with a madman who claims to be the son of God?

It was an absurd nonsense, but if the guy who was spouting that nonsense actually overthrew the Qing imperial family and became the de facto ruler of the continent, it would no longer be something that could simply be laughed off.

Disraeli and the Conservative Party members were the first to raise their voices.

“I agree!”

“We must send troops immediately to suppress that psychopath!”

This was close to a golden opportunity for the Conservative Party members, who were already looking for a good excuse.

Even the Liberal Party members, who would have opposed it under normal circumstances, found it difficult to openly refuse because the matter itself was so absurd.

“But even so, isn’t sending troops out of the blue too coercive a method?”

“Of course, we won’t send troops from the beginning. We will send a request to immediately punish or extradite the leader of the rebellion, Hong Xiuquan. If Qing still has no will or ability to fulfill our request, then we have no choice. We have no choice but to help.”

“…I understand.”

When even Gladstone was convinced, Wellesley formally put the proposal to send a request to Qing to extradite Hong Xiuquan to a vote in Parliament.

“Those who agree with the agenda, please shout ‘Aye’, those who disagree, please shout ‘Nay’!”

“Aye! Aye!”

“Aye!”

“Aaaaaaye!”

“……”

The majority of voices were in favor.

No voices were against.

Only a very few remained silent.

“Very well. Then we will formally send a letter of cooperation to Qing.”

Along with a declaration that if Qing does not respond properly, Killian himself, as the victim, will gladly step forward again as an admiral to resolve the situation.

The wheels of history turned once more.