I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 360

Became a Hidden Tycoon of the British Empire – Episode 360

< Joseon-Japan Alliance >

Since the establishment of the new government in Japan, has there ever been a time with such a diversity of conflicting opinions?

The Emperor as the face, the Shogun as the actual ruler.

No matter what, the voices of the Japanese Empire’s political circles, which had been fixed like that for a long time, could not be unified.

Okubo initially believed that he could manage it sufficiently if he used the backing of the British Empire.

But what do you know?

There was a limit to sweeping away all the troublemakers that kept popping up endlessly from the provinces.

It would have been better if they had risen up in open rebellion, because then he could have just beaten them all down.

But they just kept chattering noisily and dividing public opinion, so things didn’t go as smoothly as he thought.

And in the upper and lower houses [of parliament], the number of people sharing this fatigue was gradually increasing.

“Aren’t we going to run aground with this reform?”

“Do we really need to reform more than this? I think it would be fine to just focus on economic growth as it is.”

“I heard that Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] next door is in a similar situation to us, so it’s not like we’re particularly strange.”

“Ahem. Instead of being lumped together with those kinds of people, we should be thinking about getting ahead of them.”

“Eating food too quickly can cause indigestion, so let’s slow down a bit.”

“So, how long are you going to slow down for! Are you just saying we should crawl from now on?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, the reason discussions aren’t happening is because you’re just fighting like that.”

Not that much time has passed since the political system changed.

Even now, there was still some leeway, but it was uncertain how long this environment would last.

For the sake of social integration, and to repay the debts the country had.

Even Okubo was resigning himself to the fact that the *Seicheongron* [Expedition to Qing Dynasty] was a reality that he had to accept.

However, knowing it’s fate doesn’t make it easy to accept.

What Okubo was worried about wasn’t simply waging war.

The most important condition that Killian had repeatedly emphasized.

That was the promise to suppress the rise of the military.

Logically, no one starts a war to lose.

So, if they really go to war with Qing [the last imperial dynasty of China], they will do their best to win by any means, but then the power of the military will inevitably become stronger, right?

Because of this anxiety, Okubo was unable to make a decision easily.

In the meantime, the British ambassador came and directly demanded an explanation, so he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

“So… the *Seicheongron* is just like that. Whenever society’s conflicts become severe, aren’t there always claims to divert dissatisfaction to the outside? Some people here are saying that we should go to war with Qing for that reason. Literally, to conquer Qing, something like that… Nonsense. Hehehe!”

“Is it really nonsense? I heard rumors that you’re going to form an alliance with Joseon.”

“It’s not confirmed. We just asked them about their intentions… something like that.”

Currently, Qing was not only making trade agreements with the British Empire, but also with powerful countries such as France and Prussia, and was leisurely taking profits from unfair trade.

But if a war breaks out here, you don’t know what variables might arise.

It may not have much of an impact, but the possibility of a negative impact is not low, so they must be overreacting.

Okubo gave a bitter smile and hurriedly added a word.

“Don’t worry too much, it’s this country’s tradition to say we’ll do it but not actually do it.”

The British ambassador had no way of knowing about the *Jeongmyeong Gado* incident [historical event of insincere diplomacy], so he just glossed over it, but the ambassador’s expression was not very bright.

“Unlike other countries, we actually own territory adjacent to your country, Qing. Hong Kong and Shanghai are important hubs for the British Empire’s Asian economy, so there must be absolutely no problems here.”

“Of course. How could I not know that.”

Even those who advocate for the *Seicheongron* are not trying to upset the British Empire.

But when you think about it, is it really possible to wage war without any impact on the economy?

“As long as I’m here, that will never happen, so please tell His Majesty to rest assured. Please also convey that I will definitely keep the promise I made with His Majesty.”

“Hmm… I understand. Then I’ll tell him that for now. Oh, by the way, you said you asked Joseon about their intentions earlier, right? What answer did you get from them?”

“They said they would consider it positively, but we still don’t know why.”

“Considering it positively… that’s a very meaningful statement.”

In the end, Okubo passed all responsibility to Joseon until the very end.

No matter how crazy Joseon is, would they really start a war?

This is clearly a kind of bluff to overcome a politically unstable situation.

However, the ambassador’s eyes, who heard the story from Okubo, grew colder and colder.

As with everything in the world, if an unexpected event occurs, it will originate from an unexpected area.

That’s what the word ‘unexpected’ itself meant.

* * *

The Japanese proposal to attack Qing.

When the Joseon court first heard this, they naturally regarded it as nonsense not worth discussing.

To be precise, Kim Jwa-geun was treating it that way.

However, when considering Joseon’s circumstances, it wasn’t that different from Japan.

It was true that it was in a slightly more stable state than Japan, but Joseon’s national size was originally inferior to Japan.

To forcibly raise this, you would naturally have to stretch your hands here and there, and there was a need to apply even stronger reforms.

Fortunately, when Killian came to Joseon, he created an environment to properly remove the groups who blindly believed in Confucianism, so the country’s condition was at this level.

If that hadn’t happened, Confucian scholars would have risen up nationwide, and reforms would have been impossible to dream of.

Of course, that didn’t mean the country was completely stabilized yet.

-No matter what, it doesn’t make sense to cut off the hair we inherited from our ancestors! Stop the barbaric act of putting blades to our heads immediately!

From voices opposing rapid reforms.

-If you’re going to reform, do it properly! Like the British Empire, decide the head of the executive branch by voting!

Voices calling for the introduction of the excellent British Empire system and holding elections.

-Isn’t Killian His Majesty a member of the Joseon royal family? Let’s also form a united kingdom with the world’s strongest British Empire!

Even crazy voices that couldn’t distinguish between a royal decree and an emperor.

Just all sorts of words were mixed and mixed, and the confusion was growing more and more, and a focal point to suppress this was needed.

Kim Jwa-geun initially used Killian for this.

In fact, the shock Joseon received from modernization was much greater than Japan’s.

Even if Japan’s opening wasn’t complete, they had been exposed to Western civilization to some extent and knew that their power was unusual.

They were shocked by the fact that the Netherlands was not the world’s strongest power, but a second-rate country that was long past its prime, but they still knew that Europe was far stronger than Asia.

However, Joseon was only introduced to Western civilization in earnest after establishing diplomatic relations with the British Empire, and even then, they were carefully adjusting the speed because Joseon had not yet modernized.

This was because it was too easy to predict that the collapse of the Confucian order and social chaos would occur if such things came in at once.

And exactly as expected, Joseon people couldn’t easily escape from this shock.

“What? How do you use this thing?”

“What is this thing in this book… a telephone? So, if you hold a strange stick and talk, the person on the other side can hear it? How is that possible?”

“Wrong, wrong. Europe is so far ahead, what has our Joseon been doing all this time?”

“Europe is colonizing every corner of Asia, and our Joseon almost suffered the same fate. All of this is because of the dirty *Sadaebu* [scholar-officials] who only filled their own selfish desires without knowing the reality!”

The fact that treating other countries as barbarians while calling themselves *Sojunghwa* (Little China) was all a historical scam.

And the shocking truth that the Sino-centric order itself is worth less than a speck of dust in the current international order of the survival of the fittest.

Books containing information and reality that came in across the sea gave a tremendous shock to Joseon intellectuals.

Moreover, this fact was spread from mouth to mouth and became known to the general public, and the Neo-Confucian order that supported Joseon was instantly branded as a plausible scam.

What Kim Jwa-geun put forward to maintain the order of the dynasty in this chaos was the existence of Killian, the British Empire’s royal consort who inherited the blood of the Joseon royal family.

“Our Prince Consort His Highness, despite having Joseon blood, has risen to the top position in the world’s strongest British Empire solely through his own abilities! This is proof that our Joseon has a superior lineage different from other Asian countries!”

“His Highness the Prince Consort has now been crowned King of Canada! This is a great achievement that the influence of our Joseon royal family has reached Canada…”

The only thing that can unite the hearts of the people is *national뽕* (exaggerated patriotism).

By using Killian, they preach the superiority of the Joseon people and instill hope that we can become like the British Empire if we modernize.

But as this happened, one problem arose.

Originally, Kim Jwa-geun was aiming to cut off the power of the royal family and increase the power of the cabinet.

However, by injecting *national뽕* to lethal doses using Killian, it was increasingly difficult to suppress the rising voices.

In addition, Lee Ha-eung, who felt uneasy about Kim Jwa-geun’s actions, deliberately did not control these reckless voices.

“Your Majesty, how about expressing your rejection of the nonsense from Japan about forming an alliance and expanding to the continent?”

“Nonsense? Is that really nonsense?”

“…Yes?”

“I heard that there are rumors within the court that it is necessary to seriously consider Japan’s opinion at least once.”

“Hahaha, Your Majesty. As Your Majesty knows, that’s…”

Unintentionally, there was an unusually high anti-Qing sentiment in Joseon right now.

And those who pointed that out were being treated as old Confucian farts who were steeped in the old Confucian order, so they couldn’t easily express their opposition.

The unsightly Qing Dynasty, which was being thoroughly exploited by Europe.

And the voices of people who wanted to treat Joseon’s past, which had served Qing and bowed its head, as a dark history were too loud.

In their minds, Joseon was the only Asian country that was not inferior to those European whites.

That’s because Killian, who inherited the blood of the Joseon royal family, had already proven it with his actions.

They were deluded by dirty Confucian ideas and bowed their heads to Qing, which was worse than them.

How could they have continued to endure such humiliation?

Well, that was roughly the flow, and even Kim Jwa-geun couldn’t easily laugh it off.

What’s more, if the King himself was in that position, even more so.

“Your Majesty. However, this is a very dangerous proposal.”

“But isn’t Qing now in the weakest state in history? On the other hand, Joseon is now growing stronger and stronger, worthy of the word ‘enriching the country and strengthening the military.’ If we join hands with Japan here and raise an army, I think we can secure at least Manchuria.”

Damn it, they’re bringing up that Manchuria again.

They haven’t even properly managed Sakhalin, which they are currently effectively controlling with Japan, so what Manchuria are they talking about?

To put it coldly, even the King probably doesn’t believe that Joseon can really swallow Manchuria when he says this.

This was close to a kind of ‘borrowed knife to kill’ strategy to make Kim Jwa-geun publicly oppose this public opinion and get a lot of criticism from the people.

Since power is too concentrated on one side right now, he must be trying to check it in his own way.

Kim Jwa-geun could read Lee Ha-eung’s tricks like the palm of his hand, even if it was someone else.

He could take the criticism coolly according to the King’s intention here, but he couldn’t because the intention was unpleasant.

Above all, he had so much to do right now that he couldn’t afford to lose influence in such a place.

“If that is Your Majesty’s will, I understand. I will also consider it positively.”

“Yes, yes. I thought you would reject… hmm?”

Kim Jwa-geun, seeing the King’s face with wide eyes, smiled inwardly and bowed his head.

How dare you try to trick someone? Of course, they’re not really going to start a war.

Since Japan probably isn’t really going to start a war either, if they hand over all decision-making power to them, they’ll just stir up the fire and it’ll fizzle out.

They can just keep saying they’ll consider it and then quietly cover it up.

Kim Jwa-geun was beaming with the thought that he had given Lee Ha-eung a taste of his own medicine, but he didn’t know that the Prime Minister of Japan across the sea was thinking the same thing as him.

-Surely they won’t really start a war, right?

-Surely they won’t really accept the proposal, right?

Joseon, and Japan.

Both sides held out exactly the same palm as a result of such fierce political calculations.

And palms were originally meant to make a sound when they met.