I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 502

National industrial promotion policies and full support for new capitalists.

Bismarck’s reform plan to further strengthen science and technology passed with surprisingly little opposition.

The military and political circles each thought they would be the ones laughing later, but no one knows what the future holds.

At least within Prussia, it was clear that no one except Bismarck knew how the future would unfold.

“What did Your Highness the Crown Prince think?”

“Do you need my opinion? I’m just an observer.”

“I’m merely curious. What’s your perspective as the Crown Prince of the British Empire?”

“You’re playing politics with remarkable sophistication. First isolating the military to prevent the Junkers [Prussian landed nobility] from uniting, and then embracing them – a truly masterful move.”

“Isolated? Haha, I simply addressed their grievances.”

Bismarck was now certain that Crown Prince Edward was no ordinary person.

He realized that Killian hadn’t chosen Gisela as his daughter-in-law without a good reason.

He inferred that the choice was made with the confidence that the Crown Prince wouldn’t be swayed by his daughter-in-law, and that proved to be true.

“Prussia will continue its remarkable development, and I eagerly anticipate it. I believe Prussia and the British Empire will inevitably need to cooperate.”

“I agree. Although the world is vast, shouldn’t Europe ultimately be its center? I hope the British Empire will solidify its dominance over Europe from the sea, and Prussia from the land.”

Edward and Gisela would surely understand why he emphasized the word ‘Europe’.

As expected, Gisela nodded with an inscrutable smile, and Edward raised his coffee cup with interest.

“Which country concerns you most, Prime Minister? Qing China? The United States?”

“Certainly, it’s the United States. Why Qing China all of a sudden…? We’ve concluded they aren’t even worth paying attention to. They’re struggling to manage Joseon [historical Korean kingdom] and Japan.”

“Ah, I agree. But my father considers Qing China one of the British Empire’s biggest future rivals.”

“Future? How far into the future are we talking about?”

“Well, I won’t live to see it myself, but he said we should prepare for it, so at least 100 years from now?”

To conduct politics with a 100-year outlook?

Anyone would think he had seen the future.

Bismarck chuckled dryly and asked Gisela, who was diligently enjoying her coffee and cookies.

“What do you think of those words, Your Highness the Crown Princess? Do you believe Qing China could threaten the British Empire, even in the future?”

The notion of Qing China as a powerful country that Europe couldn’t easily dismiss was a myth long past its end.

And the one who proved that fact was none other than Killian in his younger days.

He showed the world that Qing China was a paper tiger and seized more spoils than he could handle.

But to suggest that Qing China could become one of the biggest threats to the British Empire in the distant future was difficult to accept.

Of course, Qing China was still a vast country with an absurdly large population, but that population couldn’t grow indefinitely, could it?

He might think differently if that already large population grew three or four times over.

Yet, Gisela surprisingly nodded without a hint of emotion.

“Qing China? Of course, it could be a threat to the British Empire in the future.”

“…Is that so?”

He wanted to ask why, but Edward’s answer came first.

“Technology is developing, and the era we live in will be different from now. I heard you also received a message from my father, Prime Minister.”

“Ah… you mean that. But frankly, I’m still somewhat doubtful. Are you suggesting that a problem unsolved for thousands of years will suddenly be resolved? And that His Majesty will do it himself?”

“It’s hard to believe, to be honest.”

Malthus’ theory – that population growth outpaces food production – was considered an immutable truth at the time.

In fact, this was why even Europe couldn’t fully implement social welfare.

If welfare were expanded, people’s lifespans would increase and population growth would accelerate, but realistically, there wouldn’t be enough food to support them.

Therefore, most welfare was limited to improving working conditions, and poverty relief functioned primarily as charity.

No one openly suggested reducing the population if it increased, but politicians already understood this implicitly.

Moreover, this structure inevitably led to colonial expansion.

Because there wasn’t enough food to feed the citizens at home, they would plunder other regions to bring in food.

It might not always be that desperate, but who could stop it when there was no better justification?

Bismarck believed that Killian was sincere in wanting to improve this structure for long-term peace, even if he didn’t know all the details.

“Even with my doubts, I’m planning on the premise that it will work. His Majesty has already recruited many chemists from Prussia. I wasn’t aware because I was so busy, but I discovered it during an investigation.”

“Ah, I wasn’t fully aware either, but he’s been researching this for a long time. He brought people not only from Prussia but also from Russia and the United States.”

“…He must be serious.”

Well, he must be serious if he’s saying such things and has achieved some results.

Bismarck, having grasped the situation, pondered Edward’s words again.

If humanity is freed from the fear of famine, each country’s population will inevitably explode.

Then, naturally, countries with large land areas will become even more prominent.

Population isn’t everything, but it’s directly related to market size.

A large population possesses tremendous power in itself.

‘Then the prediction that Qing China might threaten the British Empire in the distant future might not be entirely wrong.’

If he predicted that far ahead, Killian’s intuition must still be sharp.

‘And Crown Princess Gisela, who nodded without hesitation, must have already considered that possibility.’

Thanks to Edward’s intervention, Bismarck missed the opportunity to learn the truth this time as well.

The real reason Gisela nodded reflexively was because she unconditionally believed in Killian’s words, even if he said he would make bombs out of pine cones.

* * *

The Bible contains the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

It refers to the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.

Because it’s such a famous passage, the phrase ‘loaves and fishes’ is invariably invoked whenever a situation involves enriching many people with meager resources.

In that sense, what I’m about to do may also be related to the loaves and fishes.

No. To be exact, it’s closer to making bread out of thin air, so should I be called the alchemist of miracles?

In fact, the person who solved this problem was also called that, and considering his achievements, it wouldn’t be strange if he remained in human history and was praised.

The overcoming of the Malthusian trap, which dictates the harsh reality that there’s an insurmountable ceiling on human development.

Overcoming this Malthusian trap doesn’t simply result in many people eating their fill and everyone being happy.

If technology develops and the population increases, but food production doesn’t keep pace, powerful countries have only two options.

Either don’t provide poverty relief, or import the needed food from elsewhere.

This bleak reality, where a terrible future awaits regardless of the choice, only ended after the dawn of the 20th century.

The hero of mankind who broke the Malthusian trap and increased the world’s population fivefold in just 100 years.

It was thanks to Fritz Haber, who condensed nitrogen from the air into ammonia and discovered a way to make artificial nitrogen fertilizer.

This invention is so amazing that, after its widespread adoption, there was no longer any need to leave land fallow or struggle to produce potatoes or beans.

Everyone could simply eat their fill of rice and bread without any problems, and the issue of land losing its fertility and becoming barren disappeared.

At this point, it’s no exaggeration to say he deserves to be included among the world’s top three saints, but in modern times, Fritz Haber isn’t such a well-known name.

I’d say he has just enough name recognition that those interested in history know him, but most others don’t.

It’s a treatment that descendants might find unfair considering his achievements, but there’s a reason for it.

If it had ended with the abolition of the Malthusian trap, it would have been fine, but Fritz Haber then developed poison gas, one of the worst weapons ever created.

Even his wife, also a chemist, dissuaded him, saying it was too dangerous, and eventually committed suicide to stop him, but Haber didn’t stop.

He even persuaded the military to actively use this weapon in the war, so his karma is too heavy.

For this reason, Haber, who could have been called the savior of mankind, is now seen as a two-sided figure with both great merits and faults.

Initially, I was going to recruit Fritz Haber to accelerate the production of artificial nitrogen fertilizer and delay the development of poison gas.

But what’s this? When I looked into it, Haber wasn’t even born yet when I started gathering researchers.

It was my mistake to only focus on the name Fritz Haber and his achievements, without considering his birthdate.

Still, I know the general direction, so I can simply mobilize the world’s scholars to work hard in my place.

I used my power to the limit to gather all the famous chemists in the world and repeatedly persuaded them to form a dream team.

“Your Majesty, it has recently been revealed that plants obtain carbon dioxide from the air and nitrogen compounds from the roots to grow. But I never imagined someone like Your Majesty would be so interested in this issue.”

“Anyone with power should use it for the good of the world. That’s why I called you here.”

First of all, the assembled experts from the German-speaking world, the leading region in chemistry at the time, were impressive.

Justus von Liebig, and his students August Hofmann and Kekulé, were brought to London.

My claim that artificial nitrogen fertilizer could be made using the nitrogen fixation method was already considered a feasible area at the time.

When I offered them a contract with unlimited research funding and continued support even after the research succeeded, everyone eagerly accepted.

“Your Majesty! I’m impressed by Your Majesty’s foresight in anticipating the future food shortage problem so early. Please allow me to contribute my wisdom!”

William Crookes, the pride of the British Academy of Sciences, who discovered thallium and created the Crookes tube, also actively agreed to my project and volunteered.

In addition, there was Henry Enfield Roscoe, who made a name for himself by isolating vanadium, and Dmitry Mendeleev, a Russian genius who discovered the periodic table of elements at only 35.

Isn’t there a saying that even a piece of paper is better if you hold it together?

This was a piece of iron too thick and hard to be called a piece of paper, but it was certain that these geniuses, working together, would produce results faster than expected.

Is there a limit to the ‘do it for me’ method?

I was worried, but when I actually tried it, there was almost nothing in the world that money couldn’t accomplish.

Not only that.

I even gained the reputation of being the savior of mankind, so it’s a win-win situation.

Of course, I also bundled in British citizenship, so I benefited the most.

Thus, the Killian-Liebig-Hofmann-Crookes method, which will be known as the 19th-century version of the loaves and fishes.

The alchemy of miracles, which will be abbreviated as the Killian method, is finally ready to be revealed to the world.