I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 520

Although the Joseon people were largely unaware of it, Joseon was more accustomed to receiving scraps from the strongest power in the world than being the strongest power itself.

However, this doesn’t mean they were merely showing subservient flattery to the top dog.

What Joseon wanted was to maintain a ‘secure’ second-place position under the wing of the number one power that treated them ‘well’.

Perhaps that’s why Joseon didn’t have much aversion to paying tribute to a country standing tall at the center of the world.

In the past, Westerners were largely seen as barbarians who didn’t adhere to the three cardinal principles and five moral rules [Confucian ethical framework], but that’s all old news now.

With the belief that the British Empire was now the true celestial kingdom, and at the heart of that kingdom was Killian, who had Joseon blood flowing through him, Joseon had already completely broken away from the traditional Confucian order.

In fact, strictly speaking, it would be more accurate to say that it had changed into a form suitable for the late 19th century rather than breaking away from the Confucian order.

In the past, the countries they paid tribute to were Ming and Qing [Chinese Dynasties], but now the target had changed to the British Empire, and accordingly, the object they believed to be a more advanced culture had also changed.

Expressions like scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants had completely disappeared in importance, and most of the privileges of the nobility had been abolished.

Instead, the prestigious and powerful families wanted to be treated as if they were British aristocrats, and they subtly reshaped the system to reflect this.

It was contradictory that Joseon, having proclaimed itself an empire and changed its king to an emperor, still paid tribute to another empire, but no one seemed to mind.

Wasn’t the neighboring country of Japan also taking a similar path?

However, even when paying tribute, there are differences in degree and direction, so not everyone can be of the same mind.

In other words, even if everyone agreed on admiring the British Empire, accepting its culture as superior, and modernizing Joseon.

Conflicts over the methods were bound to arise.

Among the young officials, there were even those who argued that everything in this country should simply be changed to be like the British Empire.

A prime example of this was Yi Wan-yong, the second son of Yi Seok-jun of the Champan Gong faction.

“Goodness! You’re all saying such frustrating things. I simply can’t understand why there are so many disagreements when we can just copy the British Empire’s methods and implement them here.”

“Look here, Tutor. Is that something you should be saying as someone who teaches the Crown Prince?”

“Isn’t that what I keep telling His Highness as well? What is the reason His Highness is the Crown Prince right now? It’s because he didn’t oppose His Royal Highness Edward, the Crown Prince of the British Empire, when he visited.”

“Ahem, I understand what you mean, but our Joseon is a sovereign independent state. I’m concerned that if His Highness receives the Tutor’s education, he might think of us as a vassal state of the British Empire.”

The lecturers of the Sigangwon [Crown Prince’s educational institution], who taught the Crown Prince, were always staffed by people who had achieved excellent results in the past.

Now, the civil service examination had disappeared and changed to the Higher Civil Service Examination, and Yi Wan-yong was one of the people who passed this Higher Civil Service Examination with the best grades.

However, he was also a peculiar individual who embarrassed people with his extremely pro-British remarks, even within the government organization, which was full of pro-British factions.

“Of course, our Joseon Empire is a proud independent state. But the future ruler of this Asia will inevitably be the country closest to the British Empire. We have to at least match Japan to receive similar treatment as Japan!”

“There’s no one in this Joseon land who doesn’t know that.”

“You shouldn’t act like this when you know it!”

Yi Wan-yong even established an unusual organization called the and attracted influential figures.

He even brought in a large number of young, up-and-coming politicians such as Seo Jae-pil and Ahn Gyeong-su, spreading his influence to all walks of life like a fish in water.

They gave speeches here and there on the theme of the direction Joseon should take, subtly promoting the policies they were trying to push to the citizens.

“Respected citizens! What kind of country do you think this country should become? I am confident that this Joseon has the potential to become a powerful nation no less than France in Europe!

Why? Because the blood flowing in the bodies of our Joseon people is in no way inferior when compared to those Caucasians!

That fact has been proven by our great Killian the Great, who has brought the whole world to its knees under the British Empire!

Our committee is working day and night to make Joseon a great nation like the British Empire! If you, the citizens, support us, we will achieve even more outstanding results…”

If there were people who agreed with Yi Wan-yong’s claims and gathered around him, there were naturally those who had different thoughts.

Among them were even young children, including Kim Gu, the only son of the Kim family who had just moved to Hanseong [Seoul].

Although he was still a child, he wondered if it was really the right path to adapt everything to the British Empire without any hesitation, no matter how good it was.

“Dad. Isn’t Joseon the country of our Joseon people? Then shouldn’t Joseon people take the lead in governing it?”

“Of course. But it’s about leading the country in the way of an advanced country because the British Empire is an advanced country. It’s not about handing over this country to the British Empire.”

“But I heard that all the smart people in the family go to study in the British Empire. If the people who return from there govern the country, wouldn’t that be the same as the British Empire indirectly governing this country?”

“No. In the past, a lot of excellent culture came in through the Ming Dynasty, right? Like that, if we learn excellent advanced civilization from the British Empire, we can grow our country like other European powers based on that.”

Perhaps a sense of inferiority due to not being able to go to London because of his family situation also played a small part.

However, Kim Gu could not shake off the idea that Joseon should maintain its own identity while being influenced by the British Empire.

Kim Gu, the future leader of the domestic faction who would later divide the political world of the Joseon Empire with Rhee Syngman, the representative of the overseas faction who would return from London, indifferently watched Yi Wan-yong’s speech, who was enthusiastically speaking.

Vowing never to become such an opportunist.

* * *

As time rapidly flowed towards the 20th century, the world changed even more dramatically.

There were so many changes that it was impossible to list them all, but if you were to pick the biggest innovation, there was an item that everyone would mention.

That was the explosive increase in food production due to chemical fertilizers.

As I had declared, nitrogen chemical fertilizers fundamentally changed agriculture around the world, and people were able to experience an increase in food production that they could not have imagined before.

Workers were able to eat wheat bread, which they used to have to buy with trembling hands with their meager salaries, to their heart’s content.

As people had more leisure in their lives, sports and entertainment naturally became more active.

Soccer, which had been popular for a long time, grew at an explosive rate, and as Killian sponsored it, official organizations were quickly established.

The Olympics were revived with the aim of maintaining continued world peace and promoting harmony in the future.

The number of people giving birth to children exploded as they became able to make a living, and food production continued to increase enough to accommodate this increased population.

There is no doubt that all of this is thanks to the invention of His Greatness Killian.

I decided to leave my mark on soccer, which would later become the most popular sport in the world.

In the original history, England was the home of soccer, but wasn’t FIFA [Fédération Internationale de Football Association] founded by France?

Even the Ballon d’Or [annual football award], the most prestigious award in soccer, was created by a French soccer magazine.

I can never tolerate the nickname “Bungtland” for my British Empire.

The country that produces the most World Cup winners and the GOAT [Greatest Of All Time] of soccer in this world must be the British Empire.

“Your Majesty, but will this soccer really become such a popular sport? I think it would be better to promote cricket.”

“Cricket is some kind of crick… no, of course, cricket is our British Empire’s proud national sport, but sports that use equipment will inevitably fall behind in accessibility, you know?”

Pity Wellesley for not knowing the joy of soccer.

In fact, I used to practice cricket to impress Victoria, but perhaps because of the influence of my past life, I could never find cricket fun.

I would rather enjoy the much more familiar baseball or horse racing. I, who couldn’t play cricket, was initially treated as an oddball among the nobles.

But this world is soon ruled by money and power.

As soon as it became known that I liked soccer and horse racing, the voices that denigrated soccer as a low-level sport for commoners disappeared at some point.

In addition, in Canada, soccer’s popularity is said to be causing a sensation that is pushing cricket out of the way and becoming the overwhelming number one sport.

“No, no matter what, a man should play cricket…”

“Prime Minister, you should quickly acknowledge that times are changing. In the future, the festival of the entire planet will be the World Cup created by this Killian.”

“I can understand if you say that the Olympics will become like that, but you’re saying that just kicking a ball with your feet without any skill will become a festival for the whole world? I absolutely disagree.”

Just kicking a ball with your feet without any skill? Hey, take that back right now.

As expected, you can’t communicate with cricket fanatics.

“Okay, in the distant future, you’ll be envying the praise that Killian is the best even in sports, while regretting your shortsightedness. I gave you the opportunity to board the ship of promised victory, but I can’t help it if you refuse.”

“…Sigh, no matter how I look at it, soccer can’t be more popular than cricket.”

I ignored Wellesley’s grumbling and lovingly looked at the newspaper with the headline [World’s First International Football Federation Founded!].

Since I directly stepped up to create the association, the president of FIFA will be in charge of the British Imperial Family for generations to come, right?

If I’m still hearing the sound of Bungtland even after doing this much, I’ll definitely come back to life in the future and make you pay the price.

“By the way, Your Majesty, I’ve been hearing various stories from the military lately, are you aware of them?”

“It’s been quite a while since I stepped down from practical work. How would I know what stories are coming out? Even if I knew, Edward would know.”

“There is a growing voice that the coal-burning warships should gradually be switched to using oil. It seems that what Your Majesty said in the past and the recent trends in the industry have had an impact.”

“What did I say in the past?”

“You said that coal will eventually be replaced by oil. You also said that oil has advantages over coal in almost every way.”

Certainly, if used properly, oil-powered ships can have strategic and operational superiority that cannot be compared to coal.

In fact, several companies that have now realized the value of oil are jumping into oil drilling, and fairly active oil field development is taking place in North America.

However, with current technology, it was difficult to extract the oil in the Middle East, which is a golden land, and the oil coming out of North America also had a limit to its supply.

Wellesley also knew this, so he sighed while looking at the vast world map.

“We occupy so much land, but the only place where oil is gushing out is Ontario. Isn’t there another place where oil is overflowing?”

“Well. Looking here might cheer you up a bit more.”

I smiled and handed him the report that had just arrived from Canada today.

“Yes? What is this? Confirmation of a large oil deposit in Adelaide? Estimated to be several times the amount of Ontario?”

He looked at the report with an absurd look, then at me, and then stroked his grizzled beard.

“…Did you perhaps know about this too?”

“How would I know? There’s oil in Ontario, so there might be a lot next to it. I just told you to investigate.”

In the original history, Alberta, named after Victoria’s fourth daughter, is now called Adelaide, named after the eldest daughter born in Canada.

For reference, Alaska recently changed its name to Edward in commemoration of its complete incorporation into the imperial family’s private property.

Adelaide accounts for 60% of Canada’s total crude oil production, and unlike the Middle East, there is a considerable amount of oil buried on the surface.

There are quite a few places where drilling is possible without difficulty even with the technology of today, so we can use this place until we find the oil buried in the Middle East.

I poured wine into the glass next to me and handed it to Wellesley.

“Isn’t it a festive day? Let’s have a drink together.”

“Huh, really. I wonder if oil will gush out of that Middle Eastern land that was made into the imperial family’s direct territory.”

As I smiled meaningfully and brought the glass to my mouth, Wellesley’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Is it really true? Your Majesty, tell me honestly. Didn’t God really show you the future?”

“It’s a secret, but it’s true. In the future I saw, soccer was a much more popular sport than cricket.”

“Eing, then it’s an unreliable future.”

Wellesley shook his head as he received the glass I handed him and drank it heartily.

I told him all the facts, but he can’t believe it. How unfortunate.

It seems that the saying that blessings come to those who believe is absolutely correct.

I kept laughing and emptied the glass with Wellesley.

I was so happy that I couldn’t ask for anything more if this joy continued in the future.