I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 72

Became a Hidden Power in the British Empire 72

The Great Schism

“I’ve been hearing various rumors lately. Do you happen to know anything about them?”

When I met with Lin Zexu again, who had been delaying the meeting with all sorts of excuses, his eyes were already full of suspicion.

“As for rumors, I’ve been hearing them too. Our merchants are very anxious. Actually, I’ve been wondering about it myself. I thought the negotiations were going well, but suddenly your attitude seems to have changed.”

“The negotiations were going well, you say… Did your country ever sincerely intend to negotiate with us?”

“Of course. Rather, wasn’t it Governor-General who kept postponing the negotiations despite our repeated requests?”

“No, that’s…”

I couldn’t very well say to his face that I was suspicious of him and had been investigating him thoroughly.

As long as the other party thinks there is another intention, they cannot sit at the negotiating table.

But since they don’t know that Elliot is connected to me, they would have wanted to hide the fact that they noticed something, to the limit.

Still, the fact that he came back to the negotiating table means that things have been sorted out to some extent, so I was curious.

What kind of order came from Beijing?

“Could it be that His Majesty has ordered you to change your previous policy?”

When I asked as if I really didn’t know, Lin Zexu stared at me, then sighed and asked back.

“Do you really not know? No, whether you know or not, it’s better to check. Minister, you clearly said that you were born and raised in Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom], didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I’m telling you in advance in case you feel bad, but we also did our own investigation after hearing that. It’s not so much that we dug into your past, but rather that Joseon is a tributary state of Qing [the last imperial dynasty of China], so we had no choice but to check. If you were born and raised in Joseon, I believe you understand what I mean.”

“Of course. I don’t mind at all.”

When I nodded too calmly, Lin Zexu’s eyes trembled subtly.

Judging from his reaction, I roughly knew what kind of answer had come back from Joseon.

And as expected, Lin Zexu rattled off words that were no different from what I had expected.

“But the envoy who returned from Joseon brought a completely different answer. The Ministry of Rites and even the Ministry of Personnel in Joseon investigated, but they couldn’t find any trace of the Minister being born and raised in Joseon, which doesn’t make sense.”

“Oh, Joseon sent such an answer?”

“If we had just picked someone at random and asked, they might have been confused, but the Minister’s background is quite unique. It’s so distinctive that it’s impossible to forget even by mistake, but it doesn’t make sense that Joseon doesn’t know.”

“So you ignored my request to investigate further.”

The Beijing side probably had the intention of using Joseon to influence me if I had a really close relationship with Joseon.

But I said I was close, but they said they didn’t know, so of course, they would have had a brain freeze for a moment.

It was clear that one of them was lying.

“His Majesty is not happy with this situation. We can only see that either Joseon or the British are deceiving us.”

“It’s a bit strange. Why would Joseon send such an answer?”

“…I’m not suspecting you, but do you have any evidence that the Minister was born and raised in Joseon?”

“Isn’t the fact that I’m fluent in Joseon as well as Qing evidence? If you bring an interpreter who can speak Joseon, I can show you how fluent I am in Joseon.”

If I’m telling the truth, then Joseon deliberately hid the truth from Qing.

In fact, this was the most troublesome situation for Qing, so they would have hoped that I was bluffing.

But at least in this case, I was completely innocent, so I had nothing to hide.

Of course, looking at how things were going, it wasn’t that Joseon had intentionally lied to Qing, but that’s how it turned out, so what could I do?

They were the fools who didn’t remember properly.

In fact, even if they had spoken properly, it’s doubtful whether Qing would have believed that a nobleman who was fluent in three languages and rose to the position of Minister at the age of 18 was the son of a slave.

“Hmm… Actually, even though the possibility is infinitely low, you could have learned Joseon in the British Isles…”

“Ah~ You’re saying that I learned Joseon, Qing, and even the language of Zipangu [old name of Japan] in my home country.”

“It doesn’t make sense, but I can’t say it’s absolutely impossible.”

“Then you can prove it in other ways. Governor-General, you’ve never been to Hanseong [old name of Seoul], the capital of Joseon, so you can’t tell, but record what I’m saying now and send it to Beijing. People who have been to Joseon as diplomatic envoys will immediately know whether I’m lying or not. Let me tell you what Hanseong was like when I lived there…”

I vividly described the lives of the people I actually saw in Joseon, the scenery of Hanseong, and how the nobles lived.

As a slave of a prestigious family, there is almost no one who can describe how the current Joseon upper-class nobles lived as well as I can.

Perhaps even the people who went to Joseon as diplomatic envoys from Qing could not capture as much detail as I did.

Of course, the people listening to this story would never dream that I knew the affairs of the noble families because I was a slave.

They would assume that I was treated with great hospitality in Joseon and was close to prestigious noble families.

The proof was that Lin Zexu, who could no longer deny my story, was clutching his forehead and sighing deeply.

“Then Joseon… why on earth…?”

“I don’t know either.”

“…Have you had any exchanges with Joseon or Wa [old name of Japan] recently?”

“I haven’t directly, but well, if you include other merchants or officials, I don’t know.”

I don’t lie, but I don’t say anything for sure and leave room for doubt until the end.

It’s the basics of diplomacy, but the questions in Lin Zexu’s already confused mind only became more complicated.

Before he could open his mouth again, my tongue, seizing the opportunity, began to wriggle again.

“How is it? If things aren’t sorted out yet, should I wait a little longer?”

“Is that alright?”

“Of course. As I said many times, I want to resolve this situation amicably. But the merchants’ dissatisfaction continues to accumulate, so even if I try to stop them, they may try to sell opium through back channels. I’ll tell you in advance that I can’t completely control them until a conclusion is reached in any way.”

“…If they are caught committing such illegal acts, the opium will be confiscated in its entirety, and they will have to bear the corresponding responsibility.”

“It’s natural to be confiscated if you’re caught selling illegally. I have no intention of ignoring the laws and systems of other countries and unconditionally taking sides just because they are my countrymen.”

When I glanced back, I saw the recorder who accompanied me recording the conversation between me and Lin Zexu without missing a single detail.

Good, good.

Since it’s an official meeting between the Minister and the Governor-General, objective data must be preserved.

This will make it clear that I am considerate of Qing’s position and that I have not said anything false in the process.

Lin Zexu may be so confused that his head is about to explode, but that suffering will end soon.

No matter how much he is an Imperial Commissioner and Governor-General who has been delegated full authority, he is only in a position to do what the Emperor tells him to do.

* * *

After overloading Lin Zexu’s head, I immediately entered the final stage of this operation.

It’s been going as planned so far, but that doesn’t mean I can afford to be relaxed.

Such elaborate strategies can be ruined by even a small mistake, so you need to constantly check the progress.

“Have all the departing employees returned?”

“Yes. After checking, it seems that the Qing side has definitely confirmed where the ship is heading this time. Perhaps Lin Zexu will know soon.”

“I’ve bribed the lower-level officials, so the news will reach Beijing soon.”

I said in front of Lin Zexu that I didn’t, but soon the news that the British merchant ships seemed to be contacting Joseon or Wa will reach his ears.

This is because the disguised merchants I brought from London are periodically sailing towards Joseon or Wa so that they can be seen by Qing fishermen or patrol boats.

They’re not really going; they’re just going to some extent and then turning around, but if you see that sight, you can’t help but be suspicious.

Of course, since they didn’t actually trade, no matter how much you ask, you won’t get a satisfactory answer.

And even now, these factors continue to accumulate and are being delivered to Beijing through the mouths of the officials I bought.

Lin Zexu is seeing my outwardly cooperative appearance on the ground, so he’s still thinking about it, but what will be the reaction in Beijing?

Unlike Lin Zexu, they have never seen me, and they have only received warnings about how much of a threat Britain can be to Qing.

And the Beijing ministers will certainly not even suspect that these pieces of information are my work.

Logically, if you bribe officials to spread false information, you would get fabrications that opium is not harmful to the body or that Britain is a good country, not reports that those guys are plotting a huge conspiracy.

That’s why it wasn’t that difficult to bribe local officials.

It’s not like they’re asking to allow opium sales; they’re just making a fuss that Britain is a dangerous country, and they get a lot of money, so why wouldn’t they refuse?

“Since a clear conclusion was not reached at this meeting, opium merchants will continue to smuggle opium as they do now. Should we leave it as it is now?”

“Just pretend to stop them. If you just give them a good warning that they could be caught, we’ve done our duty.”

“I feel a little sorry for Lin Zexu. The information coming in from here and there is different, and it doesn’t match what he has seen and confirmed with his own eyes… If it were me, I would have quit saying I couldn’t do it.”

It’s a trap set up so that he doesn’t pay attention to anything else and worries about the local affairs until his head explodes.

If he’s not confused, then it’s not worth the effort I put into acting so desperately.

“Oh, I need to prepare a report to send to my home country soon, so could you please organize the data?”

If I send it now, it will arrive in Westminster in three to four months, so considering the time it takes to go back and forth, now is the best time.

Since it’s the first report submitted to Parliament by Killian Gore, the Foreign Secretary of the British Empire, should we try to make it have the biggest impact possible?

Just wait and see.

* * *

The center of the Sinocentric order [a hierarchical political ideology] and the symbol of Zhonghua [Chinese culturalism].

The Daoguang Emperor, the owner of the Forbidden City in Beijing, could not hide his displeasure at the conflicting reports that had been coming in one after another recently.

“Are you daring to joke with me now?”

“Yo, Your Majesty! I am sorry!”

The Grand Secretaries or the Grand Secretaries of the Six Ministries, the Grand Secretaries of the Military Affairs Department who also served as Left Vice Censors, had the privilege of directly meeting with the Emperor, but even they could not raise their heads in the face of the Emperor’s anger.

“It has been more than ten years since I declared that I would eradicate the opium of the Westerners. Recently, it seemed to be having some effect, so I was secretly pleased, but I can’t hide my displeasure that news has come to pour cold water on it.”

“Th, that is because the report submitted by the Imperial Commissioner and the report from Joseon do not match at all, so the Cabinet and the Six Ministries are confused…”

“So that’s what doesn’t make sense. What is the conclusion? Is Joseon lying now? Or is the Minister of the British Isles spouting nonsense?”

“The Imperial Commissioner has reported that the Minister of the British Isles is definitely from Joseon. His opinion was that Joseon seems to be hiding something, so we need to investigate again.”

“Joseon has no reason to lie to us?”

There are things to hide separately, but who in the world is stupid enough to hide something that will all come out if you try to shake it off.

Or does Joseon think that the Great Qing is so foolish that it can’t even figure that out?

“Your Majesty. In fact, the current report of the Imperial Commissioner has many shortcomings. Even if it’s not the Yangguang area, but only the memorials coming up from the Huguang area, there are appeals that the opium smuggling of the British Isles is serious. In addition, there are also frequent reports that the British Isles are constantly sending merchant ships to places where Joseon or Wa are located.”

“What? I heard that the Minister of the British Isles is more cooperative with us than ever before.”

“Yes, the Imperial Commissioner is arguing that, but what we hear from other regions doesn’t seem to be the case at all.”

“Then could it be that the Imperial Commissioner is colluding with the British Isles?”

The Daoguang Emperor, who knew Lin Zexu’s upright character well, did not doubt his loyalty at all.

The Grand Secretaries of the Military Affairs Department also seemed to have similar thoughts and shook their heads, but they did not forget to add one more possibility.

“The Imperial Commissioner’s integrity is well-known, so he could not have had two minds. However, as he is a person of integrity and upright character, he may be being deceived by the cunning tricks of the evil British Isles.”

“You’re saying that they’re pretending to be cooperative on the outside but plotting behind the scenes.”

“Yes, if you look at the circumstances, you have no choice but to interpret it that way. Since the British Isles are cooperating, the Imperial Commissioner is not responding as strongly as he should, and in the meantime, they are smuggling opium behind the scenes and contacting Joseon or Wa, doing whatever they want.”

It’s a reasonable inference.

No, it was a sharp reasoning that went beyond the level of being reasonable and was considered the only correct answer.

“If the British Isles contact Joseon or Wa, what is the reason?”

“Since it’s difficult to sell opium here, they may be trying to sell it there instead and secure silver. But according to what I’ve heard, that… what should I say…”

“Hmm? What are you hesitating to say?”

“That is because the content is so disrespectful and absurd that it is difficult to say it directly…”

“It’s okay, tell me.”

Even though the Emperor’s permission had been given, the ministers, who had been looking at each other, closed their eyes tightly as if they had made up their minds and revealed what they had heard.

“It’s not certain information, but the British Isles are plotting a conspiracy to completely neutralize our resistance to banning opium. Contacting Joseon or Wa is also part of a plan to undermine the Sinocentric order…”

“What?”

I didn’t want to create direct conflict until now, so I treated them well, but are they really climbing up without knowing their place?

That’s why you shouldn’t treat the Western beasts as the same humans.

“Are you saying that those Westerners who don’t know their place are daring to go beyond selling opium and trying to swallow us up completely?”

“It’s not certain information, but considering that this source came from the British Isles’ camp, I think it’s highly credible.”

“Hoo… What on earth was the Imperial Commissioner doing until this story came to my ears? No, I can’t. Issue an imperial edict to the Imperial Commissioner. Don’t look at the circumstances of the British Isles and thoroughly enforce the ban. And if they are really plotting to shake the foundation of this place…”

The Daoguang Emperor hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and continued.

“Depending on the circumstances, I will also allow the use of force.”

If the result of trying to solve it well through dialogue until now is this, then we can no longer adhere to the current policy.

The Emperor regretted that he should have made this decision sooner and clenched his fist so hard that it made a cracking sound.

If the British Isles or Joseon dare to forget their position and climb up, I will definitely let them know where they should be.