The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 138



< The country where the sun never sets (4) >

“hmm….”

The Baron’s expression changed to a serious one.

Churchill was puzzled by this.

Until now I had been talking a lot about things that would interest the Baron but then he suddenly made a blank expression.

Churchill frowned slightly and asked the Baron a question.

“Do you have any concerns?”

“that is….”

Baron Rothschild rolled his eyes and watched Churchill closely.

And then he quietly brought up the question Churchill had asked earlier.

“Didn’t you say a little while ago that British ships should carry British fuel?”

“Yes.”

“I hesitated for a moment because I thought that the oil fields I owned in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea would not be enough to meet the British Navy’s oil needs.”

“Oh is that so?”

“yes.”

Compared to Royal Dutch in which Lee Kang had invested the Baron’s ‘Caspian-Black Sea Company’ was quite small in scale.

Royal Dutch was the only company in Europe capable of taking on Rockefeller’s Standard Oil but the Baron’s oil company could not.

It is smaller than Nobel Brothers another of Rothschild’s competitors.

As it was ranked 3rd or 4th in Europe the Baron quietly appealed to the fact that his oil company was losing competitiveness compared to other companies.

Oil companies were also an industry where the theory of ‘economies of scale’ applied anyway.

“hmm.”

Churchill listened quietly and then proposed a solution to the Caspian-Black Sea conflict.

“I heard that small and medium-sized oil companies are selling off their oil fields near the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea due to recent management difficulties. How about acquiring them?”

The Rothschilds also knew this very well.

But in the meantime the Baron was hesitant to make additional investments.

Considering all the circumstances it would have been more rational to withdraw from the business rather than invest.

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The Baron shook his head and politely declined Churchill’s offer.

“That could be one way to do it. But it would be insufficient. There aren’t many properties that are more profitable than you might think.”

“okay.”

Churchill thought for a moment and then tried his trick again.

“Then there is only one way.”

“What is it?”

“It would just be a joint venture with another British oil company.”

“Another British company?”

Churchill was quick to point out the subject.

“Yes. Didn’t Anglo-Persian start oil drilling in Masjed Soleiman recently?”

“Ah ah! That’s right. There was Anglo-Persia.”

Anglo-Persian.

In original history it was a giant oil company that became the predecessor of British Petroleum (BP) and had been producing oil in Iran since 1908.

Oil production is increasing day by day from drilling rigs installed in huge oil fields.

The Baron swallowed the saliva on his lips and made a positive expression.

“Certainly if our Caspian-Black Sea company and Anglo-Persia merge we will be able to compete on a large scale.”

“Yes. It will be able to meet the Navy’s needs as well as the growing oil demand of other European countries.”

“That’s right. The demand for automobiles around the world is also increasing and the airplanes that this prince is pushing also use a lot of oil so the demand for oil will skyrocket. If Britain can control that it will be like holding another war deterrence card.”

“That is what I mean.”

Churchill and Rothschild laughed heartily with satisfaction as they sipped the milk tea placed before them.

“But Mr. Churchill there is one more problem.”

But soon Baron Rothschild became serious again.

They say that as you get older your patience increases.

The Baron’s expression suddenly changed to that of a child today.

Churchill looked at the Baron with a what-is-this-time expression.

“What else?”

Rothschild then quietly appealed to Churchill about his long-standing problem.

“Anti-Semitism is growing tremendously in Russia. If the two companies merge the Baku oil field’s share will decrease somewhat but it will still be significant.”

Oil fields large and small continue to be discovered in the Iranian deserts and their size continues to grow but the giant oil field located in Baku on the Caspian Sea remains the world’s largest.

Churchill asked Rothschild with a serious expression as if he had immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.

“Is anti-Semitism so severe in Russia that it is causing the Baron’s company to falter?”

“Yes. The mob is attacking the Caspian-Black Sea Company production facility simply because I own it.”

“Those damn guys. What is the Russian government doing?”

“They only say they will take measures in words but they are just standing by and watching.”

“Oh like that.”

Churchill was now Secretary of State for Trade.

Since it was also his job to resolve the trade difficulties of his country’s companies Churchill listened to the Baron’s difficulties and sought solutions.

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“Our British oil companies are being attacked because of anti-Semitism…”

Churchill who had been mumbling something to himself for a while looked at the Baron with an expression on his face as if a solution had just occurred to him.

“Ah! I guess this will work.”

“Are you saying there is a solution?”

“yes.”

“How do you say that?”

Churchill told Rothschild his secret plan with a slightly cautious expression.

“Wouldn’t it be solved if our British government acquired some of the shares in the merged company?”

Russia and Britain were bitter enemies playing the Great Game from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

But a unified Germany began to emerge as the strongest power in Europe.

They entered into an alliance against Germany through the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907.

In this international situation if mobs were to threaten a British state-owned company it would inevitably escalate into a diplomatic issue.

If that happens the Russian government which has been watching will not be able to sit idly by.

“Are you saying that you will proceed with nationalization of the old country?”

“Yes that’s right.”

The Baron’s face darkened rapidly.

The ultimate goal of capitalists in this era is ‘monopolization.’

What about the opposite?

Of course it is ‘nationalized’.

“Oh don’t make that face I’ll take it at a reasonable price.”

“…Would existing shareholders agree to this? Buying a large number of shares is not as easy as it sounds.”

“Why not acquire the shares through a paid-in capital increase?”

Lee Kang’s acquisition of Royal Dutch stock must have been impressive.

Churchill intended to retain some of the shares in the merged company in the same way as Lee Kang.

“Our British government is happy to acquire the stake and the existing shareholders are happy to receive a large amount of investment. Isn’t this a proposal that satisfies both parties?”

It takes money to make large-scale investments.

Churchill mentioned this to emphasize the necessity of his nationalization logic.

“….”

Rothschild’s expression became complicated.

This is because he was quickly weighing the pros and cons in his head to see if Churchill’s solution would be beneficial to him.

“Well if you act like that Russia won’t be able to leave the rioters alone either.”

It seems like the profit and loss were roughly drawn in his head after much calculation.

The Baron might be able to run his oil company more stably within Russia if it were nationalized.

He appeared to agree with Churchill’s opinion.

“Yes that’s right. Who would dare to damage the property of our British Empire?”

“Yes.”

The two giants were laughing as they talked about their plans for the future.

But the meaning of that laughter was slightly different.

The Baron and the Secretary of Commerce.

The ultimate futures these two envisioned were similar but strangely different.

“Ah! From what I’ve seen from your conversation with the prince it seems like you’re quite friendly with him.”

“….”

The Baron’s mouth snapped shut at Churchill’s last words.

I couldn’t figure out what he meant by bringing up his friendship with Lee Kang.

“This prince’s foresight may sometimes be of help to our country but it may also be of harm to it.”

“….”

“So let’s continue to be friends.”

Does this mean I should stay by your side and keep a close eye on you?

Rothschild nodded interpreting Churchill’s words in that way.

“Understood Secretary Churchill.”

* * *

“majesty.”

“Tell me.”

After my meeting with Churchill I arrived at the hotel where I was staying.

After checking to see if there were any Rothschild family members around Choi Hyun-woo approached me and carefully asked me one question.

“I have a question and I would like to ask Your Majesty about it even at the risk of being rude.”

I looked at Choi Hyun-woo quietly.

Usually keeping your mouth shut when talking about this is an act of tacit consent.

Choi Hyun-woo opened his lips and blurted out the following words.

“Didn’t you have a conversation with the British Secretary of Commerce a little while ago?”

“Oh you mean that guy named Churchill?”

“yes.”

Choi Hyun-woo asked me a question while recalling a scene that happened at lunch today.

“Your Majesty you fought so fiercely which is unusual for your usual manners.”

“Well if that’s how you felt then I guess that’s what happened.”

Choi Hyun-woo looked at me with a worried face and explained Churchill’s background.

“He became the Minister of Commerce at a young age. He must have outstanding abilities but his background is also not to be ignored.”

In fact the Churchill family has a longer history and tradition than the British royal family.

A noble family with connections to the Diana family of the Yuan Dynasty.

I asked back raising one eyebrow slightly.

“So what you’re saying is why didn’t you give in and why did you keep provoking me for a while?”

“yes.”

Well the answer is simple.

Because Churchill provoked me first.

‘I also wanted to see how the Baron would react to that sight.’

Morgan was like that last time too.

The information that keeps coming in from Ikmunsa is also like that.

Baron Rothschild often took actions to keep me in check.

Of course his son Walter is a close friend of mine.

Walter too was a potential future competitor so he had to weaken the Rothschild family’s power at some point.

‘I intend to use Churchill as a stepping stone to draw a very big picture.’

Churchill also led the way in the replacement of internal combustion engines in Royal Navy warships.

What if I provoke him and mention this at the same time?

Churchill obviously.

It will try to organize the main oil supply routes around its own companies.

Even more than the original history.

‘As it happens the Rothschilds still own the oil company.’

Doesn’t ‘Russia’ still have the Baku oil fields?

What if he doesn’t sell it and keeps holding it?

What if at the same time a red revolution broke out in Russia and the Soviet Union was eventually created?

‘Just imagining it will be a fun thing to happen.’

But since I couldn’t tell these facts to Choi Hyun-woo and Woo Hyun-sik as they were I slightly embellished them and blurted out the following words.

“When we first shook hands he taunted me. He grabbed my hand very roughly and started a fight.”

“Oh is that so?”

“okay.”

I didn’t make a single tea.

Even Choi Hyun-woo and Woo Hyun-sik who can be called my close associates don’t know about this.

“If you give a slap to the one who starts a fight he will continue to provoke you with arrogance later on.”

I snapped my fingers and continued.

“If he had been the Prime Minister of Britain I might have tolerated it once. But Churchill was just a minister. He wasn’t a powerful member of the cabinet like the Admiralty or the Foreign Secretary. I couldn’t just let it go because he provoked me as the Minister of Commerce.”

The two aides made expressions that showed they understood my feelings.

I continued talking.

“If I had just kept quiet the Prime Minister and the other royals in Britain would have laughed at me.”

“I guess so.”

It doesn’t end here.

They will also nitpick and nitpick over future aircraft sales to Germany.

It’s still like that now.

This is especially true if you look down on it.

“I made a concession to the British once before when I helped them deal with Hendrick’s stake. Will they be satisfied with this? No. They will demand another concession from me at any moment.”

“So it was a bit of a stretch but you had a fight with Minister Churchill.”

“okay.”

Churchill if history is to be believed is a man who will become a future giant.

If I have a bad relationship with him it will never help my future.

‘He looks stubborn and stubborn… but it seems like he’s already ruined.’

It cannot be said that there is no room for improvement in relations.

‘Didn’t Churchill go from being a successful man to a downer while serving as Admiralty Secretary?’

Churchill is the original in history.

They are sinking into a quagmire throwing in 250000 of their own soldiers.

Because of this incident he fell into depression for a while and even retired from politics.

‘There’s no guarantee that we won’t make a mess of things at Gallipoli this time though…’

Didn’t you check it today?

He is so arrogant as to be the first to provoke me the prince of a country.

Through our conversation I was able to find out that he has insight but is also very stubborn.

‘In the history of the original Churchill has not been particularly prominent in the area of ​​military strategy.’

What if a stubborn self-righteous and militarily incompetent person becomes the Minister of the Navy?

Even if you don’t dig at Gallipoli you’ll have a big accident someday.

After World War I retirement was expected.

‘What if we could gently comfort Churchill when he’s having a hard time… …and help him get back on his feet?’

Even if your first impression is like a dog your relationship will improve after that.

That’s why I provoked Churchill this time even if it was a little too much.

‘I hope things are going according to plan?’

Because I put a lot of medicine on it.

Those two must be plotting to conspire and mess with me.

‘But what should I do?’

I am a seer of the future.

Ssik-

He raised one corner of his mouth and looked at the main building where Baron Rothschild resided.

Churchill still appears to be talking to Baron Rothschild.

Their entourage was seen in the courtyard of the main building.

I crossed my arms and watched the scenery for a while.

< The Land Where the Sun Never Sets (4) > End