The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 147



< The Best and the Worst (3) >

Lee Kang’s body was truly blessed.

Even if you drink a lot of alcohol you don’t get drunk easily.

Above all I was very thankful that I didn’t have much of a hangover.

‘When I was living as Park Byung-jun I always vomited the day after drinking.’

After stretching I got out of bed feeling refreshed.

After that I started reading the newspaper while having a cup of coffee.

‘I wonder how the other people who attended the banquet are doing?’

Something feels empty.

Normally Woo Hyun-sik and Choi Hyun-woo would be chattering away next to me and giving me a brief morning briefing.

Perhaps because of the aftereffects of last night they were nowhere to be seen.

Only the female servants that Ethel left behind when she returned to England are by my side.

“majesty.”

After about an hour two of the people I had been with quietly came into my room.

“I am ashamed to face your Majesty. Please kill us.”

What the heck? What the heck?

What big mistake did Lee Beom-jin make that he brought my son here and asked me to kill him?

Why are you kneeling again?

‘Ah! This is the apology repertoire often used by the modern Joseon Dynasty aristocrats.’

There was a similar scene in Lee Kang’s memory before the ice age.

In Joseon when someone committed a serious crime they would bow their head and say something like that.

You see it here.

Maybe it’s because I only live in the US but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an original Korean-style apology like this.

“Hmm.”

I cleared my throat and controlled my expression.

His eyes were fixed on the newspaper and only his mouth moved.

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“This construction is disappointing.”

“Your Majesty!”

“Do you know why I say I am disappointed in you?”

Lee Beom-jin rolled his eyes and recalled what happened yesterday.

“My son and I forgot our duties last night and lost our minds.”

Lee Beom-jin continued to apologize while burying his head on the ground.

“I should have resisted the Tsar’s tyranny and assisted His Majesty wholeheartedly. Please forgive me and my son who are so incompetent.”

“no way.”

I put the newspaper down with an indifferent expression.

After that he turned his head slightly and helped them up.

“I am not disappointed in you for that reason.”

“Then why….”

I sat them down with a slightly playful expression on my face.

“Didn’t you brag to me the other day about being a shareholder? That’s why I had such high expectations. But you collapsed so vainly last night… I am so disappointed in you because of that.”

Lee Beom-jin and Lee Wi-jong made dumbfounded expressions as if asking “What is this?”

I continued speaking while looking at Lee Beom-jin like that.

“It was the Tsar’s fault that you lost your minds at the last banquet. Nicholas was determined to torment you.”

Lee Beom-jin tilted his head and refuted my guess.

“Why would the Emperor have such evil intentions? Niki (nicknamed Nikolai) may be incompetent but he has a warm heart.”

I agree with Lee Beom-jin’s argument.

Wasn’t Nicholas II the worst monarch but also the best father and husband?

I nodded and continued.

“I don’t think they had any ill intentions toward you. They just wanted to be alone with me so they did what they did.”

I tapped my ear with my right index finger.

“Maybe you don’t want the conversation I had with you to reach your ears… or maybe you want to hear what I have to say as it is.”

The two rich men still tilted their heads perhaps because of the last sentence.

I served honey water to the two rich men who were suffering from hangovers and explained in simple terms what I had said earlier.

“Think about it. Let’s say you or your son here is the interpreter.”

I crossed my arms and imagined a scenario.

“When I make a slip of the tongue will you tell the Tsar about it literally?”

“….”

“….”

“No I don’t think so. Perhaps you interpreted what I said to cover up my mistake.”

“I guess so?”

“The Tsar didn’t like that. He just wanted to hear my opinion straight out.”

“ah!”

I mentioned a person while reminiscing about past memories.

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“Do you remember the old bearded man who sat next to the Tsar at the last banquet?”

“Yes. I remember.”

“While I was drinking I observed the behavior of the people around me. Everyone else drank their drinks at the Tsar’s command but he alone did not drink.”

Nikolai would point out each and every one of the people who took out drinks at the banquet hall and force them to drink.

But just one person.

The man who interpreted last night was an exception.

“As it turns out he’s a Russian nobleman who speaks English fluently. I spoke to the Tsar through him last night.”

Nicholas II was an unprepared and incompetent monarch.

But it wasn’t like he made wrong decisions in every situation.

‘It’s been more than ten years since I ascended the throne so it’s about time I had some fun.’

Although he is not prepared he sometimes shows a rather kingly appearance by bumping into things here and there.

It was the same yesterday.

‘The problem is that whenever a big incident occurs we make the worst mistake.’

I recalled the words and actions of Nicholas II whom I had met in the past and compared my memories with anecdotes I had experienced firsthand.

There was silence for a while.

“majesty.”

“Tell me.”

“Did your private meeting with the Tsar go well?”

Lee Beom-jin made a knowing expression for a while then cautiously asked me about last night.

I answered with a face that said it was nothing special.

“Well since I finished it well I guess I won’t be playing around with you guys either.”

I chuckled and shrugged.

“Things turned out better than I was worried about. So let’s lighten up a bit. What happened last night was inevitable.”

I briefly explained to the two rich men what I had said yesterday.

When the story of the Tsar’s wealth came up Lee Beom-jin’s eyes sparkled.

After that he started telling me all the information he knew.

“The Tsar’s wealth is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Just the gold stored in the royal treasury….”

what?

There must be at least 10 tons of gold?

‘Right now he’s probably inside the safe saying [Hello I’m Gold! Nice to meet you Lee Kang.] and beckoning me to hug him.’

Gold bars are gold bars.

The jewels of the Romanov family.

And the various trinkets and the enormous amount of bonds would be astronomical.

Lee Beom-jin explained each of these in detail explaining why he had to risk his life to attract this investment.

“You must be chosen as the new financial manager of the Russian Imperial Household for this will open new opportunities for Your Majesty and Your Majesty’s investment company.”

what.

I know.

So didn’t you come all the way from the US to Russia?

‘I need to make my next plan based on the conversation we had yesterday.’

Didn’t you also know for sure what Nikolai wanted?

I continued talking to the two rich men with a confident expression on my face.

It was to find out if there were any other foods that could be very useful in future negotiations.

* * *

St. Petersburg founded by Peter the Great was a new city that lasted only about two hundred years.

But despite its short history there were numerous palaces here.

Among them I was heading to the ‘Summer Palace’ which was rumored to be beautiful.

‘I wish I had visited with Ethel…’

Ethel is now back in Cornwall a town in southern England.

Because there are less than three months left until the due date you need to be careful.

Maybe it’s because I’m a Westerner.

Or maybe it’s just Ethel’s constitution.

Ethel and I had to separate for a while because my belly was already so swollen that it almost seemed like I was carrying twins.

“This prince.”

The person I’m meeting today is not Nicholas II.

They were the highest-ranking Russian officials who could be called their right-hand men.

“Hello. My name is Pyotr Stolypin Prime Minister of the Russian Empire.”

Conservative and reformer.

He shook hands with Pyotr Stolypin who was called Russia’s last hope.

“The person sitting next to me here is Vladimir Kokovtsov who is currently serving as Finance Minister.”

Stolypin introduced me to the men sitting next to him one by one.

He secretly reported that Kokovtsov had seen the last moments of Ito Hirobumi’s life.

As he claimed Ito died on his way back to Japan after the Second Russo-Japanese Negotiation.

I nodded at the Prime Minister’s remark and gave him a look of interest.

“This is someone you probably know well Your Highness but let me introduce him again. He is Baron Valerian Nolken. He is the father-in-law of Envoy Yiwijong who can be called Your Highness’ right-hand man. Oh then.”

Stolypin with his excellent speaking skills took the lead in the conversation and took charge of the meeting.

He looked at me and kept talking nonstop.

“Before we get into the real story how about a glass of vodka?”

“….”

“I heard that this prince is very fond of vodka a specialty of our Russian Empire.”

* * *

Even though Stolypin was the last hope of the Russians I had some expectations.

Well then that’s right.

It’s drinking time again.

‘Oh my….’

There are a few types of people I hate at drinking parties.

I also hate people who force me to drink.

That’s also true for those who say the same thing over and over again.

I don’t like people just talking about themselves.

“That’s what I mean.”

Stolypin was a man who possessed all three types equally.

He kept babbling at me beating around the bush on some topic.

It was so loud that my ears were about to bleed so I quickly interrupted him and summarized Stolypin’s argument.

“What the Prime Minister is claiming now is… that our volunteers in the Maritime Province are illegally occupying your country’s territory so are you saying that you will collect occupation fees from now on?”

“Yes that’s right.”

Let’s organize it this easily.

It’s dragging on and on for a long time.

“First I would like to express my gratitude. As a prince of the Korean Empire I would like to bow my head once again to express my gratitude for the free support you have provided to our independence army.”

I didn’t think Russia’s goodwill would continue.

It looks like the financial situation isn’t good either.

It looks like they’re trying to take this opportunity to extort money from me.

I bowed my head slightly and continued what I was saying.

“Then let’s put aside the other miscellaneous items and talk about the amount first. So how much does the Prime Minister want?”

You can pay as much money as you want as long as it is not too much.

Think about it.

The reason our independence army can continue to use hit and run operations against the Japanese army is because the Maritime Province is Russian territory.

‘Because you get back what you paid for.’

Not only the Independence Army.

Vladivostok serves as a transit point for Koreans before heading to America.

In a way the Russian government was volunteering to be a broker for Koreans’ immigration so I was willing to open my wallet easily.

“Hahaha. Hahahaha. This prince really has a refreshing side.”

The Prime Minister raised one finger.

‘One sheet?’

Ten thousand dollars?

Or maybe a hundred thousand dollars?

“A million dollars. That is the amount the Prince will pay to our Russian Empire for one year.”

The Red Revolution broke out in 1919.

Over the next ten years.

Are you saying I have to give you ten million dollars?

‘This is asking a higher amount than I thought?’

I felt it was a waste but deep down I thought it was worth it.

I pretended to think for a moment and then brought up a different topic.

“As you know I am being considered as a candidate for the new financial manager of the Russian royal family. If I become the new financial manager of the Russian royal family….”

After a moment of hesitation he made a counterproposal to the Prime Minister.

“I will pay the Russian government not a million dollars a year but one and a half million dollars.”

“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars? Are you serious?”

then.

My own investment company is going to swallow up the Russian royal family’s fortune.

It’s just a small amount of change.

“Yes. Friendship is a relationship that can be formed when there is mutual benefit.”

Russia is no longer the protector of our Korean Empire.

I emphasized this and continued:

“I thought that a certain price should be paid for this.”

Stolypin is one of the Tsar’s closest associates.

Said to have influenced the decisions of Nicholas II.

So I asked him to give me some more money and help me select the royal financial manager.

“I never thought there would be a prince who could communicate so well. He is also very intelligent…”

However the selection of the independence army’s occupancy fee and the royal finances are separate matters.

Anyway.

If we tie it all together nicely.

There was nothing wrong with Stolypin either.

No matter who it is the royal property is untouchable.

If I were to become the royal financial manager the Russian government’s budget would only increase.

He nodded with a positive expression.

“I will definitely tell my emperor good stories about the prince.”

Just as Stolypin was about to get up from his seat.

“Ah Prime Minister.”

“Please speak Your Majesty.”

“I have a story that might interest you Prime Minister. Do you know Rasputin?”

Stolypin looked at me with a frown on his face.

“Why him?”

“Aren’t you curious about how Rasputin cured His Highness the Crown Prince’s illness?”

The Prime Minister quickly sat down and spoke to me.

“Speak Prince. Ah! Before we begin I want to warn you. If you are telling me lies you should brace yourself.”

I looked at the Prime Minister with a smirk.

“What a lie. This is a story that will be of help to the Prime Minister. Hmm. Where should I begin?”

< The Best and the Worst (3) > End