The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 172



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‘Hmm West Point….’

The place name West Point is common throughout the United States.

Naturally there were several identical place names in New York State where I am now.

Among them the ‘West Point’ that Rockefeller was talking about was a word meaning a military academy located near the Hudson River.

‘Visiting the cradle of stars isn’t a bad choice either.’

It may not help me right now though.

Meeting with the cadets was an investment in the future and something that had to be done at least once.

‘Moreover this year is 1910.’

About a year later.

The era of the stars where countless stars are born begins.

If I stop by West Point before or after this it will definitely help me achieve the future I envision.

‘More than 30% of the graduates were from the class that received the star. The class of 1915.’

Because of the just-beginning of World War I.

In addition World War II broke out at a time when graduates were growing up.

West Point graduates during this period earned more stars than graduates from other periods.

‘Eisenhower and Bradley are representative examples.’

Among them Eisenhower was a big shot who had even served as president so a relationship with him was a must.

There is no better approach than to start from scratch when you are a cadet so I had to visit the US Military Academy at least once next year.

It might be a good idea to meet with the dean beforehand and have a chat.

‘By the way who is the current president?’

MacArthur who turned the tide of the war in one fell swoop with the Incheon Landing Operation was appointed president in 1919.

That is to say.

First of all it’s not MacArthur.

“….”

“….”

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I was thinking to myself for a long time recalling memories.

There were a few vague memories so I recalled them with a frown on my face.

“I guess you don’t feel like it.”

Is that why?

Rockefeller seemed to misinterpret my expression as indicating that I was slightly annoyed.

“I will speak well of Dean Berry. When Berry’s relatives were in trouble I stepped forward to help them so we have a deep connection.”

Oh so this guy named Barry is the dean.

Since I didn’t know who it was I continued to recall information about the person.

At this Rockefeller came a little closer to me and emphasized how deep his connection was with the current West Point provost.

“I will treat you well Prince even if it is for my sake. So don’t worry too much.”

It took a lot of concentration because I had to recall old memories.

As time passed and she didn’t show her face Rockefeller pulled back slightly and made an awkward expression.

“You seem to be thinking a lot. I guess I brought this up out of the blue.”

“No. I just suddenly had a lot of random thoughts. Sorry for interrupting our conversation.”

I quickly returned to reality and apologized to Rockefeller.

“You know very well that I am obsessed with the success of Koreans.”

“Oh yes. That’s right.”

Rockefeller was the person I was connected to through marriage.

That’s why he understood me better than other Western capitalists.

“So didn’t you name the association “Hypothesis Association” with the intention of achieving success together?”

“That’s right.”

Rockefeller seemed to think about something for a moment.

After that he quietly revealed to me the conjecture he had been keeping in his head.

“Have you ever had such a fun fantasy about how great it would be if Korean youth were admitted to West Point?”

It was stinging.

I was wondering who the dean would be and then I thought a lot about which Korean would be good to enroll in the next class of stars.

“I guess my guess was correct.”

“This is embarrassing.”

It’s quite embarrassing to show someone your true self.

You might deny it though.

Since Rockefeller and I were engaged I took advantage of this opportunity.

I decided that by revealing my innermost thoughts to him I could once again gain Rockefeller’s trust.

“I imagined one of our Koreans getting into West Point. Haha. I lost focus during the conversation and did something so out of the blue. Sorry.”

“no.”

Rockefeller shook his head from side to side denying what I said.

“What a wild idea. The prince’s wish will come true. Didn’t an Asian young man enter West Point recently?”

I clapped my hands once and made a face as if a thought had occurred to me.

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“Oh! I remember. Was he a Filipino Asian?”

“yes.”

Rockefeller suddenly looked proud and cited the young man as an example.

“The racial barrier is slowly but surely breaking down. Given this trend wouldn’t it be possible for Koreans to enter West Point soon?”

“yes.”

Rockefeller briefly offered himself as an admissions helper detailing what it would take to get into West Point.

“There are many preparations required to enter West Point and the most difficult of them all is the recommendation from a federal congressman.”

Rockefeller chuckled as he stated the conditions he had just mentioned.

Because for me who was standing before him this condition was not that difficult.

Because I have more influence on people in American politics than you might think.

“But considering the prince’s connections that doesn’t seem like much of a deal. Doesn’t the prince currently have a firm grip on California politics?”

It was a bit awkward to praise myself with my own mouth.

I didn’t really feel like continuing to talk about the relevant information so I quickly changed the subject.

“Well let’s think about that later. For now there are other urgent matters.”

Rockefeller quick to catch on to my answer brought the conversation back to the original topic.

“Who else but Leonard Wood and Dean Berry?”

under-

Rockefeller sighed sharply and said:

“Ah maybe it’s because you asked me so hastily or maybe it’s because I’m old but I can’t think of anyone I can introduce to you right now.”

Rockefeller diligently checked his military connections without me even asking him to do so.

He looked very cautious.

The faces of several people seemed to flash through my mind.

Rockefeller seemed cautious as introducing a minor character or a racist would be a great insult to me.

“Ah! There they are. What about General Pershing and George Dewey?”

Pershing and Dewey?

Aren’t they both crazy guys who have been called ‘great enemies’ in the history of Yuan?

“I think I can introduce those two to you as well.”

“That’s good enough. It would be nice to introduce the new West Point superintendent to General Leonard Wood but you’re introducing General Dewey to Pershing? I’m worried you’re asking too much.”

This is really okay.

Rather if you are introduced to too many people it becomes difficult to plan a schedule.

Networking also becomes more difficult.

“Haven’t I been receiving too much all this time? I don’t think I can repay all the help you’ve given me knowingly or unknowingly.”

When I waved my hand and shouted to stop Rockefeller smiled with a humble expression.

I’ve been getting help with antitrust issues for a while now but this is the first time in a long while that I’ve had the opportunity to help myself.

Since this is an opportunity that doesn’t come easily I guess you want to make it a little more special.

“Hmm. This prince.”

Rockefeller wanted to show me something more favorable.

He approached me with a slightly thoughtful expression briefly searching for information he knew that might be helpful to me.

“I hesitate to mention this to the prince since it has not been fully verified yet. If it is true I think it would be more helpful for the prince to know as soon as possible so I think it may be too much but I will talk about it here today.”

I opened my eyes wide at his suspicious behavior and asked.

“What? Tell me. I’ll make the decision after listening.”

Rockefeller came closer to me than ever before.

He looked around to see if anyone was there then informed me in a very small voice.

“There seems to be a rat around your Majesty.”

* * *

After returning to my villa in New York I spent a lot of time alone to gather my thoughts.

I also had to sort out military personnel with whom I had to build relationships.

Because I had to think back to what Rockefeller said at the end.

“There’s a rat in the American Trust…”

Woo Hyun-sik who overheard me mumbling suddenly stopped walking.

Woo Hyun-sik who was also my financial manager approached me with a cautious expression and spoke to me.

“Your Majesty what do you mean by that? A rat?”

Woo Hyun-sik overreacted a bit because his life could be at stake.

I calmed him down and told Woo Hyun-sik about the story we shared at lunch.

“The Rockefeller representative mentioned in passing that there is a mole in my company. It seems that the bastard is leaking information about my assets to Morgan and Rockefeller.”

Woo Hyun-sik became angry but soon calmed down.

He thought about something and then reported something to me.

“Recently suspicious activity has been detected in the market.”

“Suspicious movement?”

“Yes. I think it might be related to this.”

“Explain it in detail.”

Woo Hyun-sik looked through something in his office and showed me the relevant documents.

“The stocks Your Majesty has invested in. Hasn’t there been a lot of short selling recently?”

I nodded.

Woo Hyun-sik quickly gave an additional explanation.

“Even if we assume that Standard Oil and American Tobacco are due to antitrust lawsuits this is not the case. The Bell System and GE which were secretly invested in this time are stocks that were not disclosed to the public.”

okay.

Strangely enough every stock I’ve invested in recently has been short-sold.

When I also made a suspicious expression Woo Hyun-sik started to look confident.

“Could it be that there really is a spy as Mr. Rockefeller said?

“Let’s investigate the exact situation and then figure out a countermeasure. Until then keep your mouth shut.”

The stocks that have been shorted are all stocks that have promising futures or are suffering from antitrust lawsuits.

I had no intention of rushing into this because I knew I would be the one laughing as time went on.

‘There’s only one thing I need.’

If there really is a spy leaking information catching them is a priority.

That’s why I planned to conduct an internal audit carefully.

“Your Majesty. I have returned.”

Choi Hyun-woo who was my chief of staff has returned.

I wanted to go home first and rest so I left Choi Hyun-woo at Rockefeller’s house and came back.

He just arrived.

“Yes. What about Representative Rockefeller? Did he contact all the military personnel?”

I was silent for a moment after hearing Choi Hyun-woo’s report.

“I’m busy right now. I won’t have time until the end of October.”

“yes.”

Well there’s nothing I can do.

If all four come out like that I have no choice but to match them.

‘Because it’s a time to be cautious.’

The United States is similar to Korea.

The military tends to be cautious when elections approach.

Depending on the results some factions get promoted and some get watered down.

‘I guess he’s trying to be cautious until the election because he doesn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

Well then while I have time…

Should I check out the gift bundle I have for them?

I looked at Choi Hyun-woo and quickly found a person.

“Woodang (Lee Hoe-young)? Where is he now?”

* * *

A week after I found Lee Hoi-young he came to my annex in New York.

“It’s been a while.”

As soon as Lee Hoe-young saw me he bowed deeply.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a Korean greeting so I feel a little strange.

“Your Majesty Your Majesty. Ah! The person you are holding is the baby prince. He looks so brave.”

I wanted to show off my child so I held my firstborn and drank tea with Lee Hoi-young.

“I’m sorry about this. It seems our prince has peed himself.”

I couldn’t concentrate on my conversation with Lee Hoi-young because my eldest son kept whining.

At this Lee Hoi-young made a face as if he could do that.

He too was a father so he had already experienced this.

“Maybe it’s because he resembles me but he was born with a tall physique.”

They say bragging about your children is useless.

Because of that.

My eldest child was growing so fast compared to my other children that I found myself bragging about him while changing his diaper.

Because I was embarrassed by my appearance I quickly handed the child over to the nanny.

After that he coughed once and changed the subject.

“Ahem. Right. You visited Manchuria and the Maritime Province recently?”

“yes.”

“I heard that you visited Manila Philippines during your last business trip… You really are traveling all over the world going from east to west.”

Lee Hoi-young scratched his head at my compliment.

“No. Aren’t our fellow independence fighters fighting a difficult battle against the Japanese? I think it’s worth it to go through this much trouble to support them.”

Lee Hoi-young told me the news from Korea.

Because it was not a very pleasant piece of news I also approached the conversation with a slightly stiff face.

“I’ve been receiving regular updates from my home country. I heard that our troops stationed in the Maritime Province recently suffered a major blow.”

“yes.”

There is not always victory.

In the case of guerrilla warfare if the enemy discovers our movement route it will lead to a great defeat.

Lee Hoi-young pointed this out and mentioned me.

“This battle has made me finally understand Your Majesty’s true and profound intentions.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it that you ordered the development of a light machine gun as a means to overcome this?”

right.

Because existing machine guns are too heavy to carry around.

If the enemy is lying in ambush with machine guns deployed you will be pushed back in terms of firepower.

And this time it leads to a huge defeat.

To reduce this damage we also need to increase our firepower.

In this situation a machine gun would come in handy.

“Okay. How is the work I gave you going?”

“Development is almost finished. We are just testing to see if there are any critical issues before mass production.”

Lee Hoi-young looked at me and suggested something.

“Would you like to come and see the testing site?”

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