The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 173



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The American military personnel whom Representative Rockefeller had helped to establish a bridge met with me about a month later.

This means that there is a lot of time left.

“Good. I’ll stop by. By the way where are you going to do the test? Is it close to New York?”

“It’s outside of Detroit.”

“Detroit? You mean the city of cars?”

“yes.”

Lee Hoi-young explained to me very briefly why he was demonstrating near Detroit.

“Wasn’t Dodge Motors recently established under L&H Motors?”

“yes.”

Diesel who worked under me got along particularly well with the Dodge brothers.

As engineers working on the engine side we had a lot in common.

Is that why?

The Dodge brothers who had been running their own engine company came under my wing.

The two brothers share 50%.

The remaining half of the shares are held by my company L&H and we have agreed to form a joint venture.

‘I heard that the management of Dodge Motors will be taken over by the existing L&H Automobile management team?’

Dodge can be viewed as a subsidiary or in-house venture of L&H.

anyway.

The Dodge brothers’ new product is said to be coming out sometime next year so their head-to-head competition with Ford and GM will begin three years earlier than originally planned.

“The Dodge-1 model which will be released next year will be produced in Detroit.”

“I see they’ve set up a military research center for L&H nearby.”

“Yes because that way we can reduce security costs.”

“Are you also planning to build a military factory there?”

“That’s right. Wouldn’t that be much more cost-effective?”

Most of the weapons produced at the L&H Arms Factory are sold to the United States or Europe.

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Since the logistics costs of building a factory in the West would be enormous we chose Detroit Illinois where we could utilize water transportation as our production base.

Detroit is a city that has the advantage of being relatively close to the West and reducing logistics costs.

“I guess I’ll have to take some time off from Ethel to get to Detroit.”

“Maybe so?”

I will have to leave New York for at least a week.

After making a somewhat regretful expression I suggested something to Lee Hoi-young.

“Then before you leave go and see our daughters.”

“yes?”

“You saw the first one earlier. While you’re here you should see the second and third ones too. Now wake up quickly.”

Lee Hoi-young suddenly chuckles.

Once again Dojin let out a wry laugh that he had been holding back since seeing my unwilling actions.

“Why are you laughing?”

“…No that’s not it.”

Lee Hoi-young made an embarrassed expression and explained the reason for the laughter that had just burst out.

“I didn’t know Your Majesty could show such a human side.”

“okay?”

“Yes. It seemed like if you pricked him with a needle not a single drop of blood would come out. After all Your Majesty is a father.”

In front of the Korean community he intentionally showed a very strong appearance.

however.

As I kept showing this kind of stubbornness in front of Lee Hoi-young it seemed like he was looking at me in a new light.

“I am also a human being. I am not a man made of steel.”

I think I need to show my human side to my close associates sometimes.

Because the image of being too steely wasn’t very helpful to me.

* * *

Together with Lee Hoi-young I headed to Detroit located in the northeast.

The means of transportation was by ship not by train.

“majesty.”

“I’m sorry I said.”

Lee Hoi-young was speechless as he moved to Detroit.

He made a face that seemed aggrieved.

“America seems like a truly blessed country.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Aren’t there water transportation facilities like this all over the country? They say that the further south you go the more densely these water transportation facilities are like spider webs.”

Water and shipping were the primary means of transportation in the United States before the development of the steam engine.

Lee Hoi-young made an envious expression as he mentioned this.

“Furthermore the climate in the American South is so good that rivers do not freeze except in the middle of winter. Although the importance of water transportation has somewhat diminished with the invention of the steam engine isn’t it thanks to these spiderweb-like water transportation facilities that all kinds of goods can be freely circulated across the vast land mass?”

I nodded and agreed with Lee Hoi-young’s analysis.

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“Yes. You are right. America is truly a blessed land. It is the envy of the world.”

How did our ancestors end up being defrauded into settling in such a hot and cold place?

I too looked at the distant landscape of the northeastern United States with a sigh.

The sunset was setting and the scenery was truly beautiful.

So much so that I can’t forget it no matter how many times I’ve seen it.

* * *

“Your Majesty. Are you here?”

After arriving outside Detroit I drove to the site of our military research lab.

At the pier Kim Jong-rim who had been waiting in advance after receiving my call greeted our group.

‘The more I look at you the more you resemble Jay.’

Kim Jong-rim is the grandfather of Jay who was my best friend before Bing.

He was a first-generation immigrant to the United States and was originally a farming tycoon.

But in the changed history at my recommendation he changed direction towards agricultural machinery business management.

Later as L&H Motors transformed into an automobile company he also moved to the position of vice president of the automobile company.

As I drove I started asking Kim Jong-rim questions one by one about things I was curious about.

“Why are all the staff positions filled?”

“Yes. Everyone is desperate to get a job at L&H because the wages are 1.5 times higher than other companies. Furthermore the working environment is better than other companies so people are constantly flocking to L&H.”

In this era where extremely harsh working conditions are rampant.

L&H Motors was truly a dream job.

“How about securing advanced research personnel other than production personnel?”

“Big names in the automobile industry who have made a name for themselves are also flocking to L&H one by one.”

Kim Jong-rim began to praise me in a slightly excited voice.

“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty.”

“Thanks to me?”

“Yes. Didn’t you order the creation of a car racing team while you were staying in London?”

“That’s right.”

“Rumors have spread throughout the United States that His Majesty has given a blank check for the budget to establish a racing team. Perhaps that is why so many talented people who know how to assemble racing cars are applying for jobs here and there.”

To boast about this Kim Jong-rim showed me the list of applicants who had been interviewed this time.

“hmm?”

Among them a prominent name caught my eye.

“John Walter Christie?”

“Ah! Here it is.”

Kim Jong-rim raised his voice as if he was excited.

He makes a similar expression to my best friend Jay.

I stared at his face amazed at this.

“Christy is a real racing nut. He’s still not in good shape due to a car accident but he’s still working hard to build racing cars.”

Kim Jong-rim began to explain listing Christie’s history in detail.

He also told me an anecdote about his interview with Christie.

“I guess they’re looking for sponsors because they’ve run out of money to build a new racing car. They were sullen when we told them we’d rather have our own team than sponsors… But when we told them we had an unlimited budget their eyes lit up again.”

“okay?”

“Yes. He was truly an extraordinary man.”

I read through Christie’s resume once and then gave some cautious advice to Kim Jong-rim.

“I will definitely hire you.”

“I guess you like it.”

I don’t like it.

Although not now Christie would become the father of the American tank world in about ten years.

If I could use this kind of talent cheaply in advance I would be grateful.

“If you can manufacture your own vehicles then you must be skilled enough. You will be a great help to us at L&H Motors.”

“Yes. It looks like we have arrived at the demonstration venue. Your Majesty please disembark.”

Our group began moving toward the vicinity of the military research institute.

There was a large open space near the lab and a demonstration was already taking place with loud gunshots resonating throughout the area.

“Lewis.”

“Oh Kim! And Lee! You guys. Are you at work? By the way who is that guy you brought with you?”

Lee Hoi-young quickly introduced the identity of the Westerner standing in front of him.

“Your Majesty. My name is Isaac Newton Lewis and I am the person in charge of this light machine gun improvement project. Please introduce yourself to Lewis. This is the King I spoke to you about last time.”

“Oh! Prince. Nice to meet you. My name is Louis.”

Kim Jong-rim also began listing the history of Lewis.

“Your Majesty. Louis is an elite who served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Ordnance Department.”

Kim Jong-rim quietly approached me and whispered in Korean.

“It seems he was discharged due to a woman problem.”

“okay?”

“Yes. But he hasn’t caused much trouble yet. I think he’s reflecting on it in his own way.”

“Okay.”

Kim Jong-rim returned to speaking English between Louis and me again.

“As someone who has been in the field Lewis is the researcher here who has suggested the most ideas.”

Louis began to appeal what he had done with a proud expression on his face.

“The patents that the prince purchased were all important core technologies. However there were a few things that needed to be addressed in the process of combining them.”

“okay?”

“Yes because the original creator designed this weapon from the perspective of a manufacturer rather than a user.”

Yankees indeed.

He is good at promoting himself.

Unlike us Koreans who consider humility a virtue.

“So… is the weapon complete?”

“This way.”

Lewis showed me the machine gun he had worked on and completed and explained to me the merits of this newly improved weapon.

“It is weaker in terms of firepower than the Maxim machine gun or Gatling gun that was previously on the market. However in terms of portability it is an unrivaled weapon.”

Lee Hoi-young quickly gave an additional explanation.

“Furthermore the advantages of the newly developed weapon do not end here. It has very little recoil. In addition it is lighter than existing machine guns so it seems like it would be good to install on fighter planes.”

* * *

“majesty.”

After having lunch together we went out for a while to look around the Great Lakes.

at that time.

Lee Hoe-young and Kim Jong-rim approached me secretly and confessed one thing.

“Your Majesty I didn’t tell Lieutenant Colonel Lewis but the utility of the light machine gun is far more extensive than what I just reported.”

Kim Jong-rim secretly handed me something.

When I took them out of the envelope I saw that they were black and white photographs.

“This is…..”

If you look closely you can see cars.

It doesn’t seem to be the car developed by existing L&H.

And not another third-party body.

“This is the Dodge-1 scheduled for release next year. It is the latest creation of the Dodge brothers whom Your Majesty is well aware of.”

I was wondering why they were giving it to me so secretly.

It was like this because it was a new car that had not yet been released on the market.

Lee Hoi-young kept his voice small and picked up one of the black-and-white photographs.

After that he introduced me to the pictures contained within it.

“The new weapon invented this time can be installed here on Dodge-1.”

It was so blurry that I could have just passed it by.

A machine gun is mounted on top of a Dodge pickup truck.

‘This is….’

Not even a tank or an armored vehicle.

You could see that the gun truck looked like a sledgehammer.

Although the stomach is empty the shooters are exposed to enemy bullets.

This one is armed with a machine gun so it seems like it would be far superior in terms of firepower.

“If we have enough oil we can move quickly and attack the enemy.”

“yes.”

“Who suggested this?”

“Here is what CEO Kim Jong-rim suggested.”

Kim Jong-rim scratched his head with an embarrassed expression at Lee Hoe-young’s report.

“I’ve known you since you were dismantling farm machinery in San Francisco. You’re quite handy.”

“No I just tried to attach something that already existed.”

Koreans show great performance in research that creates new things but they also excel in improving existing equipment.

Kim Jong-rim who is in front of me now is a very good example.

I squinted my eyes and lowered my voice as if I was telling a secret.

“Well done. No very good.”

It may be possible to slightly change the existing war paradigm.

This may enable mobile warfare.

‘It’ll be a little difficult within the Korean peninsula.’

If you use it at all.

The west coast would be better than the northeast which is full of mountainous terrain.

“These. Where are they stored now?”

“It is stored near San Francisco. We have ample surveillance personnel for security purposes.”

“Yeah. Good job.”

Lee Hoi-young seemed to hesitate for a moment then suggested something to me.

“Let’s try it out in Tijuana Mexico. Mexico’s internal affairs have been a bit chaotic lately. I think it could be useful in actual combat.”

“Let’s think about that for a moment.”

There are German officers in Tijuana.

Aren’t you on a temporary mission to teach doctrine and tactics to our independence army generals?

‘I don’t know what kind of butterfly effect it will cause.’

We should also consider the impact this would have on German officials when they come into contact with it.

Well history has already changed a lot because of me.

There was some time to think since no one knew what impact this new weapon would have on World War I.

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