The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 196



< A guest from the Central Plains (2) >

The reception room located on the first floor of the New York Annex.

There were currently three Asian guests sitting there.

“Nice to meet you.”

Aisin Gioro Uchin who is drinking tea in front of me.

An unidentified Chinese man was rolling his eyes diligently next to Woo-Ching.

Lastly Sun Yat-sen who was secretly eavesdropping on our conversation from the room across the street.

Everyone’s purpose for coming here is different but one thing seems certain.

It seems that each of us loves our country in our own way.

“How is Prince Gong? I heard that Prince Gyeong has been appointed Prime Minister creating a slightly awkward situation.”

“Haha. As the old saying goes a horse without legs can travel a thousand miles… It seems like this strange rumor of unknown origin has spread to America as well.”

Aisin Gioro Uchin denied what I said with an embarrassed expression.

“Contrary to rumors your two majesties are on very good terms.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Please believe me.”

I’m skeptical because you asked me to believe you.

As I kept glancing at the unidentified person and checking his expression I couldn’t believe it even more.

I nodded and smiled at Woo-ching’s answer.

“That’s fortunate. Well they’re both members of the Qing imperial family so there’s no way they’d be on bad terms. Perhaps there was a group plotting to drive the two apart.”

Woo-ching’s complexion was worse than when we last met.

I looked at him with a slightly worried expression.

“By the way is this the first time we’ve talked in four years? I think we saw each other once at the New York charity auction last time.”

“Yes that’s right. The teacup you’re drinking from now was also one of the items I put up for auction at that time.”

When the wealthy start to decline they start selling off the antiques in their homes.

In this way they sold them one by one to cover their living expenses and the situation was similar for Prince Gong and the Qing Dynasty.

“Your complexion seems to have gotten worse since then. Are you in good health?”

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“I think it’s because I’ve been busy lately and I’m a little tired. Don’t worry too much.”

“Ahem.”

An unidentified Asian man sitting next to me takes a sip of his tea and coughs.

It seems like he made a silent gesture to Woo-ching.

Perhaps it’s a signal to introduce yourself quickly.

‘You have a very impatient personality.’

I asked Woo-Ching as I glanced at the other person sitting next to me.

“Who is drinking tea next to you?”

“I am a special envoy from the Gyeongchin Prince’s office.”

As his turn approached the person from the royal family of Gyeongchin smiled brightly and began to introduce himself.

“This is Aisin Gioro Taming.”

“Oh. So you are of royal descent too.”

“Yes. As the second son of His Majesty the King I have come all the way here to see His Majesty the King.”

“I see.”

I looked back and forth between the two people’s faces with a meaningful expression.

“It means that key figures from the former and current cabinets have joined hands and come here.”

Woo-ching is a person from the Gongchin Prince’s household.

On the other hand Taming is a character on Prince Gyeongchin’s side.

The approximate size is given.

Usually rivals like this don’t come together.

‘If Prince Gyeongchin the head of the current cabinet is even dragging in Prince Gongchin’s old acquaintances.’

You can guess how serious the situation was for the Qing government.

These guys.

It looks like the money supply has really dried up.

‘Woo-ching is someone I had a conversation with once.’

I guess bringing Woo-Cheong with you was to increase the chances of success in negotiations with me.

Because someone you know has a better chance of success in negotiations than someone you’re meeting for the first time.

“Yes. What is it that you came all this way to offer me?”

“I would like to get straight to the point Your Majesty.”

The son of Prince Gyeongchin spoke first.

As expected.

Unlike his nickname this guy had an incredibly impatient personality.

‘It would be nice to have it sewn up well.’

Because there’s nothing easier in negotiation than dealing with an impatient person.

This is especially true if the other person is someone trying to borrow money.

“Our department is currently in need of foreign loans.”

“ha ha ha.”

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I looked back and forth between these two laughing heartily.

“Maybe it’s because you’re young but you don’t beat around the bush and speak very boldly.”

I put down the tea I was drinking and stared intently into the eyes of Prince Gyeongchin’s son.

“Okay. How much do you want?”

“The more the better.”

“Tell me the exact number.”

“I’m thinking about thirty million dollars for now.”

“Thirty million dollars?”

Is it because they are the Central Plains people who are very boastful?

Or is it because I’m not good at math?

He talks about thirty million dollars as if it were nothing.

‘About thirty million dollars…’

It’s a fortune that only the 20 richest people in the United States can afford.

I decided to continue listening to what they had to say.

“If it is difficult to give it all at once in bonds then in kind is also fine. The Prime Minister also said that he would be okay with receiving weapons or naval warships.”

“Really? It looks like you’re going to use most of the loans you borrowed from me to strengthen your military.”

“Yes that’s right.”

Prince Gyeongchin’s son answered my question briefly and in a few words.

I didn’t ask any more questions and just watched quietly.

Then Woo-Ching who came from the Gongchin Prince’s Office hurriedly began to wait and give additional explanations.

“Currently we have a million-strong army in our army.”

An army of a million men.

The habit of speaking in exaggerated terms remains the same whether in the past or present.

When I made a face of disbelief Woo-Ching quickly added the following.

“Among them the only army that can fight on equal terms with the Yangzi or the Kwantung Army is the Beiyang Army. The Beiyang Army is also an army of our Qing Dynasty but….”

Woo-ching hesitates slightly.

Then Taming from the Gyeongchin Prince’s Office took over the baton and finished speaking.

“The Prime Minister wishes to establish an imperial army that can protect Beijing more closely.”

Oh oh.

I guess you don’t trust Yuan Shikai the leader of the Beiyang Warlords.

but.

Yuan Shikai is Korean.

Moreover since he was known to have hidden ambitions even the stupid Qing royal family would have noticed his hidden intentions to some extent.

“That would require a huge amount of military funds.”

“Yes that’s right.”

“So… you’re saying it doesn’t have to be cash?”

“yes.”

And lending cash.

There is quite a difference between lending military goods such as weapons in the form of a loan.

Money is literally money.

Because the value of an asset varies depending on how its value is measured.

The provision of in-kind can inflate the value measurement and record it in the ledger two to three times higher.

Even the warships these people are talking about now are like that.

Even Emperor Gojong who passively resisted Japan by engaging in prostitution in the palace of the Korean Empire was subjected to a similar scam in the past.

Didn’t you buy that piece of scrap metal Yang Mu-ho for a whopping 1 million won at the time?

‘It wasn’t even new it was used.’

It hurts when you get hit in the eye but what if you get hit in the eye the other way around?

You can’t get a better deal than this.

‘The current situation is quite urgent.’

The situation is getting more and more chaotic day by day.

What if I give some money to the people in charge and try my hand at the great shipbuilding business that Japan did?

It could leave the Qing with a huge debt.

‘It’s going to be ruined soon though.’

Afterwards forces claiming to succeed the Qing Dynasty continued to emerge.

It’s not just the sign that’s being inherited.

Since previously concluded treaties and debts must also be inherited if you pay off the debt to Qing now it may be very useful in the future.

I looked at the Qing imperial family from Beijing with sparkling eyes and asked again.

“I want all kinds of firearms including machine guns and even the latest warships…”

“Yes that’s right.”

The production of firearms and gunpowder can be outsourced to a company owned by Lee Hoi-young.

Building a battleship would probably be a matter of taking over one of the many shipyards in the United States and making a deal.

I nodded thinking that I would have to talk to the U.S. government or the U.S. military but it didn’t seem like something I would have to be stopped from doing.

“Okay. What are the conditions and collateral?”

As we entered into full-scale negotiations Prince Gyeongchin’s second son thrust a document he had been keeping carefully in his possession into my hands.

It seemed like a document that contained a sort of baseline for the Prime Minister to reach an agreement along these lines.

“As you all know the Qing’s finances are in shambles.”

Before receiving this and reading it.

I glared at the two Qing imperial family members.

First of all he showed off his striking technique.

“The debts you already have are enormous. In my opinion you don’t have the capacity to repay them yet.”

Morgan Rothschild Rockefeller etc.

You must have been rejected several times by several Western banks before coming to me.

I mentioned this and said that if the conditions were not good I could reject it outright.

“The term is 30 years. The interest rate is 15% compound interest…”

Interest rates are freaking out.

It’s a very high interest rate.

It’s not simple and the interest burden will increase during the compounding period.

‘If the interest rate is 15% the principal will double every 5 years.’

What are these guys thinking trying to borrow my money?

“As soon as the contract is signed the sovereignty over Gando is completely transferred? Does this mean to me personally and not to the Hanyang government of the Korean Empire?”

“Yes that’s right. And secretly too.”

You’ve put a lot of thought into it.

If this were to be taken away by the incompetent Hanyang government the Japanese army might advance into the Gando region.

I liked the Qing government’s proposal and continued reading.

“The next part is interesting.”

“If the prince returns to the Korean peninsula in the future… and establishes his own country is this a clause that states that the Qing imperial family will actively assist the prince?”

“okay.”

Late Joseon Dynasty.

It seems as if they can’t get rid of the habit of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

Some provisions are glaring.

‘I wasn’t even thinking about it.’

They see me as the embodiment of power.

I continued reading the following clauses with a look of amusement on my face.

“If I fail to repay it by the due date the area east of the Mokdan River will be transferred to me.”

By modern standards it is not a very useful land but if irrigation canals are properly constructed it can be used to create large-scale farmland.

If you’re willing to put up land like this as collateral you must be very confident.

“If the nationalization of the railways is successful we can repay it all within three years.”

ah!

Come to think of it that’s why they want to borrow money from me at such a high interest rate.

They’re going to put out the fire somehow and then pay for the infrastructure.

“Is that so?”

Everyone makes good plans.

Most people just fall over in the process of putting it into practice.

“Oh by the way. I heard that the internal affairs of the Qing Dynasty have been a bit noisy recently. Is that being resolved well?”

According to reports from the Imunsa large-scale protests have broken out near Sichuan Province.

They say the scale is larger than you think.

“Peasant uprisings have always happened.”

“still….”

“Your Majesty unlike the Korean Empire our Qing territory is vast.”

Out of the blue Prince Gyeongchin’s son mentioned the size of the Central Plains continent.

“Not everyone can think the same way. But our Qing Dynasty has managed this very effectively over the past two hundred years.”

“….”

“In addition in order to control the people more effectively the following suggestions were made.”

You’re so confident.

I can’t see an inch of the future.

I nodded with an expression of understanding.

“We will ship weapons worth ten million dollars from San Francisco by the end of this year.”

“thank you.”

“Let’s negotiate the relevant provisions for the remaining warships by next year. What do you think? This seems like a mutually satisfactory deal.”

I caught the two royals trying to leave.

“Oh and. Just wait a minute.”

“Do you have anything else to say?”

The two young men stopped and looked at me.

I gestured to them and invited them to come closer to me.

“I would like to make a proposal to your superiors and further to the Qing imperial family.”

“…What is it?”

“Come closer.”

I smiled as I looked at the two Qing imperial family members who were hesitating.

“I’m saying this just in case. Someone outside might hear. Come here.”

“Oh yes.”

Whispering.

I suggested one thing to the two royal families.

The reason I spoke quietly was to prevent Sun Yat-sen from hearing this suggestion.

“Then let’s go.”

“Okay. Take care and look around.”

* * *

A group from Beijing just left my house.

After leaving for a moment to see them off I returned to the reception room.

An empty room.

As I turn my head to the right the middle gate that had been hanging down like a thin curtain comes into view.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“….”

I opened the door with all my might and the room I was in was connected to the room next door where Sun Yat-sen was sitting.

Step by step-

I moved to the seat in front of Sun Yat-sen and quickly picked up the teacup that had cooled down.

I gulped down the green tea that I had probably consumed a few hours earlier.

“The tea tastes good. As expected it is a top-quality product from Guangzhou. Aren’t the tea leaves really full of flavor?”

“….”

Sun Yat-sen continued to keep his mouth shut.

Well there are probably several reasons.

It could be because I was replaying the conversation between me and the Qing imperial family a little while ago.

If you feel a little sad you might be able to practice silence albeit passively.

You’ve been waiting for hours so it’s understandable to be upset.

But surprisingly his expression was expressionless.

‘You even know how to hide your expression. You have some patience too.’

I showed a serious expression raising Sun Yat-sen’s character a little higher than before.

“Yes. Did you listen carefully to the conversation we had?”

“yes.”

Sun Yat-sen finally opened his mouth.

I looked at Sun Yat-sen and smiled.

“Then it would be easier to have a conversation. I think you suggested something like this to me last time.”

Sun Yat-sen had asked for financial support for the revolutionary group he had created.

“At the same time I asked them to reject the Qing court’s request for a vice minister.”

“That’s right.”

“Yes. As I heard before the Qing court promised me many things.”

“….”

“They were all proposals that were beneficial to me. Yes. What is the proposal that you can offer me as collateral? Ah! Think about it for a moment before you speak. I mean think back to the conditions that the Qing court mentioned earlier and speak carefully.”

<Guest from the Central Plains (2)> End