The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 207



< The Beginning of the Offensive (2) >

Aldrich served as a senator in Washington’s federal legislature for the past 30 years.

Since he succeeded in winning the 6th term you could call him a political dictator.

But he too is human.

When the specific amount of money and the person who gave the bribe were mentioned he began to roll his eyes wildly as if he felt psychologically pressured.

‘I raised my eyebrows at the expression ‘anonymous informant.’

I understand.

A situation where the informant cannot be identified.

In a situation where it is unclear whether it was an internal whistleblower or someone who was stabbed by a rival in his district.

Because something similar could happen again at any time.

By now Aldrich must be racking his brain trying to figure out who it was that reported him.

‘Even a multi-term senator who is used to hiding his emotions has no answer to a surprise attack.’

This time I noticed some petty mistakes that I normally wouldn’t notice.

I watched this and clicked my tongue inwardly.

Even if I were Aldrich I would have done the same thing.

There are very few people who can perfectly counter an unexpected blow so unless he makes a major mistake Aldrich is effectively in the clear.

“Have I mentioned such specific information that you cannot refute it?”

“….”

“I hear there are rumors going around that some kind of secret deal took place at the mouth of the Hudson River last November.”

Up to the point in time and place of transaction.

They all come out.

At this Representative Aldrich’s face turned pale.

But the amateurish appearance ended here.

Aldrich quickly began to counterattack.

“Haha why are you talking about such a long nonsensical novel?”

“Yes? Then does that mean my claim is wrong?”

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“That’s right. You’ve only listed circumstantial evidence without any empirical evidence. Do you have any witnesses who saw the transaction?”

“….”

“No way. That’s not true.”

“We may be able to secure it soon.”

“Well I don’t agree. I’m really innocent.”

Is this what jjambbap is?

After thirty years of political life in Congress Aldrich quickly found his composure.

He even joked around in his characteristically playful manner.

“Instead of killing innocent people do something productive with your time.”

“….”

“Oh but you. Even if you beat up a reporter you won’t have any trouble making a living.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I think I’d be even more successful if I changed my career to become a novelist.”

“yes?”

“Come see me sometime. I’ll put you in touch with a publishing company president I know.”

Aldrich searched his pocket and took out a business card.

At this Howard got excited and the veins in his neck stood out.

“There is a limit to shamelessness. Why are you so brazen after accepting a bribe?”

Howard then shouted at Aldrich and refuted his words.

‘The one who gets excited always loses.’

Howard was a reporter with a strong sense of justice.

But unfortunately I didn’t have the ability to get a truthful answer from an old politician.

‘What a pity.’

anyway.

Howard was shouting so loudly that all the VIPs started to look in his direction.

Choi Hyun-woo who was managing the event personally stepped in and calmed Howard down.

“Reporter Howard you shouldn’t be making a fuss here.”

Choi Hyun-woo who was the chief of staff tried to handle the situation by sending out a reporter.

“Please cooperate.”

“Hey are you forcibly dragging me out now?”

“Mr. Choi. Stop for a moment!”

Rockefeller who was standing next to me quickly stopped Choi Hyun-woo.

I was going to move first.

Since Rockefeller was half a second faster I stayed quiet for a while and listened to what Rockefeller had to say.

“Your Majesty.”

“I’m listening Chairman Rockefeller.”

“First I would like to apologize. I ended up raising my voice somehow.”

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First of all Rockefeller apologized to me.

It is true that I shouted at the event I hosted.

“But I had no choice but to do that. If Mr. Choi were to forcibly drag Reporter Howard out it would be a big problem.”

“….”

“It’s best to avoid arguments with journalists if possible. There are a lot of eyes watching here especially now.”

right.

Aldrich’s face should be prominently featured in tomorrow’s article.

If I rashly kick out a reporter my face could end up on the front page.

I wanted to point this out to Choi Hyun-woo.

Rockefeller’s timing was perfect.

“I’m sorry about this. I apologize to you on behalf of my Chief Secretary.”

He bowed his head slightly to Howard and apologized politely.

At this the reporter straightened his crumpled suit again and regained his composure.

“Senator Aldrich you haven’t answered my question yet. So did you take a bribe or not?”

Howard continued to question Aldrich who had now regained his composure.

“….”

Aldrich began to shift his position changing his response from joking to silent.

“Where is the back door leading out Your Majesty?”

He soon approached me and asked me one thing.

I pretended to understand and offered Aldrich a favor.

“Go through there. I’ll call my men and tell them to get a car ready for you.”

“thank you.”

Howard continued to pepper Aldrich with questions.

But they were soon stopped by Aldrich’s personal bodyguards.

They surrounded Howard and held him in semi-restraint until my employee left the place.

Howard grumbled for a while perhaps because it wasn’t my fault before nodding and greeting me before heading back to the banquet hall.

I glanced around and observed how the guests who had come to this place were reacting.

Everyone mentions the names Aldrich and Morgan.

My name and Rockefeller’s last name have also been mentioned occasionally but less frequently.

‘It’s begun.’

I hurried into the house.

Rockefeller followed closely behind me his expression looking much lighter.

* * *

“Isn’t the world so interesting Prince?”

Rockefeller whispered to himself sipping a glass of champagne in his right hand.

I turned my head to check if there were people around me and then snickered.

“Hey. But Congressman Aldrich is your brother-in-law… Don’t be so harsh to him.”

“It’s even more so because we are in-laws.”

Rockefeller spoke coldly of Aldrich recalling what his brother-in-law had done in the past.

“What on earth was my old friend and brother-in-law Aldrich doing while my Standard Oil was being torn to pieces?”

“….”

“She was just Morgan’s handmaiden trying to pick up some beans and eat them. She didn’t help me at all.”

Rockefeller clenched his fists as he recalled the events of just a moment ago.

Aldrich drank the rest of his glass muttering that the humiliation he suffered today was all his own karma.

“He should try it at least once.”

“How scary is this society?”

“Yes. I’ve lived a good life so far so I should experience this much before I die so I can adjust to going to hell right?”

If Rockefeller and I had set our minds to it more concrete evidence would have been released to the press.

But the two of us didn’t do that.

This is to hide the fact that Rockefeller and I were the masterminds.

If Morgan were to discover this an all-out war could break out.

‘Rockefeller has nothing to lose…’

I am not like that.

Aren’t the Korean residents being held hostage?

Because Morgan could incite racists to block the immigration of Koreans.

I had to launch an offensive towards Morgan from as low a position as possible.

That’s why I feel a little frustrated.

He was responding by leaking some poorly written information asking for Rockefeller’s understanding.

“I’m thirsty.”

I needed more alcohol.

The two of us ordered someone to bring it out and then we started to pick on one of them as an appetizer.

“Even if Aldrich is like that what about Morgan?”

“Well I guess it won’t be as damaging as you might think.”

“I guess so?”

“Yes. I’m not the kind of man who would leave behind evidence.”

There is evidence out there but it is all circumstantial.

Rockefeller nodded in agreement.

Over the past 20 years.

Because they were fated rivals who divided the American business world into two.

Rockefeller speculated about what Morgan might have conveyed to Aldrich.

“If I had really bribed Aldrich it would have been through bearer bonds.”

“I guess so. So that it can’t be traced.”

Rockefeller looked slightly worried.

“I don’t think this will be enough to stop the passage of the Central Bank Act. The progressive faction of the Democratic Party has been opposing this bill from the beginning…”

“I’m sure the central banking law will be passed sooner or later since Teddy (Roosevelt) is determined to pass it. Sure.”

“If this continues the timing will just be postponed.”

right.

If that incident doesn’t happen it has to end like this.

But even if the collusion scandal delays the Senate vote by just a month or two

So if the vote were to take place in May the tables would be turned.

Because a very unfavorable event for Morgan was about to occur.

“Do your best. If that doesn’t work out it wouldn’t be a bad idea to focus on the antitrust lawsuit against US Steel.”

“Are you saying that we should turn the government-business collusion scandal toward antitrust rulings rather than applying it to U.S. central banking laws?”

“okay.”

Rockefeller was a little impatient because he didn’t know the future.

I am not like that.

For now he wanted to put him at ease and delay the vote on the central banking bill without getting caught by Morgan as much as possible.

“Okay. For now I will follow your will Prince.”

* * *

Morgan’s attention was currently focused on four topics.

The most important thing no matter what anyone says is the passage of the Central Bank Act.

Next is the ruling on the ‘Anti-Monopoly Lawsuit’.

‘Who will be the next US president?’ and ‘Completion of the Panama Canal’ shared an equal amount of space in Morgan’s mind.

“What about the progress of the Panama Canal construction? How far has it progressed?”

Among them Morgan was gathering the relevant executives and receiving reports on the Panama Canal construction project.

“It was originally supposed to be completed around the summer of 1914 but it looks like the timing will be brought forward.”

“To what extent?”

“About two years? It could probably be completed before Teddy (Roosevelt) leaves office.”

“okay?”

“yes.”

Morgan read the reports with interest.

A stack of documents submitted by his employees also analyzed several factors that could lead to an early completion.

Morgan read it out loud taking note.

“Do the laborers hired from the East work better than expected?”

“Yes. Since Koreans work so diligently I expect the construction period to be shortened significantly. In addition….”

In this history construction of the Panama Canal was temporarily halted due to a financial crisis in 1907.

As funding became tight several major US-led overseas projects were halted.

But things went a little wrong when Lee Kang intervened in this history in earnest.

During the financial crisis Lee Kang provided Morgan with extra money which improved his financial situation.

This allowed the funds to be invested in Panama to remain there.

It was possible to continuously deploy workers without stopping construction in the middle.

“In a way all of this is thanks to this prince.”

“Yes that’s right.”

“Luckily he took one of my worries away.”

Morgan sighed in relief at the news that one of his four mega projects was complete.

So we’ve re-examined the top-level topics we’re currently working on.

“What happened in the House of Representatives?”

“The Central Bank Act was just passed by a hair’s breadth.”

Originally it would have passed by a large margin.

But at the last minute.

As the collusion frame hits Washington and New York defections increase.

‘What kind of guy came up with this frame?’

First of all he probably isn’t a baron.

It’s too crude and vulgar to be the work of a baron.

‘This isn’t a prince or a Rockefeller.’

It won’t be either of these two.

In particular Lee Kang must be excluded from the list of suspects.

If he had intended to do so he would not have framed the collusion between politics and business in such a superficial and insincere way.

Above all Aldrich who was mentioned along with Morgan was also Rockefeller’s brother-in-law.

As this issue grows Lee Kang and Rockefeller will also be hit.

Because I thought that there was no way anyone would touch me even to the point of self-harming.

Morgan also crossed these two off the list of suspects.

‘There is only one thing left.’

democrats.

Among them the progressive forces led by Woodrow Wilson.

‘I secretly raised you from behind… and now you dare to stick a knife in my back?’

Because there is no evidence yet.

I can’t confirm this though.

As the frame of collusion between politics and business grows the only force that benefits is the progressive Democratic Party.

Morgan felt deeply betrayed and considered them prime suspects.

“Because the yellow press kept talking about collusion between politics and business we had a harder time in the House of Representatives than we had expected… Fortunately the only vote left is in the Senate.”

Senators have fewer seats and serve longer terms.

That’s why candidates with better finances than the House of Representatives often ran for office.

Most of them were successful capitalists or lawyers so Morgan had connections with them.

That’s why.

Passage in the Senate was certain although it would take some time.

“It’s behind schedule but it will be resolved soon. Didn’t the Baron’s short-selling mistake dry up liquid funds in New York once again?”

“yes.”

“The need for a central bank was felt more urgently by Teddy Roosevelt than by anyone else.”

“That’s right. They will cooperate with us even if it means making up for past mistakes.”

Two headaches will soon be solved.

Morgan looked at other more difficult tasks and focused on them.

“Is the British Government… still picking a quarrel with our shipping trusts on every single issue?”

“Yes. Downing Street is not sure about other industries but they want to keep control of shipping.”

Britain is an island nation.

The shipping industry is an industry that must be dominated due to the nature of an island nation.

Because the shipping industry is being eaten up by the United States which can be called a latecomer.

The alertness was extreme.

“That’s why you gritted your teeth and blocked the IMM incorporation of the Cunard Line?”

“That’s right. And aren’t you supporting them by giving them beggarly subsidies?”

Morgan clicked his tongue and criticized the British.

“Tsk tsk. You guys are just like that. Because of the island thugs the shipping companies are running wild and chaotic. Even a five-year-old child knows this. They’re the only ones who don’t know.”

They say they support a free competition system but what they do is the exact opposite.

Morgan clicked his tongue pointing out the island nation’s characteristic sinister nature.

“Oh you know that White Star Line that we acquired last time?”

“yes.”

“They say that a new ultra-luxurious passenger ship will set sail on its maiden voyage around the middle of next month.”

Bruce the White Star Line representative who had been sitting in the corner stood up and asked.

“Are you talking about the Titanic?”

“okay.”

A golden opportunity to catch Morgan’s eye.

At least that’s what Bruce thought so he opened his mouth to recall the information he knew.

“We will begin our first voyage around mid-April.”

“This is a great opportunity to surpass Cunard so don’t spare any expense in advertising it and make sure to spread it around in the media.”

“Yes yes. They are already promoting this by handing out first-class tickets to journalists in England.”

Bruce clapped his hands.

An idea occurred to me.

“Oh! The Vice President is currently on a business trip to England. Should I recommend it to him as well?”

“What? You want to put Junior on the Titanic?”

“Yes. You will have to return to the United States sooner or later anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to use this opportunity to return?”

< The Beginning of the Offensive (2) > The End