The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 23



< Great Earthquake >

People tend to forget sad things more than happy things.

Perhaps that is why modern Koreans although not familiar with other public holidays all know the day the Korean War broke out.

Don’t we commemorate the spirits of the martyrs every year on June 25th?

Americans also pray every year on September 11 for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

‘Other Americans may not know but San Franciscans know about this great earthquake.’

About 3000 citizens die from the earthquake that occurs that day.

Not only that but the majority of San Francisco residents reported damage.

Because 98% of the buildings in the old city center will be destroyed.

Because it was all burned down in the aftermath of the earthquake.

‘There are many monuments commemorating the victims of that day throughout downtown San Francisco.’

Born in San Francisco I grew up seeing this.

Moreover another major earthquake occurred in 1989 and students in San Francisco receive earthquake education every year.

I took earthquake preparedness classes quite seriously so I knew exactly when and where major earthquakes would occur.

‘It’s tomorrow.’

A major earthquake is just around the corner.

Instead of staying home quietly I invited all the Koreans in San Francisco to my house.

Why?

Because I wanted to save as many lives as possible within my influence.

Of course my influence here is limited to Koreans.

What if I were to interview a newspaper right now and they advised me to leave San Francisco?

I’m going to be treated like a crazy person.

The aftermath is also a problem.

Life will become tiring with unwanted attention from both sides with people saying things like you are a prophet or you have learned black magic.

I was not a saint like Jesus or Buddha so I did not want to give up my normal life to help people.

So I decided to just do the best I could right now.

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“Welcome.”

“Thank you for the invitation Your Majesty.”

I invited about 500 Koreans to my house.

Because a large number of people had to be accommodated at once there were not enough rooms for them to stay.

So I had no choice but to set up a makeshift tent in my yard and let them stay there.

As soon as a few people arrived I started putting out food.

“Wow… there’s so much food.”

“Mom! Mom! I want to stay here every day!”

Exclamations poured out from all over.

Yeah of course buffet food is a must at company outings.

“Wow look at that meat!”

“Kimchi is delicious!”

It is a day when most Koreans can enjoy a lot of food without feeling burdened for the first time in a long while.

Maybe that’s why their faces were all filled with happy smiles.

“His Majesty the Prince is giving us this. Do you see His Majesty over there? Go and express your gratitude.”

“yes.”

Most were adults but there were a few children as well.

I don’t know if my parents told me to do this but he came up to me and bowed.

“Here would you like to try this?”

“What is this?”

“It’s called candy.”

“Ahem! This is so delicious.”

I distributed it equally to those children and won their favor in return.

They went back to my parents and showed off the little gift I had given them.

“Your Majesty. Greetings. My name is Ahn Chang-ho.”

While he was busy greeting people Kim Kyu-sik brought a man over.

He was a man whose nickname was ‘Dosan’.

“Nice to meet you. You look very neat.”

“You are too kind.”

According to Kim Kyu-sik he was a fairly influential figure in the western United States.

Dosan also said that he lives in San Francisco and helps Korean immigrants.

“Your Majesty! I would also like to offer my greetings.”

Kim Kyu-sik has wide feet.

He also introduced me to a man named Park Yong-man.

“My name is Park Yong-man.”

“Yeah yeah. Your legs must hurt. Get up now.”

Park Yong-man was small in stature but he looked strong.

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As soon as he saw me he bowed deeply as if he had met an old benefactor.

After waking him up he began talking to the two people Kim Kyu-sik had introduced.

“majesty.”

“Tell me.”

“Over there… the people guarding this house.”

Park Yong-man looked around for a moment and then pointed with his right hand to my people standing far away.

“okay.”

The guards were watching outside from a place like a watchtower.

Park Yong-man mentioned the weapons his bodyguards were carrying.

“It looks like you have a really nice rifle in your hands.”

“Oh I ordered you to buy it. You know there’s been a lot of robberies around the outskirts of San Francisco these days.”

“Oh I see.”

Usually after the first greeting the conversation moves on to a topic that interests you.

Kim Kyu-sik’s story about Hawaii.

An Chang-ho talked to me about the domestic situation.

But Park Yong-man immediately started talking about weapons.

The fact that he brought up this topic here means that he has a great interest in the defense industry doesn’t it?

“Unlike others you seem to be particularly interested in weapons.”

“Yes I will save up money as soon as possible and buy a bunch of those rifles like Your Majesty.”

At those words I chuckled and joked with Park Yong-man.

“Why do you think that? If something happens in your home country later you might become a weapons smuggler.”

“Rather than that I’m thinking of forming an armed group. I’m going to kill all the Japanese traitors and their collaborators with my own hands.”

If you listen to this without any background knowledge you might think it’s a very radical statement.

But I could fully understand Park Yong-man’s feelings.

Because the majority of people gathered here are currently angry at Japan.

November of the year of Eulsa.

So in November of last year Japan threatened the ministers of Hanyang and deprived the Korean Empire of its diplomatic rights.

“Hmm… Then we might end up in conflict with Japan’s allies.”

“That’s something to think about when the time comes. No matter what anyone says shouldn’t we protect our country?”

I remembered something I had talked about with a certain person before.

“If something goes wrong with our Korean Empire how will you respond?”

“I will stay in Washington and continue to persuade high-ranking U.S. officials. Shouldn’t we resolve this diplomatically?”

It was a conversation with Syngman Rhee who had been calling himself a prince in Hawaii.

“What do you think Your Majesty? Are you perhaps thinking of supporting an armed group out of emotion?”

As I talked to Yongman Park it seemed like he was taking the exact opposite path to Syngman Rhee who was studying at George Washington University.

‘Syngman Rhee will emphasize a diplomatic solution and will lower himself so as not to offend Westerners.’

On the other hand in the case of Park Yong-man he would not hesitate to engage in armed struggle and would lead an independence army in Korea or China.

If we only look at the current statement.

‘If our sovereignty is taken away the Korean community will be divided along two lines for a while.’

In fact the Korean community is already very divided.

If I hadn’t shown up on time it would have fallen apart into pieces and not been able to come together for a while.

“umbrella.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“What is the situation with the Korean community in Hawaii?”

“The Synthetic Association is proceeding just as Your Majesty intended.”

Hawaii is currently divided into two factions.

Jeong Myeong-won who was the vice-president of the Synthetic Association along with Lim Jeong-su.

These two are the leaders of each faction and are facing off against each other.

‘It’s not really an ideological divide. It’s just a matter of where the farms they work on are located.’

By the time I got to Hawaii a lot of progress had already been made.

This may be why there were conflicting opinions regarding Syngman Rhee.

“You’ll have to be the one to calm them down. As time goes by they’ll definitely fight for control.”

“I guess so.”

Luckily I showed up just in time.

Status as well.

It’s the same with financial resources.

No one is challenging my claims because I am overwhelming all my competitors.

‘Neither Im Jeong-su nor Jeong Myeong-won are people who rebelled against the royal family.’

I delegated the authority on the association side to Im Jeong-su and the scholarship association-related business to Jeong Myeong-won showing that I did not favor either side.

Of course he is still holding on to his position as the representative of the Korean community.

Could it be because I was taking advantage of the situation?

They were currently competing for my loyalty.

“It’s a shame.”

“That’s right. Haven’t we been fighting each other since ancient times dividing into factions and taking sides to decide who will live and who will die?”

An Chang-ho and Park Yong-man taught me about the long traditions of ancient Joseon.

It’s a faction.

Actually I didn’t know much about this because I’m a Korean living in the US.

I’m getting useful information.

“They did it back home and now they’re doing it in Hawaii too.”

Park Yong-man harshly criticized the current situation.

I brought up commonalities in world political history because I felt the mood was getting a little tense.

“That’s just how people are. They all seem to think the same but they each have their own opinions. Fools fight wherever they go. Those who are smarter take advantage of this conflict.”

The situation is the same in modern America.

Because they are divided into two camps the Democratic and Republican parties and they are fighting each other as if they are going to kill each other.

As social media developed the middle ground disappeared and extremists became more prevalent.

I told them that it wasn’t just Joseon and revealed my future aspirations to them.

“Oh… I have something to tell you guys. I’m thinking of forming a cooperative sometime next month.”

“Are you talking about a cooperative?”

“okay.”

A new farm law was passed in 1906 which also provided guidelines for establishing cooperatives.

I thought I could support the businesses of overseas Koreans through this.

“Keep a close eye on those who have potential. And recommend them to me. You guys that is.”

In the Korean community these three people are famous for their virtue so at least they will look after my selfish desires a little and not recommend any strange guys.

At this Dosan Ahn Chang-ho looked at me with eyes of respect.

“I am more convinced now that I have met Your Majesty in person. Your Majesty seems to have a truly generous heart. I am so grateful that you are thinking of our people in this way.”

“It just seems that way. What is it?”

I made an awkward expression and led them into my house.

“Come on… Instead of just staying outside why don’t you go inside for a bit. You should take a look around my house.”

* * *

An Chang-ho Park Yong-man and Kim Kyu-sik were speechless when they saw our house.

It wasn’t just because our house was big.

“her….”

After mumbling for a while they soon opened their mouths.

“There are so many pictures.”

“That’s right. Aren’t these all pictures of San Francisco?”

Our house was now painted with photographs.

Because I hired a photographer to take pictures of various places in the city before the earthquake burned down the old city.

Because when the sun sets today the cities in the photos will disappear.

They took pictures and spent a lot of money to preserve them for future generations.

“Oh right. You guys! That fire insurance I mentioned last time. Did you hear? I have at least three contracts for every building I own.”

I pretended to have fire anxiety to get the most out of this earthquake.

That way even if you take out a lot of fire insurance it won’t look suspicious.

“I put in a cheap one.”

“I too at Your Majesty’s recommendation… went to see an insurance broker.”

“okay?”

A significant number of Koreans have taken out fire insurance for their homes and workplaces due to my influence.

Of course there were some who ignored my advice.

It’s unfortunate but there’s nothing we can do about it.

Even if you scoop up a spoonful and put it in front of your mouth there are bound to be seeds that overturn it.

“Piss.”

“Did you call me?”

The three Irish brothers came to me.

In particular Max encouraged me to go outside and pointed to where the soccer ball was.

“Don’t be like that Boss. How about you join the soccer team? It’s been a while since you’ve stretched out.”

I looked out the window.

Several people were playing ball in an empty lot amidst temporary tents pitched here and there.

“Boss. Wouldn’t the party be more lively if Boss participated?”

I politely declined Max’s offer.

“It wouldn’t be fun if I got involved.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Everyone will just avoid me… It wouldn’t be a fair game from the start.”

I haven’t been able to exercise much lately because I’ve been feeling down due to the earthquake.

That’s why my body was so stiff.

‘The long-awaited D-day is tomorrow. If I get injured my plans will go up in smoke.’

But as the great undertaking was at hand he had to be careful.

After I bit the people I quietly watched them exercise outside the window.

Maybe it’s because I talk to a lot of people but time flies.

like that.

The long day has come to an end.

The sun has set.

* * *

I looked at the pocket watch on my waist.

1:00 a.m.

A great disaster will soon descend upon this place.

‘Shit should I have just left?’

I’m shaking.

Memories from before I possessed Lee Kang’s body enveloped me.

I remembered a vivid nightmare I had in Tokyo.

‘A stake was driven straight into my chest…’

Wasn’t even the brave Jack Milo afraid of water and couldn’t go on a boat?

Trauma can cause people to panic.

I think it comes to mind because I also experienced a major earthquake in Japan when I was living as a modern person before I was possessed here.

‘Should we move to the yard now?’

My hands were shaking.

I felt like I had to pee.

But soon I shook my head.

‘No. I’m not leaving. I’m the owner of this house.’

Since the main house in the heart of San Francisco was now certain to burn down all valuables were moved to an annex for safekeeping.

In an emergency having cash or gold is very important.

This is especially true for gold.

Because the value of gold is absolutely unchangeable.

‘I must protect it. I must.’

After a great disaster looters abound.

As necessities become scarce people will naturally covet other people’s things in order to survive.

‘The preparations are complete.’

We are also fully equipped with weapons in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

I just had to make good use of this opportunity.

‘This time is important.’

Immigration law will be revised next year.

From then on immigration was restricted for Asians except for Japanese.

The number of my residents is my power.

I intend to use this crisis as an opportunity to prevent this.

Because I want to change white people’s negative stereotypes toward Koreans.

“Brother. What are you doing instead of sleeping?”

Kim Kyu-sik comes to me.

Since there were just the two of us we were able to talk comfortably.

“Are you having a lot on your mind? Oh… I see you’re looking at the moon that rose today.”

He stopped two steps away and stared out the window I was looking at.

“That’s right.”

“Looking at it this way you really do resemble Your Majesty. Doesn’t Your Majesty often have trouble sleeping at night?”

Are you talking about Emperor Gojong in his home country?

You shouldn’t compare me to that guy.

“You are the one who should succeed to the throne next.”

Kim Kyu-sik was truly sorry.

Public opinion in the country is changing every day.

Not knowing what the future would hold the queen joined hands with pro-Japanese collaborators in order to make her son the next successor.

So my next move was almost over.

“Tsk. You’re talking nonsense. If I had intended to inherit the throne I would not have come back to the United States.”

“I guess so.”

Kim Kyu-sik said with a bitter smile.

“Hulbert stopped by Hawaii a while ago. He told me about the situation in the country. I think it’s worse than I thought.”

“I guess so.”

“If you change your mind….”

Kim Kyu-sik stopped talking.

Why?

Because I felt something strange.

“Brother? Did you feel the shaking just now too?”

The ground shook very shallowly.

Some seismic waves appeared to reach the surface before the full-scale earthquake began.

Dadada- dadada-

Krrrrrrrrrr-

Kook- thump-

Soon the earth began to shake with the sound of a bomb exploding.

“Fuck. Get down. Protect your head.”

“Huh? Oh oh oh!”

A major earthquake.

It started.

That fucking catastrophe has finally descended upon this land.

<Great Earthquake> End