The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 47



< To the East >

『Over a thousand of our citizens who had been treated as slaves in Mexico for the past two years have finally become free.』

『His Majesty the Emperor’s secret order led this negotiation. Thanks to His Majesty’s clever tactics the negotiations were successfully concluded in just one month. It was revealed that former Foreign Affairs Minister Yun Chi-ho was also present.』

Although I was not specifically instructed to do so I have been receiving real-time reports on public opinion in the Korean Empire.

Because my story was often mentioned in my home country.

‘The mood has improved.’

According to Yun Chi-ho good articles about me started pouring in a year ago.

I used to see articles criticizing me often but now I can’t find them.

‘Of course some pseudo-media outlets that receive money from the Japanese government still criticize me.’

They were on the surface a press agency of the Korean Empire but on the inside they were a branch of a Japanese newspaper in Hanyang.

So their private messages had to be ignored and passed over.

『The entire amount of the penalty used to terminate the fraudulent contract was paid from His Majesty the King’s own pocket.』

『His Majesty the King is actually one of the richest landowners in the United States. According to an anonymous source his large farmland is being left unused due to a lack of workers.』

『Every business he touches is a success. Recently there is a rumor that he invested a large sum of money in a flying ‘airplane’.』

『We will establish a synthetic scholarship foundation and also contribute to the development of new talents with international sensibilities. We are currently recruiting 00 scholarship students.』

Some news outlets have even done a very detailed investigation into what I do in the United States and who I need.

Then I squinted my eyes and looked for Woo Hyeon-sik.

Because the article contained very specific information.

“Your Majesty. I heard that Lee Min-woo recently returned to Hanyang.”

“If it’s Lee Min-woo…”

“I am the Korean resident who came to San Francisco with Deokbae last time.”

“Oh are you talking about that short guy with a dark face?”

“Yes that’s right.”

Lee Min-woo is the one who used to arrange brides for Koreans living in Hawaii and San Francisco.

I too was impressed by the ingenious idea at the time.

“He returned to the Korean Empire?”

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“Yes I heard it was to attract technicians who can handle machines. Perhaps it was because Kim Jong-rim and Deok-bae asked for it?”

“I guess so. The three of them seem to be quite close.”

In any field people of the same age tend to become close friends.

Whether it’s school work or a new home.

Because camaraderie often develops during the difficult times of adapting.

The three came to San Francisco together in March 1906.

Since those two riders meet often it is possible that Kim Jong-rim asked Lee Min-woo to help him out during that process.

“I guess the information in this article probably leaked out from his mouth.”

“I think so too.”

A man named Lee Min-woo.

It seems like you’re handling the media pretty well.

Plus I have a clear understanding of what I need right now.

If I ever return to San Francisco again I’ll have to talk to them.

Because his abilities seemed much better than expected.

『It is known that the Japanese government has consistently ignored reports on the situation of Korean residents in Mexico.』

“It seems like no action has been taken. The people are furious when they hear this.”

『[Editorial] Is this the reason why diplomatic rights were taken away? The incompetent Japanese government must once again return diplomatic rights to us.』

The nationalist newspapers praised my actions while at the same time criticizing the Japanese government’s indifferent attitude every day.

However the Japanese government never returned the diplomatic rights it had once taken away.

Instead he shamelessly came out and started to take the actions that we were worried about.

『Overseas travel procedures are scheduled to be strengthened starting in December of this year.』

『The door to immigration to the Americas will be completely blocked by the revised immigration law. The process of obtaining immigration permits is expected to become even more difficult for those who are not high-ranking officials.』

I looked at the newspaper Choi Hyun-woo was holding and asked.

“A complete ban on immigration of Koreans?”

“Yes that’s what they say. I asked the Hanyang government about this and as reported in the media they said they will close the doors starting this month.”

Well that was expected.

Japan has been reporting on Mexican immigration fraud cases extensively through the media for the past four months and has been spreading rumors about it as well.

Miraculously I managed to resolve this issue but the Japanese government blocked the immigration of Koreans manipulating public opinion that something like this could happen again.

‘I will do the same. Didn’t the recent news reports increase the number of applications for immigration to the Americas? I can’t tolerate this any longer.’

Because it means losing the slaves that can be used by others.

Eventually the Japanese government drew its sword despite strong domestic opposition.

I stared intently at the newspaper I was holding then abruptly jumped up from my spot.

“It’s time to start formulating a strategy. Let’s all gather at my house.”

* * *

I called my people.

Woo Hyeon-sik Choi Hyeon-woo Yu Gil-jun and of course Ahn Chang-ho Park Yong-man Kim Gyu-sik and Kim Jong-rim who stayed at our house.

All the necessary people have been gathered together.

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“Did you call? Your Majesty the King.”

“I think you too have heard this tragic news.”

He carefully placed the newspapers published by the Korean Empire on the table and pushed them towards him.

Some people looked at me without much interest because they already knew the facts.

Park Yong-man became extremely angry as soon as he read the newspaper either because he had not heard the news or because his original reaction was excessive.

“The Japanese are using their dirty tricks again. Your Majesty we must show them a lesson.”

We need to put off the bitter taste and come up with a plan first.

I looked around at the group gathered here and leaned back on the sofa.

“It was all to be expected. That’s why I put in place some safeguards.”

After giving a silent sign to Woo Hyun-sik he brought me a document written in English.

I placed it in the middle of the group and continued speaking.

“I had a private meeting with Governor George Pardee last week. You know he just got elected governor of California?”

California in this era is a Republican stronghold unlike in the 21st century.

Now that Padre was re-elected as the Republican candidate the governor’s seat was almost certainly his.

The actual voting also went that way.

At the celebration of his re-election I was able to receive this document from Padi.

“We were able to achieve one desired result there. At least until 1911. As long as Pardee is governor Koreans will continue to immigrate to California. He will approve everything.”

It was all thanks to me that Padi was able to continue his political life.

That’s why George Pardee gave me such a great gift.

At that moment Ahn Chang-ho raised his hand.

I guess you have some questions about what I’m saying.

“Your Majesty. It is a blessing in disguise but for Koreans to come here one prerequisite is necessary.”

“Tell me.”

“We have been robbed of our diplomatic rights by Japan. How can our citizens in the home country immigrate here when they refuse to issue us passports?”

I tilted my head in puzzlement and asked Ahn Chang-ho.

“If you don’t make it why don’t we issue it ourselves?”

“Huh? What is that….”

“Japan took away our diplomatic rights through coercion and intimidation. You could argue that it is illegal under international law. So can’t we interpret that giving passports to our citizens means that they are still in our hands?”

Kim Kyu-sik nodded in agreement.

“If we can recruit former officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and copy and issue the previously issued forms we can do so.”

“As expected Woo Sa (Kim Kyu-sik) and I have something in common. So I guess I should act like that.”

Yu Gil-jun took over the baton from Kim Kyu-sik.

“We can bring our people here by ship from the Maritime Province to San Francisco.”

“That’s right. Now everyone pretends to be pretend.”

An Chang-ho looked at my proposal with a stern expression and tried to find a weak point.

“But we can’t use this for long. What may be legal for us may be seen as illegal by the international community.”

right.

This is only a temporary measure.

In particular if the Korean Empire were to be ‘annexed’ by Japan this bypass law would completely lose its effect.

I snapped my fingers and suggested an alternative.

“So I’m thinking of using Mexico which I visited last month. Aren’t there about a thousand of our citizens temporarily staying in the Mexican border city of Tijuana? Dosan (Ahn Chang-ho) and Woo-sa (Kim Kyu-sik) also stopped by Tijuana once right?”

“yes.”

“I visited once last week to understand the situation of the Korean residents.”

“The person in charge there is currently Mayor Alejandro. He is the son-in-law of the first Mexican official I met Minister of Agriculture Diego.”

I’m not bringing this up to brag about my connections.

I told them about my plans for the future mentioning the mayor of Tijuana.

“I plan to use this place as a transit point. I will bring Koreans here and then launder their citizenship. After that I will bring them back to California.”

An Chang-ho once again questioned my plan.

“Is that possible?”

“It’s possible. Mexico is different from the United States. If you have money there’s nothing you can’t do. Ah Woo-sung (Park Yong-man).”

I called out to Park Yong-man who was keeping his mouth shut.

When his name was suddenly called Park Yong-man looked startled.

“Yes Your Majesty! Please speak.”

“You should go here and take temporary charge.”

“Am I the one talking?”

“okay.”

I smiled at Park Yong-man and told him exactly why he had to go.

“I’m thinking of establishing a military school here. When I saw you I thought you were the perfect person for the job.”

“Are you talking about the old military school?”

I like it so much.

I chuckled and repeated what I had said before.

“Here in Mexico unlike in the US you can do anything. Like I said before…”

“If you have money you can do anything.”

As Park Yong-man repeated the story I had told him I nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Yeah. Money is everything.”

I explained again.

“Besides the security in Mexico is much worse than here. If they think of us as mercenaries things will go smoothly.”

You can’t just set up a military school.

It will take some time to clear the ground build a building and recruit instructors.

Plus we’ll have to work hard to grease the wheels for powerful politicians in Tijuana.

‘I think it was 1910? There was a big upheaval in Mexico.’

The whole country will be in an uproar due to revolution.

Of course public safety will also worsen.

We just have to show up as mercenaries to them when they need us.

“Oh I have a favor to ask of you. I will be away from San Francisco for a while so please take good care of the Korean residents in my stead.”

“Your Majesty where else are you planning to go on another trip like you did to Mexico last time?”

Everyone looks at me with worried expressions.

That must be because the landlord is vacating the house.

“Yes. I’ll stop by the East for a bit.”

“Why are you going to the East?”

I closed my eyes for a moment then opened them and vaguely explained what I was going to do next.

“There’s a lot to do. I have to stop by New York and visit Washington.”

Everyone nodded silently when they heard that he was visiting Washington D.C. the capital of the United States.

Because there was no one who represented the Korean Empire as much as I did.

“Oh you stay here. I have more to talk to you about.”

I called Kim Jong-rim.

It was to do a final check before heading east.

* * *

I was holding a report in my hand.

【W&L Aircraft Factory Status】

A new corporation was established by taking the first two letters of Wright’s W and Lee’s L.

I read this report and checked the contents.

“Okay. How is the development of agricultural aircraft going?”

“Development is progressing faster than we thought. We just need to add one more nozzle to spray pesticides in the air. We’ve been doing test flights since last month and we expect to be able to mass-produce it as early as early next year.”

Very good.

I put down the W&L Airplane Plant report and asked about other developments as well.

“So what is the status of agricultural machinery development?”

“With the help of the Wright brothers we were able to transfer the internal combustion engine to tractors. However it is a bit disappointing that the output is lower than expected.”

“I guess we need to improve the engine. We need to proceed with development towards making it a little bigger.”

“Yes. But you know weight gain is not as easy as it sounds. Just increasing the size isn’t everything.”

“yes.”

“So we took apart all the engines from various car models on the market. After disassembling them one by one we drew up design drawings and looked for commonalities.”

Although the development costs were significant I intended to continue supporting it.

The capabilities of technicians will also increase.

Also because the development progress was better than expected something was expected.

“There are just a few things that concern me.”

“What is it?”

“If we were to start a car company… we would probably be involved in lawsuits with other companies for a while because of the patents that have already been registered.”

okay.

America is a nation of lawsuits.

If a new company enters the market they will be on the lookout to sabotage it.

‘Big cars used diesel engines… Are all the engines on the market now gasoline engines?’

Diesel engines are not yet on the market.

That is to say.

Aren’t you saying that the patent fees are also cheap?

Or maybe there isn’t any at all.

‘I wish I could get a diesel engine.’

The gasoline engine was actually first invented in Germany.

That means that the diesel engine was most likely developed in Germany or another European country not here in the United States.

‘The developer’s name is definitely Diesel.’

Westerners always attach their first or last name to their inventions.

It would be perfect if we invited the inventor of the diesel engine here.

I swallowed my saliva and sorted out the complicated thoughts swirling around in my head.

After that he consoled Kim Jong-rim.

“Oh don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”

“Your Majesty I know you have a plan but could you please share it with me? I don’t think it’s easy to circumvent the patent.”

“I’m planning to stop by Detroit before I visit New York. As you know….”

“It’s the Motor City. Aren’t all the automakers there?”

“That’s right. I’m thinking of trying to push for a technology partnership agreement with the existing automobile industry there.”

Kim Jong-rim nodded and asked me again.

“Are you thinking of contacting any companies?”

“well.”

I stroked my long beard as I continued to talk.

There were several candidates but we haven’t decided on one yet.

‘Where would be good?’

From Ford to GM Cadillac etc.

All kinds of car companies are probably starting up right now.

They are gradually increasing their power through alliances and cooperation but there is still no place that stands out overwhelmingly.

‘I guess… that would be good.’

Although it hasn’t been decided yet the candidates have already been narrowed down.

Kim Jong-rim continued to look curious because he couldn’t read my mind.

“I’ll let you know once the negotiations are complete. I’ll come back with my good news.”

< East > End