The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 82



< IN AND OUT (2) >

“Like other Koreans who came to America our family first looked for land to farm.”

Lee Hoi-young revealed his true feelings to me with a cautious expression.

Then Lee Si-young who was the younger sister followed in her older brother’s footsteps and explained the reason.

“We may not know it but it is to provide an environment where those who follow us can make a living.”

The Korean Empire officially abolished the caste system through the Gabo Reforms and Eulmi Reforms.

But that consciousness still remained deeply rooted within society.

‘It’s like they just changed the label. From slaves to servants.’

Those who followed the Lee Hoi-young family lived each day from birth on the bed and salary provided by the Lee Hoi-young family.

But then Lee Hoi-young suddenly announced that he would leave for the United States.

What choices do they have?

Some may have wanted to remain in the Korean Empire until the end but many headed to America with their masters the Lee family.

Leaving for the United States was in some ways a new challenge but standing alone was also a huge challenge for them.

‘Some intellectuals point fingers at this and say that it lacks autonomy but I can understand it. I’ve lived like that my whole life so how can people change so easily…’

I nodded and told him about my past actions.

“I understand that feeling. I too started looking around the land as soon as I got here.”

“Your Majesty did you behave like that too?”

“Of course. Because I had as many dependents as you.”

I remembered what happened in Hawaii.

“Moreover an incident I had in Hawaii made me feel even more desperately in need of my own land.”

“Why did you think so?”

“Because I saw with my own eyes the Hawaiian people who were treated like animals while working in the sugar cane fields. Even after I left Hawaii that image kept flashing through my mind.”

“ah….”

“Seeing them suffering because of the wrong contract I made a promise to myself. When the contract was over I would provide them with farmland to work on. I thought that was my duty as a prince.”

I also paid attention to my reputation inserting anecdotes that would help create my image between conversations.

It may seem hypocritical but I have to do my own promotion.

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Of course naturally.

“Yes. Which land are you looking at?”

“For now we are looking at the southern part of Namgaju and the northern part of Muksu.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a phonetic translation.

As a Korean-American and a modern person I used American place names as they sounded.

However Koreans in this era often used the names they used in their home country.

The Lee Hoi-young family seemed to be like that too.

“Come and stay silent…”

“I advised the youngest to go to the market and find out how many good properties there were to buy.”

“There must be a lot of good land around San Francisco… why are you looking for land in the south?”

They scratched their heads and looked troubled.

“I guess you have some circumstances you can’t tell me. You don’t have to tell me. Oh right. Are you thinking of buying those lands and growing rice there too?”

“No we plan to grow wheat.”

“wheat?”

I hesitated for a moment but soon nodded.

If you think about it it wasn’t such a bad choice.

Wheat is the main food source in the United States where we live.

It was a crop that was easy to farm and had many places to sell so it was a crop that was popular for medium and long term use.

‘Although not as much as rice wheat is not an unfamiliar crop in Joseon either. As you go further north wasn’t wheat grown along with sorghum or millet?’

Wheat farming is good.

If World War I breaks out in the future isn’t this an industry that will suck honey?

I smiled brightly and predicted their next move as well.

“Yes. If things go as planned I’ll try to branch out into the milling industry.”

Lee Hoi-young and Lee Si-young looked at me and then exchanged glances.

I think he was surprised that my foresight was better than I thought.

“That was the plan. Did Your Majesty receive word of this from someone else in advance?”

“No. That’s because wheat farming and milling are industries that have a synergistic effect when operated together.”

Also known as vertical integration.

They can negotiate prices among themselves internally maximizing their profits.

“I know better because I plan on running a wheat farm myself. Not yet though.”

When I first bought land north of Sacramento in the Sacramento Basin some of America’s most prominent figures tried to dissuade me saying that the land was a wasteland.

Then he offered me the southern land located below.

The federal government also told me that it would support the construction of irrigation canals for the development of the West and I remembered this and instructed them to gradually purchase land in this region whenever they had money left over.

‘After being in the East for a while I came back to the West and the land had become a wasteland.’

The recently purchased land was suitable for rice farming but wheat farming was also easy.

The demand for wheat in this country is higher than that for rice.

Incomparably.

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That’s why I never intended to stick to just rice farming.

“Didn’t I ask you earlier why you didn’t recognize the land around here? That’s why.”

“ah….”

Lee Seok-young’s eyes shook.

He seemed about to open his mouth to say something but he kept looking at me.

When I said that I wanted to have a sincere conversation because I was frustrated my younger sister Lee Si-young opened her mouth instead.

“I may be presumptuous but we were planning our business so as not to cause any inconvenience to Your Majesty and so we tried to avoid overlapping with Your Majesty’s business as much as possible.”

what.

It was nothing special.

I snorted and pounded my chest.

“Hey why are you so concerned about what other people think? You should live your life doing what you want to do.”

“….”

“….”

“Honestly no matter how much you think about it there will be some overlap between our business areas. Even the land you are trying to buy is an example.”

Pointing to the map of the United States hanging behind me I told the two brothers where my land was.

“From the suburbs of San Francisco to the Sacramento Basin the Delta region near Los Angeles and the U.S.-Mexico border. I own a little bit of every farm here.”

“….”

“If you want to avoid the land I bought you’ll have to go to the eastern or central regions. So don’t worry too much about what I’m thinking.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Remember I don’t like monopolies. Stagnant water eventually becomes rotten.”

I preached my business philosophy to my two brothers.

I haven’t had a chance to talk about it before.

I thought it would be a good opportunity to inform the Korean community as well as the two brothers about this.

“You too come here to America and run a large farm together. Sometimes we compete sometimes we cooperate. Oh! Didn’t you say earlier that you were interested in the milling industry?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“If your family starts a milling business I will entrust the wheat harvested from my farm to your mill.”

“Are you sure?”

“Then isn’t it a good thing for both the sister and the brother-in-law?”

How did the Jews come to power?

They banded together and helped each other out accumulating wealth.

Korean expatriates could also act that way.

Of course you have to be careful to avoid the ones with yellow sprouts.

“I was also looking into that but I was hesitant to make an advance because it was too much trouble. But if you invest in the milling business instead of me wouldn’t I be able to breathe a sigh of relief?”

I snapped my fingers and continued.

“Instead you can use my warehouse. There is a very large warehouse on the docks near San Francisco. It is mine. If the rent is too much I can buy a part of it or sign a long-term lease. I will accommodate you.”

“Thank you Your Majesty.”

I glanced at them and asked the two brothers.

“Are you interested in anything else? For example sugar milling or timber logging?”

Both were businesses I was trying to get into.

I kept putting it off day after day because it took a lot of work and I wasn’t very interested.

I advised the two brothers to give it a try.

“As for the sugar mill… it is said that the Kim family from Suncheon is keeping an eye on it.”

“okay?”

ah….

It looks like some wealthy Korean residents got together and discussed things.

but.

Rather than having multiple competitors rush into a narrow market it would be more rational to consult with each other in advance and each dig their own well.

“I’m in contact with sugarcane plantations in Hawaii.”

“Oh I heard a rumor that a few Koreans visited a sugarcane farm in South America before…”

“That’s right. They are probably the Kim family from Suncheon.”

It is said that several Korean residents from Pyongyang are also reaching out to the wood industry.

“Our family also has a great interest in distribution Your Majesty.”

“okay?”

He also expressed his intention to import high-quality animal skins produced in Hamgyeong Province and process them here.

“Well I expected that.”

“Why did you think so?”

“Aren’t there only two of your six brothers in the US? Of course most of those below you are in the US for education.”

Lee Hoi-young and Lee Si-young looked surprised.

These people.

Hehe he looks like a nice person.

This guy is also the head of the Ikmunsa Temple.

I’m saying that I have a rough idea of ​​the key information about the major overseas Koreans.

“The first is in Korea the second is in Manchuria the third is in the Maritime Province and the youngest is in Mexico as I said before?”

“….”

“….”

“The fact that they have locations all over the world means that they plan to focus on distribution right?”

I praised them and highly valued their plan.

“Let’s start with leather distribution. As you know the leather produced in the Maritime Province Manchuria and Hamgyeong Province is famous for its excellent quality.”

Lee Hoi-young answered me with a moved expression.

“As rumored Your Majesty seems to have a penetrating insight into everything.”

“That’s right. Our family has a great interest in distribution especially shipping more than other businesses.”

That’s good.

The distribution industry requires on-site visits.

You can send an agent but if you’re doing business you’re the type to run it yourself.

I’m not in a position to go to China or Japan right now.

‘If I go to nearby China and get kidnapped by the Japanese my life will be over.’

I smiled brightly and asked them.

“But you know.”

“Please speak Your Majesty.”

“There have been rumors recently that your men have been entering and exiting a firearms manufacturing plant…”

I asked them taking a moment to pause.

“Are you by any chance interested in your family’s defense business?”

* * *

Hesitating hesitating.

This time too Lee Hoi-young and Lee Si-young exchanged glances and seemed to be hiding something from me.

But as I watched them quietly they eventually revealed to me the secret plan they had been keeping in their hearts.

“I can’t fool your Majesty. That’s right. Our family has great interests in the defense industry as well as the distribution industry.”

“Looking at it… it seems like the farms mills and distribution industries are just a front and defense is the main business.”

It looks like that at first glance.

As soon as you arrive in America you will see that the first thing you look for is a defense-related factory.

It’s obvious even without looking.

“…you’re right.”

“Isn’t it all for the true independence of Korea?”

“…yes.”

“It’s probably to support the volunteer army operating on the Korean Peninsula.”

“yes.”

He seemed to have given up on trying to deceive me so he nodded without hesitation.

I looked at the two brothers with a rather amused expression.

“It feels good to see your strong patriotism in me.”

okay.

Isn’t it because of people like these that we have the modern Republic of Korea?

“We plan to send military supplies to Gando and Primorsky Krai soon.”

“ah….”

“For now I plan to purchase them in the United States. Later I plan to purchase them from the factories you have established and send them to the volunteers through your shipping company.”

Lee Hoe-young and Lee Si-young knelt down and asked me.

“majesty.”

“Just leave it to me.”

I approached the two brothers took each of their hands in my own and held them together.

“I ask you to do the same.”

for a moment.

I who had been quietly sharing glances with Lee Hoi-young and Lee Si-young opened my mouth again.

“Ah… Before I go back I just want to give you one piece of advice.”

“Please speak.”

“Our struggle may be quite long. At least ten years…”

If Japan had dug in big time and sided with Germany in World War I that would have been the case.

Looking at the way things are going it doesn’t seem like that will happen.

“If we go any further we may have to fight Japan for more than thirty years.”

“….”

“….”

“Have you ever heard of a marathon?”

“This is the first time I’ve heard this word.”

“It is a race that involves running over a distance of 42 km or approximately 100 li.”

I looked at Lee Hoe-young and Lee Si-young in turns and explained to them why I brought up this story.

“Do you know what happens when you run at full speed like a sprinter in a race like that?”

“…I don’t know.”

I said firmly.

“I’m dying.”

“….”

“….”

“Or you might just give up and give up.”

Die or defect.

Of course some independence activists survived and witnessed liberation.

Most people will fall into one of two categories.

“I hope that doesn’t happen to you. So don’t try to pour everything out at once.”

There is a time for everything.

You had to wait until that moment and then put in all your resources desperately trying to get what you wanted.

I warned them about this and gave them one more piece of advice.

“Ah… there will be people who come to you and ask for financial support under the pretext of achieving true independence for Korea.”

While there are those who come for true independence there are also quite a few who are scammers in human skin.

‘It could be because of me…’

There are also frequent cases of merchants from China or Japanese pretending to be Koreans or appointing agents to embezzle funds for the independence movement.

It’s all because I became famous.

Sharing my previous experience I advised them to carefully look into their backgrounds.

“People… be most careful.”

< IN AND OUT (2) > End