The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 85



< American Rag>

If it’s a tabloid.

Doesn’t this mean low-quality media outlets that recklessly spit out sensational articles that aren’t even true?

In this era there was no clear distinction between the mainstream press and the yellow press.

Moreover tabloids sometimes conveyed local public sentiment faster than mainstream newspapers so I often bought them on the street and read them when I saw them.

“Not often but… sometimes when I’m bored I read it.”

“Oh I see.”

“But why are you asking that?”

“That’s it…..”

This is true.

Stop teasing me and open your mouth.

“I’m a bit cautious so I don’t feel like I’m being a bother.”

You usually pursue ‘efficiency’ so passionately but why are you so hesitant when it’s really important?

“Okay. Just tell me what you know. What did you see in the tabloids that got you so worked up?”

“It was by chance that I came across a bad story about the prince.”

ah!

The time has finally come.

So you’re saying that in the end there’s a force in America that can restrain me?

“Well that could be true. Isn’t it like a gateway that every celebrity has to go through at least once? Like an initiation ceremony.”

I tried to pretend like everything was fine and made a nonchalant expression.

Then I took a quick look around.

“Here in California there is less racism than in other places. But some of our citizens have strange fantasies like the Kaiser in Germany.”

There are quite a few believers in the yellow peril theory in California as well.

Take the recently proposed Asian immigration restriction bill for example.

Koreans are excluded but wasn’t this law created because of them?

“So don’t worry too much. I can tolerate all kinds of nonsense.”

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Despite my nonchalant response Ford’s serious expression did not disappear.

Instead he reported to me in an even lower voice.

“If it were only in California I would have let it slide. But in New York Washington and Detroit where I work stories about the prince occasionally appear in local newspapers.”

“What? Since when has it been like that?”

“It was all recent.”

Ford took a bundle of newspapers out of his briefcase.

“To my surprise the article I read was very similar to the article in it. It was as if it had been written by the same person.”

“one?”

“yes.”

I quickly looked at the tabloid Ford had handed me.

‘Daily California….’

It’s a very small local daily newspaper that I’ve never seen before.

Without even looking for it the article about me caught my eye right away.

『Exclusive to this paper is Lee Kang actually a married woman killer? The secret sexual preferences of the prince on a white horse from the East.』

From the article title to the introduction.

It’s very stimulating.

I think it’ll really pique the interest of American rascals who know me or are hungry for something fun.

Ford handed me the entire newspaper containing the false information with a serious expression on his face.

“As the prince said these articles are actually like initiations. I have also experienced something similar.”

“You also saw this article in the tabloids?”

“Yes. In this country when you become a little famous you start to badmouth others. Journalists dress it up as freedom of the press.”

Ford shuddered with remorse as he recalled his past.

“As my company grew these kinds of malicious rumors started to spread around Detroit. Of course they didn’t spread all over the country like the Prince.”

“….”

“A competitor may have bribed the reporter or the reporter may have deliberately written this article in hopes of getting the prince’s money.”

Or maybe he did it out of pure evil intentions.

Ford listed what he knew comparing his past to my current situation.

“As I said earlier if this kind of gossip article had only appeared in California I would have thought it was a rite of passage and moved on. But this is on such a grand scale.”

okay.

With such outrageous rumors spreading across the United States we should be reasonably skeptical.

If there was no one behind it it would be difficult for it to spread this quickly.

‘roughly….’

I think I know who’s behind this.

but.

Since having preconceived notions can easily get in the way of finding out the real background I quickly listed the names of candidates but did not confirm them.

‘I’ll have to dig some more when I get home.’

I touched Ford’s shoulder gently and thanked him.

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“Thank you. Thanks to you I was able to respond quickly.”

“No. I would rather say thank you to the prince. Didn’t you accept my offer to invest a large sum of money without any conditions? It was you who extended the favor first.”

Ford was more worried about me saying he couldn’t live in debt.

“Lastly I would like to advise you not to take this matter too lightly. Whoever they are they seem to be very malicious. They will continue to make up stories to tarnish the prince’s reputation so you must be fully prepared.”

* * *

『A secret that has not been told until now. This paper analyzes it. <Lee Kang and the Married Woman>』

The article Ford delivered was widely circulated throughout the United States.

The title and content were slightly different.

As Ford said the contents inside were a total mess.

‘Let’s come to our senses and sort things out first.’

The incident broke out.

What should I do first?

right.

Naturally we need to find out the nature of the incident.

‘The opposition is playing the media to tarnish my reputation.’

I’ve roughly figured out the purpose.

Should we investigate that means?

First we had to find out the details of what kind of rumors were being spread so we mobilized Koreans and Ikmunsa agents from various places to collect related articles.

‘The story of a married woman came up for the first time.’

“Is Prince Lee Kang actually not a prince but an illegitimate child?”

There is also a follow-up article.

‘The first article was written two weeks ago.’

Here in California these articles have been running since then.

ah!

So it took me a while to figure this out.

If they had attacked from my base they would have found out the masterminds quickly.

These guys.

Use your head.

I held back my boiling anger and called over Choi Hyun-woo Woo Hyun-sik and Yu Gil-jun who were staying at my house.

“Did you guys know about this too?”

“no.”

“You?”

“I didn’t know either.”

“You?”

“It’s the same as the previous two.”

I tried to cool my hot head by touching my temple with my right hand.

“I read your article carefully. It was very clever.”

I spoke looking at the three faces in turn.

“It looks like a lot of people spent a long time working on the planning article.”

“Huh? Why do you say that?”

“Look. It says that men who like older women miss their mothers who died when they were young. Only someone who knows my family history in detail could write that. It’s the same reason why it says I’m an illegitimate child.”

Padlips are rampant.

My subordinates were all rolling their eyes and wiping their dry lips at the article that touched even my dead family.

I also read other articles myself to support my claim.

“Here. Lee Kang is only selecting married women who have just settled in America and tempting them with money. This part is the same.”

Originally for a lie to be packaged nicely there had to be a little bit of truth mixed in.

I recently helped a large number of families of independence fighters active in Joseon enter the United States.

After that he gave them a small amount of support money and even provided them with some accommodation.

It didn’t stop there and they also provided additional conveniences that were different from those offered to existing Korean residents.

‘Now that the irrigation canal construction is complete we can start growing wheat on the new land.’

Wheat farming requires less labor than rice farming.

That’s why it needed less labor and it was recommended as a perfect fit for the families of volunteer soldiers who had to balance farming and household chores.

The facts that gave rise to such conveniences were horribly distorted.

‘It started out as a policy to favor the families of patriots.’

“Look at Lee Kang’s shameless actions of luring only married women under the pretext of providing free education for their children. Isn’t this also something I recently implemented?”

Bam-

I gritted my teeth and decided to respond first.

“Gudang (Yoo Gil-jun).”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

“Prepare a response article first. Request a correction from the relevant tabloids.”

“yes.”

First I plan to refute them one by one.

The illegitimate child theory explains the differences between Eastern and Western royal cultures and intends to assert that I am a rightful member of the royal family.

I also planned to turn the mood around by revealing that the rumors that I was lusting after married women were the families of volunteer soldiers fighting against Japan.

‘If the article had been written without distortion it could have been a praise article.’

Heroes grow stronger through hardship.

Although it may seem glamorous I actually grew up under threats to my survival from Queen Min since I was a child.

It’s a typical American story.

I wanted to use this opportunity as a turning point.

‘Just another article. Where in this day and age is there a royal family that takes care of the families of the righteous soldiers who died fighting for their country?’

What if we reconstruct the story by cutting out only the distorted aspects?

If you publish the article again later.

It will definitely help my reputation.

‘I should also call in the Ikmunsa agents.’

Because that’s when information is needed most.

All three Ikmunsa agents operating in the United States must be summoned.

“majesty.”

“Yeah. Did you find out?”

Choi Hyun-woo and Woo Hyun-sik were ordered to undergo further investigation.

Because we also need information about the people who wrote this article.

“The person who contributed to the Daily Californian is a reporter named Durham Stevenson.”

“We also identified the two men who published articles in other local newspapers. Their names were David and McCus.”

I crossed my arms and looked at Woo Hyun-sik and Choi Hyun-woo.

“Keep talking.”

“And these reporters had a few things in common.”

“What?”

“All three have records of recent visits to Tokyo Japan.”

“Tokyo?”

“Yes. I heard that he received the Proud Journalist Award from the Japanese government.”

Is there such a prize?

If it really exists it should be renamed to the most disgusting piece of trash.

“And among these Stevenson… recently visited Hanyang.”

“Hanyang?”

“Yes. I heard he stopped by the Residency-General’s Office in Namsan.”

If it’s the Ministry of Justice…

Doesn’t Ito Hirobumi live there?

‘Oh my….’

I squinted my eyes and started thinking of all sorts of countermeasures in my head.

The fact that Ito did this means that the Japanese government was really behind it.

“Boss! Boss!”

The voices of the three Irish brothers were heard from the first floor.

“Your Majesty is busy.”

“This is also urgent.”

Max went up to the second floor despite Choi Hyun-woo’s request.

Then he handed me a piece of paper.

“Boss. The head of the Hearst Media Group sent a man. He said it was urgent and he had to see Boss.”

“Hurst?”

“yes.”

What Hearst’s secretary handed Max was a small business card.

The white business card had an owl drawn on it and the date and time for tomorrow were written in the lower right corner.

‘They’re telling me to come to the club.’

Tomorrow is Friday.

It’s said that it’s the day when a poker game is held in the secret room of the Bohemian Club.

“He is said to have visited San Francisco for the first time in a long while. Hearst’s secretary said that he wanted to see the prince’s face. He asked that he come by when he had time as he had something to say to the prince.”

‘You speak vaguely.’

Hearst is one of the largest media companies in the country.

As he grew from a small San Francisco newspaper to a media mogul Hearst made plenty of enemies.

That is why he did not write letters or convey his message through his subordinates.

He just told me where to meet.

‘Ironic.’

A person who is known as the head of the media.

Because I don’t trust the type itself.

Hurst was a man who liked to communicate face to face.

‘Why did you want to see me? Do you know about this situation?’

He owed me something.

Because I predicted the collapse of British bonds which were commonly held by the upper classes and made him a great profit.

You said you would help me three times in my life.

I think this was his chance to repay the favor.

Otherwise there would be no way you would come looking for me at this exact time.

“Okay I see. I will do that.”

It’s right to respond to unfollows with unfollows.

I started preparing for my visit to the Bohemian Club.

* * *

‘It’s become a bit more fancy.’

My last visit was after I signed up and played a game of poker.

It’s a place that many of the West’s most famous people frequent but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to stop by.

“Your Majesty this way.”

After I handed over my access card the keeper guided me to a secret door.

As I entered everyone turned their heads and looked at me just like last time.

“This prince!”

“welcome!”

What had changed was the look in their eyes.

Everyone looks at me with eyes that are not hostile towards me but rather ask why I showed up only now.

Some people even jumped up from their seats and approached me.

“Oh my! This prince! This way.”

Hurst pushed away those who came toward me and put his arm around my shoulder.

“I’m sorry to everyone. I chose this prince first.”

Me and Hurst.

The two of them entered a small room inside a poker room.

“Hello Your Highness.”

“See you again.”

“That’s right. This is true. It seems like the prince and I have a deep connection.”

A man who appears to be an employee brings out drinks.

It was only after I took a sip that Hurst began to speak.

“Do you remember what I said last time?”

“Of course I remember. You said you owed me something.”

“you’re right.”

Hurst smiled broadly and answered me.

“I think it’s time to repay that debt. What are you going to do?”

< American Rag> End