I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 115



Only Noblemtl

Rebellion and Revolution (4)

“It looks like we’re going to have to go to war with Colombia too.”

Colombian President Herran probably didn’t think the treaty would actually lead to war. I’d like to believe so.

No matter how good the money is, if you think you’re going to go to war, you wouldn’t sign a treaty just to get some bribes. If you don’t, you’ll pay a terrible price.

In any case, since a treaty once concluded cannot be broken, our Mexican Empire was faced with the disadvantageous situation of a ‘two-front war’.

“Your Majesty, wouldn’t it be possible to involve other South American countries, such as Brazil?”

It was Colonel Ricardo’s opinion.

“That’s not bad. Since we have a blood relationship with the Brazilian royal family, we could probably sign a defense treaty. But in that case, we’ll demand Colombian territory after the war ends.”

“Hmm… It’s ambiguous.”

“Yes. I don’t think Colombia is a threat enough to warrant the price of ceding territory to other countries. What is your opinion as an expert?”

I myself receive periodic reports of intelligence gathered from various countries, but Colonel Ricardo, the head of the intelligence unit, would know more details.

“I think so too. The Colombian army is poorly armed and trained, and is struggling to contain sporadic uprisings. Even flintlock muskets are in short supply, so we have to buy them in Mexico.”

If we simply summarize the current situation of the country called Colombia, it can be said to be similar to the situation immediately after Mexico’s independence. Although it became independent in 1810, 12 years earlier than Mexico, it still has not been able to resolve political and social turmoil, and the central government is in conflict with local elites who hold military power in the provinces.

This problem was not limited to Colombia, but was similar in other South American countries, but among Latin American countries, only Mexico has emerged from the quagmire of chaos.

“Yes. Besides, Colombia’s navy is practically non-existent. Then there’s no need to worry about landing, so if we just block the border, there’s nothing the Colombian army can do.”

“The border isn’t that wide, so it would be good to fortify it.”

Colombia does not even have a well-developed road network, let alone a railway, so it is difficult to build a large-scale supply network to mobilize a large army. Ultimately, Colombia’s influence on the war is minimal.

‘Then there is no need to give up territory to others.’

I gathered my thoughts and gave orders to Colonel Ricardo.

“Scrap the plans we were preparing in Colombia and prepare a new post-defeat scenario similar to that of France.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Since we are in the process of laying the foundation anyway, I don’t think there will be much harm in changing the plan.”

There were less radical plans for Colombia, but now that we’re at war, we have to make radical plans, even if it means accepting the sacrifices that come with it.

Even if you only look at the information coming from the United States, war is imminent.

“But, if you want to execute the operation faster, isn’t there a lack of budget?”

“Yes, that’s right. We’ll have to re-plan our operations to find out, but it’s clear that the pace will increase, so I don’t think it’ll be possible with the current budget.”

The intelligence unit had a huge budget compared to its number of personnel.

The money spent on the salaries and training of agents is much more than that of regular officers, but even more than that, a huge budget is spent on establishing a base in the local area.

In France, for example, in order to establish a false identity as a businessman, you had to actually start a business, which cost tens of thousands of pesos. In addition, it cost money to build connections with various local figures.

It took not only money but also at least several years of time, and agents in South America, including Colombia, were building a base by spending time rather than investing large budgets.

“Starting from France and the United States, we are trying to support Haiti, Colombia, and other South American countries, but it is costing a huge amount of money. It has become too large for the existing military budget to cover.”

The intelligence unit was created as a separate unit within the military to hide its existence, and did not receive any additional budget.

Up until now, the defense budget has been steadily increasing since independence, but now it is impossible. If we spend millions of dollars on a unit whose size and purpose are completely hidden, wouldn’t it be easy for others to suspect it of embezzlement?

“As you said before, shouldn’t we eventually make the existence of the information unit known?”

I already knew this was coming, and I told him as the commander. But I shouldn’t have made my presence known.

“No, instead of announcing its existence, it will be officially ‘created’. And even then, only the existence and purpose of the organization will be announced, and the details will be kept confidential.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Is there really no need to make it known that such an intelligence agency has existed before and cause unnecessary alarm among people at home and abroad?

Colonel Ricardo seemed to understand without any explanation.

“The creation of an intelligence agency will be a very political undertaking, so you should concentrate on the task at hand. I will take care of everything else.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

April 1843.

The formal creation of a Military Intelligence Directorate (Dirección de Inteligencia Militar) was proposed to Congress, an agency that would handle a wide range of information related to the security of the country.

Although it is said to be a purification of information, it is obvious that it will engage in espionage and counterintelligence activities.

It was an organization within the military where the royal family had the strongest influence, and it was impossible for it to pass without a hitch, as it insisted that specific activity information could not be disclosed and even requested a huge budget.

Thus the issue of creating a military intelligence agency came to the forefront of Mexican imperial politics.

***

The Dominican Republic, east of the island of Hispaniola, was changing every day.

As the Mexican Empire’s troops moved in and cleared out anything that could be considered a threat, government officials, judges, and other government personnel moved in and began to quickly organize land and taxes.

All lands taken from Haiti’s elite were reclaimed and returned to their original owners, and only those that were not clearly identified became the property of the government.

“They say taxes are a quarter of what they were before.”

“Now I feel like I’m finally living in a country that feels like a real country.”

“Yeah. This is the country, ahh!”

Mexico did not coerce the new inhabitants of the area, but rather offered them a place in the governance of the island.

While the prefects at the provincial (Estado) and provincial (Provincia) levels were appointed by the Mexican Imperial Government, the position of alcalde of the Distrito de la Dominicana, which included the entire Dominican territory, went to Juan Pablo, a man held in high esteem locally, and the top civil servants in the smallest administrative units, the cities (Ciudades) and towns (Pueblo), were also filled by locals.

In addition, many people who could speak Spanish were selected as civil servants and put in charge of local administrative work.

The port of Santo Domingo began to expand, and a railroad was laid. These projects naturally created large-scale local employment, and the island’s economy, which had been virtually paralyzed, began to turn around.

Of course, it wasn’t all good for everyone.

“I heard that there are still people exploiting Indians and blacks as slaves. Find them all and free them.”

“yes!”

Unlike the West, where blacks and mulattoes dominated society, the Dominican region was still dominated by whites and mestizos, many of whom secretly owned slaves.

In Haiti, a nation born from a slave revolution, it was illegal, but complete emancipation of slaves was not achieved due to lack of administrative power or corruption.

“Wait a minute! If you take them all away, who’s going to do the work?”

The landowner, who suddenly lost a large fortune, cried out in panic, but the Mexican officials and soldiers were calm.

“Why don’t you just hire them and pay them a fair wage? If you don’t like that, then do the work yourself.”

“What is that···.”

Those liberated in this way were given three options: work on construction sites, work on government-owned farms, or migrate to the mainland.

“If you pay that kind of wage, you really won’t have anything left!”

The landowners, whose situation was becoming urgent, made this appeal.

“Have you ever heard of a ‘mechanical harvester’? Besides harvesters, there are also ‘seeders’ and ‘threshers.’”

Someone spoke to the appealing landowner.

“yes?”

They were merchants who came over from Mexico.

***

While the eastern side of the island was undergoing tremendous change, the western side was facing a different kind of change.

“What on earth is the government doing!”

In each region of Haiti, there were constant uprisings, large and small, and the perpetrators ranged from ambitious people trying to seize power by taking advantage of the chaos to peasants taking up arms because it was too difficult to make a living.

Of course, the hardship of making a living has been the same for almost 20 years, but this time something was different. Haiti’s small middle class of merchants, engineers, and intellectuals began to join the uprising. What fueled their discontent was the destruction of their “pride.”

pride.

It wasn’t really necessary for farming to make a living, but it was also the driving force that helped me get through the tough times.

The reality was grim, but in the hearts of many Haitians there was pride in having achieved the first successful slave revolution in history and established a black nation.

That pride was trampled upon as Mexico lost two-thirds of its territory.

President Jean-Pierre, who had gained popularity by conquering Dominica shortly after seizing power by force, fell from grace after losing Dominica.

Of course, the loss of Dominica was not the only cause, but was the result of an explosion of discontent over the corruption and authoritarian rule that had built up over more than two decades of dictatorship.

“Your Majesty, the unrest in the provinces continues unabated.”

The situation did not change even when General Charles Rivier Erard, who had ousted President Jean-Pierre, took the presidency.

“I am the one who drove out Jean-Pierre, who has ruined the country for the past 22 years! Why are you still making a fuss? Suppress them all!”

“yes!”

He was the one chosen by the Haitian elites, who had completely lost the support of the people, and abandoned President Jean-Pierre. Since the only decent armed army in Haiti was supporting him, he would be able to suppress the cute peasant rebellion in no time.

It’s only been a week since I thought that.

I heard some terrible news.

“Your Majesty! We have news that government forces have been defeated in the southern region!”

“What? You lost? Are you saying you lost to guys who didn’t even have guns?”

Isn’t Haiti so poor that not even a single gun is available in the market? How can they lose to people who are armed with farming tools at best?

“No. They say that a so-called ‘revolutionary army’ showed up with a bunch of guns that they got from some unknown source!”

“···A gun from some unknown source?”

President Erard felt a chill.

It’s been just two months since he became president.

His downfall was coming all too quickly.