I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 150



Only Noblemtl

Episode 150

South and North (4)

“We must strike now! More and more states are joining those Southern bastards’ anti-state group!”

Punishment for the South, which had divided the country in two. Northerners felt a duality of wanting it but not wanting to carry it out.

Whigs like Henry Clay, who had slipped in the previous presidential election, immediately called for retaliation, but the Democrats and George M. Dallas, who succeeded to the presidency and became the 12th President of the United States, thought otherwise.

“Now that the war is over, does it make sense to draft again and go to war with the South?”

Unlike the ‘Army of the South’, which was now the regular army of the South, the Northern militia was quickly disbanded and returned to their homes as soon as the war ended.

The army on the Western Front also had no choice but to cancel its conscription. The number of wounded and mentally ill people exceeded 100,000. The officers commanding them were also complaining of extreme fatigue, and the government did not have the money to maintain such an army. Even the navy was completely confiscated, so there was no military power to speak of.

“So you’re just going to sit back and watch the Confederacy grow?”

Henry Clay put a lot of pressure on the few remaining Democratic members. The Democratic Party, which was based in the South, lost many of its members to the South. However, as it was a national party, it still had some notable figures in the North, such as James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, and Stephen Douglas of Illinois.

Their political careers were in jeopardy, but the Democratic Party still held power. Former President James Polk resigned and was assassinated, but his appointees are still in office.

“I’m not saying we should just wait and see. We’re saying we should first deal with the aftereffects of the war and then punish the traitors in the South. After all, the weapons factories and industrial zones are in our North. If we recover sufficiently and prepare sufficiently before fighting, we can win with less damage, so why bother going overboard?”

James Buchanan’s argument was valid, and Henry Clay had no intention of pushing it any further. He insisted on retribution because the idea of ​​retribution was ‘superficially’ popular among the public.

‘Not really, though.’

In the South, it was not easy to voice the argument that they should not punish the Northerners, as they were ridiculed with derogatory terms such as “cowards” and “losers.” However, many Northerners were already war-weary.

“That’s right! We have to rebuild the destroyed Washington, the damaged Baltimore, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. And the war reparations that must be paid starting this year are also a problem that cannot be ignored. If we are late in paying, we will have to pay huge interest. Don’t you all know that?”

Taking advantage of a brief pause from the aggressively arguing Henry Clay, Democratic lawmakers defended James Buchanan’s argument.

“Damn it. Those Mexicans, they’re offering compound interest on war reparations. They’re not even loan sharks. What kind of bullying is this···.”

Henry Clay muttered, his expression dark and indignant. The Democrats and Whigs nodded and cursed Mexico.

In fact, the interest was the same as the interest the United States had previously demanded during the Mexican War of Independence, but it was certainly heavy compound interest.

The amount and interest demanded by the Mexican Empire were harsh. Even though the United States had a larger economic weight than Mexico, this war had caused enormous casualties, enormous war expenses, and a fatal blow to the economy. In addition, the federal government of the United States was very poor, unlike the central government of the Mexican Empire.

In addition, with the South becoming independent, the North was left to shoulder the enormous sum of 70 million pesos on its own, and if this year’s compensation is not paid, it will become even more unmanageable in the future.

It was a rather bleak situation for the North.

“So, how long does it take to repair the damage?”

It wasn’t a question for James Buchanan or the Democrats. It was a question for the economists who were present as witnesses.

Intellectuals such as economists and military experts were lending support to the Democratic Party’s opinion that immediate punishment would be difficult.

He had been quietly watching, but he was flustered when the attention of the lawmakers suddenly turned to him, but he spoke with confidence.

“According to my calculations, if we take into account the issue of compensation, we will need to devote five years to recovering all the damage from this war. And that is the minimum, assuming the situation is good.”

“Five years! Did you just say the minimum is five years?”

The room was filled with commotion as Henry Clay cried out in horror.

“Five years? That should be enough time to build our own weapons factory in the South.”

“That’s right. I can’t wait five years.”

Most Whigs, as well as Democrats, were of the opinion that five years was too long. If they waited that long, they would face the judgment of angry Northerners in the election.

“We can’t keep this divided state for five years! If we do, it will be irreversible.”

Five years would be more than enough time to change the perception of the Southern people about their country. It was a matter of more importance than economic or military issues.

“I agree with that part.”

After some further coordination, the two parties reached an agreement.

After 1 year and 6 months, we decided to punish the southerners.

Whether it would be a hasty or a belated thing was still unknown.

***

Middle class.

In recent years, a middle class has finally emerged in our Mexican Empire.

These were either self-employed farmers or ordinary workers who had saved diligently and invested well in various government bonds and stocks, or they were highly skilled engineers or scientists who had graduated from college.

Meanwhile, there were many businessmen joining the upper class, but their number has decreased significantly due to the recent war and the tightening of money in the market.

“Your Majesty, as you said, we have given priority to veterans and their families for admission to the National University of Chihuahua (Universidad Nacional de Chihuahua), but I hear there is great dissatisfaction among the landowners in the surrounding areas.”

It was Diego’s report.

“Complaints? Those who didn’t even participate in the war are complaining?”

Although the conscription was carried out based on a previously enacted law called the Mass Conscription Act, there was no need for recruiters to go around each city or town to recruit men. Patriots who wanted to volunteer for the military flocked to conscription centers across the country.

The volunteer army consisted of a small number of whites, who were considered the highest class of the Mexican Empire. There were more indigenous people, mestizos, and blacks. Even the Comanche tribe and other northern indigenous people who had been driven out of the United States volunteered, surprising everyone by enlisting in numbers of nearly 30,000 despite their small population.

“There are still some fools who think they are part of some kind of noble class. Tell those who complain to never accept them again.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

In the old days, during the war of independence, most white men enlisted as officers, or at least as cavalry, but in our present Mexican Empire, that was impossible.

Officers were recruited only by graduating from military academies or by selecting and training some excellent non-commissioned officers. The cavalry, like before, did not require horses from home, and soldiers were assigned after testing their riding skills, so there was no way to enlist only in the cavalry. The children of the landed class were more accustomed to horseback riding than the common people, but not as much as the northern natives who were nomads.

As a result, white landowning class members within the empire had no choice but to enlist as common soldiers, and most of them refused to do so.

“For whatever reason, those who did not participate in the war are ranked lower than those who did. The same goes for the Imperial University and the Military Academy.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I think it is only natural.”

I believe that patriotism should be rewarded.

Among them, those who risked their lives and went to war deserved the best treatment, so I always made providing benefits to veterans a top priority among the things I had to do after the war.

“Even if pensions are like that, the supply of educational benefits is woefully inadequate.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Unlike previous wars, the scale of the conscription is so great that it will be impossible for universities and military academies to handle it.”

There are now only two comprehensive universities, and one military academy for the Army and Navy, for a total of four schools. With over 400,000 conscripts, there is no way these schools can handle it.

The benefits I provide to veterans are inspired by what the United States did: pensions, education, low-interest loans, land grants.

One of the things the United States did really well after World War II was provide veterans with a range of benefits, including education and training, low-interest home loans, and unemployment benefits.

The bill dramatically expanded access to higher education, enabling veterans to pursue college education and professional careers, creating a foundation for a large number of veterans to enter the middle class.

This bill, which is still considered a very successful policy to this day, was based on the lessons learned from the worst mistakes made after World War I, such as the ‘Bonus Army’ incident, so I plan to just take those lessons.

‘The treatment of veterans has a tremendous impact not only on the perception of soldiers, but also on the patriotism and national view of the people.’

It is easy to understand if we compare the United States and South Korea in a previous life, which can be said to be polar opposite cases.

‘American veterans receive a warm welcome and courtesy from the people, even the president himself saluting them, but South Korean veterans…’

Such sad things should not happen in Mexico.

“It’s a good thing. It’s time for us to implement public education.”

“You’re finally putting that plan into action. I think it’ll be good for the welfare of veterans.”

“Yes. It’s not realistically possible to send everyone to college. Instead, if you give that benefit to their children, no parent would object.”

Unlike modern times, most people in this era consider marriage and having children to be the norm, so this was a possible method.

Although attempts at public education might have been considered progressive in the mid-19th century, public education was already in place in England, France, Prussia, and some states in the United States.

Of course, those countries did not have universal education like we do today, but we did not plan to build enough schools to educate the entire population all at once. We plan to increase them step by step.

“The public education bill is a welcome bill even for Republicans, and with the war reparations money, there will be enough money to build schools all over the country.”

“Yes. However, the pension side needs some adjustments. There are many places where money needs to be spent, and even if you consider the war reparations, it’s not enough to build a school.”

In the new territories, there are no landowners who can support the construction of the railroad, so the railroad must be built with government funds. In addition, construction of several key cities is scheduled to begin in earnest, and over a hundred schools must be built. With so many places to spend, the war reparations of 70 million pesos are tight.

Because pensions had to be paid in cash, it would have been difficult if there had been a problem with government funding.

“Instead of adjusting the pension amount, it seems that housing construction loans and land compensation should be expanded.”

“That would be good. What’s left is called land.”

The imperial government, which already owned a lot of land, acquired a huge amount of additional land through this war.

The American population there was so small, I was quite disappointed to learn, that they were only allowed to own 160 acres (647,000 square meters) per household, leaving the rest of the vacant land to the Mexican government.

Except for China in its former existence, when all the country’s land was nominally government-owned, no government or group has ever had land on this scale.

I proposed to Congress a compensation plan for veterans of the Mexican-American War.

The landowners’ deputies complained about the level of compensation they were receiving, but they had no public support or justification for it, as their participation rate was lower than that of the families of the imperialist and republican deputies.

“What do you mean they’re nobles? If they were nobles, they should at least practice noblesse oblige.”

“That’s what I mean.”

Amid criticism from both veterans and non-veterans of the war, a bill to compensate veterans with detailed adjustments was passed.

Even while I was taking over from my father, I began to take charge of veterans’ issues.