I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 157



Only Noblemtl

“It feels like only yesterday I saw you, and now it’s graduation. Doesn’t time really fly?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It was very quick. But it was a very meaningful time.”

Park Gyu-su answered as a representative.

They were the first students to come to Mexico in February 1843. Now, four years and a few months later, they have all safely graduated and are ready to return.

“Yes. I heard that everyone worked hard.”

It would not have been easy to keep up with university education after only learning Spanish for a year. Even if it were the case for Filipinos who originally knew Spanish, he did not give up on the rest and worked hard until the end.

3 Koreans, 3 Japanese, 5 Filipinos, and 1 Qing person.

I asked a question to a total of 12 people.

“What have you felt over the past four years?”

I specifically asked you to meet me to ask this question.

Park Gyu-su answered first.

“I felt many things… but if I had to pick one, I would say I felt a sense of crisis, Your Majesty.”

It was a short answer, but the remaining 11 people nodded in agreement.

“It’s the same for me. I saw firsthand where the power of the West comes from at university.”

This was the answer from a Qing Dynasty student.

“A sense of crisis… Yeah. That would be normal.”

The sense of crisis was evident from their clothing. When they first arrived, they were wearing the traditional clothing of their respective countries, but now they were wearing Western clothing.

The suits designed by Ramon, which seemed to be somewhere between the aristocratic attire of the period and modern formal attire, quickly became popular as soon as I started wearing them, especially among young people such as college students.

“You guys will have it easy. I heard Garcia is doing well.”

“Yes, thank you for your understanding.”

This was a story told to Filipino students studying abroad.

Unlike the three East Asian countries that still have a long way to go, the Republic of the Philippines, which achieved independence from Spain with the support of the Mexican Empire, is implementing intensive reforms under the leadership of President Jose Garcia.

“I believe that everyone will do well when they return to their home country.”

If there was a sense of crisis, there was no need for me to go into detail. The subordinate officials would take care of the details.

‘If you feel a sense of crisis, you cannot help but have a desire for reform. Then, there is no way you can refuse the support of our Mexican Empire.’

I slowly read Park Gyu-su’s expression.

The eyes of a man with a mission.

Why did he bring in so many juniors, even selling his family fortune? It may be to show them new knowledge and a new world, but it may also be to form a power base.

It wasn’t just Park Gyu-su.

The number of Japanese and Filipino students studying abroad also increased sharply every year. Only the number of Qing students increased slightly, and as I mentioned before, they probably went to Europe, such as England.

‘Joseon, Japan, and the Philippines can be said to be within the sphere of influence of our Mexican Empire, but the Qing Dynasty is not.’

They will form a pro-Mexican force, and I will support it.

Not to make their country a complete colony of our Mexico.

We are already in a situation where we are trading through the port opening treaty, and in order to extract more profits than now by making them a colony, we have to suppress tremendous opposition, spend a huge amount of money to build infrastructure in their country, and develop resources. If we have that kind of money and manpower, it would be better to develop the territory of our Mexican Empire.

‘It’s not like we lack territory or resources.’

There’s no need to waste your energy coloring the map.

We let them do the hard and expensive things like reform and industrialization on their own, and we can maintain our influence over them so that they will take our side in times of need, and just trade is enough.

‘And, this is all a process of accumulating know-how.’

If we can accumulate know-how and successfully achieve rebellion and independence in existing colonies, it will be good for the colonists who long for independence, and our Mexican Empire will also gain a strategic advantage, so wouldn’t it be a win-win situation?

***

Summer of 1847.

“What is the government doing? They’re just going to leave those rebel bastards alone?”

The United States government, after considering many factors, decided that it was time to attack the Confederate States of America in the South in June 1848, but the public did not think so.

By summer, nearly all the slave states had joined the Confederacy, but conflict and discontent were growing in the border states.

“We don’t even have slaves, so what is this···.”

“So. Are you saying we have to get involved because of those eastern slave states?”

In Virginia, which joined the American Union early, conflicts broke out almost every day.

The eastern part of Virginia was a slave state, and as was typical of southern slave states, it was heavily dependent on slaves, but the western part was not.

The western part of Virginia had little economic dependence on slavery and was strongly Federalist. However, their opinions were ignored, and the state government seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, so there was no way they would not be dissatisfied.

“Fuck. We should be independent too! You guys are dissatisfied with the United States, so you’re saying that you justifiably became independent? We’re dissatisfied with Virginia, too!”

The incident finally broke out.

The northwestern half of Virginia argued for independence and to rejoin the Union.

“That’s crazy! Virginia is a country!”

“It’s a rebellion!”

Naturally, the Virginia state government was outraged.

“Who cares if we don’t like it?”

“The oppressor!”

A tense atmosphere prevailed throughout Virginia between the two forces.

It wasn’t just Virginia.

While there have been cases where the state government pushed ahead with its plan to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy, like Virginia, there have also been cases where the opposite has been true.

It was Kentucky and Missouri.

Both were slave states, with slave populations of over 200,000 and 100,000 respectively, and a significant number of plantations dependent on them, but they had a larger number of citizens who did not, and there was a strong Federalist force that did not want the Union to be divided.

It was impossible and pointless to force secession and entry into the Confederacy, when most of the population opposed it, because that would have quickly led to the overthrow of the state governments. But to remain in the Union meant that slavery had to be abolished.

bang!

“You little shits! Take him if you can!”

The United States attempted to emancipate slaves through a second amendment to the Constitution, but plantation owners resisted fiercely.

“Stop! We are here to enforce the law of the United States! Any further resistance will only make you a criminal, so disarm now!”

“Shut up! If you’re going to steal private property! At least give compensation! Do you know how much I paid for it?”

bang!

The farmer fired a gun into the sky in warning.

Similar events were unfolding throughout Missouri and Kentucky.

There were some plantation owners who readily surrendered their slaves, but their numbers were small, and most plantation owners resorted to violence to stop those who tried to enforce the law.

But the Federation is not mobilizing its forces, leaving law enforcers in a difficult position.

“We should just call in the state militia and wipe them all out.”

“If we continue like this, it will lead to civil war.”

They mobilized all their staff members, so they had over 50 soldiers for a single farm. If they injured that many people, it would be like setting fire to gunpowder.

“Oh my. What are those federal bastards doing? This is something the feds should handle.”

“Even if the federation handles it, wouldn’t it still be a civil war?”

“···That’s true.”

The fact that the governments in the North and South did not directly deploy their troops did not mean that the conflicts among the residents disappeared.

As in wartime, militias began to form in various places. Guns were not hard to obtain in the United States, and the culture of vigilantes protecting one’s own family was common.

It was only a matter of time before supporters and opponents of slavery clashed.

***

“The first thing built in the South was… not a gun factory, but a barbed wire factory?”

“Yes, I think it’s because it’s relatively easy to make and effective.”

When I heard the Military Intelligence Agency’s report, I slapped my knee. The southerners, who were on the defensive, were trying to actively use what they had learned in the last war.

“It’s going to be a total dogfight. But wouldn’t it be impossible to fight trench warfare without machine guns?”

Many people mistakenly believe that simply digging a trench will make them invincible, but with today’s technology, it is not easy to even attempt trench warfare.

Our Mexican Empire spent lavishly and pressed on with more cannons and Gatling guns, but in reality, it is correct to say that machine guns like Gatling guns alone cannot conduct proper trench warfare.

In fact, there were many instances in the last war where trenches were breached or broken through, which is natural. This is because the stopping power of weapons is still lacking.

Even if our Mexican Empire had weapons systems that were a generation ahead of modern times, the very comparison with the great powers of World War I is embarrassing.

But you’re going to fight trench warfare without that Gatling gun?

“I heard that they had some machine guns lying around, and that they were providing them to the French Republic and building a machine gun production plant together.”

I had instructed them to recover as many machine guns as possible, even if they weren’t rifles, but it looks like they ended up leaving one behind.

“france?”

“Yes. They contacted Britain first, but they were uncooperative, so they quickly turned to France.”

“Well, Britain would support the North, so of course it would be uncooperative. France wouldn’t have to be like that.”

“Yes, that’s right. France is not necessarily supporting one side, but is showing an attitude of wanting to take advantage of this opportunity by trading with both sides.”

“You’re going to build it in the US? There’s no reason for France to do that, right?”

“It is said that they have decided to divert the cotton they were selling in England to France. As a condition of this, they are even going to build a gun factory.”

“···It’s hot. Both of them.”

The French Republic quickly recovered its former prosperity. The basic weight class had not changed, and the ruling party was running the country stably.

‘We supported it, but the revolution was too successful.’

Louis Blanc and his associates, who had socialist leanings, became the leaders of the revolution and monopolized the presidency and other key positions.

As a socialist, he was pro-worker, so he received enormous support from the people, and naturally, he entered the National Assembly in large numbers. Thanks to this, the bourgeoisie and conservative forces were less powerful than before, and this actually became a remedy for the conflicts in French society.

‘This is a headache.’

I want to slow America’s recovery, but that doesn’t mean I want more Americans to die. Quite the opposite.

I think the civil war itself was somewhat inevitable, but I hope the casualties will be as low as possible.

The Civil War in the original history also took four years, but unlike the original history, the wounds inflicted on our Mexico had not healed, and it was unclear how long it would take for the North, which had even lost its navy, to finish off the South, which was attempting trench warfare. How many people would die in the meantime?

“If this happens… I guess I have no choice but to intervene. Please hurry up and prepare so that we can execute the operation we have prepared at the right time.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The Mexican Empire will determine when the Civil War ends.