I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 166



Only Noblemtl

“···If you really do it, the one that needs to be most careful is not the military, but the military intelligence agency.”

These were the words of the great landowner Antonio.

It wasn’t difficult to convince him.

Just as Archbishop Ballesteros felt uneasy, so did the landowners.

They weren’t fools either, as they had been watching the Crown Prince’s movements for a long time and had a rough idea of ​​his tendencies and behavioral patterns.

Anxiety gripped the landlords, thinking that if the church’s limbs were cut off, it would be their turn next.

‘The power of the royal family is already too strong, and if there is no church···.’

I would be completely at a loss as to how to fight back. That fear led me to join a plan that seemed reckless.

Bishop Ballesteros was surprised by Antonio’s reaction.

“What do you mean?”

“Yes, I will join. However, I think it would be better to be more careful when recruiting in the future. The moment it gets into the ears of the intelligence agency, it’s all over.”

“Thank you. May the grace of the Lord be with us.”

In central politics, the landlord faction supported by the landlords had no power at all, but in the real world, the landlords’ influence was not at that level.

At least in central Mexico, it was not difficult for the church and landowners to join forces and take control of entire provinces.

“First, I will gather the landowners who can participate in the plan, so you can leave this area to me. The more localities that participate, the higher the probability of success, so I hope you can recruit as many as possible.”

“Yes, I will try. It will be easier to persuade them if I know that other major landowners in other regions are also participating.”

The royal family had been his enemy for a long time.

Antonio was a conservative among the landowners. The landowners and the imperialists were once grouped together as conservatives, but in fact the imperialists were not conservative at all. In fact, in some ways, the imperialists, or rather the crown prince, were more progressive than the republicans.

He had always dreamed of opposing the imperial family, and based on that, he advised Archbishop Ballesteros.

“In the northern territories, and in the central region, in the capital, in Morelia, and in the province of Las Truchas, do not even try to contact the landowners. The information will leak out immediately.”

The northern territory is a place that the current emperor has worked hard to develop since he was a teenager. The influence of the landlords is very limited, and the majority are independent farmers, so you shouldn’t even try to do this.

The thing he thinks needs to be most careful about is information leaks.

The central army, tightly controlled by the imperial family, was of course a fearsome opponent, but if the central regions of Mexico rose up simultaneously and received support from the British Empire and the Austrian Empire, he thought his chances of victory would be quite high.

The problem is that getting there is so difficult.

Not all landlords were strong-hearted enough to participate in such a dangerous rebellion. Most of them would be on the side of the rebels in spirit, but they would not actually join in. That was fine.

The bigger problem is that as soon as they are invited to join the cause, there will inevitably be those who will try to sell information to the royal family and make a profit.

‘This tendency is even more severe in areas where the royal family’s influence is strong.’

If the information leaks out, it could be over before they even start an uprising. Even if they cut off the tail, the nearby landowners will be too scared to move.

With the addition of Antonio’s family, one of the largest landowners in Mexico, the plan began to gain momentum.

***

Alejandro, a priest in the Diocese of Guanajuato, was overcome by a strange feeling. He kept feeling that someone was following him.

At first he thought it was just a delusion of persecution, but his intuition turned out to be correct.

Even though I deliberately took several forks in the road, the feeling of being behind me did not go away.

At that moment, the black shadow that was coming towards him suddenly spoke to Alejandro.

“Father, this is Ignatius.”

Alejandro, who had been walking with his mind focused only on the back, was startled, but his face soon brightened a little at the sight of a familiar face.

Ignacio was a priest with whom I had a long-standing relationship.

“Huh? Father Ignacio, what brings you here?”

It was strange that he would follow me here, out of his own parish. As we had known each other for a long time, it was not difficult to persuade him.

‘Have you changed your mind in the meantime?’

Father Ignacio came closer and whispered softly.

“I guess the priest has a tail attached to him.”

“A tail?”

“Recently, we have been caught trying to get information from key believers. It started on the exact date that the priest visited our church.”

“···Is that true?”

It was true that intelligence agents were watching his every move.

‘You’ve already assigned an agent to me?’

According to Father Ignacio, who followed him, the agents questioned the people he met and tried to extract the contents of his conversations. It seemed as if they were trying to find out Alejandro’s real purpose for traveling around the province by any means necessary.

They were sending agents to priests, not even archbishops or bishops. Father Alejandro was horrified. There was only one archbishop, the head of the entire Catholic Church in Mexico, and there were a little over 100 bishops in charge of each diocese. But what about priests, the ordinary clergy? There were thousands of priests in this Mexican empire.

“···It seems to be the information agency I’ve only heard of. If they’re even assigning someone to me, then its scale must be much larger than I imagined.”

“Well… Well, wasn’t everyone shocked by the enormous budget?”

Alejandro was gripped by anxiety. If it was discovered that he was plotting a rebellion, not only would all his plans be ruined, but his own life would be in danger.

‘We have to shake them off somehow. Otherwise, we’re going to be in big trouble…’

But the agents of the intelligence agency were professionals and they would never back down easily. Alejandro was getting more and more anxious. As Father Alejandro was wrapping his head, Father Ignisio said.

“Father, how about trying this?”

“Oh, what method?”

“First, you will disguise yourself. Then, instead of going to the train station, take a stagecoach from a secluded place. I will prepare the stagecoach for you.”

The age of the train had come and gone, but the Mexican Empire was large and trains did not reach every town. Stagecoach companies, including the Rios Express, were still doing a brisk business.

Alejandro’s eyes sparkled as he heard Father Ignisio’s suggestion.

“That’s a great suggestion. That way we can avoid their surveillance.”

“Yes, the stagecoach will avoid the main roads and take a detour along the country roads. It will take a little longer to get to Mexico City, but it will be safe.”

Alejandro nodded with a sigh of relief. He immediately began preparing his disguise. He took off his clerical garb and changed into commoner’s clothes. He pulled down his hat and put on a fake beard to hide his face.

‘At this point, you won’t be able to recognize it.’

He smiled faintly, satisfied with his appearance. He went out the back door of the inn and boarded the stagecoach that Ignacio had prepared for him.

“Please depart for Mexico City. Never take the main road.”

“All right.”

The stagecoach service used Rios Express, which has an overwhelming market share.

The whip cracked through the air. The stagecoach turned onto the country road. Alejandro began to relax as he allowed himself to be carried along by the rattling body.

‘Whew… I feel a little relieved now.’

He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. Golden wheat fields and green forests passed by. As he drove along the quiet country road, he felt his heart become peaceful.

‘If only I could arrive in Mexico City safely without any problems…’

At that moment, as I was thinking about that, I saw some mysterious figures. Several men on horseback were approaching the stagecoach. There was something ominous about the hats and clothing they were wearing.

‘No way…. Intelligence Agency agents?!’

A cold sweat ran down Alejandro’s back. Even though he had disguised himself and headed down the country road, they seemed to have followed him.

“What the heck! How did you get here? Sir, speed up!… Huh? Why speed up?”

For a moment, Alejandro felt dizzy.

The coachman was asked to speed up, but instead he slowed down. Only then did Father Alejandro realize.

The intelligence agency’s surveillance network was more dense than I had imagined. There was no way that agents from a group specializing in information warfare would fall for the tricks of a mere priest.

The sound of the hooves of the intelligence agents’ horses was also getting closer. There was no other way now. Alejandro gritted his teeth and prayed to God.

“Lord, please protect me. Give me strength in this moment of crisis, and save me from the clutches of my oppressor…”

***

“We tried to preserve the status of the state religion, but in the end, there was a rebellion.”

I sighed.

Military intelligence detected signs of a rebellion.

I think it was just like trying to break a rock with an egg, but there are some crazy people in this world who actually do that.

“How foolish. If I had just accepted it, I would have been able to cover up all my past sins and move on…”

The abolition of the legal privileges of the clergy implicitly meant that they would not be asked about previous sins.

For a very long time, clergy had the privilege of being tried by the Church rather than by a secular court, which, of course, was very advantageous to the clergy.

If I had wanted to, I could have abolished the privilege itself. Like the Peon system, it was a kind of custom that had been passed down for hundreds of years, not an explicit privilege established by law. I could have brought up all the sins committed under the privilege and thoroughly condemned the clergy, but I did not. From my point of view, it was a great indulgence.

“They are not worthy of Your Majesty’s grace.”

Diego said.

“Okay. If you insist on drinking the punishment drink, then so be it.”

To my cold words, this time it was Director Ricardo of the Military Intelligence Agency who responded.

“We will crush it thoroughly, Your Majesty.”

“I believe you.”

The intelligence agency was investigating mainly priests who were acting out of the ordinary and those who had met with them. This was not a difficult task, as priests showed very stereotypical behavior patterns.

I don’t want things to turn out this way, but I must use this opportunity to get rid of the priests, landowners, and officers who have exposed their wrongdoings to me.

“As you instructed, we are contacting moderate clergy in advance to begin warning and persuading them. I will report back to you in detail as soon as we have the results, Your Majesty.”

“okay.”

Just because Archbishop Ballesteros of the Archdiocese of Mexico has decided to defy the emperor, not all clergy are following suit.

Just as not all conservative landowners participated in the rebellion, the protocol for clergy varied between each parish and even between churches within a parish.

Although it is true that Mexican Catholicism has many rotten aspects, there are also many priests who lead exemplary lives.

In the first place, not all of the thousands of priests in Mexico could own large haciendas and live in mansions with their peons.

‘I wonder if it would be different if I reached the level of bishop.’

In numbers, there are more exemplary clergy than corrupt ones, and they will continue to guard the faith of our Mexican Empire.

It is time to move on to a new era.