I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 177



Only Noblemtl

In a dark room lit by candles.

Archbishop Manuel José Mosquera y Arboleda of the Archdiocese of Bogotá was facing Esteban Espinosa.

Until recently, Esteban had been helping to attack the forces of Pedro Morales, one of the leaders of the New Granada church, and Diego Sanchez, one of the country’s largest landowners. But as circumstances change, so do enemies and allies.

The room was dark, but their conversation was lively.

“Hahaha, if we add our support to General Esteban’s leadership, there is nothing to fear.”

General Esteban.

The only two archbishops in New Granada were praising Esteban and calling him general.

Esteban also smiled and responded.

“Although we once fought, our goals are the same. The stability and prosperity of this country. Let’s open a new era for that.”

The conservative coalition of church and landowners in New Granada had already been defeated once by the revolutionary army, but that did not mean that their strength was exhausted.

Although they were not able to oppose the revolutionaries in terms of military force, they were still small lords with enormous wealth, farms, employees, and peons.

Esteban thought he had won by gaining their support, but the backlash was greater than he expected.

“What the heck is this!”

Bravo, a young officer in the revolutionary army, questioned Esteban.

“Will you be the spokesman for the Church and the landlords? They were the vanguard of the old order which our revolution sought to overthrow!”

There was also an outcry from fellow pro-nationalists.

“Bravo, we are now at a crossroads that will determine the fate of our nation. It is important to maintain the purity of ideology, but there are also times when we must face reality.”

“Reality? Is it our reality to submit to the vested interests of landlords and clergy?”

Bravo demanded in an agitated voice.

Esteban looked at such a bravo.

A young man in his 20s who joined the revolutionary army with his bare body. How passionate must his convictions be. Esteban has encountered this type of tiredness many times.

“Hey, Lieutenant Bravo. So you’re saying we should just kill off all the clergy and landowners in this country? As I said this morning, I promised them nothing, because they are in no position to support the annexationists. I got hundreds of thousands of votes with a handshake and no promises. Can you get hundreds of thousands of votes for nothing?”

Esteban called out to them in rank and shouted bravo.

“···”

While the bewildered Lieutenant Bravo was speechless, Esteban spoke softly.

“This is only a temporary alliance. I promise I will never abandon the cause of the revolution.”

“···All right.”

Esteban was able to persuade those within the founding party with his smooth speech, but he was unable to persuade those who heard about it from the outside.

However, those who still had affection for this country hoped that the founding faction would win and reform. To them, the news that the leader of the founding faction had joined hands with the old guard was a great disappointment.

“···You didn’t promise a price? That’s some old nonsense I’ve heard before.”

“Haha, hahaha, isn’t that just an excuse that old-fashioned politicians would come up with? I don’t get it anymore.”

That day, many people were drunk.

***

December 1848, British Empire.

“This is definitely the work of the Mexicans! Are you going to just sit back and watch this happen?”

A Conservative MP raised his voice in a fiery tone in parliament.

The biggest issue in the British Parliament recently was Mexico’s intervention in Colombia.

“There is no evidence, no evidence!”

“Well, then, how can New Granada suddenly vote to request union with Mexico when Mexico did nothing? And why is there no evidence? There is clear evidence that they sold weapons and various supplies to the revolutionaries!”

“We also sell old weapons. How can you accuse us of backstabbing?”

The more powerful a country is, the more advanced its military technology becomes. That’s natural. That’s how you become a powerful country.

Naturally, powerful countries would have weapons from previous generations left over, and it was natural for them to sell them to their own advantage.

Didn’t Britain also sell weapons to the church-landlord alliance in the northern United States and New Granada at the time?

“There’s more. The Battle of Cartagena, which decided the fate of the Colombian church-landowner coalition and the revolutionaries. There, the Mexicans lent the revolutionaries several ships. If it weren’t for that, the coalition would have won!”

“That’s right. I was messing around in Mexico, and when things started to get weird, I urgently intervened!”

The Mexican Empire lent them trading ships, not naval vessels, but such trifles were negligible.

The Mexican Empire is a rival to the British Empire, if not a greater one, than Russia. What can we say when Colombia is about to fall to the already great Mexican Empire?

“Hmm, definitely. That part is debatable.”

“It is not a matter of debate, it is a certainty. As a member of the international community, we must sanction such heinous acts of trying to swallow up other countries.”

Britain had no intention of going to war for Colombia, but was willing to use Colombia as an excuse to criticize Mexico.

With a tacit agreement between the two parties in place, the British Foreign Secretary, Henry John Temple Palmerston, Viscount Palmerston, appeared in Parliament.

He was already preparing.

“Dear Chairman and distinguished members,

Today, I stand here to speak about a serious and grave matter. I believe that all those who have been watching the recent actions of the Mexican Empire will agree that this is a clear provocation that seriously threatens the sovereignty of a sovereign nation and disrupts the international order.

Our British Empire has diplomatic relations with many nations, all of which are sovereign states with a sacred right to defend their sovereignty and territory. But how immoral and vile is this belligerent state, the Mexican Empire, that seeks to use its power to swallow up a weaker nation?

···(syncopation)

The British Empire therefore solemnly warns you: Be restrained. Respect the rights of sovereign states. Abandon hegemony and move toward diplomacy and compromise. If the Mexican Empire does not correct its present wrong course, the British Empire will take firm action in solidarity with the international community.

“Thank you for listening.”

It was a strong criticism and warning.

Viscount Palmerston’s speech was immediately spread through the press and diplomats from various countries.

The Mexican Empire responded immediately.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for Britain to talk about the rights of a sovereign nation and the international order. At this very moment, isn’t the British Empire expanding its imperialist rule by occupying colonies all over the world and exploiting weak countries?

“Considering the violence and plunder committed by Britain in India, Africa, Asia, etc., it is clear that Britain is the main culprit in disrupting the international order. Britain has no right to say that it respects sovereignty.”

Mexico’s strong rebuttal was like a global warning that relations between the once close countries were at a breaking point.

***

“How ridiculous. You guys are such hypocrites.”

I grumbled about the British bastards’ quarrels and focused on the situation in New Granada.

“There is news that Secretary Lopez has finally joined the merger faction. Given his influence, it seems likely that he will be of great help in making the merger happen.”

Those were Diego’s words.

I said this while looking at the map of New Granada spread out in my office.

“We finally made it. He’s exactly what we need.”

I remember those who attempted reform in Latin America, with its turbulent history.

In the original history, Jose Ilario Lopez was a revolutionary who became president and attempted to abolish slavery, secularize the country, and reform universal suffrage.

I was disappointed to hear that the persuasion failed, but the other side did something foolish and ended up coming over to our side.

“That guy Esteban is a funny guy. If the church and the landowners absolutely could not support the annexationists, as he says, they would have supported him without even meeting him. Why did he go out of his way to meet the archbishop, get his support, and brag about it?”

From my perspective, he was a very grateful guy.

I was a little annoyed that the revolutionary army in New Granada, which I had worked hard for for a long time, was going in a strange direction, but now it is finally back on track.

“Prepare to reward Agent Cervantes and the Intelligence agents deployed to New Granada.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Do you think the plan is almost successful?”

“Yes. The most fearsome thing is an ally who turns into an enemy. People like Lopez will actively help the annexation faction.”

Not only big shots like Lopez, but many people must have been greatly disappointed in the founding party. I was confident of victory.

“Then, I will prepare you to be comfortable and well-off there. It will probably be difficult to return to Mexico City.”

“Yes. Miguel Santander is too big a figure to leave now. But since that place will soon be Mexico, I guess the situation is a little better than Agent Ramirez in France.”

Lucien Dupont, one of the leaders of the last French Revolution, was actually a Mexican named Juan Ramirez, but he could not return. If he had succeeded in the Revolution and risen so high in the government, everyone would be suspicious if he suddenly disappeared.

The truth about him was known only to a select few – me, my father, Diego, and the Director of the Intelligence Service – and it was something I would have to take to my grave.

“But he rose to the position of minister in France, and all the money we spent to build our foundation became his, so I don’t think he would have been unhappy, if only he had been happy. Didn’t he even get married there?”

“Hahaha, Diego. You seem jealous of something. Aren’t you a minister-level official? You have several subordinates.”

Recently, the title of ‘Minister’ has been changed from the previous title of ‘Daesin’. I think my father liked the title of ‘Minister’, but I find it a bit awkward.

“Oh, no. I envy you. That’s not possible.”

Actually, I was envious.

Agent Juan Ramirez became the owner of a trading company in Paris funded by the intelligence agency.

Even if Diego had become the head of the Imperial Ministry (Ministerio de la Casa Imperial), he would not have that much wealth.

But I was thinking of leaving that trading company alone, because if I tried to retrieve it unnaturally, there was a chance that it would become known that we had intervened in France.

‘The British are already anxious because they can’t stop picking a fight, but if that becomes known, the situation will become even more complicated.’

Thinking that far ahead, I said to Diego.

“Call the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They must pay for what was done to them.”

***

The ministers arrived soon.

“Your Majesty, have you called?”

“Come in.”

The car came out and I got to the main point.

“We have information that those impudent Englishmen have sold arms to the church-landlord alliance of New Granada. This is not ordinary trade, but interference in the politics of New Granada, and is not a violation of the Acuerdo Secreto?”

The Foreign Minister answered.

“Yes, Your Majesty. If that is true, then it is a violation of the agreement.”

A secret agreement made when the British Empire and our Mexican Empire were on good terms.

It was an agreement that we would not intervene politically or militarily in Africa, India, Indochina, or Oceania, while Britain would not intervene in South America, the Caribbean, Japan, Korea, or the Philippines.

The British had the audacity to criticize us even after breaking the secret agreement they had made with us.

“That’s good. It was a much more disadvantageous agreement for us anyway. Well, since it’s a secret agreement, we can’t protest publicly, so we have no choice but to repay in kind.”

The British would like to block our expansion, but once they got this far, there was nothing they could do to turn the tide of New Granada without direct military force.

Now that we’ve blocked it, it’s our turn.

I worked out a plan with the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

I pointed to a place on the world map with a stick and asked.

“Right here. This place should be good enough. What do you think?”