I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 51



Only Noblemtl

Ports and Shipyards (7) – Free Last

In 1831, the port of Galveston, Texas, was teeming with immigrants.

They were immigrants who had heard about the Mexican Empire’s ‘pioneer immigration’ products from Europe.

The nationalities were also diverse.

Spanish, Irish and Germans were the most numerous, but Italians, Poles, Swedes and Norwegians also made a significant contribution.

“Mom! Where are we going?”

“They said that when we get here, the Mexican government will assign us a place to settle. Honey, can you look into it for me?”

“Okay, just wait a minute, I’ll look into it.”

Harry asked an immigration official on behalf of his wife, who was busy looking after their three children.

“Can you tell me how long it will take to be assigned a settlement?”

“There are so many immigrants these days that it takes some time. But you should only have to wait for about a day.”

Harry’s family was assigned temporary housing for immigrants. The large immigrant housing looked dingy from the outside, resembling a concentration camp, but inside it was not bad for a short stay.

The immigration officer came the next day and said,

“You’re lucky. Your family was assigned right here, to Texas. If they had been assigned to California, they would have had to travel a great distance. They have to settle, but there’s a city nearby, so it’s not completely rural.”

“thank you.”

Immigration officials gathered those assigned to the same settlement together.

The immigrant group, which consisted of various nationalities, did not speak each other’s language. Fortunately, each group was assigned a Spanish-speaking person.

Naturally, the people who could speak Spanish in each group became the center.

Harry saw that and decided he needed to start learning Spanish.

“I heard it wasn’t that far, but I didn’t know they would take a stagecoach.”

“Yes, honey.”

I received all the benefits advertised by the immigration company and the immigration process was progressing smoothly as instructed in advance.

Soon civil servants and architects arrived to help build the settlement. The Rios Express made it easy to travel to and from the nearby city of San Antonio.

Time passed quickly.

Two years later, in 1833.

“Honey, I heard something strange today… Is it true?”

“What is it?”

In a place where there were only two people, my wife cautiously brought up the subject in a different atmosphere than usual.

“There is a rumor that the land size of those who immigrated from Europe is different from that of those who immigrated via the United States.”

“···There’s a rumor like that?”

Harry thought back to the past.

It was his and other elders’ job to go to the city and come back. What a sight he saw then. There were certainly many farms on the outskirts of the city.

‘It’s strange now that I think about it.’

The land they were given was 120 acres. When the immigration company advertised 100 to 160 acres, I had no choice but to assume it would be 100 acres, so it wasn’t a bad size.

Officials had estimated 120 acres, taking into account the quality of the land, its proximity to the city, and its status as an early settlement. But the farms in San Antonio were unusual in size.

I didn’t think much of it when I passed by, but it seemed right that those who came from America had larger land holdings.

Harry called the men of the village together.

“Ah, Harry, I heard that rumor too.”

The rumor seemed to have already spread widely.

“I checked it out, and it seems to be true.”

Nick, who speaks Spanish well and is the town’s go-to source of information, said.

“Nick, is that true? Then why didn’t you say anything? Isn’t it unfair?”

Even though they are both immigrants, the one who came from the US gets a larger land area. Why on earth should that be?

Nick opened his mouth with a heavy expression.

“Actually, I was warned.”

“A warning?”

“Yes. Isn’t it unfair, just as you said? I went to the city myself and did some research. After about two days of research, the big guys came and threatened me, asking why I was asking so many questions. So I came back yesterday without doing anything.”

“Hmm. So you think it’s almost certain?”

“Yeah. Those big guys, they’re from Stephen Austin’s Texas Vigilantes that I saw before.”

“Ha, Stephen Austin.”

The Texas settlements were exposed to many enemies. Criminals, gangs, and Texans were feared, but the most feared enemy was the Comanche tribe.

Each village has government officials, a small garrison, guards from the Rios Express, and even a village-specific vigilante group.

This should be enough to deal with most enemies, but the Comanche tribe is the problem.

To counter them, who would normally attack in the thousands, a larger force was needed, and that force was the Texas Rangers.

This group was founded by a man named Stephen Austin, who first pushed for the settlement of Texas, but now it has become a group that not only fights against the Comanche tribe, but also manages the security of Texas.

“It’s an open secret that even the governor is taking bribes from him, so there’s no answer.”

Nick lamented like this.

“···I’ll go to Mexico City and tell them what’s going on.”

“What are you trying to say? You want us to give it back because there is a difference in the size of the land? The Mexican government should definitely leave it alone because Stephen Austin is keeping the Comanche in check.”

“Oh, really? Shit.”

There was resentment against Stephen Austin, but it was true that the Texas vigilantes he organized were keeping the Comanche in check.

***

American Brian Taylor went undercover in Texas disguised as a merchant.

He followed his instructions and spread the word, successfully establishing contact with his target, Texas mogul Stephen Austin.

“I heard you’re selling weapons. Is that true?”

“It’s true.”

For Stephen Austin, the number of weapons was important. He bribed governors and officials to get a little more weapons, but he was woefully short of them.

“I see you’ve found a way to get weapons from the US. Let me buy them all. But I want you to supply them exclusively to me.”

He naturally demanded exclusive supply.

“This is a generous deal, as expected from the ‘Father of Texas.’ Good. I have hundreds of muskets, although they are old-fashioned. Would you like to buy them all?”

The title “Father of Texas” was a title used only by Stephen Austin and those around him, but Brian called it as if it were widely known.

“Yeah. Do you have enough bullets?”

Steven, who was feeling better, asked softly with a smile on his face.

“Yes, if you buy all these weapons, you can now be called not just the ‘Father of Texas’ but also the ‘Master of Texas.’”

“Hahaha! The owner of Texas. Aren’t you flattering me too much?”

“Who in Texas would dare to defy Stephen Austin? In a few years, when the railroad is completed, things will be different.”

“Ahem. It’s a train···.”

Things would be a lot different if the railway were connected to Mexico City. That was the implication.

‘I’m already having a headache because of those guys called Rios Express.’

The guys who have made inroads into Texas in the last three years have had their own forces, which complicates the situation.

The Texas garrison and the defenders of each town could be controlled with a little bribery, but the Rios Express guys didn’t work that well.

‘It’s annoying···.’

The combined forces of each town’s garrison, vigilantes, and Rios Express guards were enough to repel most threats.

This fact meant that Stephen Austin’s influence soon began to wane.

“Well, that was a good deal.”

Brian didn’t reveal his true feelings hastily, because he had already succeeded in implanting two keywords in Steven’s head.

It was the ‘Texas Master’ and the ‘Railroads’. He shook hands with Stephen Austin and turned his back without a second thought.

Stephen Austin, who was left behind, was troubled.

He called Jonathan and Michael, who were the second and third most powerful men in the vigilante group.

after-

Stephen Austin asked, exhaling cigarette smoke into a room filled with silence.

“What do you think the railway will be like when it is completed?”

Although he didn’t call anyone by name, he was asking the question to Michael, the number three man.

He graduated from college and was the brains of the vigilante group.

“···If we look at the Mexican Empire’s policy of pursuing centralization, many things will change.”

“Be specific.”

“The biggest thing would be to disband the vigilantes or incorporate them into the regular military.”

“Damn it. Those central government guys, they didn’t even help us when we were fighting the Comanches.”

Stephen Austin appeared to forget that he had blocked the governor from asking for more troops.

They didn’t think of themselves as Mexicans.

Stephen Austin’s worries deepened.

***

Major Ricardo’s story was quite eventful.

“···That happened. You must have had a hard time.”

“···thank you.”

Captain Ricardo and his crew reportedly set out from Texas in the spring of 1830 with horse support and arrived safely in Mexico City.

‘It was a tough time.’

It took two years to get back from New Orleans to Mexico City. The journey from Texas to Mexico City was also a spectacle.

You might encounter bandits, and there were even instances of them attacking you at villages you stopped at along the way.

“It’s a miracle that no one died.”

“Yes, even thinking about it now, I was lucky.”

“The situation in Texas is not normal, even to me, and no one is listening to you?”

“Yes, I wrote a report to my superior, but it was ignored.”

After that, he said that he had a lot of work to do since the fleet was formed, so he was immediately transferred to Veracruz and stayed there.

‘That guy needs to be disciplined. Things are not looking good in Texas.’

Stephen Austin is breaking his contract with the Mexican government.

The conditions are that immigrants from Mexico and the United States will be settled in a 1:1 ratio, that Spanish must be used, and it seems that he is doing whatever he wants with the size of the land compensation that I reduced.

‘The Mexican Empire certainly dispatched governors and officials. But this report did not come in…’

“I guess Stephen Austin bribed the governor and other officials.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

The United States tried to buy Texas even by bribing.

Stephen Austin, who acts like he’s king in Texas.

Combining these two gives me a very bad feeling.

“···I feel so lucky that you survived.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

‘Nothing has happened yet, so I guess we can move quickly this time.’

“Major Ricardo, there is something I need you to do. It is something only you can do.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Just give me your order.”

As I spoke, holding the weight, Major Ricardo also answered seriously.

“I want you to take charge of the intelligence agency of our Mexican Empire.”

“If it’s an intelligence agency…. Did our Mexican Empire also have a secret agency that handled intelligence?”

Major Ricardo asks with an expectant expression.

“No, I’m thinking of making it now. You will be the first leader.”

“···I will risk my life to carry out the mission!”

Major Ricardo, who was momentarily taken aback, quickly accepted the reality.

It’s a natural choice, since the only person with any experience in espionage is Major Ricardo.

‘There was also Major Esteban who went to Cuba with me, but it’s a bit of a stretch to call that full-fledged spy work.’

I spent some time disguised as a port worker, but when it came to gathering information, it was like just counting numbers and returning.

In comparison, Major Ricardo had quite a bit of experience.

‘Of course, the mission in Cuba could be seen as a failure since it ultimately failed to deliver any information, but that can’t be helped since it was a natural disaster.’

In the first place, I had sought out Major Esteban because I thought I needed someone to take charge of the intelligence agency, so now that a better option has presented itself, there is no need to waste time.

‘It’s obvious that the Americans are going to do something.’

At this time, the United States had no central intelligence agency, and so it would not have experienced full-scale espionage.

The best way to do this is to nip a flimsy conspiracy in the bud.

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