I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 83



Only Noblemtl

Oil Industry and Population Census (2)

February 1838.

As I was working in my palace office as usual, Diego told me about the progress of various projects, and that many of the seeds he had sown were bearing fruit.

“It’s rare to hear three pieces of good news at once.”

This month, the opening and matriculation ceremonies of Imperial University, the launching of a monitor ship, and the completion ceremonies of Cuba’s third shipyard and the fourth shipyard on the Yucatan Peninsula are all taking place. These are all projects that will take several years.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I think I will only be able to attend one place due to time constraints. The locations are far apart: Morelia, Veracruz, Cuba, and the Yucatan Peninsula. By the way, Your Majesty will be attending the opening and matriculation ceremonies of the Imperial University.”

“Really? Oh, I was planning on going to college too…”

I’ve already seen many shipyards, so I’m not that interested, and I’d like to see the world’s first monitor ship, but not as much as the university. I visited once right after it was completed, but since it was an opening ceremony and entrance ceremony attended by the emperor, I think the campus would have been decorated in some way.

I thought about it for a moment and then said.

“Let’s send our younger siblings to the monitor ship and the shipyard.”

It’s a bit odd that no one from the royal family is attending such a meaningful event. My younger siblings are old enough to be working, so I guess I can let them do this for me.

“Yes, then I will convey it that way.”

***

Although the overall construction is still far from complete, the completed buildings and the streets between them are beautifully decorated.

The expressions of the students who saw the university for the first time were all positive, and it was understandable. I would be excited even if I were a student seeing the beautiful campus filled with magnificent buildings of enormous scale. And it is a university that will become the most prestigious university in the Mexican Empire in the future.

“It seems like all the new students have gathered.”

“Yes, I think it will start soon.”

I arrived a little early and was looking around, but before I knew it, time had passed and the opening ceremony and first entrance ceremony were starting.

The students included many different groups, including the children of the Mexican Empire’s landowning class, a result of my influence.

Half of the students are children of my company’s managers and executives, and the children of engineers and professors brought in from overseas. This year, the first class, only has engineering departments, and this was possible because engineering departments are not very popular among the landlord class.

“I am glad that we have filled all the professor positions before the start of the semester, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, it wasn’t easy. In the end, I had to send my company’s engineers to be professors with tears in my eyes.”

“Yes, it’s a shame, but you can continue your research at university, so I think you should think of it as a choice for the future.”

The engineering department’s detailed majors start with eight majors: mechanical engineering, civil engineering, mining engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, marine engineering, military engineering, and metallurgical engineering. It may seem like a small number, but I pushed through and made it as much as I could.

Many of the majors in modern engineering schools are still in their infancy, and for fields that were only recently emerging, such as electricity, it was really hard to find professors.

There were people in Korea who could teach mechanical, civil, mining, marine, and military engineering, and there were many in the United States and Europe, so it was relatively easy to find professors. However, it was really difficult to find professors in Europe who could teach electrical and metallurgical engineering.

‘Those who had established themselves to some extent in those countries said they would not come to the Mexican Empire even if we offered them a lot of money, so we had no choice but to bring in PhD students who had not yet established themselves.’

Civil engineering also included general architecture, which was common in Europe and the United States in the past and even in modern times, and there was a gradual movement toward integration in Korea, so it was not particularly unusual. In this field alone, the architects of Ortega Construction knew the most advanced construction methods and technologies in the world, so I scouted them from my company rather than from outside.

“Oh, Your Majesty, as you mentioned before, I spoke to the chemistry professors about a ‘research project’ on petroleum refining technology, and their response was unexpectedly positive.”

“Oh, really? That’s good. Then let’s move forward with writing up the contract quickly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Like modern university professors, university professors of this period conduct personal research in addition to teaching students, but they usually focus more on pursuing personal interests and academic curiosity than on conducting specific research projects commissioned by the government or corporations.

That’s why I had Diego talk to chemistry professors about my research project and get their reactions. The reaction was more positive than I expected, perhaps because I was giving them a lot of money.

‘Well, the petroleum industry in its early stages didn’t require that much refining technology.’

The earliest petroleum industry produced only one product: kerosene, which could be extracted by very rudimentary refining methods.

“First, I will show you the data on the still I have designed and propose a contract to conduct research to improve it so that it can extract a wider variety of products more efficiently.”

“Then, I guess the contract should also include provisions regarding confidentiality.”

“Yes, since we are supporting all the research funds, the research results should also belong to the company. We can provide incentives, though.”

“Yes, I understand.”

In the early days of the petroleum industry, refining was simply a process of heating to a certain temperature, evaporating, and then collecting and condensing the product. Even with this level of technology, products such as kerosene, gasoline, and paraffin wax could be produced depending on the temperature.

Of these, gasoline was often discarded because it had no use until the invention of the internal combustion engine, and paraffin wax had limited uses, such as for candles and basic waterproofing coatings.

Yet the oil industry was very profitable from the start, because it had one real moneymaker: kerosene.

During this period, the mere presence of ‘oil’ itself had great merit, and the desire to light a fire and stay bright in the dark existed both then and now, but the traditional lighting fuels such as animal fat, whale oil, beeswax, and various vegetable oils were extremely expensive because production was limited.

In this situation, kerosene, the ‘first oil that could be mass-produced’, became a huge hit and popularized the practice of lighting a fire at night, which had been exclusive to the wealthy.

Although the oil extraction and refining process was not very efficient, so the production cost was not low, but it was incomparably cheaper than oil extracted from plants and animals, so it was able to record enormous profitability.

‘The feeling of being in a different world is a scary thing.’

Up until now, you have been able to live just fine without turning on a light at night, but once you buy and use kerosene, it becomes an inconvenient thing to do without.

It may be difficult for ordinary people to use it on a daily basis, but it will become common for them to purchase it and use it under the pretext of being for emergencies.

***

June 1838.

The French Foreign Ministry officially demanded that the Mexican Empire repay the 20 million pesos debt it had accumulated.

“Do you think that in just two years, the debt has grown from ten million pesos to twenty million pesos? Please disclose the exact accounting ledger.”

The Mexican ambassador asked the question with a bewildered look on his face, but French Foreign Minister François Guizot shamelessly ignored it.

“Are you saying that France is committing a fraud right now?”

This was not a conversation, but an open fight. The Mexican ambassador responded to this attitude that sold even the bare minimum of courtesy, let alone diplomatic rhetoric, as he had received from his home country.

“We, the Mexican Empire, have already paid the money we borrowed from France, plus interest at the rate stated in the contract, and we cannot recognize the existence of this debt.”

“That’s crazy!”

Minister François inadvertently cursed at the Mexican ambassador’s absurd response, which was completely different from what he had expected. He took a deep breath and then pressed the Mexican ambassador again in a calm voice.

“You seem to be acting like that because you trust Britain, but do you think Britain will let you off if you don’t pay your debt? Do you think they’ll take our side?”

“Oh, you are slow with information. It has been over a year since our Mexican Empire paid off its debt to the British Empire and dissolved its debt relationship.”

“What? That can’t be true.”

That’s a lie. There’s no way Britain would let him pay off his debt so easily. But the Mexican ambassador was calm.

“Please check with the British side directly.”

The Mexican ambassador, who was pressured by a powerful country like France, kept a calm expression. François Guizot glared at his face, gave a brief greeting, and left the room.

He went straight to the British embassy without even stopping by his office, and the British bastards betrayed his expectations again.

‘You paid off all the debts for a mere 7 million pesos? Why not? And you settled your debts with England for more than twice as much, so why won’t you pay back ours with France?’

When François Guizot heard the truth from the British, he felt at first disillusioned and suspicious, but gradually his anger grew.

‘Are you ignoring our France?’

“If you are thinking of using military force against Mexico, then do not do so. Our British Empire will not tolerate it.”

The British ambassador, who suddenly came and asked about the debt relationship with Mexico and saw that he was blushing and angry, realized France’s intentions and immediately warned him.

He was telling me not to act rashly.

“···Does that mean Britain would go to war for Mexico?”

“Maybe so, maybe not. But don’t forget that our British Empire opposed it.”

Britain had no intention of going to war with France for Mexico, but prestige was important.

Mexico is not a great nation to Britain, but it was the first country to bow down and enter the country, and it is a useful country in its own way as a country that can check the United States in North America.

It would be damaging to the prestige of the British Empire to allow France to attack Mexico and profit from it.

That fact alone was enough to give the British Empire a warning to France.

“···That is a matter for us, France, to decide.”

François Guizot said so and left the embassy, ​​but he could not ignore England. He went straight to Louis Philippe and reported.

“···There was a reason why the Mexicans were so bold.”

This was shocking news to Louis Philippe, who had been waiting for Mexico to extort money.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize.”

“No, that won’t be the case. Someday, when Britain can no longer afford to defend Mexico, Mexico will pay the price.”

“Yes, those pirates will start a war soon, so we should wait for that moment.”

If you wait, the opportunity will come, and you can collect the interest that has accumulated over time. That is what Louis Philippe thought.

***

The Mexican Empire was in an uproar as word spread through the press that France had officially demanded repayment of a huge debt.

“Isn’t that something you expected? What’s next?”

“We have finally succeeded in drilling for oil in Texas.”

Diego said.

“No! You should have said that first! Let’s go right away!”

This is the result of throwing a huge amount of money into the ground for 20 months.

The work period lasted more than a year and a half, and the morale of the workers was visibly dropping. They were ordered to dig the ground to find black water they had never seen before, but they were so frustrated when they found nothing.

I took a train straight to Texas.