I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 84



Only Noblemtl

Oil Industry and Population Census (3)

Carlos, a census taker for the Mexican Empire, a mestizo, was sent to the southern and Central American regions of the empire.

Rattling- rattling-

“I was a bit worried because I was assigned to the southernmost part of the South, but I’m glad that there’s a railroad connection.”

A colleague who was also an investigator tried to say something positive to the awkward atmosphere among the group members after the assignment, but the response was not good. There was a prickly colleague.

“Then what can I do? The railroad doesn’t even connect to Costa Rica.”

‘You’re a negative guy. There are people who go further than us.’

It was a whopping 3,000km to get to Northern California, and the railroad only reached Southern California. How nervous I was when I heard that.

It’s not as far as Northern California, but the place they’ve been assigned to is far. It’s about 1,900km from Mexico City to the southernmost tip of the Mexican Empire, the border of Costa Rica, and the railroad only goes as far as Nicaragua, which is the region above. That means they’ll have to travel a considerable distance on horseback. But Carlos doesn’t think it’s too bad.

‘Since I get paid for the hours I work anyway, it’s not always a good thing to finish quickly and rest, right?’

A total of 15 people, including fellow team members, soldiers as escorts, and civil servants as team leaders, arrived in Costa Rica.

“This is Costa Rica.”

“Yes, it is one of the many regions of Central America that joined Mexico shortly after its independence.”

The group, which was as curious as people on a trip, stopped by the local government office to ask for cooperation and split into groups of two or three to begin a full-scale investigation.

Carlos, along with another companion and two guards, began riding towards the border town.

He got along quite well with his colleagues, as he and Carlos were the only two people who applied for the border post, and so they had similar personalities.

“···Are my eyesight wrong right now?”

It was a road that went down south, thoroughly sweeping from the upper part of the southern border of the empire. Up until now, the population was extremely sparse, perhaps because it was a border. There were only four of us, so we were worried about criminals like bandits, but there were so few people that we wouldn’t even encounter such criminals.

The two revolvers issued to every soldier were not even necessary to be taken out of their holders, and the leather armor and shortswords issued to the investigators for self-defense had long since been spread out on the saddles of their horses. It had been five months already since then.

“···No, I think I’m hallucinating too.”

I had already heard about the border city of Paso Canoas, located about halfway along the border, from local officials in the regional capital, San Jose, but they only described it as a “border city.”

“This is… bigger than San Jose.”

The city had the look of a typical Mexican town, with a Spanish colonial feel mixed with local indigenous influences, but its size was a problem.

“Yes. Just looking at the size of the downtown area, the population would be around 15,000.”

The colleague answered.

Even the soldiers who had been with us for a long time joined in the story, looking dumbfounded.

“I’ve never heard of such a large city on the border.”

The truth about the size of the city soon became apparent.

“Are you saying that all these people are from Colombia?”

“Yes. About 80% of them are from Colombia.”

Carlos’ question was answered by a local official. He was also an immigrant from Colombia who became a local official in the Mexican Empire because he could read and write Spanish.

Things are a bit different now that there are more and more people who can speak Spanish, but until five years ago, you could become a civil servant if you only knew Spanish and some basic math.

“Why are so many people crossing into Mexico?”

It is now a well-known fact that the Mexican Empire welcomes immigrants, but as far as Carlos knows, immigrants recruited by immigration companies in South America are put on ships and sent to the port of Veracruz, where they are then sent to various parts of the Mexican Empire by the immigration office. But why are there suddenly more than ten thousand immigrants in a border city?

“The collapse of Gran Colombia was a big deal. We had hopes like Mexico right after independence. We had a leader named Simón Bolívar, and we dreamed of a large federal state like the United States.”

He began to reminisce about the past and the history of Colombia since its independence. Most of it was nonsense, but Carlos listened patiently to the whole story.

The outstanding leader Simón Bolívar, who achieved independence for a vast area in northern South America from Spain in 1819, three years before Mexico, and the Gran Colombia he led dreamed of a large federal state like the United States.

Simon Bolívar attempted to centralize power in order to normalize the fragmented country immediately after independence, but local power holders opposed centralization and argued for regional separation beyond decentralization, leading to conflict between the center and the local regions.

In this situation, economic hardship, social instability, and the intervention of external powers who did not want to see another nation like the United States emerge, led Gran Colombia to the path of destruction.

“Even after the dissolution, the situation did not improve much. No, rather, as things became more and more chaotic, rumors spread that the Mexican Empire, where they also spoke Spanish, was a good place to live. It was a rumor that was perfect for people living near the Mexican Empire to get upset. As time passed, the rumors were confirmed to be true, and people flocked there.”

“···There were such circumstances.”

‘I guess there were no capable people like His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of our Mexican Empire in South America. Well, such people are not common.’

Carlos gave a simple assessment of the story of Gran Colombia, which is full of details.

“But are there enough jobs in this city for 15,000 people?”

Carlos asked a question he was curious about.

“Most of them live off trade. Colombia has everything they need, so anything they sell here sells well. And recently, there are landowners who have set up factories nearby and have taken in Colombians, so there are plenty of jobs.”

Although it was the southernmost part of the empire, Costa Rica also changed as the Mexican Empire stabilized and developed. Immediately after independence, civil servants were dispatched to form an administrative network, a governor and a state judge were assigned, and the budget for local government was also generously allocated.

The initially chaotic situation gradually improved, and mechanical harvesting of various crops was introduced. Rios Express branches were opened, and merchants moved in.

Most of the Colombians who crossed over to Mexico went further north, but it is said that many remained in this city.

“No, they didn’t come officially through an immigration company, they just crossed the border and settled down. Can we just leave them like this?”

Carlos’ colleague asked him questioningly.

Even if the man in front of me is officially hired as a civil servant, isn’t it the case for other people? From the perspective of someone who has to conduct a census, it’s difficult to know how to handle this.

“Well, the Costa Rican local government has ordered Mexico to allow immigration as long as they follow the law and pay their taxes. The central government’s policy is also that the more immigrants the better, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“···No matter what, it’s ridiculous to proceed with immigration like this without permission from the central government. I think we’ll have to report this to the central government and get a decision.”

The official who came from Colombia tried to pass it off like that, but Carlos spoke firmly.

Since there’s also the Rios Express, I can just send the letter.

Carlos decided to take a break from his investigation.

***

“Extra edition! Extra edition!”

On a train bound for Texas, where news of a successful oil drilling operation had spread, a boy was walking around each car, selling newspapers.

“Is this a French story?”

Diego, who had bought a copy of the newspaper at my suggestion, opened it.

“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s a French story.”

The fact that France officially demanded repayment of the huge amount of debt was not done despite the information control it had in place.

It was for strategic reasons.

There was an escort, but the train car wasn’t chartered or anything, so there were other passengers on board, and I could hear them chattering.

“How can a debt of ten million pesos turn into twenty million pesos in just two years?”

The young man who bought the newspaper immediately became angry at the word ‘extra edition’.

“Even if it’s called welfare, it’s an absurd level of profiteering. There’s no such thing as a private loan shark.”

His companion, who seemed to be his companion, also agreed.

“No, these days even private lenders don’t act like that. Didn’t various financial regulations come into existence after the central bank was established?”

“Oh, I see, I forgot that. Even if they were loan sharks lending at the highest interest rate, they wouldn’t charge this much.”

“Yeah. Isn’t that criminal profiteering? Those French guys are just gangsters.”

Yeah, that’s exactly the reaction I was hoping for.

‘We’re going to have a war eventually, so we need to make sure our people know that too.’

If you suddenly saw an article saying that war had been declared, wouldn’t you be shocked and horrified?

This article was written in a tone critical of France, regardless of the political affiliation of the media outlet, so if you have any patriotism, you can’t help but be angry, but there was also a side effect, and not everyone was angry.

“But what if France really starts a war? Even if they lose to England, aren’t they still much stronger than us?”

The young man, who had been showing anger at the group’s fearful words, was embarrassed, but pointed to the end of the article and said.

“If you look here, it says that France cannot move recklessly because of the very existence of Britain. It also says that all of its debts to Britain have been repaid, so France will not be able to start a war.”

“I see. Hmm···.”

While most citizens were outraged by France’s atrocities, as the media intended, there were also quite a few who felt uneasy.

‘It’s common sense to feel anxious.’

I am already prepared to stand up to France and have plans in place for that, so I don’t feel particularly anxious, but the citizens may.

They got off and arrived in Texas a day later.

Oil drilling site in Texas.

“The initial work is already underway.”

“Yes, it was planned in advance and all the materials were prepared, so we started construction right away.”

Armando answered.

We could not see the scene of black water shooting up into the sky that usually comes to mind when thinking of successful oil drilling.

Because the messenger Armando sent me had already completed the initial processing while I was traveling to Mexico City and hearing the report while I was traveling to Texas.

“You’ve really worked hard.”

I patted Armando on the shoulder for his hard work of digging the ground for 20 months.

“Ugh. Ugh. Big. No.”

Armando seemed to start crying for a moment as he remembered the hardships of the past, but he held it in.

“···Yes. A generous reward awaits you, so look forward to it. Is the oil refinery ready to start operating?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I brought everything in advance, so the preparations were not difficult. The crude oil storage is already being filled.”

Although it is called a petroleum refinery, it is only a basic still, but it is enough to extract kerosene.

Chemists at the Imperial University were working on creating a more advanced machine, but they were unable to conduct experiments due to a lack of oil.

“Make sure to send enough crude oil to the universities for testing purposes.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The world’s first oil industry was born, and it meant more than just selling kerosene to make money.

‘From here on out, we’re one step ahead.’

***

Back in Mexico City, there was more good news waiting for me.

The census has been successfully completed.

There were several issues here and there, but they weren’t difficult to deal with, and now all that was left was to compile the researched data.

After a wait that was half worry and half anticipation, the final report arrived for me.