Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 150



Only Noblemtl

#150. Conscription or the Melting Pot of the People (1)

Over the next few days, public opinion began to waver.

The world was turned upside down with a newspaper article reporting that someone had embezzled a million nyang worth of silver.

There were growing voices demanding immediate investigation into who had tampered with the 3 million taels of silver seized in Tianjin.

Although arrows did come back at me, I didn’t suffer much damage thanks to the thorough disposal of loot at the time.

At first, the imperial family and the Ministry of the Interior ignored the story, claiming it was groundless. However, as time passed, the level of pressure grew stronger, and the cabinet also urged the emperor to step forward, causing the situation to continue to escalate.

The public sentiment was already bad because of the land and water taxes collected separately by the imperial family, and this scandal was only adding fuel to the fire.

The people began to get angry, saying that the royal family was the biggest thief, and the backlash became more intense, especially in the metropolitan areas.

Yoonjung and I were busy pretending not to know and making regretful expressions, but we didn’t step forward instead.

Anyway, each day passed like that.

Today, I’ve almost finished up the work at the headquarters, and the prototype grenade is scheduled to arrive tomorrow for a demonstration, so I’ve finished preparing to leave work early.

Because I have to go to work at the shooting range in Samcheong-dong tomorrow morning.

I was thinking about having a drink with my little brother today, but then I thought about it and realized that this guy said he was on duty today.

I was thinking about rolling around alone for the first time in a while, and was about to go out after receiving a salute from the soldiers at the outpost.

“Chief of Staff, do you have a woman with you?”

“You suddenly sound like a fool.”

Lieutenant Shin Pal-gyun, who had said he would leave work first, or rather, he had now been promoted to lieutenant, but he gave me a heads-up before leaving the Korean Gate.

“I heard there was a young lady waiting outside for the Chief of Military Affairs. Everyone was saying that she was the Chief of Military Affairs’ fiancée.”

Ah, it seemed she had arrived. She was the daughter of the great Hongik Company and was rumored to be the most enlightened person in Seoul.

The sons of the wealthy families of Hanseongbu desperately tried to court her by sending her gestures of love or marriage, but she paid no attention to them. However, she seemed to enjoy it in her own way, and she often showed up at social gatherings.

“She’s just someone I know. Keep your mouths shut.”

“Well, isn’t it time for you to get married, Director? No, it’s a bit late.”

“One mother is enough to nag you like that, you punk.”

I threatened to take care of all the remaining paperwork if I didn’t get off work quickly, and Shin Pal-gyun saluted me with a playful look on his face as he disappeared.

By the way, I don’t know how he knew when I got off work today, and he was waiting in front of the Wonsoobu building. If it were a normal day, I would have just asked him to buy me food near my house or something.

“Oh my, you’re leaving work early today.”

“There are a lot of eyes watching, so if you wait here, I’ll be a bit…”

“Did I make you uncomfortable? If so, I won’t come here again···.”

“No, that’s not it!”

Anyway, it was great at making people flustered.

She giggled as she watched me floundering.

The guards in front of the Great Korean Gate and the officer on duty who was familiar with me also seemed to be barely able to hold back laughter when they saw me.

“I always thought you were a cool-headed person, but you have this side to you too.”

“excuse me···.”

“Since we finished early today, let’s go to that new place we found for lunch!”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me along. In this country where the Confucian culture of not sitting together with your partner until the age of seven is still strong, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Because it seemed like she was looking at a middle-class tomboy from North America, not the daughter of a noble European family.

The old man’s ambitious and famous daughter, as expected, had a rather serious temper.

The place she went to for lunch was none other than a small bakery in a corner of Hanseongbu.

It was called a bakery, but it was more like a cafe that sold both tea and coffee.

It wasn’t a very big store, but there were about 10 tables, and what I liked most was that it was quiet compared to the noisy Hanseongbu.

“I visited this place with my friends a while ago. It’s pretty good. I heard that the French make the bread themselves. Oh, and the croissants are delicious. Would you like to try some?”

Then she chose some bread and cake. To show off, I ordered it directly from the French baker in French, and then I heard another giggle behind me.

“Hey, why are you suddenly like that?”

“Ahahaha! No, sir. Why is your French pronunciation like that?”

“Oh… the French advisors all understood….”

“Then they are kind. Okay, I’ll try.”

Then she spoke French fluently, much more fluently than I did.

French is really difficult, but I learned it so well that even a French baker gave me a thumbs up.

“So, what do you think?”

“Where did you learn that?”

“My father just taught me a lot about how the world has changed. Everything from Western etiquette to their language and clothing.”

She scooped up a piece of cake with a fork and put it in her mouth, yum.

At times like this, she looked age-appropriate.

It’s like something sweet entering your mouth, that expression of happiness that can’t be erased.

“Haha, your younger sibling speaks French really well.”

“That guy must have learned it in Russia···.”

“His manners were also good. I guess it’s definitely because he learned them at the military academy···.”

She was the one who talked and talked. I was mostly just listening.

We talked for almost an hour at the tea house, and although the coffee I ordered had gotten cold, it was still enjoyable. It was also a time when I could escape the heavy reality for a moment.

“Hmm? You have a guest.”

“Oh, Miss.”

A man who seemed to be from the Imperial Household Department greeted her politely, as if he knew her.

She quickly erased the expression of genuine joy she had just shown and accepted his greeting with a polite and dignified expression.

“I apologize for interrupting your pleasant time, but His Majesty the Emperor urgently seeks the Director of Military Affairs.”

“Huh? Are you talking about me?”

“Yes, Director. His Majesty is looking for you urgently. You must enter the palace immediately.”

Looking outside, it seemed like they had even prepared a carriage.

“I haven’t even finished eating yet···.”

“I’m sorry, my lady. It’s His Majesty’s orders, so there’s nothing I can do.”

Now that the mood is turning bad, it seems like they’re looking for me. What can I do? I have no choice but to follow orders.

Instead of getting on the carriage prepared by the Imperial Household Department staff, I walked to Gyeongungung Palace to see her off.

While walking, I saw the Central Park that Kim Hong-ryuk, the mayor of Hanseongbu, was ambitiously building.

I saw people enjoying a walk and families who seemed to be out on a picnic.

I entered Gyeongungung Palace, thinking that it would be nice to take her for a walk here someday.

“Your Majesty, I know you are feeling a bit dizzy. Are you okay?”

“That’s why I called you.”

Instead of his usual gentle expression, he had a face that looked as if he was barely holding back real anger.

Well, it can’t be helped after being criticized by public opinion for over a week.

In particular, the Independence Association was causing a commotion outside, and Iljinhoe was also demanding a transparent government budget, shouting for an “enlightened government, enlightened finances” as if nothing had happened, erasing the image of the 1901 Great Compromise.

Clearly, the Iljinhoe bastards were cleaned up like trash, but they seemed to have crept into Hanseongbu like cockroaches.

“How can we overcome the current problem?”

“If Your Majesty is upright, you can order an investigation yourself. Isn’t there an investigation office in the Ministry of Finance that is known for its fairness and uprightness?”

I’ll leave him alone so I can see if he’s telling the truth or trying to avoid it.

And he belonged to the latter. He tried to avoid the truth.

“But isn’t investigating the imperial property no different from insulting me? I separated the property of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Internal Affairs because I was worried that the government budget would be manipulated by foreign powers. If I were to make it public to the public, how would foreign powers view it?”

That may make sense, but the problem was that the timing was really delicate.

And I began to become half-convinced that the Emperor would steal a million nyang from the middle.

But I couldn’t openly ask him, so I just kept my head down and didn’t answer.

However, I was worried about how I could use this properly.

“Why are you silent? I called you because I was feeling uneasy.”

“Your Majesty seemed to call for the general only when faced with a crisis, so I felt a little resentful and did not answer.”

“Oh, how could that be? Otherwise, I wouldn’t have appointed you as the military affairs director and kept you by my side.”

“Then that is fortunate, Your Majesty.”

I raised the corners of my mouth. The Emperor, cornered, had no choice but to rely on me. After all, I was the only one who had protected him in these matters.

“The director has a plan, but···.”

“What? Just tell me. If it’s about your mysterious plan that moved Noseo and France last time, I’ll follow anything.”

Hmm, that’s right. I’m a little playful. I’m already a little angry that you messed things up by sending an envoy to the Kaiser, so I can’t just let it go.

If I were to list all the actions this gentleman had taken in the coup note hidden deep in my heart, it would take dozens of pages of A4 paper, but since chaos is the best excuse for interference, I couldn’t kick him out right away.

At least I can tease him.

“Very well, Your Majesty. If you will be honest with me, I will help you. Do not misunderstand, this is not an attempt to find fault. I will prepare a response once I know the truth. The one million taels of silver that the General seized in Tianjin, is it possible that Your Majesty has hidden them?”

I asked the emperor as if it were something a mother would say to her young children, ‘I’ll let it slide if you tell me the truth’ or ‘I’m not angry, I’m just trying to make sure.’

He hesitated and then spoke in a small, crawling voice.

“···That’s right.”

“I am sorry, but I understand that the Major General has been fighting in battlefields filled with gunfire and gunfire for the past several years, and his hearing may be poor. Could you tell me again?”

“It’s true that Jim took it···.”

As expected. I barely held back a sigh and held back my words for a moment.

Well, actually, this isn’t the end.

The Ministry of Finance was recently saying that the size of the Royal Secretariat, which was in charge of the imperial property, had grown so large that it was hindering the Ministry of Finance from securing tax revenue.

The 36 mines managed by the Imperial Household Department, fishing grounds on the west and east coasts, salt farms on the south coast, vast farmlands in the three southern provinces, and the lands in the West and North Gando regions recently acquired through the northern advance were all considered imperial property.

Considering that, the assets of the royal family must have accumulated beyond imagination.

“Hmm···.”

“Is there really no way? If things get worse and something like a rebellion breaks out in the capital-”

Then I won’t be able to do that because it will be difficult for me too.

If there was a rebellion in the capital, the person who would be most pleased was obvious.

Such corruption scandals, although badly done, could also be covered up by larger issues.

“There are three ways in total, but this time the matter is important, so I think you should do all of them.”

“What? Just tell me.”

“I ask that the Conscription Ordinance and the Naval Act be enacted, and that the Treasury Department’s Investigative Office be called upon to investigate the Chief Inspector General of the Exchequer, Mr. McLeavy Brown, by His Majesty’s order.”

Each suggestion was certainly enough to cover up the scandal of Emperor Gojong’s spoils.

Conscription was a card that could be used to avert the current crisis for the Emperor by exposing the corruption of McLeavey Brown, a thorn in his side, and the Naval Act was a card that could be used to avert the current crisis for the Cabinet, and the public’s self-esteem, which had been weakened by past events.

“And the most important thing is to enact naval laws. Your Majesty, if you personally invest the assets of the Royal Navy and set an example in building a naval fleet, the people will tolerate the existence of the Royal Navy.”

“under···.”

Of course, the emperor sighed first. He couldn’t help but feel sad about having to spend all that money.

I carefully coaxed him little by little, like this.

“We need a fleet anyway. Isn’t there going to be a celebration for the 40th anniversary of Your Majesty’s accession to the throne soon?”

“Well… that’s right.”

“If at that time, our Great Korea, in addition to the splendid military parade held in Hanseongbu, also floats elegant warships on the seas of Jemulpo, His Majesty’s majesty will cover heaven and earth. The world will also treat our Great Korea as a true and genuine independent nation.”

Gojong’s passion for the sea, especially the fleet operating there, was great.

So, he had been asking Britain to sell him cruisers since the 1880s, and in 1892, he had been very upset with the Qing, but he was secretly delighted when Admiral Jeong Yeo-chang of the Beiyang Fleet promised to provide him with two cruisers. To him, the navy and the modern fleet must have been huge bait.

“Is that so?”

“Instead, Your Majesty, this ship introduction should be carried out entirely with the assets of the Royal Secretariat. Only then will the people understand that Your Majesty took the 1 million nyang of silver. It is as a wise king who prepared the basic funds with great foresight.”

“Ohh···.”

Unlike his expression of regret just now, he looked dazed as if he had imagined himself as a saint and the fleet waving the Taegeukgi in the waters off Jemulpo receiving his inspection.

Certainly, for modern monarchs, ‘visible power’ and ‘present power’ can give a more intense pleasure than drugs.

“So, are you going to proceed with this?”

“Hmm···.”

I stroked my chin and pretended to be worried. I was planning to use this incident as an opportunity to siphon off the funds from the royal family and invest them in expanding the fleet and ground forces.

“Very well, Your Majesty. Let us first look into where to purchase the ships. First, please announce the draft ordinance to divert the attention of the cabinet and the people.”

“Okay.”

He had obtained a geondeokji that could solve two of his most troubling problems at once, and that too by mobilizing the royal family’s assets.

In any case, the Korean Empire’s budget, which was only one-third of the Japanese government’s annual budget, could not simultaneously enact a conscription system and a naval law.

Gojong effectively gave me full authority, saying that he would only trust me, and based on that, I had to prepare to submit the draft of the Naval Act and the draft for the military service system to the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office.

This had to be done before Japan could attempt anything serious.