Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 151



Only Noblemtl

#151. Conscription or the Melting Pot of the People (2)

“Your numbers worked, but are you going to try to solve it that way?”

“If we directly touch His Majesty the Emperor’s internal organs, we will also run into Lee Yong-ik. In this case, it would be better to divert the situation to another direction.”

“However, if we were to implement a conscription system, our current budget would be insufficient. Even just feeding, housing, and maintaining an army of 60,000 people would require a considerable amount of budget.”

Minister of Finance Eo Yun-jung was disgusted by my words. He was of the opinion that the current budget of the Korean Empire was a bit too much to implement a conscription system. It was difficult to maintain 60,000 troops in 6 brigades and 2 regiments across the country, and it was obvious that implementing a conscription system would consume even more funds.

“First of all, we have no choice but to implement a partial conscription system.”

“What if it’s partial?”

“The original plan was to have 1 division, 8 brigades, and 100,000 troops, but there are still 40,000 vacancies. We need to fill those vacancies first, and then gradually increase the troops through continuously expanded finances.”

“Wouldn’t there be a crowd?”

“You’re not going to boil the national bonds collected last year and this year and eat them. There’s no time. You have to move as quickly as possible.”

Japan could initiate war sooner than originally planned, so it was necessary to move as quickly as possible.

Of course, Yoon-Joong couldn’t shake off his suspicious expression at this move, but he didn’t raise any objections to the idea that it was an opportunity to get rid of the thorn in his eye, Customs General Accountant McLeavey Brown, and also to weaken the power of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

“Forty thousand people···.”

“If you, Eo Yun-jung, take control of the customs office, you will be able to secure the necessary taxes. In the meantime, we have been playing with the tyranny of that bastard Yeong-gil-li, who used the customs office as his playground.”

“That is correct. Now I can break the last of the chains imposed by the Japanese.”

This was a half-growling. Soon the Emperor would issue an order for the Customs General and the Customs to formally investigate the Ministry of Finance’s investigation office, so there would be a lot to blame him for if that happened. In the first place, the data found by the 5th Division of the Records Investigation Office was enormous.

The next day, the media that Yoon Joong-i and I had moved found new prey.

The Independent Newspaper completely changed the atmosphere by publishing the story that the emperor had hinted at the full introduction of a conscription system, and the Hwangseong Newspaper, which was funded by Eo Yun-jung, raised suspicions that the customs chief tax accountant, McLeavey Brown, was embezzling a huge amount of customs funds.

“No, is there such a miserable thing! Is there a Lord Eo Yoon-joong?!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“The king should immediately order the investigation office of the Ministry of Finance to thoroughly investigate the customs office and the customs chief tax officer, McLeavey Brown! We must determine right from wrong, regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign!”

“I will obey your command!”

What, Yoon Joong is already excited.

He immediately led the personnel from the Ministry of Finance’s investigation office and headed to the Incheon-bu inspection office and customs office.

To show how serious the matter was, the Emperor himself assigned him a company of the Gendarmerie, so things would be sorted out on their own.

“By the way, His Majesty the Emperor has given our Marshal two great gifts.”

“The Naval Law and the Conscription Ordinance.”

The heads of each department were discussing the issues announced today.

The Emperor issued two laws today.

One was to enact naval laws to protect Korea’s seas, and the other was a conscription system.

“Navy. Are we finally ending the era of the navy and entering the era of the navy?”

“It turned out well. The current customs surveillance ships were not enough to protect Jemulpo and the West Sea.”

During that time, maritime defense had been almost completely abandoned. Although there were measures taken, such as placing a battery on Wolmido, the creation of a full-fledged navy was virtually abandoned.

So, coastal defense was limited to the civilian defense force and police forces that had been organized to suppress pirates in the Taean and Seosan areas in the past, and the ships under the customs office at each port.

What can we say about defense? In reality, it was as good as being naked, with a force that was not even as good as the Coast Guard. However, with the enactment of the Naval Act by Royal Decree No. 20 of 1901, it may be possible to escape from that miserable state.

However, there was a difference of opinion here.

In the enactment of the Naval Act, I suggested the direction as ‘a destroyer squadron composed of six or more destroyers and a torpedo fleet of several ships,’ but many of the staff members of the Marshal’s Office opposed this.

They supported a ‘squadron of two cruisers’, all ships of 2,000 tons or more.

“Before we get started, shouldn’t we decide where to buy the ships and what to do about the conscription system?”

“There aren’t many places to buy ships right now. It’s just Russia, France, Turkey, and Japan…”

In fact, we had already decided on a business partner in our minds. Russia has a small shipyard in Vladivostok and is struggling to support the Pacific Fleet. We are short on supplies and funds, so if we were to win the order, it would take several years.

But if we were to say goodbye to Germany, we couldn’t ignore Britain and France.

Japan… goes without saying.

Of course, if you place an order with Mitsui & Co., which will do anything if you give it money, they will somehow help you, but you have to be prepared for all information to be handed over to the Japanese embassy in the process.

Of course, Britain would not sell it, and the same was true of the Theodore Roosevelt administration, which had been moving closer to Japan in order to expand its power in the Pacific.

Nothing could be expected from them.

Then, the only one left was France. It was a European country that was friendly to us while being allied with Russia, and it was also a country that had a proper navy.

“In the present circumstances, it seems most prudent to purchase a French-made ship.”

“But what is close to us is the Russian fleet at Haesamwi and Yeosun, not the French fleet at Annam.”

“The Russian fleet is busy taking care of itself. Furthermore, its facilities are so small that it would take years for us to order them. After all, the enactment of the naval law must be done in time for the 40th anniversary of His Majesty the Emperor’s accession to the throne, so we must hurry.”

“Huh, so that’s what you were planning. Then, will France be able to receive the order right away?”

“it’s possible.”

I have already done some research. As soon as I made an inquiry to the French embassy, ​​they immediately said they welcomed the sale of the ship. There is no need to buy something like the Yangmuho here. For those who are not familiar with the sea, in the original history, it was like a package deal, introducing the Japanese Navy instructor corps and training ships from Mitsui & Co., but it is different here.

The plan was to purchase regular ships from France and train naval officers based on them.

There were already many people in the Korean Empire who were familiar with the sea.

There were sailors, navigators, and captains belonging to the Daehan Woori Shipping Company operating in Hongik at the time, and many of them were foreigners who had served in the navies of the great powers in the past and flowed in here.

There were plenty of people who were familiar with the sea and could be used as a base. All that was needed was to train them into a navy and prepare them to fight properly at sea.

“The class is···.”

“We can’t bring a large ship from the beginning. We are just setting foot on the sea, and we can’t afford to use expensive and large ships from now on.”

This was a practical problem. To begin with, the Korean Empire did not have enough ports and docks to accommodate ships over 5,000 tons.

We had to avoid a situation where we acted crazy and bought things like protected cruisers only to end up being scrapped before they could even be used properly in our waters.

“We’ll start with a destroyer.”

However, very small torpedo boats or corvettes were not accepted.

The destroyers of the early 20th century were the minimum force capable of carrying out full-scale anti-ship combat and preventing enemy torpedo boats and small ships from storming the port and causing havoc.

These are ships armed with 3-inch main guns and torpedo launchers, and can move at high speed.

From the beginning, the name of the class itself was a warship that built torpedo boats, so it was also called a destroyer. It was also faster than average large ships and had guns that could easily slaughter ships of lower classes.

“Hmm, isn’t that too small? At least for our circumstances, I think it would be more reasonable to bring in protected cruisers imported from Europe or Japan.”

“The class of ships most needed in our environment are not cruisers that can operate in the ocean. They are destroyers that can defend coastal waters and ports.”

As Min Yeong-hwan said, it would be good if large ships came in. The 2,000-ton cruisers that formed the middle part of the Qing’s Beiyang Navy would not only be enough to have a decent fleet, but would also be able to conduct actual ocean-going operations.

Whether in the past or present, the bigger the ship, the more operational capabilities it has, the more diverse the missions it can perform, and the longer it can last.

But we had no reason to buy or operate large ships. We didn’t need to operate them.

Because the Navy has been a money-eating hippopotamus from the past to the present.

Therefore, if the Korean Empire needed a navy, it was in the current situation where it was emerging as a maritime nation and had the fighting power to do something more than just maritime security.

There was a need for a ship that could defend the port and, in case of emergency, advance to the coastal waters and engage in full-scale fleet-to-ship combat.

If the enemy was Japan, they would need destroyers even more. Whenever they waged war, they would often launch torpedo boats in large numbers against the fleet anchored in port and attack them with torpedoes.

If destroyers were deployed at that time, the effect could be halved, or the attempt itself could be thwarted.

In addition, if a war were to break out with Russia, Japan would be in an environment where it would have to operate a large number of transport ships along the complex coastline of the Korean Peninsula, so it could have attempted to destroy trade accordingly.

Furthermore, this could also be the starting point for a kind of access denial strategy.

“···I think I’ve heard of it somewhere. Isn’t it the new school of thought that was popular in France?”

“Admiral Min Yeong-hwan is also very knowledgeable about the Navy.”

The concept of the new school of thought that General Min Yeong-hwan spoke of, which is famously known to us as the Youth School, was ironically necessary for the Korean Empire.

Of course, in the early 1890s, Alfred Mahan also pointed out the limitations of commerce raiding and coastal defense when talking about sea power.

“If what you think is true is true, the enemies we have to deal with are neighboring countries with large ships in large numbers, and small destroyers won’t be able to deal with them. Even if they have torpedoes… If it’s difficult to introduce large ships, how about purchasing heavy guns that can be used in coastal batteries?”

Well, certainly, in terms of cost-effectiveness, it’s not a bad idea to spend the same amount of money on heavy guns for coastal batteries rather than buying small destroyers.

Things like the Krupp 280mm coastal gun used by the Qing Khorasan Battery.

But I couldn’t just blow this great opportunity to step foot into the modern sea for the first time.

“Fixed forces cannot match mobile forces. As in all wars, fixed fortified positions on the ground have their limits when faced with an active enemy.”

“Hmm···.”

“As was the case with the last pirate suppression, the Director of the Military Affairs Bureau is quite well-versed in not only fortifications but also sea defense. Furthermore, since His Majesty the Emperor has established naval laws, I think it would be a good idea to follow the Director of the Military Affairs Bureau’s advice.”

“Ah, even so, it’s not possible with a small destroyer…”

The directors were in a very uncomfortable mood. It was not that they did not understand. The Navy had a strong purpose of showing off its power, both internally and externally. As the saying goes that national power is determined by the total tonnage of the fleet, as the era of large ships and large guns approaches, they will also demand large ships.

“Everything has its own order. If we start with small ships and build them up step by step, we will soon be able to operate a larger and more advanced fleet than those operated by Europe or Japan···.”

Like the future Korean Navy. During the Cold War, it was not a missile navy, but a gun navy due to the characteristics of the times, and it only had a deformed sea fleet force, but it could grow rapidly as it entered the 21st century by producing Aegis ships and various new ships. If only there was enough time and capital.

I heard they were also working on an aircraft carrier project, I wonder what’s going on now…

“But not today. Since this is my first time stepping into the ocean, I need to start with the most basic things.”

“Let’s first focus on the significance of setting foot on the sea. As the Director of the Military Affairs Bureau said, I believe that the beginning of naval law should start with destroyers.”

“Well… I think so too. No matter how much I think about it, if it weren’t for the Dongbi bastards and the Japanese, the Qing’s two first-class cruisers would have been in good shape….”

Director of the Air Force Won Se-rok raised his hand in agreement, seemingly disappointed.

Oh, by the way, Admiral Jeong Yeo-chang gave us two cruisers that were necessary for the creation of Joseon’s modern navy. Was it around 1894? They were old-fashioned, first-class cruisers produced in England in the 1870s, but if they had come in, it would have been much easier to create a navy than it is now.

And he was the one who was originally in charge of taking over. Admiral Won Se-rok, who had seen right before his eyes the budding of a modern navy being frustrated, voted in my favor, saying that it was late, but we needed to move now.

“···I’ll hold off.”

Admiral Min Young-hwan abstained, as he continued to raise questions about the small vessels’ lack of significance in Korean waters.

However, since there were 5 votes in favor, 2 votes against, and 1 abstention among the 6 chiefs of the Navy and 2 brigade commanders, the naval law was passed as I had argued, ‘forming a flotilla centered on destroyers.’

However, more problems than expected began to arise in the composition of the Navy.