Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 155



Only Noblemtl

#155. Conscription or the Melting Pot of the Nation (6)

“Gasp gasp···.”

On the way here today, I didn’t see any of the damn police officers who were patrolling the streets under the curfew, and I didn’t see a single soldier.

He ran from alley to alley, panting, trying to shake them off, but they pushed him into the alley with ease, as if it didn’t take any effort at all.

“You guys! You know who I am!”

“I know who you are, Your Excellency. There is someone who wishes to see you, so please follow me quietly.”

“Let go, let go you guys!”

Military uniforms without rank insignia were the authors that the hardliners of the Independence Association feared the most.

Syngman Rhee had thought that they would come to him someday, but he never thought it would be today.

They grabbed Syngman Rhee by both arms, put him on a carriage, and took him somewhere.

While I was leaving, I asked them to at least answer where they were going, but they remained silent.

I thought about opening the carriage door and running away, but I gave up when I saw the lump of iron visible through their clothes.

There were also fearful rumors that their clubs and blows were indiscriminate against anyone, whether they were nobles or commoners.

“Director, I brought you here.”

The carriage stopped, and the soldiers without ranks took Syngman Rhee and brought him to a rather quiet teahouse near Hanseongbu.

In a room with partitions, a young man wearing a sharp suit raised his hand.

“Here it is.”

They threw Syngman Rhee out on the spot and left immediately.

In front of him, who was confused, there was someone asking for a handshake.

It was the director of the Military Affairs Bureau who I saw at the Privy Council-Cabinet meeting earlier this afternoon.

“Oh, no, you···.”

“I ordered my subordinates to bring him here respectfully, but if I was rude, I apologize. After all, those guys, the guys who protected the special minister Kim Ga-jin in China, are a bit rough around the edges···.”

“What kind of outrage is this! A general in charge of the military affairs of a country dares to mobilize his subordinates and kidnap a member of the Privy Council?!”

“Even if I had asked to meet him, he would have ignored me. And at the meeting of the Central Council and the Cabinet tomorrow, he would have tried to intimidate me by saying, ‘The Director of the Military Affairs Bureau tried to seduce me!’”

He spoke in a slurred voice. Syngman Rhee felt as if a lid had been lifted. It was quite a sight to see a man who looked about the same age as him speak as the emperor’s lackey.

Syngman Rhee, who was about to explode, tried to scream, but the person sitting right in front of him spoke faster.

“It looks like the story will be long, so let’s order something to drink first. Oh, and don’t worry. I’ll pay for the tea. Hahaha!”

“this person···.”

“The tea here is quite good, but the teas imported from Japan and China recently are also said to be quite good.”

As expected of a military commissioner known as the cunning fox or the emperor’s dog, he acted slyly.

As the dumbfounded Lee Seung-man opened his mouth, he called his waiter over and asked him to bring him the best drink he had that day, and a moment later, a teacup was placed in front of him.

“···Okay, let me hear why the general brought me here.”

“You have a quick temper.”

He placed the teacup in his hand on the table. He smiled, but the slyness he had been exuding until just now was gone, and he spoke some rather sharp words.

“Well, honestly, I was quite impressed by your speech at the Privy Council today. I didn’t expect you to come armed with such a logic to oppose the conscription system. If we had a staff officer like you, I think the Korean military would have developed even further.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“And on the other hand, I also think this. I never imagined that a liberal like you would oppose conscription. Well, it’s not that hard to understand, considering that you too can’t help but be left with the remnants of an old-fashioned Confucian scholar.”

“What, what?”

He could see the military affairs director, giggling, resting his chin on one arm and looking at him clearly with his clear eyes.

Although Syngman Rhee was known to be quite strong-willed, the eyes of the person he was facing now seemed close to those of a pure madman.

“Aren’t you well-versed in Western history? Let’s look back at their history. Where was there a benevolent monarch who gave arms to the people and gave them military training and experience in military organization until 1789, just before the French Revolution? The separation of soldiers and peasants was a pre-modern form.”

“······?”

“By opposing the conscription system, do you intend to allow the masses of the Korean people to be treated as the Emperor’s property and serfs for eternity?”

Syngman Rhee suddenly couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. No, it was almost like treason.

For a moment he thought, should he call the military men outside? But he did not give him time for that.

“Now, Congressman Rhee Syngman. Let’s think about it together. In world history, the conscription system is the sum total of the development process of a modernized nation, the alpha and omega. The feudal classes of the Middle Ages created their own military by establishing the ‘knights,’ a military monopoly class, and those who wanted to have an army for a powerful monarch went further and purchased mercenaries, that is, armies with their own money.”

“That, that’s true.”

“But when the French Revolution broke out in 1789, the direction of the army completely changed. Due to political and social changes and the ideology of nationalism, the nation was formed and an army composed of them appeared. Why did Napoleon and his Grande Armée make Europe tremble? Because, unlike mercenaries or medieval feudal armies, an army composed of the nation had a tremendous advantage in morale and organizational power.”

“······.”

“France organized a grand army through a universal conscription system that transcended social status, and since then, this military direction and framework have been completely determined in Europe. It remains so even up to this day. Instead of guaranteeing the rights of the masses, especially the peasants who make up the majority, through political compromises, they formed a nation ‘armed with nationalism.’”

“But there are also examples like Deokguk!”

“They are special cases, not universal cases. Sir, don’t you know why we invited Russian officers and brought in French officers?”

He said, sitting up straight.

Syngman Rhee was quite taken aback by this unexpected move by his opponents, who were trying to ‘persuade’ him rather than suppress him with authority.

Rather, oppressing them in that way or imprisoning them would have given them an excuse to fight.

But he wasn’t like that. From the beginning, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at his appearance, which was different from other managers.

“Then let’s go back to our Korean Empire. Congressman Rhee Syngman, if the introduction of the conscription system is aborted as you said and the current volunteer-based military is maintained, well, in the short term it won’t be bad for the people. It will also give impetus to the development of the national economy.”

“Not only that-”

“But then the army will be filled with people who are desperately trying to save one mouth at home and avoid poverty, just like now. What will they do? They will be grateful to His Majesty the Emperor for not only feeding, housing, and clothing them, but also paying them a small but certain salary.”

What he was saying now was a real betrayal. Lee Seung-man wanted to escape right away, but he couldn’t run away. Every word he uttered shook his heart and head.

“Then they will be completely subordinated under the banner of the recent situation… and the general public and the classes that have become well-off due to recent economic development will be completely separated and fixed. Then, here, the people’s capitalism that you like so much… Well, let’s just talk frankly since it’s just the two of us. Let’s say that the wind of democracy that the Yankees talk about, democracy, blows into Korea. Do you think a democratic revolution achieved by the power of the people can be realized under the current military service system?”

His every word was filled with surprise.

Perhaps he was thinking that this country was too small to contain the military director in front of him. He thought that there was no thinker like him, but this person in front of him was one of those who went one step further.

“Damn, you’re totally crazy.”

“I’m not crazy, I’m just talking about reality. The conscription system is a crucible that creates citizens, and through that crucible, it can create those who will lead the rise and fall of a country. It was thanks to this that the Qing lost the Sino-Japanese War and Japan won. It wasn’t because the Qing was underdeveloped and Japan was superior. It was because of a very small difference that a turning point was created that led to victory.”

“her···.”

“His Majesty the Emperor has known about the conscription system since the 1880s, but due to the problems mentioned above, he has been extremely distrustful of the people, and because of that, he has had difficulty introducing the conscription system time and again. And due to recent problems, he was barely able to persuade them, but now he is having difficulty once again due to your opposition.”

“I thought soldiers were simple-minded and filled with the spirit of serving their country, but are they also good at deceiving people with long-winded speeches?”

“If you want them to charge bravely, shouting the names of their gods, their country, and their monarch, even in a battlefield covered in smoke and bullets, this is the basic requirement.”

Syngman Rhee thought that he was trying to get rid of him. No, otherwise, he would not have said such crazy things in front of him.

He calmed his mind by drinking from his cup with trembling hands. If something goes wrong here, they will drag you out as a traitor.

“Moreover, rather than being immediately dissatisfied with the conscription system, the masses are wary of the Independence Association’s intentions to oppose it.”

“What are you talking about? If you go out to the market right now, there are a lot of people who are dissatisfied with the conscription system.”

“The hardliners of the Independence Association and the Iljinhoe do not represent all the people. In any case, aren’t the landowners in the provinces the ones who suffer the most from the conscription system?”

The two biggest hands supporting the Independence Association were the government finances, and the other was the wealthy landowners of the Samnam region.

They were the group that would suffer losses in one way or another, such as the introduction of a stamp duty due to the recent census and land survey, as well as the fact that their tenant farmers would be drafted into the military if the conscription system was implemented.

Naturally, discontent arose among them, and this discontent led to financial support and massive support for the hardliners of the Independence Association.

Syngman Rhee looked at the director of the Military Affairs Bureau without saying anything as if he had been hit on the nail on the head.

“The Independence Association, which claims to represent the masses, is raising its voice on the side of the privileged. Isn’t that a real shame?”

“After all, aren’t you just someone who follows the Emperor’s will?”

“If you feel better through such self-consoling excuses, then feel free to think so. However, you yourself must judge what is truly necessary for the country and its people.”

Like a sly fox.

Although Syngman Rhee showed his open displeasure, he paid no attention.

Rather, he shrugged his shoulders and continued talking as if the current situation was completely his.

“Well, right now, I’m not saying that we should go to a republic like the U.S. or France. The world is still dominated by monarchies that serve monarchs rather than republics. However, even those monarchies will change. Hobbes’s Leviathan or something… In the end, the giant monster formed by the masses is the monarch, and the country ruled by the monarch is the one.”

“Are we ultimately talking about constitutionalism···.”

“If it is the most moderate and neutral way. Yes, that is correct.”

“What if I denounce what happened today? The general will never be safe either.”

Then the military affairs director started to burst out laughing.

He burst out laughing for so long that he couldn’t speak for a while. He wiped tears from his eyes and apologized for being rude in causing the laughter.

“Keuheup, this is the funniest story I’ve heard recently… I’m sorry. Well, you can tell me. You can report me to the National Police Agency, or if you’re sure, you can report me to the Imperial Police Commission.”

“What, what?”

“But recently, the Japanese embassy’s thugs have been disappearing frequently in broad daylight. This is a truly dangerous world. It’s scary for someone like me to wander the streets of Seoul alone.”

He was secretly threatening, not threatening. No, there were definitely rumors. There were stories at the level of ghost stories that several people in Hanseongbu, famous for being the Japanese embassy’s collaborators, had disappeared. However, most people knew that these were not ghost stories, but rather distorted versions of actual events.

In particular, there are stories such as the one about being dragged into Bukhansanseong Fortress and never being able to come out, and the story about the hands and feet of the weeds floating in the Han River.

And the thought crossed his mind that the military affairs director in front of him would be more than willing to be cruel to such ‘enemies of the country’.

In the year of Gap-o, he had already suppressed his compatriots, the Donghak Army, by force, and he had also brutally trampled on pirates.

It was clear that he was literally the kind of author who could send someone like Syngman Rhee to the afterlife if he were to make a mistake.

“I thought you felt the same way as me, but I’d be a little disappointed if you didn’t.”

“···Weren’t you trying to leave me alone?”

“Well, if I had intended to do that, I would have told you something different. You could have accused me instead, but you wouldn’t have brought up the dangerous things I mentioned earlier. Oh, of course, I think there’s a chance of misunderstanding. In that sense, let’s make a deal where we can trust each other.”

“transaction?”

He carefully whispered something into Syngman Rhee’s ear. And, Syngman Rhee’s eyes and ears seemed to open as he listened to the story he told.

He made a surprising offer, and in return was asked to remain silent or tacitly approve of the vote on conscription tomorrow.

Syngman Rhee wanted to reject the offer he made, but the terms were too tempting to do so.

After a moment of deliberation, Syngman Rhee had to make a choice.

Before the next day, the hardliners in the upper house of parliament must be persuaded.

And, true to his promise, Syngman Rhee succeeded in persuading two-thirds of the target number of votes before the vote was held the next day.

The remaining hardliners could not hide their bewildered expressions at seeing Syngman Rhee, who had become more passive than yesterday, and the conscription ordinance, which had gained strength, was passed through ‘legal’ procedures both domestically and internationally.

Starting in 1902, conscription centers were to be established in each province, and a plan was adopted to first supplement the 40,000 men who were in short supply, and then organize the men who were conscripted thereafter into reserve or reserve forces after simple military training in preparation for wartime.

The bill required that all adult males between the ages of 18 and 35 must complete an initial 12-week military training program, with active-duty soldiers serving for three years and the remaining reserve and reserve soldiers receiving training for 7 to 14 days every year until the age of 45.

Most of the reserves and reserves were assigned to local artillery or militia units, and their commanders were officers from local aristocrats who had been called up and trained since the late 1890s.

As a result, by 1904, the Korean Empire was able to establish a system that could mobilize 100,000 standing troops and 280,000 reserve and reserve forces.

It was the moment when the nation’s crucible opened anew.