Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 341



Only Noblemtl

#341. Portsmouth and the End of the War (5)

If he had been afraid of death, he would not have joined the Tokugawa shogunate in the first place and taken the lead in overthrowing the shogunate.

Even when he was under constant threat of assassination as a bureaucrat of the new government, and when the Restorationists Okubo and Saigo met their separate deaths, he led the Japanese cabinet.

His life was always at a crossroads, and each time he chose the lesser of two evils over the best.

The principle of all life in the world is that choosing the lesser evil rather than the best becomes the driving force to move forward most successfully.

This time again he chose the lesser of two evils.

“······.”

“But they are not doing that and are being as patient as possible. Of course, they do not want our downfall. Instead, they just want to make us easy targets. So let’s make the most of that. We can offer them concessions and get something back in return. It will take a while, but I think Satsuma and Choshu will be convinced by this…”

Ito was able to obtain considerable progress from the three parties in this meeting.

Considering how dire the situation was, it was a good measure of prevention.

This was also possible because both Russia and North Korea could not afford to prolong the war.

“Furthermore, through the abolition of the grain tax, we were able to gradually stabilize the domestic rice price. Also, the restriction on gold exports was lifted… so we were able to make up for the worsening finances.”

“···It is quite ironic that Joseon’s rice was used to stabilize the country and Joseon’s gold was used to cover the costs of the war with Joseon.”

“They’re pretty clever, too. They understood from the beginning that there was nothing good to come from our downfall.”

At that, Ito shook his fist.

“We may have raised a monster called Joseon.”

Of course, these were a kind of ‘considerations’ that could be obtained thanks to Ito’s behind-the-scenes negotiations with the plenipotentiary minister of the Korean Empire.

Ambassador Lee Beom-jin openly said this to Ito.

The Empire does not want another Empire to die, and they want absolute balance in the Far East.

There was also a warning that if Japan’s national system collapsed, this place would once again be engulfed in chaos due to war and foreign intervention.

In doing so, they pulled out the cards that the Japanese Empire wanted.

It was a measure to lift the ban on grain exports and gold exports.

Ito was extremely saddened by this measure, which was neither more nor less likely to save the life of the Japanese Empire.

If it were normal, I would have suggested finding another route without even giving it a second thought, but now was not the time to refuse.

“···Those cheeky guys.”

Although these were very presumptuous words, he seemed to have a keen sense of worldliness.

“Something doesn’t feel right, but… I guess I should be grateful for this much.”

Based on Harbin, the Russian construction and operation rights for the Eastern Railway north of the city were recognized, but the Japanese Empire was to have priority in the construction rights for the railway south of the city of Harbin.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one who monopolized it.

“These are Americans who pretend to be moral on the outside but take whatever they can get. They are really vicious.”

“You have to have that much shamelessness to run a huge country.”

Despite his pretense of elegance and nobility, and his love of peace, Theodore Roosevelt’s true colors slowly revealed themselves behind the mask.

As discussions continued on the issue of the railway south of Harbin, it seemed as if they were trying to receive a reward for their efforts in mediation, and they strongly insisted on the establishment of a multinational investment company in the railway in southern Manchuria.

Since the United States and its companies have the technology and capital to do so, they stepped forward to provide active support.

Of course, their underlying intention was to somehow get into Manchuria and make a profit.

“By the way, I didn’t know you were going to give the Joseon people a share as well. Doesn’t that mean we’re essentially handing over South Manchuria to them?”

“···We and the United States alone cannot intervene and manage that railroad. That is realistically impossible. In any case, the beginning and end of the continental railroad line is Joseon.”

In response to America’s intention to get a piece of the action, Ito expanded the proposal to include the Korean Empire as well.

The reason was extremely simple: since Korea did not have the capital or technology to handle the stake anyway, it was expected that after the war, it would turn to those closest to them.

In other words, the main logic was to prevent either side from monopolizing the Manchurian railways as a sort of multinational joint railway company.

···The fact that French capital was supporting Joseon from time to time was also something worth looking forward to.

“It would be better for Joseon to enter South Manchuria rather than Roske. They are weaker than Roske, and they have never managed a large piece of land before.”

“···That’s amazing.”

“In any case, Joseon has no control over South Manchuria at all. Just look at the territories in the Gando region that they acquired during the Boxer Rebellion. I don’t know what their intentions were, but because they set the border vaguely, proper development has not been carried out yet, and administrative power has not been exercised. For those guys, South Manchuria is like throwing a big, hard-to-digest piece of bread to a puppy.”

Ito said with a bitter laugh.

The Koreans who were surprised by their concessions and were already delusional about the huge gift package of managing South Manchuria were vivid before his eyes.

“If only we could somehow regain our power and exert influence while no one was able to control South Manchuria, then everything would be fine.”

Since Korea would be unable to control the area or exercise sovereignty over it as actual territory anyway, it was a move by the old fox, Ito, who thought that he could seize the opportunity when the Japanese Empire finished reorganizing and began expanding into the continent again.

Of course, in this process, there was no consideration for Qing whatsoever.

“If we proceed as planned, the Qing Dynasty will object, right? In any case, the land here is nominally Qing’s.”

“If those writers can do something, let them do it. Right now, there’s nothing they can do. They’re just fools who can stand by and watch as Manchuria is torn apart.”

Ito laughed at Gomura’s concerns.

The Qing dynasty was a group of incompetent people who couldn’t even protect their own country and didn’t even have the will to do so.

There was no country that could speak for them. Rather, there would be a target for them to take something more from.

“And they too will resent and hate Roske and Joseon, who they think have taken away their territory. We can weaken them without getting our hands dirty.”

“also···.”

Gomura realized once again why he was called the old fox.

The reality today is that it is difficult to see the future five years ahead, or even three years ahead, but Ito always judged the situation from a perspective that is 10 or 20 years ahead.

And overall, his judgment was a good choice.

“If we can limit each other’s points of influence in this way, we can certainly maintain peace.”

“It was a little surprising that the Roske accepted it.”

“They probably thought Joseon would eat better than us.”

The Russian Empire secretly approved this with the psychological expectation that Joseon would be on its side.

There may have been another reason, but it was an extremely Russian one.

It may have been meant as a reward for Korea’s help in preserving their Russian ideals.

Of course, the Korean Empire was dumbfounded and had an expression like a child who had received an unexpectedly large candy.

“But it breaks my heart that Lushun was lost. General Nogi lost all his sons trying to occupy it.”

“···There’s no choice. Lushun is important to the management of the empire, but the goal of the survival of the system is more urgent right now. In order to do that, I have to know how to give up things that seem very important···.”

In the case of Port Arthur, there was a rather complicated discussion about who would control it between Russia and Japan, but in the end, the discussion had no choice but to end with the sovereignty going to Russia.

The time to solve this by force has long passed.

The Japanese troops who were already trapped there were slowly dying out with no other option, and since they had accepted an unconditional withdrawal from the Korean Peninsula, they had no troops, supplies, or justification to hold out there any longer.

“Based on this, send a telegram to your home country.”

“All right.”

Of course, there would be strong opposition from the military, but even within that, the Army and Navy, whose views were strangely divided, would have fought each other fiercely until they eventually gave in under the pressure.

All of this was under Ito’s calculations, and it was in fact a surrender, but it was also a peace treaty that was not a surrender.

“The final version of the treaty will be completed within a few days, so please calm down before then.”

“yes?”

“Even if the cabinet, government, and military are like that, the angry public will not stay still···.”

Still, it is unavoidable to be evaluated as a disgrace, so we must be prepared.

Considering that Okubo was assassinated by dissatisfied people and that Okuma also lost a leg to a terrorist attack due to humiliating diplomacy, it was really something that required walking around with a bandage around his stomach.

“Now is the time. It is time to put an end to the war that has lasted for 16 months.”

***

“Very good.”

I said this while looking at the compromise proposals for Japan’s treaty revision that had flown in from Portsmouth.

First of all, the issue of independence and sovereignty for Korea could be addressed in an expanded version of the one at the time of the previous Hanseong Treaty.

It was a form in which the existing sovereignty of Germany, France, Britain, and the United States was guaranteed.

However, there was one condition attached to this: the ROK-Russia Defense Treaty had to be abolished and the country had to remain neutral.

It was said that the Russian side and our side discussed this issue separately, but the most likely course of action was to first move on to the termination of the defense treaty.

Of course, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was recognized as a separate matter, and the situation did not develop to the point where the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was also terminated following the termination of the Korea-Russia Defense Treaty.

Whatever the case, Britain would eventually abandon Japan, so it didn’t matter.

If it breaks, then it’s good, but if not, then it’s just a passing thing.

Of course, the staff around him were concerned about this.

It was a realistic fear that the very existence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance would pose a great threat to us, but I gave them a new direction.

“Sir, isn’t it extremely unfair that our defense treaty is being broken while the Anglo-Japanese alliance is being maintained?”

“It doesn’t matter. Britain doesn’t need Japan that much anymore anyway.”

“yes?”

“Their alliance is not equal. It is more like a master-servant contract.”

Britain already saw this war as giving it the upper hand in its tiring Great Game with Russia, regardless of whether Japan won or lost.

Even the British Prime Minister had already predicted that Japan would lose to Russia.

If Russia lost, it would be all the better, but even if they won, it would be a losing battle for Britain.

This is because even if Russia wins, it will not have the capacity to subdue the entire vast Far East region, and it is judged that it will collapse on its own because of its own size.

I also think the British people’s sinister predictions were correct.

Russia suffered combat casualties of 100,000, or 10% of its standing army of 1 million, and non-combat casualties of 200,000, and its strength in Central Asia, where it had been locked in a fierce battle with Britain, was greatly diminished.

They were now in a position where they had to struggle in a war of nerves with the Ottoman Turks.

“Besides, the situation in Europe is changing significantly.”