Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 378



Only Noblemtl

#2-34. Behind Diplomacy (2)

Chief of Records Cho Dong-yoon looked straight at Lee Beom-jin and said.

“There is no reason for our Korean Empire to provoke the Republic of China more than necessary. If we are not careful, it will only give Yuan Shikai a good excuse to strengthen internal unity.”

Cho Dong-yoon has been concerned about the existence of a unified country called China, whether in the form of the Qing Empire or the Republic of China.

Although the country was now in chaos due to the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the rise of Yuan Shikai, he also had a fear in his head that if they were to unite someday, they would gradually turn their attention to him.

That’s why he was reluctant to provoke them more than necessary now.

It cannot be denied that the fact that the Marshal’s Office, especially the Records Bureau, was most active in supporting Sun Yat-sen was largely due to the strong intention to obstruct the point of a unified China in any form.

“But isn’t it also true that if we stop here, we won’t achieve anything?”

“Ministers, even if we destroy Zhang Zuolin, the damage we will inflict on ourselves will be enormous. A second or third Zhang Zuolin will emerge claiming to have hegemony in the Northeast. Will you fight them when you are not prepared?”

The hardliners were silent at Jo Dong-yoon’s words. Of course, the background to the current one-sided offensive, which has Jang Jag-rim cornered, is not only the presence of General Kim Si-hyeok, the greatest commander in the East, but also the information that the Records Bureau has gathered by building an intelligence network in Manchuria and operating it for the past ten years.

Because no one among the cabinet members could deny the activities of the 8th and 9th departments in charge of Manchuria, and the 10th department operating in southern China.

“If the current situation could be resolved simply by the disappearance of one Jangjakrim, I would have argued so from the beginning. However, this is absolutely not the case here. Until we completely conquer South Manchuria, it is more convenient for Jangjakrim, who we have completely analyzed and are relatively easy to deal with, to remain.”

“That being said, there’s no denying that Jang Jag-rim is an outstanding person. In that short period of time, he traveled back and forth between Russia and Japan, building up his own power. It doesn’t seem right to have someone like that at our bedside.”

“I knew you would think that, so I prepared some materials… … .”

He said he knew it, so he took out the materials he had prepared one by one and ordered the records officers waiting outside to distribute them.

Then, documents in the amount appropriate to the number of ministers were placed on the table, and they read the written words while adjusting their glasses or squinting.

“If Jangjakrim is destroyed, we will have to face three major realistic problems.”

“What is the practical problem?”

Prime Minister Kim Ga-jin asked him quietly. Then, this time, Army Minister General Lee Kyu-tae spoke on behalf of Jo Dong-yoon.

“First, if Zhang Zuolin falls, we will not be able to control the influx of Chinese immigrants. I believe you all know what problems the Russian-Chinese governors-general in Fengtian, Lushun, and Dalian are experiencing… … .”

Lee Gyu-tae continued to speak in a trembling tone. The Russian Far East Governor-General was already suffering from the rapidly increasing Chinese population.

After the war in 1905, Russia attempted to expand Russian territory in Manchuria in earnest by preparing a plan to resettle 600,000 Russians in Manchuria, but there was one problem that had to be resolved first.

“Around 1907, just before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, in response to Russia’s policy of increasing immigration to the Far East, they began to lift the embargo on Manchuria.”

“Minister of the Interior, what is the current population composition of Manchuria?”

“… According to the estimate of the Russian Far East Governor-General, the population is approximately 14 million, and according to the population census conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Marshal’s Office, it is approximately 16 million.”

“That’s a huge number. It’s almost the same as the entire population of our country.”

Kim Ga-jin stuck out his tongue and said, Of course, not all of that population would be Han Chinese, and some would be Manchurian, but even so, it was undeniable that the pressure was enormous.

Since a population equivalent to the current population of the Korean Empire, 20 million, was gathered in Manchuria, it was a situation that the internal affairs and the Marshal’s Office could not help but regard as a real threat.

There must have been some definite reason why the population pressure did not reach South Manchuria. And the information about this happened to be in the possession of the Marshal’s Office.

“Under such circumstances, it may not have been expected, but Jangjakrim has absorbed the immigrants from Shandong, Hebei, and Henan who flowed into our territory. Thanks to this, our population north of the Yalu River is more than three times that of the Chinese population.”

“Huh, this is it. This is a hostile symbiosis.”

“That’s right. Although Jangjakrim has a big reason to develop the area he owns and absorb all of its population in the long term to use as military and industrial resources, for now, it’s playing a role in reducing the population pressure that will continue to fall on us.”

Kim Ga-jin let out a hollow laugh as he listened to the report from the Marshal’s Office. After all, if they disappeared, it was a given that the Korean Empire would be caught up in problems it couldn’t handle.

“We must not forget that although Zhang Zuolin poses a great military threat to us, it also serves as a buffer zone for the influx of Chinese people.”

The Records Bureau of the Marshal’s Office once requested forecasts of how much the Chinese population in South Manchuria would increase in the absence of a forest.

And the content was shocking. Although the Korean population in the Yalu-Tuman River basin still outnumbers the Chinese population by about three to one, predictions were made that the Chinese population would continue to surge in the next 10 to 20 years.

The civil war and chaos in Shandong, Hebei, and Henan, as well as the famine and crop failures that had continued since 1899, were factors that continuously increased the population inflow into southern Manchuria.

This led to the rather chilling conclusion that by 1920 the Chinese population in Manchuria would already have exceeded 20 million, and by the 1930s this would increase to 40 million.

Of course, this was assuming the most extreme situation, but even this was a prediction that had a high possibility, so Cho Dong-yoon and the key staff of the Marshal’s Office hoped that Jang Jag-rim and the Far East Governor-General would act as a buffer zone against them.

At least until the Korean population reaches a significant level and the administrative network, defense system, and security system are functioning like those in the area south of Amnok-Tuman.

“…If Jangjakrim is destroyed by our army, where will the Chinese population they harbor flow to?”

Fortunately, however, most of the Chinese population, numbering 14 to 16 million, were concentrated in the Liaoxi region, slightly further west, rather than in South Manchuria.

Of course, there will come a time when, little by little, slowly but surely, their population will move towards Fengtian, Lushun, and Dalian.

But in this situation, if the Jangjakrim collapsed, they would rush into South Manchuria like a burst dam.

And that wave could not be stopped by anything.

“That would be the first reason the Marshal could talk about. Then what is the second reason?”

“This is somewhat related to the first reason. They are blocking bandits coming from Mongolia.”

“Mongolian bandits. Aren’t they just a handful?”

“The Government-General of the Far East said something completely different.”

Captain Lee Gyu-tae once heard several stories about Mongolian bandits mentioned by the Russian Far East Governor-General.

The bandits who frequently crossed from Mongolia to northern Manchuria were once a nuisance to the point of threatening even Fengtian. If there was a reason they could not advance to southern Manchuria, it could be said frankly that it was thanks to the presence of the warlord army led by Zhang Zuolin.

Regarding this, General Kim Si-hyeok said this. He said that now they would have to go through the same dilemma that the ancient Roman Republic went through when it advanced.

“Their invasion is blocked by Jangjakrim with his whole body, but if they collapse and our forces advance to Shanhaiguan, we will have another enemy. Unlike Jangjakrim, who fights in a linear fashion, our defense plan could be greatly disrupted by the Mongol bandits who charge in a non-linear fashion.”

Lee Gyu-tae said with his eyes tightly shut. He warned that if Jang Ja-rim’s sphere of influence collapsed as General Kim Si-hyeok had said, an unmanageable snowball would fall on them, and that the chaos would inevitably lead to intervention by foreign powers with great interests in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula – most likely referring to the Japanese Empire.

“The power of our Korean Empire is still too weak to deal with the influx of Chinese immigrants and the Mongol bandits who are causing trouble even for the Governor-General of Russia.”

“Would it be difficult to just expand the number of settlements?”

“There are limits to that method. In the end, we need to embrace not only our people in South Manchuria, but also the Manchu and Han Chinese populations who have been assimilated into us, and this is a problem that will take a long time.”

Then, looking at the map of Manchuria, everyone sighed.

“… Then what is the last reason?”

“The reality is that we are not prepared for a long-term war. The troops currently commanded by General Kim Si-hyeok are only about 50,000, including the militia. This is enough to destroy Jang Ja-rim’s army, but it would be a different story if we were to fight the entire Republic of China.”

Jo Dong-yoon was assessing the situation relatively coolly. Even in the Marshal’s Office, General Kim Si-hyeok, the director of the Operations Bureau, and himself, the director of the Records Bureau, had already had a considerable amount of discussions about the Manchurian issue.

“Yuan Shikai’s army of over 600,000 men may seem weak when considered individually, but their weapon lies in their numbers. To repel them, we would need several times the number of troops that General Kim Si-hyeok is currently leading. In addition, we cannot ignore the concern that Japan’s reluctance to allow us to advance may provoke Britain into intervening in the Far East.”

As they finished speaking, tension filled the cabinet room. The hard-line civilian bureaucrats still looked dissatisfied, but they had no intention of ignoring the issues raised by the Marshal’s Office.

“… The Republic of China and the Yuan Shikai warlords are gradually breaking apart as time goes by, and we have completely destroyed Japan’s strategy. However, if we go any further, it may have the opposite effect.”

“For example, the Republic of China unites and Japan changes its policy toward us… is that what you mean?”

“That’s it, Prime Minister.”

Jo Dong-yoon said, agreeing with Kim Ga-jin’s words.

“This is the situation we were ultimately trying to avoid: a two-front war.”

General Kim Si-hyeok has always been disgusted by the term “two-faced warlord.” He said frankly that no matter how capable the command and elite the soldiers are, they cannot fight against completely different opponents coming from two sides.

Moreover, in the previous war, we had already emphasized that we should not strangle ourselves by forcing Japan to wage a two-front war and achieving victory.