Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 384



Only Noblemtl

#2-40. The End of Peace (2)

One day, just a few days after the peace treaty was signed, Lee Beom-jin cautiously went to the house of Prime Minister Kim Ga-jin and asked to meet him. The front door opened, and when he entered the house guided by his children, Kim Ga-jin greeted him.

Seeing him in a rather narrow study that would hardly seem like a place where the Prime Minister of a country resides, I couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t for nothing that he was called a Prime Minister who was respected and loved by the people.

“Oh, you. Why did you come all the way to such a shabby place?”

“Prime Minister, I am afraid I have disturbed your long-awaited holiday.”

“Where can a person who eats green beans have a holiday? He just can’t sleep because he’s worried about the country. Since you’re here, let’s have a drink and chat.”

It was dinner time, and the conversation seemed like it would be quite long, so Lee Beom-jin accepted his offer. Soon, a simple table set with drinks was brought into the small study room.

“I remember that time ten years ago. When the military commander swept the army and stopped the enemies from advancing into Hamheung.”

“Ah, that time? I remember the cup of wine that His Majesty the Emperor gave me to boost my morale.”

“… It was a really tasteless drink, though.”

After a while of drinking and talking about various things, the prepared snacks began to slowly run out.

“Prime Minister, regarding the Manchurian issue… … .”

“The Manchurian problem? Wasn’t that problem already resolved through peace negotiations with the Republic of China?”

“That is not the issue, Prime Minister. The issue now is what to do with the Chinese who have already entered our territory.”

Kim Ga-jin, who stopped while raising the glass to his lips, quietly looked at the Minister of the Interior, who might have brought up a rather dangerous topic in front of him.

“… So what do you want to talk about?”

“There was no discussion at all in the cabinet about how to treat them. It would have been better if General Kim Si-hyeok had attacked the Shanhai Pass this time and blocked their inflow route… … .”

“… Putting aside whether the attack on Shanhaiguan was possible, what are your thoughts on this matter at present?”

Kim Ga-jin asked Lee Beom-jin the question and broke his glass.

As far as he knew and as far as the world knew, the brothers Lee Beom-jin and Lee Beom-yun were quite well-known hardliners in the cabinet, and whenever there was a discussion, they insisted that the Chinese population should be expelled from South Manchuria.

“Of course we should expel them beyond the Yellow River. And shouldn’t we increase the population of the remaining regions by centering on our Koreans and cooperative Russians and Manchus?”

“You know how difficult it is in reality, Mr. Gong.”

Kim Ga-jin shook his head and put a piece of the paper in front of him into his mouth. Well, if it had been easy to drive out all the Chinese population, as he said, he would have done so.

Potentially, they were a source of instability for the Korean Empire, a future enemy, and a variable that could shake up the rear if a war with Jangjakrim broke out.

But realistically, physically removing them was nearly impossible.

The Chinese population was already an indispensable part of the farms and pastures developed by the settlements, and there were many who lived in compliance with the government in their own way, so they could not be taken out carelessly.

Above all, if they were expelled without any reason, it goes without saying that they would be condemned by the entire nation.

“As the Minister of the Interior knows very well, it is impossible to control it with just the police forces stationed there.”

“So, we plan to use this incident as an opportunity to discuss with the Marshal’s Office and reorganize the defense system. We are considering increasing the frequency of mobile patrols by increasing the number of National Military Police under the Military Police Command, and moving one division each from Pyeongan and Hamgyeong provinces to the north and stationing them there.”

Kim Ga-jin was skeptical about whether General Kim Si-hyeok would accept it. He, too, was extremely averse to forcibly expelling Chinese people from the territory.

The logic was that they too would have to become citizens of Korea someday and could be valuable human resources, so there was no reason to hold a grudge against them.

“Will the enemy accept it? Even Captain Kim Si-hyuk is not happy about it.”

“So, we must persuade him in the cabinet, Prime Minister. Without doing so, the future we have in South Manchuria will be nothing but ruin.”

“This ball has been taken by you.”

“Prime Minister, I am in my right mind. We do not have much time left. We must act before their population explodes and they push us out by population pressure. If their population overwhelms us and Japan and the Republic of China try to get involved, I do not think we can hold out.”

It was indeed a statement from Lee Beom-jin, who could be called a hardliner. Kim Ga-jin sighed and was thinking about how to persuade him.

“That is absolutely unacceptable, Minister of the Interior. It is absolutely unjust.”

Suddenly I heard a faint sound of a guest, but I didn’t know it was the Dean of Students.

“Faculty Minister, what are you doing here?”

“We were having a drink together. I came here to have a serious discussion with the Prime Minister, but I overheard the Minister of the Interior talking about something I didn’t mean to.”

He said this while putting down the hat he was wearing. It had been almost 20 years since the short hair order was implemented, and it was not in vain that he was evaluated as the last Confucian scholar in the Korean Empire cabinet.

“Minister of the Interior, this problem will never be solved by us kicking out the Chinese.”

Min Jong-muk, who was still serving as the Minister of Education despite his old age, shouted with his back straight.

He was a loyal subject who had served two kings and one emperor up until then, and a bureaucrat who had somehow led Joseon in the face of the wave of the opening of its ports, so no one could ignore his words.

Even General Kim Si-hyeok, who could be called the head of the Marshal’s Office, treated him with great courtesy, and the emperor also trusted him.

“They are also human beings just like us. They have two eyes, two ears, one mouth and one mouth. So why do you try to exclude them like this?”

“Will they really become our people and be loyal to us? They are likely to cooperate with Jang Jag-rim and his bandits at any time. They are potential traitors and rebels!”

“You speak too harshly, Minister of the Interior. You should not view them only as enemies.”

Min Jong-muk continued speaking with the air of a Confucian scholar. He raised his finger and said,

“It’s been four years since Korea declared the Four Great Patriotic Wars. Isn’t it the Patriotic Wars through naval construction, the Patriotic Wars through firepower, the Patriotic Wars through industry, and the last one through education?”

“That’s true, but… … .”

Min Jong-muk was more proactive and bold in establishing schools than any other bureaucrat.

Although he himself was a Confucian scholar, he believed that in the future, Korea should be led by children who received a new education. Accordingly, ten years after the abolition of the civil service examination, he introduced a new examination to select the positions of imperial officials, judges, and chief officials, and launched a large-scale school project.

He joined hands with everyone who could. He immediately joined hands with the Marshal’s Office, which had a large number of personnel, to establish schools in major cities, teach Korean and arithmetic to soldiers in the barracks, and actively accepted foreign missionaries, establishing both public and private schools.

“Since I served as the Minister of Education for several years, I have established over 4,000 schools throughout the country and have turned the children of Joseon into the children of Korea. In that way, wouldn’t it be possible to turn even the Chinese in Manchuria into our subjects?”

“But we don’t have enough time left for that, Minister of Education. How can we turn millions of Chinese people into our own people through the power of education?”

“It will be difficult right now. There will probably be great difficulties and some people will question their own identity.”

Min Jong-muk spoke while looking down at the streets of Hanseongbu with his luggage on his back.

“But education is a plan that will last a hundred years, and even if we cannot see its effects in our lifetime, we must do it. Education is the only way to make all kinds of people, all different kinds of people, into children of the Great Korea.”

“but…….”

“As you say, if we send a bunch of troops and police officers there, will they obey and abandon their land of their own accord? Absolutely not. Rather, they will resist and resist again, and bring into the world people who are worse than Jang Jag-rim, who caused the incident this time. That is absolutely unacceptable.”

He took a deep breath, muttering, “No, no, no.” Maybe it was because he was getting older, but even just talking a little bit made him gasp for breath.

“It would be too difficult for this country, which has walked the path of Confucianism for the past several hundred years, to easily choose the path of hegemony all of a sudden. In the end… we will have to bear the burden of Confucianism.”

“What if it’s Yuja’s burden?”

Kim Ga-jin also seemed interested in Min Jong-mook’s words and listened intently.

“We should educate them through our schools and education. If we make them into people with the same sense of identity as us through the duty of Confucianism and treat them as a Korean people, will they betray us? No matter how sweet the Japanese offer may be, they will not easily give in.”

“That is worthy of Lord Min.”

It was Lee Beom-jin’s words that were a bit sarcastic. At that moment, I thought that it was something I would have to live a long life to see, for Min Jong-mook, who is famous for being a conservative, to say something like that.

“It doesn’t matter if you curse at the main building for being boring. As the dean of the college, I will find a way to make them the children of our country.”

“Will things change if the Chinese learn our language and education?”

“We have to make it change. We have to do it generation after generation. Otherwise, we can’t make this place called Manchuria completely our land.”

He spoke, stroking his beard with his wrinkled hands. Min Jong-mook felt much more confident than when he had negotiated with the Japanese ambassador over the issue of Banggokryeong during his time as an external dictator.

Ultimately, it was necessary to make the Chinese in South Manchuria the children of Korea and to improve their treatment and standard of living so that they would be differentiated from their compatriots across the Yellow River.

And he had no doubt that it all began with education.

“Education is a hundred-year plan for the country. And this is the starting point and the end point of our department. The reason I came here to meet the Prime Minister today was to discuss establishing a full-fledged government-run school in Manchuria.”

“Are you talking about Manchuria?”

“Schools have already been built in the 13 provinces of the country, so now it is time to build one in Manchuria. I am approaching my eighties, so it will be difficult to see the end, but I hope that at least the image of Daehan carrying the burden of Confucius will be maintained.”

Kim Ga-jin smiled and answered instead. There was a way to relieve some of his worries here.

“As soon as General Kim Si-hyeok returns, we will discuss the Manchurian defense system and also discuss the issue of establishing a school.”

“Prime Minister.”

“This ball, the expulsion of the Chinese is absolutely unacceptable. The path that our country must choose is to make the Chinese our children, not our enemies.”

“But how many wars will there be in the meantime? How many of our sons will have to shed their blood in South Manchuria?!”

The Minister of the Interior looked angry as if he could not accept it, but Prime Minister Kim Ga-jin looked at him with a stern expression.

“Since we have taken over a land that is completely different from ours, we have no choice but to accept that level of sacrifice. There will be a complete reorganization of the South Manchurian defense system soon, so let’s talk again then, Minister of the Interior.”

“Ugh… … .”

“Enough with the headache, can I have a drink with you too?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Kim Ga-jin ordered more drinks and glasses, and continued drinking until the moon appeared on the mountaintop.