Chapter 57: Grand Duke of the North (3)

“Things have gotten awfully complicated.”

The Tsar, with only his head above the bathwater, openly clicked his tongue as he muttered.

“Everyone’s opinions are so divided that I can’t get my bearings. Even Witte and Yakov’s views diverged a little….”

“That can’t be helped. Their own positions naturally have to come first.”

For Witte, the development of Manchuria was his alpha and omega, while Yakov’s priority was rooting out those who posed a threat to Russia and the Emperor.

And as far as the military establishment was concerned, swallowing the Korean Peninsula whole would obviously multiply Russia’s forces in the Far East several times over, so naturally they could hardly help salivating at the thought of charging in.

Everyone wanted something different, so naturally they came up with different answers. What mattered now was for the Tsar to sort them all out.

“First, based on everything I’ve gathered so far, the chances of Britain granting Korea’s request are extremely low. It might be different if Japan were still in fighting shape, but Japan will need at least another 10 to 20 years to recover. Britain isn’t stupid, so there’s no reason for them to deliberately pick a fight with us.”

“…Right? I knew the people saying Britain would intervene had no sense. Tsk, tsk.”

“But that doesn’t mean we should snap at this opportunity and annex Korea. Nor should we strip it of its diplomatic rights. There’s no practical gain in it.”

It was a country with a population well over 10 million that had lived as a single people for centuries and built a culture of its own.

Swallowing it whole in one bite was bound to cause indigestion.

Signing something like the Eulsa Treaty from the original history would only let us watch the anti-Japanese righteous army turn into an anti-Russian righteous army.

Do that, and the development of Manchuria would immediately grind to a halt, and we would lose money we could otherwise make.

-Oh, that’s unexpected. I thought you were going easy on them because of me.

Going easy on them, my ass. Seong-jun didn’t even like Gojong that much to begin with.

-True. Whether that man gets kicked off the throne or not is none of my business.

There had indeed been occasional proposals to dethrone Gojong.

Nicholas II might just be tempted by one of them, so I needed to make that point absolutely clear first.

“Your Majesty, one more thing. Using this incident as an excuse to force the Korean Emperor from his throne would also be a bad move.”

“Is…that so?”

“Yes. Then public opinion in Korea will spread that Russia won the war and is now trying to annex the Korean Peninsula. That a righteous monarch who tried to stop it was forcibly dethroned. There’s no reason for us to go out of our way to make him a martyr, is there?”

Of course, turning the Korean Empire into a colony held no benefit, but that did not mean we were going to do nothing.

Manchuria and Primorye lacked both population and sheer weight, so their best path to growth was to be bound together with the Korean Peninsula as a single economic sphere.

“From what we’ve investigated through the Okhrana, the Korean Emperor is an incompetent fool of an emperor. He claims to practice neutral diplomacy, but he keeps siding with one power and then another, only increasing the exhaustion of the great powers. There’s no need for us to cut him down with our own hands.”

“I understand what you mean. So we destroy Korea’s international credibility?”

“Oh…yes. Exactly. And we spread it far and wide that their Emperor tried to stab us in the back. Fortunately, there are plenty of officials over there who admire Your Majesty, so we can simply borrow their hands.”

The Tsar nodded, looking quite interested.

“So, what exactly should we do?”

“First, let’s have Your Majesty very generously forgive this entire affair.”

“Forgive him? The man who tried to stab me in the back?”

The Tsar’s brow furrowed slightly.

He was an Emperor, after all. Being told to simply let off someone who had tried to pull one over on him was naturally hard to accept at first.

Of course, I wasn’t actually telling him to forgive Gojong.

“Think about it. If Your Majesty corners Korea over this, what do you think the people there will say?”

“Hmm….”

“Russia has finally shown its true colors. They’re seizing on a weak nation’s minor mistake as an excuse to devour it. That’s the sort of thing they’ll shout. There’s nothing in it for us.”

On the other hand, the story changed if he knew everything and still showed mercy.

The bearing of a great man who showed magnanimity even after being stabbed in the back.

We had already, quite unintentionally, left a favorable impression on the Korean people as a gentlemanly occupying army, so the effect would be doubled.

“In return, we put a leash on the Korean imperial house. They’ll owe Your Majesty a favor too great to ever repay, so shouldn’t they show some sincerity?”

“The complete transfer of the railway concession, and labour for developing Manchuria… So that’s what you’re saying we should take.”

Oh…is this really that Nicholas II?

My chest swells.

“Yes. We could crush them whenever we felt like it anyway, so we simply pretend to let things go amicably. As expected of Your Majesty. You went straight to the heart of it.”

“Hahaha, this much is nothing. Isn’t it only natural once I put my mind to it?”

One of the biggest headaches in developing Manchuria right now was the labour shortage.

There were nowhere near enough people for such a vast landmass, so development could only crawl along.

Wasn’t that exactly why Witte had set his sights on a neighboring country with a population of over 10 million?

“Korea always has plenty of people struggling to make ends meet, whether because of poor harvests or whatever else. If we tell them there are jobs in Manchuria, they’ll flock there on their own.”

“Yes, yes. Not through forced levies. Entirely voluntarily.”

The more Korea’s labour force drained into Manchuria, the more deeply Korea would inevitably become dependent on Russia.

If we let the railways, money, and people all flow our way, there would be no need to intimidate them with guns and swords.

The Korean Empire would slowly but inevitably fall under Russian influence.

“After that, to accelerate this process even further, we’ll plant the idea that the Korean imperial house is incompetent. It’s already true, so it won’t be difficult.”

The corners of the Tsar’s lips rose in amusement.

“You mean to make him an Emperor reviled by his own subjects.”

“Yes. The people will increasingly turn their backs on the imperial house, while the great powers will come to see Korea as a country not even worth dealing with. Then no one will care what we do.”

“That is a fitting end for a man who tried to stab me in the back. Do it.”

The Emperor rose from the bath with a pleased smile.

As I watched Nicholas II even hum to himself while drying his body, Seong-jun quietly slipped into my thoughts.

-But then what are you going to do with those pro-Russian bastards over there? Keep using them?

I had nothing against people who were quick to see which way the wind was blowing, but trusting and giving important positions to men who had practically handed over their own country with their own hands was another matter.

It was practically an admission that they would betray us again the moment our side ran into trouble.

-True. If they can sell out the country they were born and raised in without hesitation, they wouldn’t blink at shooting a total stranger in the back.

Still, until Manchuria and Primorye were fully established, those people would have their uses.

I’d squeeze them for everything they were worth, then toss them aside like worn-out rags.

—

The very next day, Nicholas II summoned his ministers to bring the Manchurian issue to a close.

This was not a noisy debate like the State Council, but a meeting where he had selected only the key figures to inform them of his decision.

“I have reached a decision regarding Korea.”

Every minister’s gaze turned toward the Tsar at once.

Their opinions had been so divided at the last State Council meeting that everyone was clearly curious about what decision the Emperor had ultimately reached.

“I am well aware that the Korean Emperor attempted to establish ties with Britain. However, I intend not to pursue the matter and to let it pass with generosity.”

For a moment, puzzlement flashed across the faces of several ministers.

After all the alarm over Britain, they could hardly believe he was simply going to let the matter go.

“In return, however, we will receive the complete transfer of the railway concession and secure a labour force for the development of Manchuria.”

A brief silence fell.

Then understanding began to spread across the ministers’ faces one by one.

“Your Majesty…you mean….”

“On top of that, the Okhrana will be used to keep stoking distrust of the Korean imperial house throughout the Korean Peninsula. See that you all bear that in mind.”

“Ah….”

When the Tsar delivered his decision with a satisfied expression, quiet exclamations escaped from among the ministers.

Was this not a masterstroke that secured both pretext and practical gain at once?

He would avoid international condemnation while simultaneously using the pro-Russian faction on the other side to conduct backroom operations for the future.

And while doing so, he intended to neatly pocket every tangible benefit available. Had Nicholas II’s diplomatic skill always been this formidable?

“…As expected of Your Majesty.”

“It will look as though the Korean Emperor toppled all by himself.”

The ministers made their pointed remarks and shuddered anew at the Tsar’s thoroughness.

Only Witte beamed brightly and sincerely applauded the Tsar’s decision.

“That would certainly give the development of Manchuria even greater momentum. Your Majesty, you have reached a truly ingenious conclusion.”

Nicholas II nodded and repeated Misha’s words verbatim.

“If we make good use of the incompetence of the Korean imperial house, bringing in labour will become much easier as well.”

“Oh, so Your Majesty had the same thought.”

Not a single person objected to the Emperor’s decision.

Instead, they were busy marveling at how he had come up with such a brilliant scheme, and the ministers once again concluded that openly clashing with Nicholas II would be suicide.

Basking in the ministers’ praise, Nicholas II felt as though he were walking on air all day and went straight to his wife so he could boast about it.

However.

“Would you believe it? Even when Anastasia threw a tantrum, Misha never once got irritated. He indulged every bit of it.”

That evening, as the two of them sat alone together for the first time in a while, Nicholas II could only smile wryly as his wife instead showered Misha with praise.

“And Olga! She’s learning French from Misha, and he teaches her so well we may not even need a separate tutor.”

“R…Right. The boy certainly is clever.”

“I told you, he’s more than merely clever. The girls follow Misha around everywhere. He’s so mature that sometimes I find him even more lovable than our own children.”

Nicholas II smiled warmly, but quietly added one remark.

“But Sunny, I’ve heard a rumor that once you get hold of Misha, you keep him for four hours at a time.”

“My, who said such a thing….”

“He has his own affairs to attend to as well, so don’t keep him too long.”

The Empress pouted at his teasing remark, then quickly grew serious and changed the subject.

“By the way, Niki, don’t you think it’s about time we revealed Misha’s true status?”

The Tsar’s hand paused just as he was about to sip his tea.

“…Reveal his status?”

“Yes. How long are we going to keep passing such a kind, admirable child off as nothing more than a collateral child of a princely house?”

In the past, it would have been unthinkable.

For Russian emperors, having one or two illegitimate children had normally been an almost expected part of private life, but Niki was different.

For an Emperor whose only real virtue had once been his devotion to his family, the existence of an illegitimate son would have been nearly fatal.

But things were different now.

“What is one illegitimate son in Russia? Besides, the whole country is hailing you as a genius monarch now. How could having one illegitimate son possibly count as a flaw?”

His wife was right.

Now that he was revered as a wise ruler, one youthful mistake might even be taken as a humanizing trait.

Most importantly, with his wife, the Empress herself, unconditionally taking Misha’s side, there was no risk of the Emperor being criticized out of sympathy for her.

“And I think it would be better for our daughters to know that Misha is their real big brother before they reach adolescence. A close big brother and a real big brother are different, after all, aren’t they?”

There was certainly logic in the Empress’s words.

If it had to be revealed someday, perhaps it would be better to settle the matter before the children’s relationships became even more firmly established.

“Come to think of it, Misha would certainly be worthy of receiving a formal title of nobility.”

Once his thoughts reached that point, Nicholas II began to lean toward the idea.

To give that brilliant son of his a proper status and title.

As a father, what could possibly be more gratifying?

There was only one thing bothering him.

His head was already throbbing because his retainers’ opinions on the Manchurian issue had split in every direction.

If he now dropped another bomb on the imperial house by revealing his illegitimate son’s status, he could not even guess how much noisier things would become.

Once Misha’s status was revealed, he would naturally have to be given a position and role befitting it, and who knew how many more headache-inducing discussions that process would create?

“Ha…politics really is enough to give a man a headache.”

Nicholas II pressed his fingers to his temple and sank into thought.

At that moment, a brilliant plan occurred to Nicholas II.

Hadn’t it already been proven that his son was far more capable than the incompetent old fossils in the State Council?

Then why not simply have Misha handle all these complicated problems?

Who could possibly object to a father giving his son experience?

A genius display of the art of using people, worthy of father and son alike.

Nicholas II had discovered the ultimate solution, dumping every complicated problem onto his son.

~~~

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/cdZPxPVrXW