Chapter 61: Grand Duke of the North (7)

No matter how much of the Trans-Siberian Railway had been laid, trains in this era were nowhere near as fast as a 21st-century person might imagine.

Even so, they took incomparably less time than traveling on foot or by ship, and the journey itself was far less exhausting.

“Young Master… no, Your Imperial Highness. The express from Petersburg to Harbin should take about 11 days. I suppose I’ve called you Young Master for so long that the new title just won’t roll off the tongue.”

“I haven’t even had the investiture ceremony yet, so strictly speaking, I’m not a Grand Duke yet.”

“Not yet, perhaps, but it is already decided, is it not? In any case, I hear Chairman Witte will be accompanying you this time, so I shall come as well. We will take every precaution with your security, including a decoy train, so you needn’t concern yourself with that.”

Naturally enough, for this trip to Manchuria, the Emperor had even placed his own private train at my disposal.

The Emperor had ordered that it be made up of at least 12 cars, exactly as it was when he traveled himself, but even I thought that was excessive and cut it down to 9.

Even so, that did nothing to change the fact that it was lavish enough to be called a palace on wheels.

The study and bedroom were separate, of course, and it came equipped with everything from a private bath to a flush toilet and even a dining car staffed by imperial chefs.

What the age lacked in technology, manpower and money more than made up for, so it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that train travel like this was, if anything, more comfortable than its modern counterpart.

The only real complaint was the fundamental drawback of its slow speed.

To make up for that difference in speed, I needed to get there and back as quickly as possible, so after completing my preparations in the shortest time I could, I boarded the Trans-Siberian Railway for the first time in my life.

The farewell from my younger sisters, who had followed me all the way to the station, was simple yet boisterous.

Olga repeatedly made me promise that I absolutely would not forget to send letters, while Maria stubbornly pressed a sheet of paper with a list of presents into my hand.

“Big Brother, you really have to! Promise!”

With Anastasia still waving until the platform disappeared into the distance, the train slowly made its way out of Petersburg.

As the cityscape receded beyond the window, Witte sank comfortably into the seat across from me.

“Well, we have a long journey ahead of us, so we may as well discuss matters in advance.”

Sunlight streamed through the carriage window as Witte spread a thick stack of documents across the table.

“As I told you before, the first thing we need to bring in from the Korean Empire is people. Manchuria has plenty of land and hardly anyone living on it.”

“So labor is the top priority. What about the railways?”

“We have already secured an agreement for the railway concession, so that is only a matter of time. After that come mining rights and port-use rights. It will make transporting soybeans by sea far easier than it is now.”

Witte’s eyes lit up as he rattled off the priorities without hesitation.

“Ah, come to think of it, I heard the ministers coming this time hold fairly influential positions.”

“Then that should make things easier.”

“Indeed. Win over the men at the top, and those beneath them will fall into line on their own.”

-So we’re going to spend the whole ten-day trip talking shop. He really is in his element.

After we had spent quite some time discussing practical matters, Witte suddenly set down his teacup and stared straight at me.

“By the way, Your Imperial Highness, to be perfectly candid, I never imagined you were His Majesty’s biological son.”

“Was it that surprising?”

“Yes. You had none of that… particular air members of the imperial family tend to possess.”

Witte toyed with his cup, the corner of his mouth curling slightly upward.

“More than anything, you are far too competent. I imagine there are more than a few people who would find it troublesome if a member of the imperial family were this good at getting things done.”

Whether he was joking or serious, Witte clicked his tongue softly after tossing that remark out.

“Which makes it all the more regrettable that you have no right of succession.”

“…What?”

-This guy has absolutely no filter. He just casually says things that could get him in serious trouble.

“A powerful autocrat supported by excellent administrators. That is the ideal I have envisioned all my life. Your Imperial Highness would have fit that picture perfectly.”

He said it without even lowering his voice, so calmly that I was the one getting nervous.

“Well, as a second-best solution, Your Imperial Highness can simply support His Imperial Highness the Tsesarevich to the best of your ability. That will suffice.”

“…Chairman, that is an incredibly sensitive subject. Are you sure it’s all right to say things like that just anywhere?”

At my uneasy response, Witte merely shrugged as though it were nothing.

“What does it matter? I’m not blind, you know.”

A peculiar smile hung around Witte’s lips as he raised his teacup again.

“By now, I know perfectly well to whom the Okhrana here gives its greatest loyalty.”

In other words, he was absolutely certain that nothing said here could possibly reach anyone else’s ears.

I suppose someone who had risen to become one of the most powerful men in Russia on ability alone would naturally have instincts far sharper than ordinary people.

“To be honest, at first I simply could not understand it. Why would His Majesty make such a bombshell announcement at a time like this?”

“And now?”

“Looking at the results, I can understand it. Perhaps one might say that once I took a step back, the whole picture became obvious.”

Witte spread out one hand, then began folding his fingers one by one.

“Consider it. The nobles are so busy trying to interpret His Majesty’s true intentions that they have split apart among themselves and cannot lift a finger. And society? It has been turned completely upside down.”

It was certainly true that the nobles had collectively lost their bearings since the council meeting.

“And then there is the cleverest part of all.”

Witte leaned forward with obvious interest.

“Neither the nobles nor the ordinary citizens thought particularly well of Her Majesty the Empress before, did they? And yet now public sentiment has reversed completely.”

“Ah… you’re right. I heard praise for Her Majesty the Empress has been everywhere lately.”

“Yes. In all my life, I have never seen Her Majesty receive such acclaim from the citizens.”

Of course.

The Emperor had brought an illegitimate son into the palace, and the heartwarming story that the Empress had taken that illegitimate son in and raised him like her own child had spread all across Petersburg.

No one knew how many complicated steps there had been in between. They had never cared in the first place.

The picture accepted by noble and commoner alike was simple.

The Emperor brings home an illegitimate son… game over. The Empress loves the child like her own.

There was no way the story could be seen any other way.

“My wife tells me that even the noble ladies are saying such things now. That they had misunderstood Her Majesty the Empress all this time. Apparently some even wiped away tears, lamenting that they had spoken ill of her without knowing the truth.”

Seen from an outsider’s perspective, it really did make her look so loving toward her husband and so broad-minded that it was almost impossible to comprehend.

-Good heavens, and all this time we never knew… sniff.

Witte drained his cup and let out an admiring sigh.

“And so I have concluded that His Majesty acted with all of this already taken into account.”

“Ah… that’s how you see it?”

“There is no other explanation. With a single revelation of an illegitimate son, he tied the nobles’ hands, threw society into turmoil, and even raised public sentiment toward Her Majesty the Empress. If all of this were coincidence, that would be even more frightening.”

It was amazing how a grand interpretation could make a random coincidence look downright terrifying.

“…It seems I truly did underestimate His Majesty. To think my judgment of people could be this poor. Thanks to His Majesty, I have realized that I still have a great deal more to learn.”

How could I possibly tell him?

There was no way I could reveal the truth, that all of this had simply begun because the Emperor wanted to dump a troublesome problem onto me.

So what else could I do?

“His Majesty always takes everything into account.”

I had no choice but to keep broadcasting Niki-hype TV until it was playing all across Russia.

“Who could have imagined I would encounter something so astonishing in the twilight of my life? Hahaha.”

If even Witte had fallen for the misunderstanding this thoroughly, it meant pretty much everyone else in Russia was in the same boat.

An overwhelming halo effect could bury a certain amount of truth.

From my perspective, it would only make things easier if Nicholas II came to be regarded as the greatest and most capable monarch in all of Russian history.

Besides, judging purely by the results, anyone would call it true. Even if someone wanted to doubt it, what grounds would there be?

Once Manchuria and the Korean Empire were brought completely within the imperial house’s sphere of influence, that belief would only become more deeply entrenched.

Whatever the truth might be, if everyone in the world wholeheartedly believed the same thing, wouldn’t that itself become the truth?

“Ah… and our conversation wandered off course, so I nearly forgot to mention this. As you know, we cannot be certain what intentions the ministers of the Korean Empire may harbor, so you must not lower your guard completely.”

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

-I’m more worried they’ll pick up the whole country and hand it over to us.

To be fair, I only knew them through Seong-jun’s knowledge myself, so I was curious to see just how they would behave.

Well then, let’s hear them out.

***

After a great journey of ten days and one more, we arrived in Harbin to find construction in full swing.

No sooner had we arrived than I found myself seated in a prepared conference room, facing the five ministers who had come up from the Korean Empire.

The Five Eulsa… no, at this rate they might end up being called the Five Byeongo Traitors. Their legendary talent for talking people around certainly lived up to its reputation. [TL Note: “The Five Eulsa” refers to the five Korean officials who signed or supported the 1905 Eulsa Treaty, which stripped Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty and made it a protectorate of Japan.]

The five had even brought a Russian interpreter with them, and the moment they sat down, they started laying it on thick.

“Your Imperial Highness, it is but a humble token of our sincerity, but we pray that you accept it.”

Yi Ji-yong was the first to unroll a scroll, revealing sijo after sijo praising Nicholas II. [TL Note: Sijo is a traditional Korean poetic form, usually consisting of three long lines with a fixed rhythmic structure. It was commonly used for literary, philosophical, and political expression.]

“They are verses honoring the wise sovereign of Russia. Poor though they may be, I beg that Your Imperial Highness regard them as this humble servant’s devotion toward a virtuous gentleman under Heaven….”

Of course, there was more.

No sooner had specialties from Joseon piled up like a mountain range than verses celebrating my appointment as Viceroy of the Far East came literally pouring out as well.

And they still were not finished.

“This is a document that we humble servants put our heads together to prepare, in hopes of contributing to the development of Manchuria.”

When I opened the document Park Je-sun handed me, I found itemized plans packed across the page detailing exactly how laborers from the Korean Empire would be dispatched to Manchuria.

How many people, at what time, and by what routes.

They had gone this far preparing things we had not even asked them to do.

Yi Wan-yong provided the finishing touch.

“This humble servant has long admired Your Excellency Witte’s renown. Indeed, Your Excellency may be called the teacher whom I serve in my heart.”

-This bastard is literally copy-pasting what he said to Ito Hirobumi.

“And, Your Imperial Highness, great Grand Duke, presumptuous though it may be, this humble servant has one request. Might I receive a piece in Your Imperial Highness’s own hand? I wish to make it a family heirloom and pass it down through my descendants for generations.”

He wanted an eleven-year-old’s handwriting so he could make it a family heirloom.

Professionals really did operate on another level.

-I used that kind of flattery a lot when I was doing business in Russia too. Surprisingly effective.

Sure enough, flattery was something people got better at with practice. Russia, which had always insisted on stiff-necked diplomacy, was left reeling under the offensive of the Traitor Rangers, veterans of centuries of serving the great.

Once their barrage of flattery, so potent it had even won Seong-jun’s sympathy, finally ended, Witte and I began examining the documents they had brought.

But as Witte turned the pages one by one, his expression gradually stiffened into something strange.

“Well, well… now this is something.”

“What is it?”

“No matter how I look at it, this is bizarre. How is this even possible? How can they hand over their own country’s concessions this completely, with no strings attached?”

Witte stared at the papers with eyes brimming with suspicion.

Was this culture shock?

“Your Imperial Highness, please use the Okhrana’s intelligence network to investigate these five men thoroughly.”

“What? Investigate them? Why all of a sudden?”

“This is far too suspicious. At least one of these five… no, two of them are likely spies for the Emperor of the Korean Empire.”

“Really? Couldn’t all five of them just be traitors infamous enough to go down in history?”

If Chestnut Man were competent enough to plant an agent in a situation like this, would he really be screwing up this badly? [TL Note: “Chestnut Man” is a nickname for Emperor Gojong used in this story. It comes from the popular Korean alternate-history web novel Gojong, the King of Chestnuts, in which a modern chestnut vendor awakens in Gojong’s body. The nickname is a modern internet-meme reference, not a historical title.]

But Witte, whose soul remained shackled by such a thing as common sense, smiled benevolently and shook his head.

“Your Imperial Highness may be exceptionally intelligent, but you are still young and do not yet know the whole world. In my judgment, there is simply no way all five ministers of a country could be like this.”

“Is that so….”

“An investigation will reveal the truth immediately. And there must be at least one trap hidden somewhere in those documents as well.”

Witte burned with determination, as though they had made the mistake of trying to fool the wrong man.

“I shall show you what I am truly capable of. I will prove that no matter how cunning the deception, none can escape my eyes.”

And, naturally.

After two days of examination, the conclusion was that the documents the five men had presented were completely clean, without so much as a speck of deceit.

“…What? That cannot be right.”

The confidence in Witte’s eyes began giving way to bewilderment.

Was it possible that all five of them, united in heart and purpose, genuinely intended to hand their country over to Russia?

“Chairman, did you find anything suspicious?”

“…Could you give me just a little more time? I am certain that at least one or two of them must be harboring some other scheme.”

A hundred days of investigation still wouldn’t turn up anything suspicious.

Leaving the shocked Witte behind, I focused more closely on the actual contents of the documents they had brought.

They say that if five people gather, one of them is bound to be trash, but how the hell were all five trash?

Still, trash or not, at present they had more than enough value to be useful, so why shouldn’t I make full use of them?

Reform and development always needed people willing to play the villain.

-You really couldn’t ask for a more reliable bunch to cast as the villains.

Right? I had every confidence they would perform their duties better than anyone.

Accounting to accountants, medicine to pharmacists, legal defense to lawyers.

And treason to traitors.

You lot had better draw plenty of aggro.

~~~

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