Chapter 63: Auto-Hunting Grand Duke

The Five Eulsa Traitors… no, the proposal brought by the five all-stars who would come to be known as the Five Byeongo Traitors ultimately proved squeaky-clean.

Witte shuddered at their talent for treason, which effortlessly surpassed even his wildest imagination, and candidly admitted defeat.

“I concede. Just as Your Imperial Highness said, they really did come here prepared to sell even their own country purely for their own benefit.”

“I told you. There are all kinds of people in this world.”

“Well, yes…of course I knew there were plenty of opportunists in the world, but… No, never mind. In any case, thanks to them, our work should be much easier.”

The greatest difficulty Russia faced in developing the Far East was, without question, securing a labor supply.

Why else would it have gone so far as to make forced labor in the Far East a punishment, shipping its own criminals there en masse?

Capital could simply be brought in from Britain or France, but having money did not mean you could conjure people out of thin air.

If we could draw on the Korean Empire’s labor force here, perhaps we could move up the point at which the Manchurian projects turned profitable by at least a year.

On top of that, we could further consolidate our control over the Korean Empire and naturally accelerate the expansion of our market there.

“Still, we need to be careful. When their ministers are this cooperative, it’s only natural to start wondering whether we might as well swallow the Korean Empire whole.”

“To be frank, the same thought crossed my mind. If those men are willing to cooperate to this extent, couldn’t we even strip Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty? Or perhaps not… Surely even they would oppose that?”

-Like hell they would. Your soul’s still shackled by common sense.

Those bastards are ready to turn the Korean Empire into a Russian colony as long as we guarantee them enough profit, you know?

“The most frightening part is that they probably wouldn’t oppose it. I spoke with Director Yakov as well, and those men are prepared to hand over just about anything right now. As long as we pay them properly in return.”

“Come to think of it, they did keep dropping hints. They said they were the only men capable of representing Russian interests and coordinating concessions on the Korean Peninsula.”

“What…answer are you going to give them? I left the practical negotiations to you, Chairman, so I’ll just give final approval.”

“In that case, we should arrange one more meeting. We have the broad framework in place, so all that remains is settling the details.”

No sooner had Witte finished speaking than he summoned the five men again.

Amazingly, our five traitorous friends must have been standing by around the clock, because the instant the summons came, they rushed over at lightning speed.

Witte went straight into the final negotiations, and naturally, the first subject to come up was labor.

“First, I want one thing made absolutely clear. We may bring people over, but under no circumstances can it appear that they were dragged here by force.”

Once Witte firmly laid down that condition, Yi Wan-yong spoke as though he had been waiting for the chance.

“On that account, you may rest easy. In Korea, there are countless people starving because they cannot even secure a meal. If only lodging and food are guaranteed, there will be more than enough who flock there of their own accord.”

-Nice thing to brag about, asshole. He’s talking about his own people starving to death like it’s some kind of sales pitch.

It was enough to leave me dumbfounded, but in any case, it was a billion times better than grabbing people by the collar and dragging them here.

“Then let’s do it that way. We’ll make it a recruitment program, with people volunteering to come in search of work.”

After that, everything went without a hitch.

From the procedure for transferring the railway concession to the scale, timing, and routes for dispatching laborers.

One major issue after another was tied up, and within two hours, every point had been settled.

Witte was the first to rise from his seat.

“Then I’ll put this matter in order. We’ll submit a formal draft of the final agreement within three days.”

“Yes, Chairman. Thank you for all your hard work.”

Until Witte left the conference room, I saw him off with the utmost courtesy.

I stared for a moment at the door through which he had disappeared, then slowly turned my head toward the five men who remained.

Time to change masks.

“Now that the Chairman is gone, I can say this.”

Erasing the amiable expression I had worn until moments ago, I immediately let a sneer curl across my face and leaned deep into my chair.

“Chairman Witte may be exceptionally capable, but he’s hopeless when it comes to politics. He left without even bringing up the most important thing.”

“…Pardon?”

All five pairs of eyes snapped toward me at once.

“Wh-what…do you mean, Your Imperial Highness?”

Yi Wan-yong cautiously watched my expression while glancing around the room.

Judging by how hard he was thinking, apparently wondering whether this was some kind of loyalty test, he truly deserved to be called a man who had attained the ultimate heights of opportunism.

“What do I mean? We need to put Korea’s imperial house under our heel.”

The air in the room froze in an instant at the words I uttered with perfect nonchalance.

From this moment on, I was a member of the imperial family who embodied power and greed, a model opportunist.

In other words, exactly the sort of person our dear traitor friends could sympathize with and follow from the bottom of their hearts.

“But it wouldn’t look good for Russia to do it directly. People would accuse us of trampling a weak nation. So it needs to be handled discreetly, and I’d like you gentlemen to take care of that.”

Those were unusually violent words to hear from the mouth of an eleven-year-old.

The five simply stared at me in dumbfounded silence.

“Why do you look so surprised?”

“Pardon? M-my apologies. It’s just….”

“Think about it. Do you really believe His Majesty would appoint some powerless child as Viceroy of the Far East and send him all the way out here?”

Silence hung over the room for a moment.

I meant to make it clear that I was no mere figurehead, but someone who held real power.

Before long, as if they had finally grasped the situation, the looks in the five men’s eyes began to change.

“To be frank, I like you gentlemen very much.”

The best way to make one person trust another was to create a sense that they were the same kind of people.

I deliberately paused for a beat before continuing.

“You’re men prepared to turn your backs on a declining country without a second thought and throw your lot in with the ascendant power instead. I can’t undertake great things with people who cling to notions like ethnicity or religion and fail to understand which way the tide is flowing.”

Sure enough, the five men’s faces immediately brightened.

“You honor us too greatly, Your Imperial Highness. We merely follow the course of the times.”

Yi Ji-yong bowed his head, looking almost overwhelmed with emotion.

-If “following the course of the times” means selling your country, don’t you think there might be a slight problem there?

Shut up. Can’t you see I’m method acting here?

“The Far East is land of immense importance to the imperial house. But to be frank, my place is in Petersburg, so I’ll rarely have reason to come this far south.”

That should be enough for them to see straight through what I was implying, right?

“So I need people who can keep things firmly supported down here while I’m away. Do you understand what I mean?”

As expected, Yi Wan-yong was the first to nod.

“That is precisely what we ventured to propose before, Your Imperial Highness. We humbly ask that you entrust the affairs of this land to us.”

“Good. But there’s one thing that bothers me.”

I lightly tapped a finger against the table.

“It would be troublesome if Korea’s imperial house continues serving as a rallying point for the people. When the opportunity comes, we need to cut it down to size quickly.”

“Then…do you already have some particular method in mind?”

At Yi Wan-yong’s question, I took a letter from inside my coat and placed it on the table.

“It’s a letter His Majesty Nicholas II personally wrote for the people of Korea. Spread it far and wide so that all the people know about it.”

The five passed the letter around and read it in turn.

And with every line they read, their expressions grew subtly more rigid.

The letter was filled with benevolent words comforting the Korean people, but apparently they had noticed what was hidden within them.

“Y-Your Imperial Highness…did His Majesty truly write this himself….”

“Of course not.”

I looked them straight in the eye and smirked.

“I wrote it.”

Shock spread across all five faces.

They must never have imagined that an eleven-year-old Russian prince could have written something that so thoroughly understood their culture and way of thinking.

“Now do you understand why I intend to rely so heavily on you gentlemen?”

I raised a finger and continued in the most benevolent tone imaginable.

“Now, repeat after me. The Korean Empire is best suited to a constitutional monarchy.”

“The Korean Empire!”

“Is best suited to a constitutional monarchy!”

As if they had rehearsed it beforehand, all five shouted in unison, their voices loud enough to shake the room.

Wow, we didn’t even plan that in advance. Now that is some killer teamwork.

I leaned back in my chair and continued languidly.

“Once the imperial house has been reduced to an empty shell, who will wield the real power and control that country… I trust gentlemen such as yourselves already know.”

“If you place your trust in us, we shall repay it with results!”

Faced with the bait of greed, the five could not hide the utter sincerity in their eyes.

“There’s only one thing that matters. The Korean Empire must support us so that our projects in Manchuria and Primorye run smoothly. That’s all you need to remember. Easy, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, Your Imperial Highness. That is precisely what we are most confident in doing.”

Park Je-sun declared this with complete confidence and bowed his head.

I rose from my seat with the most satisfied of nods.

“Good. Then I’ll be watching with high expectations.”

Taking power away from an incompetent Emperor and changing the system into a constitutional monarchy or a republic would probably be the best thing for the people living there, too.

And because there was hardly any disaster worse than an incompetent Emperor’s trolling, I also needed to stabilize the Korean Empire’s political situation for the sake of my Manchuria.

Stabbing the imperial house in the back was their specialty, after all, so let’s see what they could do.

The handiwork of professional traitors.

***

Nicholas II’s letter reached the Korean imperial house several days later.

And almost the moment the letter left the hands of the imperial house, it leaked out among the public.

Since the ministers had deliberately set out to spread it, the speed with which it circulated was like wildfire through dry autumn mountains.

In marketplaces and the courtyards of local Confucian schools, people gathered together with copied versions of the letter in their hands.

[We, the Emperor of Russia, hereby proclaim to the people of Korea.

Korea is a nation possessed of a long history and a deeply rooted culture, and We have heard that its people are known for their courtesy and filial devotion. We have long held that land and its people in high regard.

We are also aware that unfortunate incidents have occurred between Russia and Korea in the past. Yet We state plainly that these were merely tragedies born from an age in which the great powers contended with one another, and never represented Our nation’s intentions toward the people of Korea.

Russia respects Korea’s sovereignty and pledges that it shall never subject Korea to coercion.

There is, however, one matter that grieves Us. We hear that even in years of abundant harvest, granaries stand empty, and that though there are those who govern, the people still go hungry. How can this be called the duty of a ruler?

If the starving people of Korea come to Manchuria, We promise them warm homes, meals, and work. The Far East ought to become a land of peace and prosperity, and We sincerely hope and expect that the diligent and wise people of Korea will join Us in bringing that great purpose to fruition.]

After reading the letter, the people felt more relief than emotion.

“To think the Emperor of Russia holds us in such high regard.”

“To think there was a ruler even in the West who thought so highly of our people….”

“Wasn’t Russia the country that drove the Japs out of this land? Of course the Emperor of Russia must be a wise and benevolent sage ruler.”

For people who had not known a single peaceful day amid encroachment by foreign powers, these were exactly the words they had most wanted to hear.

Those who clearly remembered what Japan had done after its victory in the First Sino-Japanese War once again found themselves reassured by Russia’s gentlemanly attitude.

Public opinion spread in an instant that the Emperor of Russia was truly a great man possessed of the virtue of a gentleman.

“As expected, the ruler of a great nation is simply cut from different cloth.”

“Indeed. He’s worlds apart from those Japs squatting on their scraps of islands.”

And yet there was one passage the people had failed to consciously notice.

[We hear that even in years of abundant harvest, granaries stand empty, and that though there are those who govern, the people still go hungry. How can this be called the duty of a ruler?]

The Emperor of Russia had not mentioned Korea’s monarch even once.

He had merely lamented the suffering of the starving people.

But any Korean who read those words could not help but naturally picture one man’s face.

And just then, another rumor began spreading in the wake of the letter.

The Korean imperial house had secretly tried to bring in England to obstruct Russia’s projects, and the true reason the Russian Emperor’s dearly beloved son had personally come all the way down to Manchuria was because of that.

“What? The imperial house tried to get England on its side to keep Russia in check?”

“Th-then isn’t that serious? That means Russian troops might invade!”

Fortunately, the rumor did not end there.

It was followed by word that the Emperor of Russia had generously understood that Korea had acted only because it felt so insecure, and had decided to let the matter pass without punishment.

In other words, he had responded to the imperial house’s reckless act of repaying kindness with hostility by covering it over with the magnanimity of a great man.

“Whew…I suppose we really were fortunate.”

“We ought to be grateful. Or perhaps it means he is simply that confident.”

The difference was so glaring that nobody even needed to voice the comparison aloud.

After the whole uproar had swept through the country, the area around Gwanghwamun erupted into chaos.

Word got out that Gojong had flown into a rage, demanding to know who had dared spread the matter among the public without permission.

And before long, even the fact that he had become enraged was being passed from mouth to mouth.

“Did you hear? They say His Majesty was absolutely furious.”

“But…is that really what he should be angry about right now? Shouldn’t he first be grateful that Russia let the matter go, or promise that it won’t happen again?”

“What if Russia really sends troops because he keeps acting like this….”

The Korean Empire had been powerless even against Japan, while Russia was a tremendous great power that had effortlessly trampled that very Japan underfoot.

With the Emperor of such a great nation behaving so gentlemanly, how could the people not feel anxious when their own imperial house kept needlessly defying Russia?

Ordinary citizens and intellectuals alike were forced to witness just how shortsighted their own Emperor was, and how recklessly he pushed ahead without any plan.

If you’re going to be like this, just don’t do anything at all.

The seeds of distrust slowly, but unmistakably, began to take root.

~~~

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