Chapter 49: Noble Consort Eom and Ok Jinseo

Meanwhile, Joachim and Cooper were both frowning deeply.

They were finally beginning to understand why John of Arc was so reluctant to present the Emperor.

While Prince Yeong and the Commander-in-Chief—both members of the royal family—were assisting, it was still hard to feel reassured with the Emperor in such a state.

“This country’s Emperor and nobles seem quite wary of the Manchurian faction.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be supporting John of Arc?”

An order from His Majesty the Kaiser to support John of Arc had already come down.

It wasn’t out of goodwill. The true aim was to screw over Russia and Britain so that no one could seize dominance in the Far East.

In that case, they had to follow the order, but having seen the Korean political scene up close, things were far more complicated than expected.

The Korean imperial family still hadn’t grasped reality.

They thought they were powerful and behaved as though they were above the German Empire.

“That may be His Majesty’s will, but that woman, Consort Eom, will likely be a major obstacle for John of Arc”

“John of Arc doesn’t seem like someone who’ll be taken down easily, though.”

“Still, battles between women tend to be more drawn out and vicious.”

This could take a long time.

And if it did, ‘could Korea really serve as a proper balancing force in the Far East?’

Japan, backed by Britain, might once again target a divided Korea.

The primary objective was to make Korea the balancing power in the Far East.

Ideally, they would become a grateful ally who could later check Britain’s influence in the region.

But in this kind of mess, where John of Arc couldn’t even overcome one nasty, reactionary figure like Consort Eom—’was there any point in supporting Korea?’

Yes. Ok Jinseo was currently being tested by Germany.

‘Filthy hag.’

Until Joachim and the Germans left, she had to lick their boots and wring out every possible advantage.

But that woman acted like she had all the confidence in the world just because she won the Three-Nation War.

“Minister of Foreign Affairs, why did you take it upon yourself to resolve matters with the German prince?”

‘This is exactly why I didn’t want them to see all this.’

That victory in the Three-Nation War had completely gone to their heads.

‘Did they think the German Empire was some pushover? Germany was the country they needed to squeeze resources out of, to make into their balancing power, and eventually set as their next diplomatic target.’

They still had to fight the Qing and Japan, both now their enemies. Until then, the conservative faction needed to be dealt with.

It was already grating that she was being treated so poorly when she was someone who had saved the country.

“Consort Eom, this matter was previously discussed. Moreover, the German prince personally requested to be introduced to the Empire of Korea—”

“And do you not feel shame, Minister of Foreign Affairs? How can a servant of the Korean Empire behave like a servant of Westerners?”

‘As if I want to grovel to the Germans.’

‘But if any of the great powers were showing even a sliver of goodwill, they had to take what they could get.’

Until the great European war inevitably broke out and all the top European countries started tearing each other apart, Korea had to secure as much as it could—even on credit.

Especially from Germany.

After all, they weren’t going to be the losers of that war.

Before they fell and became a defeated nation, Korea had to strip them of everything possible.

‘If Consort Eom would just listen, her thinking might change.’

“Consort Eom, they offered us warship production technology, along with ship sales and assistance in developing our navy. We may dislike them, but we need to curry their favor for now.”

Who knows what conditions they might attach later.

It wouldn’t just end at playing the balancing force. One day, they might say, “After everything we did for you, how dare you not help us?”

Even the conservative faction likely considered this possibility.

“And for that reason—”

“Are you saying the Germans truly promised such things?”

It was then that Yi Wanyong cut in.

“Yes. We’ve already been tricked by those Japanese bastards when we bought ships from them. Sure, we’ve recovered part of our fleet, but it’ll take years to build a proper navy. With Germany’s help, it won’t be difficult.”

“But why would the Germans want to help us? Aren’t they just trying to use us too?”

‘Exactly. They wanted to use Korea as a balancing force.’

‘But so what?’

At least Germany, unlike Russia or Japan, wasn’t after the Korean Peninsula itself.

Besides, Britain and France weren’t going to sit back and let that happen either.

“Germany wants us to serve as a balancing force between the great powers in East Asia.”

“A balancing force?”

The concept wasn’t new.

In fact, it was similar to what Goryeo had done.

Goryeo had once maintained balance between the Liao and Song, and later between the Jin and Song.

In the Far East, Korea could similarly avoid falling into the hands of any one power and instead become the scale that balanced them all.

Britain, Russia, Germany.

Even if Korea couldn’t become one of the major powers, it could still serve as the pivot that prevented any one of them from dominating.

“It’s similar to what the former Goryeo dynasty did—balancing between the Liao and Song, then the Jin and Song. The difference is, we’re not one of the great powers.”

“Similar to Goryeo?”

‘Do I really have to explain all of this?’

Still, if the conservative faction had any brains, they’d understand this much.

It wasn’t about groveling—it was about maintaining balance from the middle.

“Germany doesn’t have a strong influence in the Far East, especially compared to Britain and Russia. But in Europe, they are in direct competition with both those powers. If they can’t expand into Asia themselves, their next best option is to build us up so we can balance Britain and Russia on their behalf.”

Britain could easily target Korea from Okinawa if the opportunity arose.

Russia wasn’t making any moves right now, but eventually, they’d use her as a pawn to extend their sphere of influence.

“So they want to make both Britain and Russia equally powerless?”

Yi Wanyong was praising her a little too much.

It was suspicious.

‘Was he trying to cozy up to her?’

‘Maybe he planned to sell Korea to her now and take it back later—or maybe he wanted to use her to gain influence, then turn on her once he had power.’

“It’s just a bit of support. But Germany is a rising power, and they have more than enough capability to help.”

“We’re already a buffer zone, a neutral state. But if we build up our military, aren’t we just inviting war?”

‘Consort Eom—was she just naive, or simply stupid?’

‘Did she seriously believe in the Treaty of Paris?’

‘Did she really think that because it said neutral state on paper, that would be the end of it?’

This was the international stage.

A world ruled by power.

A world where treaties meant nothing without the strength to back them up.

Right now, Russia was too weakened.

The Qing were useless.

Japan was a half-crippled mess.

That’s the only reason this fragile neutrality was even being maintained.

Other than Russia, every nation had reason to grind their teeth at Korea.

Even Russia is like a crashing coin now.

“This world belongs to beasts. It’s not just about humans enslaving other humans. Great powers enslave weaker nations, ripping away their flesh and blood to become stronger. The international community follows the law of power.”

“If you’re weak, neutrality or anything else means nothing. Even His Majesty originally tried to declare neutrality, but ended up joining hands with the British and the Japanese. Why? Because refusing both would’ve only brought disaster.”

“If he had insisted on staying neutral, our land would’ve become a battlefield between the Japanese and the Russians. In that case, reducing the number of enemies was the only rational choice.”

Well, I don’t think the old man (Gunbam) really planned it that far ahead, but I’m not wrong either.

Even in the original history, there was the Japan-Korea Protocol.

Korea couldn’t remain neutral during the Russo-Japanese War and inevitably had to side with Japan.

And the aftermath of that war for Korea is obvious.

“Ugh.”

“Even if we preach the teachings of Confucius and Mencius every single day, they will still point their guns and swords at us. No matter how we try to look away, in the end, guns and swords matter more than ideals.”

The era has changed.

Unless the teachings of Confucius and Mencius are some kind of hypnotic app used by a sketchy middle-aged man, even the Korean Empire needs to become a nation of beasts.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs is right. The times have changed. The heavenly mandate of the former suzerain, Qing, has collapsed, and the Japanese have always been eyeing us. Now, during this three-nation conflict, we have earned some time by being a neutral zone. At the very least, we must become strong enough to bite at their heels.”

Lady Eom couldn’t argue with Yi Wanyong’s words.

‘Now that I look at him, this Yi Wanyong bastard… he might actually be a loyal subject.’

‘That might be why even Lady Eom can’t openly oppose him.’

“More importantly, His Majesty provoked the Qing by having the Crown Prince’s body sent to Hanseong. Though their current situation is unstable, conflict with Qing is inevitable. To prepare for peace, we must prepare for war, Your Highness.”

So, there’s also the possibility of a clash with the Qing.

This wasn’t something to take lightly.

‘Do people forget what the Chinese are like? They always used to invade the Korean Peninsula to show off their authority.’

Even if Qing falls as it did in actual history, or if they succeed in strengthening their nation, the successor to Qing will undoubtedly target Korea.

Whether they collapse or modernize, they’ll come for us.

That’s for sure.

We obviously have to prepare for that.

Of course, my ultimate goal is to deal with all nearby threats one by one.

To do that, German naval technology would be quite helpful.

Like submarines, for instance.

I’m not sure if submarines even exist in this era, but if we increase military exchanges, I’m confident we can get the Germans to share that technology.

***

“Our enemy is Qing?”

‘What, did you think Qing wasn’t the enemy?’

There’s no way anyone still has that kind of delusion.

I’ve seen with my own eyes, during the Qing-Japanese War and in Sapo, how we absolutely crushed Qing forces in Manchuria.

That shattered any lingering belief in Qing supremacy.

“And what about the Japanese?”

“You say the Qing are already colonized by the Western powers, and Japan is in decline. So why bother?”

This kind of naive talk is exactly why the status quo faction needs to be removed.

They’re still blind to reality.

“Even if Qing has become a plaything of the Western powers, do you think they were the center of the world for thousands of years for no reason? If they adopt Western technology and modernize like Japan did, they’ll become a global force with a population in the hundreds of millions.”

“Unfortunately, even if we include Han Chinese and Manchus into our population, Korea barely reaches 30 million. If we have a chance to strike, we must take it.”

‘Right now, they may be behind in civilization and modernity, but imagine if Qing had modernized from the start—become one of the great powers.’

‘Would they leave a tiny neighbor like Korea alone?’

Of course not.

They’d try to devour us.

And let’s be honest, half of this mess is my fault, but even if I didn’t exist, King Gojong probably would’ve attacked Qing with Japanese or British support.

That kind of person was bound to jump at the chance when Japan offered him control of Manchuria.

Honestly, it’s a little disgusting.

***

“And the Japanese?”

“The Japanese have years of experience in diplomacy. Their international connections are broader than ours. Compared to them, we in Korea are still provincial.”

Japan can’t be underestimated.

Just because they lost doesn’t mean we should mock them.

They modernized from a feudal shogunate system.

Unlike Joseon, which clung to its little Middle Kingdom complex and masturbated to its own sense of superiority, the Japanese looked at reality and strove to become like the Western powers.

Unless the status quo faction realizes this, we won’t move forward.

“Ugh…”

“Even if we hate to admit it, we have to. We must take in the sweet parts of Japanese methods—their will to modernize, their desire for progress—and spit out the nonsense like blind worship of the emperor or obsession with ritual suicide.”

“Yes. In Korea’s case, that means getting rid of those who blindly worship imperial power and monarchy without question.”

“We’re worse than the Japanese?”

Min Yeonghwan swallowed his frustration.

But he had to admit it.

“Do people not know how we got conquered?”

“We spent all our time sucking up to the Ming Dynasty, deluding ourselves into thinking we’d be the next great dynasty, offering up tribute like women and goods, and pretending we were rewarded when all we got was token gifts in return.”

“Meanwhile, we ignored the threats from the Jurchens and the Japanese—and got crushed.”

“I may have slaughtered tens of thousands of unarmed Japanese soldiers in the last war, but that doesn’t mean we can underestimate them.”

“They’re still Japanese. “

“Still dangerous.”

“Don’t ignore them and end up regretting it. We need to modernize now, before it’s too late. All our neighbors are bigger than we are. Like in actual history, Korea must strengthen its military.”

“So, of course we need to shut Lady Eom down. The status quo faction must’ve realized something from this war. If they start using their brains, we might actually be able to work together.”

***

“We once treated the Jurchens, whom we used to despise, as our suzerains. We were arrogant in thinking Japan would never rise, only to suffer the horror of the Imjin War. And now, our country almost got devoured by Japan. It’s time to wake up and move forward.”

It’s a fact—we’re weaker than Japan.

Even now, if we went to war with Japan in its current weakened state, it would still be difficult for us to win on our own.

We must accept that they have the upper hand, and in order to surpass them—so we’re not left behind in the next war—we must become a war machine.

“We need to build our navy to contain both Qing and Japan, while replenishing our treasury and advancing modernization. I’m not being deferential to foreign powers for nothing.”

“We’ll get economic aid from the Americans, military help from the French for our army, naval support from the Germans, and diplomatic leverage with Russia—whose Tsar offered me a countship. At the very least, while I’m still around, Russia won’t be our enemy. Isn’t this the perfect balance?”

Allen has already coordinated with the Americans to help us establish a national bank.

Of course, Russia would’ve been easier to exploit for resources, but it’s a dying coin—there’s no helping that.

“That’s for the royal family to decide.”

Lady Eom… after everything I said, it feels like I’ve been talking to a wall.