Chapter 81
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: A Country Meant to Fall, Falls (2)
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The atmosphere inside the Border Defense Council's highest meeting was as tense as walking on thin ice.
The Border Defense Council, effectively the supreme political body of Joseon at the time, was a group that wielded immense power without any checks or balances.
With all high-ranking officials and ministers participating, overseeing all state affairs and even holding the power of internal appointments, their authority was naturally formidable.
The only one who could restrain the Border Defense Council was the king, but the current king was a mere child, ruling under a regency.
And the regent, Queen Dowager Sunwon, was a member of the powerful Andong Kim clan.
How, then, could the power of the Border Defense Council—and the Andong Kim clan, which had skillfully placed its members in key positions within it—be anything but absolute?
The saying that they could make even a flying bird fall was no exaggeration for the current Border Defense Council.
However, the faces of the council's core members, the ministers, were contorted with unprecedented distress.
"So, it is confirmed that we are sending an envoy to the Qing Dynasty?"
"Yes. His Majesty and the Queen Dowager have given their consent. It is a way to prove that we have no connection to this recent disturbance, and at the same time, it allows us to gather detailed information on the current situation. Is it not a method that kills two birds with one stone?"
Unlike the regular envoys, these special envoys were dispatched for specific diplomatic issues.
While diplomacy covered various matters, they were often sent to offer explanations in response to diplomatic protests from Qing.
Therefore, this recent turmoil was a fitting occasion for such a mission.
"A brilliant idea. Truly brilliant. But the problem is this, this right here."
Kim Yi-jae, one of the key figures of the Andong Kim clan and a current minister of the Six Ministries, irritably pointed at a thick stack of papers.
"The confirmation that this Killian Gore is of Joseon origin means we may not be able to completely distance ourselves from this disturbance. To put it bluntly, what if the Qing Dynasty claims that since the main culprit of this chaos is a Joseon person, we also bear responsibility?"
"My lord, that is an excessive worry. Though he may have Joseon blood, he is now a nobleman of Britain. Blaming us would be nothing more than a baseless accusation."
"Ordinarily, that would be true, but did we not officially state to Qing that no one named Killian Gore was ever born in our Joseon? This means we have told a clear lie to Qing. If they use that to find fault, we will have nothing to say. How on earth was the investigation conducted?"
"Is that not the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, where you, my lord, currently preside?"
"Hah! I have only been in charge of the Ministry of Rites this year. Last year's responsibility lies with Lord Jeong. Do not try to subtly shift the blame onto me."
At first, they had dismissed the report from the Dutch as worthless nonsense.
After all, weren't the Dutch the same kind of Westerners as the British?
It was obvious they would distort the facts to their own advantage, as blood is thicker than water and birds of a feather flock together.
But when reports came in that the Qing army, which had been demonstrating at the border to keep Joseon in check, had hastily retreated, they began to feel that something was amiss.
Most importantly, the fact that even the Dutch claimed Killian Gore was Joseon meant that Britain also recognized him as such.
With Qing, Britain, and the Netherlands all saying the same thing, regardless of how the war was progressing, the possibility that Killian Gore truly had Joseon lineage seemed high.
The problem was, as Kim Yi-jae had said, this meant they had blatantly lied to the Qing Dynasty.
In other words, if this incident escalated, all those involved in the investigation at the time might have to resign from their positions.
"Kim Jwa-geun, the Queen Dowager's younger brother, is a member of our clan, and I had a lengthy discussion with him yesterday. He said Her Majesty and the King are extremely displeased. If this affair leads to a major diplomatic or military setback for us, more than half of the ministers present here should be prepared to step down from their current positions."
"But this is unfair to me! I conducted a proper investigation at the request of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. I reported that no such records existed because they did not. To be told to step down is too harsh."
"The Ministry of Taxation is also being wronged! What authority did we possibly have to conduct an investigation?"
"Wait, were you not in the Ministry of Personnel last year, Lord Yi? The Ministry of Personnel bears responsibility!"
"Responsibility for what! Like Lord Yi, I did my best to investigate! Is it a crime to report that something doesn't exist because it doesn't? If we're going to be strict about accountability, isn't the root of the problem those who managed the records poorly at the time? We are not at fault!"
In reality, the ministerial positions of the Six Ministries were mostly rotated among the highest-ranking members of the Border Defense Council, so if one fell, a whole line of them was bound to go down.
Normally, the Queen Dowager regent would only approve or deny the proposals of her ministers, but if this crisis escalated, that alone could be enough to get them all dismissed.
No matter how immense their power, if they gave the Qing Dynasty a pretext to intervene directly, their authority would crumble like a sandcastle.
When that time came, those coveting their positions from below would rise like a swarm of bees, submitting articles of impeachment.
They had to prevent that, no matter what.
"Now, now, let us all calm down and focus on resolving the immediate problem. The first thing we must do is uncover the connection between this Killian Gore and ourselves as quickly as possible. Only then can we send our envoy to Qing and offer an explanation."
"But, Lord Kim, what if our envoys go to Qing and find that Qing was indeed crushed so miserably by the British... What should we do then? Would it still be right to deny our connection to Killian Gore?"
"Of course, that would be... not quite. Uh... hmm, honestly, could such a thing even happen? The great Qing defeated by Western barbarians. I heard that Britain is a distant land that takes half a year to reach by sailing ship."
"It's a one-in-a-million chance, my lord. Just one in a million. But if, by some miracle, Qing truly lost the war, and our Joseon denies Killian Gore and shows a friendly stance toward Qing, is there any guarantee that the next spark won't fly toward us?"
At the words of Kim Hong-geun, who had previously traveled to Qing as an envoy, the other ministers' mouths fell open.
"Surely not..."
"No. When I visited Qing two years ago, there were already many voices warning of the greed of the Westerners. At the time, I let it go in one ear and out the other, but I definitely heard stories of the common people suffering because the Westerners were spreading opium to make money."
"The recent surge in ginseng imports by Qing is said to be because of that opium. It seems there is some truth to it."
"Yes. The Westerners are ultimately blinded by greed. If they subdue Qing and find an opportunity, what's to stop them from turning their guns on us? If possible, we need to prepare so that no sparks fly our way, regardless of whether Qing or Britain wins."
That way, they could cover up their own mistake as discreetly as possible.
"Then let us all thoroughly investigate this man, Killian Gore. What we know so far is that he is of Joseon origin, a key figure in Britain holding a position equivalent to our Minister of Rites, and fluent in the languages of Joseon, Qing, and Japan."
"By the way, Lord Kim. There was something I've been wanting to ask since a while ago..."
At the Minister of War's question, Kim Yi-jae nodded nonchalantly.
"If there is anything bothering you, please feel free to speak. No one has definite information right now, so we need to share as many opinions as possible."
"This man, Killian Gore... is his family name Gi?"
"Pardon...?"
"His surname is Gi. And his given name is Rian Gwai? What a bizarre name, just as one would expect from someone with Westerner blood."
"Oh! In that case, the Gi clan is not very large, so he might be surprisingly easy to find!"
He wanted to shout, *'How could that possibly be true?'*, but in truth, it couldn't be helped.
It was no exaggeration to say that the upper echelons of Joseon were, quite literally, completely ignorant about the Western barbarians.
Even Kim Yi-jae, who was thinking this, had only managed to build a rudimentary knowledge by meticulously questioning interpreters based on the Dutch report.
If he, the current Minister of Rites, was in this state, how much worse must the others be?
Before he could say anything, someone else spoke first.
"Haha, it seems the Minister of War is unaware, but I hear the Westerners write their surnames last, unlike us. So his given name is Killian."
"Aha! I see. Then is his surname Gwai? It seems they use two characters for their surnames."
"Perhaps it is like the Jegal clan? Is that not common in the Qing Dynasty? Surnames like Namgung or Hahu."
"If his surname has two characters, it should be even easier to find..."
"We should be able to find him with plenty of time before assembling the envoy. Hahahaha!"
As laughter-filled conversation echoed through the room, a deep shadow fell over the faces of those who had at least some grasp of reality.
*'We're screwed.'*
Judging by the way things were going, the chances of discovering Killian Gore's identity before the envoy was assembled seemed to be nil.
In that case, there was only one method left.
They had to somehow obtain information on the ground in the Qing Dynasty.
Still, the high officials of Joseon secretly believed that the Qing Dynasty, the center of the world, could not possibly kneel to Western barbarians who came from a place six months away by ship.
That was the common sense they had held until now, the truth of how the world worked.
But common sense is a thing that shatters far more easily than one might think.
The moment of choice thus approaches faster than expected, but most do not even realize they are standing at a crossroads of life and death.
The Joseon of this moment was no exception.
***
"Admiral, our reinforcements have arrived."
"Good. Now we can push onto land as well. What are your thoughts, Minister?"
"As I've said, I am a layman when it comes to military operations, so I will leave it entirely to your judgment, Admiral."
"Haha... That may be, but I am increasingly realizing that this war is a bit special. One must know the enemy and know oneself, but no matter how I look at it, I just don't know the enemy."
That's true.
If it weren't for me, George and Charles, the two Elliots, would likely still be testing the waters off the coast of Guangzhou.
That we could easily crush them in a naval battle, and that they would propose negotiations only to reject the terms.
Crucially, that the Qing Dynasty's only hope, Lin Zexu, would take the fall for this and be dismissed—it all proceeded exactly as I predicted... no, exactly as I knew it would.
Even the epidemic that was spreading through the Zhoushan Islands, which we had just captured while gleefully advancing north, was contained with minimal casualties thanks to my advance warning.
Even in the original history, fewer than ten casualties occurred in battle, but nearly 500 soldiers died from disease. On a long-distance expedition, disease is a fearsome enemy.
With my prophecy-like predictions hitting the mark one after another, not only Charles Elliot, who was on my side from the beginning, but also George Elliot had naturally come to rely on me.
"For now, the enraged emperor has appointed a new commander, and a man named Yang Fang, the admiral of Hunan, is said to have organized a militia of 40,000. They will likely show their faces for a fight soon enough."
"They were helpless at sea, but they probably think things will be different on land... or so they seem to believe."
"They say those troops are heading to Guangzhou, so if we just take them out, Guangzhou will be as good as ours. Once we secure the area from Guangzhou to Zhoushan, we can just push north. After capturing Shanghai and Zhenjiang, Nanjing will be completely paralyzed. How about we aim for that? They won't be able to hold out then."
"I see. Then they will have no choice but to accept our terms, so we can negotiate at that point."
The original First Opium War had concluded through precisely this process.
Nanjing, as its name "Southern Capital" implies, was the Qing's second city and the heart of the Yangtze River economic zone.
If it fell, Beijing would be left isolated like a sitting duck, cut off from the south.
Therefore, they would be forced to negotiate, and indeed, the Treaty of Nanking in the First Opium War was signed under such circumstances.
But am I crazy enough to let it end like that?
"No. They were the ones who overturned the negotiating table first, so we have no reason to be the first to propose talks. We'll just paralyze Nanjing's economy and then continue moving the fleet north to Tianjin. Reinforcements are coming from home, so we should be able to capture Tongzhou. From there, Beijing is just a stone's throw away."
Though it wasn't known at the time, the prevailing assessment in Britain later was that if the First Opium War had lasted just one more year, they could have secured far greater concessions.
Besides, the situation now was much better than in the original history.
Qing's defenses were weaker, we knew their weaknesses and were striking decisively, we hadn't suffered losses from disease, and crucially, Britain, having confirmed what a pushover Qing was, was continuously sending more troops.
"We need to make them understand the price of overturning negotiations just because 'I don't like you, and we don't want to give up land.' Why should we be the ones to propose talks?"
Moreover, if the fighting was confined to the south, the Qing Dynasty could save face by insisting it was merely a local disturbance.
Not only Qing, but its surrounding tributary states would also likely fail to acknowledge reality and let the matter slide.
Still, thanks to the Dutch spreading information like wildfire, not just Vietnam and Thailand, but also Japan and Joseon must be making their own moves to ascertain the situation.
If, right before their eyes, we demonstrate that both Nanjing and Beijing, Qing's two great capitals, are within our firing range, they will no longer be able to deny reality.
I drove the point home to the admiral, who wore an expression of uncertainty.
"This is our chance to firmly establish our position in Asia while Russia and France are a step behind, failing to grasp the situation."
If I successfully conclude this matter, upon my return home, I will have built an unrivaled reputation, at least in Asian diplomacy.
I would naturally gain the overwhelming support of the citizens, who were downcast due to the economic recession, which in turn meant I could smoothly carry out my future plans.
I absolutely needed to achieve a result here that no one could have predicted.
"Indeed... If what you say is true, Minister, it seems we could gain far more than we anticipated. But that is only possible if we can overwhelm Qing's defense forces with our superior firepower. We must break the enemy's morale so they don't fight to the death."
"Didn't you just say it yourself, Admiral? That you must know the enemy and know yourself, but you still don't know the enemy. You will likely feel the same way this time."
"...Pardon?"
It's a real relief that the man said to be gathering Guangzhou's defense forces has a familiar name.
If it had been someone different, I couldn't have been certain, but since it's the exact person I know from history, I can speak with confidence, can't I?
"You will once again see it clearly in this next battle, Admiral. What you see, hear, and feel. That is the Qing Dynasty of today."
"I feel like I've seen quite a lot already... Are you saying there's more?"
"Yes. The Qing soldiers will try to block our cannons with something you've never seen before. Don't be alarmed, just fire away."
"What? What on earth could it be...?"
"Chamber pots."
The admiral asked, his face a mask of utter confusion.
"Chamber pots? What is that? Is it the name of a shield used by Qing soldiers?"
What is it? It's a pot for piss, of course.
Ah, but since they're bringing them out to use as shields, I guess the admiral isn't entirely wrong.
Imagining that look of doubt on his face turning to one of sheer horror at the sight that was about to unfold, a smile naturally escaped my lips.
Oh dear. I'm already getting excited.