The Three Friends (2)
In diplomatic conversations, noticing a slight crack in the mask of the opposing diplomat is when you judge that negotiations have tilted.
At my words, Plancy the ambassador asked with a flustered expression.
“Eh, those friends who spilled blood…?”
“Yes. Ah, to be more precise, ‘comrades who spilled blood for the same purpose’ would be more accurate.”
“Purpose… the same purpose…”
I clasped my hands together in front of me and answered with a smile that conveyed no meaning.
“As you did, our Republic also rose as a people’s revolution to pursue the welfare of all mankind. The tyranny of the royal regime was a symbol of misfortune for the entire Korean people. For us, the revolution was inevitable.”
Plancy could not hide his surprise, confusion, and excitement in my explanation.
“Hmm… uhm.”
But after a moment, he seemed to grasp the meaning in my words, shook his head slightly up and down several times, and continued.
“The coup that occurred in Joseon was indeed a revolution.”
“Why? It seems like they’re telling different stories in China?”
I listened to his mutter and shrugged at the bothersome remark.
“Ah, that—.”
“From here on, I’ll answer for you, Your Excellency the President.”
Although it might seem rude, or perhaps it already was, but the tone had risen slightly, Plancy the ambassador opened his mouth, and Foote the consul answered in a calm tone about the internal situation of the Qing dynasty.
Precisely, about how they viewed the revolution that had occurred in Joseon in China.
“According to rumors about the new government of your country floating in Shanghai, Your Excellency the President and the government officials are all seen as a faction of the deposed King Deoksu who is being held hostage in China. Your country’s sacred revolution is also perceived as a simple internal power struggle.”
“Power struggle? Coup?”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“…Oh, that doesn’t sit well with me.”
Hearing that the self-proclaimed ‘Chinese’ who always bowed to the barbarians were lowering our sacred revolution to something like an internal power struggle or coup, I furrowed my brows.
How dare a lowly race that hasn’t even been the master of its own history in human history say anything?
Did my pure anger at such feelings transfer fully to the two diplomats?
Foote quickly bowed his head forward and apologized on my behalf.
“Ah, of course, we couldn’t avoid such an ‘illusion.’ As you know, Joseon is very closed off, and with the revolution, there’s no way to collect information here…”
“Enough.”
In response to his excuse, I nodded with a face that showed understanding while controlling my emotions.
“I understand, Consul Foote. You have no ill feelings. Rather, the fact that comrades are now understanding our intentions together is even more heartwarming.”
“Thank you for accepting the apology.”
Although the conversation had become a bit uncomfortable, I thought it was still information sharing, so I turned my head to Plancy, who was quietly calming the flushed face.
“Earlier, I said that we are ‘republics for the people’, didn’t I?”
“Ah, yes, Your Excellency the President.”
“It’s just my personal opinion, but I consider ‘revolution’ to be something alive.”
“Revolution as something alive…?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm?”
Plancy lost his poker face again at my vague words, and Foote, who had a blank expression, showed interest.
After scanning their different reactions, I looked up at the ceiling and opened my mouth.
“Therefore, the revolution that occurred in Joseon this time, the third revolution that has bloomed from the hands of the people in the world, I believe without doubt that it will become a great chain of storms.”
“Storm of revolution.”
“Chain, chain.”
Although still vague, both diplomats, who are considered the greatest minds of this era, turned with serious faces and fell into their own thoughts.
This flow is good.
Well, then, the problem here.
Why are they most sensitive to the words ‘revolution’ and ‘republic’?
Why are they paying attention to the young president’s words that they would normally dismiss as ‘what does the monkey say?’ like an Oriental monkey?
To find the answer, we need to look more into Foote the consul, Plancy the ambassador, and the political situations of both countries.
First, the situation of Plancy’s mother country, the French Third Republic.
Currently, the French Third Republic is
Not sinking into a swamp.
I gave it a bit higher rating. Correct it to ‘right at the threshold of hell.’
In fact, the French Republic is itself a wounded, broken thing whose possibility of extending a helping hand to us is uncertain.
First, let’s briefly summarize the history they have walked:
Boulangist War, collapse of the monarchy, Paris Commune, surface-level left-right conflict, escalation of the Sino-French War.
Haha! Doesn’t just hearing it make you dizzy?
In such a way, the situation of the current French Republic is very precarious internally, unlike the appearance of claiming to be the traditional rival of the British Empire, which is the strongest nation of the era.
Napoleon III was defeated in the war with the German Empire, and the Paris leftists, unable to accept the shock of defeat, proclaimed the Commune government and resisted, but it was soon suppressed.
The French establishment, which originally overthrew its own government and superficially eased the conflict, is fragmented in all directions into fervent republicans, constitutionalists and monarchists, and conservative military.
Here, heroes emerged who laid the foundation for the French Third Republic to survive until before the Nazi invasion.
Adolphe Thiers, Leon Gambetta, Jules Ferry, Georges Clemenceau.
Flamboyant all-stars of the French political world.
And the series of reforms that recently integrated the divided French establishment were the reforms of the Orleanist Adolphe Thiers.
Thiers, who became the administrative head, promoted wide-ranging financial, administrative, and military reforms to calm the chaos, and at the same time, he is a figure who gained fame by paying off the war reparations from the German Empire in a short time.
And his successor Gambetta is a fierce republican.
Leon Gambetta. Although he was a great revolutionary who passed away in 1882, at the time of the Imo Incident in our Joseon, he was a great revolutionary, but his legacy, the cabinet of Jules Ferry that grasped the spirit of the current French Republic, reflected his will greatly in state affairs and handled all major and minor matters centrally.
And what Jules Ferry’s cabinet is currently promoting most meaningfully is
“Ambassador Plancy, how is the current situation in your country?”
“Uh, the current situation, you mean?”
“Yes, you.”
I was startled by my question and stepped back, pausing for a moment at Plancy’s appearance.
This was a somewhat sensitive issue.
I said it bluntly as much as possible without making his feelings hurt.
“Frankly, you’re losing.”
As my words ended, Plancy’s breathing, which had been holding his breath, started flowing irregularly again.
*****
Ambassador Plancy in Shanghai did not harbor vague admiration for the unknown country Joseon, which was led by the flow of the era or the will of the gods.
He was a scholar who had been active as a diplomat in China for a long time on behalf of his country, and he considered himself proficient in Eastern philosophy and history.
However, when he had the opportunity, he actively used his ears and money at the window of the world he could easily access, Shanghai, to collect as much information as possible about the country of Joseon.
Simply put, the information he organized about the country of Joseon was:
“The single ethnic group that has always existed in Chinese history.”
“A peninsula state that consistently repelled invasions from dozens of continental states due to its harsh terrain.”
“A stable terrain that maintains for a long time when internal conflicts are once settled, unlike China and Japan that repeated the history of division and unification.”
And
“According to reports from our home country’s navy, a country that has self-defeated two powerful reconnaissance and opening requests…”
This was important information that deserved special marking.
In this era, in a world where European countries carrying the miracle of science and spreading the will of the gods lead world affairs, no country that broke the strategic goals of his mother country and the United States of China existed in his memory.
Moreover,
“I have heard from the diplomats stationed in Nagasaki that he is a boy proficient in seven languages. But I thought it was the sacred kingship or political propaganda expressed by the Oriental kingdoms in roundabout ways.”
The most surprising thing for him after meeting the young president of the Joseon new government was the very existence of the young president.
Because the young head of state in front of him, who was only 11 years old, was leading the conversation with him and Foote in fluent French and English.
But there are Orientals saying that they are ‘revolutionary republicans’ and comrades in the republic that should walk the path of revolution for the welfare and happiness of the same ‘people’?
If it’s not a miracle, then it’s the test of the gods. Damn it.
The problem doesn’t end here, and the Joseon president in front of him was mentioning the expeditionary forces of his country that had started to suffer in the Indochina Peninsula recently.
Completely reversing the cause and effect, the comrades in ‘revolution’ setting fires in the hearth and now saying ‘Aren’t you struggling now? Shall we help?’ is what kind of nonsense is this!
Well, what does this mean?
Hahaha.
At this point, Plancy shook his head in disbelief.
“This is not the miracle of the gods, what else would it be?”
“Ambassador?”
“Ah, no. I was thinking about something else for a moment.”
He apologized to the president, who was hitting his own lips and looking at him with a puzzled expression.
He had collected his various expressions from before and straightened his back neatly, and at the same time turned with a serious gaze.
If the home government found the reason for appointing him as ambassador to the international diplomatic stage in Shanghai, it would be because he gave himself a high score for his ability to restrain emotions instantly at this moment.
Plancy, who had straightened his posture, opened his mouth.
“Your Excellency the President, although it may be a rude question, before I answer honestly about the expedition in the Indochina Peninsula, I would like to hear the reason why you mentioned the current status of our expeditionary forces in this place.”
“Hmm?”
The young president reacted to his story.
Because his left foot, which had been raised, was slightly touching the floor.
According to Plancy’s experience of being active on the diplomatic stage for a long time, it meant that the other party was interested in his story.
Plancy, who was paying attention to this, continued without missing it.
“Your Excellency, do you have any intention of dispatching troops to our republic’s expedition?”
“What?!”
Foote, who was sitting next to him, jumped up from his seat with a surprised expression at his question.
“Joseon to the Indochina Peninsula!? With France!”
“Assuming so, Consul Foote.”
Plancy had understood his feelings well and signaled with his eyes to not interrupt the conversation.
Even Plancy himself, who didn’t know the meaning of the words he was spitting out now, the desire for Joseon to stand in line with them was a shocking story.
However, Plancy, who had visited the president’s office for the first time and led the flow of conversation, did not want to miss this opportunity.
The voice of the diplomat trying to hide his excitement was slightly trembling.
“Based on my judgment, although it was a short conversation, I believe that Your Excellency’s will is very interested in our French actions.”
“…”
“Your Excellency the President, are you seriously considering dispatching troops to France’s Indochina expedition?”
“…”
“Your Excellency.”
Despite Plancy’s desperate question offensive, the young president had no answer. He only occasionally showed a strange smile that didn’t seem to mean anything.
At this point, the one who was in a difficult position was Foote, so he pulled a chair and sat down, glaring at Plancy the ambassador with a lower voice.
“You are being rude now, Ambassador. It may be unpleasant for me, a foreigner, to mention a foreign country’s military operations, but please calm down for now.”
What could he do when the sitting diplomat said so?
For a moment, Plancy looked back and forth between the two, lowered his head deeply, and apologized.
“…I’m sorry, Consul Foote. And Your Excellency the President, I’m really sorry.”
“No.”
At that moment, an unimaginable surprising reaction came out.
It was none other than the president, who had been silent until now, answering Plancy’s question.
The president said in a slightly high tone with a playful feel.
“You got it right. I took one.”
At this, Plancy and Foote both raised their heads at the same time, and the young president answered with a smile.
“Ambassador Plancy, and Consul Foote. Correct. I want our new republic to spread the light of revolution in the barren land of Asia that has not yet woken from a long sleep, together with the senior republics.”
Plancy’s face brightened at the president’s answer, and Foote was shocked.
And both of them thought the same thing at the same time.
That today’s informal meeting of the three would be recorded as the first diplomatic step of the Joseon president, who is not ordinary in ability and birth as much as his ambition.