Blue Operation (1)
Thus, our grand welcome ceremony concluded rather modestly.
Only the French delegation that had come to visit the Republic, along with a portion of the officers from the Far East Squadron, continued on to Hanseong with us for practical negotiations and operational planning. The rest of the sailors and soldiers remained aboard the fleet.
Of course, they had been kept entertained with drinks, meats, and various ingredients that would stimulate the French to miss their homeland, so the sailors were not particularly dissatisfied at not having gone ashore.
And one more thing: if there was anything certain from today's encounter, it was that Admiral Amédée Courbet and the French delegation below had left a profound impression on me.
How could I be so certain?
Well,
"Your Excellency the President. The French expeditionary commander and Admiral Amédée Courbet of the Far East Squadron has requested a secret audience with Your Excellency."
"A secret audience?"
The messenger was none other than Foreign Minister Bak Jeong-yang.
He handed me a small note written in elegant script with short sentences and stepped back one pace.
"Is there something you heard?"
"He wishes to discuss the actual objectives and advance directions of the French expeditionary force."
"Actual objectives."
When I showed my bewilderment at the news he conveyed, Bak Jeong-yang carefully closed the door leading to the window outside my office and the corridor, lowering his voice.
"And our Republic's objectives as well."
"I see."
Upon hearing Bak Jeong-yang's explanation, I realized that Courbet had the intention to hold a proper conversation and nodded, propping my chin.
"The effort was worthwhile."
Quite literally.
I don't know whether it was because I had left a strong impression on him or if his mindset had changed in some way, but what was certain was that he had accepted our Republic as a partner of his homeland France.
It meant that the de facto supreme commander of the expeditionary force wanted to know our demands in advance through this war, aligning somewhat with the goals France thought.
In other words, Admiral Courbet would approach negotiations with our Republic in a rather equal manner.
It turned out to be a blessing for us that the French approached more nimbly than we expected.
Deciding to accept the secret meeting, I asked the waiting Bak Jeong-yang if there was anything else to prepare.
"Is there anything else? Something to prepare for?"
"Yes, there was nothing else, and they suggested leaving the practical negotiations and the delegation's responses to the subordinates, with both countries dispatching only two people each for a simple conversation."
"Is that so?"
"And the admiral himself expressed his intention to participate directly."
With both sides including themselves having two each, it seemed they wanted to get straight to the point.
Quickly thinking about what topic, for what purpose, and what to obtain from the meeting, I commanded the awkwardly standing Bak Jeong-yang.
"Hmm, I see. You may go."
"Yes?"
"Ah, I almost forgot. Before leaving, inform the Vice Minister of Military Affairs that I must accompany him to the secret meeting."
"Understood."
As he turned back following my command, a slight shadow fell over his face.
Bak Jeong-yang turned with a slightly disappointed expression, as if he had expected something.
He must have expected it.
His slumped shoulders suggested that as Foreign Minister, he had hoped to join this secret meeting himself, but what could be done?
The secret meeting Courbet wanted was undoubtedly discussing how much cake the leading France would eat and how much crumbs the Republic and the United States would pick up.
The place I was about to meet was not a formal, moral custom filled with diplomatic euphemisms hoping for a non-Chinese alliance, but a place to weigh the weight of the shackles that the ordinary Chinese people would receive, flipping the actual gains and losses.
So, to demand a fair share, it would be more important to promise how much work our military can do.
Therefore, what I could guarantee was that as long as I was alive, that terrible shackle would not be placed on our Republic's people.
Three days later, the secret meeting place between the two countries was none other than the now quite familiar "Wolf's Lair".
"Oh my God."
Accompanying Admiral Courbet was his adjutant and chief of staff, Vice Admiral Sébastien Lespès.
He seemed greatly impressed by the sight of the underground tunnel existing solidly in the grand mansion in the capital of a nation, his eyes sparkling as he followed closely behind us.
"Oh, I never imagined there were such underground wonders in Korea."
"It hasn't been long. In fact, it was recently built."
The Wolf's Lair, the most important facility for our government personnel.
Then why did we decide to introduce this important facility to the external French?
As it was a secret meeting, my decision that today's negotiations should not be known to any country played a part.
To show our attitude towards the war.
Before the actual transaction, showing how important we consider this negotiation and what resolve we have to pay demonstrates that we can take two advantageous positions in the negotiation.
"I decided on the revolution when I was about eight years old here."
"Eh, Your Excellency? I think I might have heard something wrong just now...?"
"You heard it correctly. At eight years old. You who were playing in the streets of your country may not know, but our Republic and the people's struggle is not a recent matter. We have been fighting since 1882. The revolution did not succeed in five days."
Seasoning with a bit of lie, I boasted to the following Lespès that I was a warrior who dreamed of revolution since I was a little eight-year-old brat, beginning to bewitch them with a voice that was neither that of an eleven-year-old boy nor something that could be uttered, chillingly.
"Three years ago, soldiers who were loyal to the king protected the capital without pay for about thirteen months and guarded the nation from foreign invaders. But people are not iron puppets. No matter how loyal a soldier, they had families and parents to serve. Hungry soldiers asked for one thing: to pay the overdue salaries!"
"..."
"And it was truly unexpected, but the world did not turn out so rationally. Everything was close to a mystery; the king branded the soldiers who demanded the overdue salaries as traitors, and interrogated bureaucrats and citizens who sympathized with them. In the end, the king's own father, unable to bear it, led the coup."
"···And? Did the coup succeed?"
I, now fully immersed in the story, smiled bitterly at the vice admiral with clear eyes and replied.
"If it had, the revolution would not have happened last year?"
"..."
"The bureaucrats, the Confucian scholars, and the citizens who could not bear it rose up in collaboration with the father, and the king fled. Oh, this is quite similar to your France."
"..."
Against the ignorant French who didn't know our Korean history well, I fabricated that the king was a tyrant who was incompetent and a traitor, shrugging my shoulders and continuing to talk.
"And the coup failed. By the way, you asked earlier what the reason we hate China is?"
"Yes."
Lespès nodded vigorously, saying that was the most curious.
The reason Koreans hate China.
"It's this. The coup of the citizens who rose up three years ago was massacred by the Qing army who put the fleeing king in front, and the soldiers who abandoned resistance to avoid harming civilians in the capital battle were all branded traitors and their families executed. And these who claimed to be front-runners of that cruel tyrant were the Qing army. That's why we are fighting."
"Oh, my God."
The vice admiral Lespès, who had a somewhat emotional part in my calm explanation, covered his mouth, and following him, Admiral Courbet muttered with a bitter expression towards me.
"It seems like you foresaw what would happen if our French revolution failed."
I agreed with his example.
If Louis XVI of France had escaped France, the world's history would have been completely different from now.
"···It might be."
"But if so, it's fortunate. The failure then would have brought the success of the revolution today."
"Hmm."
I could not answer the next question immediately and lowered my head for a moment.
Was the failure of the Imo Incident due to my carelessness?
Or was my grand scheme to frame the incompetent and traitorous king to make the success of today's revolution possible?
Honestly, I don't know.
Having talked and pondered so mindlessly, crossing the tunnel, bright lights that could not be believed to be in a tunnel flowed from afar.
The heart of the new government.
I asked the following Seo Jae-pil to pull down the draped tent and invited the two guests into the conference room.
"Please come in. Sit wherever you are comfortable."
Soon, the French who entered together exclaimed in amazement at the scene of the meeting room that looked like it would collapse, as if in a poor neighborhood.
"What a shabby place."
"Think of it as emphasizing equality."
"Haha."
After the light banter, all four of us returned with serious expressions.
"First, please look at these."
The one who started was Vice Minister of Military Affairs Seo Jae-pil, who presented materials he had prepared in advance before the secret meeting, translated into French, maps, and our reports.
He handed over the materials, raised his command staff, and pointed to the cities, ports, and villages on the map drawn by the French side showing the map of Taiwan Island, beginning his explanation.
"The 4th Regiment of the French Far East Expeditionary Force currently deployed on Taiwan Island is focusing on constructing a pier to accommodate the fleet at 'Keelung' and warehouses for unloading supplies. Also, according to the local commander and supply officer's agenda, the 20,000 Qing resistance forces entrenched in southern Taiwan are preparing ways to retreat the 4th Regiment based at Keelung by all means. Therefore, our military decided that it is appropriate to set Taiwan as the first target, not the Indochina Peninsula, to help our allies by dispatching volunteer troops."
"You see it correctly. Our expeditionary force lacks personnel and resources to completely govern the island and the remaining remnants in Taiwan. The most important thing is the troops to guard the island and protect the pier and port facilities. Even if the battle is mainly handled by our expeditionary force, guerrilla forces relying on terrain would be hard to deal with."
Receiving Lespès's praise for Seo Jae-pil's insight, I continued.
"Before smooth communication and execution of operations between our three countries, it means we must completely occupy Taiwan and transfer the West Sea control of the Far East Squadron to this side for the next step."
"Yes, Your Excellency. You have it right."
"And if the West Sea control falls into our allies' hands, Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Beiyang, will have to make a decision."
"Korea or France?"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
To summarize, the remaining Qing commanders like Sun Kaihua in southern Taiwan would be exterminated with our Republic's military support, and the Far East Squadron gripping the West Sea control from the northern port city Keelung would revive the nightmare of the Opium War.
Why exactly the revival of the Opium War?
Well, the moment the West Sea control passed to the Far East Squadron with over 30 warships, we could seize the lifeline of China's decaying finances, the maritime customs duties, from the root.
"In addition, if we freely use our Republic's Jemulpo as well as Keelung in Taiwan, it would have the effect of expanding your operational range to Liaodong and Manchuria."
"It is a very slim possibility, but considering the entire Shandong Peninsula including Liaodong as attack range could prompt a decision from both the Minister of Beiyang and the Prime Minister of Military Affairs."
And this method was a clever strategy that both the Far East Squadron and our Republic could obtain sufficient results with the least blood spilled.
However,
"But it seems Admiral's concern still remains. Is there something bothering you?"
The expression of Admiral Courbet, who presented a vision for the French and Koreans to shed little blood and win, was not bright at all.
The admiral who had maintained silence for a while in response to my question reached out his hand and opened his mouth.
"We can reduce the blood of the young people to be spilled in this futile war. The method with the least battles and the least blood spilled on innocent citizens of ours and China."
"But?"
"The deep hatred Koreans have towards China and the ambitions of our country's politicians in the tunnel were far greater than that."
"..."
I, who had stiffened at Courbet's sharp criticism, relaxed my expression and asked cautiously.
"Did the French government give any hint?"
"Shamefully, they ordered to occupy one of the southern coastal cities in southern China, including Guangxi Province, as a foothold for colonial business like British Hong Kong."
"Hmm."
I swallowed the French government's ambition that Courbet had spat out.
Comparable to Hong Kong.
And the order "comparable" does not mean not to be inferior to Hong Kong.
It meant preparing to challenge the British Empire that would dominate the Chinese market by uniting with our Korea and the United States in the Pacific in the future.
The matter got bigger than expected.
But as a counterbalance, the price offered by the French government and the Far East Squadron to us seemed too sweet, almost bursting the mouth.
"I do not misunderstand the decision of my country, Your Excellency. They have approved a financial support plan of up to 1.5 million francs and an emergency loan for the sake of Your Excellency and the allies in the Far East. This fact is a secret information that only our practical delegation is aware of. You will probably receive this report this afternoon."
"Oh, this."
"By the way, it is said that there is also an interest-free loan prepared. So, for war expenses, it should be sufficient for the time being."
My God, if I am not mistaken right now...!
I looked at Lespès, who was only nodding his head next to the admiral with an indifferent expression, and said with conviction.
This is not a bluff!
1.5 million francs!? Three years of national budget of our Republic!
Of course, it could be an exaggerated figure considering the current poor financial state with no progress in foreign exchange business, land reform, royal property disposal, and tax reform, but the value of 1.5 million francs that France is providing for free or with interest is not a small amount at all.
It was even more like a drop of rain in drought than the 550,000 dollars in loans that Kim Ok-gyun had wanted to obtain by going to America.
Next, Vice Admiral Lespès, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, brought out even more shocking stories.
"President, it is truly rude to say this, but I am curious how much great price you are prepared to pay for this war."
"I thought we had resolved all that in the first meeting."
"No, I was wrong in the example. I am not insulting the resolution of Your Excellency and the citizens of Korea. I just want to ask how long you will fight against China and what tenacity you have."
"Ask directly."
Annoyed by the attitude of constantly avoiding questions, I showed my displeasure to the vice admiral, and Lespès sighed, sought Courbet's consent, and threw a bomb.
"I heard in English Manchuria, and in Korean Manchu. Do you, the Republic and President, have any thoughts on the old lost ancestral homeland?"
"What...?"
It was the moment the hearts of the Joseon Confucian scholars, which had cooled, ignited again with flames.