Successful Negotiation
The negotiation was a success. I had considered posting something like I came from the future! straight onto the Alternate History Gallery, but no one would believe me anyway. And even if they did, there was no way back to the future. One thing was certain: this world of the alternate history gallery hadn’t been destroyed yet, or was still before the apocalypse.
Huh. Then let’s think about this. If I change history here, the future will change too. So if I just ask questions here, wouldn’t that work? If I use this properly, it could be an absolute goldmine. Basically, I could just keep checking how the future changes and respond accordingly, right? Nice. In that case, let’s look up some info on Alexeiev while we’re at it.
I gathered more information from my friends on the Alternate History Gallery. Not long after, I was able to meet Alexeiev again. Surprisingly quick. I’d been summoned right as my research on him wrapped up.
“I understand that your superior, the Gando Administrator, is preparing for war with Japan. If you people suppress the Chinese on our behalf, it wouldn’t be a bad deal for us. However, I’m not sure whether His Imperial Majesty the Tsar will view it favorably.”
Come on, why the hell would you run to the Tsar with every little thing? That’s not how adults handle business. This should just be seen as a matter between the Far East Viceroy and a single warlord, not a country-to-country affair. It’s not something that needs to reach the Emperor himself. Frankly, if that were the case, they wouldn’t have bothered setting up the Viceroyalty in the first place.
“Your Excellency is simply hiring mercenaries composed of Koreans. Nothing more, nothing less. The Russian army is powerful, but even so, if the Chinese cause disturbances, the railway could be destroyed or the arsenals raided, couldn’t they?”
In reality, the Boxer Rebellion had already destroyed railways and caused Russia plenty of headaches. Considering that, they should be happy to let us handle it instead.
“Very well. I’ll give you the opportunity.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency.”
That settled it. Now we just had to sweep across all of Manchuria and swell our forces as much as possible. And. I still needed to take out one more insurance policy. I had to plant my feet everywhere I could.
In truth, everything up to now had just been groundwork for the present. The real core was what I was about to say.
“Your Excellency. There is one more thing I wish to request. This is a plea made with my life on the line.”
A request I could only make because my body wouldn’t die no matter how much it was hacked apart. Might as well go all in. I had no idea how Alexeiev, who received orders from the respected Tsar, would react.
“What is it this time?”
“The reason my family once succeeded as peddlers was because we used Eastern sorcery to see the future. I was able to glimpse the future of Russia, which will become an ally to the Korean Empire.”
Grigori Rasputin had drawn massive interest from commoners to nobles through his pseudo-religious activities, necromancy, and sheer charisma. There was no reason I couldn’t pull off something similar.
“Hah, you certainly know how to say pleasant things.”
“The next Tsar will obtain a precious son.”
That precious son was Alexei. Even though he would ultimately die young during the revolution without ever becoming Tsar, he was at least an item that could turn Nicholas II into a solid sucker who would support me. I’d pretend to cure Alexei in Rasputin’s place.
“What did you say?”
“That child will suffer from hemophilia. When that time comes, please send me to St. Petersburg. If you do, Your Excellency will rise even further in status.”
“How dare you insult His Imperial Majesty! I listened to your nonsense and now it knows no bounds!”
Alexeiev shot up from his seat in fury once more. Yeah, of course he’d be pissed as the Tsar’s subject. But that was all it was. My next words sealed his mouth shut.
“Your Excellency once spent over three years circumnavigating the globe aboard the corvette Varyag.”
Without any rise or fall in tone, as if possessed by a spirit, the words poured out of me. I listed every single thing he had done long ago.
“You also explored the North American coast, continued moving into the Far East region, and after returning to Russia later, you were promoted to lieutenant.”
The words flowed smoothly, like I had copied them straight from Wikipedia. Since I had actually looked it up on the Alternate History Gallery, it really was no different from copy-pasting.
Yeah. I had subtly guided my Alternate History Gallery friends to spill information about Alexeiev. Naturally, a few of them got pissed off, but so what? If it was going to be like this, I almost wanted to ask why they didn’t just give me Wikipedia powers instead. But when I thought about it, since the opponents were real people on the gallery, there were advantages. I could predict the future from various perspectives.
At my words, Alexeiev froze for a moment before his eyes widened.
“How do you know that?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I said I use Eastern sorcery.”
“Isn’t it possible you simply investigated me in advance?”
That was true. But seriously, was that even possible for the Korean Empire in its current state? Of course, if you asked whether to believe in sorcery or intelligence capabilities, anyone would pick the latter. Still—
“In other words, does a small country like Korea, which is constantly meddled with by Japan, even have the means to investigate someone like Your Excellency? And even if we did, it would mean our intelligence network is impressive enough to investigate the Russian Viceroy of the Far East.”
A mere minor nation in the East investigating the Russian Viceroy who was playing the Great Game against Britain. Did that sound plausible? Naturally, believing in Eastern sorcery might seem less likely than the alternative, but Viceroy Alexeiev was clearly shaken.
He sat back down and approached me with eyes that looked utterly possessed. Get your face away from me. I don’t like old men.
“Do you know about my future as well?”
“There is nothing I do not know. As Commander-in-Chief during the Russo-Japanese War, Your Excellency will be recalled to the motherland after the Russian army suffers countless defeats against the Japanese forces.”
There was no need to set the stage slowly. Since I had already brought it up, I had to go all the way. Rather than laying the groundwork gradually, it was better to say everything while Alexeiev was still listening.
“What!”
It was true. He would eventually step down from the viceroyalty in 1905. If Alexeiev believed my words and led the Russo-Japanese War advantageously, at the very least he wouldn’t be ruined.
“However, if we—the Korean Imperial Army—assist the Far East Viceroy, the situation will change drastically. Would you care to make a bet? I have already staked my neck. If I win the bet, please send me to St. Petersburg.”
As long as I had the Alternate History Gallery, there was no way I would lose. Unless those arrogant Great Peng bastards lied to me. For now, let’s just focus on receiving their help. This was the moment to see how Alexeiev would respond.
His face was currently filled with deep suspicion, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to challenge me. In his heart, he was probably wondering if I might actually be using sorcery. After a long silence, Alexeiev finally opened his heavy mouth.
“It sounds like nonsense, but fine. We shall see. Use Manchuria as a training ground for your Koreans. I will provide sufficient support. As for the hemophilia, I will send you to St. Petersburg. However, if all of this turns out to be false, you had best be prepared.”
Good. This was enough. I had gained everything I wanted. I just needed to save the Crown Prince, pretend to be like Rasputin receiving favor, and secure Nicholas II’s endless support.
Only after Ok Jin-seo had left did Far East Viceroy Alexeiev realize he had been had. He had been completely enchanted by that glib tongue and those relaxed, smiling eyes. To think he, a subject of the Russian Empire’s Tsar, had done something so foolish. It was all because of that nonsense about Eastern sorcery.
“Ok Jin-seo… She claims to know the future?”
No matter how he looked at it, it was absurd drivel. Of course it was. If she could truly see the future, would a country that had been Joseon until recently allow itself to be so pathetically devoured by its neighboring nations? The very reason His Imperial Majesty was showing interest in this Korean Empire was surely because he intended to make it a protectorate in the future.
But then a thought occurred to Alexeiev. What if, in seeing the future, one had to go through the current process for Korea to become a great power? What if she had seen such a future?
Hemophilia?
He had laughed it off as a joke, but it had been an incredibly rude statement. The reason he had indulged that woman was because she spoke Russian well and he saw a use for her in employing the Sapodae through her. But what if it was real? What if the Tsar’s next child was a boy? What if that boy had hemophilia?
It was something they wouldn’t know until next year, but if it was true, that woman might prove very useful.
However, that raised the next problem. What if Japan refused to give up the Korean Peninsula? If those bastards weren’t satisfied with Fujian Province and crawled their way into the peninsula, what then? He had to keep all possibilities open.
“This won’t do. We must reinforce the fortresses in Manchuria in preparation for war.”
Anyway, that fellow Yi Beom-yun had said he would take care of the Qing army himself. Even if Japan took Fujian, Russia had always planned to fortify Manchuria. It was going to be a crucial base in the Far East; how could they not seize it?
“If Korea suppresses the Qing remnants in Manchuria for us…”
Then all this side needed to do was focus on defense.
Gando Administrator Yi Beom-yun was overjoyed the moment I returned and reported the results.
“My, I thought you were just a child who came looking to make a quick profit, but you managed to accomplish all this alone. Splendid.”
He had every reason to be happy. Not only had we secured more weapons support, but Russia had entrusted us with the suppression of all anti-Russian Qing forces and Chinese elements throughout Manchuria. It was essentially gaining the comforting assurance that, in the Far East, Korea had been recognized as Russia’s partner.
Yi Beom-yun was a passionate independence activist who would later gather three thousand troops and even launch an operation to strike into the homeland.
“Now that we will receive even more support, we simply need to sweep across all of Manchuria.”
“How do you mean?”
“Manchuria must look like a gold mine. We’ll plunder every corner of Manchuria and send the wealth back to Seoul. That way, the homeland will provide us with more generals.”
That would allow us to increase the scale of the army, and more people would volunteer for the Sapodae. Beyond simply securing tax revenue, the Imperial forces stationed here to properly defend Gando would expand, allowing us to firmly claim this land. We would grow our power here and prepare for the coming Russo-Japanese War.
“So you wish to expand our forces in this place.”
“Afterward, if the Japanese bastards become afraid of our military power and refrain from invading, that would be ideal. But that won’t happen. We will train an elite army and, together with Russia, fight the Japanese when they later invade our homeland.”
It might sound like grand delusions or mere wishful thinking. But at least I had the Alternate History Gallery’s abilities. We could prepare sufficiently. We might not know the enemies’ strategies, but we already knew them, didn’t we? Above all, we needed to make good use of Russia and France right now. Even if a triple alliance was impossible, we at least had to drive Japan out of the Korean Peninsula.
“Then what should we do immediately?”
It was simple. First, we had to plunder Manchuria to secure revenue and military funds while also rigorously training the quality of our troops.
“We have received support from Russia and France. It is like borrowing the tiger’s might. We must use this to march out once more into that vast Manchuria.”
Behind us stood Russia and France. Japan would start the Russo-Japanese War in about a year. Until then, we had to show them just how insanely elite our army was.
“How do you propose we secure the revenue? Since we are under Russian command, we cannot plunder recklessly as before.”
Oh dear. For someone who has been fighting the Qing army, you’re surprisingly naive. In that case, this kind neighborhood plunderer will have to explain it to you. Back when I was doing well, I played the role of plunderer quite often among the survivor groups.
“It’s simple logic. Just like before, we plunder while claiming there are groups resisting Russia and Korea. We can label any city and plunder it thoroughly. Even if it’s a completely innocent village, we simply brand them as bandits. Then we strip them clean. Is that pitiful? Our own country is on the verge of total ruin. This is no time to be whining about how pitiful the Manchus or Han Chinese are. In any case, we can invoke the revenge of King Injo! The revenge of Samjeondo! Such reasons and justifications work just fine, don’t they?”