The Near-Emperor Faction Strikes First
The Near-Emperor Faction makes the first move.
Ok Jin-seo has gone to Manchuria and is defying an imperial decree. There could be no better opportunity than this.
“That is exactly what we are aiming for. If she defies the imperial decree, then we strike at that very point. The justification is more than sufficient.”
“Sufficient justification, you say?”
“I have spent my entire life eating scraps and reading the room at the side of the late Emperor. If not now, there will never be another chance to drive that woman out. She will probably delay the advance into Qing.”
Lady Eom knew full well how difficult this Qing expedition would be. That was why they could brand her a traitor for defying the imperial order.
“That seems correct.”
“Therefore, we must seize her even if it means doing it this way. We charge her with responsibility, declare her a traitor, and then purge the democratic faction within the Capital Garrison. How does that sound?”
In a single stroke, they would wipe them all out.
“That could lead to civil war!”
Prince Uihwa cried out in alarm. No—it would not simply lead to civil war. Civil war was all but guaranteed. There was no way Ok Jin-seo would simply sit back and take it. Moreover, the Korean Empire’s military factories and defense-related industries were all concentrated in Manchuria. How could they possibly stand against the Manchurian Army with the pitiful number of weapons produced at the few facilities in Yongsan Arsenal and elsewhere?
“We simply need to end it quickly. Once we suppress them and brand them as traitors, who in this country would dare rise up in their defense?”
He was right. In the end, the opponent was nothing more than a warlord who had come from outside. If the entire citizenry of the Korean Empire rose up, what could they do? No matter how powerful Ok Jin-seo might be, she would have no choice but to retreat.
“That may be true, but…”
Prince Uihwa fell into deep thought. Was it truly wise to follow Lady Eom’s orders? To be honest, he did not particularly like Ok Jin-seo either. But when would the Korean people ever grasp such glory again? Moreover, Ok Jin-seo was the one who had caught the attention of the West—of Europe. If they removed her, what would the Western powers say?
Lady Eom had gone mad in her desperation to protect imperial authority. The world had already changed, yet she still clung to the old ways. If one recalled why Emperor Taejo had abolished Goryeo and founded Joseon, such a decision now would be nothing but poison.
At this rate, there really is no answer except Ok Jin-seo.
There was truly no other way. No matter how he looked at it, the imperial family had no future.
Uiju, Korean Empire.
This latest decision had sparked discontent even within the Manchurian Army. They were being ordered to attack Qing—the very nation that had just provided them assistance. Moreover, there were currently Manchurian military advisors inside the Forbidden City. To suddenly turn hostile and attack was nothing short of stupidity.
“Your Excellency. Do you truly intend to follow the imperial family’s orders?”
Hong Beom-do asked with a frustrated expression during the meeting.
Me? Follow the orders of that golden brat and that ugly bitch? Have I lost my mind?
What sin have I committed that I should have to obey those bitches’ commands and then get cursed out for it?
“Didn’t you yourself say, Your Excellency, that we must keep Qing around so we can keep exploiting them for a long time?”
“I am well aware. However, an imperial decree is absolute.”
An imperial decree was indeed absolute. If I had kept refusing back at Seokjojeon, they could have used that against me. How dare you defy an imperial decree! That was how it could play out. If it came to that, they would spread propaganda everywhere about how I had rejected the imperial order, and things would become difficult.
That golden bastard also wanted to crush Qing somehow because of what I had said before. At the very least, I needed to set the stage so it looked like I was reluctantly obeying despite the hardship.
“If we march into Qing like this, you must also consider the soldiers’ dissatisfaction.”
“That’s right. Didn’t you yourself say that if we take Qing, we will have to face the Chinese warlords?”
Why wouldn’t I know that? Did they really think I would actually obey the imperial decree?
Unfortunately for them, I had absolutely no intention of doing so.
“That is precisely why we will not advance any further.”
“Then you must have some kind of plan.”
Of course I did. First, in order to enter Qing, we had to leave Russian-controlled Manchuria. In other words, we needed the permission of the Viceroy of the Far East.
“For now, I must meet with the Viceroy of the Far East.”
The meeting with the Viceroy took place quickly. This was because the Viceroy had also been closely monitoring the situation inside the Korean Empire through various business channels.
As soon as he saw me, the Viceroy cut straight to the point.
“You say you will destroy Qing, yet you speak such words while knowing that Britain is supporting the warlords?”
From Russia’s perspective, they also wanted Qing to remain. After all, Qing was a useful tool for both the Korean Empire and Russia. Although Qing no longer controlled all of China proper, even half of it was still an enormous territory. Killing Qing now would be like slicing open the belly of the goose that laid golden eggs.
“So you cannot open the path for us?”
“Correct. You must speak reasonably. What exactly is your imperial family trying to do?”
Good. That was all I needed to hear.
If the Russia of the White Tsar opposed it, what could the Korean Empire possibly do? It seemed Lady Eom really was an idiot. Without Russian permission, we could not march overland, and our navy was still in the process of being built, making a naval attack impossible as well.
Satisfied, I smiled.
“Then that settles it.”
“What?”
“If Your Excellency blocks the way, how could we—whose fleet has only just been organized—possibly attack Qing?”
In short, they should refuse. That would give us an even more legitimate excuse to refuse as well. Koreans knew very well that Russia had helped them. If Russia itself was blocking the way, they could not simply call them villains. My own reputation was nothing to scoff at either.
“So you never intended to go in the first place.”
Alekseyev spoke as if he found the whole thing absurd.
“Never intended to go? It is an order from His Imperial Majesty—how could I not go? It is simply that we poor Manchurian troops were blocked by a great power and thus could not punish Qing. That should be enough, yes?”
Viceroy of the Far East Alekseyev furrowed his brow in clear displeasure. It might sound like wordplay, but that was fine. At any rate, we had gained one more legitimate reason not to go.
It would also be good to send a separate letter to the Tsar. Something along the lines of how a pro-imperial coup seemed imminent and requesting his support.
Britain would surely support us rather than an imperial family stupid enough to pick a fight with Qing. Japan was in no position to intervene in this matter either.
After the negotiations with the Viceroy broke down, we returned to Uiju.
“If it’s like this, then we have a clear reason why we cannot go.”
Nam Sang-deok, who had not yet considered the possibility of civil war, let out a sigh of relief.
“No matter how much they are the Near-Emperor Faction, they cannot possibly suggest attacking Russia the same way the Japanese used the pretext of ‘righteous punishment’ to invade Joseon.”
If Lady Eom had any sense, she would not. However, she would still continue to pressure me. You are close with Russia, so do something about it.
“In that case, we should report this to Seokjojeon. After that, we will see. General Hong Beom-do, please return to Manchuria in the meantime and ensure the troops are properly armed. Check if anything is lacking.”
“Understood. However, even if we move as slowly as possible to buy time, do you really think Lady Eom will simply sit still?”
Of course not. There was no way she would stay quiet. After pushing this hard, if I sent back “Russia is opposing us and we must wait for weapon production lol,” there was zero chance she would reply with “Okay, then please come back~.” Absolutely not.
We were simply creating one more reason why we could not go. In fact, this was the final opportunity. Even for Lady Eom, if things dragged on any longer, my authority would rise too high and become dangerous. If I were her, I would throw the dice right now. When else could she crush me if not now?
“She won’t stay still. In fact, this Qing expedition was aimed at me from the beginning.”
“Aimed at you? What exactly do you…”
These people still didn’t understand.
“Nam Sang-deok. You still have a long way to go. It means exactly what it says. If I refuse the Qing expedition, they plan to finish me off by claiming I have defied an imperial decree.”
“But His Excellency the Prime Minister is still there, isn’t he?”
His Excellency the Prime Minister? Yi Beom-yun was no longer important. The Near-Emperor Faction saw me as the core of the Manchurian faction. What did that imply?
“Why would they pull the Manchurian Army outside? They probably plan to use the remaining Capital Garrison to suppress us.”
“This is a coup d’état!”
General Hong Beom-do shot up from his seat. Seeing how he could barely contain his rage, he must have been furious. But what could we do? In the end, the master of this country was still the imperial family. From their perspective, the imperial family was simply trying to reclaim its authority by striking down a treacherous subject like myself. They probably even thought it was justified.
“When the imperial family does it, what is the point of calling it a coup?”
“Do you intend to simply take it lying down?”
Chief of Staff An Jung-geun also pressed me for an answer. As if. If I had planned to just take it, I wouldn’t have been dragging things out like this.
“Of course not. Even the Near-Emperor Faction must know they cannot remove me this easily. They cannot touch His Excellency the Prime Minister right away either, so we simply have to watch and wait.”
Moving immediately was still difficult. What remained now was to throw them some bait.
There were two methods. If the Near-Emperor Faction raised their army quickly, we could claim we were suppressing an unknown coup force and march the army back to Hanseong. The second method was that Yi Wan-yong might move first. If he provided a suitable justification, we could move a little faster. But until then, I had to cry and wail that advancing was impossible, that it could not be helped. I had to act as if I were a loyal subject with utmost sincerity.
To do that, I needed to pretend to prepare for war as much as possible.
“Nam Sang-deok. For now, send someone to the Manchurian Arsenal. We need to put on a proper performance.”
“Understood, Your Excellency.”
And so we dragged out time. Now then, how would they respond? It would be nice if Yi Wan-yong moved as I hoped.
A short while later, many voices clashed inside Seokjojeon. The Near-Emperor Faction was criticizing the current Yi Beom-yun cabinet.
‘Traitorous ministers like Yi Beom-yun have established a military regime similar to the former Choi clan’s rule and are driving the country into ruin. How can we allow this to continue?’
The Near-Emperor Faction was slowly preparing to strike the Manchurian faction. And Yi Wan-yong, who was officially a loyal subject of the imperial family, was shocked when he heard the news.
“This really is too much. Lady Eom has completely lost her mind.”
“Minister, you must act quickly. At this rate, the Emperor will regain power!”
Well. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like it would only last three days. If Ok Jin-seo turned her army around right now, what could they possibly do?
“It seems you also dislike the idea of the imperial family regaining power.”
That was true. Syngman Rhee had always made a fuss about how the Emperor must be dethroned. If imperial authority had been strong, Yi Wan-yong himself would have thrown Syngman Rhee in prison long ago.
“How can we trust those incompetent fools? If they regain power, democracy in this country will wither away!”
Syngman Rhee shouted in righteous fury, but had there ever been any democracy in this country? Even Ok Jin-seo herself did not seem particularly inclined toward democracy. Still, if one had to choose between the two at this moment, there was only Ok Jin-seo. At least she had recognized his worth. Besides, with Russia standing behind Ok Jin-seo, there was no other choice. Japan, having fallen into the abyss and even been forced to apologize by Ok Jin-seo, was in no position to do anything.
And then, not long after, the incident erupted.
“From this moment on, we shall exterminate the Manchurian faction traitors—the parasites devouring this country!”
Bak Seung-hwan personally led troops to begin rounding up members of the Manchurian faction. The Manchurian faction had not expected the Near-Emperor Faction to move this quickly.
“Your Excellency the Prime Minister, you must flee. The imperial family has mobilized the Imperial Guard and part of the Capital Garrison to kill all Manchurian faction officers!”
Prime Minister Yi Beom-yun, who had sensed something was wrong beforehand, received the report from a Manchurian faction officer within the Capital Garrison.
“What? What in the world is going on?”
“We have gathered our allies in the Capital Garrison, so please escape immediately!”
In truth, Yi Beom-yun had been skeptical. He had never imagined the imperial family would act so foolishly. He could not have predicted that, at this critical time when they needed to carry out reforms and raise the country up, the imperial family would act solely for their own interests. What era did they think this was? If they acted like this, how would other countries respond? The nation would once again become a laughingstock in Europe. They had only just escaped Japan’s grasp and, thanks to Jin-seo, freed themselves from Russia as well—yet this was how it turned out.
It was obvious that the imperial family would brand Jin-seo a traitor as well. And after that, what would happen?
‘At this rate, even Russia might approach us using Jin-seo as justification.’
There was no other way. They had to call Jin-seo back no matter what.
“Damn it! Contact Jin-seo immediately. We must summon her!”
In the end, the only solution was for the Manchurian Army to return. As a subject of the imperial family, he had not wished for this, but only by bringing the army back could they overturn the current situation.
Around this time, as Hanseong fell into chaos, Yi Wan-yong was also preparing to move. No matter how one looked at it, this was nothing short of suicide for the imperial family. He could not understand what they had been thinking to commit such insanity. How did they plan to stop Ok Jin-seo when she returned with her army? What would they do if Russia backed her? Or did they truly believe they could raise a royalist army and righteous army from the Thirteen Provinces and overwhelm them with sheer numbers? Did they really think they could defeat the Manchurian Army, which had been tempered through countless battles in Manchuria? Or had they failed to consider the possibility that even their own troops might turn against them?
It was time to make a decision.
“It is time to set the board.”
“Do you have a plan, sir?”
Syngman Rhee, who had followed Yi Wan-yong by chance, asked urgently.
“You will leave Hanseong and go to the Southern Manchuria Administration Office.”
“Has the time finally come? Wouldn’t it be dangerous for you to remain here?”
That was true. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. If he stayed, he might arouse Ok Jin-seo’s suspicions. For example, she might wonder if the reason he remained in Hanseong was because he intended to side with the imperial family. In other words, whether he had been keeping a foot in both camps.
“No. I will go with you.”
Yi Wan-yong had no desire to have his neck chopped off for nothing. He immediately set off for Manchuria.