Hypnotic Brainwashing
I couldn't just slaughter them in a mindless rage, but I couldn't shake the suspicious vibe either. Well, what can you do? Let's be honest. If I were still just some random individual, sure, but I'm the Minister of the Army now. Ah, those Japanese bastards are so fucking suspicious lol. Even so, there's no proper justification. If I mindlessly beat them to death, it'll only breed unnecessary anti-Korean sentiment. And it's not like Korea's favorability hasn't been strangely rising lately thanks to Hongikism. For individual Japanese people, whatever, but if the rampaging military faction gets dyed in Hongikism and decides they want to join us, they could at least serve as decent meat shields.
"If I use Hongikism to plant our forces inside..."
How about naturally absorbing Japan that way? After all, nothing is more terrifying than brainwashing. Rather than killing them all because it's annoying and wasting national strength, exhausting our weapons, and tanking our international reputation, brainwashing them is clearly better. Especially if I can pull Hongikism over to our side. Hmm.
This isn't something I can just gloss over. Either crush Japan or brainwash it. One or the other. This requires some deep thought before moving on. I'd probably need to overhaul the school curriculum too, especially regarding Hongikism. I could package it as something that actually existed since the Goryeo era. Give Emperor Wu's conquest of Liaodong a nice polish, claiming it was to overcome the Ming dynasty's oppression. It would also be good to frame the Joseon dynasty as essentially the Yi family's colony, maintained by paying tribute to China. The national history is going to change a lot later? Yeah. It definitely will. At the very least, the history of being a colony will disappear.
Of course, I'll still portray the Joseon era up to the point of declaring imperial titles and eras as a humiliating period that was practically a Chinese puppet state, so in another sense it'll remain a dark chapter of history. "I should think about that side too."
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
Come to think of it, Kim In-soo was currently assisting me. If he asks what I'm thinking so deeply about, basic courtesy says I should answer.
"It's nothing. I was just considering how we might use those Japanese bastards for our own purposes."
If I could use Japan however I wanted, wouldn't that be enough to pay off the karma from my previous life? The idea of working them like slaves is pretty tempting. After all, if they're going to fight anyway, wouldn't it be better for them to writhe beneath a beautiful girl? I think someone like me qualifies as a beautiful girl. Well, to be precise, a young woman in her twenties. Not much difference from a beautiful girl, right?
"You mean the Japanese?"
"It seems Hongikism is spreading in Japan as well."
Discussions like this still needed at least one person to bounce ideas off. Kim In-soo seemed like the perfect fit for that.
"Oh. Then we could potentially draw them to our side."
"That's how it would go."
Drawing them in felt inherently dirty, but... well. Maybe I should think positively. I could just use them as my underlings anyway. It was better to think this way than to simply beat them down. Frankly, wasting national power by hammering Japan was a bad idea. To take Japan down, I needed to strike with a surprise attack and end it quickly.
"But we've passed the critical point now. Shouldn't you resolve the Chinese matter as well?"
"China, you mean?"
What problem was there in China right now? The Qing issue had already been resolved. There seemed to be a lot of talk about how we'd suddenly dragged down the Son of Heaven, but what could they do? That country was now merely the Great Khan's nation. In other words, it was nothing more than a barbarian state that had effectively given up its claim to the Central Plains.
"Yes. Isn't there a man named Sun Yat-sen?"
Ah, Sun Yat-sen. I'd completely forgotten about him.
"Right. There is that guy called Sun Yat-sen."
I needed to deal with that gentleman somehow, sooner or later. What would be a good way to brainwash him to my side? I'd been forgetting to check the Alternate History Gallery like I kept saying I would. I needed to handle that matter soon too. It would be good to devour Sun Yat-sen's mind and at least turn him into a double agent for Hongikism.
"Then shall we deal with Sun Yat-sen quickly?"
Using him would clearly be far more beneficial for China. I needed to turn that bastard into a puppet to ensure China's division. If possible, it would be best to make him a stooge for Hongikism. Of course, even if that failed, I planned to pump him full of venom and drop him anyway, so he'd probably start a revolution in China. Supporting the Qing to let them devour China further in advance would also be fine. Either way, it was all profit for me.
* * *
Sun Yat-sen's revolution had failed. To be precise, it was because of that damned Yuan Shikai. That bastard had dragged the entire revolutionary army with him, only to be annihilated by the Korean army while he himself was left with nothing but his head. Wuchang had also been mercilessly torn apart by Korean guns and blades, and the revolutionary forces were completely wiped out. Some, including Sun Yat-sen, had been dragged all the way to Manchuria by the Korean army. They said Yuan Shikai had been handed over to the Qing, so why had he himself been brought to Manchuria?
"So the incompetent ones have finally collapsed."
"The Manchurian administrator must have suffered so much under those damned people all this time. Looking back, it was true that Solho had grown weak under the Yi family's rule."
How much time had passed? He could hear voices chattering outside. Whatever it was, it seemed a disturbance had indeed broken out in Korea. That damned woman. Whether it was Hongikism or whatever, it looked like she'd finally cut the throat of her own imperial family.
He needed to win over the guards according to the original plan. After who knows how much time had passed, just as he was about to devise a plan to bring down the guard with his skilled tongue, that woman finally appeared.
"It's been a while, Sun Yat-sen."
The woman named Ok Jin-seo, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, let out a small snort the moment she saw him.
"Just how long do you plan to keep me locked up? You might as well cut off my head and be done with it. How long are you going to—"
"I was thinking it's about time to put an end to this."
What did she want to end, shrugging her shoulders like that?
"Let me say this in advance. This Hongikism of yours will eventually bring blood to the world. The reason I advocated the Three Principles of the People was solely for the peace of the Chinese continent—"
"You were planning to win over the guards and escape, weren't you?"
Sun Yat-sen instantly clamped his mouth shut.
'How does she know that?'
For a very brief moment, Sun Yat-sen was struck with shock. But he soon stopped thinking about it. She was a woman who had rolled around on the battlefield. In this heavily guarded prison, making that much of a guess was possible. In that case, he should just flatter her and make excuses for now. After all, she was a woman. As a member of the fair sex, there had to be a difference from men.
"Since you're a woman, I'll flatter you moderately to make you let your guard down. How clever. But what can you do? I'm not kind enough of a woman to indulge a man who flatters me."
"I-I didn't think anything like that."
Sun Yat-sen turned his head away with effort.
'Wasn't she just a bitch with big breasts and decent looks? Was she really the woman from the rumors?'
He realized his mistake a moment too late, but Ok Jin-seo, who had been reading his thoughts, looked at him as if he were trash and shook her head.
"You're openly committing sexual harassment. Unfortunately, Sun Yat-sen, you are not my type, so such gazes are simply unpleasant."
She was staring into empty space again, muttering to herself. Could she really read people's thoughts?
"Y-you can read thoughts?"
"Of course. I am an apostle who descended to this world to spread Hongikism."
Apostle. At those words, Sun Yat-sen's mouth fell open.
"You're still saying such nonsense..."
Was she like Hong Xiuquan? Such a thought crossed his mind, but she continued staring into empty space, doing who knows what.
"If I were merely on the level of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, how could I read your thoughts?"
Yes. She couldn't be compared to those people. If they were merely simple rebels, the woman before his eyes was a dangerous entity threatening all of China. Wasn't she calling herself an apostle? She would undoubtedly drench China in blood while claiming to be that apostle.
"This is ridiculous. There can't be such an apostle."
"How would a mere human know? Now, what does this look like to you?"
Suddenly the woman pulled out a gun. Was she finally going to kill him with that gun? That would be troublesome. From her perspective, it meant he was a dangerous element, didn't it? It was far too dangerous.
"Isn't that a gun? Are you going to kill me?"
"Do I look that barbaric to you?"
"I heard you go around smashing people's heads with an axe."
Sun Yat-sen offered a small act of defiance. Of course he hated dying more than anything, but he still intended to show at least this much resistance. There was no need to boost that Joseon bitch's ego, was there?
But that damned woman suddenly aimed the gun at a wooden plaque lying in the corner of the room.
Bang!
The bullet passed through the wooden plaque in an instant.
"As you can see, it's a real gun. Right?"
So what? Was she planning to show off a gun to someone locked up in prison?
"What about it? I don't know anything about guns. You're not asking me to design one, are you?"
"I will prove that I am an apostle entrusted with the mission of Hongik Ingan."
This woman must be crazy. She suddenly put the gun to her own head. There had been some disturbance in Joseon, but had she lost? Was she here to commit suicide in front of him?
Bang!
"Wh-what? Why is it fine..."
Clink. The bullet simply fell to the ground with a clatter. There wasn't the slightest injury on her head. The skin that should have turned red from impact remained pure white.
"As you can see, I am an immortal being."
"That's impossible. Isn't that a fake? If the lethality is low enough, it could still break wood, couldn't it?"
Yes. It must be military supply corruption. The bullets weren't proper due to corruption. Of course, even if the lethality was low, if it could penetrate wood, her head should have been destroyed by now, but Sun Yat-sen didn't want to admit it.
"Really? You truly think so? Then why don't you try it yourself?"
"Ugh."
"There are only the two of us here. So do as you please."
Just in case, he checked the magazine and confirmed they were proper ammunition. This was absolutely not defective or fake bullets made through military supply corruption. From Ok Jin-seo's perspective, there was no reason to make fake bullets just to use Sun Yat-sen.
"H-how can a person not die?"
"It's simple logic. Because I am an apostle of Hongikism."
"Hongikism? Does that truly exist?"
Honestly, at this point it was all too bizarre. Sun Yat-sen had been locked away in Manchuria, eating far worse than when he had traveled for the revolution, with no contact with the outside world. His comrades were either all dead or scattered. Having been confined in solitary for so long that he was practically becoming a cripple, doing nothing but waiting for an opportunity to escape, this woman claiming to be an apostle of Hongikism was proving that she truly was one. It was like slipping into the gap of a heartbroken person.
Sun Yat-sen was gradually falling into Ok Jin-seo's persuasiveness.
"In the first place, war is not a desirable method for an apostle. For us, Hongikism is simply about benefiting the world. If the process becomes stained with blood and involves war, isn't judging it solely by that too simplistic?"
In achieving Hongikism's paradise, there didn't have to be only war and blood. Hongikism's cause lay elsewhere. At those words, Sun Yat-sen gradually lost his grip on reality.
* * *
The Alternate History Gallery was useful depending on how you used it. Every time I changed history, the posts I wrote would get deleted. Since the events never happened in the first place, their meaning faded, but it was still possible to use it until I completely twisted that history. I would post a question like this.
Then, while keeping the gallery open without closing it, if I questioned Sun Yat-sen as if using telepathy, the comments would change in real time.
In short, this was a bit of a cheat that let me peek into people's minds. It was a bit of a dirty trick, but that old man hadn't said anything about it. Thanks to that, this Sun Yat-sen looked dazed. He was already more than halfway converted. At this level, I could devour his mind appropriately and use him as my puppet.
Now that he'd grown curious about Hongikism, I should say that Hongikism and the Three Principles of the People are like siblings.
"So what exactly are you trying to say?"
"That Hongikism is the superior form of the Three Principles of the People."
Let's make this clear.