War Doesn't Change #1: Our Supreme Leader Who Truly Hates War
Our Supreme Leader truly hated war. War inevitably entailed a shift in power, and the man who had already reached the pinnacle in the Korean Empire had no reason to welcome such a shift. In that sense, this Philippine War had been only a half-success. It had blocked the Americans from occupying the Philippines and creating tension in Southeast Asia—for the moment—but the fate of the newly born Philippine Federal Republic was already hanging by a thread. Following the precedent of Haiti, the Philippines had signed an agreement to pay up to 80% of its national budget every year to Spain just for debt forgiveness. Honestly, there was no future for them. Unless, that is, they had backing capital from the Korean Empire.
"So, you're saying you won't withdraw?"
"I can't understand it. Isn't it the opposite? From the Philippines' position, I thought you'd want to accept even more Chinese settlers."
Over those few months—until the half-surrender-not-surrender from Spain and the great powers' mediation-not-mediation arrived—'tactical Chinese' had been steadily loaded onto cargo ships like black slaves from the Age of Discovery and dumped into the Philippines. The number? Roughly a million. A million-strong army, literally.
They were building coastal settlements, ports, and fortresses exactly as per the original contract. From the Philippine perspective, they probably wanted all of them to just get the hell out right now.
"And even if they ask them to leave, do you think they'll just obediently go?"
These were people they'd recruited by dangling some money and a request for temporary mercenary service. There was no way they were normal. Moreover, we'd even promised that if they wanted, they could settle there permanently. Our contract with them was still in effect, and we were still paying them, so they were behaving. If we unilaterally broke the contract and tried to force them all back to the mainland, we'd face resistance. Plenty among them genuinely wanted to settle here.
Andres Bonifacio. The leader who had sparked the armed uprising against Spain, and now the president of the Philippine Federal Republic. He glared at me, clearly displeased with the situation. But the answer I could give him was set in stone.
"We need those skilled Chinese laborers to build harbors on cliffs, reclaim the sea, and prospect for mines. Don't you agree?"
'They're just a bunch of damn thugs!' Andres barely swallowed the words that were about to spill out. Because his opponent was someone rather important.
"My personal goal is for the Philippines here to preserve its sovereignty as a proper independent nation."
"Thank you."
"The only way to reduce that ridiculous reparations debt is for the Philippines to grow stronger on its own. Do you agree?"
"Broadly speaking, yes."
"Yet you're telling me, to my face, that you can't accept Chinese as citizens."
'It's not about that at all!' Bonifacio diplomacy had its limits, but those Chinese who showed no sign of withdrawing were a constant problem. The funny part? Westerners bitched endlessly about the invasion they were suffering, but stayed silent about the very invaders doing it. Sadly, from the perspective of the Westerners who would later carve up Philippine interests, this looked like the 'divide and conquer' they'd been doing as naturally as breathing. Hadn't Britain done the exact same in India and beyond? If it meant they could exploit the Philippines even more ruthlessly, they could overlook a little labor supply like this. It wasn't a threat anyway.
'Why would a continental power like Korea, with no vital interests in the Philippines, charge at us to the death? They're obviously just here to peddle their wares.' It was no secret anymore that in gold mines, the real money went to the guy selling jeans, not the miners. And that judgment was spot on. Contrary to what we'd told Japan beforehand, Korea just wanted to make money in the Philippines. Who the hell would scream at Japan to keep its promise and open sea routes to Southeast Asia for someone else's sake? We'd just get a reply saying, "Opening sea routes doesn't mean that." So, selling canned fish and importing canned fruit there? Good enough.
Japan couldn't guarantee coastal access to Korea because it had been neutered by mediation from the great powers, so it had nothing to say to Korea, who just wanted to peddle goods. Korea was buried in debt(?) anyway. When Japan heard the scale of bonds Korea had issued, it agreed Korea needed to make money. That's why Japan had more to say to those hook-nosed bastards than to Korea, who was bending over backward to minimize losses.
Mediation from China, mediation from Taiwan, mediation from the Philippines—'What the hell do these bastards think we are?' Even the politics and business sectors of Japan, supposedly the moderates, couldn't help resenting the Westerners. Wasn't this just telling them to starve? No, even before that—open sea routes, do trade without any real basis? Is this the sea route you opened for us? Meanwhile, Korea didn't hesitate to send donations and exchange students to Tokyo University—no, the Imperial University of Tokyo—starting with university collaborations. As the eldest brother of East Asia, it was frustrating to watch the little brother stand mute before the Western powers, just smiling.
Japan had to advance into the seas. Look at those continental countries—they couldn't say a word to the great powers. Those glorious, heavy battleships of the Great Japanese Empire existed for exactly that purpose.
"There's still a way."
There was one way. The Philippines had to collapse. If it did, Japan could occupy it per the treaty, and the Southern Strategy would get back on track. Just wait a bit. And so Japan endured a few hungry years.
1900. Astonishingly, the Philippines hadn't collapsed.
A bit earlier.
"Shall we split it?"
"Is this really okay?"
"Of course not. They'll definitely find some pretext."
"This is just me talking to myself. You can ignore it."
He muttered that to himself in English.
"…"
"No issues per the treaty… now we have militias, plenty of gunpowder too."
"No way—are they seriously planning to pay that absurd reparations debt?"
"It's just an excuse for sovereignty violation anyway."
The Supreme Leader gazed at the man wearing the expression of an independence fighter from the rostrum.
"Roughly. At the moment the Americans try to occupy Cuba, carry out a cabinet reshuffle. And now, as a 'federation,' slash the central government's budget drastically."
"Use that as an excuse to massively reduce the annual reparations to Spain too."
"The US, still at war with Spain, will turn a blind eye. Britain and France, who hate filling Spain's coffers, will welcome it."
"Even if you reduce the immediate reparations, you still have to pay something, big or small."
"No choice. Those reparations are the 'legitimate' amount set by Britain and France."
I looked at the man, who seemed worried about whether he could afford such a reckless strategy.
"We're looking for reliable allies in Southeast Asia."
"And reliable allies for us are 'sovereign nations.'"
"The country we're investing in now must be a sovereign nation too."
"We don't want colonies like those black hook-noses."
"For now, isn't that enough? Our interests align, don't they?"
Spain, already stripped to the soul by the US, was stunned by this absurd news. The sad part was that the US had no reason to bully the Philippines on Spain's behalf. With the massive reparations collection eased, the Philippines could finally do something years later—after the million Chinese laborers had turned into millions of Filipinos.
"Invest, you say?"
"Ah, it's certain."
"But still…"
Even as he took the Supreme Leader's glass, he hesitated over whether to accept. As a Japanese who had secretly hoped for Philippine bankruptcy, Korea's proposal felt awkward. More precisely, hardly any of the things Korea had proposed so far had gone smoothly, which nagged at him. But listening, he found himself intrigued despite himself.
The gist was to start jockeying for Philippine shares in advance—something like that.
Above all… Korea's investment track record so far was pretty good. Japanese products were flopping in the Philippines, but the Koreans were selling everything.
"When producing and selling from our invested factories, we bundled our products with theirs."
"Hm…"
Bundling, huh.
"Look at the product list—we mainly sell sewing machines, pumps, boots, gloves, dishes, glasses, etc. Perfect for bundling."
"I see…"
Didn't look that way, though?
"We took payment in placer gold. Pumps, dishes, glasses, cups… all essential for gold panning."
Ah, got it.
"In my view, this isn't just trade—it's the big trend. I thought Japan needed to recognize it too. Liberate the colonies the Westerners exploited, and they'll become our power base."
Maybe?
"I've already dumped massive military supplies on the Philippines at rock-bottom prices."
His glass trembled slightly at those words.
"The Philippines is just a forward base. From there, I'll scatter bullets and bombs across all of Southeast Asia."
It was a bigger bombshell than the bomb talk.
"I'm… hoping Japan joins in, or at least turns a blind eye. That's why this message. Can't do it through official channels, given the sensitivity."
"Simply…"
"Respect is won through violence. Those people will soon learn that the Easterners they dismissed as colonials aren't pushovers."