State Capitalism #1: Beyond the War
"So you're saying that right now, with the whole world at war, we need to be looking ahead to what comes after."
"Total war sounds great, but it's born out of the limitations of a weak nation that has no choice but to pour everything into fighting."
Paraguay, Bulgaria, Serbia—were any of them strong? To take it to the extreme, if you match a total-war nation against one that's not going all-out, you'd think the former wins most of the time. But in reality, it's the latter that comes out on top. There's no such thing as weight classes or divisions in the real world. That's why giants can afford to wake up late. In fact, giants have no choice but to wake up late. That's just what being a giant means.
"Life's pretty good for everyone these days, right? So even in wartime, it's time to ditch the garrison state. Hell, we need reforms now."
Looking at those loser Germans lately got me thinking. How long are we going to keep treating our people like potential conscripts? We became a garrison state out of necessity, and we've maintained it out of necessity. But clinging to that massive military size now is just setting ourselves up to get gang-beaten postwar—and that sure as hell doesn't serve the Korean Empire's interests.
Rome, Britain, America—they all used voluntary enlistment in peacetime. So the real answer is a volunteer system. Of course, for the Korean Empire right now, conscription ties into citizenship and public welfare, so the current hybrid of conscription and volunteers is probably best. But that means we'll keep sucking manpower into the military just to compete with the rest of the world.
Up to now, we've grown by smashing their oppressive, domineering structures. But we can't do that forever. Hell, looking at how the board's shifting, the Korean Empire is now on a somewhat equal footing with Britain and America. I don't see it that way, but they do. Europe's crumbling, after all. So if they think that, it must be true.
Which means the Korean Empire needs a new path forward, something beyond the garrison state. A garrison state is, bluntly put, a plunder economy—or charitably, an extension of sovereignty defense. But the Korean Empire's sovereignty is secure now without needing that. Showing off our garrison-state vibe will just invite sovereignty violations.
So in this wartime boom, it's time to trim the fat. If we try reforms during a downturn, we'll just hear whining about job losses or humiliating diplomacy.
"First off, let's use this chance to purge the construction clan and the agribusiness clan."
Truth be told, all the modular construction we've researched, developed, and pushed so far was for this exact purpose. The construction clan thinks it'll only be for exports, but I always planned to use it more for domestic markets.
"A purge, sir?"
"We've succeeded by building like crazy so far, sure. But we can't do that forever. One external shock, and if it brings us down, the damage would be catastrophic."
"I don't see the Korean Empire as a nation that crumbles under external shocks."
"Haven't you noticed how the Korean Empire's opening up more and more? Earning money from abroad means we're that much more vulnerable to external shocks."
Yeah.
"We might not crumble like people expect. But the mere fact of vulnerability will make us a target."
"A target for whom?"
"For every nation in the world that thinks they can only advance if the Korean Empire falls."
Sadly, I could feel the eyes on us now, and I had to admit we'd become part of the establishment. The way they treated us said it all. The Korean Empire's cup was filling up.
"Speed up construction timelines with modular building, and tighten oversight accordingly."
"There'll be a lot of backlash."
"Start with the buildings we commission. They can gripe all they want, but they won't be able to say shit."
Public officials might grumble over drinks about why we're suddenly cracking down, but their answer would be unanimous: 'No... it's from higher up...!!' Once I give the order, they follow. Sure, there might be sabotage or slacking, but that's only on sites I don't oversee. Modular construction has short timelines, making it perfect for tight control—which is why even sprawling China uses it often. That country's got rebar scandals and shoddy pours, so authorities can't trust traditional cast-in-place concrete.
I'm not ignoring concrete's advantages, but I think skipping rebar is inevitable with it. Sure, if contractors have a conscience, concrete's great. But I don't trust human conscience. Even if the construction clan cites studies pushing rebar-skipping concrete, I've been waiting since electricity arrived to smash them all.
Don't know if modular's efficient? Of course not—they'll churn out studies claiming it's inefficient because it's hard to skim profits. I get them. I admit modular has some inefficiencies. But it's a miracle cure for purging the construction clan, so ultimately, I deem it efficient.
'You've been great industrial shock troops so far, so now whitewash yourselves and become the nation's foundation.'
To make the Korean Empire not just a great power but an advanced one, we had to normalize the construction clan first. Considering how much they've driven our growth, it's brutal—but I'm the guy who purges benefactors.
The future allowed for the Korean Empire wasn't a garrison state or the 21st-century plunder economy lorded over by local elites and the construction clan.
"Lower rice prices."
"You mean exhaust the reserves?"
"No—grow more rice."
I mobilized German POWs from Central Asia for massive paddy fields. No need to farm rice only in Korea. Rice is like an old-school semiconductor—now that fertilizers are here, it doesn't benefit as much from efficiency gains. So it's fine to outsource rice farming. They've gorged for decades; any more greed just means the state buys more rice.
Koreans will eat a bit less rice now. The mainland will grow beans, millet, corn—for livestock feed. Not so people eat bean porridge, millet rice, or cornmeal!
"Won't the investment cost be huge?"
Yeah, probably. Unlike modular construction, which fits existing budgets, this costs a fortune. It's new territory. But we have to do it. The agribusiness clan is as entrenched as the construction one. We've turned a blind eye under local autonomy for now, but soon we can't.
The Korean Empire must become not just a great power, but advanced. No room left for agribusiness fat cats.
"If we hadn't created agricultural cooperatives and reformed rural society, we'd still be shoveling horse shit."
Look at America—they're still doing it. No tractors? No oil? They've got both, unlike oil-poor Korea. Yet they shovel horse shit. Are they dumb? No, they're smart. They know tractor farming's profits don't reach them.
Put simply, would smallholders like big farmers plowing vast lands with tractors? Yields rise, prices crash, profits vanish into fuel costs. Why bother? Easier to shovel shit and farm small.
Of course, that keeps prices high and stalls progress. Personal gain doesn't translate to societal gain. I fixed it by having cooperatives subsidize cheap tractors. Even if rice output explodes, it funnels to the co-op, giving farmers leverage to stabilize prices affordably. Co-ops can afford pricey tractors, especially with my subsidies.
That's how we advanced beyond America's horse-shit era. But remote fields and dry farming persist, and their output isn't fully under co-op control. I set it that way. Co-ops lease the fringes, but don't monopolize yields. They're not gods—can't oversee everything. They're human, with limits.
If it's not rice, farmers choose wholesale to co-op or retail at market. No exclusive sales rights for co-ops—they could corrupt. But now they're pushing for monopoly using their influence. Time to rein them in.
"Isn't that a coca greenhouse blueprint?"
"From now on, we'll hydroponically grow peppers in greenhouses. With electricity here, we've confirmed it's feasible for cultivation."
Commercial viability? Not yet. Peppers die easily, so profitability in hydroponics is unproven. But one thing's clear: greenhouses and hydroponics offer more control than open fields. Peppers thrive on control, maybe as commercially viable as coca.
'Unlike fields limited to months, greenhouses allow 365-day cycles: grow, harvest, repeat.'
Succession cropping. No commercial potential? Hydroponics is labor-intensive, but pepper farming always was. Why didn't my era do greenhouse hydroponic peppers? 'Cheap Chinese chili powder, probably.'
We can control growth, not markets—no guarantees. But it's worth trying. Coca succeeded on that spirit.