National Capitalism #5: Blood Soaking the Rye Fields of the Baltic Front in 1916
"Looks like the man's half-dead already."
"Yeah, I told him to take it easy."
Does it? Well, purging old comrades is a heartbreaking business. Just shoving them aside instead of sending them to the gulags was enough to make their eyes well up like startled deer. But it can't be helped. You can't spend your whole life in poverty, right? Poverty alone can't sustain the Korean Empire.
"So, Minister Ok-gyun, how'd the consultations with the Turks and the Arab Federation go?"
"Don't even ask. All I got was kebabs."
"Dog food?"
"Kebabs. Damn tasty, though."
Whatever it was, sounds like it didn't go well.
"On the flip side, Wan-yong seems to have done pretty damn good."
"Indonesia's turned into a money-sucking monster now. You'll be pleased."
"As long as it spits oil our way."
The more investment Indonesia pulls in from abroad, the harder it gets for the British or Dutch to meddle recklessly. They'd have to do it through investments—and that's a gentlemanly way to intervene. As long as we don't pull some Thailand-level blunder, the growth rates multiply like rabbits.
"Your Excellency, we've got protests over the Pacific whaling."
"About hunting whales?"
"More like, they want us to sell some to them too."
"Sell it."
Korea's out there now with massive fleets, hunting whales and tuna. Freezer holds made it possible to haul in those deep-sea beasts. We had to scoop up all the tuna before the Japanese or Americans got a taste. That's how the math works.
"Your Excellency, about that greenhouse chili pepper farming... we should probably switch to seedling transplants."
I flinched.
"Why?"
"They get big, then suddenly wilt for no reason."
"So, like rice seedlings—we grow 'em and sell 'em? Let them do the field planting?"
"Seedling germination's key for peppers too. If we grow and sell them, they'll fly off the shelves."
That's not the point. Whether greenhouse peppers thrive in open fields is questionable enough, but more importantly, I wanted to cut back on open-field farming and ramp up factory farms. Time to snatch profitable crops from the hands of rural farmers and the Agriculture and Forestry clan.
"Tweak the temperature, humidity, and nutrient solution management. Run tests with different ratios, then standardize on the best growers."
"Got it."
Not easy, huh. There's a reason no one's done it before. Peppers are just too finicky. But if it's not peppers, there's no profit. And no-profit crops aren't worth planting. Maybe glass greenhouses without LEDs were a stretch after all. Unless it's something like coca plants, where you harvest leaves instead of fruit...
Come to think of it, it's not just peppers.
There were tomatoes too—pepper cousins. Difference? Tomatoes are easy to grow. Problem is, easy means less money. But they have tons of uses. Peppers give sourness and heat; tomatoes bring sweetness and umami. Why didn't I think of tomatoes?
Tomatoes yield way more per square meter than peppers. Issue is, Korea's got massive demand for chili powder but zilch for tomatoes. That's why I skipped them. Focused on peppers. But I can create that demand, can't I?
Tomatoes don't ship fresh easily. Flip side: can them, powder them, sauce them, ketchup them—jackpot. No MSG in this world, right? That damn MSG—I tried making it from kelp back in the Joseon days, gave up, and just sold kelp nonstop. Tomatoes are loaded with it. And I've got the seeds. France's seed bank was a goddamn treasure trove.
"Interior Minister."
"Yes?"
"Keep the pepper research going, but switch to tomatoes instead."
"Tomatoes? What's that?"
"This one's best as sauce over fresh—packed with umami."
"Umami what now?"
The seed bank catalog. I pointed to an especially plump, luscious one.
"Says here it's poisonous?"
"It's fine."
"Pardon?"
"Won't kill you. Won't kill you."
Not lethal to humans.
Not just Agriculture and Forestry or construction clans in the Korean Empire. Korea's maritime rise happened mostly through fishing boats and fishermen, not battleships. Unlike recent ventures into ocean tuna and whaling, coastal operations had been expanding steadily. Kelp farms, crab farms, pearl farms, oyster farms, abalone farms, seaweed farms—all tracing back to the Japanese colonial era, or even Joseon times.
His Joseon sold seafood to Japan. But with better distribution and freezing tech, aquaculture was turning into real money, their power surging daily.
Especially oysters, Korea's recent focus. On my orders, we flash-froze them shell-on, packed 'em in wooden barrels, and shipped frozen to Europe—prices jumped several times over, easily tenfold. Ok-gyun suggested shucking and freezing for more profit, but as a future-dweller, shell-on was pricier even with shipping.
Unlike Asia, Europe served oysters in-shell. And right now, Europe's oyster-starved. Overfishing and environmental damage had slashed production. Dump cheap, plump Korean oysters into a war zone? People gotta eat, even in war—especially in war, craving affordable luxuries. Frozen or not, they'd savor 'em!
Problem is Britain's real-time submarine blockade.
For Korea, U-boats weren't a big deal yet. They plagued the Atlantic and Channel, not the Med. Adriatic was sealed before the Ottomans fell—no subs there. No way they'd crazy through Suez, so Korea could freely sink tentacles into Italy and France.
Don't even have much oil for it anyway. And that little oil? I supplied it. Starving Brits would kill me if they knew. But I'd keep it up. Let those bastards slaughter each other—heaven opens that way. And Britain's not the only one hurting.
Britain's blockading seas, but Germany's the one starving. U-boats were just payback.
Turnip Spring must be blooming by now.
One side's rationing under blockade, the other's yelling "turnips again." World spinning my way. But can't get complacent. Starving Britain'll beg America eventually.
Britain teaming with America? Fine—cracks the colonial empire. But not like this. Leaves America playing bad cop, reaping all the perks. World needs a good cop. Suez Road to Italy-France-Britain helps Britain—gives options. Reach France, find a way to Britain.
And tentacles to Britain aren't just that line. That's food, meds, luxuries infiltrating markets. Real line—for munitions—is separate. Give Britain choices to defy America; America hardens against defiant Britain. Meanwhile, prolong Germany's Turnip Spring.
Sadly, I don't trust Britain—but America? Different distrust. Americans, colonial hicks at heart, couldn't run colonies into profit pipelines. Britain ran 'em too well—untrustworthy. America mass-produced commies—untrustworthy. Banana republics 1, 2, 3. At least I build banana canneries. Not just exploiting bananas—creating demand.
Cuba, Haiti, their own backyard—can't manage it, so full trust? Bad idea.
Vietnam, Afghanistan—what'd they ever do right? Even "liberated" Korea under America suffered commie and anti-American rot. Soviet intel should be ashamed—worse than America's at breeding anti-US states.
So my long game: Feed Germany a big middle finger to Britain and France. Use America like a knife to dismantle the Empire. When America's ass-deep in shit, scoop it up. While they play splendid isolation, I run the world awhile. Later, if they gang up on Korea, strip their concessions clean, compromise, fling open world markets. Then bow out(?). Maintaining 'em's too pricey for non-hegemon Korea.
Let the hegemon-wannabes handle it. Korea just kicks the door wide.
Want ag products, raw mats? Sell 'em all. Just bundle in manufactures too.
For Korea, fill their bellies so full they forget colonial scraps.