Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Prince Chun
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A few weeks after returning from the Bergmann Arsenal.
I was spending ordinary days in the New Palace without any particular incidents.
Writing Immortal Admiral Yi, which apparently saw an increase in royalties after I became a baron, and receiving weekly reports from the Schmeisser father-and-son duo on the submachine gun development progress.
In this busy yet peaceful daily life, the calendar had passed August and was heading toward September before I knew it.
"That reminds me, no reply yet from the letters I sent to Edison and Tesla?"
Probably because it's across the Atlantic, mail takes time to travel back and forth.
Unless by telegraph, letters to America across the distant ocean are usually carried by passenger liners.
For example, that famous RMS Titanic was a passenger liner and a mail ship at the same time.
The term RMS, often prefixed to British passenger liners, stood for Royal Mail Ship—liners contracted with the British postal service, Royal Mail.
Of course, the Titanic sank, and all the letters aboard ended up at the bottom of the sea.
'Surely nothing like that happened to my letters?'
For some reason, it worried me.
I'd have to check later.
If I'd just sent a telegram, it would've arrived in America overnight. But even so, that felt a bit insincere.
Sincerity is key in these matters.
Besides, I'm the one who needs the favor, so showing respect and courtesy would make Edison and Tesla warmer toward me, wouldn't it?
"Baron Hans. His Majesty summons you."
"The Kaiser?"
In the middle of writing my newspaper serialization, one of Wilhelm II's secretaries addressed me.
As far as I knew, the Kaiser rarely sent a servant to summon me like this.
'What could this be about?'
It felt like something ominous was afoot.
"Your Majesty. Baron Hans von Choi has arrived."
"Oh. Let him in."
For some reason, the Kaiser's voice sounded pleased as permission came. The guards opened the door to the study.
Entering the study, I saw Wilhelm II as expected, along with Chancellor von Bülow, and a stern-looking elderly man I didn't recognize.
'Not from the military.'
A soldier would be in uniform.
But this man was dressed in a neat suit, just like Chancellor von Bülow.
Some cabinet official, perhaps?
"Your Majesty."
"Good to see you, Hans."
The Kaiser greeted me warmly and shifted his gaze to the elderly man.
"You know Bülow, of course. This is your first time meeting him, right? Foreign Minister Baron Oswald von Richthofen."
I see.
For reference, Foreign Minister Richthofen shared a family name and title with Germany's legendary pilot, the Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen—just a distant relative, though.
"Pleased to meet you, Foreign Minister Richthofen. I'm Baron Hans von Choi."
"At last, I get to meet the man who gave the French a black eye. A pleasure, Baron."
Richthofen grinned and shook my hand.
Apparently, he liked me because of that business with the French prank.
But what was the reason for summoning me to a meeting with both the Chancellor and the Foreign Minister?
The answer came from Wilhelm II.
"Hans, I called you here to seek your advice."
"Advice, Your Majesty?"
"You're aware a treaty is about to be signed in China soon."
"The Boxer Protocol."
The Boxer Protocol.
Known in Korea as the Beijing Protocol or the Xinchou Treaty.
A treaty to conclude the Boxer Rebellion, scheduled for signing in a few days on September 7.
Through the Xinchou Treaty, the Qing Dynasty became a semi-colony of the Western powers, languishing until the Xinhai Revolution ten years later brought its end.
For the Qing, it was practically a death sentence.
But there was no sympathy for the Qing.
The Xinhou Treaty—and tracing back, the Boxer Rebellion itself—was entirely self-inflicted by the Qing and the Empress Dowager Cixi.
'No matter how deluded they were into thinking the powers threatened their authority, allying with the Chinese equivalent of ISIS or the Taliban—the Boxers—and declaring war on all the powers combined?'
It was utter madness, no different from Japan attacking Pearl Harbor against America in World War II.
At least Pearl Harbor inflicted damage on the U.S.; this just provoked the powers' fury.
And the Chinese people paid the price.
"Separately from that, a member of the Qing imperial family is due to arrive in Potsdam in a few days to apologize for the murder of Envoy Ketteler by the Boxers."
"Prince Chun Aisin Gioro Zaifeng."
Half-brother to the current Qing Emperor, Guangxu.
And the birth father of the Qing's last emperor, Puyi.
'He was also the final regent of the Qing, witnessing its end.'
In 1908, when Guangxu died without an heir, Qing succession rules—which allowed only one emperor per generation—led to Prince Chun's eldest son, Puyi, ascending the throne.
But at just three years old, Puyi needed a regent, so his father, Prince Chun, ruled in his stead.
Yet in 1911, the Xinhai Revolution erupted, and Yuan Shikai—sent to suppress it—betrayed them, closing the Qing's doors after 296 years.
An ill-fated man in many ways.
"Knew calling you was right. So, how should I have that Zaifeng—or whatever—apologize?"
"Pardon?"
"Hans, you know Asian culture and customs well. I want to humiliate this Qing prince to the maximum—their way."
I was a fool to expect anything from the Kaiser.
Summoning me for something this petty. I was dumbfounded.
"...Originally, how did Your Majesty plan to receive his apology?"
"I was going to make him bow to me. Thinking back, that's too merciful for the brutal murder of Envoy Ketteler."
No, for Qing royalty, even a bow was maximum humiliation, wasn't it?
Besides, in original history, Prince Chun stubbornly refused even that until Wilhelm II gave up.
But I couldn't disappoint the expectant Kaiser.
"There is a way to inflict greater humiliation than a mere bow before Your Majesty."
In the end, I cautiously spoke to Wilhelm II.
I washed my hands of it now. Let Prince Chun deal with it.
"Oh? Tell me."
"In the Qing, there's a rite called 'three kneelings and nine prostrations' (ilan niyakun uyun hengkini doro). It's a greeting reserved solely for the emperor; Qing subjects perform it upon meeting him."
The very thing known as san kuei kiu t'ou li.
"It's not just for Qing subjects—foreign envoys or kings of surrendered states must perform it when meeting the emperor. In fact, the king of my homeland, Joseon, used it when surrendering to the Qing emperor after defeat in war."
"Ho. That's... appealing. Especially the 'emperor' and 'surrender' parts."
Wilhelm II grinned, baring his teeth in satisfaction.
A grown man with a mustache grinning like that was honestly creepy.
"Chancellor von Bülow. Minister Richthofen. We'll have the Qing apologize this way."
"But Prince Chun won't accept it easily."
Foreign Minister Richthofen shook his head.
Naturally. For Prince Chun, it was a matter of Qing pride and personal face—he'd never accept.
In original history, he defied even a bow in front of an enraged Wilhelm II.
"Then make him accept. Hans."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Work with Foreign Minister Richthofen to find a way. I want that rite from the Qing prince, no matter what."
Our eyes met—Richthofen's and mine.
'Trouble.'
'Indeed.'
We sighed inwardly, out of the Kaiser's sight.
Shouldn't have brought up the three kneelings and nine prostrations.
September 1901.
Off the coast of Hamburg, Germany.
"Your Highness, the captain says we'll arrive in Germany shortly."
"I see."
Prince Chun Aisin Gioro Zaifeng gazed at the faintly visible harbor in the distance and sighed.
'Empress Dowager Cixi, that old fox's blunders are forcing this humiliation on me alone.'
It was unjust—terribly unjust.
What fault of his required traveling all the way to distant Germany?
Allied with the treasonous Boxers? That was Cixi. Declaring war on the mighty powers despite Emperor Guangxu's objections? Also Cixi.
And the result? China was crushed by the enraged powers' expeditionary forces.
In the capital Beijing, foreigners burning with revenge for Boxer atrocities unleashed massacres and looting. Even Prince Chun's own fiancée took her life to avoid their degradation.
Yet Cixi abandoned the Forbidden City and the people, fleeing—only to return brazenly when promised her power's preservation.
Though trusted by Cixi, Prince Chun could not stomach such vile conduct.
"And now she wants me to apologize to the German Emperor."
For the young prince, barely 18, it was an unbearable burden.
Moreover, he vividly remembered how German troops treated Chinese in Beijing.
Merciless.
A merciless slaughter sparing neither age nor sex, devoid of any mercy.
Word was, the furious German Emperor—enraged by his envoy's brutal death—issued this order to the German expeditionary force departing for China.
A command treating Chinese as less than human.
And the German troops followed it to the letter.
The other powers' forces were cruel and vile too, but the Germans were on another level.
They were the Huns reborn, striking terror as in ancient times when they shook China.
"I fear what that infamous German Emperor will demand of me and the Great Qing."
"Your Highness, you must not lose heart."
"Liang Cheng."
Liang Cheng, Qing diplomat and advisor to the delegation, bowed at the waist.
"Your Highness submitting to the Emperor of Deutschland equates to all China submitting. Stand firm—unyieldingly firm."
"But can I truly hold out?"
"I will aid you to the utmost."
Liang Cheng gazed at Prince Chun with resolute eyes.
In original history, Liang Cheng was the key figure who, through diplomatic lobbying, prevented Prince Chun from bowing before Wilhelm II.
'If the court had more loyal retainers like Liang Cheng—awake and capable—we wouldn't face such humiliation.'
But the current Qing court overflowed with greedy traitors like Yuan Shikai.
How had the Qing, once lord of the continent, fallen so low?
As an Aisin Gioro, Prince Chun had no face to meet Tianming Emperor Nurhaci in the afterlife.
Woooong~
The ship's horn blared low, mirroring Prince Chun's troubled heart.
The time had come to enter the tiger's maw.