Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Three Kneels and Nine Bows (2)
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"...What did you just say?"
In response to my words, Yang stared at me with a dumbfounded look, as if asking what nonsense I was spouting, and asked again.
From their perspective, it was only natural that they couldn't believe it—or didn't want to.
"I said that His Majesty the Kaiser has demanded the 'Three Kneels and Nine Bows' from Prince Chun."
But my mission was simply to remind them of the harsh reality.
So I repeated myself once more.
I felt sorry for Prince Chun and Yang, but life didn't always bring good fortune.
If they wanted to blame someone, they should blame Wilhelm II.
"Heavens above..."
Yang clutched his paling face with both hands.
He seemed to hope this was all a cruel nightmare.
"Please, I beg you. Tell me that what the Baron just said isn't 'that' thing I know..."
"I'm sorry, but it is indeed that 'Three Kneels and Nine Bows' which Your Excellency Yang knows all too well."
"(Shut your mouth!)!"
In the end, Prince Chun exploded.
"(How dare this insolent Korean brat spew such nonsense in front of me!)!"
"(Your Highness, please restrain yourself!)!"
"(To demand the Three Kneels and Nine Bows from me, Zai Feng, a prince of the Great Qing—not just a bow, but the full ritual! Where in the world is there such rudeness?!)!"
"(Your Highness, please!)!"
Prince Chun shot up from his seat, jabbing a finger at me and shouting furiously.
Yang, his face ashen, desperately tried to calm the prince, but Prince Chun's rage showed no signs of subsiding.
And why would it? The words I'd uttered were that explosive.
Besides, Prince Chun was still in his late teens—far too young, at the peak of his hot-blooded years.
At least his mind was that of an adult, so what choice did I have but to understand?
"What is Prince Chun saying right now?"
"Beats me. I have no idea."
All I knew in Chinese was "ni hao" and "ni chi pa la ma."
"But I can tell he's hurling every curse in the book at me."
"Hm. I can see that much too. Shut him up; he's being too loud."
BAM!
Foreign Minister Richthofen slammed his fist down hard on the table in front of him.
Oof, what a thunderous noise.
One or two more like that, and he'd smash the table to pieces.
Thanks to it, even Prince Chun—who'd been unleashing every Chinese obscenity imaginable—flinched at Richthofen's intimidating presence and clamped his mouth shut.
"Please show some restraint, Your Highness. I understand your anger, but the Baron is here as the representative of His Majesty the German Emperor."
"......"
"If you continue to insult the Baron like this, our nation will regard it as an insult to His Majesty the Kaiser."
Yang broke out in a cold sweat as he translated Richthofen's stern warning.
Prince Chun, his fury not fully subsided, glared back and forth between me and Foreign Minister Richthofen.
But in this room, the absolute superiors weren't Prince Chun—they were us.
With no choice, Prince Chun sat back down.
Yang, catching his breath, looked at me and Foreign Minister Richthofen and bowed his head.
"Please forgive Prince Chun's behavior. He's young and full of youthful vigor. And given your nation's demands..."
"I understand. And we're aware that our demands are extremely burdensome for your nation to accept."
"Then...!"
"But His Majesty our Emperor's will is firm. He has already declared to the Foreign Minister and me that he will accept no apology short of the Three Kneels and Nine Bows."
Yang wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief as he responded to Foreign Minister Richthofen's resolute words.
"But in our Qing court, the Three Kneels and Nine Bows is a rite reserved solely for the Emperor of the Great Qing. Prince Chun, as a subject of His Qing Majesty, cannot perform it for a foreign sovereign."
"But didn't the Qing force British and Dutch envoys—who came seeking trade permission during the Qianlong era—to perform the Three Kneels and Nine Bows?"
The proud British refused, while the Dutch, prioritizing profit over pride, complied.
But the Qing had no intention of trading as equals with the West, so the Dutch got nothing but empty courtesy and left empty-handed.
"It's acceptable for the Qing Emperor to demand the Three Kneels and Nine Bows from foreign subjects, but not for our German Emperor to demand it from a Qing subject as atonement? What contradiction is this?!"
"B-but demanding the Three Kneels and Nine Bows as an act of atonement has no precedent and violates all rites!"
"No precedent? There are similar cases."
"Hah. Similar cases? What cases do you mean?"
"The incident at Samjeondo, long ago in the year of Byongja."
"That's over 200 years old!"
Yang raised his voice in disbelief at my mention of the Samjeondo humiliation.
I hadn't wanted to go this far either.
But in diplomacy, isn't it always the shameless one who comes out on top?
"But isn't it true that, as a sign of surrender, the King of Joseon then performed the Three Kneels and Nine Bows to Hong Taiji, the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing?"
"But...!"
"And conveniently, your nation is now the vanquished one."
"Are you saying you'll make us relive our ancestors' humiliation at Samjeondo in their stead?!"
"I didn't mean it that way, but facts are facts—what can we do?"
Who told them to ally with the Boxers and start a war?
"If the full Three Kneels and Nine Bows is too much, how about the 'Neck Jade Surrender Carriage' instead?"
"Th-this...!"
Yang could only glare at me, too stunned by the mention of the Neck Jade Surrender Carriage to speak.
And rightly so—the Three Kneels and Nine Bows was like a formal greeting to the Emperor, but the Neck Jade Surrender Carriage was a full-blown surrender ritual.
In terms of humiliation, the latter was overwhelmingly worse.
"Of course, we won't force your side to decide right away."
Judging further discussion impossible in the current atmosphere, Foreign Minister Richthofen stood up.
"You have time, so think it over carefully. Let's go, Baron."
"Yes, Foreign Minister."
Foreign Minister Richthofen and I left the garden, ignoring Prince Chun and Yang's furious glares.
"In the end, they didn't utter a word of acceptance, just as you predicted."
"Yes. Time to move to the next phase."
But since the Kaiser had issued the order himself, neither Foreign Minister Richthofen nor I intended to drop the matter here.
"That shameless Korean brat! Isn't he ashamed to speak of his ancestors' disgrace with his own mouth?!"
Back in his guest quarters, Prince Chun unleashed all the pent-up rage, hurling every insult he could at Hans.
To casually mention Samjeondo—a reverse scale for all Koreans—with such a straight face? The epitome of brass.
Even the fearsome King Yama of Hell would recoil if he met that Choi fellow.
"I knew Westerners were rude by nature, but I never imagined they'd stoop this low."
"The Three Kneels and Nine Bows, of all things! We absolutely cannot accept it, Your Highness!"
Prince Chun wasn't the only one furious.
The rest of the Qing delegation, upon hearing from Prince Chun and Yang about the exchange with Foreign Minister Richthofen and Hans, were livid enough to storm the New Palace in Potsdam right then and there.
The Three Kneels and Nine Bows.
Not just any rite, but the one reserved exclusively for the Emperor of the Great Qing.
This wasn't a matter of accepting or rejecting.
This was the last shred of Qing pride, preserved even amid the Yangzi humiliations.
'And if His Highness performs it, we're all finished!'
The already crumbling authority of the Qing imperial house would shatter completely.
All of China would condemn Prince Chun and his attendant delegation, and above all, the real power behind the Qing—the Empress Dowager Cixi—wouldn't sit idly by.
Prince Chun might survive as royalty, but the rest would face extermination of their clans by that old fox in the Forbidden City.
"But the German Emperor insists on the Three Kneels and Nine Bows—what are we to do?!"
Prince Chun replied with a face full of indignation.
He had steeled himself for any humiliation, but the Three Kneels and Nine Bows was utterly unacceptable, no matter how he thought about it.
It was pride, yes—but also fear of the consequences.
With the Germans taking such a hard line, Prince Chun and the Qing delegates had no recourse.
"Yang, do you have any ideas?"
"...There is still one way."
"Oh! Truly?"
"Yes. I shall speak with them once more."
Yang bowed at the waist in reply.
This was their last remaining option.
"Baron, the Qing delegation's diplomatic advisor wishes to see you."
"Let him in."
That night.
Yang came to see me again at the hotel, where I was staying instead of returning to Potsdam.
The moment I saw Yang, I deliberately flashed a slight smile.
"Minister Yang, what brings you here so late?"
"You know full well, Baron. That's why you've been waiting for me."
"Haha, I haven't the foggiest."
"No more words. How much do you want?"
Yang stared at me with eyes burning quietly.
'Just as in the original history.'
Even if Prince Chun dug in his heels and refused to the end, would our Billy just say, 'Fine, forget it'?
It was only because Yang had gone behind the scenes, emptying the Qing coffers to bribe diplomats, that it ended with a mere bow.
"Sorry, but I can't take your money."
Not because I was some paragon of integrity.
"I cannot grant Minister Yang's request."
Wilhelm II was already fixated on the 'Three Kneels and Nine Bows'—obsessively so.
He was determined to get it, by hook or by crook.
Besides, neither Foreign Minister Richthofen nor I had any reason to defy the Kaiser's will just to coddle the Qing.
It might not be my place to say, having brought up the Three Kneels and Nine Bows to Wilhelm II in the first place, but honestly—what did it matter to me if Prince Chun did it or not?
No gain, no reason.
"It would be the same no matter whom you approach in the Foreign Ministry, including Foreign Minister Richthofen himself. They'd take your 'goodwill' and wipe their mouths clean."
"No...!"
Yang's shoulders slumped in despair, his last hope crushed.
"Even so, Prince Chun will never accept your demands."
But the fire in his eyes hadn't died yet.
"Even if it means our entire delegation committing seppuku here in this distant foreign land!"
"I understand Prince Chun, Minister Yang, and the delegation's position. Pride and face aside, the Empress Dowager and the court won't let you off the hook."
"Then please, persuade the Emperor! You know full well the Three Kneels and Nine Bows is excessive!"
Which is why I keep telling you it's impossible.
"All I can do is ensure that, if Prince Chun performs it, his and your honor is preserved."
"!"
Yang's eyes widened at the mention of preserving honor.
"What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow, Foreign Minister Richthofen will make a proposal to Prince Chun and the delegation."
"A proposal?"
"Yes. Perform the Three Kneels and Nine Bows, or pay 5 billion taels in reparations."
"What? Five—five billion taels?!"
An absurd sum.
The Boxer Protocol's principal alone was 450 million taels.
Even with 39 years of installments plus interest, it totaled about 982 million taels.
For reference, the Qing never fully paid it off before collapsing; it took until the Republic of China era.
And only for communist states like East Germany or the Soviet Union.
"No such money exists anywhere on the Chinese mainland!"
"If Prince Chun and Minister Yang refuse, the Foreign Minister will say to pay with the blood of the Chinese people instead."
"That's just blackmail!"
Yang cried out.
"But doesn't it have to be at this level for Prince Chun to accept the Three Kneels and Nine Bows without backlash?"
"That's...!"
"His humiliation will be seen as a noble sacrifice to save Chinese lives."
The German Empire's and Wilhelm II's reputation in China?
The Kaiser who gave the 'Hun Speech' and ordered brutal massacres there.
It couldn't sink any lower.
'Besides, the other European powers won't care unless blood flows—they'll just shrug and say Billy's being Billy again.'
A few thousand, a few tens of thousands of Chinese dead? To whites, mere gossip fodder.
Repulsive, but that was reality—the age of imperialism.
"And if they reject even that proposal and refuse the Three Kneels and Nine Bows?"
"......"
I merely smiled faintly without a word.
Understanding the implication, Yang's head drooped low.