Prester John (2)
In the fifteenth century, Portugal launched ships toward the Cape of Good Hope in search of a legend from a bygone era: Prester John.
The legend of Prester John had spread during the Crusades. It was a prophecy of sorts, foretelling that a Christian monarch named "Prester John" (Presbyter John) ruled over Asia and Africa in the far east and would sweep across the lands to crush the Muslims. Of course, Prester John himself was an afterthought; what the Portuguese truly coveted was the gold and pepper he supposedly possessed.
Instead of the priest-king John who worshipped the Holy Trinity, the Portuguese found something close enough. They discovered another "Prester John's kingdom" that worshipped a trinity of its own—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the three aspects of the supreme deity—and whose people enjoyed baptizing themselves in the filthy waters of the Ganges. These people possessed mountains of pepper, just as the Iberians had hoped, and had waged a long, relentless struggle against Muslims. In that sense, they were deemed worthy enough to be recognized as "Prester John."
By that logic, Ethiopia—which actually practiced Christianity and loved fighting Muslims more than anyone, fitting the description of Prester John's kingdom to a tee—was naturally excluded. Aside from being excellent for growing coffee, it lacked the all-important pepper and gold.
Come to think of it, Ethiopia and Joseon shared a striking number of similarities. Both were densely populated, making the cost of governance high, yet both were nestled in rugged mountains with very little to show in the way of valuable local specialties. They even shared the tragic fate of losing their sovereignty to armies that barely deserved the name—the Imperial Japanese Army and the Italian military, respectively.
Now, having acquired the geopolitical choke point of Eritrea, Ethiopia's geographical significance had also become remarkably similar to Joseon's. All that was left was for the great powers to carve it up, and one could practically call it Joseon.
The Crown Prince and Regent of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, welcomed Shtal with the desperate fervor of Gojong meeting the Russian minister after the Eulmi Incident. He grasped Shtal's hand and shook it with uncomfortable intensity. In this light, the future Emperor Haile Selassie bore an uncanny resemblance to Gojong. Both dreamed of modernization while refusing to relinquish their absolute monarchical power, only for their empires to collapse during their own reigns.
"Vice Chairman Shtal, we meet again after the Olympics! It is an honor, a truly immense honor!"
"I am delighted to see you again as well."
"I have heard that thanks to your decisive resolve, Vice Chairman Shtal, the people of West Africa, who long suffered under French oppression, have finally regained order and stability. I believe this is precisely what the British call the 'civilizer's duty'! Before long, your glorious light will shine across the entirety of Africa!"
"Ah, ahaha..."
Haile Selassie was, as expected, singing praises to the high heavens. It was hard to tell if he was a crown prince or a sycophantic courtier. Haile Selassie harbored a genuine personal fondness for Shtal. It was thanks to Shtal dismantling Italy that Ethiopia had been able to seize Eritrea, which had been under Italian control.
Of course, Haile Selassie was a politician. Beyond personal fondness, he had other motives.
I must not let this opportunity slip away. The threat and pressure from Great Britain are growing more intense by the day. If I can just hold onto the lifeline Shtal throws us, we too can succeed in modernizing!
Modernization, of course, required money. There was no way such capital could be squeezed out of Ethiopia's barren mountain valleys, and they could only barely secure the necessary funds through the port of Eritrea. But as always, where there is light, there is shadow. The moment Ethiopia became a geopolitical choke point capable of blocking transit to the Suez Canal, Great Britain began glaring at them with predatory eyes, threatening their very existence.
If I lose Shtal... our country might truly fall to the British. I heard they are already sending massive forces to West Africa. We only managed to hold our ground because the Italians were incompetent, but if the British Navy brings even a fraction of its fleet, our sea lanes will be cut off in an instant.
Furthermore, from Britain's perspective, someone like Haile Selassie could be blown away by a stiff breeze. Though he was famed as an absolute ruler, his actual political footing was incredibly precarious. Granted, the moment Britain marched troops into Ethiopia as they did in West Africa, they would find themselves starring in The Anglo-Afghan War: Season Two. But dividing and conquering to depose a mere crown prince and regent, then installing a puppet regime friendly to them? That would be easier than eating cake.
Thus, Haile Selassie clung to Shtal like a drowning man to a straw.
In general, hospitality was meant to make a guest feel comfortable. But when that hospitality became excessively overbearing, it was utterly exhausting.
"I couldn't even tell if the dinner was going into my mouth or my nose, Director Goebbels."
With the regent showering me with flattery as naturally as breathing, by the time dinner ended and the night deepened, I felt as though I had been elevated to the status of a messiah.
Ugh, my stomach is still turning.
Goebbels shuddered, looking as if he had never seen such a creature in his life.
"Vice Chairman, it seems the Crown Prince of Ethiopia is truly desperate."
"If our negotiations for their entry into the Treaty Organization fall through, I half expect him to burst into tears right then and there."
"Haha. Still, Vice Chairman, we might be able to extract far more from Ethiopia than you think."
Indeed. Frankly, extorting concessions using this as leverage wasn't my style, and the Crown Prince likely knew that. And yet, he was groveling this desperately, deliberately laying bare his own weaknesses?
"Haile Selassie seems to be practically begging us to take advantage of him."
"He is offering to pay any price if we just invest in his country. That way, the moment Great Britain lays a finger on Ethiopia, Austria will be forced to step in."
"Precisely. Furthermore, since he understands how the Treaty Organization's system works, he has likely calculated that even if we do exploit him, he won't lose everything."
He was certainly a step above Gojong. Unlike Gojong, who became king purely on his father's coattails, this man possessed a decent diplomatic instinct. If that was the case, we didn't even need to go through the grand gesture of admitting them to the Treaty Organization.
"Director Goebbels, do we really need to bring Ethiopia into the Treaty Organization?"
"...Pardon?"
"As you mentioned, the Treaty Organization does not have the capacity to handle any more demand. West Africa was a profitable venture because we traded food and weapons—which have minimal impact on our domestic economy—for raw materials. But from Ethiopia, all we stand to gain are ports and strategic advantages."
"Then how do you plan to control Ethiopia? As you said, if we don't let them join, the Crown Prince might literally weep. He might even turn to the British out of desperation."
His shameless flattery toward me was also a subtle signal that he could easily do the same for Great Britain. However, since he was so openly offering himself up to be exploited, it meant we could get away with giving him much less.
I quietly analyzed Haile Selassie's mindset.
"Director Goebbels, to be frank... don't you find Haile Selassie a bit... unsettling?"
"So I wasn't the only one who felt that way!"
Where on earth did that unsettling feeling come from? There had to be a clue somewhere... I recalled a few monarchs to compare with Haile Selassie. The monarchs I knew best were the late, obsessively duty-bound Kaiser Franz Joseph, and my friend Ferdinand II. But comparing the Ethiopian Empire to Austria, where a constitutional monarchy was well-developed, was a bit of a stretch. If I had to find a closer comparison, perhaps the Showa Emperor or Gojong?
"Wait a moment, Director Goebbels. Hasn't Haile Selassie been addressing me with utmost deference this entire time?"
"Yes, he has, but..."
"Is that a fitting attitude for a monarch?"
"Perhaps not for a reigning monarch, but for a crown prince, it is entirely plausible. Haile Selassie is the Crown Prince and Regent, after all. In terms of official protocol, both you and he are the second-in-command of your respective nations, so there is no breach of etiquette."
"In terms of formal protocol, yes. Only in protocol."
But in terms of social status, it was absolutely not the case. That was simply how those of royal blood operated. No matter how much I had rendered class systems obsolete, royalty was an exception. They were people born and raised to believe they were inherently noble. Take Gojong, for instance. Unlike Haile Selassie, Gojong was practically a commoner whose childhood dream was to be a roasted chestnut vendor. A self-made man? In a way, yes. Though he took the throne on his father's coattails, he had been far removed from royalty initially. Yet, his pride as a king was exceptionally fierce. In truth, that was only natural. When a ruler lacked legitimacy, they tended to cling obsessively to empty formalities and vanity to save face.
Ah, now I see.
"I understand now. Haile Selassie is a man utterly consumed by power."
"Pardon? But aren't all monarchs like that?"
"He is an extreme case, even among monarchs. It has been a very long time since I have seen someone so thoroughly obsessed with power."
I had encountered my fair share of people driven by a desperate need for recognition or raw power—Ludendorff being a prime example. But Haile Selassie was a different breed entirely.
"It is no easy feat for a royal to cast aside their imperial ego and grovel so servilely."
"Haile Selassie is highly capable. From a purely rational standpoint, he has calculated that acting this way yields the greatest benefit."
"Director Goebbels, while you are brilliant at mass propaganda, you seem slightly lacking when it comes to analyzing individuals. Human beings are not purely rational creatures who calculate everything so coldly."
"Ah...!"
Typically, royals would rather die than abandon their haughty demeanor. When someone born of royal blood flatters you so aggressively, it naturally makes the recipient feel uneasy. It wasn't just emotionally jarring; it wasn't even a sound choice from a practical standpoint.
"To me... Haile Selassie looks like a man driven by a paranoid fear of losing his grip on power."
A monarch strengthening royal authority, building up the military, growing the economy, and pursuing modernization—the ultimate goal of all these endeavors was, in the end, the monarch's personal power. The final objective was to avoid revolution, collect more taxes, and keep more subjects under their thumb.
"It's quite simple, then. I've thought of exactly what to give Haile Selassie. And it will likely align perfectly with our interests as well."
"Pardon? What would that be?"
His plea for help with modernization was merely a facade. He couldn't openly ask us to back him up so he wouldn't be deposed as ruler—doing so would invite revolution—so he had packaged his request in this roundabout way.
"We simply need to hand Haile Selassie absolute power. Once he has it, Great Britain won't be able to use his precarious position as regent to threaten Ethiopia."
"Will that truly be enough?"
"In China, there was once a popular concept called Dongdo Seogi—Eastern Ways, Western Vessels. It advocated for adopting Western technology while preserving traditional Eastern culture and laws. It was an absurd notion, yet it gained immense popularity. A monarch only ever wants the military might to secure their own power, and the common people themselves are highly likely to despise industrialization."
In an ideal world, how wonderful would it be to spread modern democracy to every nation and establish advanced welfare systems through industrialization? Yet, even the twenty-first century—a relative paradise—had failed to realize such a utopia. Even if all conditions were perfect, and even under the Prague Treaty Organization system which forcibly balanced trade deficits, a wealth gap was inevitable. The hegemony centered around Europe and East Asia remained firmly in place this time as well.
"It is a sound strategy, Vice Chairman Shtal... but are you certain about this?"
"About what?"
"It feels a bit late to bring this up, but backing an authoritarian regime like this pricks my conscience just a little."
Hearing Goebbels say such a thing gave me an incredibly bizarre feeling.
In any case, I went to Haile Selassie and proposed a package of support aimed at strengthening his royal authority and military power. Haile Selassie grinned from ear to ear, looking as though he had completely forgotten he had ever asked to join the Treaty Organization or modernize his nation.