I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 179



Only Krnovel

“I apologize for the delay in reporting, Your Majesty. I have nothing to say.”

“Don’t worry. I know how many people immigrated last year. It must not have been easy to count them all.”

The Commissioner of Immigration, Rodolfo Nunes, came to report the total number of immigrants for 1848. As I had expected, there was a tremendous influx of immigrants the previous year. So much so that it was necessary to elevate the Commissioner of Immigration to a position of sub-commissioner and to double the number of officers in charge. As a result, Rodolfo Nunes was promoted to the rank of deputy commissioner.

His promotion was a result of the increased workload of the Immigration Bureau, as well as recognition of Nunes’ own abilities and efforts. He was helping immigrants settle down, while contributing to the population growth and development of the empire.

“Thank you. Now, I will begin the report.”

As I nodded, he started with the most important information, the totals.

“In the year 1848, a total of 384,000 immigrants entered our Mexican Empire. Of these, 320,000 came from Europe and 64,000 from the United States, South America, and Asia.”

384,000. This number was much higher than what the United States received during this period in its history. It had become a true immigration powerhouse.

“Wow, this is better than I expected. Most of Europe would be Ireland and Germany, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Ireland has not escaped the effects of the famine, despite the relief efforts of our Mexican Empire.”

“hmm.”

It couldn’t be otherwise. This Irish famine was a disaster caused by the fact that Ireland’s food supply was all one variety of potato.

Since this potato blight is unlikely to disappear in a year, other crops must be planted instead of potatoes to fundamentally overcome the great famine.

I too was supplying large quantities of food to Ireland, both from a humanitarian standpoint and as a way to control food prices in the Mexican Empire, but with the population starving to death, it was not easy to save seeds for the next year.

‘But it looks like it will be resolved by next year, so we’ve reduced the famine by two years. The number of deaths has also been reduced dramatically.’

It was a pride that only I knew, and that others did not know about.

I nodded and motioned for Nunes to continue.

“In some parts of Germany, the failure of the liberal revolution last year led to a surge in immigration.”

Last year there were liberal revolutions all over Europe. In Germany, the revolution broke out as in the original history, but the Prussian crown and central government were much stronger than in the original history, and the revolution was crushed at once.

Many liberal-minded Germans, feeling despair beyond disappointment, made the drastic choice of abandoning their homeland, and in the original history most of them went to the United States, but in this world it was the Mexican Empire.

“Although it is called a constitutional monarchy, the United States is a liberal and republican country that fits their ideals. Is there a reason why they flock to Mexico?”

As you can guess, I was also curious about how much our immigration office was aware of the situation. The main job of the immigration office is to assign immigrants according to the rules, but it also has the role of gathering information through interviews.

“There are some who actually said that they would have gone to the United States if there had been no civil war. However, they were a very small minority, and most of them seemed to have been influenced by the immigration benefits our empire offered and the image of the country as a good place to immigrate.”

“Good. I guess the immigration company is doing a good job.”

“Yes, and there were many who recognized our Mexican Empire as a more advanced nation than the United States, with which we were waging a civil war over the issue of slavery. Also, quite a few people mentioned our overwhelming victory over the United States in the last war.”

“Haha, if you’re going to leave anyway, you’re going to a powerful country. How interesting.”

The immigration office had a good grasp of the situation.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

The young civil servant who had advised me on immigration policy, Rodolfo Nunes, was doing well as the head of the now-large immigration office. I congratulated him and sent him away.

‘I’m looking forward to next year’s census.’

The provisional census of 1845 put the population at 14.8 million. But last year alone, 380,000 people immigrated. With the birth rate exploding, it is hard to guess how much the population has increased.

“With the influx of liberals in large numbers, the Republican Party will regain some of its strength.”

Diego, who had been listening quietly from the side, spoke after Nunes left.

“That may be true. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Too much concentration of power isn’t good either.”

Even if that power were held by me, it would be the same. I am not going to live forever, and if one faction holds power for too long, inevitably, corrupt people will start to emerge.

The concentration and monopoly of power inevitably leads to corruption and degeneration. I was wary of this. The existence of an opposition party was essential for a healthy political ecosystem.

“And since the election was over last year, the next election will be in 1852, right? They plan to finish the reforms before then, so the liberals will be confused. The things they were dissatisfied with will change on their own.”

“Haha, that could be the case.”

Even in 1848, the year before the rebellion, the elections were held normally. The result, needless to say, was a landslide victory for the imperialists.

The landowners rallied and maintained some of their seats because of the secularization law I passed, while the Republicans actually lost seats. This may have been because I took the lead in implementing policies that were progressive by the standards of the time, such as public schools and secularization, which they wanted.

Even with one-third of the landowners arrested for their involvement in the rebellion, the imperialists ended up with so many seats that even I was a little worried.

‘That doesn’t mean we can’t make the reforms that need to be done.’

I took out a document from the desk.

These were the demands sent from New Granada. When they first received this document, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the officials were astonished.

“It would certainly be a great achievement to be able to acquire such a vast territory through annexation, but this demand must be rejected. It is too greedy. New Granada has already been forced to vote for annexation, so the initiative is ours.”

The Foreign Minister gave me that advice with a slightly angry look on his face.

I felt a little sorry for him.

The contents contained herein were those which I had instructed to put in as a request to Agent Cervantes, who was acting as Santander, the second-in-command of the New Granada Revolutionary Army. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not know about them, because the operations of the Intelligence Service were kept secret even at the ministerial level.

There was only one thing I could say.

“Let’s do them sequentially. These are things we were going to do at some point anyway.”

“···Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.”

The secularization law was only the beginning, and reform must continue.

For me, who still has memories of my modern days, there are still so many things that need to be fixed. However, many people within the empire think that the secularization law alone was too great a reform. In fact, didn’t the backlash become so great that it even led to a rebellion?

New Granada’s demands will provide a justification for the merger. Of course, I can push for any reform if I want to, but wouldn’t it be better to have a justification rather than just pushing it forward unilaterally?

These were the demands that came from that kind of thinking.

“I, on the honor of Augustin II, will carry out these demands in sequence.”

The revolutionary forces of New Granada believed me and formally requested annexation.

Of course, I accepted the request immediately.

in the end,

The territory of New Granada, measuring 1.33 million square kilometers, and over two million people were embraced in the bosom of our Mexican Empire.

***

“Take care.”

“Well, good luck to you too.”

The expedition shook hands with those who remained on board and prepared to land.

The Mexican Empire’s Pacific Fleet left New Zealand and headed straight for Australia.

The sight of ships sailing through the rough waves of the Pacific was magnificent. The sailors were busy adjusting the sails and cleaning the decks. The Australian continent began to appear in the distance, and the hearts of the expedition members were filled with excitement and tension.

Unlike New Zealand, where only about a dozen people landed, many expeditions landed all over the Australian continent.

It was a very dangerous mission.

With no base, no one to support you, and only as much food as you can fit in your bag, you have to make contact with the natives in such an environment. If you are unlucky, you could end up in vain in the Australian outback.

“Now only the last team remains.”

“Yes, Captain. We’re the team that’s going furthest south.”

The most dangerous place among them was the southern coast where many British people settled. There was a possibility of encountering the British, and the natives would be very hostile to white people.

“Good luck.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely do it.”

The last expedition has also landed.

It was unclear how many of them would survive and return to their home country.

The captain watched the expedition team safely land for a moment, then gave the order to depart.

“Let’s go. We have a long way to go.”

The ships soon set sail again for the open sea. They were destined to compete with Britain for control of the Pacific, but they had no intention of backing down.

The Pacific Fleet was going around the Pacific, removing the flags that the British had planted and replacing them with the flags of the Mexican Empire, in order to carry out His Majesty’s orders to remove the British from the Pacific.

Inhabited islands were no exception.

“The Pacific Ocean must belong to our Mexican Empire.”

***

The Pitcairn Islands in the middle of the South Pacific.

The islands, inhabited by descendants of British rebels and Tahitian women natives, were also reached by ships from the Mexican Pacific Fleet.

“Ouch, it’s a warship!”

“Call Mr. Nobbs! Quickly!”

The islanders, who had been living peacefully and self-sufficiently, were in a state of confusion and sought out George Hunn Nobbs, a priest who was the island’s spiritual and secular leader.

“That flag… I don’t know. Judging from the size of the ship and its armament, it looks like it’s European.”

George Nobbs, who had lived in the Pitcairn Islands since the 1820s, did not recognize the Mexican Empire’s flag. Neither did others, most of whom were born here, in the Pitcairn Islands.

As they trembled at the sight of the massive warship, an army from an unknown country landed on the island. Nob’s eyes broke out in a cold sweat.

‘Both the weapons and the uniforms are perfect. These are definitely elite soldiers from a European nation.’

If they set their minds to it, the Pitcairn Islands, with their mere 150 inhabitants, would be powerless to resist.

‘Whoever they are, they cannot ignore the British Empire.’

Nobbs thought so in his head, but he was feeling uneasy in a corner of his heart. Britain was a great power, but he wondered if it could protect this small island in the far Pacific. In fact, he couldn’t remember exactly how many years it had been since a ship had come to this island.

‘If they use force…’

He overcame his fear and shouted as he thought about the fate of the islanders.

“Stop! This is British territory, and we are the subjects of Her Majesty the Queen! I don’t know which country’s army you are, but go back!”

Distance enough to be heard.

But they kept walking.

The commander, who had come right up to the villagers who were standing there hesitating with only a few guns, declared in English.

“No, from now on, this is the Pacific Territory of the Mexican Empire.”