Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 408



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#Part 2 Episode 18. Responding to the Giant’s Notice (3)

“… Will Kim Ga-jin be able to survive these waves?”

“If you don’t get used to the waves, you’ll drown, so I’m sure they’re preparing their own plan. What’s important now is not the cabinet’s intentions, but how our Marshal’s Office will respond.”

Although he said this, it seemed that the cabinet would have difficulty surviving in this wave. Prime Minister Kim Ga-jin showed more idealistic trust in parliamentary politics than anyone else, and he was the one who gave more power to the Privy Council than any other prime minister. Of course, I warned him several times.

As the cabinet expanded and took care of the Privy Council, His Majesty the Emperor could use them as a tool to pressure the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office. In other words, in an explosive situation like the present, it could also mean that the Emperor, who was wielding public opinion as a weapon, could be attacked defenselessly.

So at least I should prepare myself to withstand the political storms in the department I’m in. I stood up and gave instructions to the other directors and managers behind me.

“First, our Operations Department will prepare some simple materials to present at the Privy Council meeting tomorrow regarding the dispatch of troops. The Accounting Department will prepare materials on the replenishment of supplies and the required funds for the dispatch.”

“Okay.”

“And I would also like you to check whether the artillery unit can move towards a full-scale mass production system for the mortars, new 105mm field guns, and assault rifles that are currently in low-rate production.”

“I will do as you say.”

“Finally, the Records Bureau… … .”

“We’ll take care of it. We at the Records Bureau know the director’s intentions best.”

While smiling softly, Captain Cho Dong-yoon, the head of the records bureau, who was wearing various masks behind his back, said as he closed his notebook. Although he felt something strange about him, he stopped himself. At the moment, he had no intention of saying anything to him, and in a complicated situation, there was no reason to say anything to someone who was trying to do his best.

My head was aching and I was so tired that I couldn’t help but sigh at the situation. I had been hit by a huge bomb that I didn’t know where it would go, and I couldn’t stop it from exploding, so the only way I could do was to minimize the damage as much as possible.

At least that’s what I thought. Yongsan at night began to move busier than it had during the last Far East War.

* * *

As expected, as soon as the sun rose, the morning papers and extra editions were filled with provocative articles based on information that must have come from Gyeongungung Palace. When the news came that Japan had taken over Kwantung Province, the public began to display the five stages of anger in a clear manner.

“Are you even talking about this now?! I can’t believe it! What kind of place is Gwandong Province that Russia is handing over a place like Altoran!”

The first was the voice of denial heard from one side of the Privy Council.

“What on earth were our cabinet and military thinking?!

The second thing that came to mind was the anger of the people who gathered in groups of three or four on their way to work.

“If we declare our intention to go to war even now, the North Koreans might cancel it!”

The third thing that came to mind as I was walking to work at Gyeongbokgung Palace was the urgent voice of a member of the Privy Council who supported the cabinet and came to me to talk.

“Is our country’s luck running out… … .”

The fourth is a voice full of melancholy, as if someone was passing by.

“We must immediately crush the plot of the vile Japanese and send our proud elite army to the savior to save Russia! This is the only way for our country to move forward, and furthermore, it is the only way to protect our sacred homeland of South Manchuria!”

The fifth and final voice was that of Shin Chae-ho, full of conviction, who had been raising his voice in the Privy Council. Regardless of the intentions of the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office, the Privy Council meeting room was already leading to public opinion that the emperor seemed to want.

Fear is enough to unite the masses, and it must have been even more so when the imperial family, boasting a history of 500 years, began to point out directions as if they had foreseen the current situation. And at this point, the horrific memories of the war ten years ago and the news of the people dying en masse in the Savior were no longer in sight.

All that was left for them was a new hatred of Japan, born of defensive nationalism, a firm promise of territorialization of South Manchuria, which had been given an ambiguous position in the Treaty of Portsmouth, and a half-mad cry that it would be worthwhile to shed the blood of hundreds of thousands of people in return for it on the cold soil of Galicia.

Of course, it was uncertain whether the great powers, who fundamentally disliked the monopoly of Manchuria, would exchange our proposal to dispatch troops for the South Manchurian issue, or whether they would provide new guarantees against the new security threat posed by Japan’s sale of Kwantung Province. However, the belief that the great powers would do something for them was deeply rooted among them, as they had shed blood.

“Arasa, who shed blood with us in the last Far East War, is now reaching out to us! It is our turn to respond to their help! Let us all go to the battlefield together!”

“If we can help Russia and defend South Manchuria to the end, it would be worth pouring in 200,000 of our army, so we must go to that battlefield!”

In this way, the public opinion for war that the emperor had half-forcefully created was greatly shocked by a single telegram sent by the tsar, leading to a reversal of the situation. From the moment they arrived at the Privy Council, the public opinion that they should go to war was overwhelming, and this was the same phenomenon not only among the pro-imperial Privy Council members centered around the Imperial Association, but also among the Privy Council members centered around the Independence Association, who were relatively friendly to the cabinet.

There was even some pretty strong, sharp talk that opposing participation in the war would be considered treason against the country, so you could see how dire the current situation was. In the end, both the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office had no choice but to bow their heads to such public opinion.

Of course, there were some brave people among them.

“Are you all in your right mind?! Even in the Great Korean Constitution, the true constitution of the Republic of Korea, it is clearly stated that our army and navy are mobilized to protect the territory and territorial waters of the fatherland, and the lives and property of the people! But are you planning to drive these young people to their deaths by being fooled by Russia’s evil scheme to divide South Manchuria?!”

Someone’s angry voice filled the central chamber. Anyone who could say something like that in a situation like this could be said to be braver than anyone else.

“His Majesty the Emperor and the people want it, and anyone who goes against it is a traitor!”

“Kill that guy!”

But soon such cries were silenced by other members who had lost their senses due to the loss of South Manchuria. In the process, a few members who had expressed opposing opinions were literally beaten and carried out covered in blood.

The police officers quickly stopped them, but it happened so quickly. In the midst of the commotion, I could see what the Emperor wanted and how he had been quietly increasing his power since the last Far East War. I shivered secretly, but tried to look straight at the current situation.

And behind them was the Minister of the Imperial Household, Park Je-soon. He smiled as if he was happy to see me and approached me. Of course, behind that smile, there was a warning mixed in, as if to say, ‘If you oppose, even the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office, who are called heroes of the last war, will be merciless.’

“Director of Operations, this is the will of the people. It is like a wave. Once it surges, no amount of gunfire or intimidation can stop it.”

“Is that so?”

Looking at his expression that seemed to be killing me, I snickered.

“That’s a very nice thing to say. I’ll keep that in mind.”

He kept talking to me about this and that, as if he thought I would lose my temper and respond in a much more boring way than I expected.

“Haha, really. I don’t know what these people who dare to go against public opinion are thinking. What about the Director of Operations? The cabinet and the Marshal’s Office were clearly opposed to this war.”

“Your Majesty, you haven’t changed much since your time as governor of Chungcheong Province. Haha.”

I said as I stood up. Then the members of the Privy Council cheered as they looked at me. It was probably because, if troops were to be sent to Russia, I would be the most powerful commander of the expeditionary force. And I was almost the only person in the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office who could stand up to the Emperor in terms of ‘popular opinion.’

“What, what?”

“Oh, you should laugh here, Minister of the Imperial Household. I will be giving a speech here today, asking the members of the House of Representatives to join the war. Wouldn’t it be awkward if Your Majesty made that kind of expression?”

As I spoke with a big smile, Park Je-soon smiled awkwardly. Then I immediately grabbed the arm of the Minister of the Imperial Household and raised both arms in a gesture similar to cheering, and I responded to the members of the National Assembly, and I could hear their shouts that followed.

“General, lead our army and save Nosua, who is in danger!”

“Just as we defeated the Japanese, only the general can send all the Austrians and Deokguk to hell!”

“There are only two people who can protect South Manchuria: His Majesty the Emperor and General Kim!”

Here, I just smiled and lowered my voice so that only Park Je-soon, who was next to me, could hear, and said this.

“In the end, to be frank… the military’s position is to do as it is told from above. We have no position on whether to participate in the war or remain neutral. In the end, we only move when the cabinet and the Central Council decide.”

Of course, in the process, the military, as a group of ‘experts’, can add their opinions on the policy decision-making process regarding the use of force, but in the end, it was the norm that the military would follow the government’s instructions after going through a legitimate decision-making process.

“It’s nice to hear what the director says, but… it’s hypocritical.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that. But it’s the truth. If you ask any officer of the Marshal’s Office passing by, you’ll get the same answer.”

“Aren’t you afraid of this wave of public opinion, that the enemy is only now speaking the truth through your mouth?”

This time, I felt a definite hostility. If that was the case, then I had no choice but to accept it.

“Do you really think that this will belongs solely to Your Majesty the Emperor?”

“Director, what did you just say?”

“Well, this is also a fair argument. But keep one thing in mind. If this war drags on and takes away many fathers and sons from their families through death warrants, what will all this cheering now mean? Ah, you said that public opinion is like a wave. There is nothing as capricious as a wave.”

And finally, if the people were to ride the wave of constitutionalism and republicanism that emerged as a by-product of the war to end everything… then a storm of unimaginable magnitude would come, incomparable to the pride and ambition of incompetent emperors and monarchs.

“If you are riding on a wave, please look closely at the direction the current is heading. Your Majesty, your Majesty.”

Then I politely greeted him and went down to the podium. And while all the members of the Privy Council were focused, I began to talk about how discussions on participation in the war had already been prepared based on the materials I had received from the Marshal’s Office yesterday.

In such a situation, with shouts and countless voices, the Korean Empire, through a resolution of the Privy Council in May 1915, officially declared war on the Allies and decided to participate in the Eastern Front. Of course, there was still a long way to go and much work to be done, but from now on, this was something that the working-level officials would have to resolve.