American: Native Empire

“Judging by the fact that you call it the Empire instead of the Top Eagle Company, I guess you have heard from the higher-ups?”

“More precisely, it is the will of His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty has a great interest in Japan, as you know. As you are well aware, Japan and the Empire are geographically quite close.”

“…Relatively close, yes.”

Ouchi Yoshitaka nodded in agreement, but his mind was spinning.

‘If the Emperor himself certifies it… wouldn’t it be believable? It’s burdensome to fight with the Hojo clan.’

Hojo Ujitsuna must also be using ninjas in his territory to collect information constantly. 

He was doing the same.

The more he learned about the Hojo clan, and especially Hojo Ujitsuna, the more Ouchi Yoshitaka felt wary.

He had the Iwami silver mine, but Hojo Ujitsuna was different. 

Of course, he took 20% of the profits from the silver mine, but that was only half of his half.

There were many outstanding warriors in Kanto. 

Despite that, Hojo Ujitsuna had pacified his surroundings faster than him.

‘He’s a really amazing man. So much so that I don’t want to fight him.’

That’s why his mind gradually leaned toward accepting the proposal of the Swift Rope. 

Hojo Ujitsuna must have felt the same way about him, otherwise he wouldn’t have made the offer first.

“If you say so much, I have no reason to refuse. I don’t want the war to continue either.”

“Good. Then shall we discuss the details of the treaty?”

“Let’s do that.”

Thus, by the agreement of the three powers, Japan’s division was virtually decided.

***

After that, it took another two weeks to finalize the treaty. 

It was inevitable, since it was a matter that involved their sharp interests.

The Swift Rope finished his business in Japan during that time.

And today, important guests visited Japan.

“It’s been a long time, great man.”

“Haha. I’ve been busy.”

“I should have visited you sooner, but so many things happened… I’ll see you more often from now on.”

“I feel the same way.”

“Haha. Just hearing your words makes me full. Come on, let’s go inside.”

The Swift Rope led the guests from China to the reception room. 

The spacious reception room was soon filled with a large number of people.

“I heard the news. A terrible thing happened.”

“Alas. What is happening to our country…”

As they brought up a very heavy topic from the beginning, the atmosphere became gloomy.

‘I never thought such a big earthquake would happen.’

Earlier this year, an earthquake occurred in Shanxi province of China, and its magnitude was unprecedented. 

As a result, Shanxi province and its surrounding areas were devastated.

It was later recorded as the earthquake that caused the most casualties in human history.

Moreover, it was not far from Beijing, the capital of Ming Dynasty, so this earthquake caused even more damage to Ming Dynasty, which was already chaotic.

“The unfortunate thing is that our damage is not that great. Rather…”

“Ahem! That’s enough.”

“…Ahem! I almost made a mistake.”

The Swift Rope smiled subtly as he listened to their words.

‘As expected, their nature doesn’t change. Who would say they are thieves? Their country suffered a huge disaster, but what they think is…’

In fact, he didn’t like them very much.

They were engaged in smuggling, which was prohibited by Ming Dynasty. 

The Swift Rope was a person who had a deep loyalty to his homeland and Kim Ki-woo.

From his point of view, he didn’t like this gang of thieves very much. 

But trading with Ming Dynasty and strengthening the power of Top Eagle Company required joining hands with them.

‘Well, they must see this as an opportunity.’

For a long time, Top Eagle Company gained much more benefits from Ming Dynasty than Japan.

That meant that these smugglers also made a fortune.

But Ming Dynasty’s government wasn’t stupid either. 

They naturally suppressed them. 

In this process, many smugglers and their families died.

But they couldn’t root them out. 

Rather, from then on, the smugglers burned with revenge and imported weapons and ships from Top Eagle Company and armed themselves heavily.

As a result, Ming Dynasty’s government practically lost control over coastal areas such as Bokyeonseong and Jujangseong.

In this situation, the Shanxi earthquake was like adding fuel to fire.

‘Now they don’t hide their ambitions… tsk tsk.’

To Swift Rope’s eyes, Ming Dynasty had too low military power compared to its national strength. 

Ming Dynasty’s army was infamous for being useless and its government was rotten.

On top of that, the incompetent emperor didn’t care about the affairs of state, so it was obvious that the country was doomed.

So these thieves must have bigger dreams.

‘Well, it’s not bad news for us.’

The Empire and Top Eagle Company had enough reasons to support them.

The Swift Rope never mixed his personal feelings with public matters.

“Well, then let’s talk in detail.”

The Swift Rope leaned forward and began the formal negotiations.

“Haha. You seem to be better than most of the ministers. You’ve done so many things.”

“How can I compare myself to the ministers who lead the glorious Wakan Tanka Empire? I’m just a mere merchant.”

“A mere merchant? There’s no such thing as an unimportant job in this world. If you work hard in your position, isn’t that patriotism? It’s thanks to the merchants that the empire’s economy is running.”

“Your grace is too kind, Your Majesty.”

After meeting with Hojo Ujitsuna, Ouchi Yoshitaka, and the Chinese smugglers, Kim Kiwoo had a chat with Swift Rope, his spy.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing. Then you won’t have any trouble with those who falsely accuse you. Of course… I’m only talking about false accusations. You know that, right?”

Gulp!

Kim Kiwoo smiled and spoke, but Swift Rope swallowed his saliva unconsciously. Cold sweat ran down his spine.

“I know that very well, Your Majesty. There will never be anything that worries you.”

“Haha. I trust you. I know you wouldn’t do anything like that. I’m just saying this out of concern, so don’t take it to heart.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Come on, drink up. I prepared your favorite tea.”

Kim Kiwoo finished his words and sipped his cocoa. 

Then he spoke again.

“It’s only a matter of time before Japan is divided and stabilized… What do you think? Do you think they will succeed in their coup?”

“If you’re talking about the smugglers… I think they have a high chance of success. They have armed themselves with many ships and weapons from the empire, based on the huge wealth they have accumulated so far. On the other hand, the Ming government is incompetent and corrupt, and its military is very weak.”

“Hmm. That’s true. But even if they open the lid, there’s no guarantee how it will turn out.”

“That’s also true.”

“And even if they succeed, we can’t let one faction take over the entire land of Ming.”

“Um…”

Currently, there were two regions that Kim Kiwoo was most concerned about: one was China and the other was Ottoman.

‘Considering the enormous population of China… They have a high possibility of becoming the biggest competitor of Wakan Tanka in the future.’

Wasn’t it the same in the original history? China, based on its vast land and population, rose to the position of G2 in just a few decades.

Their potential was very impressive. 

Before Wakan Tanka Empire revealed itself to the world, Ming was the best country to live in.

The best way to effectively suppress them was to split them up.

And now was the best time to execute this plan.

“Remember this and make sure that the factions participating in this coup don’t unite. I’ve already talked to the Minister of Defense, so you can work with him.”

“I understand, Your Majesty!”

“You may leave now.”

“Yes! I’ll see you again next time.”

“Alright.”

After he left, Kim Kiwoo spread out a world map.

‘How should I split China into several countries?’

In Kim Kiwoo’s mind, there was no such option as one China. 

He was just thinking about how to split it up.

And with the current national power of Wakan Tanka Empire, this was easy to achieve. 

After all, the smugglers who grew their power through smuggling and initiated the coup were also under the empire’s control.

They had grown with the support of the empire and signed a secret treaty today. 

They were like fish caught in a net.

‘If China is split up as I planned… The only thing left is Ottoman.’

Europe was unable to enjoy the Age of Discovery because of Wakan Tanka Empire. 

Europe had conquered the world through navigation.

But because of Kim Kiwoo, they didn’t even have decent colonies. 

As the situation went on like this, they fell behind Asia in terms of population and resources.

Of course, they were also trying to reform like the empire as they realized their power gap over time.

But for now, Europe was not Kim Kiwoo’s concern. 

Because Ottoman’s momentum was too strong.

‘It must be Suleiman I. He’s as great as I heard.’

As time passed, Kim Kiwoo had to admit it. 

He noticed the reality of the empire and started to reform Ottoman Empire right away.

Thanks to that, Ottoman Empire was the region where modernization was achieved fastest among other regions except Wakan Tanka.

He didn’t hesitate to bow down to Wakan Tanka Empire for this. 

He even didn’t hesitate to execute those who persecuted the empire’s missionaries or merchants in their region for religious reasons.

‘That’s even scarier.’

Looking at Ottoman now, it felt like they were sharpening their knives while lying down.

And Kim Kiwoo knew it too well.

‘The Middle East region will become more important in the future. Middle Eastern oil will be more important than anything else until shale gas is developed.’

Why else would the United States have been so interested in the Middle East in the original history? It was because it was an irreplaceable region.

In fact, this was the reason why the dollar did not lose its status as a reserve currency after giving up the gold standard.

The United States took over OPEC and made a deal with them: the United States would take care of the development and sale of Middle Eastern oil, and OPEC would only accept dollars as payment for oil.

In other words, dollars were essential to buy oil. 

Thanks to this, the dollar was able to consolidate its position as a reserve currency.

So the United States built an absurd economic system where they just had to print money to run the economy. 

If they had a deficit, they just printed more dollars.

This was also the reason why they collapsed the Soviet Union during the Cold War, why they maintained their superpower status until Kim Kiwoo traveled back in time, and why they maintained their astronomical defense budget.

And Kim Kiwoo also wanted to imitate this move of the United States. 

To do that, he had to pay attention to the relationship and negotiation with Ottoman.

‘If Ottoman tries to ruin my plan… I’ll have no choice but to wage war.’

Even if other countries criticized him, it was inevitable for the bright future of Wakan Tanka. 

International politics was a ruthless jungle.