Chapter 3: Successful negotiation

Daeyeok Gallery.

I was going to post something like, “I’m here as I am, from the future!” but no one would believe me anyway.

And even if they did, there wouldn’t be a way to return to the future.

One thing is certain—this world in the Alternate History Gallery hasn’t been destroyed yet, or at least, it’s still before its downfall.

Alright, let’s think about this.

‘If I change history here, then history will change in this future as well. So, can I just ask questions here?’

‘If I use this properly, it’s a gold mine. In fact, if I keep using it to see the changing future and adjust accordingly, wouldn’t that be perfect?’

Good. Then, let’s find out about Alexeyev.

***

[Author: ㅇㅇ]
[Title: What was Governor-General Alexeyev doing in the past?]

—”Someone tell me quickly.”

[Comments]
Daebung01: This guy is at it again.

***

I gathered more information from the users of Daeyeok Gallery, and before long, I was able to meet Alexeyev again.

Surprisingly, it was quite fast.

Just as my investigation on Alexeyev was wrapping up, I was summoned.

“I understand that your superior, the Gando Administrator, is preparing for war with Japan. It wouldn’t be bad for us if you took care of the Chinese in our place. However, I’m not sure if His Majesty the Tsar will see it favorably.”

“Ugh, why would you report this directly to the Tsar? That’s not how adults should handle things. This should just be seen as a matter between the Governor-General of the Far East and a mere warlord, not something requiring the Emperor’s involvement. If that were the case, they wouldn’t have bothered setting up a separate Far Eastern Governor-General in the first place.”

“It is simply that Your Excellency is hiring mercenaries composed of Koreans. Nothing more, nothing less. The Russian army is strong, but if the Chinese cause trouble, the railways could be destroyed, or arsenals could be raided, couldn’t they?”

In fact, during the Boxer Rebellion, railways were destroyed, causing Russia a great deal of trouble.

If they considered that, they’d be pleased to have someone else handle it.

“Very well. I will give you a chance.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency.”

With this, it was settled.

Now, we needed to expand our forces as much as possible while sweeping through all of Manchuria.

And—I still needed one more insurance policy.

I had to extend my reach as far as possible.

Up until now, I had only been laying the groundwork for the present.

But the real core of my plan lay in what I was about to say.

“Your Excellency, I have one more request. This is a plea I make at the risk of my own life.”

A request only possible because my body could withstand any amount of butchery.

Might as well take the leap.

I didn’t know how Alexeyev, who served under the Tsar with utmost reverence, would react.

“What is it this time?”

“My family once found great success as merchants. It was because we used Eastern sorcery to glimpse into the future. I have briefly seen the future of Russia, which will be a great ally of Korea.”

“Grigori Rasputin gained influence among both commoners and nobles through cult-like activities, séances, and his charismatic presence.”

“If he could do it, why couldn’t I?”

“Heh, you’re trying to flatter me with pretty words.”

“The next Tsar will have a precious son.”

The precious son was Alexei.

Though a revolution would eventually erupt, and he would die young without ever becoming Tsar, at the very least, he was a useful asset to turn Nicholas II into my gullible benefactor.

I would simply pretend to heal Alexei in Rasputin’s place.

“What did you say?”

“He will have hemophilia. When that time comes, send me to St. Petersburg. If you do, Your Excellency will rise to even greater heights.”

“How dare you insult His Majesty the Tsar? The more I listen to you, the more outrageous you become!”

Alexeyev rose from his seat, furious.

Yeah, I figured he’d be mad.

As a loyal subject of the Tsar, of course, he’d be outraged.

But that was all—just anger.

Because my next words made him fall silent.

“Your Excellency once boarded the corvette Variag and circumnavigated the world for over three years.”

I spoke without any variation in tone, as if possessed.

I listed his past experiences one by one, as if I had seen them firsthand.

“Then, you explored the North American coast, continued to move throughout the Far East, and later returned to Russia, where you were promoted to lieutenant.”

I recited his history as smoothly as if I had copied it from Wikipedia.

Which was essentially true—I had gathered all this information from Daeyeok Gallery.

[Daebung01: Damn, making me copy and paste stuff that a simple search could find.]

Thanks, Daebung01.

I had subtly manipulated my friends in Daeyeok Gallery into spilling details about Alexeyev.

‘Some of them got annoyed, but who cares?’

‘If this was how things were going to be, I might as well ask if they could just grant me Wikipedia powers outright.’

But when I really thought about it, there were advantages to Daeyeok Gallery being made up of real people.

I could gain insights from a variety of perspectives to predict the future more accurately.

Alexeyev stiffened momentarily, then his eyes widened.

“How do you know that?”

“Did I not tell you? I use Eastern sorcery.”

“You could have investigated me beforehand.”

“Fair enough.”

“But honestly, did the Korean Empire even have the capability to do that?”

“Of course, if given a choice between believing in sorcery or espionage, most would pick the latter.”

“But tell me—does a small nation like Korea, constantly interfered with by Japan, have the means to investigate Your Excellency? If so, then our intelligence network must be truly remarkable to gather information on the Governor-General of Russia.”

‘Could a minor Far Eastern country really collect intelligence on a Russian official engaged in the Great Game with Britain?’

‘Did that seem likely?’

Of course, between trusting in Eastern sorcery and believing that espionage was involved, Alexeyev would probably prefer the latter.

But he was already shaken.

He sat back down, staring at me with dazed eyes.

His expression was almost mesmerized.

“Do you know about my future as well?”

“There is nothing I do not know. Your Excellency will be appointed supreme commander of the Russian forces during the Russo-Japanese War. But as the Russian army suffers countless defeats against the Japanese, you will be recalled to the homeland.”

There was no need for subtlety.

Since the conversation had begun, I might as well see it through to the end.

Rather than slowly laying the groundwork, now is the time to say everything—while Alexeyev is still listening to me.

“What did you just say!?”

It really was as they said.

In the end, he would be removed as governor-general in 1905.

But if Alexeyev believes only in my words, if he leads the Russo-Japanese War to our advantage, then at least we won’t be completely doomed.

“However, if we—the Imperial Korean Army—assist the Governor-General of the Far East, the situation will change drastically. Would you care to make a bet? I have staked my own life. If I win this bet, Governor-General, you must send me to Saint Petersburg.”

As long as I have Daeyeokgal, I cannot lose.

Of course, if the arrogant Daebung betray me with lies, that would be different.

But for now, I should focus solely on receiving their help.

Now, it’s time to see how Alexeyev responds.

His expression is filled with deep suspicion, but he isn’t making a move just yet.

He must be wondering—deep down—if I truly am using some kind of sorcery.

After a long silence, Alexeyev finally opened his heavy lips.

“It sounds like nonsense… but fine. Let’s see what happens. You may use Manchuria as Korea’s training ground. I will provide ample support. And if hemophilia truly exists… I will send you to Saint Petersburg. But if everything you say turns out to be a lie, you must be prepared to face the consequences.”

Good. This is enough.

I have obtained everything I need.

All I have to do is save a single prince.

Just as Rasputin gained the Tsar’s favor, I, too, will secure the infinite support of Nicholas II.

***

Governor-General Alexeyev only realized his mistake after Ok Jinseo had already left.

That dazzling silver tongue, that carefree smile—it had completely enchanted him.

‘How could he, a loyal servant of the Russian Empire, have made such a foolish blunder?’

All because of some Eastern mumbo jumbo about knowing the future.

“Ok Jinseo… claims to know the future?”

It’s obviously absurd nonsense.

Think about it—’if he truly could see the future, would the country that was Korea just a short while ago be in such a pitiful state, swallowed up by a neighboring nation?’

The only reason His Majesty the Tsar even acknowledges the Korean Empire is because he ultimately intends to turn it into a protectorate.

But then, a thought occurred to Alexeyev.

‘What if he really can see the future? What if Korea must go through this hardship in order to become a great power? What if that’s the future he saw?’

“Hemophilia, you say?”

He had dismissed it as a joke at first, but it was an incredibly rude statement.

The only reason he had entertained that woman’s words at all was because she spoke Russian fluently and had connections through official documents.

He figured she might have some use for the Sapotai.

‘But what if she was telling the truth?’

‘What if His Majesty’s next child is a boy?’

‘And what if that boy truly has hemophilia?’

This would be revealed next year, but if it turned out to be true, then that woman might be more useful than he thought.

Still, there was another issue to consider.

‘What if Japan refused to give up on the Korean Peninsula?’

‘What if those bastards weren’t satisfied with Fujian and pushed their way up into Korea?’

‘What would happen then?’

At the very least, he needed to keep the possibility in mind.

“This won’t do. We must reinforce Manchuria’s fortifications in preparation for war.”

After all, wasn’t that man, Lee Beomyun, handling the Qing army on his own?

From the beginning, even if Japan took Fujian, Russia had always planned to fortify Manchuria.

It was far too crucial a military base in the Far East to leave unclaimed.

“If Korea is willing to subjugate the Qing remnants in Manchuria, then…”

That would allow Russia to focus purely on defense.

***

Gando

Gando Administrator Lee Beomyun practically leaped with joy the moment I returned and shared the news.

“Hah! I thought you were just some kid trying to grab an opportunity, but you pulled all this off alone? Impressive.”

“And rightly so.”

“After all, not only had I secured additional military aid, but we were now officially tasked with sweeping out anti-Russian Qing forces and Chinese insurgents across all of Manchuria.”

“This meant that we could extract even more support from Russia.”

In essence, in the Far East, Korea had now been officially recognized as Russia’s partner.

Later, Lee Beomyun would go on to assemble 3,000 troops and even launch a domestic invasion campaign as part of the independence movement.

But for now, with the additional support, all we had to do was move freely across Manchuria.

“How do you plan to proceed?”

“Manchuria must be made to look like a gold mine. We will raid the entire region, funneling Manchurian resources into Seoul. That way, the homeland will offer more support to the general.”

“This would allow us to expand the military even further, increasing the number of people supporting the Sapotai. Beyond simply securing tax revenue, we would station Imperial Korean Army troops here to solidify our hold over Gando. Once we established a stronger foothold here, we would be ready for the Russo-Japanese War.”

“You mean to build our strength here?”

“If the Japanese fear our military might and refrain from invading, that would be ideal. But we know that won’t happen. When the time comes, we’ll use our elite forces to fight alongside Arasa against the Japanese invaders in Korea.”

“It might sound like delusional optimism. But with Daeyeokgal, it was entirely possible. Even if we didn’t fully understand our enemies’ strategies, we knew exactly what was coming.”

“Above all, for now, we had to make good use of Russia and France. Even if forming an anti-Japanese Triple Alliance was impossible, at the very least, we had to drive Japan out of the Korean Peninsula.”

“So, what is our next course of action?”

The answer was simple.

“First, we would plunder Manchuria to secure tax revenue. That money would then be used to fund the military. At the same time, we would train our forces to the highest possible level.”

“We have the backing of Russia and France. We are like the fox borrowing the tiger’s authority. With that in mind, you must lead another expedition into the vast lands of Manchuria.”

“Behind us, we had both Russia and France. In one year, Japan would launch the Russo-Japanese War. By then, we had to prove that our army was extraordinary.”

“And how exactly do you propose we secure tax revenue? Manchuria is under Russian control—it won’t be easy to pillage as we have before.”

Tsk. For someone who’s fought the Qing this long, he’s still so naive.

I suppose there’s no choice but for this kind looter to explain.

Back in the day, I used to play the role of a raider among survivor groups quite often.

“It’s simple. We continue our raids as before, but now, we use the excuse that these cities are harboring anti-Russian and anti-Korean rebels.”

“Even if the villages were completely innocent, all we had to do was label them as bandits. Then, we could wipe them out and take everything. Does it sound cruel? Too bad.”

“Right now, our country is on the verge of total collapse—this is no time to weep for the Manchus or the Han Chinese. Besides, we can always claim it’s revenge for King Injo. Revenge for Samjeondo. A righteous cause, wouldn’t you agree?”