IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 154
**Chapter 154**
<The South and the North (8)>
March 1847.
The eastern provinces of New Granada, to be more precise, Cartagena, Mompox, Santa Marta, Riohacha, and Pamplona, formed an alliance.
After intense political battles among the elites within the provinces, the five eastern provinces decided to take collective action.
In effect, it was an agreement for independence.
The new country they agreed on was a federal republic with almost no central authority. It was nominally a republic, but the president was predetermined. The province of Cartagena, which had the largest population and the important port city of Cartagena, was to take the first presidential seat.
“The moment I break the agreement, the other four provinces will unite to oppose me. Would I do such a thing? I’m not a fool.”
After the meeting, Joaquín Posada Gutiérrez laughed confidently.
His authority as president was limited to defense and foreign affairs, and taxes were to be levied only enough to maintain those two, but he had nonetheless secured the position of the first ruler of a nation.
‘As long as I can gather an army, it doesn’t matter.’
After all, power comes from the barrel of a gun.
The others at the meeting were anxious because they knew this, but they had no choice but to unite their forces, at least in defense and foreign affairs, to counter the threat from the New Granada government or other countries. If it wasn’t for that, they wouldn’t have formed an alliance in the first place.
“Remember that the moment you use the federal army against domestic forces, you will be automatically impeached by the Constitution.”
Another bigwig at the meeting said so, but Joaquín Gutiérrez just laughed easily and accepted it.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
They had reached a tentative agreement on independence and the founding of a nation, but that wasn’t enough to actually found a nation.
Seceding and establishing a nation wasn’t something they could achieve with the meager private army they could mobilize. They had to recruit troops and supporters while avoiding the eyes of the central government of New Granada.
The problem was that the idea of independence and nation-building was what the elites wanted, not the public.
“Who the hell do they think they are, creating a country?”
“I heard they even decided on a predetermined president.”
“What?”
“What a crazy…”
It was supposed to be a secret operation. It wasn’t something that should be heard by the city’s citizens, though it might be fine within the plantations, but the rumor spread in just a week.
Bang!
Joaquín Gutiérrez slammed his fist on the desk.
“The rumor’s already out? Unless there’s a rat, how is this even possible!?”
He was preparing to become president. Things shouldn’t be like this from the start.
‘I need to find out where they got the information.’
If they couldn’t even control their internal affairs properly, the position they had just gained could be at risk. Since he wasn’t a legitimately elected president, but one who was decided by an agreement among the powerful, he could be overturned at any time.
“Bring me those who are spreading rumors.”
“Yes!”
Ten of Joaquín Gutiérrez’s men mounted their horses and set off for the city. They were carrying American rifles, which were rare even in the New Granada government army.
They swaggered through the streets and taverns, but they couldn’t find their target.
‘Stupid bastards. They’re so obvious, how could they possibly catch them.’
But they had to be caught. That was the plan.
He chose the busiest tavern in Cartagena, the most prosperous port city in New Granada.
Seeing the crowded tavern, Antonio Márquez gestured to Miguel Santander. It was a signal that they would start the operation.
“Joaquín Gutiérrez, I heard he’s going to be president.”
When Márquez said that, Santander began to act exaggeratedly.
“What? Is that true? Where did you hear that?”
“Shh, keep it down.”
Márquez pretended to quiet his friend. But the statement, which was likely to turn heads, was not missed by Gutiérrez’s men, who were diligently searching for him.
“Hey! What did you just say? It sounded like you said something about Gutiérrez.”
The big guy approached them, pretending to be friendly, but it was laughable in the eyes of Márquez, who knew the truth.
‘He’s a terrible actor.’
Of course, he had no intention of playing along. Their goal was to crush the conspiracy of Gutiérrez and these coastal landowners who wanted to make this city their own. To do that, they needed the power of the people.
“No! I think I heard wrong! I have to go.”
As Márquez jumped up from his seat and tried to leave the tavern, the flustered big guy grabbed his clothes.
“What? Why are you grabbing me? Owner! Look here!”
All eyes were on them. While the man was flustered, Márquez pushed the big guy’s hand away and pretended to leave the tavern.
“Damn it! Grab him!”
As the flustered big guy ordered, several men rushed forward.
Márquez, seeing that his comrade Santander had escaped safely, punched the big guy in the jaw.
Wham-!
Clang clang!
“Fight, fight!”
The big guy and the tavern table fell over, making a loud noise, and someone shouted “Fight!”, but the men wouldn’t miss this rare spectacle.
But the situation unfolded differently than people expected.
It was a one-on-many fight, and one man, though he fought well, couldn’t defeat the many.
“Hey? We should stop this, shouldn’t we?”
“Hey! Where are you taking him! You’ve beaten him enough!”
“Yeah! It’s just a fight in a tavern!”
The people in the tavern tried to stop the men from taking Márquez away, but
Click-
“Get out of the way. You don’t want to get a hole in your body.”
The men pulled out the guns they were carrying on their shoulders, and they had no choice but to step aside.
***
‘There was a reason for his overwork. I knew my father worked a lot, but I didn’t know it was this much…’
My father was reviewing important issues in the executive branch, the military, and the legislature, as well as the selection of key positions within the empire, such as Supreme Court justices and governors.
While I was comfortably running my business and pursuing national development, my father was handling the headaches behind the scenes.
“Considering the work I used to do, I guess I’ll have to delegate more and more.”
“You have to. Even you can’t handle that much work. You have the relationships you’ve built up over the years, so trust them and delegate.”
“Yes, Father.”
I replied. There’s a limit to what one person can do. As the empire grows, we’ll have no choice but to delegate more and more.
“But you have to keep a tight grip on the military. The reason why the Republicans and the landowners are so subdued now is not because they lost their seats, but because they don’t have the military power to oppose the central army.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Ha ha ha, of course you know that.”
My father said that, patted me on the shoulder, and then brought up another topic.
“So, what do you think we should do about the Oregon Territory? The British won’t agree easily.”
It was obvious that the British, by now, would have completely forgotten that they had tried to force an unreasonable mediation and would only remember that they had been wronged.
‘It’ll be hard to push through an agreement like the United States did in the original timeline.’
Even though the United States had outwardly pushed through with radical slogans, the agreement was ultimately made at 49 degrees, slightly above the midpoint of 48 degrees 50 minutes.
The fur trade, which had been the only source of significant revenue in the undeveloped Oregon region, had been declining in profitability since the 1840s.
This was because they had hunted too much over the past 30 years, causing a significant decline in the population of beavers and other animals, and because European fashion trends had moved away from fur, reducing demand.
In addition, 49 degrees was also the border line east of the Rocky Mountains, so it was a point where Britain could compromise from a purely pragmatic point of view.
But,
“Britain will have no choice but to judge the Oregon issue from the perspective of prestige. If that’s the case… If we push too hard, we might actually go to war.”
“War…”
My father’s face became serious.
“Even if we win, it’s not wise to go to war right after a war has just ended. Especially if it’s against the British Empire.”
If we had to fight Britain for Oregon, now that the United States was out of the picture, would be the right time, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.
First, as my father said, the war had just ended. We had been able to win relatively quickly thanks to our preparations, but we weren’t unscathed either. We had over 100,000 casualties, and we had spent a tremendous amount of money on war expenses because we had spared no expense. Our finances weren’t dire, considering the war reparations we would receive from the United States, but we weren’t in a position to fight another war.
Second, even considering the United States, it would be more advantageous to fight later. The United States is in a situation where it will inevitably have a civil war, and considering the aftereffects, it’s hard to imagine how long it will take them to recover. During that long time when the United States is stagnating, we are confident that we can grow more than the combined growth rate of the United States and Britain. We will receive a huge influx of immigrants from Ireland and Germany in the coming years, and we will also carry out internal reforms.
“I agree. We’ll try to negotiate about the Oregon Country, but we won’t push too hard and will take a long-term approach. We’re not in a hurry anyway, since we’re having a hard time digesting the territory we’ve already gained, and as you said, Britain won’t be willing to talk easily.”
My father nodded at my words.
“I think that’s the best way to go about it.”
***
“There’s no need for a meeting! We have no reason to listen to Mexico’s demands.”
“Right! We’ve found a way to solve the Prussian problem, so what kind of negotiations are we talking about now?”
Mexico had proposed to divide the Oregon Country and expand the border.
“An alliance with the Austrian Empire means the end of the Concert of Europe. Think about why we supported the Concert of Europe in the first place. Wasn’t it to avoid unnecessary bloodshed among ‘civilized nations’? To fight a war to protect the Concert of Europe, which was created to avoid war? What kind of contradiction is that?”
Most members of the legislature wanted to reject Mexico’s proposal outright and take a tough stance, but there were still quite a few members who opposed a direct conflict with Mexico, even now that they had found a solution to the Prussian problem.
It wasn’t that they weren’t offended by Mexico’s actions, but a war with Mexico wasn’t as easy as crushing China with a single punch.
Considering Mexico’s military power, they would have to mobilize all their fleets and even carry out a massive conscription. On top of that, Mexico is one of their biggest trading partners.
It would be an economic blow that even the British Empire wouldn’t be able to easily handle.
“That’s right! And Mexico didn’t even ask for all of 54 degrees 40 minutes, like the United States. They’re showing a cooperative attitude, so we can’t say that negotiating will damage our prestige!”
“What are you talking about! We need to discuss whether they have any stake in Oregon in the first place, so how can we accept a negotiation to divide it? Is that even sensible?”
“Right! Now that the United States is out of the picture, Oregon is ours, not Mexico’s!”
Members of the legislature with a pragmatic bent, as well as many intellectuals, argued for negotiations, but unfortunately, their numbers were small.
And so, Mexico’s proposal to negotiate was rejected outright.