American: Native Empire

Meanwhile, the world was facing a golden age that seemed to never come again in history.

“Come on, let’s get to work! The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home!”

“Ugh… The cargo just keeps coming in.”

As the man said, countless ships docked at the port every day. 

They unloaded their containers and loaded new ones, then calmly left the port.

Before long, the container system had become the standard of the empire and firmly took root. 

Thanks to that, the heavy equipment for loading and unloading containers could be easily found at any port.

“That’s true. They say the port is constantly expanding, and new ports are being built… But it seems like the workload is increasing instead.”

“Of course it is. The two galaxies have shortened the shipping distance drastically, right?”

“Hmm…”

His words were somewhat true. 

Since the opening of the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal, the cargo ships no longer had to go around long distances. 

The shorter shipping distance meant they could visit the port more often, which was natural.

But that was not all. 

It was more because of the increasing number of countries that had achieved some degree of industrialization, and naturally increased the volume of goods.

Globally, the demand for various new products that did not exist before was expanding endlessly.

Most of the new products were developed in the empire and became a worldwide trend. 

Countless people admired and imitated everything from the empire, and gradually accepted its culture and religion.

Some countries even had a sense of imperial superiority that regarded their own culture as backward.

Later, historians would call this period not globalization, but ‘Wakantanka Empire-ization’, as it was so serious.

Especially for the top figures of various factions in the empire, it was like a fish in water.

“Heh. What a wonderful world.”

“I wish it would always be like this.”

These words were constantly heard throughout the upper echelon.

This was only natural. 

The modernization and industrialization of the world was mostly done with the capital and technology of the empire.

The most invested thing was the budget of the imperial government, but not less than that, the funds of each faction were also constantly invested.

For each faction, this period was something they could not miss. 

No, they would be considered fools if they missed it.

The leaders of each faction believed that as long as the budget of the imperial government continued to be invested, unless there was any major incident, the economy of that country would grow.

And in fact, this belief had not been broken so far. 

The economies of most member states grew explosively, giving a lot of money to the factions that had invested from the beginning.

As a result, the economies of the World Union member states were actually eroded by more than a certain amount by the imperial government and factions. 

The more the world grew, the more this phenomenon became apparent.

Among them, the one who benefited most was none other than Top Eagle Faction.

Top Eagle Faction, made by Swift Rope, was currently operated by two faction leaders.

‘It’s unusually cold this year.’

Faction leader Gentle Flame tightened his clothes against the cold. 

He had heard that Hanyang’s temperature had dropped below minus 10 degrees Celsius, but it was no joke.

“It’s been a long time.”

“You must be busy with your work. How are you…”

“It’s only natural to treat you like this when Top Eagle Faction leader comes.”

“Haha. I appreciate your words alone.”

As Gentle Flame and his party got off the train and came out, there was a crowd of people waiting for them. 

And among them was Foreign Minister Lee himself.

It was like a scene of welcoming a state guest. 

It seemed too much for dealing with a mere merchant.

But Lee Yi did not think so.

‘Top Eagle Faction is more influential than any member state.’

People liked to rank things. 

And one of the most interesting topics related to this was: ‘Which faction is the best faction in the empire?’

The reason why it did not say ‘the best in the world’ was because it was widely recognized that ‘the best in the empire’ meant ‘the best in the world’.

The answer to this question changed from time to time, but at least Top Eagle Faction also took first place many times.

It was amazing considering that it was created quite late compared to other prestigious giant factions.

This was because East Asia had a lot of influence.

The countries of divided China, Joseon, and Japan Federation.

Their modernization was the fastest in the world. 

Especially, the speed of modernization of Joseon and Japan was among the top five.

Along with the modernization of East Asian countries, the wealth and influence of the Eagle Summit also increased explosively. It was natural.

It was not for nothing that Lee Yi personally came to the train station.

***

The next day.

Gentle Flame met with the king of Joseon, Lee Yi Ho.

“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty. You look as dignified as ever, which is nothing but a blessing for Joseon.”

“Haha. Indeed, it’s been too long. I thought you had lost interest in Joseon, Summit Lord.”

“How could that be? Don’t you know how much gratitude our Summit owes to Joseon?”

“Our country also does not forget the efforts of the Eagle Summit.”

Lee Yi Ho and Gentle Flame exchanged pleasantries. 

In fact, both sides were in a win-win relationship, so the atmosphere was very warm.

Gentle Flame continued his words.

“I was really surprised yesterday on my way to the palace.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because Hanyang has developed so much that I couldn’t tell if I was in the Empire or not.”

“Is that so?”

It was clearly a compliment.

But Lee Yi Ho’s expression was not entirely bright as he agreed.

‘Hanyang is developing, but… The old appearance of Hanyang is gradually disappearing.’

There were some countries in the world that had a strong sense of imperial superiority.

And one of them was Joseon. 

Joseon was so sensitive to the trends of the Empire that there was no other place like it.

Thanks to this, there was a positive effect of bringing in new things faster than any other country, but there were also many people who criticized the tendency to disregard their own culture and prioritize the culture of the Empire.

Even the faith in spirits had already established itself as the dominant religion in Joseon, with an overwhelming number of believers. 

The fact that the king of Joseon was a descendant of spirits added a political purpose to this trend.

‘It can’t be helped…’

He himself was the one who adopted the policy of imitating everything from the Empire for the sake of national development. 

He was even in a situation where he was following a similar policy of northern expansion and capital relocation.

But Lee Yi Ho couldn’t help feeling sorry as he saw Joseon’s culture shrinking gradually.

Still, he had no intention of stopping this policy. 

Thanks to this, Joseon was able to reach a position second only to the Empire within the World Union.

“I can’t wait to see the future of Joseon soon. It will surely be the second strongest country after the Empire. Beyond Manchuria, Joseon has Siberia, a vast territory. I wonder how many resources are buried in this land…”

“How much help can a frozen land be?”

He said that, but in fact, Lee Yi Ho also had high expectations for Siberia.

Joseon’s land was very large. 

In terms of size alone, it was second only to Wakan Tanka Empire. 

Of course, most of the area occupied by Siberia was still close to being abandoned land, so it was only big in size.

But when Manchuria’s development and capital relocation were completed, and they started to develop Siberia in earnest, things would change. 

There was a huge difference between a country with abundant underground resources and one without them.

Joseon’s national power was already among the best, but more importantly, it seemed to become stronger in the future.

‘He is truly a wise king.’

Gentle Flame thought about the king of Joseon, Lee Yi Ho, who was in front of him.

In this rapidly changing situation, nothing was more important than the ability of the national leader.

The leader had to modernize and industrialize the country with the given capital and resources, and unite the people, in order to compete with the neighboring countries.

There were many countries in the World Union that fell behind the times due to the incompetence of the king, the corruption of the nobles or the powerful, and the division of the people.

On the contrary, the current king of Joseon had managed to unite the people without causing a big political fight.

It was not for nothing that the Empire warned against Joseon.

 They said that Joseon could become a powerful competitor of the Empire in the future.

‘Anyway, the future will surely be dominated by Asia, especially East Asia. Well, it’s not a bad thing for us.’

East Asia had always been populous. 

The recent population growth rate was also comparable to that of the Empire in the world.

The ten countries of China grew rapidly based on their large population.

‘If China had been united… China would have been the second strongest country after the Empire.’

But China was stuck in a state of being divided into ten. 

Gentle Flame admired the foresight of his father, Swift Rope, and Kim Ki-woo, who planned to split China.

The potential of a united China seemed very high.

‘And there’s also the Japanese Federation… There’s no easy country in East Asia.’

Japan was divided into two by Hojo Ujitsuna and Ouchi Yoshitaka, centered on Kyoto.

But now they were united in a federal form.

This was influenced by Joseon. 

They felt a very serious sense of crisis when they saw Joseon growing at an amazing pace right next to them.

Of course, because they were a federation, their political forces were also divided into two and they quarreled a lot, but at least they wanted to develop Japan.

It was unknown how long they would maintain this unstable federal system.

***

Many countries, including East Asia, were growing endlessly under the support of the Empire, but there were many people who saw this reality negatively.

“The Empire is cheating us! They are nothing but leeches that suck our wealth!”

“Think about why the Empire created the World Union. The Empire is enslaving us economically and politically!”

The general reaction of people who heard these claims was like this.

“Tsk tsk. They have nothing to complain about, so they complain about the Empire. They don’t think about living in such a good world thanks to the Empire. There is no country as humane and rational as the Empire.”

“So you’re Lee Ying. Is it right for the Empire to block us and not support us? That’s nonsense.”

However, although they were not popular, many intellectuals around the world supported and advocated these claims.

“I admit what the Empire has done so far… But it’s definitely too much. The world’s economy has fallen into the hands of the Empire long ago. As time goes by, this phenomenon will become more entrenched. Then it will be hard for countries that are disliked by the Empire to survive.”

Religious people who saw spiritism negatively also joined them.