I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire (Novel) Chapter 1

C1

"If I had known this would happen, I should have gone to England or America."

Ugh.

I sighed deeply.

I was an ordinary young man who loved history games.

There are countless countries in history games, but usually people choose to play as their own country or European countries.

The former allowed you to feel national pride by growing your own country into a giant empire, while the latter had more detailed historical records and more content such as missions and events because they were the main characters of the game.

"My rebellious nature is ruining my life."

Unlike ordinary players, I had a strange trait.

Even when playing games, I preferred playing as countries that were beaten up and ruined by powerful countries rather than powerful countries.

My friends joked that I had an M-personality, but… Anyway, the country I've played the most recently is Mexico.

Modern-day America, the undisputed world power.

Mexico, which was reduced to a third-rate country after being robbed of 55% of its territory by America under the nonsensical justification of Manifest Destiny, stimulated my strange nature.

I played as Mexico, a non-mainstream country with almost no events, in various ways, growing it to defeat America and make it the strongest country, many times.

As I kept playing, I felt a sense of inner closeness, and before I knew it, I was learning about Mexico on YouTube.

'Should I actually go there?'

It's famous for being unsafe, but maybe I could visit Mexico City, which is relatively safe.

The thought stuck in my head and I finally decided to go to Mexico.

'The more you know, the more you see,' they say. They say that the more you know, the more enjoyable your travels are. So I even bought a rare Mexican history book in Korea and read it.

The trip was fun.

The prices were cheap, the hotels were nice, there were many things to see, and the food was delicious.

'If only I had just gone home and rested after having fun.'

The night before I returned to Korea, I went to a nearby bar because I felt a little bit of regret.

I went to the bar to try tequila from Mexico, and a strange old man came up to me.

I was nervous for a moment, but the kind-faced old man waited patiently for my broken Spanish. The conversation, which started with how I liked my Mexican trip, flowed more naturally than I expected. This kind Mexican old man could drink a lot. As the conversation went on, I got drunk and started talking nonsense to the old man.

"It makes me sick to see California and Texas, which the Americans stole, ranking 1st and 2nd in GDP and population among the 50 states."

"Haha… Why are you so upset about it? It's not your country."

"It's because it's unfair. They have gold, oil, and good weather. They're good for farming. If only we had those lands…"

"···Haha."

After that, I went on a rant about the wrong choices made by Mexico's leaders right after independence.

Of course, I wasn't an expert, nor was I a major. I was just talking about the shallow knowledge I had gained from a single book and YouTube.

"So, what should Mexico have done?"

No way. What a kind old man!

He not only patiently listened to my nonsense, but he even asked me a question.

I hadn't really thought about what Mexico should have done after independence, but I had graduated from civil engineering and worked in a construction company for a few years.

I naturally combined my clumsy historical knowledge with my knowledge of civil engineering and talked about land development.

I went on a rant, but to summarize, it was about using the abundant natural resources Mexico had at the time as seed money to push for land development and industrialization.

Now that I think about it, it was just a foolish thing to say.

Did the people of that time not want gold? How could they dig it up if they didn't know how?

'Ugh… They say the most dangerous person is someone who has only read one book. It was me.'

But it's clear that my nonsense made a deep impression on the Mexican old man. Because I woke up here after falling asleep.

"······So, who am I?"

"Your Highness, Agustín Jerónimo de Iturbide."

"Uh… Really?"

When the conversation stopped there, the maid looked at me like, 'What kind of guy is this?'

I quickly added, "···How can my room be so dirty? Ugh! Clean it again!"

The room was clean, but I just said whatever came to mind and quickly left.

'Ugh… The Mexican Empire, and the First Mexican Empire at that.'

Thinking about it now, the old man was strange from the beginning.

It's possible for a stranger to sit next to an Asian tourist and talk to him, but didn't I realize over the past few days of travel that my poor Spanish skills weren't enough to have a conversation with a local yet?

'When I was talking to that old man, I spoke Spanish fluently. I thought it was because of the alcohol, but thinking about it, I'm not good at listening either.'

When I was talking to that old man, Spanish sounded like Korean to me. Now that I look back, there are more than a few strange things, but I didn't know it then.

"Come to think of it, I still speak Spanish fluently."

I guess the ability he gave me to talk to him is still there.

'That's beside the point, why this time period, why this person, old man? Are you doing this because I was a little bit of a jerk? Geez. You're more spiteful than I thought.'

It's been 300 years since Cortés of Spain destroyed the Aztec Empire.

It has the significance of being the first independent country established after a long period of rule, but it didn't last long, the First Mexican Empire, and not even Agustín I himself, but his eldest son!

'Well… Thinking positively, it's going to be a mess for the next 100 years.'

Thinking about Mexico's history after independence, a continuous series of revolutions, civil wars, rebellions, and being picked on by powerful countries whenever they got bored, maybe now, at the starting point, is better.

'It's definitely not after the American-Mexican War.'

After losing 55% of its territory, including California and Texas, which have abundant natural resources and are good for farming, I don't think I could create a country that could compare to America, no matter what I did.

The person needed to be someone who could quell the extreme social and political turmoil in Mexico right after independence and push for land development and industrialization.

Many people took power after Agustín I, but no one had a stronger mandate than Agustín I, who was both a hero of independence and the first emperor of the country with the support of the people.

In that sense, my father, Agustín I, is the best choice, but he's about to enter middle age, so there's a problem that he's unlikely to be alive during the time of the American-Mexican War.

'Are you telling me to develop Mexico diligently from this age and stop America? … It's illegal to make teenagers work this hard.'

It's illegal, but what can I do?

Isn't this the will of the divine being who sent me to this place 200 years ago?

If I had been given a choice before being sent here, I wouldn't know, but now that I'm here, if I just do nothing and refuse, it would be a meaningless death. My parents are already gone, and I don't have any children, so I don't have any regrets.

The only thing that bothers me is where the soul of this body's original owner, Jerónimo, went, but I can only believe that the divine being who sent me took care of it.

'It's something that happened through supernatural power, so there's nothing I can do about it… First, I need to know the current situation. The maid called me Your Highness earlier, so it seems like it hasn't collapsed yet. The important thing is what month it is.'

Normally, in this situation, you would start by figuring out the year, but luckily, I don't have to.

Agustín de Iturbide, this body's father, also known as Agustín I, became Emperor of Mexico on May 19, 1822, and was deposed by a revolution of republicans on March 19, 1823. So if I'm still being called Your Highness, it means it's between May 1822 and March 1823.

"It's still absurd when I think about it."

How can a man who was a hero of national independence and became the first emperor with the support of the people collapse in just 10 months?

It was just a laughing matter when it was someone else's business, but from my perspective, who is about to be chased away like Agustín I, it's infuriating.

'Whether I have power or not, I have to be in Mexico to develop it or not.'

My father, Agustín I, has a lot in common with George Washington, the first president of America.

They were both born in colonies and became officers.

They both married rich daughters and became landowners.

They were both excellent military leaders who made great contributions in war.

They both became the first leaders of their independent countries.

The two men, who had similar paths, differed in the most important thing: Agustín I was a royalist, and George Washington was a republican.

George Washington refused the requests of many people to become king and became the first president (President) in history through a vote.

At that time, even the most republican countries in Europe were adopting constitutional monarchies, and the word "President" was simply used to mean "head of an organization." It was an amazing event.

He was a hero of independence and the first president, and even though he could have continued to hold power if he wanted to, he stepped down after his second term and retired to his farm, setting a beautiful precedent.

'He was an amazing man.'

Agustín I was an officer in New Spain. Spain, the mother country at this time, was caught up in the Napoleonic Wars and was even going through a civil war, so it couldn't pay attention to its colony, New Spain.

Of course, support for the colonial army was poor, but Agustín I, despite the difficult situation, showed amazing military prowess and thoroughly defeated the Mexican independence forces. Even Spain recognized his abilities and appointed him commander of the Spanish forces in northern Mexico.

The reason he changed his stance from actively defeating the Mexican independence forces was because the liberals in Spain were carrying out liberal reforms to limit the king's power.

'Agustín I must have seen it as a humiliation and a reason to seek greater power.'

He reached a compromise with Vicente Guerrero, a leader of the independence forces, and announced the Plan de Iguala, declaring Mexico independent. He became emperor with the support of the people as a hero of independence.

After becoming emperor, Agustín I continued to clash with the legislature and arrested opposition members on the grounds of a plot to overthrow the state. The legislature, in turn, began to react more violently.

'He made the worst choice there, dissolving the legislature and pouring oil on the already inflamed public sentiment.'

Agustín I, being a military commander, must have thought that dissolving the legislature wouldn't matter as long as he had a firm grip on the military, but the problem was that his control over the military wasn't as strong as he thought.

After dissolving the legislature, Agustín I's popularity began to plummet rapidly, and republican-minded officers in the provinces began to plan the Plan de Casa Mata to overthrow him.

'Among those officers was General Santa Anna, who would later become president of Mexico nine times.'

When even the commander of the army sent to suppress the rebellion was persuaded by Santa Anna, Agustín I fled to Italy. He was tempted by the urging of conservatives to return to Mexico, but he was caught and shot.

'It was the worst start for the newly born country of Mexico.'

Precedents quickly become benchmarks. In all fields where precedents exist, including law, people tend to refer to precedents. Didn't even the first comment on an internet post have immense power?

In that sense, George Washington gave America a great gift, and Agustín I sinned against Mexico.

Thinking about Agustín I, the first thing that comes to mind is what I need to do.

'First, I'll stop my father from doing stupid things.'

From there, I'll change the fate of this country.

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