**Chapter 58**
**Texas (7)**
Stephen Austin’s heart began to race faster at the sound of the cavalry’s hooves approaching relentlessly.
The battlefield before him was bleak, but he had made up his mind to fight to the end.
‘I will fight until the very end.’
He gave up running, took cover behind a rock, and began loading his musket.
His movements were quick and precise. While loading the musket, his eyes kept watch on the movements of the cavalry pursuing him.
Bang!
The cavalryman at the front fired his pistol. The bullet whizzed past Stephen’s ear.
At that moment, Stephen felt death approaching, but he immediately regained his composure and aimed at the enemy.
The cavalryman who had just fired his pistol was still aiming at him.
‘He just shot and he’s still aiming? Does he not even know he just fired? What a fool.’
It was a shame that the last guy to take him out was a fool, but he was about to pull the trigger at the cavalryman. In his heart, he had a firm resolve to take at least one with him.
But at that moment, something unexpected happened.
Bang!
The cavalryman who had just fired a shot fired again. Stephen fell instantly.
One of the cavalrymen approached him, put away his revolver, and checked Stephen’s condition. He heard the cavalryman’s cold voice.
“It’s too late to take him alive. Tsk, I was aiming for his leg, but he suddenly turned around and aimed his gun.”
“Forget it. Let’s recover the body.”
“Okay.”
Stephen was listening to their conversation as he met his end. And at that moment, he heard the voice of his loyal subordinate, Jonathan.
“Stephen!”
Bang bang bang!
Jonathan ran to save Stephen, but he fell on the spot, hit by the cavalry’s hail of bullets.
His courageous act ended in vain. Two key members of the organization had met their end in an instant.
The cavalry commander shouted loudly.
“Surrender! Stephen Austin is dead!”
“If you want to live, drop your weapons and surrender!”
His shout overwhelmed the battlefield.
The Texas vigilante soldiers were shocked, threw down their guns, and surrendered. The Mexican Empire cavalry chased after the fleeing soldiers, and the infantry began cleaning up the battlefield.
The Crown Prince looked down at the battlefield and said.
“A decisive victory.”
“Yes, it seems there were almost no casualties on our side.”
Soon, the Mexican Empire army entered San Antonio with over 1,000 prisoners. The city was deathly silent.
***
At the same time the Mexican Empire army was entering San Antonio, Major Ricardo was pursuing his target.
How many days had it been?
The American spy was stubbornly escaping.
They had been chasing each other for days across the vast expanse of Texas. But it was finally over.
Bang!
Neigh neigh neigh neigh!
“You son of a bitch! I finally got you!”
It was the last bullet.
It wasn’t easy to load and fire a rifle from horseback. Especially if the target was also riding a horse.
Major Ricardo had spotted the American a while ago. He had found out the American’s hiding place and started watching him.
He had stealthily followed him, taking advantage of the American’s absence, but the American somehow noticed and started running away.
That was four days ago.
This stubborn bastard was still talking nonsense, even after falling off his horse.
“Wait! I’m an American citizen! I’m just a regular merchant!”
“A regular merchant who runs for four days?”
Thump-
Major Ricardo hit the talking fool with his rifle butt. He finally tied up his target securely, put him on his horse, and sighed.
“Ugh, it’s going to take a while to go back.”
***
San Antonio was quiet.
The citizens didn’t even come out of their houses, just peeking through the windows.
I ordered the officers.
“First, let’s make sure the wounded are properly treated.”
Many of them had only received emergency treatment on the battlefield.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
‘There’s a lot to take care of.’
Those who had rebelled and those who had supported them needed to be punished.
‘I heard some people signed because they were threatened, so we need to investigate carefully.’
As soon as I entered San Antonio, someone who introduced himself as Carlos came to see me.
He knew the contents of the encrypted letter, so it was definitely him.
“Thanks to you, we were able to minimize the casualties of our soldiers. Thank you.”
He had done a great service. I patted his shoulder.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Okay. We’ll deal with the punishment later. Let’s see that list first.”
“Yes, I’ll bring it.”
He soon brought a pile of papers and a man.
“Your Majesty, this is Michael Williams. He was the third-in-command of the Texas Vigilantes, but in the end, he decided to join us.”
“So, he betrayed them.”
“I… Your Majesty, I had no intention of rebelling against the Mexican Empire! It was all Stephen’s doing!”
Michael shouted desperately.
“Hmm… If he was third-in-command, he’ll be useful. You know a lot about Stephen Austin’s corruption and wrongdoing, right?”
“Yes! Your Majesty! I’ll tell you everything, without leaving anything out! My memory is amazing!”
“…Alright. If you cooperate well, we’ll show you leniency.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty! I’ll do my best!”
The next day, the official trial began.
The trial went exactly as I intended.
The main government officials, including the governor and judges, didn’t say a word to me.
They must have felt guilty.
‘I don’t think they thought they could get away with it just by keeping quiet, do I?’
The trial of the rebels will come first, but those who have taken a lot of bribes will not be able to escape punishment.
“This court sentences a total of 1,057 Texas Vigilante members who participated in the rebellion led by Stephen Austin and the resulting battle. Their actions are recognized as a serious violation of law and order. Therefore, each defendant is sentenced to 20 years of hard labor and confiscation of property.”
Bang bang bang-
I was going to sentence them to death at first, but I had a use for them. The next trial continued.
“Former Texas Vigilante officer Michael Williams did participate in the rebellion, but considering that he reflected on his actions at the final stage of the rebellion and cooperated with the Mexican Empire government, this court sentences Michael Williams to 10 years of hard labor and confiscation of property.”
Michael, who had been standing in court with a relaxed expression, suddenly looked unhappy, but he seemed to accept it, thinking it was better than nothing.
The atmosphere in San Antonio worsened as the vigilantes were sentenced.
Michael Williams, as if to prove that he had a good memory, compiled a list of officials whom Stephen Austin had bribed in just one day.
“This is something else. It’s harder to find someone who didn’t take a bribe.”
“Ahem… I’m sorry.”
Michael looked embarrassed, as if he was ashamed of what he had written.
“The whole of Texas stinks. We need major surgery.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I heard that the people you arranged in advance have arrived at Galveston Harbor.”
“So, they’re arriving in a week. I see. Then it wouldn’t be bad to start right now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll start the operation.”
The officers responded to my order to start.
They scattered in a well-coordinated manner.
I watched them from the top of the three-story government building, the governor’s office.
“Texas Governor Miguel! You are under arrest for taking bribes from Stephen Austin!”
“Texas Judge Antonio! You are also under arrest for taking bribes from Stephen Austin!”
A harsh wind began to blow across Texas.
Most of the government officials, including the governor, judges, defense commander, and government employees, were arrested.
“Wa… Wait, Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please have mercy on us. It was all because of Stephen Austin, he threatened us, we had no choice!”
“He was watching you so closely that you couldn’t even inform Texas of the situation? And you, you didn’t even attend the railroad opening ceremony in the capital last time.”
“….”
“Tsk tsk, what a shame for those who call themselves Emperor’s Party members…”
If they had just taken their share of the spoils and done their jobs well, I would have taken care of things like real estate information related to the railroad, but they were fools.
I clicked my tongue, watching them kneel with their hands tied, and told the two cavalry commanders.
“It seems like things are more or less settled in San Antonio. Leave the rest to the infantry and go arrest the criminals in the other settlements.”
“Yes, Your Majesty! We’ll arrest them all!”
1,000 cavalrymen set off for all parts of Texas.
‘Let’s see. Now that the official issue is settled, the only problems left are the headaches.’
There are those who signed up for Stephen Austin’s incitement. I don’t plan to be harsh on them, but I can’t just let them go.
“We need to solve the land issue anyway, and we have the justification of the list of signatures, so scattering them is the best option.”
Stephen Austin had given more land to the immigrants than what was agreed upon with the Mexican government in order to attract more immigrants.
The immigrants must feel cheated, but we can’t just accept it.
“Diego, lead the infantry and start investigating the land from San Antonio. I’ll participate and supervise.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
A large-scale land investigation of San Antonio and the surrounding farms and ranches began.
“Ugh, Stephen Austin, this crazy bastard. He doesn’t know how to ‘do things in moderation’.”
“It’s a bit excessive. He’s created an hacienda (large farm) in Texas.”
His land was a whopping 30,000 acres.
“He even bought a lot of black slaves.”
“Yes, it seems like there are quite a few black slaves in Texas. Most of them are owned by American immigrants.”
He brought the culture of the American South directly.
“In this situation, it’s no wonder they called themselves ‘Texans’.”
Texas had a cultural difference that was very different from the Mexican Empire.
We had accepted countless immigrants in California, just like Texas, but California wasn’t like this.
We made sure that every town had a Mexican official and Mexicans at the center.
We mixed the nationalities of the towns as much as possible, and we naturally encouraged those who could speak Spanish, regardless of nationality, to become leaders, so the settlers had to learn Spanish, even if they were uncomfortable.
‘By the third generation, they’ll naturally forget the language of their original country.’
Pioneer immigration is mainly done by families, so two generations come at once, and even if not, couples come, so the birth of the third generation will happen in 15 to 20 years.
‘We need to make Texas similar.’
The lands of Texas were a sight to behold as we investigated them.
“He cleverly gave more to American immigrants. And those who joined the Texas Vigilantes got even more.”
“Yes, it seems like he tried to create a kind of class system.”
A week later, the people I had arranged arrived in San Antonio.
They were the new governor of Texas, the state judges, and officials from various departments, including the immigration office, whom I had asked my father to select.
“Welcome! We’ve been waiting for you.”
“It’s an honor to be welcomed by Your Majesty himself.”
The new governor, who was part of the Emperor’s Party family, seemed touched by my personal welcome.
“You have a lot to do in the future.”
We need to break up the American Texan immigrants and redistribute them throughout Texas.
It could be seen as a drastic measure, but it’s hard to consider it a major punishment, considering they were part of a group that had rebelled and even signed a petition of support.
And without such a drastic measure, there’s no way to overcome the cultural difference with the Mexican Empire.
We don’t need to relocate all American immigrants. We’re only going to reclaim the land that was given to those living in small settlements beyond the contract.
The important thing is the cities where people gather. We need to manage these cities, including San Antonio, where many people live, so that they can be well-integrated into Mexican culture.
About half of the American immigrants, about 17,000 people, will be relocated. The people living in this city are also the ones who supported Stephen Austin the most.
They will now learn how to live as part of our Mexican Empire.
‘It’ll be a life in Texas starting from zero.’
OMG
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