**Chapter 11**
**California! (5)**
During the long time the Crown Prince was gone, building a settlement in California and returning, many things happened in Mexico.
First, Stephen Austin, the father of Texas, was taken aback by the harsh changes in the Mexican terms, but he eventually agreed to them due to the Emperor's firm stance of "take it or leave it."
After dealing with the Texas issue, the Emperor used the embezzlement case that occurred during the confiscation of Peninsula property as an excuse to replace some local army commanders.
The commanders who received the summons were furious, but they soon had no choice but to accept it. Refusal meant fighting the central army, and defeat meant execution. The Emperor had a legitimate reason, and the local army had no strength to fight the central army, which was well-funded and had a legitimate reason.
The Emperor stalled, refusing to agree to the constitution until the commander replacement was complete.
He used the confiscated assets to pay the salaries of soldiers and civil servants and started to hire more civil servants and send them to the provinces.
As the situation unfolded, the republican members of Congress fumed and condemned Agustin I, but the citizens couldn't understand why they were condemning the Emperor, who seemed to be working.
"Dictatorship!!"
"Agustin I, stop the dictatorship!!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Sending civil servants to the provinces to collect taxes is a dictatorship?"
"Exactly. Is there a law that says only we have to pay taxes?"
While the country was being normalized and taxes were being collected again in Mexico City, rumors spread that the provinces weren't paying taxes.
Naturally, the citizens' reaction was cold.
"The members of Congress aren't working, so the Emperor is normalizing the country. What's the problem?"
"Your Majesty, you need to hurry up with the constitution so we can work!"
"Then agree to my terms."
This situation continued for a whole year, during which time the local commanders were replaced, the harvest from the confiscated farms came in, and the Emperor used the money to buy silver mines and mint a lot of Pesos, making a handsome profit from minting.
Mexico still had a huge national debt, but the economy was slowly recovering, and the Emperor was accumulating money to expand the central army and increase its size.
"···We can't hold out any longer. If we continue like this for another year, it's over, constitutional monarchy or not."
"Are you saying we should accept the Emperor's constitution? His powers are too strong!"
"That's right. And it's not a federation!"
"···There's controversy about the federation even among us, so let's leave it aside for now. And Agustin I's proposal is a kind of constitutional monarchy."
"What? What did you just say? Whose side are you on!"
The republican members of Congress were no longer united.
They began to fight, divided into those who wanted to accept Agustin I's proposal and those who wanted to hold out until the end.
"We've held out enough. If we delay any longer, the very existence of Congress could be denied! The citizens have no complaints about the Emperor's rule!"
"Haah... Let's try to compromise as much as possible."
In the end, the republicans succumbed to the Emperor's proposal.
Agustin I didn't like the idea of a constitutional monarchy itself, but through conversations with his son, he realized that the world after the French Revolution was completely different from before.
His eldest son emphasized that the wave of liberalism and republicanism, once it started to spread, could never be reversed, and that he had to compromise with them, even if it was just a formality.
Here is a summary of the first constitution of the Mexican Empire, thus created:
- The Emperor exercises sovereignty in the name of the people.
- The official religion of the Mexican Empire is Roman Catholicism.
- Congress is composed of a single chamber, and members are elected by vote.
- The term of office for members is four years, with a maximum of three terms, totaling 12 years.
- Congress has legislative power and the right to elect the Prime Minister, but the Emperor can exercise a veto.
- The Prime Minister can propose the appointment of ministers, who are heads of the various departments of the executive branch, to the Emperor, but the Emperor can exercise a veto.
- The Emperor can issue executive orders to command the executive branch.
- The Emperor has military and diplomatic powers, but declarations of war require the approval of at least two-thirds of Congress.
- Each state is governed by a governor appointed by the Emperor, in accordance with the imperial constitution and the directives of the central government, and has an eight-year term.
- Supreme Court justices are appointed by the Emperor and have a 12-year term.
- The Emperor has the power to dismiss all civil servants.
- Constitutional amendments require the approval of at least two-thirds of Congress and the Emperor's permission.
"This is not a constitutional monarchy..."
"This is just a constitutional monarchy in name only. It's a constitution that essentially states that the Emperor can do whatever he wants."
"···But there are still elections, and there is a system to reflect the opinions of Congress and the Prime Minister."
"Yes... That's how it all starts, isn't it?"
Within the republicans, there were differing opinions on the constitution, but Agustin I thought it was a generous and excellent constitution.
"This is a very good constitutional monarchy. Yes!"
After another six months, Congress elected a Prime Minister, who proposed the appointment of ministers to the Emperor.
The Emperor reviewed the proposed ministers and only approved those he liked. He also appointed Supreme Court justices and governors of each state.
Most of the government was run according to the Emperor's intentions, but the Prime Minister and Congress also exercised considerable influence, as long as they didn't go against the Emperor's wishes.
Agustin I's supporters, the church, the landowners, and the conservative members of Congress were satisfied with the current situation, and the Mexican Empire was stabilizing.
Even in this situation, Agustin I had a worry: he didn't know if his son was alive or dead, and if he was alive, he didn't know when he would return.
"Honey! Shouldn't we send troops to find him?"
"Hmm... I understand."
"It's been a year and a half, and he's still not back. Something must have happened, right?"
His wife, Maria, had been nagging Agustin I about Heronimo for a year, and he was starting to worry too.
"Did I agree too hastily?"
At the time, he was so excited about the proposal to confiscate Peninsula property that he forgot, but he was still only 15 years old.
Wasn't he too young to send to California to work?
Agustin I regretted sending his eldest son to California.
***
At that very moment, the Emperor and Empress were worried about their eldest son.
"Look! There's Mexico City!"
It took another five months.
As expected when we left, it took a total of a year and a half.
"But with 294 pounds of gold, I can start a bigger business."
I have to share it with the settlers who are still working as miners, trusting me, but even that is an investment. There are ways to recover it all.
"Hee hee hee. They say that the people who really got rich from the Gold Rush weren't the ones who came to dig for gold, but the ones who did business with them."
A prime example is Levi Strauss, who founded Levi Strauss & Co., the world's first denim brand.
In 1853, Levi Strauss opened a store called Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco, where the Gold Rush was in full swing.
He started selling various fabrics and tents with his family, and in 1871, he developed riveted jeans for the first time and made his first big hit.
Jeans became a hit again after World War I, spreading to the East Coast, and after World War II, they became a global sensation thanks to rock culture and the hippie generation.
"Three-step high note, not three-step hit, and rivets aren't even hard to make."
Jeans became a hit not because they used denim.
In fact, Levi's initially sold pants made of sturdy cotton fabric, not denim.
The key factor that made jeans a success was rivets. Rivets are ductile metal pins that permanently join thin sheets. In the case of jeans, they are used to permanently secure two or more materials, such as fabric.
"It's a whole different level of durability than just sewing with thread."
Placing rivets in areas where stress is concentrated can reinforce the fabric and prevent tearing.
By placing these rivets at high-stress points and adding fabric to the front and back pockets, you can create durable and practical pants that are suitable for workwear.
These pants became a sensation among miners during the California Gold Rush and soon spread to various manual laborers in the West.
"If you sell food, water, lodging, workwear, tents, and picks in San Francisco and Sacramento, you'll make a killing. On top of that, I'll monopolize all the major gold mines, so I'll be the one who actually benefits from the Gold Rush. In return, I'll give the people who came to find gold some land. That way, I won't have to spend a lot of money to assemble a settlement, and California will be settled automatically. It's a win-win."
The conservatives won't like the fact that manpower is being drained by the Gold Rush, but I'm not personally recruiting a large-scale settlement, and rumors of gold have spread, causing people to head to California, so no one can blame me.
I brought five carpenters with me from California to start my business in earnest.
"I didn't originally plan on this."
I can't do business alone. Especially since I'm trying to run multiple businesses at once. So, I need someone to do it for me. If I only consider ability, it would be better to find talent in the capital or abroad. I originally intended to do that, but I changed my mind.
"Julio Cervantes. I learned from that kid."
You have to do business with people you can trust. You can't just trust someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand. So, I looked among the settlers. They're the ones I've spent the most time with since I was reincarnated into this world.
I chose five of the most trustworthy and intelligent out of the 30 carpenters.
"It doesn't have to be a carpenter, but most of the people I've worked with directly are carpenters, so there's no choice."
Actually, I wanted to bring Foreman Andrés the most, but he was acting as a kind of village head in the settlement, so it was impossible.
Besides them, I brought two boys with me to Mexico City.
I promised to grant one request each to Foreman Andrés, who helped me the most among the settlers, and Victor, who reported Julio's criminal plan, and both of them asked me to educate their children.
Both of them are 17 years old, the same age as me. I plan to send them to college. As I was organizing my thoughts about what to do, entering Mexico City, a group of soldiers came running.
"Whoa?"
"Your Majesty, the Emperor wants you to come immediately."
***
"Do you know how much your mother worried?"
Agustin I seemed quite stressed that I was back later than expected, and he scolded me.
"No, it's okay now that you're back safe."
My mother seemed to have been worried a lot, as she hugged me, a grown man, and stroked my head.
"Hmm... Well, during this time, there was no way to know if you were alive or dead, and my young son was out for almost a year and a half. I'm a bad son."
Considering my position as the Crown Prince, I think it was a reckless move. But it was something I had to do. Let's change the subject.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to come back sooner, but I found gold near the settlement, so I was busy digging it up."
"What? Gold?"
"Yes. California is full of gold. I dug up 294 pounds in eight months."
"···Wow. That's amazing."
I lifted the curtain of the wagon I had brought to the palace.
There were 98 gold bars, each weighing three pounds! Agustin I was also amazed by the glittering gold.
"Wow, that's amazing. You had a good reason to be late."
"Son! But you can't go back to California."
My mother was worried that I would go back to California.
"Don't worry, honey. Our eldest son will soon go to the military academy."
"Yes, I'm worried... What?"
"Why are you surprised? The Emperor is also the commander-in-chief of the imperial army. Did you think our Crown Prince could be ignorant of the military?"
"No... I've already been to the military once. Once is enough."
In my previous life, but still.
"Father, I'm more suited to domestic affairs than the military. Why don't we achieve national strength and prosperity through business and territorial development?"
"Quiet. I'm not going to make you live as a soldier forever, but you must graduate from the military academy. This is an order."
Agustin I stared at me with a serious expression. No matter what I say, it won't work.
"···Yes, I understand, Father."
It was the moment my plan, which I had been working on for the past five months, was torn apart from the very beginning.
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