Chapter 13
Military Academy (2)
Eduardo took me to the warehouse.
"Can we use this?"
"Hmm… Normally, we can't, but actually, the chairman of this military academy is my uncle, so he let us use it."
'Can you tell me that? The management of military supplies is a complete mess.'
"···Really? What do you want to show me?"
Eduardo, who had been rummaging through a corner of the warehouse, pulled out a seemingly ordinary flintlock musket.
"Why this?"
"Look inside."
There were grooves carved in a spiral shape inside the barrel.
'Rifling?'
I was slightly disappointed.
It's true that it was a major development in firearms, to the point where muskets were called muskets before rifling and rifles after rifling, but the idea had already been around for a while, and it had two major drawbacks that prevented it from being used.
"It's rifling. I know that using this will increase accuracy and range, but isn't it too expensive to manufacture and the reloading speed is too slow?"
"Oh. You know that, so you're definitely interested in guns?"
"···That's right. Is that it?"
"Of course not."
Eduardo spread his palm and showed me a bullet.
'Wait, bullets too? This chairman is not going to be okay. I know something bad will happen.'
I was a little dumbfounded by the terrible management of military supplies, but I focused on Eduardo's bullet for now.
"It looks a little different, but why?"
Bullets at that time were simply round pieces of metal. The bullet Eduardo showed me was shaped like a modern bullet, streamlined, but it had two deep grooves on the back.
"See, when you fire a gun, gas pressure is applied from the back. Then, because of the deep grooves on the back, the bullet is compressed, and the diameter at the back expands. That way, the bullet automatically engages with the rifling."
"Oh. So you don't have to insert the bullet into the grooves and you can just ram it in? This is amazing!"
"Of course, you know right away."
I didn't know it just by looking at the bullet because I wasn't a gun nut, but I understood it now after hearing the explanation.
'This is the Lorenz bullet. No, is it the Eduardo bullet now? Or the Baega bullet, after his last name?'
"It's basically solved one of the two major drawbacks of rifling. It's amazing."
I was genuinely impressed. There was someone in Mexico who had come up with the Lorenz bullet years earlier.
"But why did you come to the military academy instead of starting a business?"
Even though Mexico was a quasi-medieval society that ran on large farms called haciendas, it had been over 50 years since the Industrial Revolution began in England.
Naturally, information about the Industrial Revolution in Mexico and the new class that emerged with it, the bourgeoisie, and their business activities was widely spread.
Towards the end of the colonial period, people in Mexico were starting to seriously start businesses, so young people would have thought about starting a business.
"I didn't have the money to start a business, and the only connections I had were in the military… I thought that if I developed weapons here and proved their performance, there would be a way to make weapons with the military budget."
At that time, weapons like firearms were generally produced in government-owned arsenals, and the concept of modern defense companies was almost nonexistent.
If Mexico hadn't been a mess, Eduardo's idea might have worked, but considering the original history, it wouldn't have worked.
'He's a patriot anyway.'
I think patriots deserve to be treated well.
"So you don't want to be a soldier, you want to develop weapons?"
"···Yeah, that's right."
Eduardo nodded.
'I'll make him rich.'
"Then, do you want to go into business with me? I have an idea too."
"What is it?"
"It's called a rifling machine…"
Even in this era, they didn't carve rifling by hand. They carved rifling with a manual crank machine, which was a very labor-intensive method.
Rifles became widely used in the mid-to-late 19th century after the development of rifling machines that used steam engines as a power source.
I don't know the exact design of the rifling machine, but I have an idea of how it roughly worked.
'If we two study it, maybe we can do it before graduation?'
"If it works as you say, we can drastically reduce the production cost of rifles. Okay, let's try it."
***
I lived a busy life, training and studying during the day, managing my business by exchanging letters with my agents during my free time, and developing weapons with Eduardo.
'Ugh. Everything is good, but there's no sports culture at the military academy.'
It's busy training and working, but it's a bit of a shame that there's no sports.
Sports were for fun, but they also had the advantage of promoting teamwork by exercising enjoyably.
From the military academy's point of view, what could be better than increasing the cadets' physical strength, improving camaraderie, and managing stress? That's why many military academies actively encourage sports.
'I have to introduce it.'
"Everyone, gather here."
I forced my classmates, who were sprawled out in the dormitory, to gather in the athletic field.
"What is it?"
Lorenzo, scratching his thighs with a bored expression.
'Ugh. He looks like a golden sun, but he's such a pain.'
I should have told him not to be so casual with me.
"See that."
I had persuaded the instructor and the chairman of the advantages of sports and got permission to put soccer goals on the athletic field.
"What is that?"
"Go stand in front of it."
Lorenzo standing in front of the goal.
I kicked the ball with all my might. Shoot!
Puck!
"Ugh! Shit!"
Lorenzo hurriedly dodged as the ball I kicked flew towards him fiercely.
"What are you dodging for? You have to block it! Your team just conceded a goal."
"No, you have to explain what this is, you bastard!"
"That was a 'goal' just now. Everyone gather around, and I'll explain in detail."
I briefly explained the rules of soccer and started the first game.
"This is a tackle!!"
"Ugh!"
"Hoo… So it's like this?"
The soccer game instantly transformed into a battle soccer game with countless fouls.
"Hey hey! Foul! It's a foul, man!"
Lorenzo was pretty good at soccer even though he was playing it for the first time.
'No, why is he so good? Is it because his last name is Torres?'
Our team was helpless against the first-year ace with natural athletic talent.
'I can't lose to a guy who's playing soccer for the first time.'
I threw away my initial thought of underestimating him because it was his first time.
"Ah… I, who was once called the Bloodbath Shoot, have descended upon Mexico City."
"What are you talking about, you crazy bastard?"
"···"
We won 3-2 after a bloody battle. My classmates seemed to enjoy themselves.
I had a new goal.
Someday, when Mexico overcomes all its crises and becomes a powerful country, I will develop the soccer industry.
'I'll create a bunch of famous teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, and watch El Clasico every week.'
Mexico will become the soccer powerhouse of this world, not England or Spain.
***
Training and weapon development are important, but business is the most important, of course.
I was managing my business while at the military academy, communicating with my agents through letters.
I was using everything, including the dormitory, equipment, and food, the same as my classmates, but I requested one special privilege.
A small room for business.
'It's too noisy to write letters.'
I tried to do it in the dormitory at first, but it was impossible. Lorenzo would keep coming to me, wanting to play soccer whenever he was bored.
Three letters arrived this week.
I opened the letters with a letter knife.
[Your Highness, I hope you are well. This is Emilio. I successfully purchased the iron ore mine you designated at a reasonable price, using the funds you previously provided. As expected, the owner of this land did not know about the existence of iron ore.
After conducting an exploration with a mining expert we hired, a significant amount of iron ore deposits were confirmed. Based on this information, we plan to proceed to the next stage of the business. Additional funds have been secured through the support of Her Majesty the Empress, and these will be used for iron mine development.
I will report in detail on the specifics and additional requirements later.
Wishing you continued success and prosperity,
Emilio Estrada]
"Hmm… Did I make it too inconvenient?"
I had given him the initial funds, but I couldn't keep asking him to come to me while I was at the military academy.
I needed someone trustworthy to keep my money and pay the business agents for me, and that person was my mother.
My mother is a daughter from a wealthy landed gentry family and was educated in finance and accounting. This was because she had to manage the farms of the family she was going to marry.
In fact, my mother was currently managing all of Agustín I's farms using agents. So I explained my business plan in detail and asked her to properly disburse the business funds, and she readily agreed.
"Now that I think about it, it's like I told the Empress of the Empire to get money from her… It would be quite inconvenient."
I'll change it later, but for now, my mother was the only person I could trust with all my assets.
"Emilio's side seems to be going smoothly, and next…"
[Your Highness, I would first like to express my deepest gratitude for taking the time to read this letter…]
"No, what is this? Why is it so stiff? I should tell him to get rid of unnecessary embellishments next time."
I skipped the unnecessary parts and went straight to the point.
[Unfortunately, we were unable to find a domestic supplier who could continuously supply large quantities of cotton. Due to the recent resumption of trade with England, large quantities of English cotton have been imported, causing domestic companies to lose their competitiveness and many of them have gone bankrupt. As a result, we have signed a contract to continuously import English cotton, but to reflect Your Highness's opinion, we have decided to import only a small amount for now.]
"Ugh, damn it."
There was no way to beat England in the textile industry right now. The technological gap is too great. We are just starting to introduce machines, while they are already using advanced machines that have been improved 10 times.
[Fortunately, we have already secured a blacksmith and blacksmiths who can continuously produce rivets. We plan to start production in small quantities and release it to the market. We would like to seek Your Highness's valuable opinion on the issue of the cotton supply chain.
Wishing you continued success and prosperity,
Your Highness's faithful servant, Ramón Alvarado]
"Ugh, this is a headache."
It's true that it's best to use English cotton if you're only looking at profits. But from the crown prince's perspective, it's a bad move when you consider the empire's economy.
"If there are no domestic cotton mills, cotton farms will only have foreign markets, so foreigners will drive down cotton prices like crazy."
Domestic cotton mills need to survive so that we can have some negotiating power. Otherwise, foreign cotton mills will collude and take all the profits from the cotton farms in our country.
They will just keep exploiting us, barely keeping us alive.
From the cotton farm's perspective, they're not making any profit, but it's awkward to abandon the sunk costs and switch to other farms, so they're just maintaining it at a level where they can barely survive.
"Let's look at the long game, even if it takes a little longer."
I instructed Ramón to acquire a sound domestic cotton mill that had gone bankrupt, in the reply I would write.
I told him to adjust the ratio so that he could use half of the cotton produced by the acquired mill and half of the cotton imported from England.
"This will increase the production cost quite a bit, but if we attach rivets and sell it as workwear, we'll make enough profit."
It's unavoidable that the business will be slower than planned.
I took a sip of water and opened the third letter.
[Your Highness, this is Alfonso Ríos. I have started a courier and transportation business between Mexico City and Veracruz. I have set up relay stations every 40 miles, and I am operating stagecoaches by modifying existing carriages. I have hired riders, guards, and counter staff.
We started our first courier run three days ago, and judging by the initial results, we seem to be making a significant profit on this route. I will report more detailed profits in the next report. The profits we have made so far will be used to further expand the route of this business. Alfonso Ríos]
"···It's quite neat. He's efficient and fast."
Alfonso, who worked silently and practically when building houses, showed that same personality in his letters.
"So Alfonso is the one who made the most profit first."
He's doing well on his own, so I didn't have anything to write in the reply. I just wrote that he was doing a good job.
Hernando, who was going to do business in Sacramento, and Isidoro, who was going to do business in San Francisco, had already sent their last letters and left for California.
I gave them all the money they would need for their businesses because it's too far to travel back and forth frequently. It will take at least a year for the next letter to arrive.
'Things haven't gone exactly as planned, but it's going smoothly.'
The snowball has started to roll.
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