C3 - Confiscation (2)
"What brings you to my office, my dear?"
He looked up from the documents with a tired face, and stood up when we entered. He hugged my mother and lightly patted my shoulder before sitting on the sofa.
The numerous documents piled up in the bleak office seemed to represent Agustín I's situation.
There was a large desk in the space, which was large but had no special decorations, unlike an emperor's office. The desk was covered with documents.
My mother placed the desserts and coffee she had brought on the table and said,
"You've been working so hard that you haven't even been able to sleep properly for days. I came to see how you are and to give you a chance to rest. Our eldest son also has something to say."
"My eldest son?"
Agustín I looked at me.
"You didn't come here during work hours just to say something frivolous, did you?"
Agustín I's expression when he looked at his eldest son wasn't bad, but he didn't seem to trust him much.
'It won't be easy. I'll go straight for it.'
I looked into Agustín I's eyes and said,
"I hear things haven't been easy for you lately, Father. I want to help you as the crown prince."
Agustín I snorted as if he found it absurd.
"Help? You? It's admirable that you've become interested in state affairs, but you're 15 years old. You're still at the age when you should be studying."
"I heard that the members of the legislature have been opposing everything, so nothing is going smoothly. Is that true?"
He seemed slightly surprised, but he soon said calmly,
"I guess your mother gave you a hint. I'll take care of that, so you go and study."
"I heard that you can't even pay the salaries of civil servants and soldiers. Is there a way to solve this too?"
"It's something that can be solved if I just deal with those members of the legislature. It's not something you should worry about."
Ah. He's someone who won't listen to me unless I clash with him. I deliberately spoke more boldly.
"Father, when you say 'deal with them,' you're not planning to fabricate evidence and arrest the opposition members, are you? It will cause a backlash from the legislature and the citizens."
"What? What do you know to speak so recklessly!"
Agustín I was startled by my words and shouted.
'He already had a plan.'
"Do you think the other members of the legislature will be quiet if you arrest the opposition members? It will only make even the members who supported you start to oppose you violently. Then, you'll try to dissolve the legislature, won't you?"
"···Continue."
"You'll lose the support of the citizens, and the armies in the provinces, which are currently out of reach of the central government's control, will start to think differently."
Agustín I countered my words.
"I'll just send the army to wipe them out. The provincial armies are no match for the central army."
"Can you trust the central army when you've lost the support of the citizens and haven't been able to pay salaries for months? If the other side persuades the commanders and soldiers to overthrow the dictator, they'll have no choice but to waver."
Bang!
"Dictator! It's only natural for the people to obey the emperor!"
He was furious at the scenario I described. I was actually happy about that anger. If he thought it was impossible, he wouldn't be this angry. He would just scoff or look at me with disdain and tell me to get lost.
'I've crossed the third hurdle. It would have been impossible if he insisted that it couldn't happen even though it happened in real history, but he seems to be grasping the reality better than I thought. Now I just have to gently persuade him.'
"Father. This is the time when our imperial authority is weakest. Many of the people in the empire don't even know about the emperor yet. Even the conservatives and royalists who support you have only been doing so for a few months. The longer they support you, the harder it becomes to withdraw their support. Conversely, it means that now is the easiest time to withdraw their support. We shouldn't gamble with drastic measures, but we should persevere and increase our supporters."
"You're saying that even the emperor has to be mindful of the people's opinions… The problem is that the situation in Mexico is a mess, so it's hard to persevere. We're just starting to write the constitution, so naturally, there are no proper laws. The finances are in ruins, and the local administrative organization is falling apart because the Peninsulars have left or been expelled, so taxes aren't being collected properly. As you said, we can't even pay the salaries of civil servants and soldiers. If this situation reaches its limit, someone will eventually have to take responsibility, and that will be me. Even in this situation, the members of the legislature are only engaged in political struggles. No, are they deliberately engaging in political struggles because of this situation? Anyway, isn't there no way to break through the situation without drastic measures?"
Agustín I stroked his eyes with his hand as if he had a headache.
'Well… Was there a reason why he made the worst choice? Well, a man who rose to the emperor's position with his bare hands wouldn't make a foolish choice for no reason.'
Unlike me, who came from the modern world, from his perspective of this era, his position as emperor, and his tendency to break through situations with force, it would have seemed like the right answer to wipe everything out.
As long as there was a choice that seemed like the right answer, other options wouldn't be visible.
'To break this kind of thinking, you need a loyal minister who can speak frankly, but Agustín I's subordinates are all soldiers who think similarly to him. From a distance, it seemed like a foolish choice, but up close, it might have been an inevitable choice…'
"The most urgent thing is to solve the money problem. I have an idea."
"You have an idea?"
"Yes. As you just said, Father, the Peninsulars have left or been expelled. We can confiscate the property of the Spaniards, including them. After all, Spain can't do anything about it, can they?"
"Hmm! Confiscate the property of the Spaniards… Spain is in the middle of a civil war, so they won't have time to intervene, and they're nothing more than a toothless tiger. But you know that's not the only problem, right? As I said earlier, the members of the legislature will try to stop me no matter what I try to do. It's a pretext that there are no laws about the emperor and the legislature's powers, but in reality, they don't want to create a bad precedent in the current situation where they're writing the constitution. Anyway, to break through that pretext, we have no choice but to be prepared for armed conflict. The only thing I can do now is to move the army commanded by my loyal subordinate officers."
"No, Father, you don't need to ask the members of the legislature to let you do it. You're popular with the citizens. Just go out to the square and make a public proposal. If you emphasize the pretext of taking measures to achieve true independence from Spain and the fact that the current finances are in ruins, and present the benefit of securing finances, the citizens will have no reason not to support it."
"Hmm… But isn't that still antagonizing the members of the legislature?"
"It may be uncomfortable emotionally, but they have no reason to oppose it. It's not a crime for the emperor to make a proposal for the sake of the nation. They'll have to accept it eventually, even if they don't like it. If the will of the people is clear, but the legislature doesn't follow it, they will lose the power and legitimacy of the legislature. If this succeeds, Father, you'll solve one of the biggest problems of the current Mexican Empire, and you'll also regain control over the army."
"Confiscating Spanish assets could send a bad signal to other countries. It would make diplomacy and trade difficult."
"Just explicitly signal that it's for true independence from Spain and that the assets of foreigners are safe."
"We can do the same for the conservatives, as they might also be worried. We should tell the Mexicans living in Mexico now that they don't need to worry."
"Yes. There are quite a few first and second generations who are of Peninsular origin but have settled here."
Most Mexicans, including the Criollo class, view Peninsulars with disdain, but strictly speaking, there's a part of the Peninsular class and the Criollo class that's difficult to clearly separate.
This is because many Peninsulars still live as fathers or grandfathers of Criollos.
'It will also be an opportunity to remind them once again of their weak Mexican identity.'
After that, Agustín I continued to ask me many questions about my plan. He was sharp, as someone who had risen to the emperor's position through his own abilities, even though he would soon collapse.
Some of his questions were things I hadn't considered, but they were all things that could be solved or weren't major problems.
After a long discussion, Agustín I approved my plan.
'Whew… He was more reasonable than I expected.'
"Father, if this is a success, can I ask you for a favor?"
"A favor? Okay. But you also have to help make this a success."
Agustín I readily agreed to my request to grant me a favor if this was a success. He seemed happy.
***
Agustín I was stunned as he watched his eldest son leave his office after a few hours of conversation.
'I never thought he would change so much in just a few years.'
He hadn't been able to talk to his son much in the past few years. He was too busy fighting for independence, and after independence, he was too busy dealing with the problems that kept popping up.
He didn't have enough time for rest, and it was hardly enough time to talk to his precious wife, so he usually left things related to his children to his wife and only heard about them indirectly.
'I'm sure my wife said he was going through puberty recently…'
He was happy to see his wife who came to see him to rest for a bit, but when she said her eldest son had something to say, he was honestly annoyed.
This was because he thought a teenage boy wouldn't have anything important to say.
'That expectation was completely wrong.'
When he realized the topic was about state affairs, he just felt a little proud, but as the conversation progressed, he realized that it was more than that.
'I was surprised when he predicted the arrest of the opposition members, but that wasn't the end of it.'
His son, Jerónimo, talked about the chain reaction that the arrest of the opposition would bring, and his words were very credible.
He had thought about the possibility, but he was going to go ahead with the arrest of the opposition because he couldn't see any other way. But his son had a whole plan.
'Confiscate Spanish assets… Why didn't I think of that earlier?'
His son's proposal seemed like a risky gamble at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was a plan with low risk and high return.
The plan he had prepared and the logic that supported it were quite sophisticated, so if the members of the legislature opposed it, he could turn their opposition into opposition for opposition's sake.
'The reality of our government is a sewer, but the citizens are still full of expectations. The moment I fulfill those expectations, the tide will turn in my favor.'
Agustín I thought that, except for a very small number of citizens, everyone would strongly support this proposal.
Pretext and benefits are important, but more important than that is emotion. It's cathartic to take away the property of those who exploited us for so long, even though the claim to take it away is radical.
If the citizens support this, the moment the members of the legislature reject it, it becomes a pretext.
'The art of surprise is always effective. If I've decided, I'll act quickly. The members of the legislature won't expect me to suddenly give a public speech.'
Agustín I summoned General Fernando.
"You called for me, Your Majesty?"
"I have an important task for you. From now on, thoroughly investigate the list of all the property of the Spanish royal family and all the Peninsulars."
"Are the Peninsulars living in Mexico also included in the investigation?"
"Exclude those who have settled in Mexico and investigate only those who have returned to Spain, been expelled, or are scheduled to be expelled. Just assume that anyone who opposes Mexico's independence is scheduled to be expelled."
"Yes, I understand."
"And I'll be giving a public speech at the Constitution Square tomorrow afternoon at 7:00, so be prepared. Send soldiers out at 5:00 to ensure that as many citizens as possible can come. Be careful not to leak information."
"Yes."
General Fernando answered Agustín I's orders without hesitation and left.
'Well, let's try it.'
Agustín I felt a good feeling for the first time in a while.
He used his experience in the army to write a speech with a light touch.
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