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Rhee Syngman boarded a passenger ship bound for Hawaii and stayed inside his cabin the entire time with his lips tightly shut.
Where did it go wrong?
He asked himself the same question again, one he had already repeated countless times, and once again no answer came.
At first, he thought it was a promising sapling.
If he watered it, the sapling and its father would look favorably upon him, and his influence in San Francisco would be secured.
So he watered it.
Carefully, diligently, he watered it, and the sapling grew well.
But what was this now.
Had West Point taught it nothing but bad habits, the sapling was now associating with a senator and businessmen.
The trustworthy contact he had painstakingly arranged was coldly rejected, while somehow the sapling was laughing and talking naturally with people he could not even understand how it had connected with.
How much could a young man who had just stepped into society really know.
It would be natural for him to feel the need for political support.
Then should he not at least listen once to the opinion of the benefactor who had supported him all this time.
Curtis, of all people.
Instead of meeting someone like Woodrow Wilson, a man of learning and character, he was associating with a mixed-blood with filthy Indian blood.
It was unbelievable judgment for someone who was supposed to carry the future of Korea.
So he picked up the rod with tears in his eyes.
If he firmly corrected him with words, surely he would listen to his teacher and return to the right path.
“I am a citizen of the United States, and I have committed myself to its peace and security.
Someone might question my loyalty if they heard such words.”
Crunch.
His teeth ground together.
Only then did he realize.
That was not a harmless sapling.
It was a Venus flytrap rotten from the seed.
The infamous traitors of old China must have been like this.
Gain the trust of superiors, then switch sides and devour them.
Now that new masters named Curtis and Ford had appeared, that man would surely aim to eliminate all patriotic figures who stood in his way.
But all of this was a trial given by God.
God had chosen Rhee Syngman, anointed him, and rescued him from that terrible prison of Emperor Gojong to become the savior of the Korean people.
Even if that devil Kim Eugene was rampaging now, believing the world was his, divine punishment would come in the end.
“Damn it.”
Unable to suppress his rising anger, he took out alcohol.
Without it, he felt he could not sleep.
As the sweet alcohol passed down his throat, his anger gradually subsided and cold reason took its place.
Kim Eugene was not like the fool Park Yong-man or the naive Ahn Chang-ho.
The heart of a wolf, the tongue of a snake, the mind of a fox.
A man cunning enough to deceive even Rhee himself, bold and driven by endless greed for power and success.
He could not be opposed directly.
The moment he set foot in Hawaii, he understood.
The Koreans living on this sugar island were nothing more than pitiful people who crossed the Pacific just to earn a bowl of rice.
So he raised the banner of diplomacy to soothe them and became their leader.
Someone like Park Yong-man, driven only by hot blood, would never understand.
These people simply wanted to donate a little money and feel satisfied that they had been patriotic.
Few would risk their lives or anger the Americans by joining dangerous armed struggle.
But now things had changed.
Kim Eugene openly claimed they should live as Americans.
Nothing is weaker than moderates.
The hot-blooded would remain with Park Yong-man, while those who desired safety would be drawn to Kim Eugene’s words.
The fortress he had built would collapse entirely under that devil’s manipulation.
And there was no way to stop it.
As soon as he returned, he would denounce Kim Eugene as a traitor.
He would shout that living as an American was an illusion and nothing more than collaboration.
But that would not win.
It would only delay defeat.
Then what next.
He had been driven into a tiger’s jaws, but not yet eaten.
A man like Kim Eugene, skilled in politics, would consider the cost of completely destroying Rhee too high.
A minor slip of the tongue had occurred, but if used against him, Kim Eugene would lose all influence in the Korean community.
There was still a way out.
He lay down slowly.
Countless political scenarios formed and broke apart in his mind without rest.
He could not allow the Korean people to fall into that devil’s hands.
Until the moment he fell asleep, Rhee continued thinking.
May 7, 1915.
Just before my graduation, the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat.
America did not realize it yet, but it was already rushing toward the First World War.
The only reason it had not crossed the Atlantic yet was the chaos in Mexico.
Hardliners like Theodore Roosevelt shouted endlessly in Congress about joining the war, but Woodrow Wilson, known as a moderate, was instead considering intervention in Mexico.
In July, he even sent Marines to Haiti and occupied it.
After the Lusitania, he sent Germany a polite message that essentially threatened naval retaliation, and the crisis subsided for the moment.
As a result, young officers like us focused on one thing.
“So are we going to fight Mexico or not?”
And I was…
A home guard.
[Hello, Eugene.
Are you doing well?
…
I have been assigned to the 14th Infantry Regiment.
I do not know where you are, but I am sure you are doing well wherever you are.]
[Eugene!
Be happy for me!
I got assigned to the 19th Infantry!
I was bored sitting at home for three months, but now I finally get to go!]
Bastards.
Even fools were getting assignments and starting their careers, yet I was running errands for my mother while receiving government pay.
I knew exactly why.
When tensions at the U.S.-Mexico border escalated, I eagerly used my connections.
I wrote to the senator asking for a field assignment.
The reply came quickly.
[Discuss it with Mr.
Ford.
Dorothy cares most about your life, and he is next.]
So I wrote to Dorothy asking if I could be deployed, and also sent a letter to Ford.
Soon after, I received his reply.
[Do not go die abroad.
Finish what you are doing.]
Yes.
I will stay put.
What I was preparing was groundwork to swallow San Francisco whole.
“Hyung.”
“Hyuuung!”
“What.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Listen to us.”
Yushin and Yuin stood in front of me, fuming, but I was not intimidated.
I was taller.
Still, as the eldest, I had to tolerate their complaints.
“What is it?”
“Do I look like I am losing weight?”
Yushin spoke as if coughing blood.
“I barely stabilized the barbed wire factory, and now you tell me to expand for exports.
Easy for you to say.”
“It is for your benefit.
You became a factory owner.
That is good, right?”
“Then why am I the one doing it?”
Because I want everything under borrowed names.
Anyway.
“You will become rich.”
“What rich person works twenty hours a day?”
“I cannot hear you.
Just run the gun factory properly.”
“At least Mr.
Ford handles most of it.
Otherwise, you would be floating in the Pacific.”
Most of the firearms business was handled by Ford and Curtis’s people.
We only handled recruitment and training Korean workers.
The engineers introduced by Ahn Chang-ho were improving rapidly.
Soon, independent development would be possible.
“Your turn.”
“What?”
“You published that book under my name!”
“Oh, that.”
“I got dragged to the police station at night.
There were agents from the Bureau of Investigation!”
“Oh.”
“Do not say oh!”
“But you just collected money.”
“I told them everything.
That you wrote it.”
“Only to them?”
“No.
After that, men in suits kept visiting every few days.”
So that was how Ford found out.
“Anyway, I got free meals out of it.”
I wanted to hit him but held back.
“Fine.
Everything worked out.”
“Are you insane?”
“Say that in front of subordinates and you will get shot.”
The poor brothers would eventually be grateful.
“I miss Dorothy.”
“Anyway, business is going well.”
“Stop provoking us.”
While I worked in San Francisco, the news I had been waiting for finally arrived.
[Come to Kansas with your family.
Finish your business and then we go to Washington together.]