Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Neutral Zone 

When the empire was constantly developing.

The situation in the Andes region was reaching its worst.

“Kill them!”

“Aaaah!”

Clang, clang!

Every day, there were local battles in the major conflict zones where many resources were buried.

“Get off our land!”

“Ugh! You’ll pay for this!”

The factions that occupied those areas changed frequently.

But the tribes that worked there, mining resources and such, were always the same.

Whenever the losers of the region changed, the tribes paid tribute to them with the resources they needed and maintained their existence.

But as time went by, the situation continued to worsen.

“No, this is too much! How can we survive if you raise the tribute this much?”

“Hey! Who do you think is protecting you? If we say raise it, then raise it without any complaints!”

“Damn it…!”

As the war intensified, military spending inevitably increased, and the factions had no choice but to raise the tribute they received from the tribes under their protection.

As time passed, the tribute increased to a level that was impossible for the tribes to handle.

“Damn it! Why do we have to suffer because they fight each other?”

“Shh. If the manager hears you…”

“Let him hear!”

The dissatisfaction of the residents grew day by day.

They couldn’t even eat a decent meal no matter how hard they worked.

The sense of deprivation from that was very severe.

Naturally, the residents wanted to escape this miserable reality.

“The Pekcha bastards are too outrageous!”

“Do you really intend to stay like this?”

“It’s much better to defect to the empire than this.”

“That’s right. It’s time to make a decision!”

“…”

The tribal chief closed his eyes and sank into deep thought.

There was some truth in what his subordinates said.

At that time, defecting to the empire was nothing new.

It had been a long time since the Andes people traded with the merchants of the Wakan Tanka Empire.

And gradually, rumors spread widely in the Andes region about the empire’s strength, wealth, rapid development, and peacefulness.

These rumors sounded very attractive to many Andes people who groaned in war every day.

Thanks to that, countless tribes moved to the empire or became naturalized in small groups.

“But what if we get caught? You haven’t forgotten what happened to the Hwatli tribe, have you?”

But there was a remark that poured cold water on this atmosphere.

Everyone knew very well that they might be able to live a better life if they became naturalized in the empire.

But there were a few problems with choosing this option.

First of all, the tribe would be disbanded.

The empire did not want naturalized people to form a power group.

Of course, once they became citizens of the empire, this was something they could accept.

The boat problem was also solvable.

The top of the Wakan Tanka Empire took in naturalized people first and then made them pay back their boat fare after settling in the empire.

They heard that they could pay off their boat fare easily if they worked for a while in the empire.

The problem was…

‘The Pekcha bastards won’t just sit back and watch us become naturalized.’

When the tribes that paid tribute became part of the empire, the damage was entirely borne by the clans that received the tribute.

What good is a mine?

The people who worked in that mine disappeared.

Of course, they constantly monitored the tribes in their sphere of influence to prevent them from becoming part of the empire.

In this situation, it was a risky gamble to move to where the imperial court was, avoiding their eyes.

Especially the Pekcha bastards wanted to nip this in the bud.

They exterminated some of the tribes that tried to become part of the empire as an example.

“Are you saying we should just wait for death because we’re afraid of Pekcha’s retaliation?”

“We can’t gamble with the lives of our tribesmen either.”

“Hmph! You’re all cowards!”

“…Are you done talking?”

Soon, the meeting hall turned into a mess, as the pro-imperial and anti-imperial factions clashed.

These things were happening in many places in the Andes region.

A stranger entered the office.

“Welcome.”

Kim Ki-woo greeted him warmly.

The man, Red Moonlight, immediately bowed his head.

“I greet you, the living spirit and the great emperor of the Wakan Tanka Empire!”

“Yes. Have a seat.”

Red Moonlight cautiously sat down on the opposite chair.

“Right. I’ve read your story well.”

“I hope my writing didn’t bother your eyes.”

“Ha ha. How could it?”

Kim Ki-woo looked into Red Moonlight’s big eyes and thought about him.

Red Moonlight was a person similar to a human rights activist in modern times.

He became part of the empire in the early stages of contact with the Andes.

But Red Moonlight continued to be interested in the Andes region even after he became part of the empire.

As time passed, countless people in the Andes region groaned in pain.

Red Moonlight couldn’t stand by and watch this.

From then on, he did his best to inform the imperial citizens of the mainland about the hardships of the Andean people.

He traveled to numerous cities and towns and gave countless lectures, and wrote articles about the reality of the Andes region and submitted them continuously.

Eventually, his articles were published in newspapers several times, and the pain of the Andean people became widely known among the imperial citizens.

Of course, Kim Ki-woo could have easily stopped this if he wanted to…

‘There’s no need to do that anymore.’

If the situation changed, so should the policy.

“I sympathize with your thoughts to some extent. The empire is also somewhat responsible for the unreasonable things that are happening in the Andes region.”

Some would surely criticize this as hypocrisy.

After all, it was Kim Ki-woo himself who instigated the chaos in the Andes.

It was because of the countless wars that broke out in the Andes that resources such as gold, silver, guano, copper, etc. could be smoothly supplied, and this became the foundation for the development of the empire.

Therefore, if Kim Ki-woo went back to the past, he would surely have implemented such a policy.

He was the leader of the Wakan Tanka Empire after all.

Of course, he meant it when he said he was responsible.

“Are you saying…”

“Yes. I’m going to execute what you suggested after reviewing it thoroughly.”

“Is that really true?”

Red Moonlight’s big eyes grew bigger.

It was because it was an unexpected remark.

Seeing his reaction, Kim Ki-woo smiled broadly.

“Ha ha. Why are you so surprised? It’s what you’ve been arguing for all along.”

“That’s true, but…”

Red Moonlight couldn’t continue his words.

It was his argument that he had been making continuously through newspapers and speeches, but he didn’t expect it to be accepted so radically.

It was understandable, because his argument was to change the policy direction that the current empire was taking.

Red Moonlight’s argument was this:

Create a neutral zone in the Andes region, and let the people who don’t want to fight anymore live peacefully.

‘Neutrality.’

It sounds good.

But neutrality was something that required power.

Neutrality without power was an empty cry.

Kim Ki-woo knew this fact well through the tragic history of his homeland, Korea.

Therefore, in order to create a neutral zone, a powerful force was needed to maintain it.

And the current empire had enough capacity to do so.

“We are already in constant contact with the factions in the Andes region.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Quite a lot of forces think positively of our proposal.”

Too much blood had been shed for a long time.

Therefore, many factions wanted to stop this fight.

But it was not easy to stop the war because of the blood that had flowed until now.

They had already accumulated hatred for each other.

In the end, the only way to stop this situation was for one side to collapse, or for another huge force to intervene.

And the only such huge force in the continent was the Wakan Tanka Empire.

Soon after, Kim Ki-woo revealed his true purpose for calling Red Moonlight.

“I think you are suitable for the person in charge of the neutral zone that will be established in the future. How about it, would you like to work for the Andes people?”

“Gasp! How can I… I don’t have the ability to do that. Please reconsider.”

“Not at all. You can do it.”

Kim Ki-woo had thoroughly investigated this man named Red Moonlight for quite a long time.

He knew a lot about the Andes region, and he was a person who had made many efforts to protect the rights of the Andes people.

He had a history of helping the Andes people who had naturalized into the empire in various ways, which was certain.

Thanks to that, he had a great reputation among the Andes people.

There was no one else who was more suitable as the manager of the neutral zone.

“You don’t have to worry too much. The military and administrative matters will be handled by the empire’s staff, so you just have to take care of the lives of the Andes people as you do now.”

“Hmm…”

“I know it’s too sudden. So take your time and think about it, and come back to me when you make up your mind.”

“…Okay.”

With this conversation over, Red Moonlight left the office.

After he disappeared.

Kim Ki-woo buried himself in a soft chair.

‘Surely this decision will reduce my profits more than now.’

It might have been better in the short term to suck up only the sweet things from the Andes region as they did now.

It was definitely a big help when they were minting money and consolidating the foundation of the empire.

But that period was over.

Even if the huge profits from the Andes region were reduced a little, it would not have a big impact on the empire.

Rather, it was time to think about the long-term interests of the empire.

Now in the Andes region, people were dying from numerous wars, and because they couldn’t bear it, Andes people were naturalizing into the empire and reducing their population.

And when a plague spreads due to intercontinental exchanges in the future…

‘The population will decrease by an incomparable amount.’

Then it would take much longer to develop South Continent.

The empire had to establish a solid force in South Continent before that.

A huge variable intervened in the chaotic Andes region.

It was like the direct rule of the central continent now.

This way, they could deal with a massive disaster like a plague quickly and surely.

‘The power to stabilize the Andes region is enough.’

The empire’s fire continued to develop.

The current military power of the empire was incomparably stronger than when they destroyed the Aztecs.

Even if the forces that hated the empire’s influence joined forces and attacked, they had the power to easily suppress them.

<The end.>