After steadying his wildly racing heart, Raleigh weighed his words with calculated precision before finally breaking the silence. “Did you say… Eastern trade?”
“Indeed. Specifically, I wish to discuss Japan.”
Japan, of all places. Raleigh recalled the shipwrecked envoys from that very nation who had recently drifted onto their shores. A subtle, involuntary smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “That is pleasant news, certainly. However, as you surely know…”
Raleigh unfurled a world map—not the detailed masterpiece gifted by Lord Nemo, but a far cruder version—and tapped a finger against the parchment for the envoy’s benefit. “To reach the East from our current position on the North American coast, one must traverse no fewer than three vast oceans.”
Tracing a mental path, he continued his silent lecture. First, they would have to cross the Atlantic and round the Cape of Good Hope. From there, they would navigate the breadth of the Indian Ocean to reach the Spice Islands. Only after crossing the Indian Ocean and sailing north could they truly approach the Orient. Even by the most direct calculations, the distance was greater than half the circumference of the globe.
“A single voyage would easily devour a year or two, and that is without accounting for the staggering risks involved,” Raleigh pointed out, his tone sharp and logical. “Our Emperor, who has graced me with the honor of this Chairmanship, already secures immense profits through trade with Europe alone. Why, then, should we squander our fortunes on such a perilous and exhaustive journey?”
It was a reasoned critique, drawn directly from the very problems Raleigh himself had grappled with while eyeing the East Asian markets. The words flowed effortlessly because he had lived with these doubts for years.
The Dutch envoy, however, looked genuinely baffled. “Pardon? Crossing the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans? Why on earth would you need to do that?”
“I fail to see your confusion,” Raleigh countered, narrowing his eyes. “Is the reality not plain to anyone capable of reading a map?”
The envoy tilted his head, a look of brief bewilderment crossing his face before he suddenly erupted into a fit of mirth. “Ah, ahahaha!”
Disturbed by the sudden shift in temperament, Raleigh scowled. Yet the envoy maintained his broad grin, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Oh, did you truly think we remained in the dark?”
“I beg your pardon?” Raleigh blinked, a sudden chill creeping up his spine. Had they been found out? Had Nemo’s true identity been compromised?
Living a life of so many secrets made it difficult to pinpoint which one had leaked. It was only through years of honed courtly composure that he managed to suppress a cold sweat. He needed to know exactly what they knew. If the Dutch had discovered the truth about Nemo…
“We are well aware,” the envoy continued, “that the Continental Covenant has already expanded its reach to the Pacific.”
“I see…” Raleigh managed, though his mind was racing.
“Haha, there is no need to maintain the charade any longer. We have already heard everything from the Japanese.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…?”
It seemed there had been a profound, mutual misunderstanding.
***
Upon his return to Japan, Hasekura Tsunenaga was met with a shock. The persecution of Catholics had resumed in his absence, and missionaries were being purged once more. Fearing his efforts would be for naught, he pleaded desperately with his lord not to disregard his journey.
“Beyond the eastern ocean, there sits a monarch with an intense interest in our lands,” Hasekura reported, his voice trembling with earnestness. “He was not only fluent in our tongue but possessed a startlingly deep knowledge of our ancient history and academic traditions!”
“Absurd!” a voice bellowed in response. “How could a barbarian from such a distant land possess such knowledge?”
“It is the truth, I swear it! You would be horrified to learn the depth of the questions he put to me!”
Hasekura then began to recount the inquiries, line by line. The man had asked about the political climates of Japan, Joseon, and Ming; the movements of the Jurchens; the aftermath of the invasions of Joseon during the Bunroku and Keicho eras; the state of Ryukyu and the surrounding regions; the years since Ieyasu had established the Shogunate; the name of the current Shogun; the status of the Toyotomi clan; and even the exact population of Edo.
As each word left Hasekura’s lips, the officials felt a cold sweat breaking out, their glares turning into looks of sheer terror. The man who had posed these questions was no mere curious barbarian. He knew things about their land that they themselves had barely quantified.
“I did not answer every question truthfully, but I did not lie where it was unnecessary,” Hasekura added. “Strangely, he emphasized whether we possessed rice, though I cannot fathom why. He was equally meticulous in his questions regarding Joseon.”
“Could… could this barbarian king be one of our own who crossed the sea?” someone whispered, their voice shaking. “Perhaps he simply missed the taste of rice…”
“Don’t be a fool! You might as well claim he’s a wandering Joseon refugee!”
Silence fell over the room, heavy and oppressive. “This… this news must be brought to the Shogunate immediately. You have done a great service, Hasekura.”
The news reached Edo and spread like wildfire. Among those obsessed with the foreign culture of the “Southern Barbarians,” the rumors became an absolute sensation.
“Tell me, Red-hair,” a curious local asked a European resident. “What manner of nations lie beyond the eastern sea?”
“Beyond the eastern sea? There’s nothing but open water there, surely.”
It did not take long for the news to reach the Europeans residing in Japan. While the English were absent, having focused their efforts on Atlantic trade, the Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch remained. They initially argued that the only civilized land across the water was Nueva España, but as they ruminated on the details of the rumors, a single, horrifying thought took hold.
“It couldn’t be.”
They all reached the same conclusion. “Good heavens, since when did those Indians…?”
Yet, the ships of the Continental Covenant—Virginia and the rest—had never been spotted on the established trade routes. The conclusion was undeniable.
***
“Are you not already extending your influence to the western coast of this very continent?” the Dutch envoy asked, his voice filled with newfound respect. “The Emperor of the New World is truly a man of wonders to command such a vast territory!”
Raleigh remained silent, letting the man’s imagination do the work.
“It explains everything,” the envoy continued. “That is how you were able to observe Japan and exchange secrets without being noticed by other civilized nations. To think that His Majesty, already fluent in Latin and English, went so far as to master Japanese!”
“…”
They were indeed laboring under a massive delusion. In truth, while the Continental Covenant’s reach had extended to the central plains and established outposts along the great northern bay Lord Nemo called “Hudson,” they were nowhere near the Pacific.
They were pushing westward, clearing out the small military outposts Nueva España had neglected, but the coast was still a staggering distance away. It was likely over two thousand kilometers from their furthest influence—a distance equivalent to the gap between London and Istanbul. Traversing such a distance by land was, for now, an impossibility.
“Our government does not feel the need to respond to such baseless rumors,” Raleigh said coolly.
“Lord Chairman? As I said, we have gathered sufficient evidence before coming here. Denial is futile.”
“What exactly am I denying? The rumor that we have built massive ports on the western coast and linked this continent from sea to sea? Or that Japan is already within our reach? We have merely dispatched a few ‘scout ships’ and ‘expeditionary teams’ toward the west. It is possible that during those travels, someone—acting privately or by chance—made contact with Japan. But that is not a matter for this government.”
“…”
“…”
“Haha…” the envoy chuckled softly.
It didn’t matter what was true. “We suspected as much. In that case, what would you think of sharing the results of your ‘scouts’ and allowing us the opportunity to invest in these ‘expeditions’? For the sake of our mutual prosperity…”
“Regrettably, that is impossible,” Raleigh replied firmly. “We do not permit the citizens or vessels of foreign nations to enter our territories lightly.”
The beauty of the situation was their misunderstanding. “Lord Nemo mentioned that the Dutch have already established a trade base in Japan and seen some success.”
“Quite right! If you join forces with us to enter Japan and China, the profits would be astronomical!”
“And why should we do that? We have never stood in need of Dutch assistance. It is you who wish to hawk our goods in Asia.”
“…”
“I know the reason,” Raleigh said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial silkiness. “You wish to handle our products, but you fear the French King’s monopolies. If you touched those goods in Europe, France would not sit idly by. Thus, you hope to sell them in Asia instead.”
“…”
“Don’t you see? You have much to gain from us, but nothing to offer in return.”
“That isn’t true! The Netherlands could be a great help in the Covenant’s expansion into Asia…”
“…”
“The right for Covenant ships to use Dutch ports freely,” Raleigh interrupted.
“I… what was that?”
Raleigh leaned forward, smelling blood in the water. This was the key to securing the path to Asia. “The right for our ships to be supplied with water, food, and gunpowder as needed. And the right for the Continental Covenant to enjoy the same privileges that the Netherlands and the Dutch East India Company have secured from Asian nations.”
Raleigh lifted a corner of his mouth in a predatory grin. “Guarantee these rights, and the door shall open. Accept these terms, and we shall cooperate actively with your Eastern trade.”
It was an outrageous demand—a declaration that they intended to hitch a free ride on nearly every achievement the Dutch had made in the East over the past several decades. The envoy sat in stunned silence, a heavy sweat slicking his brow.
“I… I must ask for a moment to consider this.”
“Take all the time you need.”
With that, the envoy practically fled the Chairman’s office. Raleigh lit a cigar, propped his feet up on the desk, and began to calculate. Three days, at most, he thought.
And exactly three days later, as predicted, the envoy returned. “We accept… your conditions.”
The big fish was hooked.
***
I stared at Raleigh, my heart thumping with a mix of anxiety and disbelief. Raleigh, by contrast, looked perfectly composed, his nonchalance only serving to make me more nervous.
“What exactly were the conditions?” I asked cautiously.
“Nothing too taxing,” Raleigh replied smoothly. “We granted them the right to handle our goods in the East, and in return, we agreed to stand as allies at sea against the threats of Spain and Portugal.”
“And if we enter the East Asian market directly to sell our own goods?”
“Then we sell a fixed amount to the Dutch East India Company, and the two nations agree on a price before selling to the various Asian countries.”
Good grief. “And they accepted such a one-sided treaty?”
“Of course. After all…”
“They think we already have a route to the Pacific! They’re currying favor now, hoping we’ll open the door for them eventually, aren’t they?”
“Precisely,” Raleigh said, a hint of a smile touching his eyes. “The fools.”
“…”
It was a scam on a national scale. “Are you sure this is okay?”
“Naturally. What can they possibly do?”
“Is that a serious question? Think about it!” I hissed. The Netherlands was destined to be the next great maritime power. Before they were eventually eclipsed by Britain, they would build a massive colonial empire and amass unimaginable wealth. If we pulled a stunt like this on a country like that, there was bound to be a reckoning.
But as I searched for an example of what they might do… I realized something. They actually couldn’t do anything to us.
The tension drained out of me, and I sank back into my chair. Raleigh crushed out his cigar and took a slow sip of whiskey. “The treaty contains not a single word regarding a route to the Pacific. We have conducted our business honorably, so do not fret.”
He was a Scotsman, but his standards of “honor” were clearly far below the human average.
“In the world of men,” Raleigh continued, “the fault often lies with the one who was deceived. Even if it seems unseemly to the Lord and His messengers, such things are sometimes unavoidable in the relations between nations.”
Still, this felt like a stretch.
“Besides,” he added, “they got exactly what they truly wanted. The talk of a Pacific route was merely a rumor. Their real aim was the right to trade our goods.”
“…”
“And if it truly worries you,” Raleigh said, his eyes suddenly flashing with a sharp, ambitious light, “we can simply make it a reality.”
“Make what a reality?”
“Opening the route to the Pacific.” He set his glass down firmly. “We can do it. If all else fails, we can establish vineyards on the western coast, build factories and ports, and export directly to East Asia.”
Was that even possible? Building factories and ports two thousand kilometers away from the mainland just to grow grapes seemed…
Wait.
My hands began to tremble as a specific memory surfaced. Having spent my life as a grape farmer in the miserable climate of modern Korea, there was something in the West that I could not help but crave.
“Napa… Napa Valley,” I whispered.
The paradise of grape farmers, the holy land of wine. It was in California.
Yes. I had a reason to push west. I had to reach California.
…
…
Ah, right. There was gold there too, wasn’t there? I had almost forgotten. It didn’t seem nearly as important.