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Corean Dawn Excerpts (13 pages)
Posted on: 2007-01-07 10:57:34 ‘Iii-gu! Demons dance on the ground at my very feet,’ thought the prefect. ‘Or perhaps it’s the ghosts of countless ancestors, stirring in their tombs wailing at him and the contaminating approach of other barbarians.’ ‘ Unthinkable to defy a mandate of Chaoshien, but also unwise to alienate the powerful Japanese firms who so generously slip me bribes not to see the contraband they themselves smuggle into our country,’ thought the prefect. ‘Even more than this foreboding warship in our harbor, assignment here of this ill-thought out ward of the kingdom is gunpowder with a smoking fuse! What if the Western savages about to land grow angry at the presence of this outcast? How do I quickly return him to the Seoul bureaucrats who inflicted this dog upon me?’ ‘Iii-gu! Demons dance on the ground at my very feet,’ thought the prefect. ‘Or perhaps it’s the ghosts of countless ancestors, stirring in their tombs wailing at him and the contaminating approach of other barbarians.’ ‘ Unthinkable to defy a mandate of Chaoshien, but also unwise to alienate the powerful Japanese firms who so generously slip me bribes not to see the contraband they themselves smuggle into our country,’ thought the prefect. ‘Even more than this foreboding warship in our harbor, assignment here of this ill-thought out ward of the kingdom is gunpowder with a smoking fuse! What if the Western savages about to land grow angry at the presence of this outcast? How do I quickly return him to the Seoul bureaucrats who inflicted this dog upon me?’ Yesterday, agreement had been reached for the balding American commodore with the short-cropped gray hair and neatly trimmed beard to come ashore at ten o’clock and begin face-to-face treaty discussions. Standing next to the edgy, pouting Corean officials, Tubert saw the short, stocky American officer with the face of a banker, his braided stars on the shoulders of his immaculate blue uniform, in the lead boat being rowed towards shore. In the boat were translators and more foreign military men. The forward boat contained an honor guard of armed American sailors and marines. Tubert, with relief, at first did not recognize any of the troops. But an American in the rank of lieutenant commander sat next to the American commodore, towering over the mission head. The figure was somehow familiar to Tubert. Aboard the approaching rowboats, the commodore turned to his assistant. “By heavens, Jewell,” Shufeldt said quietly. “That looks like a white man standing with them!” “It is, sir,” said Theodore Jewell, lowering his glasses. “We’re not sure where they got him, but they want him present during the talks. We are all to use him if translations get confusing..” Jewell had gained rank and ten pounds since the Kangwha Battle. The tall Texan had pulled shore duty assignments in Hong Kong and Nagasaki, and served aboard ships in ever decreasing numbers. The ships reflected America’s growing disinterest in the Navy and were more obsolete with each passing year. Now, after more than a decade in Asia, Jewell’s reputation as a decision maker, risk taker and quick study, and especially his involvement with the Kangwha debacle, had landed him these diplomatic duties with this dogged commodore. He had pinned on his promotion insignia four months earlier over in Hong Kong. Not bad for a youth from Texas who had sailed from a landdrained from civil war. Especially not bad, since that nation had allowed its ships and Navy and promotions to wither. ‘Important that the Coreans become familiar with my name and face,’ thought Jewell with resignation. ‘For if all goes well, this commodore will have me shuttling dispatches to and from Chaoshien as treaty coordination progresses, and, likely, one day I’ll find myself in Corean waters, commanding a ves¬sel to watch over American interests. My own ship, at last.’ Who was that standing next to the Coreeans ashore? “Could be a renegade white man of Shanghai’s coastal pirates, though I don’t know how he could have gotten into this land alive,” mused the commodore, elated at the serendipitous timing that was actually allowing him to negotiate for an opening of
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