"What brings you to my study today, my lady?"
Agustín I lifted his weary eyes from the heap of papers, his face etched with fatigue. He rose when they entered, embraced his wife warmly, and laid a paternal hand upon his son's shoulder before seating himself upon the sofa.
The stark, unadorned chamber seemed almost to embody the emperor's plight. A room large in size but bare of ornament, its vast desk buried under mountains of documents—such was the throne of Mexico's troubled sovereign.
Ana María set upon the table the sweets and coffee she had brought, speaking with gentle concern.
"You have not slept properly for days. I came to see your face and urge you to rest a little. And our eldest son tells me he has something to say to you."
"Our eldest?" The emperor's eyes turned toward Jerónimo.
"You did not come here to waste my time with childish trifles, did you?"
The look he gave his son was not unkind, but neither was it trusting.
It will not be easy, the young man thought. Best to strike directly.
Meeting his father's gaze, he spoke firmly.
"I hear that your burdens are heavy these days, Father. I wish to help you—as crown prince."
Agustín I snorted in disbelief.
"Help me? You? It is commendable that you show interest in affairs of state, but you are but fifteen. This is the age for study, not for politics."
"Yet it is said the deputies oppose you in all things, leaving nothing to be accomplished. Is it true?"
The emperor looked momentarily surprised, then composed himself.
"Your mother must have hinted to you. That matter I shall resolve myself. You need only return to your books."
"And I hear that even the salaries of officials and soldiers cannot be paid. Is there truly a solution to this?"
"That, too, will be resolved—once those cursed deputies are dealt with. You need not meddle."
So he was already set upon confrontation. The son pressed harder.
"Father, when you say 'dealt with,' you do not mean fabricating charges to arrest the opposition, do you? For if you do, both Congress and the citizens will rise against you."
"What!" The emperor started in shock, his voice rising. "How dare you speak so rashly of things you cannot understand?"
The boy's heart sank. So he was already planning it.
"If you arrest the opposition," Jerónimo pressed, "will the others remain silent? Even those who support you will turn against you. And then, in desperation, you will dissolve the Congress. Is it not so?"
The emperor glowered, but after a pause said, "...Go on."
"Once you dissolve Congress, the people's support will vanish. The provincial armies, already beyond your control, will begin to plot. They will not remain loyal."
"Then I will send the central army to crush them," Agustín retorted. "Provincial troops are no match for the center's might."
"But can you trust even the central army? Without pay for months, with no popular support, how long before commanders and soldiers are swayed by the cry to 'overthrow the tyrant'?"
The emperor slammed his palm upon the desk.
"Tyrant! You dare! It is the duty of the people to obey their emperor!"
His rage pleased the youth. For anger meant he recognized the danger; had he dismissed it with scorn, all hope would have been lost.
So far, so good. He knows it is possible. Now to temper him and persuade him.
"Father, this is when our dynasty stands weakest. Many of the empire's citizens scarcely know there even is an emperor. The conservatives and royalists who support you have stood by you only a few months. The longer their allegiance lasts, the harder it becomes to withdraw. But now, at the beginning, it is easy for them to abandon you. This is no time for desperate gambles. We must endure, gathering strength and supporters."
Agustín's voice was heavy with weariness.
"So even an emperor must heed the will of the people? Yet look around us: Mexico is in ruins. The constitution is not even drafted—there is no law to bind us. The treasury is bankrupt. The peninsulares have fled or been expelled, leaving our administration shattered and taxes uncollected. You are right: officials and soldiers go unpaid. When the crisis reaches its limit, someone must bear the blame. And who, but I? Meanwhile the deputies bicker endlessly. No—worse, perhaps they bicker deliberately to ruin me. In such a situation, only drastic measures can break the deadlock."
The boy saw it then: his father's choice, disastrous in hindsight, was not born of folly but of circumstance and temperament. Agustín Iturbide was a man who had risen by force of arms; to him, sweeping aside obstacles seemed natural. Surrounded by soldiers who thought as he did, who would tell him otherwise?
Thus the son spoke of money.
"What is most urgent is to resolve the financial crisis. I have thought of a way."
"A way?"
"Yes. As you said, the peninsulares have gone, or are being expelled. The estates of the Spaniards—their wealth—can be confiscated by the state. Spain, torn by civil war, is powerless to intervene. They are a toothless tiger."
Agustín stroked his chin.
"To seize Spanish property… Spain cannot move against us, true. But it is not so simple. The deputies oppose everything I propose. They hide behind the excuse that there is no law yet defining our powers. In truth, they fear to set a precedent against themselves. To break through, I must rely on the army alone."
"No, Father. You need not beg the deputies. Go to the people. Address them in the square. Tell them it is not enough to expel the Spaniards—we must claim their wealth as the foundation of a truly independent nation. Tell them that our finances are broken, and that this is the way to restore them. Who among the people will not cheer you?"
"Yet is that not, in the end, still opposing the deputies?"
"They may dislike it, but they will have no grounds to resist. If Congress spurns the will of the citizens, it will destroy its own authority. You will have solved Mexico's gravest crisis and re-secured the loyalty of the army besides."
The emperor hesitated. "But confiscating Spanish property may send the wrong signal to other nations. Diplomacy, trade—all could suffer."
"Make it plain," his son urged. "This is aimed only at Spain. Property of foreigners from other lands is safe. And tell the conservatives the same: no Mexican need fear. Only the peninsulares who resisted independence."
Agustín nodded slowly. "Yes. Even the Creoles will take comfort in that. Many still have peninsular fathers and grandfathers. This may strengthen the Mexican identity itself."
On and on the emperor questioned him, testing his reasoning with the sharpness of a man who had fought his way to the throne. Some objections caught the boy unprepared, yet none proved fatal. At last Agustín yielded.
"So be it. We will act as you suggest."
At last. He listens. More reasonable than I had thought.
"Father," the boy said, "if this endeavor succeeds, may I ask a favor of you?"
"A favor? Very well. But you must also see this plan through to success."
Agustín agreed with surprising ease, clearly pleased by their exchange.
When the long conversation ended, the emperor watched his son depart, struck dumb with wonder.
How could he have changed so much in a few short years?
In the years of struggle, he had scarcely spoken with the boy, leaving his upbringing to Ana María. He had heard only that Jerónimo was entering a rebellious age. When his wife announced that their son wished to speak, he had expected little more than adolescent trifles.
But he had been wrong.
The boy had foreseen even the plan to arrest the deputies. He had described with chilling plausibility the chain of disasters that would follow. And then—then he had offered a solution.
Seizing Spanish assets… why did I never think of it?
At first glance it seemed a gamble, yet under scrutiny it was sound: low risk, high return. Framed before the citizens, it would put Congress in a corner, leaving them no excuse to resist without appearing as traitors themselves.
The government may be a ruin, but the people's hopes are still alive. If I can answer those hopes, the tide will turn.
He knew the citizens would rejoice. It was not merely practical—it was satisfying. To strip wealth from those who had long exploited them! The deputies would not dare oppose such a cause.
The key is surprise. If it is to be done, it must be swift.
"Fernando," he summoned his loyal colonel.
"You called, Majesty?"
"I entrust you with a vital task. Compile at once a complete inventory of the properties of the peninsulares and the Spanish Crown."
"Do you mean also those still living in Mexico?"
"Exclude those who have settled here in earnest. Investigate those who have fled, those expelled, or soon to be expelled. All who opposed our independence are to be considered such."
"Yes, Majesty."
"And tomorrow evening at seven, I will speak to the people in the Plaza de la Constitución. Begin preparations. At five, deploy soldiers to gather as many citizens as possible. Guard against any leak of this news."
"At once, Majesty."
Colonel Fernando departed without hesitation.
Alone again, Agustín I smiled faintly.
Very well. Let us try this.
For the first time in many months, he felt the stirrings of good fortune. Drawing upon his soldier's vigor, he bent over his desk and began to compose the speech with lively strokes of the pen.