Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 247

Chapter 247

The reason Henry thought Joseon might be the country of Prester John was because of the gold pen.

When Henry became involved in Mediterranean trade, he mainly dealt in gold, ivory, slaves, pepper, and spices. In the midst of this, goods from Kitai (a transliteration of Khitan, the name used for China in medieval Europe)mostly porcelain and bookswould occasionally come in, and these were mainly bought by wealthy Italians or European nobles.

As they were quite high-priced items, there were many counterfeits, and European merchants had considerable knowledge about the characters and culture of Kitai to distinguish genuine products from counterfeits.

The problem was that knowledge about Kitais culture was based on Marco Polos travelogue.

Even putting aside the question of whether the contents written in the travelogue were truethere were over 100 types of manuscript copiesit had been well over 100 years since the book had been published.

Anyway, Henry also knew a fair amount about Kitais characters. And he also knew about the brushes used to write those characters.

When judging the gold pen with such background knowledge, Henrys assessment was that this metal pen called a gold pen was not suitable for writing Kitais characters.

Its inconvenient for writing Arabic too. The most suitable script is considering the era Latin and Greek.

Henry, who had reached a conclusion that would make those in the know clutch their bellies and laugh.

While he was growing more convinced, a merchant working under Henry rushed to him.

Your Highness! Please look at this item!

What the merchant held out was a glass bottle containing perfume.

Its a beautiful glass bottle. So what?

At Henrys question, the merchant continued.

Please look at the bottom!

The bottom?

As Henry examined the bottom of the glass bottle at the merchants words, his eyes widened.

This is?

A cross was engraved on the bottom of the glass bottle.

Seeing Henry unable to hide his surprise, the merchant offered his opinion.

There was a rumor some time ago that several Venetian craftsmen had been captured by pirates. Quite a few among them had unknown whereabouts, so could it be that the glassmakers among those captured craftsmen were taken to Joseon?

That could be. But look at the shape. Isnt it completely different from the glass products made by Italians?

They might have been ordered to make it that way

At the merchants words, Henry shook his head.

Its too natural for that. This doesnt seem to have been made by Italian craftsmen.

Then by whom?

Could it be Prester John after all

Pardon?

As the merchant was surprised, Henry cautioned him.

Shh! Its not certain, so keep it to yourself.

Yes, sir!

And is this the only one with a cross engraved on it?

No. There are a few more.

Bring them all to me.

Yes, Your Highness.

Having given orders to the merchant, Henry took the perfume bottle and returned to his room.

Sitting in a chair, Henry muttered while looking at the gold pen and perfume bottle on the desk.

I feel certain, but I cant jump to conclusions recklessly. I cant repeat the failure from before.

Recalling the disappointment of having advocated for the conquest of Morocco, Henry opened the door and called a knight.

Jos!

Yes, Your Highness!

Theres something to be done!

Yes!

***

Following Prince Henrys orders, Portuguese merchants and knights entered Alexandria and diligently gathered information about Joseon.

The merchants who went to Joseon have arrived!

Just in time, Mansurs group, who had gone to Joseon, entered Alexandria.

The Portuguese merchants circling around Mansurs group to dig up information were able to obtain unexpected information, which was that they had come by ship from Aden.

Upon hearing the rumor, all the merchants in Alexandria shook their heads.

They came to Suez by ship? Are they crazy?

All the merchants in Alexandria shook their heads, calling them crazy.

They reacted that way because the sea route from Aden to Suez passed only through the Red Sea, and the Red Sea was notorious for pirates.

The pirates of the Red Sea were normally fishermen catching fish. However, when they spotted a merchant ship of a suitable size to hunt, they would immediately transform into pirates and plunder.

Therefore, the merchants of Alexandria judged it reckless.

However, the merchants who spread the rumor presented new information.

Theyre not crazy, the ship they came on is said to be enormously large.

Still. There would be a difference in numbers

They mounted cannons.

When the merchant who brought the rumor mentioned cannons, the eyes of the merchant who had shown a negative reaction widened.

Cannons?

***

As mentioned before, due to the pirate problem in the Red Sea, merchants heavily used land routes when transporting large quantities of valuable goods.

The reason they moved in the opposite way of generally using ships when transporting large amounts of cargo was because of pirates.

The existence of ships itself had limitations on personnel. On top of that, the weapons used by sailors and pirates alike during this period were only bows and spears.

Moreover, the Red Sea was not a wide ocean but a narrow sea blocked on both sides.

Under these constraints, if pirates attacked in numbers beyond what the sailors could handle, merchant ships had no choice but to be plundered.

However, it was different when traveling by land. Unlike ships, they could secure sufficient personnel, and in the desert environment, they had the time to spot approaching bandits from farther away and find appropriate countermeasureswhether to fight, flee, or negotiate.

Therefore, in the Middle East, using land routes for safety was the norm.

But this time, the merchants who came from Aden broke that norm.

What made that possible was the existence of cannons.

***

Cannons, where did they get such expensive items?

They said they got them from Joseon Theyre not the cannons we know. Theyre said to be very small.

Whats the use of small cannons?

The merchant who had shown interest at the mention of cannons rapidly lost interest when told they were small.

In response, the merchant spreading the rumor waved his hand.

They may be insufficient for destroying fortresses, but theyre perfect for killing people.

Even so

They say the pirates in the Red Sea were annihilated.

Huh?

At those words, the merchant who had been losing interest began to show interest again.

Meanwhile, behind them, the merchant sent by Henry was diligently committing it to memory.

***

The information obtained through these machinations was immediately conveyed to Henry.

Reading the reports in which the information was recorded, Henry gradually started to reach hopeful conclusions.

-Joseon people believe that the son of a god named Hwanung descended to their land and founded a nation. They say the reason Hwanung descended to earth was to widely benefit humans.

The one true God and Jesus Christ?

-Joseons nobles persecute shamans. Joseons nobles believe that shamans deceive innocent people and lead them to ruin.

-Joseon people, especially the nobles, emphasize fidelity between husband and wife. This is the same for commoners. Those who commit adultery after marriage receive severe criticism.

They follow the Ten Commandments!

-Joseons officials must refrain from work one day out of seven. Commoners have also begun to live somewhat similarly.

At least the nobles observe the Sabbath?

Analyzing the information that piled up in this way, Henry finally reached a conclusion.

Joseon is the country of Prester John! Although many parts have changed, this occurred due to long isolation!

It was Henrys fatal misjudgment.

There were several religions that believed in one God besides Catholicism, such as Judaism and Islam.

The Sabbath was the same. Jews also observed the Sabbath, and Muslims also observed the Sabbath.

The negative view of adultery between husband and wife was also the same in Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam.

The negative reaction to shamans was also the same.

Not only Joseon but also Ming did not give a good evaluation of shamanistic beliefs.

This was the influence of Confucianism.

Although Henry claimed to exercise caution, in the end, he forcibly fit the evidence to his own conclusion.

***

Around the same time. At the glass workshop in Hanseong.

You damn bastard!

What is it this time?

At Pietros nonchalant response, Raphael raised his voice.

Is the cross a talisman, huh?

Let it be according to your faith. Dont you know?

Fuck!

Raphael grabbed Pietro by the collar and gnashed his teeth.

The whole story was as follows.

Glass, due to the characteristics of its molecular structure, was a truly fragile item.

Therefore, it was a daily occurrence for glassmakers to encounter accidents where the products they had painstakingly made broke due to unintended mistakes.

Seeing Joseon people sighing over such incidents, Pietro had played a prank.

Theres a talisman we use in our homeland, would you like to try it?

Talisman? Bring paper and cinnabar?

Its not that kind of talisman

What Pietro taught them was to engrave a cross on the bottom of glass products.

Hmm

The Joseon people who heard Pietros explanation looked at him with doubtful expressions. Because they knew his usual behavior well.

Then one day, an incident occurred where a product a craftsman had painstakingly made fell to the bottom during the cooling process.

Gasp!

Not only the maker but also all the colleagues around him had faces filled with surprise and disappointment, but an anomaly occurred.

The fallen glass product was intact.

Not only the person concerned but also nearby colleagues approached in surprise at the sight of the intact glass product that had fallen from a height perfect for breaking.

How

The craftsmen carefully examining the problematic glass product discovered the cross engraved on the bottom.

I engraved it just in case, but the divine power is awesome!

Indeed!

Let me try it too

All the Joseon glassmakers began to engrave crosses on the bottoms of the glass products they made.

Of course, just because they engraved a cross didnt mean all the products would become sturdy.

Naturally, products that encountered situations where they would break did break, and only an extremely lucky few survived.

However, the craftsmen all shouted in unison.

Wow! The divine power of that Western talisman is awesome!

Therefore, Raphael ended up grabbing Pietro by the collar and growling.

You unbelieving bastard destined for hellfire! Is the cross a talisman?!

Well, they used it similarly in Italy too, you know?

Fuck!

Despite Raphaels shout, Pietro shrugged with a nonchalant expression.

***

Meanwhile, Henry, who had reached a conclusion, sought out his father the king and his brothers.

Therefore, we must secure a route to Joseon.

Are you certain that Joseon is the country of Prester John?

At the kings question, Henry answered with determination.

I believe so!

Seeing Henry like that, his older brother Duarte, who was beside him, spoke up.

Even if Joseon is not the country of Prester John, if we can pioneer a trade route, it will bring tremendous profits.

At Duartes words, King Joo I nodded. He, too, was well aware of the popularity of Joseon goods that had spread not only to the Mediterranean region but also to Northern Europe.

In the end, after contemplating for a moment, Joo I reached a conclusion.

You may proceed with the plan.