Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 500

Episode 500 The one who earns, the one who writes. (2)

When King Sejong had just arrived at the bridgehead in Shinji, all the officials and soldiers staying at the beachhead came out to welcome King Sejong.

“I’d like to meet your Majesty the Lord!”

“I’d like to meet your Majesty the Lord!”

“Thank you for your hard work. “You can stand up.”

Sejong raised the officials and soldiers and shook hands with the officials and soldiers standing in front of him.

“You really did a good job. Good job.”

The officials and soldiers who shook hands with King Sejong and received praise were so moved that they shed tears.

“I just did my job! “I am truly flattered that you praise me like this!”

“I am devastated!”

“Your Majesty the Lord, live forever!”

“A thousand years old!”

“A thousand years old!”

The officials and soldiers who were thrilled by King Sejong’s reign shouted at the top of their lungs for Cheonse.

* * *

After the fever of the century had passed, Queen Soheon and her concubines moved to previously prepared accommodations, and King Sejong, along with his officials, moved to the new land development headquarters established in the center of the bridgehead.

Sejong entered the conference room of the pioneer headquarters and began to check the current situation.

“Please bring the documents that have not yet been sent to Hanseong.”

“You’ve had a hard time on a long voyage. Wouldn’t it be right for you to rest first?”

“I am concerned that the body may be damaged.”

Officials, worried that King Sejong, who was tired from the long voyage, might get in trouble, tried to stop him, but King Sejong resolutely refused.

“Seeing what you guys are wearing makes me lose all desire to rest.”

The officials looked embarrassed at King Sejong’s words.

The official uniforms were neatly washed upon hearing the news that King Sejong was coming, but most of them were very washed and faded.

“Hurry and bring the documents.”

“yes.”

* * *

After a while, a lot of documents began to pile up in the conference room.

As the documents piled up, King Sejong continued to ask questions.

“Are the replacements of those deployed here at the bridgehead and in the eastern Daehogun going well?”

“Yes, low-level soldiers and officials are rotated once every year and a half, and executives are rotated once every two years.”

“Why are there differences?”

“If both the top and bottom are changed at once, an unfortunate situation may occur that disrupts the progress of tasks in that area. In order to prevent this, we have differentiated rates. Likewise, in terms of exchange with the mainland, low-level officials and soldiers are replaced every three years, and executives are replaced every five years.”

“is it? “That part is fortunate.”

King Sejong nodded as if he felt relieved at the officials’ answers.

* * *

This natural rotation system was created through accumulated experience.

The deployment of administrative officials was essential to handle Joseon’s territory, which had expanded beyond the northeastern region where the Jurchen tribe had been established and extended to Daeseoldo and the northern islands.

However, having to live in an unfamiliar foreign country without an appointment caused a decline in the morale of officials and soldiers.

“Shit! “This is exile!”

To prevent the morale of officials and soldiers from declining, Joseon began to actively utilize the rotational deployment system.

The goal was to prevent morale from falling by conducting rotational deployments between the bridgehead area and the outskirts, where Joseonization was most advanced, and between the mainland of Joseon and foreign countries. In addition, he maintained the morale of officials and soldiers by offering carrots such as higher rewards for working in foreign countries.

* * *

As the saying goes, ‘Personnel matters everything’, after confirming that there were no major problems with the personnel issues he thought were most urgent, Sejong began to look at the documents with a more relaxed expression.

However, the more the documents were read, the worse King Sejong’s face became. Thanks to this, the fact that officials became restless was an added bonus.

“Whoa~.”

After briefly examining the documents piled up in front of him, Sejong let out a long sigh and opened his mouth.

“There are still many things missing.”

The contents of the documents submitted to King Sejong were largely the same.

-We are working on various things and have achieved various results. But in order to get proper results, various things are needed.

To summarize even more simply:

‘Send me this, send me that, send me everything!’

The most senior among the officials came forward and explained King Sejong’s evaluation.

“We have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out the approximate geographical information of Shinji, and it has not been long since the steam engine and other important items arrived. Because of this, there are many things lacking.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than another official came forward and took up the conversation.

“Not only that, even though I only had a rough idea, the size of this new land is beyond imagination. Even if the equipment that has arrived now is working properly, there will continue to be a shortage for a considerable period of time.”

“We have been making requests for several years, but the government keeps putting it off due to budgetary issues.”

“The good news is that this new land is rich in all kinds of resources to make the country rich. “If we start operating with a proper foundation, not only the new land itself but also the mainland will have less worries.”

In the end, a positive answer came out, but King Sejong answered with a sour expression.

“That story was confirmed by the report.”

* * *

‘The land of Shinji is overflowing with all kinds of minerals, including iron and coal!’

When the government received the results of the survey sent by prospectors from the mainland a few years ago, all the major and small officials, starting with King Sejong, cheered.

Looking at the reactions of King Sejong and the ministers, Hyang muttered to himself.

‘The land itself is a cheat!’

* * *

“Hmm….”

Sejong, who was glaring at the documents while listening to the officials’ answers, soon came to a conclusion.

“First of all, figure out what you need right now.”

“yes?”

“Things needed right now. “For example, things that would cause problems in survival without them, such as medicine or weapons.”

“Oh yeah!”

The officials who understood King Sejong’s order began to organize the documents.

“You have to put that in.”

“Even if you take this out….”

“You can’t take it out!”

When the issue of choosing a meal arose, the conference room quickly became noisy. All officials argued that it was necessary to smoothly carry out their duties and refuted the claims of others.

Preoccupied with such a heated war of words, the officials forgot the existence of King Sejong.

“Huh!”

“omg!”

The officials who had been arguing so much realized that King Sejong was sitting at the head table. The frightened officials immediately prostrated themselves on the floor.

“Showing such disgrace! “Here comes the Emperor!”

“Please forgive the gods for their indecency!”

King Sejong waved his hand at the officials’ meeting with an expression that it was no big deal.

“It’s okay. “Because it looks familiar.”

“yes?”

“Anyway, have you chosen everything now?”

“yes? yes. “That’s right!”

King Sejong muttered as he looked at the documents in response to the officials’ response.

“It’s still a bit much. Let’s see….”

Afterwards, the officials went crazy with King Sejong. As a result, the officials’ selection was reduced by 1/3, and only then was King Sejong satisfied.

“This is fine.”

* * *

Two days later, the fleet carrying King Sejong was ready to return.

“Admiral Kang.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

King Sejong called the admiral commanding the fleet and handed him a large wooden box through the inner coffin.

“As soon as you arrive in Wonsan, send it to the royal court immediately. There is also a letter I wrote in it.”

Admiral Kang immediately responded to King Sejong’s order.

“yes! “I will definitely do that!”

“Please take care of me.”

“I will do my best!”

And Admiral Kang faithfully carried out the orders he received.

As soon as he arrived in Wonsan, Admiral Kang immediately requested a special flight and immediately delivered the box in question to Hanseong.

* * *

The box sent by King Sejong went straight to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

‘It contains a handwritten letter from King Sejong.’ Due to this fact alone, the wooden box in question was delivered directly to the township without any intermediate process, and ministers were summoned to Seunghwadang.

“Abama sent a letter.”

“Are there quite a lot of letters?”

“You’ll find out when you open it.”

Hyang opened the box and took out King Sejong’s letter from inside. After checking the seal and seal on the envelope, Hyang opened the envelope and took out a sign.

“Please see the Crown Prince and the Minister…”

The contents of the letter, which began calmly, were as follows.

-After safely arriving at Shinji and checking the situation, there was a big difference from what I heard in Hanseong.

-This is not considered a problem of manipulation or corruption, but a time difference problem.

-As a result, there are more things needed in Hanseong than expected.

-For that reason, please secure the items in the list enclosed below and send them to Shinji as soon as possible.

-Also, those in Shinji are thirsty for news from the mainland. I am also worried about the situation in Japan and Europe that I heard about just before leaving. Therefore, regularly operate a ship dedicated solely to delivering information.

-For ships to transmit information, it would be better to first allocate a sailboat, but later build a dedicated ship that focuses on speed rather than load.

“… That is all.”

After reading the letter, Hyang handed it to Hwang Hee. After Hwang Hee and the ministers took turns reading the letters, Hyang asked:

“What do you think?”

“I think regular lines of communication are reasonable.”

“That’s right.”

Hyang nodded at the ministers’ reactions. Although the county was said to be in charge of all political affairs, it was a proxy government. Asking and receiving answers from King Sejong on issues such as diplomacy and national defense could reduce the likelihood of political problems arising.

The government quickly made a decision due to the positive response from ministers.

“Then, let’s proceed according to Abamama’s wishes. Let us secure the supplies that Abamama has asked us to send as quickly as possible and send them to Shinji, and also organize a liner to handle communications. And the development of dedicated lines will be promoted as quickly as possible within the budget limit.”

“I follow your orders.”

“I will look into the available budget.”

The ministers pushed ahead with the work in a smooth manner. Hyang, who was looking at the ministers like that, suddenly became serious.

‘what? Is it cheap all of a sudden? ‘Why do I feel this cheap feeling?’

And as the situation in Japan changed, I learned why the scent felt cold.

* * *

Seong Sam-mun and Han Myeong-hoe, who had been dispatched to find out about the situation in Japan, reported this to Hyang.

-It is certain that a great battle will take place between the Daenae clan and the shogunate in the spring.

Jo Mal-saeng nodded at the conclusion of Seong Sam-moon and Han Myeong-hoe.

“It is reasonable. Winter is too cold to take action, and summer is too hot to fight. In particular, the rainy season in Japan is long and the weather is humid in the summer, so gunpowder can be thrown away if you make a mistake. “Autumn is the harvest season, so if we start a war at this time, the entire year’s crops will be ruined and we will go hungry.”

“So there is no answer other than spring?”

“That’s right.”

Hyang also nodded in response to Jo Mal-saeng’s answer.

“I agree.”

However, even in spring, the Japanese country was still in a lull.

The biggest reason for this was the conditions imposed on arms sales.

-I will not sell it without Daenae’s guarantee!

After hearing the conditions, the lords of the Japanese kingdom had to make a choice.

“The shogunate said they would just give it to me…”

“That’s not true, didn’t they just say you have to pay for it later?”

“If you listen to the story, it is said that the Joseon-made Deppo has better performance…”

After much deliberation, the feudal lords began to choose between Ouchi and the Shogunate.

At first, most of them were on the wait-and-see side, but when they heard a rumor that a neighboring fiefdom – with whom they generally did not get along well – had brought in gunpowder weapons, they were forced to make a choice.

As the situation progressed, there was a lull. This was because both the Ouchi and the shogunate were busy arranging traffic to ensure smooth coordination between the feudal lords who had joined them.

Military forces refrained from fighting in order to train the suddenly increased number of musketeers.

As the Japanese situation changed, a huge amount of sales money came into Joseon, and King Sejong was not about to ignore it.