Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 629

Episode 629: Their Choice (9)

Because of these intentions, Hyang immediately approved the negotiation plan submitted by Heo Hu.

The envoy of Yu Gu-guk, who judged that he had achieved the best result, raised his voice and bowed to Hyang.

“Hwang Eun is devastated! Our country will never forget Your Majesty’s grace and the Empire’s good will. “The trust between our two countries will last forever!”

“I hope so too, Jim.”

“It will definitely happen!”

The envoy bowed deeply to Hyang’s words and pledged once again, walking backwards and leaving Geunjeongjeon.

The envoy who left Geunjeongjeon tried to get a confirmation once again from Heo Hu, who had accompanied him to see him off.

“The weapons and garrison troops that the empire decided to support will definitely come, right?”

“exactly. Again, once the agreement is properly signed through our country’s envoy accompanying the stationed troops, work will proceed as soon as possible. However, if the signing fails, our country will return on the spot.”

The messenger immediately responded to Heo Hu’s words.

“That will never happen!”

“You must do that.”

* * *

Not long after the return of the envoys from the Kingdom of Yugu, the empire also began to move in earnest.

This movement naturally attracted the attention of foreign merchants and officials staying at the Mokpo trade port, and reports were sent to their respective home countries.

In this process, a strange consensus began to form among foreign officials staying at the trade port.

-There is a need for officials in charge of diplomacy to reside in Seoul, the capital of the empire.

Until now, a small number of officials were stationed in Mokpo, a major trading port. Of course, although they were called officials, most of them were interpreters, not high-ranking officials who had their own right to make decisions.

Although there were interpreters in the empire, it was because deploying interpreters from their own country who could speak the imperial language could reduce losses even a little.

* * *

It was toward the end of Gyeongjang that interpreters from other countries began to be stationed at trade ports.

This was when Joseon began to show its presence as an emerging powerhouse in international trade.

As a result of King Sejong’s active acceptance of Hyang’s proposal at the time, the Saeokwon trained interpreters who could speak the languages of countries trading with Joseon in addition to the Ming and Japanese countries.

The newly trained interpreters were very different in character from the existing interpreters. They were not only responsible for simple interpretation, but were also highly educated in the knowledge of the culture and laws of the country.

And the interpreters trained in this way played an active role in maximizing Joseon’s interests not only at Mokpo’s trade port but also at trade ports in other countries.

And other countries, seeing this, began training interpreters who learned the Korean language.

And the interpreters trained in this way stayed at the trade port in Mokpo and helped the merchants in their country with commercial transactions or intervened when disputes arose.

* * *

The governments of each country that received the interpreters’ documents containing these contents began to seriously consider this.

Regardless of East or West, it was extremely rare for countries bordering each other to have good relations.

And Joseon, which had bowed down to the Ming Dynasty, changed its name to the Korean Federal Empire and became the strongest power in the region, but it also became a supply line for the latest weapons.

Therefore, it was necessary to find out as quickly as possible what was going on between the empire and other countries, especially countries with which it was not on good terms.

To achieve this, it was necessary to have an official of a certain level stationed at the headquarters of the empire, even in the capital.

Countries that reached this point began sending envoys to Seoul to negotiate on this matter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Norihiro, who had just arrived at the Waegwan in Busanpo, gained appetite after hearing rumors about the various events that had taken place between the Yugu Kingdom and the Empire.

“Oh my… I’m a step late.”

Morimi, the previous head of the family, Mochiyo, and Norihiro, the current shoguns of the family shogunate, had a long-cherished wish to ‘leave Japan from Japan’.

This was not a simple idea of breaking away from the outdated, backward Japanese state that had continued until now and becoming a developed nation like Joseon.

The plan was to throw away the old ways, establish a strong central government, and then expand its power like Joseon to become a great country.

To achieve this, centralization, which was the first thing to be done, was almost finished with the establishment of the shogunate.

Since there were still quite a few arrogant people who rebelled against them, they were negotiating with the empire to suppress them.

Once the internal organization was completed, the government would begin to strengthen its power in earnest and expand its influence outside of the Japanese Empire.

The problem was that the Ryukyus were absolutely necessary for this external expansion to occur properly.

To the Japanese nation, Ryukyu had value beyond a simple transit point. It was because of an unexpected weakness that the Japanese Empire had.

The Japanese country lacked the technology to build large ships. And because of this problem, there was no navigational skills capable of long-distance voyages.

Although there was a Gyeonmyeong ship that carried envoys from Japan to the Ming, its size was smaller than the ships operated by Joseon or Ming at the same time.

However, the Ryukyus, which traded not only with the Ming but also with Southeast Asia such as Daewue and Seomla, had the technology to build large ships and long-distance navigation skills.

Therefore, the Japanese government had to acquire Ryukyu. However, before the Japanese government could do anything, Ryukyu fell into the shadow of the empire.

Norihiro, who was licking his lips with regret, spit out a harsh Korean swear word.

“Fuck! Damn Shimazu bastards!”

* * *

Norihiro, who came up to Seoul by train from Dongrae, visited Geunjeongjeon and offered his greetings to Hyang.

“Thank you for coming. “I hope you get good results.”

“Hwang Eun is devastated!”

Norihiro came out with a sigh and continued his talks with Hu Hu at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“So, has there been a conclusion?”

In response to Heohu’s question, Norihiro cautiously opened his mouth.

“yes. “In the grand scheme of things, you have concluded that it is reasonable to accept the empire’s proposal.”

“Big frame?”

When Heohu frowned slightly, Norihiro continued speaking.

“The license fee is too high!”

“charge? A Japanese rifle costs 2 imperial silver coins, and a Japanese freight car costs 10 imperial silver coins per door? Do you know how much a new one costs?”

“Of course, it is much cheaper than buying a new product, but don’t you have to pay money to buy the steel needed to make rifles and freight cars, as well as the copper plates filled with ignition powder? “You need to think about that too!”

In response to Norihiro’s protest, Heohu asked back with an indifferent expression.

“How much does it cost to make that much steel in the country? “No, can you make it?”

“….”

Norihiro’s mouth closed at Huhu’s point.

* * *

Heo Hu’s comment was a painful one.

It was a known fact that Japan’s iron-making technology was one to two generations behind that of the Ming and Joseon Dynasty.

Contrary to that fact, the excellence of Japanese swords was also famous in China and Joseon. However, this was a luxury item made with great effort by the swordsmith, and mass production was absolutely impossible.

Therefore, these excellent Japanese swords were only available to famous samurai and feudal lords, and most warriors or ordinary soldiers had to fight with low-quality Japanese swords or spears.

Because of this background, the master of the Ouchi family was impressed when he saw the Joseon’s chief gun brought in for the battle against the Muromachi shogunate.

“It’s a weapon given to tens or hundreds of soldiers, but the quality of the steel is this good! “I can’t believe steel, which is perfect for making famous swords, is so common!”

In the end, Ouchi, once again realizing their backward technological level, devoted all his energy to kidnapping craftsmen from the Ming Dynasty during the war between Joseon and the Ming Dynasty.

Even though he did his best to bring craftsmen and their families from Ming Dynasty to Japan, Shogun Mochiyo could not be happy.

– In order to make high-quality steel in large quantities, you need high-quality ore, high-quality firewood, and skilled craftsmen. But now all you have is skilled craftsmen!

– The issue of ore is firewood, even if you use private railways! Mass production is impossible with charcoal alone!

Mochiyo could not help but let out a long sigh at the common answer given by the craftsmen brought in from the Ming Dynasty.

“Then we have to find it.”

Eventually, according to Mochiyo’s orders, the prospectors directly under the shogunate and the troops to guard them were dispersed to Honshu and Kyushu.

During this process, feudal lords who rebelled against the Ouchi shogunate carried out sabotage operations, and as a result of a chain reaction, Ouchi promoted licensed production of Japanese rifles and freight cars.

“This is what happened already! “Let’s wipe it out!”

* * *

“But the license fee is too expensive! Considering the high quality and rarity of things like iron and sparkler, it can be said to be a reasonable price, but I think it is excessive to ask you to pay such a high price for a rifle and a few drawings of a freight car.”

At Norihiro’s words, Heohu’s expression turned fierce.

“How many blueprints? How many did you say?”

Heo Hu growled in an extremely angry voice.

“Since Gap-sik is followed by Eul-sik, does it seem like a simple continuation? Do you know how many craftsmen worked hard to create that one design? No, not only the craftsmen but also His Majesty, who was the Crown Prince at the time, put all their effort into it! But there are only a few!”

To tell the truth, the Hyang at that time enjoyed the time very happily.

It’s the truth. Anyway, Heo Hu was so angry that he jumped up from his seat and stretched out his arms toward the door.

“Get out now! “There will be no further discussion about licenses!”

Surprised by Heohu’s order to congratulate the guests, Norihiro fell flat on his seat.

“I’m sorry! I made a mistake! Please calm down your anger!”

‘No matter how pro-German I am, if this negotiation fails, it will be over! ‘If you do seppuku, you’ll be lucky, but at least it’s beheading!’

“Get out now!”

“Oh my goodness! “The little man made a mistake!”

Norihiro’s desperate begging, even using the word ‘small person’, seemed to have worked. After taking several deep breaths to cool off his anger, Heohu strongly warned Norihiro.

“I will never again forgive any remarks that insult His Majesty. Please keep that in mind.”

“I will keep this in mind!”

In a flurry of commotion, Heohu was completely overpowered, but Norihiro also persisted.

“Our country is a poor country. Please lower the license fee even a little.”

“Then why not just buy it instead of making it yourself?”

“There are still many ruthless people who rebel against the shogunate, so there is a lot of unrest.”

“Uh huh~. How can you try to solve everything only through defeat? “We must inspire them with good words and good deeds.”

“It’s impossible for them to communicate with each other…”

Heohu muttered to himself at Norihiro’s words.

‘Are you talking about someone else?’

After a tedious tug-of-war, Heohu came to a conclusion that was not a conclusion.

“I will report this to His Majesty the Emperor and receive an answer.”

“Please give me good results!”

Heohu responded to Norihiro’s words with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“As I said before, the Japanese rifle and boxcar are items that His Majesty also shows affection for…”

“Still, I would like to ask you a favor!”

Heohu, who sent Norihiro out, smiled and organized the documents.