Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 692

Episode 692: Rip-off (3)

As Kim Jong-seo and the experts arrived at the site, the revision of the estimate accelerated even more.

“Yes, that’s right… it’s not a big difference compared to the estimate I brought from Seoul, but…”

“It’s all thanks to the meticulous preliminary research done by the surveying team members.”

While the employees in charge of estimates were talking like this, the manager who had gone to Kim Jong-seo violently threw down the documents and shouted.

“hey! “Take it all down!”

“yes?”

“yes?”

The employees, who were momentarily taken aback by the manager’s shout, frowned at the same time.

“Oh why!”

“If it had been like Seoul, wouldn’t they have raised the price to the point where they wouldn’t have anything to say even if they were dragged to Pocheong and cursed at, saying, ‘These bastards are cheating!’?”

The manager’s impression was further strained by the complaints of his subordinates.

“Then why don’t you guys go and ask Captain Jeoljae!”

“….”

At the manager’s shout, the employees closed their mouths and gathered up the scattered documents and asked.

“Which part needs to be fixed?”

“How dare we kill Chief Jeoljae…”

The manager finally exploded at the actions of his subordinates who quickly changed their expressions.

“Hey you bastards!”

“Wow!”

“What’s below is down and you’re avoiding people like a loach, and above is above and you’re catching people? That’s fine! “Let’s all die today, you bastards!”

“Chief, be patient!”

“Cheongsimhwan! Cheongsimhwan!”

The employees were trying to calm down the manager, who exploded with stress and sadness at the same time as he was caught in the middle.

* * *

There was a reason for the explosion of exaggeration.

The survey team members conducted a thorough preliminary survey, but as the survey became more detailed, changes emerged here and there.

Each time, the employees in charge of the estimate revised the estimate and submitted it to Kim Jong-seo.

Then Kim Jong-seo’s answer was consistent.

“Is it really going to be like this? “Please increase the number.”

“I’ve raised it enough, but…”

“Did you feel anything while coming here? It’s definitely not an easy road. Also, what is the climate like and what is the water like? “No matter how good you say it, you can never say it’s good, right?”

“That’s right.”

“In other words, wouldn’t it take at least 20 or at least 30 here to do the work that would take 10 people back home? Are only people like that? Shouldn’t we prepare enough parts in advance to be used when servicing an excavator or tow truck? If something breaks and you don’t have any parts, you’ll have to play for at least half a year. “Isn’t it all about money?”

“… That’s true.”

“So make the numbers a little bigger.”

“…yes.”

The opposite of this was equally as frustrating.

“…According to new research data, it appears that costs in this area can be reduced somewhat.”

Upon hearing the manager’s report, Kim Jong-seo put down the black bean tea he was drinking and looked at the manager.

“Why are you doing this?”

‘Why are you looking at me like that? ‘I didn’t make any mistakes, right?’

Kim Jong-seo must have read the manager’s inner thoughts when he answered with a pitiful expression.

“Why reduce it?”

“yes? Of course…”

“It seems like it can be reduced now, but isn’t it a variable that can change as construction progresses? “Don’t you think about that?”

The manager had no choice but to bow his head at Kim Jong-seo’s words.

“I will stick with the original quote.”

“No, didn’t you understand what I said ‘variable’? Doesn’t the change mean that it can decrease or increase? Stretch it out a little more.”

“…yes.”

The process of criticizing Kim Jong-seo took a long, long sigh.

“Whoa~. “I wonder if it was luck or misfortune that the officials

from the Ministry of Finance and Economy did not come together….” When carrying out the construction of the railway construction, the most difficult opponents were the officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy officials were the ones who took records of all deposits and withdrawals for three years, which was basically half a year, and checked every single coin to see if any money was spent in vain. As they dealt with such officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy, they became accustomed to entering the correct amount in everything they did.

Thanks to this, it was natural that a psychological rejection reaction occurred every time Kim Jong-seo’s orders were carried out.

At least Kim Jong-seo was able to survive by hypnotizing himself with excuses he told the employees.

Kim Jong-seo smiled in remorse as he looked at the estimate that was taking shape more and more clearly through the hard work of the employees.

“Hmm… Isn’t it time to come now?”

Kim Jong-seo was slowly gathering his fighting spirit as he looked at the accommodations of allied representatives visible through the window.

“Do you dare try to pull a trick against the empire?”

* * *

July, Year 7 of the Imperial Calendar (1455).

Finally, high-level representatives of the Allies arrived in Suez.

“It was later than expected.”

Kim Jong-seo smiled and accepted the words of his subordinate.

“Isn’t it time-consuming to cross the desert from the north to Suez here? “Of course, this is just an excuse and they must have gathered among themselves first and talked about it.”

“Ah…”

Kim Jong-seo continued, looking at the official nodding at Kim Jong-seo’s answer.

“Now that we’ve arrived, the invitation will come in about five days. Under the pretext of relieving travel fatigue. Of course, it will be a matter of suppressing the momentum on the inside.”

“Are you suppressing the momentum?”

“It must be a vain attempt to suppress the momentum. But I made a mistake. “It’s not us who are in urgent need, it’s them.”

“Ah…”

Kim Jong-seo leaned back in his chair with a relaxed expression as he watched his subordinates nodding their heads repeatedly.

“Either way, we just have to do our job. ah! “Don’t forget to check in with the surveyors and estimators.”

“I will tell you to block their access.”

“It’s important to prevent access, but you also have to be careful about mindlessly spreading things around. “Tell them to refrain from going to nearby bars for the time being.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Kim Jong-seo’s prediction was exactly right.

Exactly five days later, invitations from representatives of the allied countries arrived.

“It’s finally starting.”

After checking the invitation, Kim Jong-seo stood up leisurely.

* * *

The meeting between the empire and the alliance began around sunset to avoid the midday heat.

“Nice to meet you. “My name is Kim Jong-seo, Minister of General Affairs of the Korean Federal Empire.”

Starting with Kim Jong-seo’s self-introduction, allied representatives also began to introduce themselves.

Henry of Portugal and Giovanni of Florence, as well as confidants of kings and sultans from France and the Ottoman Empire, came forward as representatives and introduced themselves.

After introducing ourselves and brief greetings, the meeting disguised as a banquet began.

“Our French prepared a meal today.”

Kim Jong-seo received the words from the French representative with his eyes shining slightly.

“Oh really? “I’m really looking forward to it because it’s the cuisine of France, a country renowned for its power.”

“You will be fully satisfied.”

The French representative responded with a smile and gave a signal to the servants by lightly clapping his hands.

After receiving the signal, the servants brought in bowls filled with water for the delegates to wash their hands and began to place them in front of the delegates.

Representatives of the alliance looked with curiosity to see what Kim Jong-seo would do. According to the data they obtained, this was because the Imperial and Ming Dynasties used chopsticks and did not wash their hands.

If Kim Jong-seo did something else without washing his hands, such as drinking, the intention was to use this as an opportunity to put psychological pressure on him.

However, Kim Jong-seo’s actions exceeded their expectations.

“Definitely, this area suffers from a lot of dust.”

While saying that, Kim Jong-seo leisurely washed his hands and wiped them clean with the linen towel placed next to him.

The French representative, with a chewed expression on his face as he watched Kim Jong-seo behave elegantly according to European etiquette, clapped his hands again.

Kim Jong-seo looked at the scene with a kind smile and muttered to himself.

‘It doesn’t deviate even an inch from His Majesty’s expectations.’

* * *

“They will use every petty tactic to break the spirit of our empire. “We will have to prepare for this as much as possible.”

After saying this, Hyang called all the European university professors working at the research institute and ordered them to do so.

“Make sure to teach them how to walk, behave, and eat etiquette in accordance with the etiquette of European nobles!”

At the direction of the township, professors rigorously trained officials belonging to the delegation.

Some ministers questioned Hyang about such harsh training.

“The Empire is also a country with excellent etiquette since ancient times. But is there any need to learn the etiquette of those monks?”

Hyang immediately responded to the ministers’ comments.

“Everyone knows that etiquette is different in each country. But they have a strong pride that they are superior. Therefore, they will laugh at those who do not know their manners. But if we follow our own laws properly and they fail to follow ours, wouldn’t we be able to laugh at them? “It means that we can capture the ship they were trying to capture first.”

All the ministers who questioned Hyang’s words had no choice but to nod their heads and keep their mouths shut.

And as a result of such harsh training, the representatives of the empire who attended the banquet enjoyed the banquet while accurately observing European etiquette.

Seeing the imperial delegation like that, I shook my head slightly and glared at the French representative.

‘I guess this is all I had in mind….’

‘I still didn’t know what kind of place the empire was.’

And Henrique and Giovanni came to the same conclusion.

‘It was difficult from the beginning.’

And their predictions were correct.

* * *

The full-scale talks began two days after the banquet, which also served as a meeting ceremony, ended.

“You all requested that you want to lay a railroad in this area, so our empire dispatched experts to conduct an investigation. “To conclude, it is not an easy task.”

The alliance representatives’ impressions began to fade as Kim Jong-seo said, clearly showing his true intentions, saying, ‘You guys have been whining so much that I looked into it, and I’m sure I’ll lose some money.’

Henrik, who emptied the glass of water in front of him, asked Kim Jong-seo a question on behalf of the representatives.

“So how much do you estimate it will cost?”

In response to Henry’s question, Kim Jong-seo gestured to the officials waiting behind him. After seeing Kim Jong-seo’s gesture, the officials placed a thick folder on each representative’s seat.

“The number written on the second page is the estimated construction amount, and from then on it is recorded in detail for each field.”

The representatives who passed the cover while listening to Kim Jong-seo’s words widened their eyes when they saw the numbers written in large letters.

“Sigh!”

“Huh!”

The representatives took a deep breath at the enormous amount and checked the numbers once again. Eventually, not long after, Henry asked Kim Jong-seo.

“Is this amount correct?”

“For now, this is the bare minimum. “It is highly likely that it will increase further depending on what variables emerge as construction progresses.”

The French representative shouted at Kim Jong-seo’s answer.

“I can not believe it!”

Kim Jong-seo, who heard the French representative’s shout through an interpreter, strengthened his expression and added strength to his voice.

“Do you see our empire as a fraud? “If you think about the trade that has been going on with our empire, you probably have a good idea of what kind of country our empire is, right?”

The French representative remained silent at Kim Jong-seo’s words. Imperial goods were famous for their reliability. Although the goods coming from the empire were expensive, they were always worth the price.

Thanks to this, the ‘Land of Flowers’ was a symbol of trust.

“But it’s still too much.”

Kim Jong-seo immediately responded to Henry’s words.

“Then wouldn’t it be okay to give up the railroad? Again, you guys asked for it first. “I never asked for our empire to lay a railroad.”

It was Kim Jong-seo who threw a strong attack, saying, ‘If you can’t do it, turn the board over.’