Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 716

Episode 716: The Second Battle of the Yellow Sea (14)

The military port headquarters building at Nantong Naval Port.

In the negotiation room set up in the headquarters conference room, the imperial and Ming negotiating teams sat together.

From the beginning of the negotiations, the fighting spirit between both sides was great.

The start of the fight was who would enter first.

“No matter how much it was renamed as an empire, Joseon has always been our vassal state! Of course, Joseon must enter first!”

“It’s not Joseon, it’s the Korean Federal Empire! And when did you get out of being a vassal, but are you still a vassal? And since the people who requested negotiations first are Myung, of course Myung should go in first and wait!”

“what! If this happens, I refuse to negotiate!”

Kim Jong-seo, who heard the threats from the Ming envoys, snorted and looked back at Cho Jin-woong.

“joy! “The imperial army needs to work harder.”

At Kim Jong-seo’s meaningful words, Jo Jin-woong nodded with a wry smile.

“Of course.”

As such, the negotiations were doomed before they even began, and the imperial army moved up the Yangtze River little by little and gradually reduced the villages and cities near the Yangtze River to ashes.

Finally, five days later, someone from the negotiation team came.

“The head of the negotiation team has been replaced. “I would like to start negotiations again.”

“Please enter first.”

“…I will.”

* * *

The next day, Kim Jong-seo and his party entered the negotiation room.

Inside the negotiation room, a negotiator with a chewed-up face was waiting in advance.

“Thank you for your hard work in coming this far.”

Kim Jong-seo nodded lightly in response to the words of the Ming negotiator.

“That’s right. “If someone hadn’t done something useless, we wouldn’t have had to go through this trouble.”

“Crack!”

“Oh my! Do you think your teeth are bad? One of the five fortunes is Chibok, tsk, tsk, tsk…”

The head of the Ming Dynasty negotiation team, who was gritting his teeth at Kim Jong-seo’s tongue-clicking, managed to control his anger and continued speaking.

“My name is Wu Si and Jang Gyeong-guk, the royal officials in charge of these negotiations.”

“You’re saying we shouldn’t negotiate.”

Kim Jong-seo immediately stood up after Jang Gyeong-guk’s self-introduction.

“Why are you doing that?”

Jang Gyeong-guk urgently asked the reason, but Kim Jong-seo asked back with a face full of displeasure.

“You should have already received the directory of our empire’s negotiating team, right? But Woo Si-rang appears as the leader? You look down on the Empire so contemptuously! I understand very well the attitude with which Myung is approaching these negotiations! “You’re talking about war, not negotiation!”

As soon as he spoke, Kim Jong-seo stormed out of the negotiation room.

As the negotiations broke down again, the imperial army began to break things down and move around again.

Finally, after another three days, negotiations resumed with Ye Bu-sang-seo appearing as the representative of the negotiating team.

* * *

“These are the conditions our empire demands from the Ming.”

As Kim Jong-seo finished speaking, Han Myeong-hoe, who was serving as an aide, held out a scroll.

As soon as he opened the scroll he was handed and checked its contents, he let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~.”

The requirements presented by the empire were as follows.

-For Tianjin, the military port in Qingdao will not be rebuilt.

-No military ports will be built north of the Shandong Peninsula, including the three above. However, a small port can be built for commerce or fishing.

-Myung limits the number of fronts to avoid creating unnecessary tension between the two countries.

The total number of large ships does not exceed 20 ships, and the number of medium ships and small ships combined does not exceed 100 ships.

Construction of very large wires such as double-headed dragons is prohibited.

-Myeong compensates for the economic losses of the Korean Federal Empire caused by this war.

Compensation is paid in kind silver or other resources equivalent to 70 million taels of gold.

-The type of resource compensated in lieu of silver will be designated by the empire, and the value will be determined by the empire. However, a title official is present during this process to confirm.

“Whoa~.”

As Yebusangseo continued to sigh, Kim Jongseo spoke with a slight smile.

“But hasn’t our empire made a lot of concessions? Our Majesty is so kind that he shows such mercy even to his enemies…”

‘That sounds like mercy! Who from where!’

Forcefully swallowing the words that were about to come out, Ye Bu Sang-seo opened his mouth with difficulty.

“The compensation is too much.”

“Hoo? “Is the person who paid the 50 million taels of gold in compensation for the last war complaining?”

“At that time…”

Ye Bu Sang-seo couldn’t answer properly and trailed off.

* * *

At the time of the last war, Ming national power was at its peak.

With Emperor Seondeok’s full support, commerce and industry flourished and money flowed from all directions.

Thanks to this, they were able to afford to pay a large sum of 50 million taels of gold as compensation.

But not now. A lot of money was spent to repair the damage suffered in the previous war and the civil war.

And after escaping from the damage, a huge amount of financial expenditure was made to rebuild the naval power, including the construction of the Two-Headed Flame Dragon.

In the end, the family’s finances were barely holding on.

‘I’m going to take revenge by giving him a big blow, and I’m going to take compensation and get some breathing room in my finances.’

This was the purpose of Ming’s actions this time.

* * *

“Whoa~.”

Yebusangseo let out a long sigh again and listened to Kim Jongseo.

“I’ll be honest. Do you think this compensation makes sense? “It wasn’t an all-out war like the last one.”

“It is an all-out war. It’s because you can’t see tens of thousands of armies moving at once like on land. “You probably know that the number of troops mobilized by both our Empire and the Ming is formidable, right?”

What Kim Jong-seo said was true.

The smallest small ship had about 10 sailors on board, and the much larger Challenger-class ships or large ships, which were equipped with dozens of guns, had at least 300 sailors on board – an average of 500 people.

Simply put, the naval battle that took place this time was a large-scale all-out war that involved tens of thousands of troops, just like on land.

“I will admit that the number of troops mobilized is large. But didn’t hundreds of thousands of people mobilize like in the last war? “Of course, this cannot be seen as an all-out war, and I think the amount of compensation is excessive.”

“Do you know how much a ship of wire costs? “You have to think about that!”

“Not a single one of your ships has sunk! “All the sunken fronts are in our name!”

Ye Bu-sang-seo, who was screaming loudly, was filled with tears of shame. Although I was telling the truth, it was because it was such a shameful truth.

‘I can’t believe I have to say these words and beg! What should I do with this shame!’

Kim Jong-seo still smiled at Yebu Sang-seo’s words.

“Thanks to the Heavenly Rain Creed, no ships have sunk among the front lines of our empire. However, there are many ships that have suffered major or minor injuries and require repairs. And even if the ship escaped sinking, there are many dead or injured soldiers, so wouldn’t it be necessary to pay for rescuing them?”

“Even so, it’s too much!”

“Then you shouldn’t have done it.”

“urg!”

“Great man!”

“Great man!”

Yebu Sang-seo, who was about to shout something at Kim Jong-seo’s words, lost consciousness for a moment and fell backwards.

Negotiations were stopped due to a sudden accident.

“When Sang-seo regains his strength, how about we continue again?”

Kim Jong-seo nodded at Jang Gyeong-guk’s request.

“I will accept Wu Sirang’s request. “Let’s do that.”

“Then, could you please stop fighting for a while?”

Kim Jong-seo shook his head at Jang Gyeong-guk’s words.

“If there is no negotiation, there is no truce. However, given the current situation, I will ask you to stop fighting for two days.”

Jang Gyeong-guk bowed his head in response to Kim Jong-seo’s answer.

“This mother-in-law (so-and-so). “I will never forget your kindness.”

“I hope that Sang-seo quickly recovers his strength and returns to the negotiation table.”

On the third day, Yebusangseo was able to return to the negotiation room.

Although the Yebusangseo was returned, negotiations were stalled due to the compensation clause.

“Okay. Then we will split the compensation and pay compensation.”

“Compensation in installments? “How many years?”

“50 years!”

“Let’s just fight. “At this point, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a look around Nanjing.”

“Then how many years would you like for the empire?”

“10 years. “I won’t bargain.”

Yebu Sang-seo, who had been weighing up Kim Jong-seo’s resolute answer, suggested an alternative.

“Okay. 10 years. step! I would like to exchange an amount equivalent to half of the compensation in exchange for land. “I will give you the Shandong Peninsula.”

Kim Jong-seo, upon hearing Yebu Sang-seo’s proposal, immediately rejected it as if there was no need to think about it.

“I don’t need land. “I will split it over 10 years and receive only silver and resources.”

After that, negotiations continued. However, since the hilt of the sword was held by the empire, Ming had no choice but to continue to be dragged along.

Meanwhile, the imperial army was steadily carrying out a demonstration of force around the Yangtze River.

In the end, the Ming negotiating team had no choice but to accept the empire’s demands.

However, the Empire also made a slight concession, increasing the number of great ships from 20 to 40.

“They say it’s to deal with pirates, so we have to take that into account.”

“If we do something wrong, the Southwestern Province and its affiliated islands could be in danger.”

Kim Jong-seo smiled secretly at Han Myeong-hoe’s words.

“If that happens, you won’t be able to see the sea. Even though the sea is just around the corner.”

“That’s true, but…”

Kim Jong-seo continued, seeing Han Myeong-hoe still unable to hide his worries.

“It’s the same reason why we didn’t receive land in this negotiation.”

* * *

From the moment the naval battle began, the empire began preparing for negotiations.

-Preparing for negotiations with the assumption of victory carries a high risk.

Opinions like the above were also raised, but not only the Hyang, but also Wan and the ministers were in an optimistic mood.

“I’m worried if the guns and battle lines are as good as ours, but if not, we’re sure to win.”

Because they trusted the power of the Imperial Navy, the ministers of Hyang and Wan were confident of victory.

In that atmosphere, while organizing the requirements to be presented to the Ming, the first thing that came up and the first thing to be excluded was ‘territorial cession.’

“Why? At the very least, if we take control of the Shandong Peninsula, the Ming will not even be able to reach the Inland Sea!”

In response to the opposition from young officials, including Han Myeong-hoe, Kim Jong-seo immediately asked back.

“Are there troops to guard that place?”

“yes?”

Kim Jong-seo explained the reason for excluding territorial cession.

-Take the Shandong Peninsula as an example. As soon as it is ceded, a unit must be organized and stationed to guard it.

-The Ming people living in the Shandong Peninsula are too numerous to introduce them all.

-The Ming will continue to try to regain the Shandong Peninsula, and the empire must invest considerable power to prevent this. This is not an easy task, especially since it requires crossing the sea.

-This is absolutely not a good thing considering the situation of the empire, especially the population problem.

“…That’s why the amount of territorial cession was excluded. “If, in about 20 to 30 years, the population of the empire increases to two or three times its current size, it will be worth taking it then.”

“Ah…”

The young officials nodded at Kim Jong-seo’s words.

Meanwhile, Hyang explained another reason to Wan.

“If we lose this war again, the dissatisfaction of the people of Ming will increase significantly. In such a situation, if our imperial army were to hold out in Shandong or elsewhere, their dissatisfaction would turn into hostility and harass us. However, if it is received in money, the dissatisfaction and hostility will be directed to the Ming Dynasty and the emperor who took the money out of their own pockets.”