Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 894

Chapter 894: Prologue (9)

Meanwhile, Florence, who had received the order, was also in a difficult situation.

“No, there are degrees of Geojeolmido! Just ‘do something!’ ‘Do something!’ And that’s it!”

The officials at the embassy who received and read the order sent from Seoul, from the ambassadors to the lowest-ranking officials, were outraged.

Recently, there was a feature seen in most secret official documents sent from Seoul.

Even though it was brief, it was too brief.

Many documents of all types were being exchanged between Seoul and Florence.

Among these documents were many confidential, and both Seoul and Florence wrote them in encrypted text and then mixed them with regular documents.

The problem was that, as mentioned above, the content of the ciphertext sent from Seoul had become very brief recently.

Shin Sook-ju, who confirmed the contents of the confidential document sent from Seoul, complained to other ambassadors who were also checking the contents.

“No matter how concise the password document is, don’t you think this is too much?”

Seong Sam-moon nodded his head and added to Shin Sook-ju’s statement asking for consent.

“No matter how briefly I said it above, it is common sense to add some explanation. Sending orders like this? “I guess the higher-ups in Seoul don’t hold their tongues these days.”

“That’s right!”

Shin Suk-ju responded to Seong Sam-mun’s words with a congratulations. However, Yu Eung-bu, who was sitting next to him, reacted differently.

“Isn’t this inevitable in Seoul? There are more than one eye spying on us these days. “No, I’m glad I just peeked and didn’t even touch it, right?”

“Even so…”

* * *

As Yu Eung-bu said, the number of eyes watching the imperial embassy in Florence and the imperial military port in Livorno and the imperial residence area was increasing.

-The saying that the Empire has established a base in Florence means that the Empire will also intervene in the war in Italy.

This was because the surrounding powers that made this decision dispatched a large number of spies.

Because of this, embassies and military ports had to pay special attention when hiring workers. At least, one could work at embassies and military ports only with the guarantee of the Florence city hall or the Medici family.

However, even this was canceled as some people came forward by forging documents or taking bribes.

In the end, the empire had to hire people from their home country and bring them in.

“What a waste it is to have to pay multiple times the wages to hire a day laborer!”

“Let’s use a crane and a tow truck instead!”

In the end, the military port of Livorno and the imperial residential area had the largest number of tow trucks and cranes except the port of Suez.

The problem was that the great powers were not enough to just spy on it and began to take action.

The liaison troops traveling between Livorno and Florence were attacked.

As the liaison troops consisting of 5 people per unit were wiped out and their bags disappeared, they had to move in units of 25 people per unit.

Even after the iron horse was laid from Livorno to Florence, this happened several times.

When the iron horse stopped at a station in the middle, people came out and attempted to rob a freight car loaded with various supplies and travel bags to be used at the embassy.

Of course, the imperial and Florentine troops stationed at the station stepped forward and suppressed them immediately. Subsequent investigation revealed that these people were simple thieves.

But questions remained.

“How did they choose just that freight car to rob it?”

To resolve this question, investigators from Florence and the Empire conducted additional intensive investigations. And as a result of the investigation, the shoplifters confessed to what they had been hiding.

“Some men designated that boxcar.”

“Who are you? “What country are you from?”

“I do not know.”

After continuing the investigation and failing to obtain any more information, the investigators ended the investigation and put the shoplifters in jail.

Afterwards, the bags and confidential documents were separated and transported personally, but the carrier disappeared. In the end, this problem seemed to have been barely resolved when the carriers moved in groups of five rather than in groups of two.

However, an invisible fight still continued between those who wanted to rob it and those who tried to stop it.

And the level of document encryption has also increased.

This was because it had been a long time since Imperial and Ming Japan appeared on the international stage, so there were many Europeans who were fluent in Jeongeum and Chinese characters.

Experts who were not only fluent in letters but also in ancient idioms and Asian culture appeared.

Because of this, the empire had to create a more complex encryption system.

Until then, it was a simple method using broken letters and old idioms. However, this was discovered when experts came out.

However, due to the lack of basic academic knowledge, including mathematics, it was not possible to create an advanced encryption system, and the empire had to resort to other measures.

It was written in the most concise and concise way possible.

In reporting this to Hyeon, Han Myeong-hoe explained as follows.

“The ambassadors in Florence and we in Seoul already know the deepest details, and this must be done. “The commands and replies we are exchanging now are only minor adjustments, so there is no need to write in detail.”

“Wouldn’t there be a misunderstanding in Florence?”

Han Myeong-hoe answered Hyeon’s question right away.

“These are people who have already been recognized for their outstanding talent. They are not people who misunderstand or cannot understand. “If something like that happens, they will have to take responsibility for their own name.”

“Hmm… indeed… there is no one in Florence who does not know how outstanding they are. They will do well. “Then let’s do it this way first.”

“I follow your orders.”

“step! They won’t just stay there forever, and won’t the number of countries where the empire’s ambassadors stay increase in the future? I cannot be confident that all the ambassadors at that time were as excellent as those in Florence now, so please come up with a solution to this issue as soon as possible. “I think you can show Jim a good enough result.”

After Hyeon finished speaking, Han Myeong-hoe bowed his head and answered.

“I will do my best.”

However, Han Myeong-hoe’s expression as he looked at the floor was not good at all.

After hearing this story, Hyang held his stomach and laughed.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! After all, it’s Hanmyeonghoe! And he is the emperor!”

This was Han Myeong-hoe’s plan to give a shit to his potential competitors while not causing himself to be criticized.

-There is no new way with the current situation, so you guys have to work hard. If you’re smart, this is a piece of cake, right? no?

And Hyun noticed this and struck Han Myeong-hoe.

-I heard you’re smart too? Then you too.

Hyang laughed until tears fell and looked towards Gyeongbokgung Palace with a happy expression.

“If Hyun is like this, there’s no need for me to come forward just to catch one Myeonghoe.”

As a side note, the ambassadors who later returned to Korea on leave learned more detailed information.

And the ambassadors sent Han Myeong-hoe a huge gift of medicinal herbal medicine.

Anyway, an order was an order.

The Florentine ambassadors performed their duties to the best of their ability.

Thanks to his overflowing confidence, he boiled Lorenzo de’ Medici, who was showing symptoms of ‘end-stage middle school disease’, to make him immobile, and expanded the secret coal storage he had built in Livorno.

“Filling it up is also work.”

Ambassadors and the imperial army secretly filled the coal storage without others noticing.

* * *

While the ambassadors and imperialists were busy, the conflict in Austria was also coming to an end.

After the successful battle at Pottendorf, both sides were repeating boring trench warfare.

When making a detour using cavalry, Hungary had a problem with the Habsburg reserves. On the other hand, in the case of the Habsburgs, the problem was the numerically superior Hungarian cavalry.

In the end, both sides had no choice but to continue a war of attrition over the trench lines laid in Pottendorf.

Both sides, feeling burdened by the greater than expected loss of men and equipment and expenditure on war effort, secretly sent messengers to the Pope.

Pope Paul II, who received bribes and bribes, immediately sent his loyalists to urge negotiations, and both sides pretended not to win and accepted the Pope’s proposal.

In the negotiations that soon took place, both sides engaged in a fierce war of words.

If one side overturned the negotiation table, the other side overturned it the next time, and the Pope’s loyalist, who was in charge of mediation, busily went back and forth between both sides and continued to coordinate.

He also held banquets whenever he had time and invited dignitaries from Habsburg and Hungary.

The reason negotiations took so long despite these mediation efforts was because there was no clear winner or loser.

“We are winners!”

“That’s ridiculous! “We are winners!”

“Those who lost their territory are the winners? “Say something that makes sense!”

“Then shall we fight again? Do you really want to join us?”

“Do you have an army to fight?”

“Are you guys there? “Let’s really stick together!”

When both sides fought with blood on their necks, the Pope’s messenger in the middle looked tearful and stopped both sides.

“ruler! ruler! Don’t do this! Isn’t this an end-of-war negotiation? “Let’s negotiate!”

In the end, Paul II stepped forward to negotiate with no end in sight.

-It is not right to continue conflict between Catholic countries when pagans occupy Constantinople! Give both sides a little bit! Otherwise, I will excommunicate you!

In response to the Pope’s threat of excommunication, both sides took a step back and concluded the negotiations.

-The Habsburgs officially recognize Matthias I, who was elected by the Hungarian Parliament, as the King of Hungary.

-Hungary returns all occupied Austrian territories to the Habsburgs.

The negotiation plan based on the two points above soon received approval from the monarchs of both countries and came into effect.

With the entry into force of the treaty ending the war, the Hungarian army retreated. The Hungarian troops returning to the border were all radiating confidence as winners.

“We are the ones who got right in front of Vienna!”

“Ottoman? Bohemia? “Tell everyone to attack!”

The Hungarian army’s morale was soaring with pride that they were the winners.

This was followed by a noisy triumphal procession and a public performance parade.

After the excitement subsided to some extent, Matthias I gathered his subjects and generals together and talked to them.

“This war was truly pitiful. If only I had a little more strength…”

Matthias I was speechless, but the nobles and generals were able to fully anticipate what would happen next.

“We need to import more new imperial long guns from the Ottomans.”

“you’re right. “Full-loading long guns are now at their limit.”

When more aggressive military expansion became the trend, a nobleman pointed out a problem.

“The problem is that the Ottomans no longer sell long guns and ammunition. So, I think it would be a good idea to purchase a Florentine long gun.”

“Florentine rifle?”

“This is a long gun made in Florence. However, it is difficult to regard it as Florence’s own long gun. It is said that ‘Land of Flowers’ provided all parts and technical tools. That’s why they say they use imperial bullets.”

To those words, all the generals responded with one voice.

“If you’re going to use imperial ammunition, you’ll need to get a Florentine rifle!”