Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 118

Jjangra

Hello, Night.

118. Made in Joseon. (1)

As the mysterious fleet approached, the tension among the head of the Ottabi family, the captain, and the crew intensified.

“It’s huge…”

As the ship in question drew closer, the merchant crew grew increasingly intimidated.

Although their dhow was a large vessel known as a Baggala [a type of traditional Arab sailing vessel], the approaching ship was even larger.

To be precise, their ship was longer, but the approaching ship was taller.

“It’s definitely not a Ming ship. The design is completely different.”

“Then is it from Jipangu [old name for Japan]?”

“Jipangu doesn’t have ships that big.”

“Then what country is it from?”

The head merchant, feeling suffocated, burst out in frustration, but the captain had no answer.

“I don’t know.”

After a while, a small boat was lowered from the approaching mysterious fleet and headed towards them.

As they got close enough to distinguish the attire of the people on the boat, the elder accompanying them shouted with delight.

“It’s the Joseon army! Head! It’s Joseon!”

“Joseon?”

At the head’s question, the elder nodded vigorously.

“Yes! I’m certain that’s the uniform of the Joseon army I saw when I went to Joseon last time!”

“Then why didn’t you recognize the ship?”

At the head’s question, the elder replied with a troubled expression.

“I didn’t see such a large ship back then.”

At the elder’s reply, the head stared in surprise at the ships presumed to be from Joseon.

“They built such ships in just over a year? Enough to form a fleet?”

The captain added to the head’s musings.

“As soon as they saw those ships, the pirates ran away. Judging by that, it seems those ships have dominated this sea for quite some time.”

The head nodded at the captain’s words.

“It seems right to think so.”

As the head and captain were talking, a Joseon soldier on the small boat that had approached very closely shouted into a peculiar device.

“Where are these ships from!”

At the Joseon soldier’s inquiry, the interpreter on board replied in Ming Chinese.

“We are merchants from Aden! We are carrying goods requested by the Prince of Joseon!”

At the interpreter’s shout, the Joseon soldiers on the small boat exchanged words and shouted again.

“Wait there! We will protect you!”

“Understood! Thank you!”

After that, the small boat went back and forth several times, and a brief verification process took place before the Joseon army made their decision.

“Follow us! We will protect you!”

“Understood! Thank you!”

As the small boat returned, the head and captain, as well as the crew, all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hoo~. We’re alive now.”

“Indeed.”

Thus, the merchant ships of the Ottabi and Azram families—thankfully without a single loss—were surrounded by three Joseon ships and began to return to Joseon.

Of course, the Arab sailors were all shocked to see the Joseon ships turning on the spot.

“Is that even possible?”

“I’ve never seen that before either…”

At the captain’s bewildered expression, the head muttered to himself again.

“What kind of country is Joseon, anyway?”

* * *

Meanwhile, having secured their safety, the crew, now with time to spare, were observing the Joseon warships moving alongside them at a distance.

“The ships are quite peculiar.”

“They seem shorter than our ships, but much taller.”

As the crew said, the Panokseon [a type of Korean warship] operated by the Joseon navy was quite tall.

Judging by the position of the Joseon soldiers visible behind the walls on the sides of the hull, the first deck of the Joseon warship was almost at the same height as the roof of the stern cabin, the highest part of the large dhows carrying the Arab merchants.

Among the crew observing the Joseon warships, the older and more experienced sailors nodded.

“At least it would be difficult to give up the ship without a serious fight.”

“Old man, isn’t that a large arrow sticking out from the side of that warship?”

“An arrow?”

At the young sailor’s remark, the sailor called ‘Old Man’ narrowed his eyes and observed the Joseon warship.

“Indeed… it is an arrow… but why would they use something for siege warfare?”

The old man, tilting his head as he looked at the large arrows loaded into what looked like a large hwacha [a Korean multiple rocket launcher], wore an even more puzzled expression.

“What kind of crossbow do they use to have such a narrow spacing?”

* * *

It wasn’t just the crew who were observing the Joseon warships. The head of the Ottabi family and the captain were also observing the warships, and they shared their opinions after discovering the object presumed to be a crossbow.

“It can’t be a crossbow.”

The captain, having observed with his eyes wide open, came to a conclusion.

“The spacing is too narrow to be a crossbow, and the position of the arrows is too low.”

“Then what’s the most likely explanation?”

At the head’s question, the captain pondered for a moment before answering briefly.

“Cannons.”

“Cannons?”

The head, briefly questioning the captain’s words, shook his head.

“Even counting only the arrows visible now, there seem to be at least ten, which means that ship has at least 20 cannons mounted on it. Even those Catholic heretics don’t carry that many.”

The captain instead questioned the head’s statement.

“Aren’t they Catholic heretics?”

“Huh…”

The head muttered in disbelief.

“There are crazy people carrying more than 20 cannons on each ship? Do they have gunpowder to spare?”

* * *

Meanwhile, a debate was also taking place on the Joseon ships.

“Are they really merchants acting on the orders of the court?”

At the question of the Mokpo Manho [Naval Commander of Mokpo] leading the fleet, the officer in charge of inquiries replied.

“We have confirmed their trade license.”

“The problem is that we have never seen merchants with that trade license in the jurisdiction of our Jeolla Right Naval Command, have we?”

At the Mokpo Manho’s point, the subordinate officer replied.

“That is true, but licenses with the same name have already been issued to merchants traveling to the Shandong region [a coastal province in China], and the official seal on the document matched that of the court.”

Having heard the answer, the Mokpo Manho sighed softly and came to a conclusion.

“We’ll find out after we return and send a report to the capital. Anyway…”

The Mokpo Manho turned the topic to his main concern.

“It’s a shame we missed those damn pirates. It’s getting harder and harder to catch them these days.”

“It’s because they run away as soon as we fire the Singijeon [a type of Korean rocket arrow].”

“The Singijeon is useful in many ways, but it has this side effect.”

“That’s right.”

The subordinate officer nodded and added to the Mokpo Manho’s complaint.

“There’s also the problem with this Panokseon.”

* * *

As Hyang intervened in history, it wasn’t just weapons that skipped several stages and were created in an instant.

“We should make and use what’s useful!”

Following Hyang’s decision, weapons that existed in the original history were also created.

Of course, they weren’t exactly the same as the original items.

The prime example of this was the Singijeon.

Hyang developed two types of Sosingijeon (small Singijeon) for two purposes.

One was a long-range suppression weapon that used gunpowder as a propellant, as originally intended, and the other was for signaling.

By loading explosives mixed with gunpowder, several minerals, and dyes into the front compartment of the paper tube attached to the bottom of the arrow, they were able to create smoke of various colors during the day and flames of various colors at night.

And they made it possible to instantly grasp various situations based on the type of color and the order in which they exploded.

The military loved this newly created signaling Sosingijeon. And the combination of the monocular telescope and the signaling Sosingijeon, created by Hyang by grinding down Pietro and Raphael, greatly expanded the scope of the Joseon army’s activities.

In the case of cavalrymen skirmishing with the Jurchens [a Tungistic people who lived in the northeast of China], the cavalrymen who went out as scouts found it very useful.

However, the place that used the signaling Sosingijeon most usefully was the navy.

It wasn’t just the Sosingijeon that was useful.

The Daesingijeon (large Singijeon), which had a warhead made identically to the Bigeokjincheonleoi [a type of Korean bomb] except that the body was made of paper instead of iron, was also a masterpiece.

Its power was half that of the Bigeokjincheonleoi, but its range was 250 steps (about 300m) longer than the maximum range of the Bigeokjincheonleoi, creating a monster with a terrifying range of 800 steps (about 960m).

* * *

As the subordinate officer mentioned the Panokseon they were riding, the Mokpo Manho nodded.

“That’s right. I like everything about this Panokseon, but the only thing I don’t like is its slow speed. Thanks to that, the pirates now run away as soon as they see the signal of the Singijeon or the Panokseon…”

The Panokseon, which Hyang created ahead of history, satisfied the navy.

The tall and large hull, which was designed from the beginning to operate a large number of cannons, made it difficult for the Wokou [Japanese pirates] or pirate ships to easily board even if they approached. And the arrow and cannon attacks using the height difference could destroy enemy ships from a greater distance than before.

In addition, due to the increased size and strength, there were even cases where they simply smashed the ships of the Wokou and pirates by ramming them.

However, the Panokseon also had a fatal flaw: its slow speed.

The hull, which looked rectangular when viewed from above, was useful in coastal waters, but speed problems arose when going out to the open sea.

Thanks to this, the Wokou and pirates, who had initially underestimated them and suffered greatly, immediately turned their ships around and ran away as soon as they saw the Panokseon.

Of course, there were also Wokou or pirates who charged in believing in their speed, but after seeing their ships smashed by cannonballs flying from a distance beyond the reach of arrows, there were no more Wokou or pirates who acted recklessly.

The Mokpo Manho licked his lips and turned his head.

“I’ve heard rumors that high-performance cannons have been developed, but we need faster and stronger ships more than cannons.”

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the talented people are in Area 51, so good results will come soon.”

At the subordinate officer’s words, the Mokpo Manho shook his head.

“Area 51? There are many people there who are crazy about cannons, but there are no people who are crazy about ships. That’s the problem.”

However, this was what the Mokpo Manho misunderstood.

If Hyang had heard it, Hyang would have replied like this.

“You try getting a budget from Father! I’m still getting cursed at once a day, ‘You son of a bitch!'”

* * *

After five days of sailing, the merchant ships of the Ottabi and Azram families arrived at the Jeolla Right Naval Base and dropped anchor.

“They say they have sent a report to Hanseong [old name for Seoul, the capital of Korea], so please wait a few days.”

“So be it.”

“Ah! They asked if you needed anything.”

At the interpreter’s question, the head turned to the captain. At the unspoken question, the captain immediately answered.

“First, just ask for food.”

“Understood.”

While waiting for a reply from Hanseong, the head of the Ottabi family and the captains of the merchant ships used their remaining time to tour the Jeolla Right Naval Base.

“Don’t wander around carelessly as it is a military base.”

“Yes. Then, may we look around the market outside?”

“Hmm… there happens to be a market day today, so go ahead.”

The head of the Ottabi family, having received permission from the Cheomjeoljesa [Naval Commander], the commander of the Right Naval Base, led his people out and headed to the market.

The head’s face was filled with disappointment as he looked at the market.

“This is… there’s nothing much here. Compared to the Chinese market I saw once before, this can’t even be called a market.”

As he grumbled and looked around the market, the head stopped in one place.

“That’s!”

The head’s gaze was directed towards a small inn. White porcelain and glass cups sparkled on the tables where people had finished eating.

“How can such great things be found in such a backward place?”

The head was confused by the unexpected disharmony.

“What on earth is this country of Joseon?”