Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 244

244. The Envoy (6)

Nam Giju, observing Kyoto from a nearby hill, wore a peculiar expression.

“It feels more like China than Japan [Waeguk literally translates to ‘Foreign Country,’ but in this context refers to Japan].”

Kyoto’s urban area consisted of a walled city in a square shape on a wide plain, with a grid-patterned street layout.

As maritime routes became more active, Joseon’s envoys frequently traveled to China by sea. The scene was almost identical to the old capitals of China that he had passed while escorting the envoys towards Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

“Let’s go.”

“Indeed.”

After briefly admiring the shape of Kyoto from the hill, Nam Giju and his party began to move towards Kyoto at the words of the shogun’s vassal.

* * *

Having passed through Raseimon, the southern main gate of Kyoto, Nam Giju and his party headed north along Suzaku Avenue.

At the end of the avenue, a palace surrounded by high walls appeared again.

“That is the Gosho [Imperial Palace] where the Tenno [Emperor] resides.”

At the words of the shogunate vassal guiding them, Nam Giju asked curtly.

“Then, should we enter and have an audience?”

At Nam Giju’s words, the vassal smiled slyly and shook his head.

“There is no need for that.”

“Is that so? I understand.”

Nam Giju ended with a short reply to the vassal’s words.

This was because Nam Giju had also heard about the political situation in Japan in advance.

Arriving at the shogun’s residence under the escort of the shogunate cavalry, Nam Giju forcibly suppressed a burst of laughter and cursed inwardly.

‘Damn it! It’s someone else’s country, but what a mess it’s in!’

The arrangement of the shogunate’s buildings and the imperial palace was terribly disrespectful.

In Hanyang’s Gyeongbok Palace and Gaeseong’s palace built in the former dynasty, no other buildings could be built behind the palace.

This was partly for safety reasons, but also a matter of etiquette.

If buildings were compared to people, those who could sit behind the king were the Grand King (Sangwang) or the Grand Queen Dowager (Daewangdaebi), the greatest elders of the royal family who were in charge of the regency.

A subject could not dare to sit behind the king. And this was the same for the arrangement of buildings.

Of course, it could be an exception if the palace was built in the very center of the city, like the Forbidden City in Beijing, based on the idea that the emperor—China—was the center of the world. However, if the palace was located in the north, like in Gaeseong, Hanyang, and Kyoto, this arrangement was the height of disrespect.

It was something that would warrant being treated as a traitor for insulting the king.

However, the shogunate’s buildings were located directly behind the imperial palace. Although not as large as the imperial palace, it was a building that boasted its power with its large scale.

Therefore, even Nam Giju, who was famous for rarely expressing his emotions, momentarily lost his composure and cursed inwardly.

‘Japan has two kings, they say! It’s really true!’

However, since it was someone else’s country anyway, and thinking about what he had to do, Nam Giju suppressed his emotions as much as possible.

* * *

Having entered the shogunate, Nam Giju and his party had an audience with the 6th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshinori.

“I greet the King of Japan.”

“Thank you for coming such a long way. Let’s rest from your journey first and then talk.”

After hearing Yoshinori’s words through the interpreter, Nam Giju bowed his head and replied.

“I am deeply grateful for your kindness.”

That night, after the grand banquet was over, Yoshinori met separately with the vassals of Ouchi and Tsushima.

“Why didn’t your lords come with you?”

Generally, when a Joseon envoy came, at least the lord of Tsushima would head to Kyoto with the envoy.

However, this time, neither the lord of Tsushima nor the head of Ouchi came along, only their vassals.

At Yoshinori’s question, the vassal of the Ouchi family bowed his head deeply and replied.

“Our lord suddenly fell ill…”

“Fell ill?”

“He suddenly caught a severe cold… Instead, here…”

The vassal of the Ouchi family, prostrating on the floor, took out a letter from his chest and raised it above his head.

The shogunate’s vassal, taking the letter in place of Yoshinori, broke the seal and confirmed that there was nothing wrong. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the envelope and its contents, the shogunate’s vassal presented the neatly folded letter to Yoshinori.

“Hmm…”

Reading the contents of the letter, Yoshinori glared at the vassal of the Ouchi family and opened his mouth.

“It is a pity that he could not come because he has a severe fever due to a cold. I hope he recovers quickly.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Then, what about Tsushima?”

“Pirate movements were detected just before he was about to leave, so he could not come.”

“Is that so? Pirates… Hmph~. That is a big problem. The lord must be suffering a lot.”

The vassal of Tsushima also presented a letter to Yoshinori.

After reading all the letters, Yoshinori waved his hand.

“You have worked hard. Tell your lords my words: ‘I will let it pass this time.’ Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

The vassals of Tsushima and Ouchi answered, sweating profusely, and then retreated politely.

Watching them leave, Yoshinori turned to his vassals.

“Why do you think Tsushima and Ouchi didn’t come?”

One of the vassals answered Yoshinori’s question.

“Perhaps they are too busy calculating the gains and losses that Joseon’s proposal will bring.”

“Perhaps that is so.”

Yoshinori nodded at the vassal’s answer.

The Joseon’s communication, ‘We will send an envoy to urgently coordinate opinions,’ briefly stated the agenda to be coordinated.

The agenda conveyed by Joseon was twofold.

One was the lease of Tsushima’s port, and the other was the desire to open a trading post in the Ouchi region.

The shogunate had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Joseon envoy due to Joseon’s communication, which ended with, ‘We would like to discuss the details and coordination through the dispatched envoy.’

“Looking at the current situation, we should assume that Tsushima and Ouchi have accepted Joseon’s proposal, right?”

“That is likely the case.”

“Then, what should I do? Should I clap my hands together, or should I put a spoke in their wheel? I don’t like either Tsushima or Ouchi.”

At Yoshinori’s words, the vassals began to murmur and share their opinions.

After sharing their opinions, the vassals advised Yoshinori.

“If Joseon gives our shogunate sufficient benefits, it would be best to accept it.”

“Why? Both of them don’t listen to me very well.”

“Tsushima and Ouchi are bitter enemies, are they not?”

Yoshinori clapped his hands at the vassals’ answer.

“That’s right!”

From the shogunate’s point of view, both Ouchi and Tsushima were disliked. Ouchi was a powerful figure who had built up his capabilities by working as hard as they did in trade. The previous shogun, worried about this, devised a scheme, and the head of the Ouchi family, who fell for this scheme, rebelled and was killed in battle.

Afterwards, he adopted someone who seemed likely to listen to him as the head of the family, but a civil war broke out, and he was driven out, and Morimi, the current head of the family, took over the position. He tried to make an issue of this, but all the local clans around Ouchi recognized Morimi as the head of the family, and the shogunate had to recognize Morimi as the head of the family as well.

Tsushima was the same. They were members of the Shoni family, who did not listen to the shogunate in Kyushu, and they were paying lip service.

Fortunately, Ouchi and Tsushima, or rather the Shoni family of Kyushu, were sworn enemies. Ouchi’s attempt to recover its lost power was its advance into Kyushu, and in the process, the Shoni family suffered enormous damage.

The weakening of the Shoni family, which was the local ruling power in Kyushu, was what the shogunate wanted, so the shogunate even gave the Ouchi family the position of Kyushu Tandai [Military Commissioner of Kyushu], and Ouchi and Tsushima became so eager to kill each other.

Therefore, Yoshinori came to a cool conclusion.

“Using barbarians to control barbarians is very pleasing. Let’s proceed in a direction that benefits us by moderately accepting Joseon’s words.”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

Thanks to the shogunate setting the direction in advance, the talks proceeded smoothly. Of course, it was smooth in that there were no major disputes or disagreements, but the progress of the talks itself was not fast.

With Yoshinori stepping back, Nam Giju and his party coordinated opinions with the shogunate’s vassals.

“Let’s proceed with the lease of Tsushima’s military port as agreed between Joseon and Tsushima.”

“Very well.”

“Then, let’s move on to the next agenda item. The establishment of a trading post, Joseon wants two places?”

“Yes.”

Initially, Joseon had decided to establish only one trading post. However, criticisms regarding this soon emerged.

“If we decide on only one place in the Daenei clan’s territory, the shogunate may object. We must give the shogunate a suitable bait.”

The objection was reasonable, so a meeting was held regarding this. And the number of trading posts to be established increased to two.

“Where does Joseon want them to be?”

Nam Giju immediately answered the shogunate vassal’s question.

“First, we would like to open a trading post in either Shimonoseki or Nagato, and one place recommended by the shogunate.”

“Is that so?”

The vassals who heard Nam Giju’s answer had troubled expressions.

‘There are too many to choose from!’

In the end, the vassals had to declare a recess.

Because it was like this, the atmosphere of the meeting was good, but it was taking up a lot of time.

After taking up so much time, the place where the Joseon trading post would be established was decided.

It was Nagato and Naniwa (Osaka).

With all the agreements reached, Nam Giju set out on his journey home with a light heart.

Looking at the sea from the panok [a raised structure on a ship] of the panokseon [a type of Korean ship] heading to Shimonoseki, Nam Giju muttered inwardly.

‘I wonder if the secret envoys did well?’

* * *

“Lord! I have returned!”

As the vassal lying on the floor announced his return, Morimi replied calmly.

“You have worked hard. So, where was it decided to establish the trading post?”

“Nagato.”

Morimi frowned at the vassal’s answer.

“As expected, the shogun. He used his cunning.”

Shimonoseki was a traditional trading port, and Ouchi had been faithfully equipped with defensive facilities since long ago.

However, with Nagato being designated, Ouchi had to expand its defensive facilities in Nagato, consuming manpower and wealth.

That’s why Morimi said ‘cunning.’

“Lord! Please forgive my mistake!”

As the vassal asked for forgiveness, Morimi replied with an expression that it was nothing.

“It’s alright. I thought Nagato was more likely anyway. And Joseon’s first pointed out place was Nagato. And…”

Morimi, pausing for a moment, brought the teacup next to him to his mouth and continued.

“In the meantime, a secret envoy came from Joseon.”

“A secret envoy?”

“Yes. The envoy was bait.”

At Morimi’s words, the vassal swallowed hard.

“What did Joseon offer?”

“Joint development of the Iwami Silver Mine.”

“Gasp!”

The Iwami Silver Mine had been discovered for quite some time, but it was a place where they could not mine properly. The reason was that Japan’s technology was not yet able to dig deep into the ground.

Morimi and his fellow vassals continued to speak with faces full of joy.

“With Joseon’s technology, the amount of mining will increase several times!”

“It’s even better that Joseon will pay the wages!”

“That’s right! This will give us breathing room to expand our military!”

Morimi, nodding at the vassals’ words, wore a slightly regretful expression.

“It’s just that the distribution rate is a bit disappointing. 65% to 35%… Of course, it’s not a big loss since Joseon decided to pay the wages…”

“It’s a worthwhile deal since we can learn Joseon’s mining technology!”

“It would have been nice if we had obtained the refining technology as well…”

Morimi, unable to hide his disappointment, ordered his vassals.

“Put out some feelers to Ming. Ask them to find out if we can get a refining technician.”

“Yes, sir!”

Morimi, having given orders to his vassals, smacked his lips once again.

“By the way, was it Kim Jongseo? He seemed very useful…”

The same reaction was also shown by Won Dojin, the Guju Jiedushi [Military Governor of Guju].

“Was it Hwangbo In… Joseon has many talented people.”