Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 502

502. The Profiteer and the Spender (4)

Frankly, Mochiyo’s Ouchi clan had been under considerable financial strain due to purchasing various war materials from Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom].

In this situation, Mochiyo was delighted when Joseon offered to pay for goods.

“Lord Han, what does Joseon wish to purchase?”

“Cotton is the highest priority, followed by sulfur and copper. We also need some grain, but we have excluded it, considering the poor state of Wa [ancient name for Japan].”

“Hmm…”

Mochiyo’s face turned slightly serious at Han Myeong-hoi’s words.

‘Shibukawa produces more cotton than we do, and we also buy sulfur and copper with money…’

Sensing Mochiyo’s unfavorable expression, Han Myeong-hoi continued immediately.

“However, considering the current situation in Wa, we cannot trade as we please, can we? We hope the head of the family will inform us of a reliable territory or arrange a meeting. We are only concerned about troubling someone busy with great undertakings.”

Mochiyo’s face brightened at Han Myeong-hoi’s words.

“Oh! What’s the problem with that! Just wait a few days! I will let you know the good news!”

Han Myeong-hoi bowed with a bright face at Mochiyo’s reply.

“Thank you very much!”

* * *

“Take Lord Han to a place where he can rest comfortably!”

After sending Han Myeong-hoi out, Mochiyo turned to his retainers.

“Isn’t this a good opportunity?”

“That is correct!”

“We were worried that a crisis would come if we continued like this, but a really good opportunity has come! It is certain that Kamisama [Japanese for God or gods] is looking after us!”

The retainers also looked as if all their worries had disappeared at once. Of course, there were some who did not understand the situation.

“Although he brought good news, wasn’t the lord too generous? The lord will soon ascend to the position of Tenkain [Ruler of the World], and there is a high possibility that the Joseon people will misjudge.”

When one of the retainers pointed this out, Mochiyo’s face turned fierce.

“Fool! Do you think he is just a Joseon envoy! He is a direct subordinate working right next to the Joseon Crown Prince! He will enter the core of power as soon as the Joseon Crown Prince ascends to the throne! But are you looking down on him now just because he is young!”

The retainer who made the problematic statement immediately prostrated himself on the floor.

“I am sorry! Please forgive my slip of the tongue!”

“If you speak without thinking again, I will cut off your head right away!”

“Thank you for your mercy.”

The retainer, who escaped from a near-death crisis, expressed his gratitude while sweating profusely.

Mochiyo, who shook his retainers like that, sorted out the situation.

“Joseon’s request now is like a kamikaze [divine wind] sent to us by Kamisama. However, if we make even a small mistake, we will lose a golden opportunity, so let’s do our best.”

“Hah!”

The retainers answered in unison to Mochiyo’s words.

* * *

As Mochiyo said, Joseon’s purchase request was like a divine wind to Ouchi and its allies.

The purchase of weapons itself was resolved in the form of credit through Ouchi’s payment guarantee, but maintaining the expanded army was costly.

However, if they reduced the army, it was certain that the hostile territories nearby would attack immediately.

In the end, this financial burden had no choice but to fall on the farmers of the territory.

The problem was that the farmers would not simply accept this increased burden.

Immediately, the village chiefs belonging to the territory flocked to protest, and even threatened to cause Ikki [riots or uprisings].

In this situation, the lords of various parts of Wa were in a situation where they could neither advance nor retreat.

In the midst of this crisis, Joseon’s request was conveyed through Ouchi.

“What good fortune!”

The lords belonging to Ouchi, who heard Joseon’s request through Ouchi, clapped their hands and rejoiced.

* * *

Looking at the situation in Wa at this time, Joseon had largely dominated the market.

And a typical example of this was cotton cloth.

Cotton cloth and hemp cloth produced in the form of cottage industry could not compete with cotton cloth produced by machines in Joseon.

Of course, Joseon’s cotton cloth was more expensive than Wa’s cotton cloth, but it was not so expensive that they gave up purchasing it. Rather, considering the product quality such as durability, it was overwhelmingly superior, so the people of Wa purchased Joseon’s cotton cloth.

And the people of Wa chose to sell cotton to Joseon instead of weaving cloth themselves.

“Cotton consumes the soil severely, but the profit is much higher than rice farming!”

“Anyway, our rice paddies are on the hillside, so rice farming is not easy, right? Let’s plant cotton!”

As these ideas spread, many farmers in Wa began to cultivate cotton.

And what accelerated this situation were the lords.

This was because the taxes collected through cotton were higher than the taxes collected through rice farming.

Of course, there were those who felt a sense of crisis in this situation.

“Paddy fields are being used to grow cotton, which cannot be eaten. We may starve to death!”

“We must immediately prohibit or reduce cotton cultivation!”

Those who opposed cotton cultivation raised their voices, but almost no one from the farmers to the lords listened.

“What nonsense when cotton is more profitable than growing rice?”

“Rice? If you have money, you can buy it without any worries, right?”

“Rather, since we started growing cotton, there have been fewer cases of starvation!”

The words of those who raised objections were true. The grain that had become scarce since cotton cultivation began could be bought with money at any time.

This was Joseon’s aim. Joseon, which purchased grain from Daewol, Seomra, and Gangnam in Ming [Chinese dynasty], supplied it to the lords of Wa. And the lords sold the grain they brought in to the people.

In this process, Joseon did not forget to subtly hint to the lords.

– If you lower taxes, you can 오히려 [Korean for rather or on the contrary] gain more wealth.

“What nonsense?”

The lords, who tilted their heads at Joseon’s words, saw Ouchi lowering the tax rate following Joseon and their eyes twinkled.

“Ouchi is?”

Ouchi was also half-doubtful. However, it was implemented according to Ouchi Morimi’s decision that they could only develop by following Joseon, and the strong arguments of scholars who returned from Joseon.

However, the result was very good. The loyalty of the territory’s people increased, and the taxes coming in from the development of commerce also began to increase.

Seeing this, other lords also began to follow Ouchi’s example one by one.

Paradoxically, as farmers changed from directly cultivating rice to buying it, the number of farmers starving greatly decreased. This was because if they had money, they could go to the lord at any time and buy grain to fill their stomachs. And the people of Wa, who had secured more economic leeway as taxes decreased, began to purchase Joseon’s equipment.

As the situation progressed in this way, Joseon was steadily earning wealth in Wa. Even if there was a drought in Gangnam, Ming, they steadily supplied grain through Daewol and Seomra to acquire wealth, and sold various equipment made in Joseon to Wa.

While sorting out this situation, Hyang smiled faintly.

“Who said that? ‘If you just sell it, you can only sell Walkmans, but if you build a factory, you can sell CDPs and even TVs.'”

And the agriculture, industry, and commerce of Wa were becoming increasingly subordinate to Joseon.

Later, scholars who studied the history of Japan and Northeast Asia during this period evaluated it as follows.

-Joseon released ‘sweet poison’ into Wa.

* * *

While Ouchi took a breather thanks to Joseon, the shogunate was in an increasingly difficult situation.

Unlike Ouchi, who was able to accumulate capital internally through the Iwami Silver Mine, the Muromachi shogunate had been accumulating capital through trade with Ming and Joseon.

However, as the civil war broke out, the amount of trade with Joseon, which was close to Ouchi, decreased significantly. As trade with Joseon decreased, trade with Ming increased, but the profits decreased significantly.

This was because Ming’s merchants, who had become a monopoly, began to undercut prices.

In addition, various weapons that were initially supported free of charge had to be purchased with money.

* * *

This was because Ming was also in a situation where it could not help it.

Initially, the 1,000 Cheolchong [early cannons] supplied according to Seondukje’s [Ming emperor] wishes were not unreasonable.

However, the arms race that broke out as Wa was divided into two increasingly demanded more Cheolchong and cannons, and this gradually began to burden Ming as well.

In addition, the flintlock musket, which was captured by the shogunate and delivered to Ming, became a problem.

“In the past, there was a report that the Joseon army’s musket did not use a matchlock when subjugating Yimanju [region in Manchuria], right?”

“That is correct.”

“At the time, I thought I had misread the report. This was because I could not imagine that it was possible to ignite gunpowder without a matchlock. But there was a way. I was caught off guard.”

As Seondukje stroked the flintlock musket with a bitter expression, the Minister of Rites immediately reported.

“I will send an envoy to Joseon immediately and say something.”

“That’s enough. Even if I were the king of Joseon, I would have used the same method.”

Seondukje, who rejected the Minister of Rites’ proposal, handed the musket to the Minister of War and ordered.

“Modify the Cheolchong used by our army in the same way. And devise a way to develop it further. Joseon would not have released this Cheolchong to Wa without any thought. It is certain that Joseon has definitely gone one step further. So we cannot stop either.”

“I will follow the imperial order!”

According to Seondukje’s order, the modification work of the Cheolchong used by the Ming army began. In this process, there was a disruption in the supply to Wa.

Even for Ming, the best economic power in Northeast Asia, producing new Cheolchong as much as the Cheolchong supplied to Wa was close to a waste.

In addition, Seondukje’s cold-hearted decision was added.

“No matter how important it is to expand power, missing a golden opportunity is proof of incompetence! It is not right to unconditionally support these incompetent people! Receive money!”

“I will follow the imperial order!”

* * *

As a result, it became increasingly difficult for the shogunate to expand its military power.

January, 27th year of Sejong (1445, Eulchuk year)

“There is no other way now! We must settle it before it is too late!”

“We must!”

In the end, the leaders of the shogunate were slowly preparing to settle the matter.

This atmosphere was also conveyed to Ouchi, and Mochiyo called his retainers together.

“The time for the final battle has come! Prepare for the battle! Tell the allied lords as well!”

“Hah!”

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hanseong [capital of Joseon], Joseon, Hyang was muttering while looking at the graph.

“Seeing that sales are decreasing, I have sold as much as I can. I guess I should stop selling for a while until they fight properly and get consumed. But there is nothing as profitable as the weapon business…. Should I sell it in Europe?”

Hyang was thinking about a new place to sell.