Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 760

760. Encounter (5)

Hyang’s order was immediately delivered to the Imperial Navy Headquarters stationed in Shinji.

Admiral Shin In-son, the commander, read Hyang’s order aloud and then handed it to the captains.

“Memorize it thoroughly and act according to the orders.”

“Is there no copy?”

When one of the captains asked, Admiral Shin In-son replied curtly.

“It is a confidential order from His Majesty the Emperor. There are no copies.”

At Shin In-son’s words, the captains took turns reading the order carefully.

When Hyang’s order had made a full circle and returned, Shin In-son asked again.

“Any questions?”

At the admiral’s question, one of the captains rose from his seat.

“I have spent the last five years in the East Sea. What I have learned for certain during that time is that the East Sea, especially the winter sea, is as rough as the North Inland Sea—the current Bering Strait. No, it’s not just winter. Even in the summer sea, if you neglect your attention even a little, life-threatening events frequently occur. To cross such a sea, thorough preparation is essential, and the sailors must also be experienced. Is it really possible?”

* * *

As Shinji was discovered and geographical information, symbolized by maps, accumulated, Imperial names were established instead of the names Hyang knew.

First, the West Sea was changed to the West Inland Sea, and the East Sea was renamed the Inland Sea.

The only sea that was not renamed was the South Sea, but its scope changed. The vast sea extending to the Southwest Islands became the South Sea. Of course, because of Ryukyu in the middle, it was nicknamed ‘Gourd Sea’ using the gourd dipper character [a reference to its shape resembling a gourd]. And the strait between Tsushima Island and Wa Country [historical name for Japan] was named the Korea Strait, taken from the ‘Korean Federal Empire.’

And the sea called the Pacific Ocean in the history before Hyang’s intervention was named the Central Sea.

Of course, there was an opinion to add the character for ‘big’ (大) because of its enormous size, but it was immediately rejected.

It was because of the Ming Dynasty, which called itself the Middle Kingdom (中華) [Zhonghua, a historical term for China implying cultural and political centrality].

“In the future, we don’t know what nonsense those guys will say.”

For this reason, it became the Central Sea without the ‘big’ (大), but soon the name was changed again.

“If that’s the reason, then the ‘middle’ (中) character is also a problem! Let’s use the ‘between’ (間) character instead! Because it’s the sea between the mainland and Shinji!”

In the end, after heated debate, the Pacific Ocean was named the Great Intersea (大間海).

Finally, the Atlantic Ocean became the East Sea. Because it was the eastern sea of the Empire.

After all the naming was finished, Hyang looked at the map with a complex expression.

“Those vast Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have simply become the Empire’s seas.”

* * *

At that question, the other captains nodded.

The northern inland sea, the most common route from the mainland to Shinji, was notorious as a treacherous winter sea. Everything on the ship, and even the sea itself, froze.

In addition, the waves became rough, so captains who frequently traveled the northern inland sea route were given higher regard than captains who had gained experience in other seas.

Even those captains were on edge in the northeastern sea in winter.

Seeing the captains’ expressions, Admiral Shin In-son replied immediately.

“Of course, there is almost no chance of success from the beginning. But if 1 out of 10 ships succeeds and returns, then the impossible becomes possible. If the sailors who have gained experience from that one ship spread to other ships, one ship will become two, and before long, dozens, hundreds of ships will cross that outer east sea. Haven’t we done the same?”

At Shin In-son’s words, the captains fell silent. Looking at those captains, Shin In-son continued.

“It would be best if we could prevent the Europeans from advancing until we are fully prepared, but that will probably be impossible. However, we must do our best to buy time. From now on, treat any ships approaching from the east as pirates or bandits and deal with them accordingly.”

While Joseon was transforming into an empire, pirates and bandits had almost disappeared. However, they were not completely extinct, due to the circumstances of the countries located on the route to Suez.

Due to internal instability, armed conflicts between tribes, and economic hardship, pirates constantly emerged and became targets for suppression.

Thanks to this, it became commonplace for the Empire’s ships traveling the Suez route to open the gunports as soon as they saw an unidentified ship, and for the unidentified ships to raise a white flag first.

‘Deal with them as you would with pirates and bandits.’

At Shin In-son’s order, one of the captains asked again.

“What if they know we are an Imperial ship and raise a white flag?”

“Seize them first, and sink them if they resist.”

With that question, the meeting ended, and the captains left the conference room.

After the delivery of ‘Order No. 65′ targeting European ships coming from the east, only Admiral Shin In-son and his admirals remained in the empty conference room.

The admirals who came to Shinji with Shin In-son had been busy moving around.

They went directly onto ships to observe the coastline, or rode horses along the coastline to find military strongholds.

When they found an area suitable for securing a foothold, they recorded the location on the map and analyzed its military value with Admiral Shin In-son.

After such analysis, they built defenses and naval ports in the areas with the highest military value and stationed fleets there.

The admirals who were appointed as the supreme commanders to lead the naval ports and defenses operated their subordinate ships to explore the surrounding areas.

While sharing black bean tea and refreshments prepared by the administrative staff, Admiral Shin In-son spoke with the admirals.

“His Majesty the Emperor has left a special request to pay particular attention when exploring the southern region.”

“A request?”

“A request.”

At Shin In-son’s answer, the admirals’ expressions became strange.

* * *

A strange rumor had been circulating among the Empire’s soldiers and officials for some time.

-Never ignore the Emperor’s request!

“I’m a little worried. I urge you to be careful.”

When Hyang said such a thing about any matter, problems almost always arose before long.

As this happened repeatedly, one unwritten rule was created among the Empire’s officials and soldiers.

-Hyang’s request = Be very vigilant, examine carefully, and prepare for the worst.

-Hyang’s order = You haven’t forgotten what I asked you to do, have you? Move immediately!

Thanks to these things, such words also circulated among soldiers and officials.

“Did he receive some kind of divine revelation?”

When Hyang heard these rumors through various channels, he smiled bitterly.

“I’m the only one who knows that ‘this kind of thing will happen,’ so how can I explain it? I just have to make a request…”

* * *

While pondering ‘Hyang’s request,’ the admirals in charge of the southern coast nodded.

“To be sure, I am a little worried that the jungle becomes denser as we go further south.”

“That’s right. It’s not a good place.”

“I agree. When I think about exploring the islands near Luzon [major island in the Philippines] or Temasek [historical name for Singapore], it’s definitely not a good place.”

The admirals were those who had experienced tropical jungles since the Empire was still Joseon.

In order to ensure the safety of the route to Suez, a stopover was needed in the middle to rest or escape.

The Suez route was not everything. In order to obtain things that were essential to Joseon but not available in Joseon, they had to contact the tribes near Luzon and Temasek and secure geographical information.

What they learned in this process was ‘the horror of the jungle.’

It was a place full of trees everywhere, but it was far from safe.

The jungle was a place teeming with all kinds of poisonous insects, poisonous beasts, or predators.

But the most important problem was the issue of drinking water.

It seemed like they would find drinking water quickly because there were trees everywhere, but it was difficult to find a proper water source unless they were natives living there.

Not only that. It was easy to get lost in the dense jungle even with a compass. If they lost their way without securing drinking water, their lives would immediately be in danger.

It wasn’t just nature that was the enemy. The natives who survived in this harsh environment were never kind.

-Everyone is an enemy unless they are from their own tribe.

Since most of the natives had this way of thinking, a peaceful approach was impossible.

Thanks to this, the faces of the admirals who recalled their experiences at Hyang’s request became serious.

* * *

The admirals in charge of the southern region spread out the newly updated geographical information and topographical maps and talked with Admiral Shin In-son.

“So far, we have advanced to this unnamed peninsula here.”

The place pointed out by the admiral in charge of the report was the Florida Peninsula.

Admiral Shin In-son’s eyes twinkled at the admiral’s report.

“Was it a peninsula?”

“Yes. I thought it was a protruding coastline, but it was a peninsula. And islands are continuing to the southeast.”

At the admiral’s explanation, Shin In-son and the other admirals sighed without realizing it.

“It’s too wide.”

“It would be fair to call it a new continent rather than Shinji.”

As the exploration continued, Shin In-son and the admirals’ expressions became distant as the size of Shinji gradually widened.

‘Can our Empire properly digest this land?’

‘Wouldn’t we burst and die if we tried to do it by force?’

Anxiety began to smolder from deep within Shin In-son and the admirals.

They were soldiers, but they were not ignorant of the economy.

They felt the importance of money more desperately than anyone else while fighting with the Ministry of Economy and Finance over the budget every year and securing war expenses in the war with Ming.

-Developing a vast territory that far exceeds expectations requires a similarly vast budget.

-Looking at the development of Shinji from the time of the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor to the current Emperor, it is a method of actively inducing the migration of mainlanders along with the submission of natives.

-However, looking at the current situation of the natives of Shinji, their numbers are too small and they are too widely dispersed. Therefore, the cost is higher than expected and the efficiency is lower.

The admirals, who had thought this far, all came up with similar ideas.

‘Is slavery the best answer after all?’

Slaves were not unfamiliar to the admirals.

Through the reforms started by Sejong [a famous Joseon king], there were almost no slaves in the Empire except for government slaves. However, when the admirals were young, private slaves were common in every noble family.

In addition, there were still plenty of slaves in the countries located on the trade route to Suez and in the European countries beyond Suez.

Shin In-son analyzed the situation and muttered inwardly.

‘Steam engines and other devices are very useful, but considering the cost and efficiency, slaves may be more profitable. But…’

Shin In-son stopped thinking there.

‘If I advocate for slavery here, my head will be cut off. Because it goes against the policies that have been in place since the time of the Supreme Emperor.’

As Shin In-son said, introducing slavery was a reversal of the policy of reducing slaves that had been in place since the time of Sejong.

This was an act of undermining the authority of the successive emperors, and Sejong would not tolerate it right away.

No matter what justification they brought.

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