Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1000

1000. Meanwhile, Elsewhere… (5)

Various products using chicle [a natural gum resin] swept through Ming China, Japan, and Europe. In particular, shoes and cartwheels with chicle soles nearly monopolized the market. This situation led some to smell profit.

“I don’t know the exact timing, but I think we can make a lot of money? I smell money.”

“The problem is that it smells like blood.”

The first to smell ‘money mixed with the smell of blood’ were Japanese merchants, especially those from Naniwa (難波, the old name of Osaka).

* * *

Osaka merchants have long been known for their unique business acumen and wealth accumulation. Moreover, they were key players in the licensed trade (勘合貿易) [a system of officially sanctioned trade] with Ming China during the Muromachi Shogunate, giving them excellent international awareness. Therefore, Osaka was a welcomed place when Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] opened a trading post in Waeguk [historical Japanese term for Japan].

Even when the Ouchi clan was accumulating power, Osaka merchants were the first to notice and secretly reached out to them. The subsequent period of civil war was a difficult time for them. The civil war paralyzed logistics within Japan, and they had to provide military funds to powerful daimyos [feudal lords].

Whether they wanted to or not.

And due to this issue of supporting military funds, they faced even more difficult times afterward.

“I heard you provided military funds to my enemy?”

Because of this support, a considerable number of Osaka merchants were disliked by the Ouchi clan and lost everything from their property to their lives. Even the merchants who barely survived had a hard time. The lords who ‘borrowed’ military funds were defeated, turning those loans into ‘unrecoverable debts.’ That wasn’t all.

They also had to engage in fierce competition for survival with merchants from the Ouchi clan. The Ouchi merchants, backed by the ‘new ruler of Japan,’ were very strong competitors. In the end, the Osaka merchants had to spend a long time biding their time. However, the potential of the Osaka merchants gradually recovered their past glory, and eventually, the two major commercial powers of Yamaguchi and Osaka were born.

The reason why Osaka merchants regained their past glory was the war that took place in Italy.

* * *

In preparing for the war in Italy, the European powers had to spend enormous sums on military expenses. They had clearly seen in the recent Habsburg-Hungarian War that a new war would consume enormous amounts of supplies. And if a war broke out, it was certain that the real opponent would be the Empire [referring to a specific empire in the story].

Considering the Empire’s war of attrition demonstrated during the Suez railway construction and the pirate suppression war, sloppy preparation could not be tolerated. In the process of preparing for the war, the most difficult problem for the European powers was ‘securing a sufficient stock of gunpowder.’

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, the European powers always struggled to secure saltpeter, the main ingredient of gunpowder. The most basic way to obtain saltpeter in Europe was to operate saltpeter beds, similar to Joseon. Naturally, it was always insufficient, and the live-fire shooting training of soldiers suffered. The only country free from this problem was England after it gained control of India.

It was a natural result that the British army, which had faithfully conducted live ammunition training thanks to sufficient gunpowder reserves, became a strong army in Europe. And the history changed by Hyang’s intervention was showing a significantly different picture in this area as well. First of all, the Bengal Sultanate of India became very powerful. The Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who had seen considerable profit through saltpeter trade with the Empire, also sold saltpeter to other countries.

Based on this economic gain, they strengthened their military power and grew into a strongman in the Indian region. With the Bengal Sultanate firmly in place, the European powers were able to escape the problem of saltpeter. In this way, they were able to break free from the shackles of saltpeter, but another problem, sulfur, remained. The European powers, worried about not securing sufficient quantities through existing supply routes, turned their eyes to the East.

And they found Japan. European merchants who arrived in Japan purchased, no, swept away large quantities of sulfur. The first to react to the unexpected large-scale purchase of sulfur by European powers were the Osaka merchants. Sulfur was a useful medicine before it was a raw material for gunpowder, and it had been one of the main export items to China and the Korean Peninsula for a long time.

Therefore, Osaka merchants had their own trade connections that had been passed down for generations. And this was something that the merchants of Ouchi, no, Yamaguchi, did not have. Instead, the merchants of Yamaguchi imported and sold sulfur from the Empire’s Daesul Island. This difference made it possible for Osaka merchants to revive based on the sudden ‘sulfur sweeping crisis.’

As mentioned earlier, sulfur was a material for gunpowder. Therefore, the Empire was very strict about the export of this sulfur, and Yamaguchi merchants could not react in a timely manner. However, Osaka merchants, who had secured trade connections in Japan, were able to seize the opportunity.

“Are you short of manpower? Then hire more! Don’t worry about money!”

In that way, a huge amount of gold bars and Empire currency came into the pockets of Osaka merchants to meet the demand.

* * *

The Osaka merchants, who made a comeback through the ‘sulfur sweeping crisis,’ began to investigate why this happened.

“We need to know if this is a one-time thing or if it will be repeated.”

After investigating through all sorts of methods – the honey trap is basic – the Osaka merchants learned about the ‘increasingly thickening war clouds in Italy.’

“The Empire and the European powers are going to clash?”

“Against the Empire? Are you crazy?”

“European merchants are asking about credit transactions these days, so we should cut off trade.”

The initial reaction was like this, but as various information came in from the Empire, the expressions of the Osaka merchants became strange.

“The Empire’s attitude is strange?”

“It’s sincere, but it’s not full power? What is this? It doesn’t make sense?”

“I can’t figure it out.”

In a situation that was difficult to understand, the Osaka merchants began to investigate here and there again. The Osaka merchants, who could not carelessly confront the Empire, contacted European merchants. The Osaka merchants, who analyzed the information they received using alcohol, women, and gold, came to a conclusion.

“A gold mine that can be exploited for at least 10 years has opened up!”

And the Osaka merchants’ expectations were correct. The war in Italy became a war of attrition that exceeded the European powers’ expectations. The amount of supplies consumed exceeding the loss of life, especially the amount of gunpowder consumed, caused the trade ships of the European powers to flock to Osaka. Seeing the gold bars and Empire currency piling up more and more each time European trade ships entered, the Osaka merchants once again recalled the maxim that had been passed down for generations.

-War is profitable.

* * *

The ‘Italian Unification War’ ended with the birth of the ‘Italian Federal State.’ However, the smell of gunpowder continued to linger in various parts of Europe.

First of all, it was Spain.

Losing the Gibraltar area was devastating to Spain. With Portugal occupying Ceuta, a strategic point south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Empire occupying Gibraltar and Algeciras to the north, Spain’s path to the Atlantic Ocean was blocked. To solve this problem, Spain launched several attempts to recapture Gibraltar and Algeciras.

However, they were utterly defeated by the Empire Navy at sea, and utterly defeated by the Empire Army and Swiss Army who had seized the high ground on land. In the end, Spain had no choice but to give up the immediate recapture of the Gibraltar area. On land, they withdrew their troops to a place 2 leagues (approximately 9.6km) away from the defense line defended by the Empire Army and Swiss Army.

At sea, it was even more humiliating. While passing in front of Gibraltar and Ceuta, all Spanish ships had to move in units of at most 2-3 ships, and all the portholes on the left and right sides had to be tightly closed. The moment more than 3 ships were found, the Empire Navy of Gibraltar and the Portuguese Navy warships of Ceuta rushed out and monitored them. In the process, if even one of the portholes of the Spanish ships was found to be open, it was considered to have hostile intent and sunk. In the end, Spain had to rely heavily on trade with its African colonies and the Mediterranean region.

“Everyone else is crossing the Atlantic in this era…..”

The Spanish rulers lamented the reality of not being able to escape the Mediterranean region, which was increasingly moving away from the center of the economy.

“We’ll see!”

The Spanish rulers, who were biding their time, secretly reached out to France.

“You’re making new cannons and steam-powered wagons? Let’s do it together!”

* * *

France also suffered serious losses, but it was not as serious as Spain. And France itself had enough potential to recover from this wound. France was the country with the largest territory and population in mainland Europe. It also had ports that could directly access the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to this, France was recovering from its losses with a little more ease than Spain.

“Losing in Italy stings a bit, but instead, we gained a lot…..”

The gains from the Italian front were considerable. The most representative was the new type of cannon salvaged from the Empire Navy warship that sank off the northern coast of Corsica. Unlike Europe, where muzzle-loading cannons were still the main force, the Empire’s cannons were breech-loading.

While analyzing the Empire-made breech-loading cannon salvaged at the risk of their lives, the French military developed a new cannon. They did not know that the Empire Navy in the 1st line area, not the 2nd line area like the Mediterranean, already had breech-loading cannons with recoil mechanisms.

The next was the armored assault vehicle used by the assault troops and the tractor that moved the cannon. The Empire’s armored assault vehicle that confidently broke through the trench lines they believed in and relied on, and the tractor that effortlessly pulled the Empire-made cannon that were much larger than their own artillery, were things they had to have.

“We also have steam engines! Let’s make it!”

“But, it’s a difficult task…..”

“If you just make it, you can live comfortably for the rest of your life!”

“I’ll start designing it right away!”

There were also many political changes. The decline of the aristocratic class that had been checking the king was further accelerated. Immediately after the end of the war, the generals who commanded the war had to retire to take the blame for the defeat. Since most of the generals who participated in the war were from the king’s personal guard, the 칙령군 [royal decree army], this was considered a victory for the aristocratic forces against the king. However, for Charles VIII, this was a ‘one step back for two steps forward.’

“Thinking about it, I said at the time that we should not set foot in Italy considering the friendship with the Empire. But, who was it that strongly advocated for participation? Chief Secretary, bring the records.”

One of the butterfly effects brought about by Hyang’s intervention was that Europe also had an official record keeper. There were record keepers before, but not to the extent of recording every move of the king and the cabinet without missing a single one. But the newly created record keeper had to make this possible.

Later, it was a butterfly effect that made the research amount of scholars studying European history increase several times. Anyway, based on this record, the conservative aristocratic forces who advocated for ‘participation’ began to be conversely purged.