Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1022

1022. The Name of Kindling is the Arms Race (15)

Thanks to the ‘cash injection’ called Hyang, the research institute’s personnel grew rapidly. Initially, the scholars, international students, and researchers totaled just over 100, but by Hyeon’s era, they had increased to nearly 30,000. This wasn’t reckless expansion, though. It was carefully planned to maximize output.

“The reason why the pace of scientific and technological development was faster in the 19th century than in the 18th, in the 20th century than in the 19th, and in the 21st century was the concentration of talent and capital.”

Hyang modeled it after the ‘Manhattan Project’ [a US research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons]. The idea was to gather top talent in one place and invest a huge budget to produce results quickly.

-Gather verified personnel in one place and make them compete.

-Everyone will make desperate efforts to win the carrots of honor and money.

-Then you can compress time.

-Understood!

This was the execution of such a scheme. However, the most important factor for Hyang’s scheme to succeed was Hyang and the Imperial Family’s deep pockets. They spent at least half of the budget required to operate the research institute. Thanks to this, the researchers at the institute were free from the usual bureaucratic pressures, symbolized by the Ministry of Finance.

“Reduce spending because research costs a lot of money?”

“It’s not that, but it was considered right to focus on experiments and research that would be more immediately helpful….”

“Can you truly know what is more helpful in the long run?”

“…….”

“Ha! Then I will use my private wealth!”

Because of this financial independence, the court couldn’t easily interfere with the research institute. However, the Imperial Family wasn’t just throwing money away. Even if it wasn’t a grand, immediately obvious project like ‘Yu Gong Moves the Mountain’ [a Chinese fable about perseverance], even small, incremental improvements like ‘An Iron Pestle Can Be Ground into a Needle’ [an idiom about persistent effort leading to success] could yield huge profits when properly commercialized.

However, there was one area that was comparatively neglected: the Confucian Academy. Tasked with researching various Confucian ideologies, including Neo-Confucianism, its staff only increased from about 50 to about 200 people.

In contrast, the ‘Academy of History’ and ‘Academy of Statecraft,’ established during the Wan era, were even larger in scale. The Emperor and the court had their justifications.

-The Academy of History and the Academy of Statecraft have more than one or two subjects to deal with!

The Academy of History researched diverse historical fields such as ‘War History’ and ‘Architectural History.’ The Academy of Statecraft academically researched complex issues such as ‘Production and Distribution,’ ‘Sound Circulation of Capital,’ and ‘Distinction between Investment and Speculation.’

However, the biggest underlying reason was that the shadow of the ‘Giyu Rebellion’ [likely a fictional rebellion within the story’s context] still lingered.

* * *

Against this backdrop, the discovery of ‘oxygen’ was the biggest achievement.

-Is air a single substance? Or is it a mixture of several substances?

-Is this world really composed of the five elements of the Five Elements [a traditional Chinese philosophy concept]?

Oxygen was discovered while trying to solve this problem, which was listed in the Book of Challenges. Hyang and Hyeon, upon confirming the report—or rather, the paper—summoned the scholars and researchers in charge and praised them greatly. Afterwards, Hyang, back in his room, made a determined expression.

“Now that we have oxygen, let’s release some more potential!”

* * *

The first thing Hyang tackled was the steam engine installed on naval battleships, starting with destroyers. Oils refined from petroleum were militarily more useful than coal in many ways.

-Much safer than coal.

When using coal, the combustion chamber’s fire mouth was always open because stokers had to continuously feed coal. Naturally, sparks often flew out, causing frequent safety accidents. However, if petroleum-refined oil such as diesel was used, there was no need to keep the fire mouth open, making it safer.

-Can carry more energy than coal for the same volume.

In the case of coal, no matter how tightly the warship’s coal bunker was filled, it couldn’t be completely filled. Even though it looked full from the outside, there were always gaps between the coal particles. Petroleum-refined oils didn’t have that problem.

However, there were also disadvantages.

-Although safer than coal, it’s not completely safe.

As large and small accidents occurred during petroleum distillation and storage, the Empire had to prepare countermeasures. The officials in charge complained.

“Is there no perfect fuel?”

“I thought there would be no more problems like those caused by coal……”

As coal was widely used, starting with iron horses (trains) and even as heating fuel for houses, many accidents such as dust explosions and gas poisoning occurred. Hyang made many efforts to prevent these accidents, but they couldn’t be completely prevented due to public awareness and technical limitations.

However, while dealing with such accidents, many artisans created new technologies and devices to mitigate the problems, and officials created laws and systems. Hyang, receiving a report on this, clicked his tongue and muttered.

“Tsk. It’s not for nothing that the saying ‘Safety rules are written in blood’ exists. People only learn when they’ve been hurt….”

And similar problems arose again with petroleum. However, considering various factors, petroleum-refined oil was still more useful than coal, so the Imperial Navy adopted it, especially heavy oil, as fuel. And Hyang added his own touch.

It had long been known that ‘air is needed for fire to burn.’ Therefore, steam engines that used petroleum as a raw material had blowers to supply the air needed for combustion. Hyang called together the researchers and technicians in charge of manufacturing steam engines for the Navy.

“It is said that combustion occurs when there is a substance called oxygen in the air, and the more oxygen there is, the better the combustion.”

“Is that so?”

“The problem is that it is difficult to isolate only that oxygen separately at the moment. So I was thinking, wouldn’t there be more oxygen available for combustion if we blew in more air?”

At Hyang’s words, the researchers and artisans were lost in thought. Silence continued, and then one of the artisans spoke.

“Come to think of it… I think that’s why we use bellows in the smithy.”

“Aha!”

In this way, the researchers and artisans began to improve the blower attached to the combustor. And what emerged was a kind of ‘supercharger.’

As the Sea Serpent, which had its engine replaced with the new steam engine, showed even better maneuverability, the Imperial Navy adopted this new engine.

* * *

The second place where Hyang added his touch was the self-propelled incendiary bomb. Hyang, who called Da Vinci, immediately got to the point.

“….So, it is said that combustion occurs when there is oxygen in this air. What do you think?”

“Well.”

Looking at Da Vinci, who was tilting his head, Hyang explained in more detail.

“If we put a container filled with this air in the propulsion unit of the self-propelled incendiary bomb and load a suitable fuel…….”

“Ah!”

Before Hyang could finish speaking, Da Vinci’s eyes began to shine fiercely.

“Then we don’t have to use gunpowder as a propellant!”

“Isn’t that right? Please research it.”

“Yes!”

Da Vinci, who answered energetically, immediately returned to Area 51 and called Kang Baek-doo and Gong Ya-jang. Kang Baek-doo and Gong Ya-jang, who heard the story through Da Vinci, stroked their chins and calculated the possibilities.

“Looks good……”

Next to Gong Ya-jang, who gave a positive evaluation, Kang Baek-doo put his hand on his forehead.

“Why didn’t I think of this?”

Anyway, Da Vinci and his group, who received a hint from Hyang, began to rework the self-propelled incendiary bomb once again. After many trials and errors, Da Vinci and his group finally created a plausible propulsion device. It consisted of a high-pressure air tank, a tank containing high-purity alcohol as fuel, a combustion chamber, and a multi-wing engine that converted the exhaust gas from the combustion chamber into power.

The self-propelled incendiary bomb with the newly created engine was immediately put into testing.

“Maintaining depth is a problem……”

“If we can solve that part, it seems like almost everything will be solved……”

Da Vinci and his group, who confirmed the results, once again devoted themselves to solving ‘depth maintenance.’

* * *

Hyang continued to add his touch here and there. The next place was the Imperial Army.

“How about changing the steam engines that go into assault vehicles and towing vehicles?”

“We are already researching it.”

“Is that so?”

The Imperial Army, watching the Imperial Navy’s actions, was also seriously considering replacing the steam engines. The problem of the stoker supplying coal to the steam engine was the same for the Imperial Army.

-Even if only the stoker is removed, the size can be reduced and the defense can be strengthened.

-If we listen to the Navy guys, the new steam engine is said to be even more powerful. That means we can put on bigger and more powerful cannons.

-Then should we change it?

This was the biggest reason why the Imperial Army decided to replace the engine. Hyang, who later heard about the Army’s decision-making process, put his hand on his forehead.

“These deeply rooted cannon fetishists……”

* * *

Hyang’s touch wasn’t limited to the military. A new task was also dropped on Area 51. Hyang, who came to Woo, brought up the main point.

“Come to think of it, you know. I think there might be a way to use that combustion more directly, don’t you think?”

“Yes, what do you mean by that?”

“Didn’t you say that if there is only air, that is, oxygen, and fuel, fire can be lit even in a closed space?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then isn’t there a way to directly use the power of that fire?”

“So.”

Looking at Woo, who was still making an incomprehensible expression, Hyang said again.

“I thought about it like this. When you look at long guns or cannons, they fire bullets and incendiary bombs far away with a little gunpowder, right? Using the firepower created by the explosion of gunpowder. Can’t that explosion also be seen as a kind of combustion?”

“Ah!”

Only then did Woo understand Hyang’s words and immediately made a decision.

“I will register it in the Book of Challenges right away! The grade is……”

After thinking for a while, Woo decided on the grade.

“I think ‘An Iron Pestle Can Be Ground into a Needle’ Upper-Upper-Upper is good.”

In this way, the Empire began full-scale research into internal combustion engines. Hyang, who was returning from Area 51 after finishing his business, looked at the sky and muttered inwardly.

‘With this, my notoriety will increase by one more… But, who cares? By that time, I’ll already be dead, so are they going to kill me again?’

* * *

Hyang, who returned to Sugang Palace, looked through the reports and sighed.

“Hoo~ Now all that’s left is electricity… The progress is still slow. It’s such an unexplored territory that I can’t even grasp the concept……”

Hyang, who was thinking about electricity with his arms crossed, muttered softly.

“What kind of bait should I release to spread the rumor that I released it well……”

At that moment, the scholars and researchers who were studying lightning (雷氣) at the research institute simultaneously shuddered.

“Why do I suddenly have chills……”

* * *

While Hyang was thinking about bait, Hyeon was having a different idea.

“Looking at the past Italian War, the effect of naval gun fire to strike the enemy staying on the coast was great. Also, in the Yellow Sea Battle and the Liaodong War, the Navy’s naval gun fire was quite useful. However, the number of cannons loaded on the front line is limited… What if we could pour a large amount of incendiary bombs at once?”