Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1067

1067. The Foundation (2)

In the annex of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Unjong-ga, working-level personnel from the Empire, Ming, and Japan gathered to analyze the situation and prepare for future actions.

“First, let’s talk about the forces currently dominating Persia,” said the Imperial official.

The Ming and Japanese officials acknowledged the statement.

“Our Ming knows that the ruler of a sect called Safavid has seized power,” stated the Ming official.

“Japan also knows it that way,” echoed the Japanese official.

“That’s right. Then, how much do you know about this Safavid?” the Imperial official inquired.

“……..”

The Ming and Japanese officials remained silent, unable to answer the Imperial official’s question.

‘Did I accidentally seize the initiative? Not bad,’ the Imperial official thought.

Pleased with his easy success in taking the lead, the Imperial official cleared his throat and continued, “First, let’s learn about this Safavid sect, and then we’ll discuss the ruler of this sect who seized power in Persia. Looking at this Safavid religious group…”

– Started as a mystical branch of Islam, later transforming into a Shia group, and then settled in Ardabil.

– Later expelled from Ardabil by the Black Sheep Dynasty [a Turkoman tribal confederation]. At that time, Sheikh Junaid defected to the White Sheep Dynasty [another Turkoman tribal confederation].

– Even after that, they attempted to establish their own power but suffered continuous oppression and were reduced to a state of disarray.

– The current ruler, Ismail, was seven years old at the time.

– Ismail, who was biding his time in Ardabil, formed the Qizilbash [a Shia militant group] and took advantage of the chaos in the Persian region to rise again, succeeding in seizing power.

After hearing the explanation, the Japanese and Ming officials exchanged slightly strange expressions.

“It’s very familiar,” one of them said.

“A founding monarch who rose through chaos… too familiar,” another added.

“The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period, the Chu-Han Contention [periods of intense warfare and political maneuvering in Chinese history],” one official mused.

“If we consider the shogunate as a founding as well…” another chimed in.

Seeing the reactions of the Ming and Japanese officials, the Imperial official muttered inwardly, ‘Founding in a time of peace is treason!’

“Ahem! Ahem!” The Imperial official coughed lightly to regain their attention and continued, “The current ruler, Ismail, has acquired the title of ‘Shahanshah’ [King of Kings, a Persian title for emperor]. And the country ruled by this person is gradually expanding its territory. That’s it for now. What comes next is our job.”

At the Imperial official’s meaningful words, the eyes of the Ming and Japanese officials began to gleam.

“That’s right! The real important thing is after the founding!”

“Indeed!” they agreed.

‘The founding monarch may seem to have strong power, but in some ways, he has the weakest power!’ one thought.

‘The founding monarch has more than one or two enemies! Internally, there are successors who want the succession, meritorious subjects who demand their share, and externally, there are the remaining subjects of the former dynasty who do not give up on restoration, and the people who distrust the new founding monarch!’ another pondered.

“Hmm… I’m starting to get a sense of it. Who is the greatest meritorious subject of the current Shahanshah!” the Ming official asked, having grasped the central issue.

The Imperial official immediately answered, “The Qizilbash.”

“The Qizilbash?”

“Let’s discuss this while looking at the Qizilbash section in the report that has already been delivered.”

The information about the Qizilbash that the Empire had gathered was as follows:

– A mystical group of Shiites.

– Turkic origin.

– Named Qizilbash because of the red headscarves they wear.

– Boasts very strong solidarity and combat power.

– The main military branch is cavalry.

– Still prefers bows to gunpowder weapons such as cannons and rifles.

“…To explain this part in more detail, gunpowder weapons have not yet spread much in Persia and the surrounding areas. The biggest problem is that it is not easy to obtain gunpowder, and the next is that they cannot easily obtain gunpowder weapons because they do not have money. Thanks to this, most of the rifles they have are still flintlock rifles. Therefore, they prefer to use bows as long-range rapid-fire weapons,” the Imperial official elaborated.

The Ming officials lightly shook their heads and muttered, “The bows of the Turks have been a troublesome problem since ancient times…”

“It’s not the bows that are troublesome, but the Turks themselves were a troublesome existence,” another Ming official added.

The Ming officials, having briefly mentioned the Turks who had troubled the Central Plains since ancient times, refocused on the main topic.

“The solidarity is strong, and the combat power is excellent… The problem is loyalty, right?” one of them asked.

The Imperial official immediately responded, “Loyalty to the monarch is not a problem either. However, the monarch’s heart is not at ease due to other problems.”

“Other problems?”

“The sect issue.”

“The monarch is also Shia, and they are also Shia, so there seems to be no problem?”

“The problem is that most of the people are Sunni.”

“Ah!” The Ming officials immediately understood, but the Japanese officials wore puzzled expressions.

“What’s the problem with the sect?” one of them asked.

Seeing the Japanese officials’ lack of understanding, the Ming and Imperial officials thought to themselves, ‘Ah, Japan’s ability to understand the outside situation is still immature.’

“Ahem! Ahem!” The Imperial official cleared his throat and explained the situation in more detail. “After the death of the founder of Islam, Sunni and Shia were divided over who to appoint as the successor. And they have been enemies for nearly a thousand years. And those Qizilbash are the ones who openly shout, ‘All Sunnis must be killed.’ I heard that those Qizilbash are still going around Persia committing massacres.”

After hearing the explanation, the Japanese officials immediately showed their understanding.

“The monarch of Persia must be in trouble,” one of them said.

Like the first Japanese king, the newly founded monarch thoroughly uprooted his enemies to the point where he could not help but say that they were cruel. However, he did not touch ordinary people without power as much as possible because the state could be run only if there were people. Furthermore, the people who had turned their backs were the most terrifying enemies.

“But they are committing massacres because the sects are different? That monarch named Ismail must be in trouble.”

The Japanese officials, having grasped the situation, looked back at the Imperial and Ming officials.

“From Ismail’s point of view, if his safety and power are guaranteed, he would want to purge the Qizilbash first, right? But, the current situation makes it difficult. So, he’s leaving them alone… So, are we going to replace the Qizilbash?”

The Ming official answered first, “Replacing the Qizilbash is a bad idea. We can be discarded like the Qizilbash.”

Following the Ming official’s words, the Imperial official continued, “The best thing is to create an existence for Ismail to fill the void of the Qizilbash.”

“Fill the void… Are you saying we should create an army?”

“It will be Ismail’s army, and it will be our army.”

At the words of the Imperial official, the Japanese official expressed doubt.

“‘Ismail’s army’ is understandable, but ‘our army’ is not understandable.”

The Imperial official immediately addressed the Japanese official’s point. “If it is armed with weapons made by us, composed of soldiers trained by us, and commanded by commanders educated by us, wouldn’t it be possible to say ‘our army’? Unless the relationship between us and Persia is completely broken, Ismail’s army will become our army and protect our interests.”

After hearing the answer, the Ming and Japanese officials immediately understood what the Empire was thinking.

‘An army is the most powerful means of protecting power, but it is also the most powerful force threatening power. If things go as the Empire thinks, Ismail will have no choice but to move with us! Also, Ismail’s army will most actively protect our interests! The truly scary thing is that the other party knows this but has no choice but to accept it!’

The Ming and Japanese officials, whose spines were chilled by the Empire’s meticulousness, suddenly froze.

‘Then what about us?’

‘The Empire, with such a deep mind, could not have joined hands with us because of a lack of ability! Then?’

“We were the same as Ismail!”

The Empire could not have been unaware that the Ming and Japanese officials would make such a judgment after hearing the Empire’s plan. Nevertheless, the reason for explaining this was that the Empire’s proposal was an ‘irresistibly attractive proposal.’ In other words, as long as Ming and Japan were holding the hand extended by the Empire, they could share considerable benefits.

While holding hands with the Empire:

– The moment you let go, the sharing of benefits ends. No, it’s the beginning of a dispute.

– Are you confident in winning against the Empire?

– Would you rather head to a time of trouble that could lead to ruin, or would you rather head to a prosperous time, although you have to be mindful? The choice is yours.

Ming, who had already suffered two fatal defeats, and Japan, who had clearly seen the Empire’s power next to them, had only one choice. In the conference room of Unjong-ga, not on the battlefield, Ming and Japan had no choice but to wave the white flag to the Empire.

The Imperial officials, who saw the expressions of the Ming and Japanese officials changing every moment, smiled inwardly with satisfaction.

‘I’ve broken them.’

It was a matter of three countries moving together. The first thing to do was to clearly establish the order of precedence so that future work would be smooth. Therefore, before starting the work, the Imperial working-level personnel thoroughly conducted rehearsals. The Minister, Vice Minister, and Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs played the role of the Imperial official, and the Imperial working-level personnel played the roles of the Ming and Japanese officials.

The working-level personnel who played the roles of the Ming and Japanese officials had fierce debates with the Minister, Vice Minister, and Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs. In these rehearsals, the working-level personnel were mostly refuted. However, there were also some cases where the opposite happened, and whenever this happened, the working-level personnel and the Minister and Vice Minister put their heads together to create countermeasures.

And from the beginning, they had broken the spirit of the Ming and Japanese.

* * *

The Empire, which had successfully broken the spirit of Ming and Japan from the beginning, smoothly began to formulate a plan according to the Empire’s thoughts.

“Then, let’s agree that the troops to be dispatched to Persia will be centered on Ming and Japan, with the Empire in charge of logistics and artillery,” said the Imperial official.

The Ming and Japanese officials nodded. The characteristics of the three countries’ armies at this time were as follows:

Ming: Isn’t there an abundance of people?

Japan: There’s only people, at best.

Empire: Cannons, cannons, cannons!

Or everything except people.

Thanks to the overflowing population, Ming was capable of mobilizing large-scale forces, but the heavy equipment part was relatively lacking.

– It’s cheaper to mobilize more soldiers than to possess a large number of heavy weapons that cost a lot of money.

This was Ming’s decision.

On the other hand, Japan, which still lacked many things, had no choice but to make up for the lack of people with people. The Empire had always been a country that started with cannons and ended with cannons, and thanks to this characteristic, it had secured more reliable supply capabilities than anyone else.