There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 359

360. Telegraph Installation

Following Essen’s departure, the imperial envoy also soon left, and I organized a delegation to offer condolences on behalf of the court.

Although I had no intention of allowing the Crown Prince to attend the court proceedings, it was still an imperial envoy of condolence, so we had to treat them with due respect.

Hwang Hee, who had finally been promoted to Chief State Councilor, had no time to celebrate, as he had to accept my secret order.

“When you go to Nanjing this time, make sure to thoroughly investigate the expenses.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Hwang Hee narrowed his eyes and whispered.

“I mean, thoroughly investigate the waterways and gates leading to Nanjing.”

“It may not be enough to grasp everything during the diplomatic mission.”

“You may delay your return with some excuse. This is an order in preparation for unforeseen events.”

“I shall obey your command.”

Hwang Hee bowed his head.

As the Ming Dynasty’s delegation of condolence left Byeongnando, the delegation sent to Japan returned, as if passing the baton.

‘I had forgotten about it.’

Because the news of the Emperor’s critical condition was soon followed by news of his death, the death of the Japanese Shogun had been relatively pushed out of my mind.

However, the envoys I had sent seemed to have faithfully conducted their investigation even without my direct attention.

“The deceased Lord Minamoto no Yoshikazu died young but has two infant sons. In Kyoto, until we departed, they were still in the midst of a noisy succession dispute.”

“Are they contesting the succession between the eldest and the second son?”

Then shouldn’t the eldest be made Shogun?

“That is not the case. The previous Lord Minamoto no Yoshimochi had entered priesthood and retired as a Daijosho [a high-ranking court title], and he also has a son born late in life.”

“…Hmm.”

Minamoto no Yoshimochi is the father of Ashikaga Yoshikazu, the deceased Shogun.

He abdicated to his son a few years ago, but ironically, the son died first.

“According to the law, the eldest grandson should be made Lord, but the previous Lord seems to have other ideas.

Although his own son is young, he is slightly older than the two sons of the deceased Lord, so he seems to be trying to establish the second son as Lord instead of the eldest grandson.”

In an era with high infant mortality rates, the older one is more likely to survive, even by just one year.

Even between infants and toddlers, there is a significant difference in mortality rates.

‘They’re in trouble too.’

If there was only one clear successor, there would be no choice, but the effects of Biak [likely a reference to a political or social influence] seem to be quite significant.

“There must be quite a backlash?”

“Your Majesty’s insight is correct. Therefore, they have not been able to reach a conclusion and have decided to leave the position of Lord vacant for now, with the previous Lord exercising power.”

It’s nothing more than a temporary fix, but in fact, such temporary measures are often sufficient.

In a few years, the children will be old enough, so they can choose a successor from among those who haven’t died.

The problem is that Ashikaga Yoshimochi, who is acting as the retired Emperor, has to hold out until then…

‘I think he said he was about eight years older than me?’

That’s not that old.

Maybe nothing will happen.

…Whenever I say something like this, something always happens.

* * *

The foreigners Dan-i brought were all assigned to the Royal Guards.

‘Even if Dan-i is the Crown Prince, I can’t give them to him as private soldiers.’

That’s something you can see just by looking at my father’s history.

I don’t have a favorite youngest son, and I certainly don’t plan to replace the successor, but you never know.

Besides, can he even afford to pay their salaries?

Still, since they came to Hanyang with the Crown Prince, I should first scatter them around and have them guard the outskirts, and then pick out the trustworthy ones and assign them to Dan-i’s guard.

Dan-i seemed a little dissatisfied, but he quickly cheered up when I said I would show him something amazing.

Such a simple fellow.

Not only the Crown Prince, but also my family members gathered in Heejungdang to see the important experiment that had come about after a long time.

I held my breath and waited anxiously for the signal.

– Drrr, drrr, drrr.

The electromagnet wound around the coil moved as the current flowed.

At the same time, the suspended iron core moved, visually printing out the electrical signal.

The children watching from the side exclaimed in admiration at the moving figure, even though no one touched it.

“Wow!”

“Can I touch it?”

The daughters asked, but I put my finger to my lips.

“Shh. The test is still in progress.”

Soon, an official who was diligently interpreting the dots and lines next to him waved the paper and shouted.

“Your Majesty, it is complete!”

I smiled wryly as I looked at the sentence interpreted on the paper.

The telegraph was supposed to transmit from Suganggung, which was connected to this place, but the final phrase to be transmitted was kept secret.

But…

‘I wonder who chose the phrase.’

– Having received the mandate from heaven, may its life prosper forever (受命于天, 旣壽永昌)!

Isn’t that the phrase engraved on the Imperial Seal, symbolizing the Emperor’s mandate from heaven?

It will be recorded in history as the first phrase sent by the telegraph, but to think they would choose this.

“Your Majesty, success, it is a success!”

Regardless, Jang Yeong-sil, who was next to me, said with a face that looked like he was about to burst with joy.

He had been focusing solely on the electricity business since the development of the generator, and he looked like he was about to lose his breath with successive successes.

‘Actually, the principle isn’t that difficult.’

Even with the previously developed batteries, it was already possible to send simple electrical signals.

However, the strength of the current and the receiving method were obstacles, so it was not used in practical terms.

However, the story changed when we secured power by running a generator and were able to install a significant number of rubber-coated or copper wires.

Thus, we tried connecting the 500m distance between Changdeokgung Palace and Suganggung Palace as a test, and the result was a great success.

The Yeoheung Soonbo reporters, who had been called in advance for publicity, were busy typing away, and the officials from Jiphyeonjeon breathed a sigh of relief.

‘These people have suffered too.’

Jang Yeong-sil and the development department solve the technical parts, but that’s not all that’s needed for the telegraph.

It is only when meaningful information can be transmitted using only two signals, flowing and cutting off the current, that it becomes practical.

‘Originally, I was going to entrust this role to Korean linguists.’

However, I couldn’t dig the dead out of their graves again, so this task naturally returned to Jiphyeonjeon.

I wasn’t particularly worried.

The person who can be said to be the greatest linguist in Korean history is none other than my brother.

He created Hangeul from scratch, so when I gave him the idea of assigning signals consisting of dots and lines to each letter, he was able to quickly reinvent (?) Morse code.

“You have worked hard. I will specially name this code Chungnyeong Code (符號) [Chungnyeong Code].”

“Your grace is boundless.”

Do was not very grateful as he took off his dopo [traditional Korean scholar’s robe] and cooled off his sweat.

He didn’t show it, but he seemed quite nervous.

If the conclusion is that Morse… Chungnyeong code cannot be used in actual combat, it will all be for naught.

“Now that the telegraph has succeeded, how about connecting each government office and palace first?”

It would be good to build a telegraph system in the capital first.

“Rather, wouldn’t the closer the distance, the lower the effectiveness?

We cannot install telegraphs in every building, so we will have to prepare a separate space for sending and receiving telegrams, which will take a considerable amount of time.”

In the case of communicating between Changdeokgung Palace and Suganggung Palace, which are attached to each other as they are now, sending a quick-footed eunuch may be faster than sending and interpreting Morse code.

Most of the government offices are concentrated on Yukjo Street in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, so even more so.

“Then what do you think?”

“Connect Byeongnando and Hanyang first.”

Do suggested.

“Byeongnando is close to the capital and is the largest port in Joseon, is it not?

News from abroad mostly comes through Byeongnando, and it is easy to receive it in advance when there is an important matter.”

“However, Chungnyeongdaegun, connecting telegraph lines to Byeongnando, let alone within the capital, will be a great burden. How much copper is needed to connect within the capital…”

“Just install both!”

Then Jang Yeong-sil jumped in and passionately argued.

“I will get as much copper and coating as you need! If necessary, I will send Lee Bu-jeong to Japan again to scrape up all the copper! This is a worthwhile endeavor!”

If Lee Cheon were here, he would have tried to kill Jang Yeong-sil, but fortunately, he was out in the provinces, so he did not hear his reckless remarks.

“Your spirit is commendable, but is it really possible to connect the telegraph to Byeongnando?”

However, even with Jang Yeong-sil’s courage, such skeptical views were not dispelled.

‘I wonder how these people would react if they heard that I was planning to install telegraphs all over the country.’

I’m not even thinking about installing them in Manchuria yet, but I plan to connect at least the Korean peninsula with telegraphs during my lifetime.

But seeing them bickering over whether to connect Hanyang and Byeongnando is kind of cute.

“Your Majesty, the problem is that precious copper is used in the wires.

It would be easy to control in the capital, where people come and go and officials are stationed, but on roads where there are no eyes, thieves will surely be rampant.”

“That’s right. But,”

I opened my mouth.

“Are the people’s livelihoods so poor that they would do that?”

The assembled courtiers were momentarily speechless at my question.

It is said that no one will not jump over a wall if they are hungry for three days, but there will be fewer who try to jump over the wall of a rich house when their stomachs are full.

If that were not the case, society would not be able to maintain itself.

‘Of course, even in modern times, there are occasional wire thieves.’

And in the same way, there are people who take school gates and sell them, and people who steal manhole covers.

Even in times of peace, there are criminals who break into other people’s houses, but haven’t we already weeded out professional thieves through the previous mass arrests?

“However, copper is a precious item, so to the people, it will seem like money is scattered on the streets.

It is true that livelihoods have become more prosperous thanks to Your Majesty’s virtue, but how can everyone resist temptation unless they are saints (聖人) [sage or virtuous person]?”

“That’s right. Therefore, anyone who steals wires will be severely punished. In addition, we will place patrol soldiers (巡兵) [patrol soldiers] every 4 kilometers to monitor the areas where the wires are installed.”

The ministers lowered their heads with expressions that said, ‘4 kilometers? Ah, 10 li [a traditional Korean unit of distance, approximately 393 meters].’

Isn’t it time for you to get used to the metric system?

‘We must not make the mistake of being afraid of maggots and not making soy sauce [a Korean proverb meaning not to avoid something important because of a minor unpleasantness].’

According to my short historical knowledge, the first telegraph in Joseon was introduced during the Enlightenment period.

Would there have been no thieves at that time?

‘Rather, wouldn’t they have been more rampant as the country was in chaos?’

This is just my prejudice, but the current political situation seems quite stable to me.

It means that our good Joseon people would not deliberately engage in bad deeds.

Of course, anyone who disappoints this king deserves to be severely punished.

* * *

However, despite Lee Je’s determination, interest in the telegraph was bouncing in a strange direction.

“His Majesty must have taken something else out of his magic pouch!”

“This time, it’s said to be a technique of telepathy (傳音入密) [transmitting sound secretly] that allows you to talk to people thousands of miles away!”

The telegraph, which was first launched in Changdeokgung Palace through Yeoheung Soonbo, was introduced, but the reporters were unlikely to have deep knowledge about it.

They had heard Jang Yeong-sil’s explanation in advance, but what they, as liberal arts students, understood was only that ‘when His Majesty zaps, the royal orders are transmitted through the wires.’

However, if they cannot write articles without detailed knowledge, then they are not reporters.

As they began to convey this by exerting their exaggerated writing skills worthy of Min In-saeng’s disciples, the rumors spread in an even stranger direction.

“I want to see it up close…”

“Don’t. Even if you touch a straw rope set up by a mere shaman, you will be cursed, let alone the wires through which His Majesty’s brainpower flows?”

Every time the telegraph lines were set up one by one in the distance, the people felt the king’s power and trembled.

Lee Je was now pleased with the unexpectedly excellent morality of the Joseon people, and the ministers who knew the truth kept their mouths shut.

The feared thing did not happen.