Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1087

1087. Keeps Making Trouble… (2)

While Woo continued to brace himself, Hyang, Wan, and Hyeon moved on to the main topic.

“Then, could you show us how it works?”

“Of course, I should!”

Wan, answering Hyang’s request confidently, gestured to the artisans. At Wan’s gesture, the artisans approached the displayed internal combustion engine. Wan then explained their actions.

“The new engine is started using this ‘L’-shaped lever.” With Wan’s explanation, one of the artisans held up the lever. Seeing it, Hyang muttered to himself.

‘That’s something I’ve seen a lot in movies!’

In movies and dramas set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a similarly shaped crankshaft was often used to start cars. Even in domestic dramas and movies, something similar appeared when farmers started their tillers in rural areas.

‘Wait a minute. Come to think of it… weren’t some of those scenes metaphors for… suggestive situations? That’s… Ah! I’m going too far again!’

Barely managing to stop his mind from wandering, Hyang quickly focused on the demonstration. As he expected, the artisan holding the lever inserted the shaft into a small protrusion on the new engine.

“And then, we open the valve on the fuel line connecting the engine and the fuel tank to send fuel to the engine.”

At Wan’s explanation, another artisan operated the valve on the fuel tank above the new engine.

“This completes all the preparations for starting. Now, start!”

“Start!”

The artisan, chanting loudly, began to turn the lever.

Screech, screech, screech, screech, squeak, squeak.

Pfft, pfft, pfft, whoosh! Phoomph! Phoomph! Phoomph!

The lever, which had started turning slowly with a grating, rapid friction sound, soon increased its speed and began to turn rapidly. In step with the turning lever, smoke billowed from the engine’s exhaust pipe. Then, the smoke almost disappeared, and heat haze began to rise along with yellow and blue flames.

Bba-ba-ba-bang~.

The new engine, properly started, moved with a loud explosion. A small, yellow-painted pinwheel was attached to the engine’s power shaft. As the engine turned, the pinwheel spun rapidly, creating an optical illusion as if a yellow circle was in its place.

“Amazing! Then, how do you stop the engine?”

At Hyang’s question, Wan gestured to the artisans. Confirming Wan’s gesture, the artisans closed the valve on the fuel line.

Cough! Cough! Put-put-put.

As the fuel was cut off, the new engine stopped with a loud noise. When the engine came to a complete stop, Hyang and Hyeon came forward and began to examine it closely.

“I want to see the structure.”

“Yes.”

At Hyang’s request, Wan gestured to the artisans again. At Wan’s gesture, the artisans brought a large table covered with a lid. When the lid was removed, a model showing the inside of the new engine was revealed.

Wan, holding a pointer, indicated various parts of the model and explained the structure of the new engine. As Hyang examined the model while listening, his mind became complicated.

‘It’s a bit different, but it’s a typical four-stroke engine, isn’t it? Was the four-stroke engine invented first, or the two-stroke engine? And besides that, this was possible even without a battery! Didn’t the first cars have batteries either?’

As Hyang pointed out, the new engine did not have a battery, or ‘jeonji (電池)’ in the Imperial language [literally, ‘electricity storage pond’]. This was a word meaning ‘a pond for storing electricity,’ but a device truly befitting the name had not yet been produced. Instead, the new engine had a generator connected to the power shaft that produced electricity. The generator, rotated by the power shaft, supplied power to the igniter.

“Hmm… So, there are two ways to stop this engine? By cutting off the fuel or by stopping the generator.”

“Theoretically, there are two, but in reality, we only chose to cut off the fuel.”

“I see….”

Hyang nodded after hearing Wan’s explanation.

“What do you think?”

“It looks good. What I’m slightly worried about is restarting the engine after it stops during operation… but this is the same for other engines….”

The engines that went into the flying vehicles—steam engines and Stirling engines—sometimes stopped in the sky due to unexpected accidents. When faced with such an accident, repairing the engine and restarting it was almost impossible, even with a Wihyeon engine [a type of advanced engine]. Therefore, the crew members on board the flying vehicles had to carry parachutes.

“Restarting may be difficult, but the unfortunate event of stopping while moving will not happen easily. We’ve tested it, and even if the engine continued to run until the end of its lifespan, such a thing did not happen.”

“So, what is the lifespan of the engine?”

“50 sijin (approximately 100 hours)….”

“Huh?”

“Heh!”

Hyang and Hyeon both wore dumbfounded expressions at the hesitant answer.

“Isn’t that too short?”

At Hyang’s criticism, Wan hurriedly replied.

“It’s just hatching from its shell. You can’t ask a child who can’t even crawl to run, can you? Well, it is said that the Buddha walked three steps and proclaimed ‘I am the only honored one in heaven and earth’ as soon as he was born, but this engine’s Buddha is not like that, is it?”

“That’s true.”

Nodding at Wan’s words, Hyang smiled bitterly inside.

‘Buddhism is still being criticized so harshly….’

* * *

The policy of suppressing Buddhism and promoting Confucianism, which had been strictly enforced since the founding of Joseon [Korean dynasty from 1392 to 1897], continued firmly even after it became an Empire. Of course, it was not openly suppressed, but it was managed very meticulously by creating a ‘Religious Law.’

And among the Imperial people, especially the leadership of the mainland, Buddhism was still in a position to be ‘criticized first.’ What’s interesting is that Catholicism has been added to this recently.

In the past, after obtaining the surrender of the Vatican in the Italian Unification War, Catholicism was able to obtain the right to proselytize. However, there was a prerequisite that ‘the Religious Law must be strictly observed.’ And as time passed, Catholicism was gradually expanding its power. In this situation, the leadership of the Imperial mainland combined Catholicism and Islam to ‘criticize them all.’

“Did you hear? The monotheistic god that Catholics believe in and the monotheistic god that Muslims believe in are said to be the same god.”

“But weren’t Catholics and Muslims sworn enemies? Calling each other infidels?”

“That’s what’s funny. This is why religion is scary. Deceiving the public is their daily routine…”

The Confucian scholars, who were the main players in the founding of Joseon, were non-religious. No, they hated religion itself. From shamans and male shamans who worshiped all kinds of gods to Buddhism, Islam, and the most recently introduced Catholicism, they saw them all as ‘harms that deceive the public.’ And Hyang was ‘criticizing them all,’ including these Confucian scholars.

“Hmph! So, did they later cause such a mess while talking about ‘betraying the teachings of the sages’?”

This was Hyang pointing out the dogmatism of the leaders and Confucian scholars of the late Joseon period in the history before he intervened. In the end, Hyang gathered famous scholar monks and Catholic monks and joined them in the Institute of Theoretical Studies.

“I don’t know if a delicious bibimbap [Korean mixed rice dish] will come out, or dog food, but fight fiercely. And create a philosophy that will be helpful to the Empire!”

* * *

‘Ah! I’m straying off topic again! Is it because it’s almost time to go, I keep straying off topic.’

Regaining his focus, Hyang asked Wan again.

“By the way, have you tried putting it on a flying vehicle? Does it seem useful?”

At Hyang’s question, Wan answered honestly.

“I haven’t tried it yet. Frankly, there’s still a long way to go. It certainly has more advantages than steam engines or new external combustion engines, but it’s still heavy compared to the power it produces. We need to improve it further.”

“How do you plan to improve it?”

“We need to improve the performance of the newly completed engine, but I think we also need to redesign the flying vehicle.”

“Hmm, I see… But, the biggest problem is still the budget?”

“Yes, it’s the budget.”

Hyang and Wan, who mentioned ‘budget,’ looked at Hyeon at the same time. Hyeon, who was targeted by their gazes, sighed deeply and opened his mouth.

“Hoo… Yes, I will prepare the budget before the abdication.”

“As expected of the Emperor.”

“I am just grateful.”

“But there will be strong opposition. Your ears will hurt a lot.”

Hyang immediately took over Hyeon’s complaint.

“A flying vehicle that can be properly used can only be made if a useful engine is made. Shouldn’t a flying vehicle carrier be made only when such a flying vehicle comes out?”

“Ah!”

Hyeon’s expression suddenly changed at Hyang’s words.

‘That’s right! A flying vehicle carrier can only be made to fit its size when a flying vehicle that can be properly used comes out! If it is made recklessly and becomes an ill-fitting garment, it will immediately become a nuisance!’

Realizing that his hobby could be threatened, Hyeon opened his mouth with a firm expression.

“I will do my best to pass the budget. If necessary, I will use expediency.”

“I trust you.”

Woo, who was behind him, joined the conversation when Hyeon mentioned expediency.

“If His Majesty, who will soon abdicate, uses expediency, he may receive unnecessary criticism. Wouldn’t it be better for me to ascend the throne and handle it?”

It was certain that a huge budget would be required to improve the new engine so that it could be used properly. Moreover, without even a plan to execute it only until a certain time. Of course, the entire budget would not be executed at once, but the problem was the situation where the ‘until when’ mentioned above was not specified, or could not be specified.

Naturally, it was clear that there would be talk if Hyeon pushed this forward.

‘He’s causing trouble because he’s retiring!’

This was not good for Woo either. It was obvious that the words ‘He passed the work on to the former emperor to make himself comfortable!’ would circulate.

“I will take the lead in preparing and executing the budget.”

Hyeon smiled and opened his mouth at Woo’s words.

“I know what the Crown Prince is worried about. But this is something I have to do.”

“However….”

“Does the Crown Prince know the word ‘Myeonshinrye [a custom of officials feigning illness to avoid work]’?”

“Yes. I know that Emperor Won -Sejong- strictly controlled and eradicated it.”

Hyang and Wan, who were listening to the Crown Prince’s answer, whispered softly.

“It was a long and tedious fight, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, thanks to that, there was never a shortage of people in the Archives [a place of punishment].”

“What is it with that ‘custom’…”

“I know, right.”

* * *

Sejong banned Myeonshinrye and punished those who violated it by throwing them into the Archives. However, this tradition of Myeonshinrye went underground and continued stubbornly until the time of Hyang and Wan.

“Do you think the imperial order and national law are a joke!”

“It’s a custom!”

“Is that so? Then I’ll make it a ‘custom’ that you can’t even dream of promotion!”

“Again, Myeonshinrye? This time, not only will I send you to the Archives, but I will also strip you of your official rank, and the sinner’s family will not be able to take the civil service examination for 100 years!”

Stripping the person of their current rank and position and making all the accumulated experience and achievements null and void was called stripping of official rank. If this disposition was received, the person’s career would be erased, and they would not be able to receive any of the various benefits, including the pension provided by the country after retirement.

The loss of the benefit of being buried in the Imperial National Cemetery after death, as well as the pension, was a huge punishment. It was because they lost the ‘honor of being with the Emperor even in death.’ This was not only an individual’s honor but also the honor of the family. In addition, the ‘100-year ban on entering public service’ was a penalty that determined the rise and fall of the family.

The discrimination between scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants has long disappeared, and there is an era where even the great merchants, who are so great that ordinary noblemen would bow their heads first, exist. However, even so, the best goal for many noblemen was to pass the civil service examination and enter public service. Because of this background, the ‘100-year ban on entering public service’ was a disgrace that destroyed the family.

Because of this, when such a punishment was received, the clan took measures to completely remove the person and their family from the genealogy. This was to avoid the ‘ban on entering public service’ and to escape the disgrace. As a result, there were often those who lost everything and made extreme choices. However, there was not a single person from the Emperor to the people who pitied them.

* * *

“But why are you suddenly bringing up Myeonshinrye?”

“Think of the first three years of becoming Emperor as that Myeonshinrye.”

“Yes?”