Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1149

1149. Who Bears the Consequences? You Do (1)

Although many in Seoul were lamenting the unexpected situation, the Empire smoothly transitioned into a wartime footing.

“Hey, Vice Prime Minister Woo.”

“Speak, Prime Minister.”

The Prime Minister, who had been staring blankly at the mountain of documents that showed no sign of decreasing, called out, and the Vice Prime Minister replied with a haggard expression.

“We’re only managing this much because those old folks stepped up, right?”

“That would be correct.”

“They’re definitely getting slower, but things are running smoothly.”

“Two hands are better than one, wouldn’t you say?”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be good to increase the number of officials even during peacetime?”

“Do we have the budget for that? Besides, isn’t the issue during peacetime not a lack of manpower, but slow hands?”

“That’s true….”

* * *

It was a well-known fact that the workload of the Empire’s officials was at a ‘man-killing level.’

“How can we be swamped with work even after increasing the number of people!”

Every official, from top to bottom, lived with these words on their lips. The biggest reason for this situation was ‘outdated communication.’

Next was the ‘information processing speed, which was as slow as the communication itself.’

The Empire had an area that defied imagination. Thanks to this, it often took nearly half a year to deliver a single piece of news. To solve this, a light-speed communication network was established, and after the concept and technology of the telegraph were created, wired telegraph networks began to be laid throughout the country.

However, in the case of Shinji, which could only be reached by crossing the Great Inland Sea-Pacific Ocean, wired telegraphs were impossible. Thanks to this, Imperial officials were forced to work overtime in government offices every day.

-If civil complaints are processed late because they arrived late, the problem only gets bigger.

-Process everything as quickly and accurately as possible.

-If necessary, delegate authority to field staff in charge of the site.

-Of course, corruption will occur, but what’s the point of having recorders?

Nevertheless, matters requiring central decisions constantly arose throughout the Empire, and Seoul’s officials had to endure all-nighters every day. To solve problems coming from the provinces, past data was needed, and finding it took a considerable amount of time.

Even though Hyang had personally created an ‘index system,’ it was not an easy task. So much so that the performance evaluation criteria for lower-level officials included ‘how quickly and accurately can they find the necessary data?’

Everyone was well aware of the seriousness of this problem, so related items were listed in the Challenge Log.

-Rational storage methods for data or records that need to be stored.

-Development of quick and easy search methods, systems, or equipment for data or records stored on a large scale.

Grade: Mid-Middle-High.

“No, why is this Mid-Middle-High! It should be High-High-High! That way, more people will jump in and a solution will come out sooner!”

All the officials who saw the contents of the Challenge Log complained like this.

And the number of challengers to solve this problem was increasing.

“If we solve this problem, we can earn wealth to live off for generations!”

* * *

Although he was scolded by the Vice Prime Minister for ‘budget’ reasons, the Prime Minister’s grumbling continued for a while.

“Come to think of it, it seems like there’s no old saying that’s wrong.”

“What old saying?”

“There’s a saying, ‘Too many sailors will send the boat up the mountain,’ isn’t there? What is war? Isn’t it ‘sending the boat up the mountain’? If there are so many sailors, we’ll be able to climb up easily.”

“Hey! Stop talking nonsense and process the documents! I’m sick of hearing His Majesty clicking his tongue!”

“Haa〜.”

At the Vice Prime Minister’s rebuke, the Prime Minister sighed and focused on the documents.

The Minister of National Defense, who was listening to this conversation next to them, had a strange expression and muttered to himself.

‘I’ve heard a similar story before…. What was it? Ah! Constantinople!’

It was the operation carried out by Mehmed II when he attacked Constantinople, the last stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was a tactic Mehmed II used to deploy the navy to the Golden Horn, where the entrance was blocked by various underwater obstacles.

He broke through the blockade by laying logs greased with oil on the hills near the Golden Horn and dragging the ships over them.

-Solve the problem by investing manpower, a lot of manpower, a lot of manpower.

In some ways, it was a very similar situation and solution to the current situation in the Imperial Court.

* * *

It wasn’t just Seoul that was moving busily.

Less than two days after the urgent report from Gibraltar arrived, a ship carrying Woo’s personal letter set sail for Shinji. And less than five days later, a ship that departed from Shinji arrived in Wonsan.

“Already? Ah….”

The Prime Minister and Vice Prime Minister, who had questioned the unexpected news, soon nodded.

Gibraltar was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Navy stationed in Shinji. It was stipulated in military law that if a military problem occurred in Gibraltar, both the mainland and Shinji should be notified simultaneously.

In addition, in such cases, it was permissible to manage Shinji with ‘precedence and subsequent reporting’ (先行後奏 [seikko-kozo, meaning acting first and reporting later]).

These laws were created because of ‘poor communication capabilities.’

And it was because of these powerful powers that the situation was entrusted to Shinji.

“The news must have reached Shinji….”

The Prime Minister, understanding why the ship had come from Shinji at an unexpected time, tore open the seal on the report and checked the contents.

“Hmm…. In the end….”

The Prime Minister, with a look that said, ‘What’s coming has come,’ handed the report to the Vice Prime Ministers.

“Shinji moved first. His Majesty will surely call for us soon, so please check the contents quickly.”

“I understand.”

And as the Prime Minister expected, before half a sh辰 (approximately 1 hour) had passed, a eunuch ran in and delivered Woo’s order.

“His Majesty orders all ministers, including the Prime Minister, to enter the palace immediately.”

“I understand. I’ll prepare right away.”

* * *

As the Prime Minister and ministers entered the Geunjeongjeon Hall [the main hall of Gyeongbok Palace], Woo immediately got to the point.

“Did you check the document sent from Shinji?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I think it is reasonable to entrust the military actions that will take place in and around Gibraltar to Shinji. What do you think?”

At Woo’s question, the Prime Minister bowed his head and replied.

“Your Majesty’s will is truly reasonable.”

This was an unavoidable choice.

For the Imperial Navy stationed on the mainland and in the Suez area to go to Gibraltar, they had to bypass Africa. This was a method that had more disadvantages than advantages.

Therefore, even during the ‘Italian Unification War’ in the old days, naval battleships departed from Shinji, and ground troops and other supplies headed to Italy via the Suez Railway. Confirming that the other ministers did not raise objections, Woo moved on to the next topic.

“Good. Let’s entrust the military affairs to Shinji and think about the rest. What should we do with France? We all know what France was thinking when they did this, don’t we?”

At Woo’s words, the Prime Minister and ministers fell silent and pondered.

* * *

Based on the information that the ‘Imperial Army Communications Management Bureau’ had diligently gathered, the Imperial Court came up with its own answer as to what France’s intentions were.

-Divert the Empire’s attention from the war between Iran and the Ottoman Empire.

-Induce the Empire to enter the war and cut off support for Iran.

-The Ottomans pressure Iran, which has been cut off from support, to secure a passage to the Mesopotamia region.

-After that, negotiate appropriately to end the Gibraltar dispute and secure Persia’s interests for France.

While writing this analysis, the officials in charge of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added footnotes.

-France seems to have thought that ‘this plan is possible because the Empire manages state affairs in accordance with pragmatism.’

The high-ranking officials of the government and military, who confirmed the report prepared by the experts in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, all made unbelievable expressions and rejected the report.

“No matter how many times I read it, the analysis seems to be wrong. Please reconsider and submit it again.”

“Hey! You have to say something that makes sense! It has to be something plausible for me to report to His Majesty!”

“No matter how positively you think, there are limits! This is beyond positivity and into delusion!”

With these words, the higher-ups rejected the report. In response, the officials in charge made helpless expressions and grumbled.

“Do you think we wanted to write it like this? What are we supposed to do if this is the only answer that comes out…”

The part that everyone from the officials in charge of the analysis to the ‘higher-ups’ who rejected it as soon as they saw it could not understand was this.

“We were the ones who were attacked first, but they thought we would readily negotiate if France asked us to negotiate?”

“Even if our Empire values practicality, this is not it! This is not pursuing practicality, but being taken advantage of! How stupid do they think our Empire is to think this way?”

It was precisely because of this part that the higher-ups rejected the report.

‘No matter how stupid the French are, they wouldn’t think of our Empire as this stupid.’

‘One thing that those who run the country should never do is to despise other countries. But they see us as this stupid? It doesn’t make sense.’

‘They saw the Empire as a fool? There’s a limit to how much you can look down on someone!’

Therefore, they doubted the reliability of the report prepared by the officials and rejected it.

However, as the officials in charge continued to grumble, ‘We’ve reviewed it several times, but there’s no other reasonable basis other than this,’ the higher-ups had no choice but to accept it.

However, the higher-ups reported a different prediction to Woo.

“It is believed that France will take military action as recorded in the report. However, we believe that there is a higher possibility that they will engage in provocative acts near Gibraltar rather than actually using force.”

“What’s the basis?”

“France knows our Empire’s military power, doesn’t it?”

“If you think about it that way, it is, but the fact that they dragged Spain in is a bit concerning.”

The Prime Minister immediately replied to Woo’s point.

“If Spain stays still while we are moving around Gibraltar, it will look even stranger.”

“So, if Spain moves with France, our Empire’s eyes will be focused there and we won’t be able to pay attention to Persia?”

“That’s right. That’s what they’re trying to take advantage of.”

“That would be the most reasonable.”

– It’s France.

-If it’s France, they can’t not know the power of the Empire.

-In that case, it is more reasonable to think that their purpose is to attract the Empire’s attention through provocation rather than the use of force.

This was the conclusion reached by Woo and his ministers at the time.

“Still, just in case, make sure that no word gets into Sugang Palace [residence of the Queen Mother]. We must prevent the Taetaesanghwang [Queen Mother] from worrying about things she doesn’t need to worry about.”

“I will obey your command.”

* * *

“Let me say again, we all have a rough idea of what France was thinking when they did this. Now, then…. I can’t contain my curiosity. How much did they look down on our Empire to do such a foolish thing, and are they confident in bearing the consequences?”

At Woo’s words, the Prime Minister and ministers tensed up.

‘His Majesty is furious!’

‘Judging from the fact that he used the word ‘consequences,’ he’s really angry!’