Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 229

229. Waegu (2)

“The situation surrounding our Joseon is as follows, so we need a solution. I will give you five days. I expect you to deliberate and present viable ideas.”

The ministers bowed their heads in response to Sejong’s command.

“We obey your command!”

Having addressed the ministers, Sejong turned to Hyang.

“Crown Prince, the same applies to you.”

“I obey your command.”

* * *

Returning to his office in the research institute after receiving the order, Hyang pouted and grumbled.

“This is just… I might as well just build a steam locomotive….”

In Hyang’s opinion, the issue concerning Waegu was one of the most challenging problems.

“Even the name of this country is a problem….”

The issue Hyang referred to was Japan’s official name.

Japan’s official name was ‘Japan.’ Therefore, in official documents concerning envoys sent by the Shogun of the Bakufu [Shogunate], it was always recorded as ‘Envoy of the King of Japan (日本國王使).’

The Ming Dynasty followed the same practice. When the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Japan, the official letters sent with them always referred to the ‘King of Japan.’

However, both Ming and Joseon internally referred to them all as ‘Waegu (倭, dwarfs),’ a derogatory term.

Such derogatory terms were not exclusive to Waegu. Both Ming and Joseon had their own derogatory terms for various groups.

Therefore, Hyang could only click his tongue in resignation.

“Tch! This is a problem that won’t be solved until humanity goes extinct…. Since Waegu rolls off my tongue better than Japan, let’s keep calling them Waegu…. Let’s get to the main point, the core issue….”

* * *

Gathering his thoughts, Hyang immediately began to analyze the situation.

“First of all, the question is whether Waegu’s current political system is beneficial to our Joseon.”

-Currently, Waegu’s political system is the Bakufu system. The current Shogun of the Bakufu, Ashikaga Yoshinori (足利義教), firmly holds power. Rumor has it that he is carrying out a considerable reign of terror, which is a worrying aspect.

This confirmed Hyang’s prediction. Looking at the history before Hyang’s intervention, this Shogun eventually met his end through assassination.

-However, empowering the Japanese Emperor is not only unlikely but also absolutely not beneficial to our Joseon.

If the central government of Japan becomes unstable, the Wokou pirates [Japanese pirates] will immediately swarm.

-The most important thing for our Joseon to be concerned about is the safety of the coastal areas and the security of maritime routes.

-It is inefficient to secure this safety relying solely on Joseon’s efforts. At the very least, our Joseon must secure control of the sea up to the northern region of Kyushu.

Having organized the situation to this point, Hyang sighed.

“This is what we’ve been saying all along. It’s like re-boiling the same bones for broth.”

To find a brilliant solution to solve this difficult problem, Hyang continued to ponder.

-To ensure the safety of Kyushu, the Kyushu Commissioner and the Ouchi clan must control Kyushu.

The second problem arises here. The Kyushu Commissioner is known to be loyal to the Bakufu, but the problem lies with the Ouchi clan.

-Looking at the records of Ouchi Morimi (大內盛見), who currently leads the Ouchi clan, he rose to power through fratricidal strife (骨肉相爭) [internal conflict]. This suggests he is an ambitious figure.

-If we support him and the Ouchi clan becomes stronger, they may challenge the Bakufu’s control.

-However, if we don’t support him, it will be difficult to exert influence in the Kyushu region.

“Hmm….”

Having organized the situation to this point, Hyang crossed his arms and looked at the documents and maps, contemplating his next move.

“Should I just mobilize the warships and destroy all the ports?”

Considering an extreme measure, Hyang immediately shook his head.

“There’s no justification for that. And if we do that, we’ll immediately be in a full-scale war with Waegu. Joseon doesn’t have the strength to withstand a full-scale war yet. And the number of warships is too small; there will definitely be vulnerabilities.”

According to the records Hyang had read, the Wokou pirates who invaded Goryeo and Joseon mobilized a large number of small and medium-sized ships rather than large ships (大船). If the Wokou pirates started rampaging again and swarming with such small and medium-sized ships as before, complete interception would be impossible.

Blocking the ports of Waegu was similarly problematic. The ports of this period were not like the ports of the 21st century, which would require a huge amount of time and money to rebuild if destroyed. Any location that offered shelter from the waves and had sufficient depth for ships to dock could be used as a port.

The same was true for Waegu’s ships. Of course, building ships wasn’t cheap, but compared to iron ships (鐵船), it consumed less cost and time.

Hyang shook his head, having considered the plan to use force.

“So, to resolve this situation, the army must occupy the territory…. Anyway, the army relies on numbers, and our Joseon is weak in that area.”

The population of Joseon at this time was slightly less than about 6 million. (Note 1)

However, Waegu had a larger territory and a larger population than Joseon. And this situation has never been reversed.

Moreover, Hyang, who was familiar with international news in the 21st century, was skeptical about armed annexation.

“Even if they fight to the death among themselves, they hate the guys who invade from the outside even more. If we do it wrong, we might end up setting up shop to maintain the occupied territory, and the whole thing could collapse.”

Hyang sighed deeply.

“Hoo~. The problem is that Waegu is not Africa. England was lucky.”

This was Hyang’s misunderstanding.

* * *

Until the age of imperialism, most of the African continent was organized in tribal units. Therefore, England easily expanded its colonies by employing the strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians (以夷制夷) [divide and conquer]. However, in places where national identity had already begun to emerge to some extent, they faced considerable resistance.

The representative example was the Zulu War.

And in the 20th century, they had to contend with constant resistance.

* * *

“If our Joseon wants to pursue armed expansion, we should think about it after the population exceeds 10 million. 10 million…. It will take at least a generation (about 30 years).”

In Joseon at this time, it was not surprising to see grandchildren even at the age of 30.

To put it coldly, there were almost no contraceptive devices, and people were giving birth when they were most fertile. And until then, ‘many births and many deaths (多産多死)’ were common due to hygiene problems, but the situation was steadily improving due to Hyang’s intervention.

Therefore, Hyang derived the results through his own calculations.

“In the end, no matter what, we have to increase the population first. We have to have enough people to do anything.”

* * *

“The conclusion is that economic influence is the best approach. This is also dangerous, but it’s still better than other methods.”

Having come to a conclusion, Hyang sighed again.

“Damn samurai…. They always make me suffer!”

Having decided on a strategy, Hyang rummaged through the reports to find a suitable tactic – an economic tool.

“What would be appropriate…. What….”

Rummaging through information related to Japan, Hyang shook his head.

“It’s all rumors, and even those are stale…. The latest is half a year ago….”

Complaining about the quality of the information, Hyang took out paper and held a gold pen in his hand.

“The first thing to do is to set up a trading post on the Japanese mainland. What comes across the sea has too low freshness, even if we overlook the reliability.”

Hyang wrote ‘Establish a Trading Post’ on the paper and unfolded the map. It was a map made by collecting information obtained through envoys sent from Joseon and merchants coming from Waegu.

The map showed the approximate shapes of the three islands of Japan, and the names of the families that ruled the area and the names of major areas were marked.

“Hmm…. Where would be good?”

Hyang looked at the map as if he were picking out items from a display case.

Hyang’s actions seemed to suggest that a trading post could be set up anywhere in Japan.

However, this was not Hyang’s arrogance.

As the Gyeongjang [economic reforms] progressed, the level of Joseon’s commerce and industry, especially the artisans, improved rapidly. The products they made ranged from luxury goods with five golden pear blossoms to flower shoes made by local cobblers, and their quality was rapidly improving.

Thanks to this, merchants from Ming and Waegu were eagerly buying Joseon’s goods. While Ming merchants mainly bought high-end products, Waegu merchants bought large quantities of mid- to low-priced products.

Although they were mid- to low-priced goods, considering Waegu’s level of technology, it was more than enough to make a big profit.

Therefore, Hyang was confident in setting up a trading post. This was because there would be no foolish Waegu lords who would miss out on the benefits they could gain when a trading post was established in their territory.

“No, looking at the personalities of the Waegu guys, there will be people like that.”

Hyang looked at the map with a more serious face.

After searching the map for a long time, Hyang focused on one place.

“Nagato (長門) would be good. Since it is under the control of the Ouchi clan, it is good to check their situation….”

While looking at the map, Hyang snapped his fingers when he saw an area to the east of Nagato.

“I forgot about this area! If we do well, we can control the Ouchi clan!”

The place Hyang pointed out was written as Iwami (石見). And in Japanese, it was called Iwami.

It was the site of a mine known as Japan’s largest silver mine from the Warring States period [late 15th century to early 17th century] to the Edo period [1603-1867].

Having checked Iwami, Hyang searched for related reports to organize the situation.

“There are rumors of a silver mine, but no rumors of full-scale development.”

Having read the record, Hyang made an ‘Huh?’ expression.

“Huh? In the novels I saw in the 21st century, this was a place that had to be seized unconditionally? Because of the huge silver mine. But why not yet?”

The period when the Iwami Silver Mine began to be developed in earnest was in 1526, almost 100 years from now.

However, Hyang, who did not know that fact, created the most plausible reason.

“It would have been difficult to dig deep with the current level of metal refining in Waegu….”

This was somewhat true.

Waegu’s level of technology did not surpass Joseon’s until they brought a large number of Joseon artisans through the Imjin War [Japanese invasions of Korea, 1592-1598].

* * *

Hyang wrote down the place to set up the trading post and the Iwami Silver Mine on paper and muttered with his arms crossed.

“This is a little lacking…. Isn’t there a good card?”

While Hyang was struggling to find a suitable card to win over the Waegu lords, the voice of a eunuch was heard from outside.

“Your Highness, someone has come from Area 51.”

“Let them in.”

After a while, an official who came inside paid his respects to Hyang.

“What’s going on?”

“The cotton gin (繰綿機) that Your Highness ordered has finally been completed.”

Hyang’s face lit up at the official’s report.

“That’s great news! Give me the report!”

“Here it is.”

Having received the report from the official, Hyang quickly examined the contents of the report.

Having confirmed the contents of the report, Hyang ordered the official.

“Tell the people involved that they have worked hard, and prepare rewards according to the internal regulations (內規) [internal guidelines].”

“Yes!”

As the official left, Hyang clenched his fist.

“A great card has come in! Let the race begin!”

With a satisfied smile, Hyang added a sentence to the paper.

-Cotton cultivation consignment.

Having written the sentence, Hyang made a confident expression.

“Now that the cotton gin has been completed, and if the mass cultivation of cotton is successful, cotton cloth will become cost-effective! And….”

Stopping for a moment, Hyang glared at the Waegu map.

“The first button to subordinate Waegu’s economy to our Joseon will be fastened!”

* * *

Note 1) An economist’s view of Korean history (13), Korean Economy. 2014.05.19

https://www.hankyung.com/news/article/2014051670741