Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 372

372. Stagnation – Stillness in Motion (6)

A small Franciscan monastery located on the outskirts of Florence.

“Brother Giovanni. A letter has arrived from Brother Angelo.”

“Is that so? Thank you.”

Giovanni took the letter, returned to his room, and sat at his desk.

Looking at the thick envelope, Giovanni sighed softly and muttered,

“I wonder how much has been censored this time…”

* * *

The letters that his friend Angelo steadily sent from Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] brought him both joy and sorrow.

The stories of daily life and people in Joseon, written in the letters, were full of the wonders of a foreign land that he could not visit himself.

These wonders and the academic insights he gained from research at the institute gave him joy.

However, any sentences that contained even slightly important formulas or information were mercilessly blacked out.

And this blacking out left him thirsty for knowledge.

“What on earth was written in these obscured sentences?”

This was not just Giovanni’s curiosity. It was the same for the intellectuals living in nearby Florence.

After Angelo’s first letter was read aloud at the Vatican, the intellectuals of Florence waited for Angelo’s letters as much as Giovanni did.

The letters Angelo sent crossed the sea from Alexandria, passed through Florence, and then arrived at the monastery.

Therefore, the intellectuals of Florence knew well when a letter had arrived. So, three or four days after the letter entered Giovanni’s hands, scholars would flock from Florence, and the monastery would be bustling.

“I apologize for disturbing the peace of the monastery.”

At Giovanni’s apology, the abbot gave a bitter smile and waved his hand.

“Aren’t they at least polite enough not to break the seal of the letter first? We must endure this much. And… I am also curious about the contents of the letter.”

* * *

Giovanni sighed softly, broke the wax seal, and opened the envelope.

“My dear friend Giovanni. I am still doing well and unharmed, under the protection of the Lord…”

The front part of the letter was filled with the daily struggles against numbers and formulas at the Joseon research institute.

Reading the content full of groans, Giovanni smiled softly.

“This friend is enjoying himself.”

However, as soon as he turned to the next page, Giovanni’s eyes widened.

“Create their own writing system?”

-In this Joseon, a unique writing system has been created. The King created it himself, the First Prince assisted, and the Second and Third Princes verified the convenience of its use.

I have also used it, and its convenience is beyond what Latin can match.

This unique alphabet and usage of Joseon…

However, after that, it was densely blacked out, and the reason was written in red ink.

-The alphabet named ‘Hunminjeongeum’ [Korean alphabet] has not yet been formally promulgated [officially proclaimed or published]. Therefore, it will be declassified after it is formally promulgated.

“You son of a bitch!”

Giovanni blurted out a curse without realizing it and hurriedly made the sign of the cross.

Calming his mind, Giovanni examined the next page of the letter. The next page was entirely blacked out.

Looking at the paper that had become like a black slate, Giovanni sighed and grumbled.

“Hoo~. If you’re going to do this, just leave it out altogether… It’s not like you’re mocking people… Really, they are diligent even in unnecessary things, these Joseon people…”

Grumbling, Giovanni flipped through the blacked-out pages and focused again when the sentences reappeared.

-Ah! And there was a discussion about the time difference problem confirmed by Joseon ships frequently traveling to Alexandria and other countries.

In the end, after a heated debate, it was concluded that ‘the Earth is round.’

“Of course, it’s round. What’s so new about that…”

Giovanni, who had a similar level of knowledge as Angelo, showed an expression that this was nothing special, or rather, ‘only now?’ regarding this part.

“I heard that Joseon’s scientific level is considerable, but it doesn’t seem like much.”

With a slightly deflated expression, Giovanni continued to read the next content, and his face turned white.

The following content was shocking and terrifying in itself.

-However, a heated argument broke out due to the problem raised by Joseon’s First Prince.

‘The existence of time difference means that this world is rotating. But what is the center of rotation? Is this world the center? Or is the sun in the sky the center?’

Due to this problem, almost half of the people in the research institute were divided and debated.

To tell you the result first, based on the astronomical records observed in this Joseon, the astronomical records we brought, and data such as the occurrence of seasons and seasonal divisions…

We had no choice but to conclude that the Earth revolves around the sun while rotating on its own.

“You crazy bastard!”

Giovanni uttered a curse without realizing it, but he couldn’t even think of making the sign of the cross.

The content written in the letter was that shocking.

Gathering his mind, Giovanni carefully read the following content.

The following content detailed the process of verifying the heliocentric theory [the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun] based on the astronomical knowledge recorded so far, formulas related to the discussion process, and so on.

After reading the contents of the letter, Giovanni picked up the pen and paper next to him and began to calculate the formulas.

After calculating for two days, forgetting to eat and sleep, Giovanni finally put down the pen and sighed deeply.

“Hoo~. It’s hard to refute.”

Giovanni, who had barely escaped from the shock of the concepts he had known until then collapsing, tried to read the letter again.

Knock knock!

At that moment, Giovanni’s concentration was broken by the sound of knocking on the door. With an unpleasant face, he got up from his seat and opened the door.

“What’s going on?”

The young friar, seeing Giovanni’s unpleasant expression, hurriedly told him the matter.

“The abbot is worried because you have been skipping meals and prayer times.”

“Ah…. I was just deeply thinking about something. Please tell the abbot that I am sorry.”

“And guests have come from Florence.”

“I’m not feeling well right now, so please tell them to come back in a few days. Please also convey my apologies.”

“Yes….”

Giovanni, having conveyed his message to the young friar, immediately closed the door and sat at his desk to read the letter.

* * *

Two days after that commotion, Giovanni visited the abbot.

“Are you alright? I hope it’s not a disease that requires long-term treatment?”

At the abbot’s meaningful words, Giovanni also gave a meaningful answer.

“Well…. I need the abbot’s opinion.”

“Is it that serious?”

At the abbot’s question, Giovanni took out Angelo’s letter from his bosom and handed it over.

“Please take a look and prescribe a remedy.”

At Giovanni’s request, the abbot’s face became serious.

Giovanni was as well-versed in the philosophy and scientific knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome as Angelo. However, there was a difference between Angelo, who had to leave Florence semi-compulsorily, and Giovanni: Giovanni had a political sense that Angelo did not have. That was why Giovanni was able to remain in Italy.

As he read the letter left by Angelo, the abbot’s face gradually turned pale.

With a slightly trembling hand, the abbot put down the letter and sighed deeply.

“Hoo~.”

At that sight, Giovanni opened his mouth.

“The unique writing system of Joseon is not a big problem. The problem is the theory that ‘the Earth revolves around the sun’ that followed.”

At Giovanni’s words, the abbot shook his head.

“No, that may not be a big problem either. We can just say that it is a theory seen from a different perspective. The problem is the sentence attached at the very end.”

The abbot tapped the last page of the letter with his finger.

-What the First Prince of Joseon said to me was shocking.

‘Is it certain that your God said that the orbit of the stars must be a perfect circle? I have read your scriptures, but I have not found a part where God said that.’

‘Are you confident that there is not a single error in the records of the words of the God you believe in, in the process of being passed down orally, in the process of writing them down, and in the process of translating them into Latin again?’

‘The providence of God may be infallible, but can you be sure that the doctrine is also infallible?’

-When the First Prince of Joseon asked this, I could not answer confidently in one word.

And neither Giovanni nor the abbot, who read the letter, could confidently answer this.

“Hoo~.”

The abbot, sighing deeply once again, burst into anger as he looked at the letter.

“You erased everything else so well! Why didn’t you erase this!”

In the letter Angelo sent this time, there were also things he felt while looking at incense during the verification process.

-Looking back now, the First Prince of Joseon….

And after that, almost half a page was blacked out. The abbot grumbled at that.

* * *

With the problematic letter sent from Joseon between them, Giovanni and the abbot pondered a solution.

“The biggest problem is the scholars who will flock from Florence. If they know this, there will be chaos.”

“We can block those people by pretending to be sick, but the problem is the Vatican.”

Whenever a letter sent by Angelo arrived, Giovanni went to the Vatican to read the letter.

This reading session was a must for the Pope, as well as high-ranking priests and leaders of nearby city-states.

This was because there was tremendous interest in Joseon, which was said to be across the sea from Islamic countries and even further away than India.

“If we make a mistake, it could be regarded as a serious challenge to traditional doctrines.”

“That’s right. But we can’t just skip the reading session.”

“Shall we black it out?”

“It’s a good method, but what if it gets caught?”

The best way would have been to black it out and keep quiet on their own, but if they were caught, they could be burned at the stake for trying to hide heresy.

The possibility of being caught could not be ruled out because of the scholars in Florence and the Vatican.

They were the ones who had as much curiosity about the blacked-out parts as Giovanni. To solve that curiosity, they made every effort to erase the blacked-out parts. In the process, they had become the best forgery experts when it came to letters sent from Joseon.

In the end, after much deliberation, the abbot had no choice but to choose the next best option.

“I will discuss it with the bishop.”

* * *

The next day, the abbot and Giovanni went straight to the bishop of Florence.

“Welcome. So, a letter has come from the land of flowers?”

The abbot and Giovanni, who paid their respects to the bishop who welcomed them, immediately got to the point.

“Yes, we have something to discuss about that issue.”

“Hmm?”

The Bishop, who heard the whole story from the abbot and Giovanni, had a troubled face.

“It is difficult for me to make a conclusion on this matter.”

In this way, the letter sent by Angelo was passed on to higher-ranking officials, and finally, it was passed on to the Pope.

* * *

The conference room of the Vatican Papal Palace.

Pope Eugene IV and the cardinals were sitting around with serious faces.

In the center of the conference table where they were sitting was the letter sent by Angelo.

“There is definitely a problem.”

The cardinals all nodded at Eugene IV’s words.

“Shall we incinerate it?”

One cardinal suggested incineration, but another cardinal opposed it.

“Already half of Italy knows that the letter has arrived. But incinerate it? Things will get bigger.”

No sooner had those words ended than another cardinal expressed support for the opposing opinion.

“If we handle it that way, the Council will not stand still. Even now, if they catch any excuse, they will make a fuss.”

Since last year, the Council of Basel [an ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church] and the Pope had been in serious conflict. The point of contention was who was superior, the Council or the Pope.

Eugene IV, who was struggling to find a suitable solution, finally came to a conclusion.

“Let’s incinerate it.”

“Yes.”

Bang!

“Wait!”

At that moment, a group of men entered the conference room with a loud noise.

“The Council orders the letter to be made public!”

“The professors of the University of Florence request the letter to be made public!”

“The professors of Venice too….”

“The professors of Genoa too….”

Not only the Council but also the professors of universities in major Italian cities flocked to request the letter to be made public.

Under this pressure, Eugene IV finally decided to make Angelo’s letter public.

It was the beginning of the ‘Angelo’s Letter Incident’ that caused a major earthquake in 15th-century European humanities and science and became the spark for the Reformation.

And Hyang, who heard the story through Mansour and others who traveled to and from Alexandria, expressed a slight regret.

“It’s more fun to watch the grill in real-time….”