Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 454

454. Prophecy (5)

“Hey, shopkeeper. This prince from the Western Regions wants to buy a gat [traditional Korean hat].”

“A gat, you say?”

The shop owner, after hearing the words through the interpreter, glanced at Henrique and called a clerk.

“Gap-dong! Go and get Jin!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the shop owner’s words, the official interjected.

“Who is Jin?”

“He is the head of the gat artisans.”

“Why him?”

At the official’s question, the shopkeeper raised his hand, pointed to Henrique, and explained.

“The prince from the Western Regions, as well as the other Westerners with him, have slightly different head shapes than our Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] people.”

“Can’t you just make them and sell them?”

At the official’s words, the merchant waved his hand and raised his voice.

“My lord! This gat, even though it looks like it’s made haphazardly, if it doesn’t fit the head perfectly, it’s uncomfortable to wear and doesn’t look good! The noblemen of Hanyang [old name for Seoul] and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province are very picky. Do you want me to just make them and sell them? Do you want my shop to go bankrupt?”

“Is that so? Well….”

The official nodded after hearing the explanation. He himself had tried on and touched various gats when buying them, and had even gone to shops that were rumored to have well-made gats.

Meanwhile, Henrique, who had heard the shopkeeper’s story through the interpreter, nodded slightly.

“Even the merchants in the market have this kind of mindset…. Is that why the products of the ‘Land of Flowers’ [a poetic name for China, emphasizing its beauty and cultural richness] are so excellent?”

The interpreter, who understood Henrique’s muttering, muttered to himself.

‘I wonder…. What was the saying among the merchants? That there are no customers more difficult than the people of Hanyang?’

As Joseon’s capital was Hanyang, the highest classes of Joseon were gathered there. Naturally, they were picky, and if there was even a slight defect, word would spread quickly, and the business would fail in an instant.

After a while, Jin, who had rushed over after being called, listened to the story and looked at Henrique’s group.

“The artisan says he needs to measure your head. Is that alright?”

“That’s fine.”

Soon, the artisan, after pressing Henrique’s head here and there and measuring it with various tools, came to a conclusion, which the interpreter conveyed to Henrique.

“The artisan says that the shape of your head is quite different from that of Joseon people, so he has to make the frame from scratch. Therefore, it will take quite a while.”

At the interpreter’s words, Henrique nodded with a nonchalant expression.

“Since I have to stay here in Joseon until the wind changes anyway, tell him that’s fine.”

“Then, how many do you want?”

“Let’s start with 100.”

The shopkeeper, who heard the story through the interpreter, began his full-fledged sales pitch with a brightened face.

“Then, what kind of gat case do you want?”

“Gat case? What’s that?”

At Henrique’s question, the shopkeeper showed him the wooden boxes for storing gats.

From simple, fitted boxes lacquered with pine resin to boxes decorated with mother-of-pearl, Henrique remembered what the official had said.

“You have to be prepared to spend money from the moment you buy a gat….”

In the end, Henrique had to reduce the number of gats he was going to order from 100 to 30. While reducing the quantity, Henrique smacked his lips with a regretful expression.

“There are so many things to buy, but I can’t just buy gats…. Tsk!”

* * *

After going through a round of initiation in the process of buying a gat, Henrique’s face became increasingly serious as he toured the markets of Hanyang.

“Except for a few of the very best items that I could buy in Alexandria, most of them were mid-grade!”

Many of the things that had to be bought at a fairly high price in Alexandria could be bought for 1/3 of the price in Joseon, the place of origin. And most of the items that were too expensive to easily obtain even within Joseon were items that could not even be seen in Alexandria. And many of those items could bring huge profits if they could be taken back.

“If only I could take them….”

Henrique returned to his lodging and muttered with a bitter face.

* * *

Mother-of-pearl furniture, boasting extreme splendor, which caught Henrique’s eye at a furniture store in the market, were luxury goods that the royal families of each country would open their wallets for without a word if they were taken to Europe.

However, the problem was their size and the difficulty of transportation. Mother-of-pearl furniture, for example, was easily damaged by moisture. If transported by sea for several months, the loss had to be taken into account. Especially if they had to go around Africa like the current fleet, it would be fortunate if even one out of ten was intact.

“Then I’d have to set the price incredibly high. Then it would be difficult to sell. There was a reason why the Arab merchant gave up.”

The merchant ships driven by the Arabs were small in size. Therefore, most of the items they mainly dealt with were small, high-priced items.

However, among the items brought from Joseon, the items that made the most profit were large luxury goods such as candelabra.

And because only Joseon’s large sailing ships could carry these large luxury goods, Joseon was able to take huge profits.

“The large ship problem can be dealt with to some extent with our ships, but the problem is the voyage period…. It takes too long to go around Africa….”

Henrique sighed deeply as he pondered all sorts of solutions.

“It’s still the iron horse [railroad]….”

* * *

The purchase consultation with Henrique’s group took almost two months.

The reason it took so long was because of a word that the official in charge of the consultation casually said on the tenth day of the consultation.

“Most of the items are gathered in Hanyang, but there are many items that are not.”

“Is that so?”

Henrique’s eyes sparkled at the official’s words.

‘This is an opportunity!’

Since his mind was set on the iron horse, Henrique had been eager to ride it. However, he had to forcibly suppress that desire, seeing the Joseon soldiers surrounding the lodging like an iron wall.

‘This is not protection, but a warning! A warning not to move carelessly!’

That was why Henrique could only go as far as sightseeing in the market.

In that situation, the official’s words, thrown to sell even a few more items, were the best opportunity for Henrique.

“Since I still have plenty of time, I would like to see the specialties of other regions. Can you convey my request to His Majesty the King?”

The official, whose face brightened as well at Henrique’s request, nodded.

“Yes! I will convey your request!”

Sejong [King of Joseon], who heard Henrique’s request through the official, asked Hyang [Crown Prince] and the other officials for their opinions.

“What do you think?”

“It would be fine as long as we avoid military strongholds.”

“The Crown Prince’s words seem reasonable.”

The other officials did not show any particular disagreement with Hyang’s answer. Sejong made a conclusion at the positive response from Hyang and the officials.

“Then, make arrangements for them to travel by iron horse.”

“Shall we arrange a special train?”

“That would inconvenience the people, so let’s rent a passenger car. Aren’t they honored guests?”

* * *

So, while Henrique was traveling around Joseon by iron horse, Sejong received an unexpected report.

“There are strange prophecies circulating among the Westerners in the research institute?”

At Sejong’s question, Jeong Cho immediately bowed his head and answered.

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

“What is the content?”

At Sejong’s question, Jeong Cho immediately explained the content. Sejong stroked his beard and muttered after hearing Jeong Cho’s answer.

“‘A small spark that blooms in the East will burn the entire West.’….”

At Sejong’s muttering, Jeong Cho continued.

“When I asked Angelo and Giovanni, who are the leaders of the Westerners, they said that this prophecy has been passed down from ancient times, and that it used to refer to the Mongols, that is, the Yuan [Mongol-led dynasty that ruled China].”

“Is that so….”

* * *

The first time this saying spread was when Giovanni’s disciples and Angelo’s disciples were talking.

“There’s an interesting saying going around in the Vatican these days!”

“What is it?”

As the word began to spread, Angelo was horrified and stopped his disciples.

“Never talk about it outside! You know how Joseon deals with prophecies!”

Joseon was a country that tracked down and severely punished the speakers whenever such prophecies circulated. Knowing that, Angelo hurriedly shut the mouths of his careless disciples, but the prophecy in question spread among other alchemists and scholars, and finally reached the ears of the Joseon people. Thanks to this, Angelo had to be summoned by Jeong Cho and make excuses.

* * *

“Hmm…. If a report has come up to me, then the Crown Prince must know as well. What did the Crown Prince say?”

“At first, he laughed, and then he became serious.”

“Became serious.”

“He said there were several things that came to mind….”

At Jeong Cho’s words, Sejong and the other officials nodded at the same time.

“Indeed, if we examine the recent surrounding situation, there are more than one or two things that come to mind….”

* * *

“There are several things that are getting in the way.”

Hyang, who heard the prophecy from the Vatican, looked at the map with a serious face.

“First of all, Ming [Chinese dynasty]. They are preparing to film a makjang drama [Korean term for over-the-top, melodramatic TV show] right now.”

In the case of Ming, Emperor Xuande’s health was gradually deteriorating.

The problem was the crown prince, Zhu Qizhen, who would be the next emperor. No matter how much he tried to sugarcoat it, he had a wayward and reckless personality.

‘He has gone astray due to the emperor’s excessive expectations.’

There were such evaluations, but the great and small officials of Ming were worried whenever they thought of the crown prince.

Eventually, Zhu Qizhen left the Forbidden City last year and lived in Nanjing.

At the time, Nanjing had the same administrative organization as the Beijing court, so the intention was to have him learn administration through this.

This was the same for Emperor Xuande. When Emperor Hongxi died, Emperor Xuande, who was learning administrative work in Nanjing, had to rush to Beijing.

However, the reports coming from Nanjing were not very good, and the officials’ worries were growing.

As a result, talk of ‘replacing the crown prince’ was slowly starting to circulate.

If Ming had such internal problems, the intensity of tension with the Northern Yuan was increasing again externally.

Ming opened border posts on the border with the Northern Yuan and created permanent markets to conduct trade. However, unlike the Northern Yuan, whose exports were almost entirely horses and sheep, Ming merchants, who had a variety of goods needed by the Northern Yuan, were increasingly taking excessive profits. As a result, the atmosphere in the border area was becoming increasingly fierce.

“If Ming is a place where it wouldn’t be strange if something exploded at any time, whether inside or outside, then Japan is a place where it wouldn’t be strange if a civil war broke out tomorrow.”

After the young son of the assassinated former shogun rose to the position of shogun, the Hosokawa family wiped out the family of Akamatsu Mitsusuke, the perpetrator of the assassination.

After successfully suppressing the rebellion, the shogunate seemed to be stable thanks to the efforts of the Hosokawa family, who had taken the position of guardian of the young shogun.

However, the reality was that it was in a state of constant collapse.

The biggest reason was that the shogun was too young. The families who were in charge of the shogun’s guardianship, including the Hosokawa family, tried to maintain the stability of the shogunate, but daimyo [Japanese feudal lord] who harbored ambitions began to emerge.

Among those ambitious families, the most representative family was the Ouchi.