Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 613

613. The Beginning of the Empire – A Day Like Yesterday (1)

The day after the coronation, a considerable number of people lingered in front of the monopoly office.

Acting like casual passersby, they loitered around, their eyes fixed on the entrance—more precisely, on the notice board beside it.

“It’s open!”

As the monopoly office’s entrance opened, the gazes of those loitering shifted to the doorway.

When the official who opened the door simply went inside, the people milling about couldn’t hide their disappointment.

“Damn! Nothing!”

“I was hoping!”

“Ugh! Just wasted my breakfast!”

Those who had been lingering, hoping for a discount event, glanced back several times as they walked away from the monopoly office.

The errand boy, sweeping the entrance, clicked his tongue at their retreating figures.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Foolish people, have they forgotten this is a government office? The policy is already set; what makes them think there’s a chance of luck?”

* * *

From the declaration of the imperial title and the emperor’s coronation to the Crown Prince’s wedding, a series of events unfolded, creating several issues. However, the most significant impact on the lives of the people was the monopoly office’s discount events.

When the monopoly office held a discount event, the surrounding shops also followed suit.

This was because a considerable number of people, flush with cash from the monopoly office’s discounts, would visit the shops and buy goods.

The extra spending money from the discounts significantly boosted the merchants’ sales.

Therefore, the court officials, Sejong, and Hyang had to deliberate carefully on the frequency and duration of this year’s discount events.

Most people would be happy if the discount events were frequent and long, but there was a high possibility that the market would not function properly. Shops were likely to close down because people would wait only for the discount events and not spend money otherwise.

In the end, the court announced the following after much deliberation:

-It seems unwise to hold discount events frequently this year, given the many auspicious occasions.

And, as discount events have been continuing for various reasons every year, it has been decided that it would be good to make this a regular event.

Therefore, the five days leading up to Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving] will be designated as the discount period every year.

In addition, if there is a major national celebration, three to five days will be added to this period.

According to this decision, this year’s discount event will be held for fifteen days before Chuseok.

There will be no additional discount events before or after this period.

Most of the people who saw the announcement were soon filled with one question.

“But why Chuseok?”

However, the merchants nodded, impressed.

“Indeed, the court is full of great merchants!”

“It is said that even beggars don’t starve during Chuseok! It’s the time when money is most abundant, so sales are guaranteed!”

Thus, the ‘Monopoly Office Grand Discount Event,’ boasting history and tradition, was born.

Among foreigners, the event came to be known as ‘Five Days of Madness’.

* * *

Two days after the coronation, many people gathered along the Han River.

It was to watch the joint training exercise conducted by the Army (陸軍), formerly the Land Defense Forces (陸守軍).

There had been several training exercises before, but this time, especially many people gathered.

This was because of the news that they could see the Army, which had achieved a great victory in the recent battle against Ming, without any restrictions.

Behind the rope and wooden fence, set up to prevent unauthorized access, guards were vigilantly watching the surroundings, and behind the rope and fence, on the slope, people gathered to secure their spots.

And, among the people, merchants selling all kinds of snacks were moving around, raising their voices.

“I’m making a year’s worth of sales in these few days!”

“May it always be like this!”

Excited by the situation where the snacks they brought were selling like hotcakes, the merchants raised their voices even louder.

“Buy rice cakes~!”

“엿! Buy *yeot* [Korean taffy]! Buy *yeot*!”

* * *

Meanwhile, in the temporary viewing stands inside the wooden fence, foreign envoys who had come for the coronation and court officials took their seats.

Among those seated were Henrique and his party.

“A military training exercise in front of foreign envoys… Does that mean they are that confident?”

Henrique immediately responded to Mehmed II’s question.

“Wouldn’t you think so?”

“And, considering the position of this Joseon, no, the Korean Empire, I think it’s okay to show it off. And this Joseon defeated Ming, didn’t it? They’re trying to show their strength to people like us. Or, perhaps, giving us a choice.”

“A choice?”

“Isn’t it a tacit suggestion that if we were to advance to the East later, Ming would be a better target than Joseon?”

Mehmed II nodded at Giovanni’s words following Henrique’s.

If he were in a position to plot against Joseon, Joseon was situated in a truly troublesome place.

Coming by sea, he was not confident in facing Joseon’s warships that he had seen along the way.

If he were to attack Joseon by land, he would have to break through several countries, mountain ranges, and deserts, starting with the Bengal Sultanate.

If he had to advance to the East, it would be much more advantageous to target Ming, as Giovanni said.

Ming had a large territory, as was rumored even in the Ottoman Empire, and many people.

The problem was military power, but if they were losing to Joseon, which was much smaller than them, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Thinking that far, Mehmed II chuckled without realizing it.

‘There are many problems to solve before that… starting with the succession issue right now.’

Due to the restoration of his father, Murad II, the succession competition had flared up once again.

Even after winning the succession competition and seizing power, there were many problems. There was the issue of the Mamluks, who were currently fighting fiercely, but Byzantium, which was temporarily in a truce, also had to be resolved.

And it didn’t end there. In order to properly trade with or advance to the East, the Timurids and the Black Sheep and White Sheep dynasties also had to be dealt with.

‘Simply securing the Suez region will only result in losses. We must take control of all the nearby areas to gain an advantage over those infidels.’

Thinking that far, Mehmed II glanced at Henrique and Giovanni, who were sitting next to him, and muttered inwardly.

‘Well, those infidels must be thinking the same thing as me.’

His guess was almost accurate.

‘If we eliminate the Mamluks, the Eastern sea route will be in the hands of our Portugal. Then we must aim for Ming. It will be easier than Joseon.’

‘We must create a solid stronghold in the East. However, Joseon has already preempted most of the military strongholds or has established diplomatic relations with them. Then, Ming is the only option.’

Having confirmed Joseon’s military power on the way, all three began to think of Ming as prey instead of Joseon.

The biggest reason they thought of Ming as prey was that it had been defeated by Joseon, which was smaller than them.

* * *

“His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Retired Emperor are arriving!”

At the cry announcing the arrival of Sejong and Hyang, the envoys and officials in the viewing stands all rose from their seats and paid their respects.

Sejong and Hyang lightly returned the greeting, and not long after they sat down, the training began.

* * *

After finishing the observation of the training that lasted almost half a day, the faces of Henrique and his party, who returned to their lodgings, were pale.

Forcing strength into their trembling legs, Henrique entered the room with difficulty and sighed deeply as soon as he sat down on the chair.

“Hoo~.”

“Haa~.”

Giovanni and Mehmed II were the same.

Henrique, who poured water into a glass placed on the tea table and drank it several times, finally seemed to regain his color as if he could breathe again.

After emptying another glass of water, Henrique shook his head.

“This is… unexpected. Should we rethink from the beginning?”

“I think we should.”

“I agree. It would be more accurate to say that Joseon is stronger than we imagined, rather than Ming being weaker than expected.”

Giovanni added to Henrique’s words, nodding.

“Flying Thunder Crash Bombs, grapeshot cannons, Hwachas [Korean rocket artillery]…. Hoo~. To think they have so many weapons capable of mass destruction….”

Following Giovanni’s words, Mehmed II took over.

“That’s true, but to have long rifles capable of rapid fire, not to mention their superior range… Even if we had 10,000 soldiers armed with such long rifles, we could wipe out the Mamluks within a year.”

Henrique and Giovanni nodded greatly at Mehmed II’s words.

The Korean Empire Army’s training presented shock and horror to Henrique’s party as well as the envoys who attended.

* * *

Until they saw the artillery demonstration firing towards the Han River, the envoys’ expressions were calm.

Although the range was longer than the cannons they knew, the power of the shells without explosives did not seem to be much more advanced than their own artillery.

However, from the following demonstration, the faces of all the envoys began to turn pale.

“From now on, we will conduct a training exercise assuming a situation where we are defending against approaching enemies. Please look to the right.”

At the words of the interpreters, the envoys’ heads turned to the right all at once.

It was a place that had been blocking their view with curtains until just now, but soldiers began to come out and remove the curtains.

In the place where the curtains were removed, there were at least 1,000 scarecrows and hundreds of wooden horses.

“Hoo~.”

Henrique and his party ended with a light exclamation, but the faces of the envoys from Waeguk (Japan) and Ryukyu, as well as countries that had contact with Ming, became serious.

The armor worn by the scarecrows and the horse armor worn by the wooden horses were all used by the Ming army.

And, the armaments equipped by the Ming army were of far superior quality compared to those equipped by the soldiers of their home countries.

What Joseon was trying to say was simple.

‘Ming, which is far more powerful than you, lost to us. Don’t mess with us.’

‘It could be a bluff.’

Many envoys thought that those scarecrows and wooden horses might be a bluff. However, the subsequent firepower demonstration shattered their thoughts.

The start was the Flying Thunder Crash Bomb.

Boom!

The Flying Thunder Crash Bomb, which cut through the sky with a heavy explosion, fell and exploded behind the gathering of scarecrows.

Kaboom!

With the explosion of the Flying Thunder Crash Bomb, the surrounding scarecrows and wooden horses soared into the sky and fell to the ground.

Following the Flying Thunder Crash Bomb’s shelling, the Hwachas’ firing swept through the middle of the scarecrow group, and the grapeshot cannons smashed the leading group of scarecrows.

“Waaaah~!”

Finally, the infantry, who had been waiting behind, rushed forward with shouts, built a defensive line, and began firing.

This part was the decisive blow. The place where the infantry, who were shooting at the scarecrows and wooden horses, were standing was far behind the place they had expected. In addition, most of them were quickly reloading while sitting or lying down.

* * *

The three, who had spent the night sleepless due to shock and horror, headed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as soon as it dawned.

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

“Oh no!”

The three, who arrived at the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, simultaneously wore embarrassed expressions.

All the envoys from various countries were gathered at the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Henrique, who examined the envoys’ faces, chuckled and turned to Giovanni and Mehmed II.

“It would have been strange if they hadn’t come.”

Meanwhile, Heo Hu, who received a report that envoys were lined up at the entrance of the government building, smiled slightly and ordered his subordinate.

“Go to the Ministry of Finance and tell them this: ‘The guests have arrived.’”

“Yes, sir!”

Heo Hu, who sent his subordinate out, took a sip of black bean tea and muttered.

“This kind of work should be left to the experts.”