Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 661

661. A Little Seasoning Makes Deokjil Delicious (2)

Hyang immediately added to Wan’s reply.

“Before examining the Challenge Records, look at the propulsion device on that Bigu [a type of flying vehicle] and see what’s different.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Wan bowed his head in response to Hyang’s command and waited for the Bigu to land again.

Soon, the Bigu landed back on the ground.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Wan and his production team all rushed to the Bigu that Hyang had created. Meanwhile, Hyang watched them with those who had participated in the Bigu’s production, smiling contentedly.

“It’s becoming quite useful, isn’t it?”

The elderly artisan who had directed the production nodded at Hyang’s question, who had his arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face.

“Yes, Your Majesty. These are people to look forward to in 10 years. When that time comes, they will be of great help to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“That would be a really good thing.”

In the process of supporting Wan’s *deokjil* [a Korean term referring to passionate devotion to a hobby or interest], Hyang played a number. It was to tie the young artisans of Area 51 with Wan. They were ambitious young people who had been taught by veteran artisans and were confident that they had enough practical experience.

-Challenge various things with Wan and experience success and failure to prepare for the future.

This was the purpose that Hyang outwardly put forward.

However, Hyang’s true intentions were a little more sinister.

‘Later, when I hand over the throne to Wan and enjoy *deokjil* comfortably, I need to raise some useful guys in advance!’

That was the plan, but their confidence was too much. Even Hyang, who admitted that he was a crazy otaku, shook his head.

“A Bigu with 70 layers of gasbags! This is not imagination; it’s delusion!”

Because of this, Hyang showed them what’s what with the veteran artisans.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wan and the young artisans who arrived at the Bigu carefully examined the interior of the Bigu.

“Is it possible with just the gears and chains connecting the footrest to the shaft, and the differential gears?”

Wan and the artisans were dumbfounded by the simple structure.

Wan, who carefully examined the structure, ordered the artisans who followed.

“Examine it carefully and draw the framework without missing a single detail.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to disassemble it in Area 51?”

Wan answered firmly to the artisan’s question.

“How can you try to disassemble something that His Majesty came up with himself? Disassembly is only possible at the very end.”

The artisan bowed his head and answered Wan’s firm answer.

“I am sorry! Please forgive me!”

“I forgive you. Instead, draw it without missing anything, and submit a report on the principles involved in that framework!”

The artisan in question answered with a tearful face. The fellow artisans who saw the scene next to him muttered the same words inwardly.

‘Geez! You’re just asking for it with your mouth.’

* * *

After the event ended that day, Wan returned to Area 51 and pondered what the problem was, reflecting on the appearance of the Bigu he had seen during the day.

“There’s definitely a problem with the steam engine, but what is it….”

Wan analyzed it, comparing what he had seen during the day with the framework of the steam engine.

“The power of the soldiers can be seen as the steam power of the steam engine. There’s no problem with this part. Then….”

Wan tapped the desk with his finger and thought over and over again.

“Then the only thing left is the drive part….”

Here, Wan felt strongly that he was blocked by a wall.

The Bigu he submitted also moved by turning a windmill, and Hyang’s Bigu also moved by turning a windmill.

It was the same method of movement.

“Because of this, I designed a scaled-down version of the armored warship’s steam engine, not the iron horse’s [locomotive] steam engine….”

Wan took out the engine blueprint from the ‘Self-Propelled Flying Bigu’ blueprint book on one side and carefully examined it.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong… The method of transmitting the engine’s rotational force to the power shaft and adjusting the speed using differential gears is the same….”

Wan suddenly stopped talking and exclaimed.

“Huh! It wasn’t the same! It was too complicated!”

* * *

The propulsion method of the armored warship that Hyang created with the researchers was as follows.

-Install 4 power lines on the left and right of the engine.

-Connect the rotary power transmission device from each power line to the central coaxial shaft.

-Attach a power distributor to the end of the coaxial shaft to transmit power to the two propulsion windmills.

-Use a speed controller made by combining gears in the power distributor to adjust the number of revolutions of the left and right windmills.

By adjusting the number of revolutions of the left and right propulsion windmills in this way, the armored warship could change direction more efficiently and even become a monster capable of reversing.

And, Wan and Wan’s development team decided to create and install a scaled-down engine.

* * *

Wan realized what his mistake was.

“It was too complicated. The Bigu must be as light as possible to move properly, but this makes the power unit too heavy! In addition, too many people are needed to adjust and manage the complicated device! This was not supposed to be! Hey!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Wan, who realized what his mistake was, called the eunuch waiting outside and ordered.

“Summon the Bigu developers right now! Tell them to gather in the conference room!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The artisans, who had been wrestling with the paintings they had drawn during the day all night, gathered in the conference room at Wan’s call.

After a while, Wan, who entered the conference room, explained to the artisans why he had called them.

“I think I know what the problem with the ‘Self-Propelled Flying Bigu’ we were thinking about is.”

At Wan’s words, the artisans’ ears perked up at the same time. Wan, who gathered the artisans’ eyes and ears, continued.

“The engine was the problem.”

Wan explained to the artisans the problem with the engine he had thought of.

“Ah!”

“Indeed!”

“Looking back now, that was the problem!”

When Wan’s explanation was over, the artisans agreed with Wan’s words with bright faces, competing with each other.

Wan put more strength into his voice as most of the artisans realized it.

“Then, what do you think we should look for in the Challenge Records from now on?”

“We can make the part that controls the output of the engine simpler!”

“Let’s find it right away from tomorrow!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

It was Wan and the young artisans who had regained their momentum.

From the next day, Wan and the young artisans set up a living in the Challenge Records storage.

The artisans, who were divided into groups, carefully examined the list of Challenge Records divided into 9 grades.

And, because of the artisans who set up a living here, complaints popped out from here and there.

“Oh! I need to see the list, but what am I supposed to do if they’re sitting there holding it!”

“Why are you setting up a living here and causing a fuss!”

Whenever such complaints came out, the young artisans immediately sold Wan’s name.

“It’s His Highness the Crown Prince’s order.”

“Huh? If that’s the case….”

The complaints subsided when the Crown Prince was mentioned. However, there were those who could not stand it, and they immediately found Jeong In-ji.

“This is an unfair measure!”

“So you came to me?”

Those who were complaining nodded their heads at Jeong In-ji’s question, and Jeong In-ji also nodded his head.

“Well, that’s right. If you go to His Majesty right away, you might get into trouble. I understand. I’ll tell him.”

“Thank you.”

In the end, Jeong In-ji found Wan and told him in a roundabout way that there were many complaints.

“Ah! I made a mistake again. Thank you for letting me know.”

Wan, who received Jeong In-ji’s warning, immediately ordered the artisans.

-If those who are looking for the Challenge Records come, give way immediately.

“Then it will take too long.”

“Isn’t it just us who need the Challenge Records? Give way.”

The artisans who were complaining had no choice but to step back at Wan’s order.

“I obey the order.”

* * *

On the fifth day of examining it like that.

“I found it!”

A loud shout erupted from one side of the Challenge Records storage. At the words ‘I found it!’, the artisans around him all rushed in.

“Where? What is it?”

“What is it? What is it?”

At the questions of his colleagues who rushed in, the artisan pointed to one side of the Challenge Record in his hand and answered.

“This is it! ‘Ducted Propeller, Multi-Wing Propeller, Multi-Wing Multi-Layer Propeller, Ducted Multi-Wing Multi-Layer Propeller’!”

At the artisan’s words, the artisans who took turns looking at the Challenge Record all sighed.

“Hoo~.”

“Haa~.”

“Just looking at the title, it seems like it fits roughly… Haa~.”

There was a reason why the artisans were sighing.

Just looking at the title written on the list, it seemed like the answer to what they wanted. However, the grade was the problem.

Grade: Top (Top)

Registrant: Jang Yeong-sil.

It was not only at the top of the Challenge Record grade, but also the famous Jang Yeong-sil, who is considered one of the ‘incomprehensible’.

They found the answer, but the problem was that the place where the answer was located was at the top of Mount Tai [a metaphor for a difficult challenge].

And, Wan, who received the report, also sighed.

“Hoo~. It’s like trying to avoid a ghost and meeting a tiger… Hoo~.”

Wan, who sighed deeply again, gave an order.

“Still, if that’s the answer, there’s no way to avoid it. Apply to the storage and ask them to copy the contents of the item.”

“I obey the order.”

* * *

While Wan and his artisans were meeting another wall and feeling discouraged, there were others who were burning brightly in other places.

It was the European professors who received permission to stay and remained in the Empire.

The Bigu they saw while sightseeing in Seoul was shocking, but the self-propelled Bigu was even more shocking.

“Who made that?”

“It was made by artisans under His Majesty’s command.”

“Oh! There are such great artisans! I want to meet them and talk to them! Arrange a meeting!”

The professors who heard the answer could not hide their excitement and requested an interview with the artisans.

“What are you going to do meeting them?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want to talk about the principle of how it moves like that!”

The manager shook his head at the professors’ words.

“The artisans made the Bigu, but His Majesty did the design and supervision. I think you chose the wrong target.”

“Ah….”

The professors all sighed at the manager’s answer.

The memory of being thoroughly *털렸* [a Korean slang term meaning ‘to be thoroughly defeated or criticized’] by Hyang was still vivid.

In addition, the current situation of the professors was a problem. Almost all of the professors who remained had not yet removed the trainee label.

They were listening to industry-academia lectures every day and taking periodic exams, but there were more failures than passes.

This was also Hyang’s *simsul* [a Korean word for mischievousness or spitefulness].

-They are scholars and teachers who are recognized in the land of the West. Since they are such people, shouldn’t we attach someone with good skills to teach them?

And, the person who was attached to teach the professors was Lee Soon-ji.

Lee Soon-ji, who had become fluent in Latin, mercilessly spewed venom at the professors.

“Didn’t you say you were a teacher who teaches students? Hmm….”

“The grades? Heo….”

The professors were making desperate efforts to suppress the rising anger every time they saw Lee Soon-ji, who strangely cut off his words and looked at them strangely.

And it was Hyang who was making a *simsul gujeun* [ill-natured] smile every time he received a report on this.

And, the researchers at the research institute shook their heads.

“I expected it from the time you attached *Seolgoe* [literally ‘tongue monster,’ a person skilled at debate or criticism] Lee Soon-ji….”

“Why did you pretend to be so good….”

They were researchers who sympathized with the European professors who were suffering from Lee Soon-ji’s *dokseol* [caustic remarks].