Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 680

680. Birds of a Feather (10)

There were several reasons why Hyang only gathered members of the Imperial Family for this work.

The first reason was external pressure.

No matter how upright someone was, even if they were directly under the Emperor, there was always the possibility they would cover up crimes if pressure came from other high-ranking officials.

However, the people gathered here were either the Emperor’s brothers or the Emperor’s children—even the heir apparent [the next Emperor].

To exert external pressure on *these* people? That was something that would wipe out not only the individual but their entire family.

On top of that, their eldest brother and father were right next to them, constantly saying, ‘I’m watching!’ or ‘Daddy’s not sleeping!’

Not only was external pressure blocked, but efficiency was also bound to increase.

The second reason was that everyone gathered had a knack for calculations.

Hyang’s younger brother, Grand Duke Pyeongwon, and Hyang’s sons, Du and Seul, were working in the budget department of the Ministry of National Defense.

The Crown Prince, Wan, was the same. While managing the research institute and Area 51, he spent most of his time, except for his hobby time, wrestling with various expenditure statements.

It wasn’t just them. Princess Jeong-ui, who had a knack for industrial-academic collaboration, and her husband, Kim Dam, joined in, meticulously recalculating the expenses the military had spent before and after the last war, down to the last *jeon* [Korean currency, like a penny].

And Hyang wrote down the numbers that were compiled and presented on oil-treated paper and attached them to a map.

Thanks to this, the huge map hanging on one wall was covered with oil-treated papers.

As a result of such work, one could grasp the approximate situation that occurred as the war progressed on a daily basis just by examining the map properly.

And Hyang found a problem there.

“Look at this?”

Hyang muttered with a bitter smile, pointing at the numbers on the oil-treated papers attached to the map.

“Crown Prince, come here for a moment.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

With Wan standing next to him, Hyang indicated a specific area with his finger and asked, “Doesn’t something seem strange?”

Wan’s expression hardened as he moved his eyes up and down the oil-treated papers, examining the numbers in response to Hyang’s question.

“Huh? This is?”

“Do you understand?”

“I understand!”

Everyone who was working stopped what they were doing and looked at Hyang and Wan’s conversation. Seeing this, Hyang gestured to them.

“You can come and listen to the Crown Prince’s explanation and confirm it. In particular, Grand Duke Pyeongwon, Grand Duke Eunpyeong, and Grand Duke Bundang must come and see.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The members of the Imperial Family who approached in this way learned what the problem was after listening to Wan’s explanation.

-The day after supplies arrive, reports of a large number of casualties follow. In this case, the supplies provided for the casualties disappear into thin air.

The problem was that the places that processed these supplies that disappeared into thin air as losses came from several battlefields.

-Military scrip [a form of currency used to pay soldiers] was the same.

According to military law, the Imperial Army that advanced into enemy territory was regularly paid a certain amount of military scrip according to rank.

The problem was that casualty reports surged only the day after the military scrip was paid.

Grand Duke Pyeongwon, Du, and Seul looked bewildered as they listened to Wan’s explanation and confirmed the problem. In particular, Grand Duke Pyeongwon, who had wrestled with numbers in the Ministry of National Defense throughout the last war, looked utterly dismayed.

“Why did I miss this part?”

Hyang answered Pyeongwon’s self-question, which was like a sigh.

“The most important thing was whether we won or lost. This happened because we only focused on winning or losing.”

“Ah….”

The Imperial Family members who discovered the embezzlement that had taken place during the war then began to investigate the manipulation of military merits.

The Imperial Family members, who took out the records of the war merit examination conducted for the award, the records of war wounds, and even the documents recording the testimonies of people around them to prove the merits from the archives, began to thoroughly investigate once again.

* * *

In the process, the thoughts of the Imperial Family members who participated in the work simultaneously turned to one side.

“Your Majesty! Please supply typewriters to the archives!”

“Even though it was written in *Jeong-eum* [Korean alphabet], the handwriting is different, so it’s hard to recognize it right away. How can you write *Jeong-eum* in cursive! No matter how much Won is, this is too much!”

“That’s right! If the descendants are to take the current records as a lesson, as is the purpose of establishing the archives, they must be able to read them properly! We must rewrite everything in an easy-to-read manner using typewriters!”

When even Wan stepped forward and insisted on putting typewriters in the archives, Hyang asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“Do you know how many records there are in the archives?”

Wan answered immediately to Hyang’s question.

“That’s something for the people in charge of the archives to worry about—isn’t it none of my business?”

Hyang momentarily opened and closed his mouth at Wan’s too firm answer. However, Wan did not back down.

“If you think about the purpose of the archives, you should never back down just because there is a lot of it!”

“How about doing it when you ascend the throne?”

“By then, the amount will have increased even more. Your Majesty! Why is there a saying that one should not miss a good opportunity!”

In the end, Hyang decided to put typewriters in the archives. Of course, since the amount of records in the archives was enormous, re-transcribing them with typewriters was limited to the records from the first year of the Empire.

Even so, the amount was enormous.

Recording all of this, the historian added.

-… Therefore, His Majesty accepted the Crown Prince’s request and decided to put typewriters in the archives.

The historian says.

Leaving records in the archives is for future generations to know why the previous generations did this and to change it to suit the times. Therefore, it is not a bad thing to use typewriters for future generations to understand easily.

I must never commit a crime related to work.

* * *

Although there was such a farce, the Imperial Family members who participated in the work did their best to analyze the records.

And they found about 10 people who had manipulated military merits.

Hyang, who received the report, ordered Sangseon [a high-ranking eunuch].

“Summon the Prime Minister, the Left and Right Vice Prime Ministers, the Minister of National Defense, and the Chief of Staff immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hyang, who summoned the highest-ranking officials of the department, starting with Hwang Hui, handed over the report and ordered.

“Read it. We’ll talk about it later.”

After reading the report, the summoned officials had no choice but to prostrate themselves on the floor and bow their heads.

“We were ignorant and did not notice this! Please kill us!”

“Shall I really kill you?”

“….”

“*Sanghwang* [the previous Emperor, now retired] always said, didn’t he? Don’t commit a crime worthy of death if you don’t want to die.”

“Please have mercy!”

Hwang Hui, the Left and Right Vice Prime Ministers, the Minister of National Defense, and the Chief of Staff, who were subjected to a scolding by Hyang, proceeded with the work, burning with anger.

It was the beginning of ‘a chain of command stained with blood’.

“Why can’t I submit my resignation and have to be in office for the rest of my life! It’s all because of these guys!”

‘It’s not because of your sons?’

All the subordinate officials had the same thought at Hwang Hui’s words full of anger, but no one uttered those words out loud.

Anyway, thanks to the chain of command that started from above, starting with Hwang Hui, those who were caught had to receive even more severe punishment.

In particular, Lee Jing-ok, the Chief of Staff, was as strong as Hwang Hui in arguing for severe punishment in this process.

“In the last war, some people were suffering and rolling in the mud, but these guys were doing this behind their backs! Grab them by the neck right now and drag them in front of me! They deserve to be shot to death, not just shot!”

In the end, all those who were found to have committed irregularities had to receive severe punishment. All their property was confiscated, all privileges for veterans were revoked, and they were removed from the list of veterans. And, depending on the severity of the crime, they were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years of hard labor in Aoji [a notorious mining region] and Musun [another harsh labor camp].

Thanks to the abolition of the system of guilt by association after the Empire was changed, the families were not officially punished.

With all their property confiscated, the remaining families had no choice but to sit on the streets. In addition, as rumors spread in the neighborhood, social relationships were completely cut off. In the end, the remaining families had no choice but to leave where they had been living and move their base to Bukjina Daeseol Island.

* * *

While Seoul was in an uproar, Ha-min looked for Park Gyu-seop.

“Huh? Hyung [older brother or close male friend] Ha, what’s going on today?”

“I was wondering if you could give me a few barrels of that liquor?”

“Why, are you going to sell it at *Giru* [a type of entertainment establishment]? I’ll give it to you cheap.”

Ha-min smiled at Park Gyu-seop’s joke and continued.

“It’s not that, I’m going to present it to the Emperor.”

“Present?”

“I have a knack for liquor, and that liquor is not ordinary. So I’m thinking of presenting it to the Emperor. I’ll put your names all together, so give me some.”

Park Gyu-seop hesitated for a moment at Ha-min’s words, then nodded readily.

“Let’s do that.”

Ha-min, who had obtained three wooden barrels of liquor from Park Gyu-seop in this way, muttered to himself as he loaded the barrels onto the carriage.

“But why is His Majesty suddenly interested in liquor?”

In this way, Miju’s liquor was delivered to Hyang.

“Hmm…. A liquor newly made by the people? Let’s have a drink each.”

The expressions of the ministers who drank Miju’s liquor at Hyang’s words changed strangely.

“It’s really unique.”

“It’s like *soju* [Korean distilled spirit], but the flavor is very different from *soju*.”

“It’s said that it’s made with barley instead of rice, and it seems so.”

Hyang nodded at the ministers’ words and emptied his glass, muttering inwardly.

‘Yes! It’s whiskey! There are still many places to refine, but it’s whiskey!’

After drinking a couple more glasses, Hyang gave an order.

“Send the artisans of *Saonseo* (司醞署, the government office that made liquor for the palace during the Joseon Dynasty) to Bukji to learn how to make this liquor. And….”

Hyang wrote something on a piece of paper for a long time, then stamped it with the royal seal and signed it before handing it to Sangseon.

“Give this letter to the artisan who made this liquor.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

In this way, two brewers from *Saonseo*, Hyang’s letter, and a reward arrived in Miju.

Park Gyu-seop, who received Hyang’s letter, patted Kim Bok-ju, who made the liquor in question, on the shoulder and cheered.

“You bastard! Congratulations! A handwritten letter from His Majesty! It’s the best of family treasures!”

However, Bok-ju was moved in a different sense.

“This was it! It’s His Majesty! His Majesty saw the shortcomings of my liquor properly!”

The contents of the letter sent by Hyang were as follows.

-It is a good liquor, but it is still immature. Age it for at least 8 years.

-For a better taste, consider mixing it with *soju* made from rice.

-For a better flavor, how about using tricks on the barrel? It would be good to put the liquor in a barrel that has been filled with fruit wine for a long time and age it for a long time, so think about it.

The contents of the letter sent by Hyang were the solution to the part that Bok-ju was worried about.

Bok-ju bowed deeply in front of the letter and shouted.

“Kim Bok-ju, a humble citizen! I will definitely make the best liquor for His Majesty!”

In this way, a famous liquor that is recognized in the world—called *Myeongju* (酩酒)—was born, using the character *Myeong* (酩) to mean that one gets drunk on the color, aroma, and taste.

This was how the thing called whiskey in the history before Hyang’s intervention revealed its existence in the Empire.

And, later, it would compete with Scotch whiskey over ‘who was the first?’

“We have official records, not legends! You don’t!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Ha-min continued to look for Park Gyu-seop. After confirming information about Park Gyu-seop in various ways, Ha-min proposed to Park Gyu-seop one day.

“Hey, Gyu-seop. Why don’t you work with me on something?”

“Work? What kind of work?”

“It’s work for a noble cause.”

Park Gyu-seop snorted at Ha-min’s words.

“Humph! What noble cause does *Geomgye* [a group of swordsmen or gangsters] have?”

“It’s not just a simple *Geomgye*.”

Park Gyu-seop’s expression also changed at Ha-min’s completely changed atmosphere.

“Let’s hear what you have to say. But you know, there’s nothing that smells good about a noble cause. I’m telling you in advance for Hyung Ha, keep this in mind. If it’s even a little bit harmful to His Majesty, I won’t stand still. If that’s the case, be prepared to die by my hands.”

Ha-min smiled brightly at Park Gyu-seop’s warning and replied.

“There’s no way you’ll die by my hands.”

* * *

Two months later, at the railroad construction site in Bukji.

“A new recruit has arrived in the surveying team!”

The worker, who was about to go out for surveying work, stopped working and came outside at the news that a new recruit had arrived.

Park Gyu-seop was standing where the workers had gathered.

“Hello! I’m Park Gyu-seop, who will be working with you from today! Please take care of me!”