Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 732

732. Dagger (2)

Hyang analyzed the situation as follows:

-England was embroiled in the War of the Roses, just like in the history before Hyang’s intervention. They wouldn’t have the spare capacity to pay attention to external affairs for the time being.

-England’s full-scale overseas expansion began during the reign of Elizabeth I. At most, there were 100 years left.

-France was beginning to show interest in overseas expansion through its alliance with Portugal. However, the aftereffects of the Hundred Years’ War still lingered.

-Portugal had grown faster compared to the history before Hyang’s intervention, but it was still being pushed back by Spain.

-Portugal held an advantage over Spain in naval power, having secured the African sea route, but was overwhelmingly behind in land power, territory, and population.

-If Spain’s progress could be hindered and the discovery of the New World delayed as much as possible, it would take more time for Europe’s perspective to shift away from Africa.

-The later Europe turned its eyes to the New World, the more New Territories the Empire could assimilate.

After summarizing the situation, Hyang muttered to himself.

“The conclusion is that the best option is to tie down Spain. And the best card to tie down Spain is Gibraltar. The problem is that it seems to have fallen into Spain’s hands faster than expected. Is this a butterfly effect I brought about?”

It was Hyang’s suspicion, and he was right.

***

The demise of the Emirate of Granada, the last Islamic state occupying the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula, occurred in 1492.

The earlier-than-expected fall of the Emirate of Granada was an aftereffect of the international war over Suez.

The international war between the Portuguese alliance and the Spanish alliance—specifically, the union of Castile and León—led to the mass distribution of gunpowder weapons.

Although Spain suffered a humiliating agreement and withdrew from the war over Suez, it possessed a large number of musketeers and artillery.

Spain used these forces to destroy the Emirate of Granada.

Gibraltar, acquired after the destruction of the Emirate of Granada, began to gain even more value as a strategic point.

Portugal needed to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar to export goods and slaves obtained from Africa to the eastern Mediterranean, or to export the Empire’s goods arriving in Suez to Northern Europe.

The problem was that Portugal’s maritime traffic routes became dangerous as Spain seized Gibraltar.

The Spanish fleet stationed in Gibraltar began to harass Portuguese merchant ships whenever they had the chance.

Of course, they couldn’t openly cause trouble because they had accepted the Pope’s mediation. However, Portuguese merchant ships traveling alone became prey for the Spanish navy.

As a countermeasure, Portugal formed large convoys, but this was quite uneconomical.

Other countermeasures included using land routes in Africa and sending goods to Northern Europe via Italy. However, these were not good solutions either.

For the time being, the interior of the African continent was largely unknown to Europeans. There was a route moving along the northern part of Africa from the Western Sahara region, but the countries along that route were all hostile to Portugal.

The only fortunate thing was that those countries hated Spain as much as they hated Portugal.

Using Italy was an even bigger problem. Even now, a significant portion of the profits was being taken by Italy, especially the Medici family of Florence. In such a situation, using Italy would be foolish.

In other words, Gibraltar had become a shackle preventing Portugal’s growth.

***

With this background, Hyang was confident that Portugal would cooperate with the Empire.

“Portugal probably thinks it has nothing to lose since we’re the ones fighting. But if we seize Gibraltar, then Europe will have to be mindful of us. Hmm…”

Stopping mid-sentence as if something suddenly came to mind, Hyang fell into silence for a long time.

After a long time, Hyang smiled and muttered.

“If we play this right, we might be able to pull off a huge scam. Columbus initially moved west to find another route to India, right? But since the situation has changed, this time it will be to find the Empire. So, they come, and, no, if the Empire comes from the west…”

Hyang’s eyes began to gleam dangerously.

“Until Spain discovers the New World, Europe won’t know of its existence. Columbus also believed that the place he discovered was India, right? So, if Columbus, or someone else, comes west and the Empire’s fleet is there, blocking them, they’ll believe it right away. Hehehe!”

Hyang began to laugh mischievously.

If they were made to believe that the place they arrived at was not the New World, Europe’s imperialistic expansion would be delayed far longer than expected.

“It’s a New Territory for us, but externally, it’s the Federal Empire! Hehehe! We can also reduce the worries of the New Admiral. I’ll have to share my thoughts again tomorrow.”

The next day, Shin In-son clapped his knees in admiration after hearing Hyang’s story.

“That is a truly ingenious plan! People are generally unable to easily accept new things. Even when they see something new, they only see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe, fitting it into the framework they already know. Therefore, it will take a considerable amount of time for Europeans to know the truth!”

Having confirmed Shin In-son’s strong support, Hyang immediately revised the plan.

“Then I will inform Seoul of this.”

As an aside, the evaluation of this amendment by later foreign historians was as follows:

– The first international fraud of the Great Federal Empire.

And Hyang and Wan gained the following notoriety:

– Those who hindered the development of geography.

Whenever these words came out, the spokesperson of the Federal Empire commented as follows:

– It is not fraud but a legitimate camouflage operation to protect national interests.

– Information related to New Territories was not disclosed to other countries, but it was already well known internally. It’s just that you guys found out late.

Even if criticism continued, the spokesperson responded as follows:

“Are you trying to disgrace the Great Emperors of the Empire? Do you want to die? Do you want to perish? Do you want to be declared war on?”

***

Having established a plan against Europe and decided to implement it, Hyang had something to confirm beforehand.

The artillery testing ground in Area 52.

Hyang, Shin In-son, and the naval generals Shin In-son had brought gathered at the testing ground.

The reason they gathered in one place was to reconfirm the strength of the hull made of New Territory wood.

“It may seem redundant, but everything will only work properly if those who will command those ships are at ease, right?”

Shin In-son and the naval generals all nodded at Hyang’s words.

At that sight, Jang On bowed his head to Hyang.

“That is a natural decision.”

However, Jang On’s true feelings were the opposite.

‘No! What did you say last time?’

Jang On wanted to raise his voice and argue, but he forcibly restrained himself.

Knowing or not knowing Jang On’s heart, Hyang had a slightly excited expression.

‘No matter how I think about it, I can’t just pass over such a fun thing! And the justification is good too!’

Hyang had found a very good excuse to satisfy his inner desires.

“Then we will begin the experiment!”

Thirty virtual hulls were built, including one made according to the thickness and assembly method specified in the original design, and hulls with thicknesses reduced by 5 pun [a traditional Korean unit of length, approximately 0.3 cm] units, up to a final reduction of 30% of the original thickness. These hulls were used as targets for artillery fire.

The experiment was conducted with various conditions, including the existing Empire Navy’s standard artillery, newly deployed artillery, and everything from simple iron lumps to incendiary shells filled with gunpowder.

Following this, artillery from Ming and Europe were brought in for experimentation.

Finally, an experiment was conducted to fire artillery at the thinnest simulated hull until a hole was made.

After confirming the experimental results, Hyang looked back at Shin In-son and the naval generals.

“What do you think? In my opinion, it seems more than sufficient even with a 30% reduction, right?”

“I also think it is sufficient.”

“Any other opinions?”

No generals opposed Hyang’s question. The hull made of wood reduced by 30% showed sufficient defensive power.

When the worrying part was resolved, the expressions of the generals brightened instead.

“If the space becomes wider, we can load more drinking water and food, so it’s a good thing.”

“That’s right! Due to the nature of New Territories, there are many long-distance voyages, and if there is plenty of drinking water and food, we can use more diverse tactics.”

“If the space becomes wider, we can store gunpowder and incendiary shells more safely.”

When the generals also showed positive reactions, Hyang looked back at Jang On.

“Then proceed as planned. Thank you for your hard work.”

“I am honored. I will execute as ordered.”

***

Having removed one worry, Hyang moved on to the next problem.

“How is the problem of growing vegetables on the front lines going?”

“We are experimenting with various things. First of all, green onions and lettuce are the most excellent, so we will start cultivating them on board first.”

“It seems like those two alone will not be enough?”

“So we are continuing to experiment.”

Hyang, who was thinking for a moment at Shin In-son’s answer, continued.

“There may be useful things among the vegetables of New Territories, so please take a look. You can get answers by asking the natives.”

“I will do so.”

As long-distance voyages from the Korean Peninsula to Suez became common, maintaining the health of sailors became important.

Staying in intermediate stopover points such as Southwest Island, Melaka [modern-day Malacca, Malaysia], and Temasek [an old name for Singapore] to recover health was also a good method, but the importance of food eaten during the voyage was immediately mentioned.

The problem of drinking water was solved to some extent through distillers using purified water and soju [a Korean distilled spirit] distillation devices born from Hyang’s efforts, but the problem was dried provisions.

Dried provisions did not spoil easily, but it was revealed that it was difficult to maintain health with dried provisions alone. As a way to solve this, a plan to cultivate vegetables on board came out.

When this plan came out, Hyang suggested mung bean sprouts – bean sprouts – and soybean sprouts based on memories he had seen on the Internet, but it turned out that this was unreasonable.

The problem was water.

It was possible to supply drinking water using distillers and water purification frames, but it was impossible to cultivate soybean sprouts and mung bean sprouts.

Of course, additional distillers and water purification frames could be installed, but there was a problem of space.

So, this part was still under research.

“When advancing from New Territories to Europe, we may encounter the worst case of having no intermediate stopover points. So please do your best to find alternatives.”

“I will follow your orders.”

As an aside, Europeans called the Challenger-class battleships ‘sea thugs.’ And the biggest reason this nickname was created was the Challenger-class battleships made in New Territories and advanced to Europe.