Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 756

756. Encounter (1)

Imperial Calendar Year 18 (1466).

In the Shinji Imperial Villa in Shinji, Hyang was buried in documents.

After dealing with the mountain of paperwork, Hyang examined the last remaining document and sighed.

“Even after all this, my worries remain…”

After uttering a dad joke, Hyang looked at the document and cursed.

“Damn it, this population problem is the same in both the mainland and Shinji…”

* * *

As Hyang said, the population problem was a shackle holding back the Empire.

And to solve this population problem, the Empire actively promoted pro-natal policies [policies designed to increase the birth rate].

These pro-natal policies had been in operation since the time when the name was Joseon, not the Empire.

Looking at the history before Hyang’s intervention, there was a record that in the 16th year of King Sejong (1434), Sejong ordered that men also be given paternity leave.

– Recently, there was a case where a pregnant woman died because she did not receive help during childbirth. It is truly regrettable. What good is maternity leave for women if they do not receive help with childbirth and postpartum care? It is only natural for couples to help each other, so husbands should also be given leave.

Of course, this was a benefit given to the lowest class of people, such as slaves. However, support for families with many children was not limited to any class.

There was no special support for twins, but in the case of triplets or more, 10 *seok* [a unit of measurement for grain] of rice and beans were provided.

And this became a policy that was passed down through generations.

After Hyang’s intervention, as it changed to the Empire, this policy became more active and operated for a wider range of classes.

In the history before the intervention, support was limited to once when triplets or more were born.

However, after the intervention, support was provided when there were two or more children. 10% of the average salary of an Imperial worker was supported as childcare expenses. This ratio increased as the number of children increased, and childcare expenses were paid up to 40% for 4 or more children. However, if there were more than nine children, this limit was exceeded and up to 60% was paid.

This childcare expense support was cut off when the children graduated from Samin Academy [a school for young children], because it was the social norm of the time that they were recognized as adults at the age of 13-14, the age of graduation from Samin Academy.

The problem was that the birth rate, which had been rising rapidly thanks to these active support policies, began to rise slowly at some point.

Hyang and the administrators, who knew that the Empire’s biggest weakness was its population, began to investigate the cause.

Hyang and the administrators sighed after confirming the results.

“Hoo~. The cause is that we are doing well…”

Hyang’s face was particularly serious when confirming the report.

‘Is it already 21st century Korea!’

As the Empire’s economy developed, the average marriage age of the Empire’s people began to rise.

If they were living in poor conditions like before, they would have quickly pushed their children into marriages to reduce even one mouth to feed as soon as possible.

However, as the number of families with a certain level of economic power – not quite middle class by 21st century standards – increased, the rate of early marriage gradually decreased.

And the reason why this early marriage was delayed was due to the intense focus on education.

“Was this intense focus on education ingrained in our DNA?”

The education fever of the mainland Empire’s people was great, as Hyang said to himself after receiving the report.

“At least I have to send my children to middle school!”

“Of course! Shouldn’t my children be better than me?”

Parents who wanted their children to rise to a higher class than themselves put a lot of effort into their children’s education.

In addition, this period was not a time when the idea of male superiority and female inferiority had taken root deeply. Therefore, sending both sons and daughters to middle school became the minimum duty that parents should fulfill.

Another reason for the slower increase in the birth rate was, ridiculously, comprehensive entertainment venues.

Until then, the entertainment of the common people – ordinary people except for the upper class – was limited to drinking alcohol or watching wandering troupes come to the village.

Of course, the most common entertainment that the common people could easily access was the nightlife between couples, which led to the birth rate.

However, the fact that various entertainments could be enjoyed in permanently operated comprehensive entertainment venues slowed down the rate of increase in the birth rate.

The last reason was a medical problem. Pregnancy and childbirth put a serious burden on a woman’s body.

Even in the 21st century, dangerous situations often occurred in which the mother and fetus were threatened with their lives during childbirth, and tragic events occurred despite the development of medical technology.

Even in the 21st century, this was the case, but the risk was much higher in this period.

Starting with Princess Jeongso, doctors specializing in women and children began to be trained, but the risk that mothers had to bear was very high in a situation where most births were still attended by midwives.

Thanks to this, the birth rate, which had been increasing rapidly, began to slow down little by little.

* * *

The situation in Shinji was a little different from that of the mainland.

First of all, most of the natives lived in tribal units, and they still lived mainly on primitive agriculture and hunting. This made the lives of the tribesmen very difficult.

In addition, the survival rate of babies born was very low due to the level of medicine, which was almost at the level of shamanism.

In other words, the rate of population growth itself was bound to be slow.

However, as people from the Empire entered, the situation began to change little by little.

Under the influence of the Empire, the number of natives who deviated from agriculture and hunting, which were traditional and the only means of production, and devoted themselves to commerce, industry, and the military, greatly increased.

The number of natives who moved to the residential areas of the Empire for a better life increased greatly, and as they interacted with farmers who immigrated from the Empire, the natives from Shinji gradually had more time to spare in their lives, and the birth rate began to rise.

However, a warning light came on in a situation that seemed to be improving.

What caused the warning light to come on was disease.

* * *

As more and more Empire people from the Old Continent entered Shinji, contact with the natives of Shinji became more frequent.

In this process, diseases that the Empire people carried began to spread to the natives.

This was fatal to the natives of Shinji, who had been isolated from the Old Continent since the Ice Age. It was not uncommon for diseases that were mild to the Empire people to become terrible diseases that threatened the lives of the natives of Shinji.

Of course, Hyang, who knew this in advance, suggested to Sejong to send a considerable number of doctors from the beginning.

However, the number of Shinji natives who were on the verge of life and death due to diseases brought by the Empire people often exceeded the capabilities of the doctors.

“If we mess this up, all the natives of Shinji will become hostile to us. Even if it’s difficult, we need to send more doctors and establish educational facilities as soon as possible.”

“You are right.”

Sejong, who accepted Hyang’s advice, sent more doctors to Shinji.

The problem was the establishment of educational institutions. It was impossible to even dream of establishing educational institutions in a situation where proper communication was difficult.

In the end, the establishment of medical education institutions became possible only after Sejong, who arrived in Shinji himself, began to operate Shinji in earnest.

Afterwards, Hyang, who arrived in place of Sejong, added his own touch.

He gathered the shamans of the tribes who had surrendered to the Empire, collected and organized the knowledge they had – mainly about medicinal herbs – and established it as a proper discipline.

The herbal medicine books that collected the knowledge of shamans soon began to be of great help to doctors and aspiring doctors working in Shinji.

And, taking this opportunity, a new profession was born among the natives of Shinji.

It was *Simmani* [herb gatherers].

* * *

It was not only the natives of Shinji who were endangered by the diseases brought by the Empire people.

The opposite was also true.

The most representative one was syphilis.

In the 21st century, the theory of its existence from ancient times and the theory of its origin with Columbus coexisted, but this was a very unfamiliar disease to the Empire people of this period.

The doctors who examined the syphilis patients shook their heads with embarrassed faces.

“I have no idea where they got it from…”

The doctors who persistently tracked the infection routes of the patients finally found the cause.

“The problem was the relationships with native women…”

“Does that mean there are many patients among the natives?” “That’s right. Let’s investigate.”

The doctors, who expanded the scope and investigated, confirmed serious results.

– Many people are infected among the natives.

– The mortality rate is very high.

– If an infected woman becomes pregnant, or if a pregnant woman becomes infected, the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and birth defects is very high.

The doctors who confirmed the results began to move busily to find a cure.

The doctors, who searched through medical books and found diseases and treatments that showed similar symptoms, applied them to patients who came in for treatment.

However, despite using all sorts of methods, no treatment that showed significant results emerged.

Hyang endured the urge to twitch his mouth every time he received a report full of despair and encouraged the doctors.

“It is said that if you are desperate, you will get through. Tell them to try a little harder. The doctors are doing well now.”

After encouraging the doctors like that, Hyang, who was left alone, sighed.

“Hoo~. I want to say it, but if I say even this, there will be rumors that I am an alien in later generations. Definitely.”

And, as Hyang said, the doctors, who had tried all sorts of attempts to find a cure, finally found the answer.

It was *Cheonggyun-aek* [a primitive antibiotic] created under Hyang’s leadership.

When *Cheonggyun-aek* was injected with the feeling of ‘all or nothing’, syphilis patients began to show definite improvement.

“This is it!”

“I found it!”

The doctors, filled with joy, submitted a report to Hyang.

“Tell them that it is truly commendable. And record the names of the doctors who discovered the treatment and reward them.”

“I will obey your command!”

That night, Hyang, who was left alone, rummaged through the report in question and sighed softly.

“Finally, the history of fierce challenges and responses has begun.”

The ‘battle between antibiotics and bacteria’ was a battle with no end in sight. Every time a new, more effective antibiotic came out, a super virus that was resistant to that antibiotic appeared before he knew it.

Hyang’s face was not very bright as he examined the report.

The *Cheonggyun-aek* currently in use was very primitive compared to 21st century penicillin or other antibiotics. It was showing remarkable efficacy now, but there would come a time when *Cheonggyun-aek* would become useless at some point. And, looking at the level of *Cheonggyun-aek*, there was a high possibility that the time would come sooner than expected.

“The problem is that the medical field was not my area of expertise, and with the current medical concept, I can’t understand bacteria or viruses. Hoo~.”

Hyang, who sighed for a long time, looked at the sky outside the window.

“Talented people need to emerge in the medical field quickly… so that we can solve the population problem more easily…”

Hyang, who was looking at the sky with a worried face, scratched his head and grumbled.

“Oh! Why isn’t there anything easy!”