Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 913

913. The Imperial March (2) – Charge, Ghost Ship, Run on the Ground. (1)

A few days before the proclamation was posted throughout the Empire, cries of soldiers and officials echoed from the Imperial Army General Staff Headquarters, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Finance.

A naval emergency vessel departed from the mainland, speeding across the sea at its maximum velocity.

“Ignore everything else! Speed is all that matters! We must go to the Southwest—present-day Taiwan—at full speed!”

The naval emergency vessel, having unloaded its cannons, shells, and gunpowder and loaded water and food in their place, sped towards the Southwest.

Upon arriving, the captain of the naval emergency vessel disembarked as soon as the ship docked.

“It’s an emergency! Get me a horse!”

“Pardon?”

“A horse!”

“Yes, sir!”

While soldiers on the dock went to fetch a horse, the captain ordered his deputy, who had followed him off the ship.

“Replenish the food and water as quickly as possible! You can strong-arm the supply officer [담당관 – damdanggwan] if you have to, even steal it! Speed is the priority! I’ll take responsibility!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Finish it before I get back! I repeat, I’ll take responsibility!”

“Yes, sir!”

With those words, the captain mounted the horse and spurred its flanks.

“Giddy up!”

As the captain disappeared, the deputy shouted at the soldiers who had come down.

“You heard the captain, right? Raid the supplies!”

“Yes, sir!”

The captain, riding at full speed, arrived at the Imperial Army Headquarters stationed in the Southwest and immediately headed to the commander’s office.

“Emergency! Move aside!”

The captain, pushing past the adjutant guarding the door, immediately took out the sealed order from his chest and handed it to the commander.

“This is an urgent order from Seoul.”

“Oh, uh? Thank you. Would you like some tea while I check it?”

“I don’t have time. I need to get to Suez as quickly as possible. That’s all.”

“Oh, uh? Thank you for your trouble.”

As he spoke, the captain saluted, and the commander returned the salute with a bewildered expression.

As the captain got back on his horse, the scream of the commander stationed in the Southwest echoed throughout the headquarters.

“Kkyaaaak!”

This situation repeated wherever the naval emergency vessel went.

In Luzon, Temasek, and Chittagong, the Imperial Army commanders who received the urgent order from the captain turned pale.

“Whyyy!”

“Kkyaaaak!”

“This is freaking crazy!”

Leaving behind the screams and curses of the commanders, the captain steered the ship towards the next destination.

Meanwhile, the commanders who screamed and cursed summoned their subordinate commanders immediately.

“From now on, all units will conduct a major cleaning! Sweep and wipe until there is not a speck of dust! And make sure the ledger is properly organized! If there is one long gun in the ledger, there must actually be one long gun!”

The subordinate commanders looked bewildered.

“Yes? Are the Ministry of Finance or Board of Audit guys coming?”

“The Supreme Emperor is coming!”

“Kkyak!”

“Damn it!”

“Move instead of cursing!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the commander’s roar, the subordinate commanders rushed out. The commanders who returned to their units urged their subordinate officers and soldiers.

“From now on, sweep and wipe everything!”

“Reorganize the inventory again!”

* * *

“Damn it! Why! Why! Why!”

The commander stationed in Suez, the final destination, cursed and screamed as soon as he confirmed the order.

“Why the hell is he coming?”

“I don’t know!”

“I guess not….”

Commander Nami, stationed in Suez, barely regained his composure and looked at the remaining orders handed over by the captain.

Looking at the order envelopes with destinations written on them, each to the Port of Henrique, Livorno, and Florence, Nami ordered his adjutant, who was as pale as himself.

“Send these orders by the fastest iron horse train right now. If there isn’t one, organize a special train and send it.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the adjutant, taking the orders, hurriedly disappeared, Nami turned to the captain in front of him.

“So, when are you going back? I was hoping you could bring some letters from the soldiers stationed here on your way back?”

“I think I need to rest for at least three days before moving. The crew is exhausted. They came all the way here from the mainland without rest.”

“Is that so? I understand. I’ll prepare a place to rest.”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to Nami’s help, the crew of the naval emergency vessel, who had finished their delivery, were able to take a comfortable rest.

For the first two days, the crew members only repeated eating and sleeping, but on the third day, they were able to regain their energy.

And the crew members who had regained their energy began to boast, adding the bluff unique to sailors.

“Have you ever seen guys who came from the mainland to Suez as fast as we did?”

“We didn’t just come! We came while stopping by all the places we had to!”

* * *

The reactions of the Port of Henrique and Livorno, which received the orders sent from Suez, were not much different.

“If we calculate the time it takes to come from Seoul….”

The commanders of the Port of Henrique and Livorno, using their fingers and abacuses to calculate the dates, sighed softly.

“Hoo~. At least there’s some time to spare. I’ll be able to look into it more carefully….”

The commanders, who were relieved for a moment, shouted.

“But! Why are you coming when you’re old and should just stay in a comfortable place! Why! Why!”

“Why is there an old saying that the more precious a person is, the less they should move carelessly!”

It was what most of the commanders who received the orders shouted.

* * *

This situation was the same in Florence.

“Hoo~. Damn it….”

Yu Eung-bu, who was left alone and struck by a bolt from the blue, hurriedly found and swallowed a bolus of Woohwang Cheongsimhwan [a traditional Korean medicine for calming the nerves], and simultaneously let out a sigh and a curse.

Thanks to Woohwang Cheongsimhwan, Yu Eung-bu quickly regained his composure and called the embassy official who was waiting outside and gave an order.

“Go to Livorno immediately and arrange for two fast ships to be sent to Portugal and Hungary. The mission is the emergency return of the ambassadors in Hungary and Portugal.”

“Emergency return?”

Yu Eung-bu, seeing the official’s face full of questions, hesitated for a moment and immediately continued.

“Well, you guys should know in advance. The Supreme Emperor is coming here.”

“Hic!”

“Now you know why it’s an emergency return, right? If you don’t make it in time, you don’t know what kind of accident will happen, right?”

“I’ll move right away!”

Yu Eung-bu, watching the official who was rushing away for a moment, stared at the order placed on his desk.

The order that arrived in Florence was quite thick, unlike the orders that went to other places.

“‘To comfort the Imperial Army soldiers and the Imperial people and to serve as an advisor’… It’s called an advisor, but… Hoo~.”

Yu Eung-bu sighed again and continued.

“With that person’s personality?”

* * *

In less than half a month, Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju returned to Florence.

Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju, who entered the embassy office with pale faces, shouted at the same time.

“Show me the order!”

Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju, who took turns reading the order handed over by Yu Eung-bu, had the same first reaction as Yu Eung-bu.

“Why the hell!”

“Why!”

After a while, Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju, who had regained their composure, continued the story with Yu Eung-bu.

“It is written as comfort and advice, but it is certain that it will not end there.”

“I can guarantee it.”

Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju, who exchanged words like that, looked at Yu Eung-bu.

If, no, now it was almost certain, if a war broke out in Italy, Yu Eung-bu would become the commander-in-chief and command the Imperial Army and Navy.

However, if Hyang came here, Yu Eung-bu would be shackled. It was written in military strategy that even the monarch could not arbitrarily interfere with the decisions of the general in war, but there were hardly any times when it was followed according to the military strategy book.

In addition, Hyang was far superior in his ability to see the big picture of the great war between countries.

It was because of the accumulated experience starting from the last Liaodong battle.

In other words, from the moment Hyang arrived, Hyang’s intervention could not be avoided, whether he liked it or not.

However, Yu Eung-bu, who could be said to be the biggest victim, had a surprisingly calm expression.

“I was worried a lot at first, but now I think it’s rather fortunate.”

“Huh?”

“Why?”

“To be honest, I’ve been in the military for a long time, but I still lack the ability to see and draw the big picture. But I can take a breather because someone who will fill that part is coming. And won’t the need to worry about supplies or troop reinforcement problems disappear?”

“Ah….”

“Maybe….”

Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju nodded at Yu Eung-bu’s words. Certainly, with the Supreme Emperor here, it was certain that he would not neglect supplies or troop reinforcements and create a dangerous situation.

Yu Eung-bu smiled slyly as he watched Seong Sam-mun and Shin Suk-ju, whose expressions were gradually brightening, and concluded.

“And wouldn’t the Jiedushi [military governors] be more worried than me? They’ve suddenly become multi-layered. They’re nominally Jiedushi, but if they make a mistake, they’ll have to hear the sound of tongue-clicking right in front of them.”

Shin Suk-ju and Seong Sam-mun, who unknowingly recalled the sound of Hyang clicking his tongue at Yu Eung-bu’s words, got goosebumps on their bodies.

* * *

While all the Imperial Army bases along the sea route from the Southwest to Suez were suffering, the fleet carrying Hyang departed from Jemulpo.

The first place Hyang’s fleet arrived was the Ming Dynasty naval base near Nanjing, Ming Dynasty.

“Now that I’m going out, wouldn’t it be good to meet the neighbors and strengthen friendship?”

“Japan is okay, but Ming is a bit….”

Hyeon and Han Myeong-hoe showed their disapproval at Hyang’s words, but Hyang rather smiled and replied.

“There’s nothing to worry about Ming because there’s the current emperor, and there’s no need to talk about Japan, right?”

“But….”

“Those who oppose the Empire in Ming or Japan should rather be careful. If such an unfortunate thing happens, it will give the Emperor of Ming or the King of Japan the best justification and opportunity.”

Thus, Hyang held a meeting with Emperor Chenghua in Nanjing, and then arrived in Japan and held a meeting with the King of Japan.

Ming and Japan were not the end. He also met with the Sultans of Malacca, Luzon, and Bengal to strengthen goodwill and friendship with the Empire.

And he did not forget to comfort the Imperial Army soldiers whenever he arrived at the Imperial Army naval ports, including the Southwest.

“You must have had a hard time cleaning.”

“…Yes.”

The soldier, whose weak spot was poked by Hyang’s words, hesitated and answered, and the commander next to him turned pale. Hyang chuckled and lightly patted the commander’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. Everyone does that when a high-ranking person comes. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you!”

* * *

While Hyang was heading to Suez, rumors spread to the great powers of Europe.

-The founding emperor of the ‘Land of Flowers’ is coming to Italy!

-The ‘Sage of the East’ is coming to Italy!

The intellectual society of Europe began to stir at the news.

“Even if the war is just around the corner, we can’t miss this good opportunity!”

“Let’s go, to Italy!”

While prominent intellectuals were packing their bags, the monarchs of the great powers were also in trouble.

“The emperor, even the emperor who founded the empire, is coming, so we can’t just stand still….”

“Since the emperor is coming, we can’t send someone with just a mediocre title as an envoy.”

And the pacifists ran to the monarchs as if they had been waiting.

“It’s an opportunity! If we do well, we can achieve the best results without waging war!”