There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 375

376. The Queen Dowager (2)

With Park Seo-saeng heavily involved in securing supplies, obtaining electricity isn’t too difficult right now.

‘It would be a disaster if the electricity were to cut out.’

The people of the capital would never want to go back to a life without electricity.

While the telegraph is still mainly used for official purposes, the arc lamps that light up the capital every evening have already become a famous sight in Hanyang (old name for Seoul).

Poor students even come out to the streets at night to study under their glow.

In the old days, some supposedly studied by the light of fireflies and the moon reflected in the snow (a Chinese idiom referring to diligent study in harsh conditions), but now, all you have to do is go out to the street and arc lamps are shining brightly, making it a much better environment.

The development of household light bulbs using filaments is lagging behind, but once they are made, the demand for electricity will explode.

Even then, thermal power generation will be running, and coal development is underway in both Joseon (historical Korean kingdom) and Liaodong (region in China), so there’s nothing to worry about in that regard.

While electricity can be achieved through self-reliance, the problem lies elsewhere.

“Your Majesty, most resources are imported from outside the country, so if the sea routes are cut off, it would be a great disaster.”

“Are you talking about the pirates?”

Unleashing pirates isn’t our exclusive privilege.

When it comes to East Asian pirates, the Wokou [Japanese pirates] come to mind, but Chinese pirates have also been notorious for a long time.

Emperor Xuanzong had Zhu Ying train troops to defend against the Wokou, while also appeasing them all and ordering them to actively attack Joseon.

I suppose the attacks would mainly consist of sabotaging trade routes.

If fleets clash, we would naturally win, but it’s a headache when pirates hit and run.

No matter how intense the war becomes, we have no choice but to import some essential resources from overseas.

Rubber from Majapahit (historical kingdom in Indonesia), sulfur and copper from Japan, saltpeter from India, and so on.

It would be best to thoroughly prepare before those guys cause any trouble.

“Even if it means taking a slight loss, double the number of ships escorting voyages from Cheonghaejin (historical naval base).”

Cheonghaejin, being a public enterprise, can increase the number of escort ships even if it means taking a slight loss, but it’s a different story for private companies.

They probably have their mouths hanging open by now.

‘But they seem to have their own measures.’

Merchants, including Han Sang (prominent merchant family), wouldn’t want to have their goods stolen and destroyed by Chinese pirates, so they’ll stick together.

In this era, warships and merchant ships aren’t clearly distinguished.

It’s best to consider every ship a warship and every sailor a combatant.

Just as wolves have a hard time attacking a flock of sheep, pirates will have a hard time baring their teeth if ships sent by various merchants sail together.

‘There are other measures as well, so that’s enough pirate defense for now.’

Pirates aren’t the only ones who can threaten trade routes.

Among them, Japan was the one with a subtly uncomfortable atmosphere.

More precisely, among the many forces in Japan, it’s the shogunate that we’ve officially recognized as a partner between countries.

Ouchi, who released the Wokou into China under our orders, received a protest from the shogunate.

To summarize the content simply:

– Aren’t you cracking down on the Wokou?

Apparently, the shogunate made a promise to the Ming (Chinese dynasty) to eradicate the Wokou.

Of course, unless Ouchi, which is adjacent to the Ming, intends to keep the contract made by the shogunate, that promise is nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

As the shogunate gradually grasped the situation, their language began to become increasingly harsh.

– Don’t tell me you guys released the Wokou into China?

– We didn’t… I’ll look into it.

Ouchi reluctantly answered that way, then passed the buck to the remnants of the Shoni clan, who they had under their thumb.

– You have nothing to do with this, right?

– No.

– Okay, let’s work hard.

The shogunate was seething inside at this insincere answer.

“Don’t worry. The shogunate is prioritizing the subjugation of Kamakura, so even if they have complaints, they won’t try to subdue us right away.”

Ouchi Mitsuyo boasted like that.

Following my advice, he took Hosokawa… what’s-his-name, a refugee from Buyeo (ancient Korean kingdom), to keep the shogunate’s attention elsewhere, so he’ll take care of it.

As long as the resource ships supplied by Ouchi are safe, it doesn’t matter what happens in Japan.

* * *

While Joseon has its own measures in place to prepare for pirates, the ships of other countries that come to Joseon for simple trade weren’t so lucky.

At first, they were overjoyed when Joseon gave them the Biyak (nitroglycerin-based gunpowder) that had been exported to the Ming.

Trade with the Ming was virtually halted, but Joseon didn’t have to worry about the problem of stockpiling inventory.

The only reason they were able to mass-produce that expensive nitroglycerin in the first place was thanks to the Biyak, which could be sold for any price.

If it weren’t for that, they wouldn’t have been able to build such a large-scale production facility to make such unnecessarily expensive gunpowder.

Mass production greatly reduced the cost per unit, and Joseon was able to use nitroglycerin-based gunpowder effectively for everything from construction to war.

Joseon only turned some of it into an aphrodisiac to control the supply, and even then, a significant amount flowed into the wealthy Ming, which was right next door.

However, as the conflict with the Ming deepened, the story changed.

“I heard that most of the exports to the Ming have been cut off?”

“They’ve all been moved to smuggling ships. There’s no other way when they don’t even send tribute.”

When Joseon cut off tribute after the Prohibition of Gold Decree, the Ming responded with a maritime ban.

Official trade between the two countries was cut off, but of course, those who had tasted the money wouldn’t try to abide by such a ban.

“Even our branch manager is turning a blind eye. Even high-ranking officials are desperate to get their hands on the goods, so who would report it?”

“I told you, we can’t sell it to the Ming.”

“We’ll bring silver on the ship ourselves and take it away ourselves, okay?

We don’t care if we get caught by the court, just give us the goods in exchange for the silver!”

Soon, active smuggling attempts poured in, and of course, the Chinese pirates who Emperor Xuanzong had ordered to check Joseon were among them.

Joseon, which had been controlling them until now, skillfully trained them.

“There’s no need to do the Ming any favors. Divert the existing supply to the Ming to other countries, except for a portion.”

At this point, dissatisfaction will explode within the Ming.

That’s how they’ll flock to our side at the decisive moment, right?

The Ming is a country where the emperor’s power is stronger than any other dynasty in the Central Plains.

They wouldn’t want their clan to be destroyed for something like an aphrodisiac, so they wouldn’t think of rebellion, but they would be diligently badmouthing the court inside.

Only other countries benefited greatly from the sudden increase in supply, but it didn’t take long for their smiles to turn to shock.

The Chinese pirates who weren’t included in the smuggling quota finally decided to faithfully follow the imperial order.

They decided to diligently plunder the merchant ships coming to and from Joseon.

“We must pluck out all the beards of those damned Chinese bastards!”

Francesco Severini, who had even set up a trading post in Byeokrando (historical trading port), shouted in a frenzy.

Ships passing through the southeastern coast of China had to be attacked by pirate fleets at least once.

Pirate raids are always happening, but who would have thought they would become so extreme?

After hearing the news that the ship sent from his home country had been robbed for the third time, he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Wouldn’t it be better to move the ship only to the safe Simhado (island near Incheon)? The pirates are notorious, but they won’t go down there.”

“That’s the same as us succumbing to the threat of pirates. I can never do that.”

Only those who bravely face the approaching threat can seize the opportunity.

That’s how Francesco was able to grab a ticket to the golden country of Joseon, wasn’t it?

Although the beginning wasn’t so good.

“If we retreat to Simhado now, we will never be able to get involved in Joseon trade again.”

From Joseon’s point of view, which has nothing to lose, they give priority to those who bring their ships directly to Byeokrando.

If they just wait with their mouths open for the supplies that fall to Simhado, they will be kicking away all these good opportunities.

There is only one solution.

“Let’s ask the home country to send more ships.”

Rather, to confront them more actively.

He made almost the same judgment as the countermeasures Joseon had set up.

Send more ships to prevent the invasion of Chinese pirates.

In addition, it would be great if they could plunder them in reverse.

“We have the same idea. Since we agree, there’s no need for us to fight each other.”

The Mamluks also didn’t want the canal they had worked so hard to open to be temporarily closed.

They can make up for some of the losses with Indian Ocean trade, but that’s not why they carried out the major construction in Suez, is it?

“I heard that Japanese pirates are also heading to China. If they don’t antagonize us first, we don’t need to fight them either.”

Majapahit, which had been under constant check by the Ming for a long time, goes without saying.

They had been grinding their teeth anyway, and after several ships loaded with muskets sank into the sea, they felt the need to respond at the national level.

‘China has been banning all trade with foreign countries.’

Everything in the world is in their own country, so that arrogance that opening the sea route would only disturb the country.

It wasn’t wrong, but they had to be made to feel deeply that closing the country’s doors wouldn’t necessarily reduce the chaos on the coast.

Isn’t this also a kind of ‘trade’?

The Ming, which had been troubled by the swarms of Wokou, would soon have to witness the sight of unknown barbarians flocking in from all directions.

* * *

The most abundant resource the Ming has now is people.

Coincidentally, there are many places around where they can sell their labor at a good price.

The White Lotus followers who cultivate rubber in the jungles of Zhao, and the Ryukyu (Okinawa), who are betting their lives on sugar plantations, were like that.

At the very least, they can be used as arrow fodder to put down the conquest of Kyushu (Japanese island).

For this reason, the Wokou were busy looting valuables from government offices and wealthy homes, and then finding and kidnapping hidden people.

“Load them up quickly! We have to launch the ship before their government troops come!”

“Don’t be greedy and get on board! We have to leave some food for the southern barbarians!”

Commander Yokotake Yorifusa shouted.

He was originally the second son of Shoni Sadayori, the former head of the Shoni clan, but when the Shoni clan was trampled by Ouchi, he surrendered and changed his surname to Yokotake, taking the name of his new settlement.

Since he had been virtually leading the remnants of the Wokou family, the Shoni clan, in place of his imprisoned brother Shoni Mitsusada, he had come out under Ouchi’s orders even now.

It was like he was showing off his aptitude after a long time, but his expression wasn’t so bright.

It was because of his subordinate’s stupid question.

“Shouldn’t we go to Suzhou or Hangzhou now? I heard that they are rich and good to rob.”

Yorifusa looked at the questioner with a pathetic expression.

“Our purpose is not simple piracy. It’s to strike at the enemy’s weak points at the request of Joseon!

I also want to conquer those two places, but as those who have received orders, we have no choice but to avoid them!”

Everyone gathered expressed their agreement to the resolute words.

And they praised the leader’s insight for avoiding plunging into a dead end with a good cause.

Suzhou and Hangzhou are close to Nanjing, the enemy’s base.

It is the economic center of the Ming and a historically deep-rooted plundering site, so the newly raised Tohoe Army (anti-Japanese army) will be stationed there at all times.

The thought of the iron fist being struck down from the heart of the Ming made them shudder.

But in fact, Yorifusa’s words were close to the truth.

Joseon really ordered them to stir up the Ming’s coast here and there and disperse the enemy’s forces.

As far away from Nanjing as possible.

So that the Ming army cannot help but move.