There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 437

438. The Emperor Emeritus Now (4)

Ammonia is essentially a compound formed by the combination of one nitrogen atom and three hydrogen atoms.

So, how can this ammonia be synthesized artificially?

Nitrogen is a common element, making up 80% of the air.

However, at room temperature, nitrogen exists as a very stable molecule with a triple bond. To break that bond, you have to apply intense heat and pressure.

However, applying too much heat makes the reverse reaction dominant, making it difficult to obtain ammonia. The conditions were incredibly demanding.

Only after numerous experiments by countless scientists was it revealed that an iron catalyst was suitable for ammonia synthesis, and that applying heat of about 400 to 500 degrees Celsius at 200 atmospheres was the optimal condition.

After such countless experiments, humanity succeeded in using ammonia as a chemical fertilizer, leading to the saying that they had created bread from air, which was truly no exaggeration.

Of course, just knowing this information doesn’t mean you can synthesize ammonia right away.

Even Joseon [historical Korean kingdom], which had bypassed countless trials and errors thanks to a future person’s chance, faced challenges.

Right now, I was thinking it would be easier to improve computers during my lifetime than to badger the engineers to create ammonia out of thin air.

As always, the design that I threw out was the same.

‘It’s a process we have to go through anyway, even if it’s not now.’

At least, isn’t there a difference in difficulty between groping for the answer you know and headbutting the bare ground?

Anyway, ammonia is not the only thing that can be made using heat and pressure.

* * *

– Pitter-patter!

With a savory smell, something was popping and bursting inside the pot.

The eyes of the grandchildren, who had been waiting eagerly, widened.

And the next moment.

The objects that had been hitting the pot lid until just now appeared in front of them.

“Wow!”

The grandchildren exclaimed softly as they saw the popcorn, which looked like snowflakes.

I scooped up handfuls of hot popcorn and put them in my grandchildren’s hands.

And I took a bite myself, not wanting to miss out.

The popcorn, seasoned with salt and *suyu* [Korean beef stock], or butter, melted in my mouth.

I didn’t like popcorn that much, but as always, the taste of modern times gives me a touching feeling.

That’s why I have no choice but to lead Joseon’s food culture.

‘It doesn’t taste much different from what I used to eat in modern times.’

Maybe it’s because I’m tasting it after a long time, but it didn’t feel much different from the popcorn I remembered.

Even compared to other foods I made, such as chicken and cola, the difference feels much less.

There is bound to be a limit to chicken, as it is greatly influenced by frying techniques and the quality of the chicken, and cola is just a pseudo-cola made by boiling sugar and adding black coloring, but popcorn has such a simple manufacturing process that there is nothing more to add.

Strictly speaking, the popcorn I’m eating now is made from corn that hasn’t been genetically modified, so there would be a difference……

However, that was no reason to detract from the taste of popcorn I hadn’t eaten in a long time.

‘As long as it tastes good.’

When I was in modern times, I heard that there was separate corn specifically for popcorn.

I don’t know if this corn is that, but I heard that it can be made with other types of corn.

I heard that you can make it even if there is a lot of moisture and the corn doesn’t pop and swell properly.

Now that I’ve come to Manchuria, where corn farming is thriving, I should make something like this and leave a legacy.

Already outside, the smell of popcorn being fried in every pot was everywhere.

It was as if an early snow was falling, as they were openly frying and scattering popcorn because the corn harvest was so plentiful.

Joseon, which would normally pick up food that had fallen on the ground, was openly scattering popcorn on the street.

It was truly touching.

‘It’s nice to retire and have fewer people nagging me.’

If the censors were there, they would have subtly watched me and nagged me for playing with food.

If you’re going to nag, come all the way to Manchuria and do it.

Well, they wouldn’t be able to sit in the capital city a thousand miles away and watch this situation.

The children were excited to receive the popcorn in a scene that looked like the first snow.

“Grandfather! It feels like it melts as soon as it touches my mouth!”

“This is the first time I’ve ever had food like this!”

Of course it’s the first time.

If they’ve ever eaten this anywhere else, that guy is a transmigrator [someone who has been transported to another time or world].

As I was scattering popcorn, laughing like Santa Claus giving out presents, one of my grandchildren approached me quietly.

“Grandfather… There’s no reason for you to even act as a cook, is there?”

The words ‘You’re losing face, so please keep your dignity’ were missing, but the hidden meaning was easy to guess.

“Where else can you find someone who can cook as well as I can?”

In fact, this is true.

Popcorn is the first food I’ve ever made, so it’s easier for me to fry it myself. I’ll leave it to someone else next time.

“However, that is not more important than the dignity of the king. Why are you doing this?”

Because… it’s fun.

The story of the Emperor Emeritus frying and handing out popcorn will remain in this neighborhood for hundreds of years.

I can’t stand that.

“Dignity and face are important. Someone might point fingers at the king for acting as a cook.”

“If so……”

“But I can do it. They can’t say that to me.”

Even if I do the same thing, it’s a shameless act if a hateful and easy-going guy does it, and if someone like me does it, it becomes a simple act of kindness.

If you want to refute, let’s conquer the Ming Dynasty first.

“The dignity of the king is nothing. If I can make those who trust and follow me warm and full, that’s my dignity and face.”

Perhaps because he is the eldest grandson, he seems to be trying to show a dignified and mature appearance.

‘I don’t really like it, though.’

A child should be like a child.

If you ask me if I was like a child when I was a child, I have nothing to say.

At my advice, not advice, he bowed his head and replied.

“…I will keep that in mind.”

Why are you keeping that in mind?

“Are you trying to be king too?”

Then the grandson’s face turned pale.

“No, no. How could that be?”

I clicked my tongue as I watched my grandson trembling on the spot.

No, people are born with ambition if they are gossiped about around them.

“Don’t try to be king, it’s hard.”

I said, waving my hand.

Even I suddenly have moments when I think I should have just handed over the throne to my younger brother and lived as a grand duke for the rest of my life.

“I think you would have made a name for yourself even if you hadn’t become king, Grandfather…”

Hmm, I hope it’s a good meaning. I’ll take it as a compliment.

“But you were able to do things because you kept the throne, right?”

I frowned at the words that came out unintentionally.

Oh.

That means there is still ambition burning in his heart.

Still, it was good that he didn’t try to gather forces in the Northeast in a clumsy way.

If he had, he would have run to me and reported it without taking any action, and immediately to the East Sea……

‘Oh, what am I thinking now.’

I slapped myself on the cheek.

It must be that the evil spirit of the ancestors has possessed me. Shoo, get away!

“Well… if your will is firm…”

I said to my grandson, who was looking at my actions with a subtle expression.

“The road isn’t just in Joseon.”

I turned my head and muttered.

This family is so greedy that there is never a day when it is not noisy.

* * *

After leaving Yongcheon, I continued to move west.

The Jurchens [Manchu people] came out to greet me, feasts were held everywhere I went, and I left a phrase in my wonderful handwriting…

Even though it doesn’t seem important, this is surprisingly well received by the people.

To the people, the imperial family is closer to a conceptual existence frolicking in the sky, but the memory of the Emperor Emeritus passing through this region changes the story.

It’s like historical sites are being replicated every time I pass by, so this memory will remain and be passed down for a long time.

Of course, kings who go around every town on the pretext of a tour and eat without paying are treated like thieves rather than historical sites, but fortunately, I have a lot of money.

Feasts are held everywhere I go, so it can be seen as revitalizing the local economy.

After passing through endless welcomes and feasts, I arrived in Shenyang.

It was originally the core of my Prince Sim’s mansion, and it was a city that served as the center of governance in Liaodong, so I had no choice but to stop by.

The royal carriage stayed at the Simwang Mansion, which was once my property but was inherited by my son.

I received reports on the progress of development in Shenyang and Liaodong, called officials and maintainers to encourage them, and visited nearby scenic spots for sightseeing. I was busy here as well.

‘Is this… slow life?’

I suddenly had that question, but my wife and children like it, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

After leaving Shenyang, I passed through Jinzhou, Shanhaiguan, and went to Beijing.

Dadu, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, once commanded the world.

Emperor Yongle, who inherited the city, had grand plans to rebuild Beijing as the world’s capital, building magnificent Forbidden City and government offices, but unfortunately, it burned down afterwards, so there were no traces left.

In fact, that’s why it’s not the capital now, but just called Beiping.

Anyway, I couldn’t leave this place, which still retains the characteristics of a key point and a large city, so Emperor Xuanzong and I, who conquered Beijing, devoted ourselves to the reconstruction project.

I completed the reconstruction project that Emperor Xuanzong had started, but I couldn’t completely restore it to its former state.

Especially the Forbidden City.

In a situation where the proposal to expand the imperial palace in Hanseong was replaced with the construction of the Blue House [Korean presidential residence], how could I build the large-scale Forbidden City in Beiping?

So we were staying in a separate palace that had survived the burning of Beijing and was still being managed on a small scale.

It is said that Emperor Xuanzong stayed here and commanded the entire region when he came out to govern himself.

“The faces of the Hebei people also look very bright.”

Well, even when I first entered Beijing, there was some fear, but there was no extreme antipathy in the neighborhood.

The fear that they would lose everything they had was gone, and they had even started families, so they had a strong attitude that they didn’t care anymore.

Because it was a neighborhood that had suffered from invasions and chaos, they were more afraid that the rule of Joseon would collapse again and everything would burn down than that they would lose their pride because they were under the rule of Joseon.

It’s a different feeling from the gentlemen of Gangnam who joined Joseon according to the preferential treatment policy.

While I was there, I was also holding a civil service examination to fill the pride and interests of the scholars of Beiping.

I was planning to commend the top and excellent passers and then go straight down the Grand Canal to Nanjing, the hometown of Jushouhwa [likely a reference to a historical figure or place]…

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

“What’s going on?”

The building where my family stayed was more like a cultural asset that was just closed and regularly managed before I took care of it, so the whole body was connected to the government office in Beiping.

So, when a telegram arrived in Beiping late at night, the official at the telegraph office was pacing outside until he received permission to let him in.

Puzzled, I issued a royal order to let him in, and soon the official rushed to me and handed me the decoded telegram.

“A, a urgent telegram from the capital.”

I narrowed my eyes and took the paper he handed me.

“Huh……”

There was only one sentence written there.

– Atomic birth