Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 197
Episode 197: The beginning of spring. (2)
“Then let’s check the construction plan again.”
“yes. majesty.”
At King Sejong’s command, the Minister of Public Affairs gestured to the officials behind him.
After a while, the general of the Confucian government, who had set up a large ruler next to him, politely bowed to King Sejong.
“Let’s get started.”
“I follow your orders.”
The general of the Confucian government, who had paid homage to King Sejong, bowed politely to the ministers, took the bow, and opened his mouth.
“Then I will give you a report on the road paving plan that will start this year.”
‘Why does it sound like a familiar BGM?’
It was a scent that made you feel like you were hearing the BGM that you have been familiar with for generations as it was used as BGM in the weather forecast corner.
The commander of the Ministry of Public Works politely politely passed the sign with a long pointing stick.
Flap!
“The lines drawn on this map are the main roads connecting major regions of Joseon.”
“Hmm….”
“Hoo~.”
King Sejong and the ministers who saw the map snorted and expressed interest.
The road network drawn on the map was a masterpiece of conversion created after the officials of the Confucian government had put great effort into forgetting about the withdrawal.
In order to construct this road network, officials of the Ministry of Public Cooperation requested cooperation from not only the Military Ministry but also the research institute.
“Are they all surrounding Joseon?”
“That’s right.”
The General of Confucius politely answered King Sejong’s question.
A solid red line representing the road network ran along the outskirts of the Korean Peninsula.
To the north, a solid red line followed the Yalu River and the Duman River and the coastline in other parts.
Inside, a red line was drawn in the shape of an X around Hanseong.
The air conditioning commander continued his explanation by pointing to a solid red line with his pointing stick.
“First, let’s start from the northeast direction. The northeast route starts from Heunginmun in Hanseong, passes through Pocheon and Cheorwon, and arrives at Wonsan. Afterwards, we plan to build a peripheral road along the coastline from Wonsan to Nokdundo Island.”
“Then can we say that Wonsan is the real starting point of the northeast direction?”
“That’s right. majesty.”
“Why did you choose Wonsan?”
In response to King Sejong’s question, the general of Confucius turned over the map and moved on to the next page.
On the next page, an enlarged map of Wonsan was drawn.
“As you can see, Wonsan is a port of great heaven. This long protruding Wonsan Peninsula protects ships from high waves. In the future, when we explore virgin lands in the east, we will have to move goods by road, but ships will take up the lion’s share. Therefore, we chose Wonsan, which has the best location as a port, as our starting point.”
“Right. “I understand.”
Once King Sejong understood, the general of Confucius continued his explanation.
The Gongjo general continued his explanation with eloquent speaking skills. Thanks to the concise but easy-to-understand explanation, King Sejong and his ministers were able to understand it quickly.
“I think that general will be needed more for etiquette than for cooperation.”
“I think Ijo would be better than Yejo?”
As the ministers of each group, who liked Jangryeong’s eloquent speaking skills, began to secretly covet him, the public affairs magistrate began to block the sources.
“Don’t even dream until I die and go into my coffin.”
“Tsk!”
The other ministers only lost their appetite for the resolute response of the Minister of Public Works.
* * *
The explanation that was flowing smoothly stopped at the ‘Mungyeong Saejae’ part.
“Why do we have to pass through Mungyeong’s Joryeong (Bird Saejae)? I know well that Joryeong’s terrain is rough. “Didn’t I choose the wrong route?”
In response to King Sejong’s point, Jangryeong explained the reason.
“Yes, Your Highness. There are four routes from Dongrae to Hanseong. One is over Mungyeong Saejae, which was chosen as the main road, and the other is Hwaryeong, which is the same road to Sangju but passes through Boeun and Chungju. The third is the road that passes through Chupungryeong, called the left road, and the fourth is the road that crosses Jukryeong, called the right road.”
“I know that too. “Tell me why.”
The general took a moment to catch his breath and opened his mouth.
“yes. The reason you didn’t choose left or right is because you have to take a big detour. Uro was excluded because the terrain of Juknyeong was as rough as that of Joryeong and it had to pass through the canyon of Danyang. Chupungnyeong to the left has a low hill. However, it was excluded because it required a larger turn and also because of the Geumgang Gorge. “Hwaryeong Road is at least better, but it has been excluded because it still requires a detour to Boeun and Cheongju.”
However, Sejong continued to point out the problem.
“okay. I understood that the road through Joryeong was the shortest distance. But how can we solve Joryeong’s difficult terrain?”
In response to King Sejong’s question, Jangryeong handed over the paper with the chart.
On the next piece of paper, a winding road was drawn with the Chinese character for 之.
“The gods come in the form of a road that they named ‘Meandering Road.’”
“As the name suggests, it’s a path that looks like a snake passed by. “Is there a reason why you did it that way?”
“yes. “The overall length of movement is clearly increased, but the force is low, making it suitable for climbing steep hills.”
“Are you sure?”
In response to King Sejong’s question, Jangnyeong nodded.
“yes. “Researchers at the institute confirmed the results by paving the path to Mokmyeok Mountain (Nam Mountain) located in Area 51.”
At the general’s answer, King Sejong and the ministers’ attention focused on Hyang.
‘Is it you again?’
‘Are you counting again?’
As all eyes gathered, Hyang spoke in a humble voice.
“The road to Mt. Mokmyeok is a bit rough, so I did some research.”
“Report properly.”
“You did it?”
“….”
King Sejong, who paused for a moment at Hyang’s answer, soon changed his expression and gave an order to the general.
“okay. Since the results have already been confirmed, I will not comment further. However, considering the winter in Joseon, the terrain of Joryeong is dangerous. Please also develop a detour using Hwaryeong. “It may take additional time and budget, but it is absolutely necessary when considering the safety of the people.”
“I follow your orders!”
The magistrate and general responded with one voice.
Behind him, the officials of the Confucian Government took out paper and gold pen and wrote down additional orders from King Sejong.
What was next pointed out was the road network built along the Yalu River, Duman River, and the coastline.
“Why was the road built around the outside like this?”
“yes. If you look at the topography of our Joseon Dynasty, 2/3 of it is mountains. Crossing this mountain is the biggest difficulty. Therefore, if you wanted to move to the north and south of Joseon, it was best to take a boat. However, because water transport must be large in scale, it is difficult for the people to use it easily. However, if we build a road along the coast and riverbank like this, we will be able to travel more comfortably.”
“Hmm…”
In response to the general’s explanation, King Sejong stroked his beard and calculated the profit and loss.
“But wouldn’t it take too long?”
At King Sejong’s point, Jangryeong moved on to the next chapter. On the next page, there were a lot of blue lines drawn on a map of the Korean Peninsula.
“It is a secondary road connected to the main road. If we connect these well, we can minimize time loss.”
The general immediately moved on to the next chapter.
In the next chapter, red and blue lines came together to neatly connect the entire Joseon Dynasty.
“It’s okay, but…”
After seeing the picture, Sejong couldn’t hide his expression of disappointment.
“Couldn’t the time spent on transportation be reduced a little more?”
In response to Sejong’s question, a scent appeared.
“There is one way. “It’s not possible now.”
“What method?”
“It involves digging a tunnel into the mountain to make a road.”
“Why is that impossible? “Aren’t they still digging caves in the mountains to mine ore?”
“The scale is different. It is only large enough to fit one or two people in a mine, but to use it as a road, at least one to two carts must pass through it. “It takes too much time, money, and manpower to drill a hole that big.”
Sejong was discouraged by Hyang’s answer.
Hyang, who frequently came and asked for the budget, said he couldn’t do it because of the budget.
“Seeing as you’re making the budget an issue, it seems like it’s really impossible.”
“It is very difficult with the current level of shipbuilding technology. But if more time passes, it may not be impossible.”
Sejong smiled slightly at Hyang’s words.
“It is comforting.”
Afterwards, as explanations and questions and answers continued, several additional details were added.
“It seems like everything that is needed has been decided, so let’s put it into action.”
“I follow your orders.”
“This is an important task to revitalize Joseon, so I hope everyone will do their best.”
“I will carry out my thoughts!”
After this meeting, land transportation in Joseon began to evolve.
* * *
As soon as King Sejong’s assent was granted, road construction began throughout Joseon.
Roads began to be built from Hanseong to the north, south, east and west. At the same time, roads began to be laid from Anju and Wonsan in the north to Mokpo and Dongrae in the south towards Hanseong.
Once this X-shaped road was completed, the outer ring road was next.
As road construction began throughout Joseon, many people began to move.
The workers participating in the construction, those supervising them, and merchants and prostitutes who sold all kinds of goods with the goal of earning money from the workers.
“The world is changing!”
“That’s right. “If we do well, I think a better world will come.”
“A good world will come. “The king is such a saint.”
“cancer! “A saint has been born!”
The people began to have uncertain hopes as the energy filled the place.
But not everyone liked it.
Appeals from those opposing the road construction began to flood the court.
Their contents were almost identical.
“Although the roads in the village where small people live are narrow and rough, there is no problem in the coming and going of people and products.
But now that construction is going on to build a new road, how could this not be a sad thing?
It is a sad thing that money and people are used for unnecessary work, and prostitutes and gamblers flock to deal with the men who gather at the construction site, polluting the purity of the town. How could it not be a sad thing?
Lastly, how can we not be sad that the wide road is also detrimental to our national defense?
If enemies flock to a well-paved road, they will hit like a gale.
Therefore, the construction must be stopped…”
King Sejong, who was reading the appeal, nervously folded it and put it aside.
“The noblemen only know one thing and don’t know the other! “Can you still be considered a learner after all this?”
As Sejong burst into anger, Hyang smiled bitterly.
‘I heard something similar to this happened just before the Japanese invasions of Korea?’
* * *
Just before the Japanese invasions of Korea, ‘The Japanese army will not invade.’ However, he concluded that it was necessary and started repairing castles here and there.
As soon as these repairs began, complaints opposing the repairs were posted, most of which had the following content.
-The moat of the castle that protects our town is narrow, but no one can jump over it.
Although the walls are low, even the most agile person cannot easily climb them.
Even in this situation, mobilizing the people to make repairs is unnecessary and abusive politics, so it should be stopped immediately.
* * *
‘And what happened during the Japanese invasions of Korea? ‘They were completely swept away, weren’t they?’
After objecting with narrow insight, Sejong felt a bitter expression as he thought of them.
“Abama. “I guess they don’t trust Abama.”
“me?”
“What they are against is that they do not trust our Joseon military. “Doesn’t that mean you don’t trust the insight of Abamama, who commands that army?”
“I guess that will happen…”
Sejong, who was nodding at Hyang’s words, looked at Hyang and grinned.
“If you weren’t the Crown Prince, you would have been the greatest treacherous person. “He is truly a scary guy.”
The ministers unconsciously nodded at King Sejong’s assessment. The sight of Hyang branding those who had just raised an appeal with just a few words as disloyal was frightening.
The officer who recorded all of this added the following:
– says the officer.
The crown prince’s eloquence is so excellent that it is frightening.
When the crown prince ascends to the throne, ministers will definitely have to be careful about what they say.