Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 213

Episode 213: Challenger. (1)

While the government was deciding on the reproduction of old artillery, the craftsmen of Gungi City were enjoying an interlude.

“Whoa~. “It becomes, it becomes.”

“It’s been a while since I took a break.”

A small rice bowl jar was brought in among the craftsmen who sat down, patting their tired shoulders and backs.

“Let’s just have one bowl at a time.”

“That’s right.”

It would have been an uproar if the scent had been seen, but it was a traditional custom.

The alcohol in Takju relieves fatigue, and because it is made from rice, it can be a simple drink.

However, because it was alcohol, Hyang was so shocked when he saw the scene that he overturned it and the three father-in-laws who were drinking heavily had to be kicked out.

Concerned about safety accidents, Hyang banned drinking in the workplace, but the craftsmen enjoyed small pleasures by drinking only one or two drinks.

As the bowl of takju was being passed around, the youngest craftsman asked a question.

“But what should I do with that?”

“What is that?”

To the senior’s question, the youngest answered by pointing toward the warehouse.

“These are the helmets from General Firearms that filled Warehouse No. 3. Shouldn’t it melt slowly?”

At the youngest’s words, the craftsmen all nodded and said one thing at a time.

“That’s right. “How many pipes of cast iron would fill that warehouse?”

“But I’m telling you to keep it for the time being, so there’s nothing you can do, right?”

“Nigimi… I have already made a new type of canvas and am unraveling it…”

The craftsman, who was complaining mixed with swear words, suddenly stopped talking and began to tremble.

“what’s the matter?”

“I suddenly got chills…”

At those words, several people – most of them seniors – muttered with similar expressions.

“Now that I think about it, I suddenly felt creepy too…”

“Did you feel the same way? Me too…”

“Hey, youngest! “Check whether the fire in the kiln is off!”

“Is the palanquin okay?”

At the youngest’s answer, the senior craftsmen muttered, wiping away the goosebumps that had appeared on their bodies.

“What happened all of a sudden…”

The time when they felt chills was when the government decided that the craftsmen would work all night.

* * *

Meanwhile, King Sejong, who had decided to reproduce the old artillery for the Odaibi family, changed the subject.

“Now that I think about it… what is the evaluation of the front-line generals on the newly deployed new artillery?”

Jo Mal-saeng graciously answered King Sejong’s question.

“I am very satisfied. Although it is heavier than the general fire barrel used previously, it is a weight that the Panokseon can easily handle, and its power and range are superior to the old model, so we are all satisfied.”

“is it? “Thank goodness.”

Sejong, satisfied with Jo Mal-saeng’s answer, looked back.

“Seja, your contribution is great.”

“That’s too much praise. “I just got lucky.”

It was a scent that gave a humble answer. And the ministers grumbled inwardly as they looked at that scent.

‘Hey, me! ‘Look at you being so pretentious!’

‘Oh, how disgusting! If only it were my grandson!’

‘Just say out loud that I’m great! ‘That would be better!’

The ministers knew very well that if the Crown Prince showed such humility, the Lord would continue to brag about his children and they would have to do nothing but listen.

* * *

As mentioned earlier, during the period of King Sejong and Hyang, there were more than one or two things that were labeled as ‘world’s first’.

The new type of artillery, which was made under the direct command of Hyang and is now being supplied intensively to the naval forces, was also an item with such a modifier.

A new type of canvas made by Hyang. The Eulsik General Hwatong (乙式將軍火筒) was the world’s first gun using composite materials.

It was because of copper that Hyang decided to make a new canvas. The canvas was made of bronze, and bronze was an expensive material.

“We need to somehow reduce the amount of bronze used…”

This was not just Hyang’s concern.

All countries that produced and used cannons had the same concerns.

The most commonly used material for making cannons was bronze. This was because it was the best material to withstand the pressure of an explosion as it was tough and elastic.

However, because bronze was an expensive material, countries were busy looking for materials to replace bronze.

As a result, there were two main types of materials used to make cannons during this period. One was bronze and the other was wrought iron.

However, cannons made of wrought iron were inferior in performance to cannons made of bronze.

Hyang, who was well aware of the economic situation of Joseon, which had begun to grow but was still poor, had to rack his brain to reduce the burden of military expenses.

“Steel is the best answer… but not yet…”

Large quantities of steel began to be produced from the large steel mill built in Anju, but the quality still had a long way to go.

Therefore, Hyang’s worries became deeper and deeper.

“If we look at the situation of the navy, we need a lot of high-performance naval guns… Hold on! Naval guns? “Ship guns!”

A solution flashed in Hyang’s mind.

“I found the answer! Long live the Geohamgeopo!”

The place where Hyang found the answer was the main guns of battleships made in the era of ‘big ship and big gun’ policy.

At the time, the great powers chose one of two main methods to strengthen the power of battleship main guns.

One was to fly larger and heavier shells – weighing close to 1 ton – farther away, and the other was to fly medium-weight shells – still easily over a few hundred kg – at a faster speed.

Whichever of the two methods was used, the gun barrel had to be long and strong.

This is where a difficult problem arose.

In order to fire a shell farther and at a higher speed, the power of the propellant explosive had to be strong.

As the power of the propellant became stronger, the gun barrel had to be sufficiently thick and strong.

Additionally, in order to fire the gun a greater distance using the same amount of gunpowder, the gun barrel had to be long enough to allow sufficient combustion.

These two conditions were in conflict.

The gun barrel, which was made thick and long to withstand the explosion pressure of gunpowder and increase efficiency, could not bear its own weight and bent downward. To prevent this, the gun barrel was made thinner, but this time it could not withstand the pressure of gunpowder.

To solve the difficult problem of securing the longest possible range and making the weight as light as possible while withstanding the pressure of propellant gunpowder, engineers came up with all kinds of methods, and Hyang remembered one of them.

* * *

The structure of the Hyang was changed to a triple barrel rather than a single barrel.

The innermost gun barrel, which had to withstand the explosion of gunpowder, was made of bronze, and the outside was wrapped with steel wire, made by twisting thin wire like rope. It was wound with maximum tension using cow, the most powerful power source available in Joseon at this time.

Once the first process was completed, the first gun barrel was then driven into the second gun barrel made of soft iron.

This wasn’t simply nailed in either. The secondary gun barrel, which had an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the primary gun barrel, was heated and expanded, then the primary gun barrel was inserted and rapidly cooled.

Finally, the gun barrel that completed the second process was driven into the third gun barrel made of cast iron, which was heated like the second gun.

When Hyang introduced the prototype created through this process, all ministers, starting with King Sejong, responded negatively.

“It takes too much work. “It is difficult to make in large quantities.”

“If a lot of manpower is involved, it costs a lot.”

Despite the negative reactions of King Sejong and his ministers, Hyang was confident.

“Let’s look at performance first.”

In the tests that followed, the new artillery showed excellent performance. Even though the same amount of gunpowder was used as in the existing gun barrel, it flew 200 steps farther. The maximum range of the existing gun gun was 1,300 steps (about 1.6 km), but the prototype flew 1,500 steps (about 2 km).

“The performance is good, but it takes too much work… and then the cost…”

As Kim Jeom could not hide his disappointment at the Hojo panel, Hyang answered clearly.

“Even including labor costs, the cost can be reduced by 20% compared to existing artillery.”

At Hyang’s words, Kim Jeom immediately took the bait.

“how?”

Hyang immediately answered Kim Jeom’s question.

“We were able to reduce the amount of copper going in by 60%.”

After hearing the explanation of the production costs, Panseo Hojo quickly ran to King Sejong, bowed down, and shouted.

“I tell you that hiring me right now is a good thing!”

In the end, it was decided to adopt the new type of artillery with the active support of the ministers – especially Hopan.

As a side note, as time passed, the European empires (countries) that received information about this artillery made a serious mistake.

European countries mistakenly believed that the cannon was made of cast iron because of the cast iron covering, so they had to waste a huge amount of time and money to create a ‘cast iron cannon with better performance than a bronze cannon.’

* * *

Since the sale of artillery to the Otaibi family was decided, the court entered into a transaction with Mansur.

“Hopan, let’s close the deal.”

“I follow your orders!”

Kim Jeom, who received orders from King Sejong, called Mansur, who was staying at the Hoehoein residence.

“Welcome. “How much trouble did you have to come this far?”

As Kim Jeom greeted him warmly, Mansour also politely bowed and responded.

“Thank you for your welcome.”

A brief meeting was exchanged, and the push and pull between Kim Jeom and Mansour began between the interpreter and the interpreter.

“Looking at the report written by Officer Oh, he said he wanted to save Joseon’s artillery. Is that correct?”

“you’re right.”

“Is the Japanese gun I bought last time suitable?”

“That’s good, but I wish I could have gotten a bigger gun than that.”

“Bigger artillery? Are you planning on going to war?”

In response to Kim Jeom’s question, Mansour explained the reason.

“If you think about the pirates who are holding out on the sea route between Aden and Joseon, it is the same as war. And considering the safety of my family and business associates in Aden, large-scale artillery is absolutely necessary.”

“Is your home in danger?”

“There is a proverb in the Ming Dynasty called ‘seeing things and seeing them.’”

“Ah…”

Kim Jeom nodded in response to Mansour’s answer.

Kim Jeom, who confirmed that Mansour had a clear intention to purchase, secretly tried his luck.

“His Majesty the Lord approved the sale after seeing the report posted by Officer Oh. How many doors do you need?”

“If you think about the quantity to be loaded on the newly built ship and the quantity to be installed in Aden…”

Mansour talked about the quantity he wanted.

After hearing Mansour’s answer, Kim Jeom stroked his beard and asked.

“For that amount, the amount of money to pay is not small. Is it possible?”

Mansour responded immediately to Kim Jeom’s answer.

“I want to see performance. “I will pay for a gun that has the performance I want.”

“Let’s do that.”

* * *

Five days later, there was a firing demonstration of the Janggun Fire Tong along the Han River. Mansour, who saw a demonstration of firing a large arrow called Daejeon (large arrow) and a large iron ball called Cheonja Cheoltanja (天字鐵彈子), which were used to target ships, added one thing.

“Can I use Zoran pills?”

“Of course it is possible.”

“I’d like to see that too.”

After watching Jo Ran-hwan’s demonstration, Mansour was very satisfied.

General Hwa-tong’s shooting of Jo Ran-hwan was incomparable to that of Japan’s General Hwa-tong.

Mansour, who watched all the demonstrations, made his decision right away.

“I will buy it. Considering the quantity to be loaded on the ship and the quantity to be placed at the main house…”

Seeing Mansour trying to get straight to the point, Kim Jeom raised his hand to stop him from speaking.

“Let’s look at that part first and then talk about it.”

“yes? Yes….”

* * *

Three days later, a military officer came running to the craftsmen who were putting the finishing touches on the sailboat designed by Hyang.

“Hey guys! “Stop what you’re doing for a moment and get ready to leave!”

“yes? What happened?”

In response to the head craftsman’s question, the military officer explained the reason.

“They say the ships the Huihoe people came on this time are much bigger than the ships they came on last time. “The members of the Association said they wanted to attach a General Firearm to that ship, so I am ordering them to go and check whether it is possible and check the structure thoroughly.”

Hearing the military officer’s words, the head craftsman let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~. All right. “Let’s get ready right away.”

“The cart is waiting, so get ready as quickly as possible.”

“yes!”

The head craftsmen who sent the military officer looked at the other craftsmen.

“Did you hear? “Pack your bags!”

“yes.”

The craftsmen scattered in all directions and began to pack up their belongings. Meanwhile, the second-ranking craftsman approached and asked the head craftsman.

“Surely you won’t tear it all down and fix it?”

What he was pointing at was a ship that was in the midst of finishing work. The ship, built according to Hyang’s design, was the first to be seen in Joseon.

The head craftsman who was asked the question let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~. I hope that doesn’t happen. And that won’t happen. “That ship has the strongest frame of any ship I’ve ever seen. It’ll probably be something I’m proud of.”

“It’s hard.”

The eyes of the two people looking at the ship were full of pride.