Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 214

Episode 214: Challenger. (2)

The craftsmen who were ordered to examine the ship’s structure spent seven days digging through the large dhow.

We measured not only the length and width, but even the height by pulling it to land, and carefully inspected it from the top of the mast to the place where water collects at the bottom of the hull.

It wasn’t even just one investigation.

The head craftsman divided the craftsmen under his command into three groups and conducted cross-verification.

“why? “Weren’t you investigating whether or not you could put artillery on it?”

When the captains expressed dissatisfaction with the meticulous investigation, which could be described as grueling, the leader briefly said something.

“Do you really want to use the canvas like that just for decoration?”

“….”

After hearing what was said through the interpreter, the captains immediately fell silent.

The leader, who silenced the captains, urged his craftsmen.

“What are you doing! Don’t hurry up and investigate! “If we just look at other people’s boats, ours will rot!”

“Yes yep!”

The craftsmen moved quickly at the shouts of the head craftsman.

* * *

After seven days, a long report was sent to the military service. The report was immediately copied and delivered to King Sejong, the Ministers of the Six Dynasties, and Hyang.

After reading the report, King Sejong gave orders to Kim Jeom.

“Let us achieve the best results possible based on this report.”

“I will do my best!”

“As for the other ministers, if there is a request from Hopan, please do your best to support him.”

“I follow your orders!”

After finishing talking with the ministers, King Sejong looked back.

“Have you seen the report?”

“Yes Abama.”

“It was written that the new ship we built this time is more superior than the new ships made by those people. “It’s not the craftsmen’s prejudice, is it?”

“That won’t happen.”

Hyang confidently answered King Sejong’s question. In response to Hyang’s response, King Sejong did not forget to ask again.

“Don’t forget that a lot of money went into the construction of a new ship.”

Hyang bowed her head and responded to Sejong’s words.

“I always keep that in mind.”

‘I went through a lot of trouble to make it!’

* * *

The ship made with incense as the centerpiece was a galleon, but a ship that was not a galleon.

To be precise, the pirate ship that is the centerpiece of a certain pirate movie was its origin.

In order to build the ship shown in the movie, the Yangdeoks created the blueprints first.

The Yang Deoks mobilized all their knowledge and experience to make the movie ship, which was based on the Galleon and a mix of Eastern and Western designs, a reality.

As a result, a ship that was 1/4 size but capable of actual sailing was created. A rich man from the Middle East who was impressed by this requested a 1:1 scale model, and a real-size ship was even built.

At the time, Hyang, who had a nerd personality deep in his bones, took a leave of absence from school and ran away to the United States, participating in the entire process.

Thanks to this, I returned home with a considerable amount of pocket money, knowledge related to virtue, and a copy of the ship’s blueprint, but I had to go to the military right away.

Even excluding the last element, Hyang had theoretical knowledge and practical experience with galleons through the ship’s production process, and had even secured theoretical knowledge about ships of the line, which were a higher class.

Even in these conditions, building a new ship was not an easy task.

The biggest reason was that even if the blueprint was completed, the craftsmen who would actually create it did not understand the blueprint.

The reason the craftsmen did not understand it was because it was very different from the ship manufacturing process that had been traditional until then.

Therefore, the scent had to go through a lot of trial and error to find the right junction.

Countless blueprints were created and discarded, and similarly, models of various proportions were created and discarded.

In this process, Hyang decided to make a bold move.

“If I start from scratch, I’ll get upset and run out! Let’s start with a boat you know well! “For my health and long life!”

Through that decision, they skipped the carracks and caravels that were on display at the research center and went straight to the galleon.

And a complex of troubles was born among later historians, especially historians majoring in the history of ships.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hojopanseo Kim Jeom entered negotiations with Mansour.

“According to the report written by the craftsmen, the maximum number of gun barrels that can be mounted on the great ship brought by the leader is 20 guns.”

“20 guns per ship?”

“exactly.”

Mansour responded immediately to Kim Jeom’s answer.

“Then we will contract for 140 guns first.”

“140 questions?”

Surprised by the larger-than-expected number, Kim Jeom immediately looked at Mansour with eyes full of suspicion.

“There are only 40 guns on board the ship… Do you plan to build a fortress?”

“no. “There are 120 guns to load on the ship.”

“huh?”

When Kim Jeom did not properly understand the unexpected explanation, Mansour continued with additional explanation.

“Two ships like the one that came this time will come to North Korea within six months at the latest. And then again, two more ships coming in the next six months. In total, six ships will continue to move.”

“Huh… did you invest all of your family’s wealth?”

To Kim Jeom’s question, who couldn’t hide his surprise, Mansour answered with a slight smile.

“Three families, including ours, joined forces.”

“Huh…”

Kim Jeom looked greatly enlightened by Mansour’s explanation.

‘Is this the distribution of merchants who trade across the sea? ‘I guess we should watch and learn from the top leaders of Joseon.’

“Hmm… I understand. Question 140. “Then what quantity of gunpowder and shells would you like?”

In response to Kim Jeom’s question, Mansour took out a piece of paper from his pocket, looked at the contents, and answered.

“The amount of gunpowder is enough to fight four battles at full power. After that, you just need to find a craftsman in Alexandria. As for the shells… you don’t need anything else, all you need is Joranhwan.”

“huh? “All I need is Joranhwan?”

“yes.”

Mansour’s answer was short and concise.

* * *

On our last voyage, we had to fight to the death with pirates on the way to Aden.

At the time, each ship equipped with artillery had sailors who learned how to use artillery, and there were also Korean military officers skilled in gunnery.

However, the accuracy and power of the Daejeon fired from the Japanese gun was low.

In the end, it was the large amount of Joranhwan that blew away the pirates who came close despite the bombardment.

In the subsequent bloody battle that took place in Aden, it was Jo Ran-hwan who led the Sindhwa family to extinction.

Through this experience, Mansour fell in love with Jo Ran-hwan’s charm.

* * *

“No matter how excellent your gunnery skills are, you cannot hit an enemy ship with a single hit. In that case, you have to keep firing and sink the enemy ships, but those ships are merchant ships. There is not enough space to load goods, and there is no room to load more gunpowder and shells than necessary. It is more efficient to treat them with egg pills from an appropriate distance. The same goes for cities. “Those damn Catholic and Ottoman cannons are too big to be useful in street fighting.”

“Oh, I see.”

Kim Jeom nodded at Mansour’s explanation.

In his opinion, Mansour’s answer seemed reasonable.

“Then what will you do with Jo Ran-hwan as the center and the payment?”

“Let’s deduct the amount from the amount you sold for the goods you brought.”

“Let’s do that.”

Mansour and Kim Jeom, who easily reached a consensus, smiled and left the room.

“It starts now.”

Kim Jeom, who sent Mansour out, steeled his fighting spirit.

What was truly important was how much they bought the goods they brought and how much they sold the goods from Joseon.

* * *

Amid the push-and-pull war of words and bargaining on both sides, the exchange of goods brought by Mansour and goods from Joseon took place.

The deal was tense.

Since most of the items Mansour brought were items requested from Joseon, it was difficult to just throw them away.

Likewise, most of the items Mansour sought were made exclusively in Joseon, so it was difficult for Mansour to just knock them out.

In the end, a deal was reached where both sides backed off appropriately.

So, on the day when the goods were moved from the top of Mansur to the royal warehouse, the first thing all the officials looked for was the goods.

“Take out the black bean tea first!”

People addicted to coffee flocked there.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hyang also had something he had been waiting for.

“Lowering. Im here!”

“What is the quantity?”

“Here is the report.”

After checking the items and quantities listed in the report, Hyang was relieved and immediately sent an order.

“Send it to the shipyard.”

“Yes sir!”

As the official who received the order moved busily, Hyang muttered with a look of restlessness on his face.

“With this, the waterproofing problem will be put to rest.”

The object the scent was waiting for was bitumen.

* * *

Waterproofing was essential for a ship to be safe.

Filling the traditional way with belly rice. The method was to apply oil ash on top and dry it, but Hyang, who was uneasy about this method, ordered bitumen.

“But plastering it with bitumen from top to bottom would cost too much money…”

Hyang, worried about the criticism he would get from King Sejong due to the budget, applied a kind of hybrid method.

The method was to apply bitumen up to an odd number, apply glaze on top, and then smoke it.

Because this method was surprisingly effective, Joseon actively utilized it.

Hyang also touched the sails. The sails were not made with typical yellow cloth or European-style white cloth, but were dyed gray.

“Why did the 21st century navies paint themselves gray?”

The hull and gray sails, which had turned gray due to scorched glaze, had the effect of being less noticeable when out to sea.

Due to this trick, Joseon’s ships gained the notoriety of ‘Sea Ghost’ or ‘Gray Devil’.

And it became the cause of European ships losing their individuality and being painted gray.

Because of this, European captains who were angry at this decision began to curse Joseon whenever they drank.

* * *

While the transaction was going on, there was a new product that caught the attention of Mansour and his group, and it was Root Go.

Middle Easterners also suffered from boils caused by hygiene problems.

Mansur, who heard an explanation about the medicinal properties, purchased rooting gourd in large quantities.

“And please give me some ginseng, too.”

“Ginseng?”

“yes.”

Kim Jeom looked surprised at Mansour’s request.

“Do Huihoe people know the efficacy of ginseng?”

“Korean ginseng has been famous since ancient times. And…”

Mansour paused for a moment and added with a chuckle.

“Damn Europeans, they can’t live without death. “They call it ‘Oriental Mandragora’ and treat it as a miracle medicine.”

“Huh~. “Everyone recognizes good things.”

Kim Jeom, who was exclamating Mansour’s answer, suddenly began to worry.

‘This… doesn’t mean I can’t take the medicine as much as I want anymore?’

* * *

Ginseng, which became available for mass cultivation a few years ago, was a valuable product of the Joseon Dynasty.

Merchants from the Ming and Japanese countries, who knew about the outstanding efficacy of ‘Korean ginseng’, rushed to purchase it.

Although it had less medicinal efficacy than wild ginseng, ginseng grown in large quantities had no quality problems, so merchants in the Ming and Japanese countries welcomed the sale of ginseng.

Of course, it was natural that not only the government but also the general authorities paid special attention to prevent the secrets of ginseng cultivation from being leaked.

Europeans who first encountered ginseng through Mansour’s work were enthusiastic about its efficacy.

‘The old and weak person who was protecting his position suddenly woke up after eating ginseng!’

‘An old man in his 70s said he had a child after eating ginseng!’

As stories of people who had seen the effects of ginseng came out here and there, European merchants flocked to Alexandria and began looking for ginseng.

Because of the human-like appearance of ginseng’s roots, European merchants began calling ginseng ‘the Mandragora of the East.’