Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 217

Episode 217: Challenger. (5)

“The wheelhouse? Hmm….”

Sejong was lost in thought for a moment at Hyang’s answer.

‘I said it was a steering wheel… but…’

Sejong thought about the meaning of the words, but he couldn’t get the feeling.

Like the ministers, ‘the crown prince did it.’ This could have ended if he just thought of it as such, but King Sejong’s nature was such that he could not tolerate it.

In the end, Sejong had to ask Hyang a question.

“As far as I know, it is located at the back of the boat and is connected to a long pole and controlled by the boatman. “But I don’t see such a pole in the wheelhouse you mentioned, so I’m very curious about the principle.”

Hyang immediately answered King Sejong’s question.

“The principle of controlling the direction by moving the rudder on the stern left and right is the same. “We just tweaked the control a little bit.”

“a little?”

In response to Sejong’s question, Hyang opened the door to the wheelhouse.

Inside the wheelhouse, which could easily fit four or five adult men, there was only one thick wooden pillar. The wooden pole was about as tall as an adult man’s chest and had large wheels running back and forth.

“It’s the steering wheel. “I turn that wheel to control the rudder.”

“Hoo?”

With sparkling eyes, Sejong went back inside and looked at the mechanical devices connected to the wheel.

When King Sejong saw the steering device made up of long metal rods, gear pulleys, and ropes, he let out a series of exclamations.

“How clever!”

“You can control the rudder more precisely with less force.”

“I see!”

After looking at the steering gear, King Sejong looked back.

“Can this device be attached to a panokseon?”

“We are researching.”

“I really wish I could wear it.”

“I will buy it right away as long as I check its performance.”

As Hyang said, this steering wheel also started running on the Panokseon.

The helmsman was able to control the direction of the hull from the wheelhouse located in the cabin beneath the Panokseon’s command pavilion.

This gave a significant advantage in battle.

Previously, because the helmsman was exposed, it was common for ships to become difficult to control due to casualties during battles. But things changed as I steered the ship from a wheelhouse surrounded by thick wooden planks.

As orders from the commander in the pavilion were immediately transmitted, they were able to gain the upper hand in battle, which increased Panokseon’s combat power.

* * *

As an aside, this steering wheel was later called ‘the historian’s nightmare’ or ‘the prince’s bad taste’.

Among the items that came out of Joseon during the ‘Era of the Great Leap’, there were more than one item that transcended time.

Still, many of the objects made in that way – such as metal type and wire mesh with a long lifespan – were things that could be explained with some reasonable explanation given the background of the technological and scientific level at the time.

However, items called ‘nightmares’ or ‘bad tastes’ were items that fell outside the scope of such descriptions.

Detonators were a representative item that even the general public could understand.

The steering wheel was one of those ‘nightmares’.

The historians suffered from insomnia due to the steering wheel popping out of nowhere.

What’s interesting is that when the steering wheel was first created, people in both East and West thought, ‘Huh? ‘Is this really useful?’ He just passed it over.

However, that was not the case for scholars who later had to reorganize it into a discipline.

“Assuming we can build Challenger-class ships! There was a tsunami line not only during the Goryeo Dynasty but also during the Silla period, and tsunami lines were common in neighboring countries as well! No, if we say that the Challenger class was created based on information brought by merchants from the Middle East, a major trading region, that would explain it to some extent! “Because there were carracks and caravels in Europe at the same time!”

Scholars threw away their materials and became angry.

“But what is this steering wheel! At that time, both the East and the West used the Tiller method! (Note 1) Even the height of the East was more primitive than that of the West! But how did the steering wheel pop out? “There is no intermediate process!”

In fact, in history before the intervention of incense, the steering wheel was an object that did not appear properly until the 1700s.

While many historians around the world were complaining like this, Korean historians responded with a calm face.

“This rumor was already going around at that time. ‘The crown prince did it.’. “It was a time when geniuses emerged one after another.”

“No matter how genius you are, there is a limit!”

“There is a record, a record. “There are annals, and the archives have very well-organized records and blueprints.”

When Korean historians mentioned records, scholars from other countries had to keep their mouths shut and control their anger within themselves.

There was no mistake in what Korean scholars said.

Everything was clearly preserved in the records held by the National Archives, as well as the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.

The record was written in detail and accurately according to the six and a half principles.

The most convincing evidence was the blueprint, parts performance standard, and production log.

The accuracy of the documents, which meticulously recorded the manufacturing and testing processes, was unrivaled by others, including blueprints drawn to the correct scale and ratio and standards that recorded the specifications of necessary parts.

In fact, there were quite a few cases where objects or ships made using the technology of the time using the blueprints and records were operated properly.

Therefore, when ‘records’ were mentioned, scholars from other countries were silenced.

Eventually, as these incidents became more frequent, all kinds of conspiracy theories emerged.

“This Hyang was an alien!”

“There are records of when you were born and when you died. What nonsense?”

“Actually, there is a record that Lee Hyang was sickly when he was young! In reality, Lee Hyang died young, and an alien…”

When such ‘out-of-the-line’ remarks were made, the government stepped in.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea summoned reporters from each country and issued a statement.

Although the statement was full of all kinds of diplomatic and political epithets, the content was simple.

“do you want to die? Do you want to die? Should I kill you?”

For Koreans, the monarchs who led the ‘era of great leap forward’ were sacrosanct.

* * *

After examining both the inside and outside of the new ship, King Sejong looked back.

“Now I want to see it take off.”

“yes. Then we will hold a launching ceremony.”

After a while, a memorial table was set up in the dock where the experimental ship was located. All the artisans and officials gathered together in neat attire and the ceremony began.

The ceremony proceeded calmly, starting with the ceremony (where the officiant announces the beginning of the ceremony) and then came the order of the recitation of the congratulatory message.

In response, King Sejong stood in front and read a congratulatory message.

“Yu~Secha (維歲次) July of the year of Gyeongsul….”

King Sejong read the congratulatory message with all his heart.

‘I speak to the gods of heaven and earth and the dragon king of the sea. Please allow this ship to do its job safely.’

Then, they bowed in the order of Aheon Bae and Jongheon Bae and burned the congratulatory message.

King Sejong lit the congratulatory paper with a candle placed on the funeral table and flicked the congratulatory paper upward.

The paper that left King Sejong’s hand burned brightly and rose into the sky with the wind.

Not only King Sejong but everyone who attended the ceremony could not hide their joy at the sight.

“It’s auspicious!”

* * *

The craftsmen, who gained confidence in the auspicious sign they saw at the end of the ceremony, gathered courage and prepared to launch the experimental ship.

“Loosen the fixture!”

At the command of the chief captain, the craftsmen unfastened the fixtures that held the hull in place.

“All solved!”

“good! What is the condition of the mooring line? Are you ready?”

“yes!”

The head captain, who checked the entire situation, shouted loudly.

“good! Add water!”

“Add water!”

The craftsmen who received the order began to open the lock that was blocking the small waterway.

After a while, sea water rushed in through the channel.

“Is there enough quantity?”

Hyang immediately responded to Sejong’s concerns.

“It will be sufficient as it is set for high tide.”

I answered right away, but I was a little worried about the scent.

‘If you calculate the time it fell sideways, it’s a bit scary…’

As the level of the sea water filling the ship rose, the experimental ship began to gradually lift upward.

“It’s floating! It’s floating!”

Amid the shouts of the craftsmen, King Sejong and the ministers watched the situation with their hands sweating.

Finally, the experimental ship floated naturally on the seawater that filled the ship.

“Let go of the pier!”

A pier was placed on the experimental ship that floated safely, and craftsmen flocked in and began to inspect the interior.

“Nothing wrong!”

“There are no water leaks!”

After confirming that there was no problem with flooding, the head craftsman proceeded with the next process.

“Now let’s balance it out!”

Under the instructions of the head craftsman, who confirmed the tilt of the ship through observation devices installed on land, stones made of plaster were moved to the bottom of the hull.

“They used limestone instead of just stone?”

Hyang immediately answered King Sejong’s question.

“Ordinary stones have irregular shapes and take up a lot of space. However, if you use limestone that is modeled after the inner shape of the hull in advance, you can minimize the waste of space as much as possible.”

“I see…”

After going through a tediously meticulous process, the new ship was balanced and still floated, showing off its elegant appearance.

“Is all that remains now to go out to sea?”

Hyang immediately answered King Sejong’s question.

“no. First, we load artillery pieces, gunpowder, chargers, and iron pills, and then load other materials and food to verify how much they can be loaded. Once the process is successfully completed, the captain and crew who will command the ship will be picked up and the ship will go out to sea and begin a test voyage. “If I successfully pass the test voyage and the short-distance solo voyage, I will finally be able to stand on my own.”

King Sejong could not hide his disappointment at the description of the scent.

“I thought it would end with the launch, but there is indeed one last (extremely difficult) process left.”

“There is nothing we can do because everything is a new ship. That new ship is literally a ship that is taking an uncharted path (no one has touched or set foot on it so far). Everything must be prepared, done, and recorded meticulously from start to finish. This will make it easier to operate the ships that will be built and deployed following this.”

“I understand that well. “I just wanted to get on that boat and go out across the Changhae (blue sea), but that’s a shame.”

“Once that ship is deployed, you will be able to achieve your goal.”

“I’d like to, but there’s too much work to do.”

“Aren’t there some capable ministers?”

At Hyang’s words, King Sejong looked back at his ministers. The ministers who received King Sejong’s gaze responded by bowing their heads in unison.

“I will be faithful!”

“Thank you!”

“It is my natural responsibility as a subject!”

King Sejong looked pleased with the ministers’ answers. But Hyang, who was standing next to him, clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Why is there so much water in your voice… tsk tsk tsk…’

* * *

“Is everything finished now?”

“There is still one left. We need to give it a name.”

“It’s a name…”

Hearing Hyang’s words, King Sejong stroked his beard and was lost in thought.

According to King Sejong’s memory, the existing battle lines were named after the areas where the naval forces were encamped. So, if there were multiple ships belonging to a given group, the number one or three was added to the end.

‘Then the first question is which swimming pool this ship will be assigned to… ‘It’s a shame to decide that way.’

King Sejong, who had many regrets about naming the name in the traditional way, pondered over and over again.

Sejong, who was thinking so much, glanced at the scent.

Sejong burst into laughter when he saw Hyang with bright eyes and his mouth licking.

“guy! You’ve already decided everything and are trembling! okay! “What name do you think it is?”

“It’s a challenger!”

“challenger? “It’s a challenge…”

Sejong thought for a moment and nodded.

“It’s a fitting name considering what we’ll do with this ship in the future! Let’s decide on that!”

“I am devastated!”

The Hyang immediately responded loudly to King Sejong’s decision.

It was the birth of the ‘Challenger class battleship’, which accounted for the largest number of battleships in the Joseon Navy and swept all seas east of Africa for decades afterwards, gaining all kinds of notoriety, starting with the ‘Scoundrel of the East’. .

* * *

Note 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiller