Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 256

Episode 256 Exploration Team. (4)

Hwang Hee and Kim Jong-seo, who were unable to hide their confusion at the sudden influx of information that exceeded the allowable limit, calmed down after a short period of time and returned to their usual faces.

“The world seems so wide.”

King Sejong responded to Hwang Hee’s words with a slight smile.

“So did I. “Please continue your explanation.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The military officer responded briefly to King Sejong’s command and pointed out a large island with his pointing stick.

“This island was discovered by Challenger number 3. As a result of the measurement of ship number 3, the overall size was determined to be similar to the combined area of Hasam Island (the lower three roads, Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang).” “

Huh!”

Hwang Hee exclaimed with exclamation at the military officer’s explanation, and greed showed in his eyes. This began to swirl.

‘If it were an island that size…’

If a huge piece of land existed as unclaimed territory, it was polite to make it Joseon’s territory. It was the responsibility of the

king and of course to run the country. As a retainer, the most important task was to expand the territory and keep the people at peace.

With his eyes filled with greed, Hwang Hui’s head began to spin.

‘The population issue… the deployment of troops… The expansion of the navy… finances…’

Hwang Hee, who was looking at the map while calculating various problems, saw that another island was drawn to the south of the island in question and asked a question.

“The island in the south ? Is it the country of Wa?”

“Yes. It is the main island of the country of Japan.”

Hwang Hee’s face became serious at the military officer’s simple and clear answer.

‘If it is that far away, even the country of Japan can know its existence. In that case, the country of Japan can also know its existence. ?’

Hwang Hee asked with a serious face,

“Do the Japanese people also know about the existence of that island?”

“Yes. Since the main island of the Japanese country is located just to the south, we are going to ask the Japanese merchants in Waegwan. “After investigating, we know of its existence.”

“Then is that island Japanese territory?”

“No, the Japanese people think of it as Yiyeok (land of another country).”

In response to the military officer’s reply, Hwang Hee immediately told King Sejong. “ Your Majesty

! More than anything else, we must annex that island into our Joseon territory!”

King Sejong nodded his head in response to Hwang Hui’s words,

“The same conclusion was reached at the cabinet meeting between me and the cabinet . “However, if you start work without proper preparation, you could incur a big loss, so I plan to allow a preparation period.”

“How long do you have in mind for the preparation period?”

In response to Hwang Hee’s question, Lee Jik said to Sejong, He answered on his behalf.

“First of all, we are expecting 3 years.”

Hwang Hee strongly objected to Lee Jik’s words.

“3 years is too long! We need to complete the basic preparations and put it into action within a year!”

Hwang Hee said 1 year. When the argument was made, Maeng Sa-seong came forward to oppose it.

“It’s too soon!” The task is to conquer a huge island the size of Hasam Island combined! “If you do something hastily without proper preparation, you will incur great losses!”

However, Hwang Hee did not give up her argument.

“One year is enough! Hey! “How long does it take to travel between that island and our Joseon?”

“If you have a favorable wind on a Challenger-class battleship and run all night without stopping, you can arrive at the southern protrusion of the island within five days one way from Wonsan.”

“Five days! Are you sure?”

“This is the result of a test.”

Hwang Hee was pleased with the military officer’s answer.

Hyang muttered to herself at the sight of Hwang Hee.

‘I was lucky.’

* * *

The maximum speed that the challenger could achieve was 10 knots (about 18 km) per hour with a tailwind. If this is applied according to the Joseon unit system, it means that one can travel about 90 ri (36 km) in 1 hour.

However, this was a speed that was only possible with all weights, food, gunpowder, and ammunition, etc., unloaded.

‘According to the test report, the distance from the southern protrusion of Hokkaido to Wonsan is about 2,800 ri (about 1,120 km), right? If you simply calculate it arithmetic, it would arrive in a little over a day and a half, but this is the Joseon Dynasty. We live in an age where there is no automatic navigation function or GPS. Driving straight all night means you can’t even dream… First of all, even if you hit it with all the weight and die, it won’t reach top speed. So, after five days… I took everything out and my stomach was so slow!’

Hyang, who was calculating in her mind, let out a small sigh without realizing it.

“Whoa~.”

“Ceja, why are you sighing all of a sudden?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“I guess it’s nothing? “Be honest.”

Hyang responded to Sejong’s words with an expression that said there was nothing she could do.

“The ship is a bit slow.”

King Sejong and the ministers all looked astonished at Hyang’s answer.

* * *

The Challenger-class front that was put into the test was the largest front in the Joseon Navy and at the same time one of the fastest.

Of course, even within the Joseon Dynasty navy, which was faster than that, it was ‘crazy’. There was a sea emergency front that responded, but the sea emergency had too little payload.

That’s why King Sejong and his ministers looked at the incense with an expression of bewilderment. In particular, the ministers looked at the scent as if they were looking at some kind of monster.

‘That’s slow?’

‘I heard you are researching a new type of electrical wire. What kind of monster are you planning to create?’

‘What is the budget? ‘Budget!’

* * * Regardless of

whether King Sejong and the ministers reacted in that way or not, Hwang Hui was pleased and advised King Sejong.

“majesty! It’s only been five days! Then a year is a long time! You must prepare as much as possible within 6 months and begin your strategy. If there are any deficiencies, you can supplement or correct them right away! “If it’s five days, it’s definitely worth a try!”

King Sejong looked embarrassed at Hwang Hee’s words.

“But wouldn’t that make it closer to gambling?”

Hwang Hee answered King Sejong’s question with a strong voice.

“No! What kind of people are these people? Information that we had been investigating the northern island must have reached the Japanese king (shogun). Look at the location of that island! It is much closer to Japan than to our Joseon Dynasty! If you were the King of Japan, you would not just sit by and watch Joseon take the island right in front of you! “This is because it is not just a matter of territorial development, but also related to national defense!”

“If you were a great person who would think like that, would you have left it alone until now?”

In response to Lee Jik’s comment, Hwang Hee pointed out one fact.

“Until now, we, Joseon, have not been interested in that island, have we? However, Joseon began to take interest. Then will the King of Japan just let it go?”

“It makes sense.”

Sejong nodded at Hwang Hee’s point. As King Sejong agreed with Hwang Hee’s words, the weight began to tilt towards Hwang Hee.

“Are there only three Challenger-class battleships now?”

“After that, one more ship was built. Next month, all Challenger ships 1 through 5 will be able to be put into operation.”

“If you add one to three ships, wouldn’t that make it four ships?”

Jo Mal-saeng stepped forward and responded to Hwang Hee’s point.

“The navy hates the letters four and four.”

“huh? Ah….”

Hwang Hee, who was questioning Jo Mal-saeng’s words, immediately nodded.

The reluctance to speak of the words four (四) and death (死) was the same, even in the general public.

It was a well-known fact that the severity of the problem was severe among sailors and sailors who had to risk their lives in an unknown place called the sea.

“How much can you transport if you mobilize all of the defense minister’s challenger-level fronts?”

Jo Mal-saeng answered Hwang Hee’s question.

“We will be able to transport enough to create a bridgehead.”

In response to Jo Mal-saeng’s answer, Hwang Hee bowed her head towards King Sejong.

“majesty! If the King of Japan knew about our Joseon’s movements, he would definitely move! “We must occupy this island before then!”

“Hmm…”

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

As King Sejong was lost in thought, the other ministers, except Hwang Hee, began playing the abacus in their minds.

‘Maybe we need to completely revise the plan.’

‘The problem is that Admiral Hwang’s words are reasonable… I’m going to have to work overtime again.’

‘Should we completely revise the budget execution plan…’

‘The land in the northeast region will not run away even if left alone for a while, but the situation is different on that island…’ The

ministers are making their own preparations while grumbling inwardly. It was. This was because they also did not want to see Japan taking the lead.

Meanwhile, Hyang, who was watching the scene, stuck out his tongue as he saw the expressions of the ministers changing.

‘Anyway, the greed for land… In any case, it is said that land means more is more.’

* * *

After analyzing the information brought by the challenger-level fronts, the initial plan was as follows.

– Build a port at ‘Landing Point No. 1’.

-Secure a land transportation route from the east of the Duman River to ‘Landing Point No. 1’.

-Send personnel and materials using connected land transportation routes to build a shipyard at ‘Landing Point No. 1’ and increase the size of the port.

-Occupy the newly discovered island using challenger-class ships from the newly created shipyard.

-Once the island’s occupation has progressed to a certain extent, exploration of the northeastern area of ‘Landing Point No. 1’ and the northern route will be resumed.

However, due to Hwang Hee’s suggestion, this plan was in a situation where it would be scrapped.

The problem was that there was almost nothing wrong with what Hwang Hee pointed out.

Half of the merchants in Waegwan were also people with the mission of ganja (間者 spies).

On the one hand, he was doing business with Joseon’s merchants, and on the other hand, he was constantly monitoring Joseon’s internal affairs.

In such a situation, there was no way that the King of Japan would not have known about it. And it was natural that the King of Japan would react when he learned of Joseon’s movements.

In the end, the ministers had no choice but to blame themselves.

‘We were too complacent!’

* * *

Watching the atmosphere change like this, Hyang fixed his gaze on Hwang Hee.

‘If you look at what he has done in the northeastern region and the current situation, he is indeed a man of great ability…’

Hwang Hee was one of those who best fit the expression ‘he is good at ability, but has a few problems as a person’.

Hyang, who had been looking at Hwang Hee like that, this time looked at Jo Mal Saeng. Hyang muttered to herself as she looked at Jo Mal-saeng, another person who matched the ‘human nature inversely proportional to ability.’

‘Both Captain Cho and Captain Hwang were punished by saying that when they die, it’s time for them to retire, so is this a happy ending?’

While the people gathered at Geunjeongjeon were lost in various thoughts, King Sejong spoke.

“I will come to a conclusion.”

At Sejong’s remarks, the local government and ministers focused their attention on Sejong.

Sejong spoke his conclusion while receiving everyone’s attention.

“I think the existing plan was reasonable, and the opinion of Hwang Hee, the governor of Hamgil Island, is also reasonable. However, with Joseon’s capabilities, it is difficult to implement both plans simultaneously. So I have to make a choice, but I’m going to implement Hwang Hee’s plan first. “Is there any difference of opinion?”

The ministers who were silent for a moment in response to King Sejong’s question soon bowed their heads.

“I follow your will!”

“Thank you. Then, please revise your plan accordingly and submit it. “How much time will it take to revise it?”

Ijik, who had been counting for a moment, answered Sejong’s question.

“It will take about a month.”

“A month? “That long?”

When Sejong’s voice became hard, Lee Jik explained the reason.

“The topography of the island needs to be reexamined, the size of the troops that can be deployed needs to be recalculated, and the budget needs to be recalculated. “It will take at least a month to do all of this properly.”

Sejong, who thought about Lee Jik’s answer for a moment, said to Lee Jik.

“No matter how much I think about it, a month seems a bit long. “It may be difficult, but I hope to receive an amendment within 15 days.”

Although it was an invitation, it was an order. In the end, Lee Jik bowed his head and answered.

“I follow your orders.”

“Let’s stop here and take a break.”

After the meeting was over, the ministers who came out of Geunjeongjeon complained to Lee Jik.

“Have you forgotten Your Majesty’s personality? “I should have called for more time!”

“You should have said two months!”

“I don’t have to work overtime anymore…”