Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 289
Episode 289: Savior. (2)
Sadamori was not the only one who looked devastated. The vassals also had a look of disappointment on their faces.
“Building an impregnable wall in just two months… It’s not some kind of goblin’s play…” As
one of the vassals muttered with a mesmerized expression, the surrounding vassals nodded with similar expressions. It was.
While everyone was in despair, the first to come to their senses was Hatoyama, the eldest among the retainers.
“If we build the walls of Joseon, it is certain that we will not be able to use fireworks.”
Sadamori nodded at Hatoyama’s words.
“I guess so. “If it’s a stone wall like that, it’s absolutely impossible for a painter to do it.”
“The stone wall is not the problem. “Have you looked around the walls?”
“I couldn’t see properly because I was only looking at that stone wall. “What did the Joseon bastards do again?”
“All the trees were cut down in a width of about 10 lengths (approximately 33m) inside the castle wall and 30 widths (approximately 100m) outside the wall. “It made it so that no matter how many times you fired a slash gun, it would be useless.”
“Right.”
Sadamori nodded at Hatoyama’s explanation with an expression that he finally understood.
“And there is more.”
Following Hatoyama’s explanation, another retainer spoke.
“If you look at the wall, there is no protrusion on the side facing the enemy. However, if you look inside, there are protrusions here and there. “This is clearly a place to place artillery.”
“It’s artillery…”
Sadamori muttered with an embarrassed look on his face.
Sadamori and other Japanese lords were not unaware of the existence of artillery. This is because after Choi Mu-seon developed artillery, Goryeo and Joseon continued to use artillery.
Among the Ming Joseon and the Japanese, only the Japanese had no artillery. To overcome this situation, the lords of the Japanese kingdom approached merchants from the Ming kingdom and attempted to obtain artillery.
However, even the merchants of famous countries, who were known for being willing to risk anything for money, never offered even artillery.
In the end, Sadamori had no choice but to accept the situation.
“It’s a good thing that the Koreans are building castles because they only mean to defend themselves.”
* * *
Not long after that, Sadamori received an absurd report.
“Are there strange rumors going around among the people?”
“That’s right. “They are whispering that the Koreans are being run by demons.”
“Oni?”
The retainer told Sadamori about the rumors circulating among Tsushima Island residents.
Joseon did not proceed with the construction of fortresses in secret.
At the same time as digging the foundation to build the castle wall, cutting down all the surrounding trees was carried out. This was not only for the purpose of organizing the field of vision, but also to use the cut down trees as building materials.
Since the work was carried out in an open field through logging, there were many residents who saw the construction of the mountain fortress.
In addition, many Tsushima Island residents were hired as workers to scoop up sea sand, remove the salt content, and transport it to the construction site.
The residents of Tsushima Island who were hired to work in this way talked about what they saw at the site to their families and nearby neighbors.
“Those Joseon soldiers brought large pieces of iron and assembled them, creating a structure made of iron the size of a house.”
“so?”
“After making the object like that, they put a black stone in the furnace or spout made at the bottom and set it on fire?”
“Put a rock in and light it on fire?”
“huh! “It caught fire!”
The men in the neighborhood, who had been listening, reached out to the city.
“no way! Is there a burning stone in this world? “Aren’t you looking at the charcoal wrong?”
The man who was explaining the men’s words got blood in his neck and screamed.
“You people! Am I not able to tell the difference between charcoal and stone? It was a real stone! “The stone caught fire!”
“Okay… so?”
“When that stone caught fire, bright blue flames erupted. And soon after, a loud noise comes out of the object! “I have never heard such a loud and scary sound in my life!”
“so? “What did the Koreans do with that equipment?”
“They connected pipes to both sides of the object and dragged one pipe to a stream over there and the other pipe to a place where there was sea sand. But do you know what’s surprising? Through those pipes, the water from the river pours into the sea sand! “And that’s a huge amount!”
“Huge? how much?”
“It seemed like this was the amount that everyone in our village would need to gather for half a day!”
“really?”
Residents who heard the rumor began the next day to sneak around the site and look at the water pump.
Chick chug! Ppaaeak!
“It’s mom!”
“Egg money!”
“Namu Amitabha Buddha! “Namu Amitabha Buddha!”
Every time a loud noise and steam burst out from the steam engine that operates the water pump, the Tsushima Island residents who were watching were scared and made an uproar, but after a while, they gathered again and watched the water pump in action.
“It’s strange….”
“By the way, what is that stone? “A stone that emits such a blue flame…”
The residents of Tsushima Island, who had been whispering like that, were even more amazed when they saw the process of building the wall.
A paste made of sand washed off with fresh water and a gray powder I had never seen before was poured between the wooden frames erected at the site of the castle wall, and after five days, a seamless stone wall was revealed.
“If you pour water in it and it dries, it turns into a stone? “Does that look like lime?”
“Isn’t it lime?”
Even the residents of Tsushima Island, who were dark about the world, knew something about lime. The residents who secretly approached the castle wall and inspected it, thinking about the plaster, were horrified.
“It’s a stone, right?”
I touched it here and there, and some residents even secretly hit it with a hammer, but the castle wall in front of me was very solid stone. A stone wall with no joints was created in just a few days.
As the situation unfolded, rumors began to circulate among Tsushima Island residents.
-The Koreans are on fire!
-The object that releases water from that river is an oni disguised as a sludge!
-I mixed sand and strange powder into the dough and a stone wall appeared! This is clearly witchcraft by demons!
-That burning stone that produces a blue flame is a monster that fills the energy of the oni!
As such rumors circulated, the wall built by the Joseon people came to be called ‘the wall built by Oni’.
As rumors began to circulate, the residents of Tsushima Island began to fear the Joseon army. As time passed, this fear gradually spread, and those who lived around the walls and docks built by the Joseon people left their homes with their families.
* * *
Sadamori, who received the report through his retainer, made a bewildered face and muttered.
“her! If we go over the walls of Joseon, do we have to find the legendary Momotaro?”
Although it was glossed over as a joke, both Sadamori and his retainers understood the unspeakable truth.
-As long as the Tsushima people are afraid, there is no way to attack that wall!
War was something that should not be limited to oneself and one’s vassals. At the very bottom, there had to be soldiers who would act as the hands and feet of the samurai, and those soldiers had to be recruited from among the Tsushima people.
However, bringing in such fear-stricken soldiers was a sure defeat.
In the end, Sadamori and his retainers came to a conclusion.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see for now.”
“That’s right.”
“Now that the wealth provided by Joseon has increased, it is even better to use it to build capabilities.”
* * *
It was Hyang’s plan for Joseon to proceed with construction openly.
“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to make it public? “If you do it wrong, the Japanese can figure out the structure of the castle.”
While the ministers who heard Hyang’s plan opposed it, Jo Mal-saeng surprisingly sided with Hyang.
“We are building a simple wall. I don’t mind seeing it. “Rather than wasting time and money trying to hide it, it is better to deal with it outright.”
When the Minister of National Defense said there was no problem, the ministers stopped stumbling. In particular, when told that time and cost could be reduced, Kim immediately turned in favor.
Looking at the reactions of the ministers, Hyang continued.
“There is another foreshadowing hidden in this plan.”
“Another foreshadowing?”
“yes. “What did you think when you first saw the iron stand or steam engine?”
“It was amazing. “I was also jealous.”
“It was like that even though I explained the principle in advance. What if you didn’t know the principle? “What were the people of Hanseong like?”
Heo Jo answered Hyang’s question.
“Hmm… everyone was amazed. Especially the steam engine…”
Heo Jo, who had been answering indifferently, was unable to continue his words and looked at the scent with a surprised expression.
It wasn’t just Heo Jo. The other ministers all looked at the incense in surprise.
After a while, Heo Jo calmed down and continued speaking.
“If you don’t know the principles, you will look like a ghost or a magic trick. After all, the Japanese are a people who have a lot of fear of all kinds of miscellaneous spirits… When they see a steam engine or a clay pot, fear will outweigh curiosity.”
“That’s right. By nature, humans cannot demonstrate their natural abilities properly if they are afraid. “If we sow such fear here and there in Guju and Bonju, starting from Tsushima Island, the Japanese will not take it easy on our Joseon.”
The ministers all nodded at Hyang’s explanation. Meanwhile, Ijik came to a conclusion.
“It is said that the best victory is winning without fighting, so the plan the crown prince came up with is the best plan.”
There was not a single minister who opposed Lee Jik’s words. According to the plan thus created, construction was carried out openly on Tsushima Island.
After returning from Hamheung, King Sejong received the report and looked back.
‘This guy has the best heart strength! Not even Emperor Wu Cao Cao can match your will!’
* * *
While they were busy building a garrison on Tsushima Island, a fleet headed toward Japan.
The number of fleets heading to Japan was three. One was a fleet moving to establish a superior office in Nagato and Naniwa (Osaka), and the other two were fleets moving towards the Ouchi family and the Yuan clan, the nine-state priest.
The fleet moving towards Jangmun and Naniwa departed from Gyeongsangwoo Suyeong. It was a fleet that moved openly, conscious of the eyes of the Japanese merchants staying at Waegwan.
However, since the other two fleets were operating in secret, they secretly set sail from Jeonra Suyeong and Gyeongsangjwa Suyeong.
In particular, the fleet heading to the Iwami Silver Mine had to conduct a camouflage operation by turning its course to the north and then heading south again in the distant sea.
Thanks to this, the ganja who were hiding in Waegwan reported on the movements of Gyeongsang Left Suyeong as follows.
-Fleet departure from Gyeongsang Left Suyeong to support the conflict that occurred in the Liaodong region.
* * *
After such a camouflage operation, when the Gyeongsang Left Navy fleet arrived at Iwami, a report was sent to Ouchimorimi, who had arrived in advance.
“People came from Joseon.”
“is it?”
Morimi gave a short answer and spoke to the retainers who came with him.
“Now is the time to move toward our family’s long-cherished dream of becoming a person under heaven. “Let’s all do our best.”
“hot!”