Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 307
Episode 307: The road to the land of flowers. (4)
“This is truly amazing!”
Emperor Seondeok, who received the chandelier as a tribute, gave a series of exclamations and then spoke to Lee Maeng-gyun, who had gone as an envoy.
“The skills of Joseon craftsmen are truly amazing!”
“The craftsmen did their best, moved by the grace your Majesty bestowed on Joseon. From what I heard, it is difficult to create three works like this in one year.”
“Three a year…”
Emperor Seondeok, lost in thought and speechless, pondered for a while before opening his mouth.
“Listen to the messenger. Joseon must pay tribute to those three products over the next five years. of course! “I will repay you generously.”
As Emperor Seondeok spoke, a small commotion arose among the Ming officials present. Emperor Seondeok raised his hand to stop the assistant cabinet secretary from saying what he was about to say and continued.
“This is a precious item that can be proud of for generations. If tribute is received, one will be installed in the palace and pavilion of the Forbidden City, and the rest will be given to loyal subjects. “It will be Jim’s reward for those who work hard for him and the empire.”
Lee Maeng-gyun responded to Emperor Seondeok’s command with a smile.
“I follow your orders!”
Lee Maeng-gyun, who received in return a huge amount of sulfur and copper – half of the amount that Joseon imported in a year – reported the emperor’s words to King Sejong. Hyang, who was listening to Lee Maeng-gyun’s words next to him, muttered softly.
“That gentleman is not an easy person either. “Is there going to be a huge competition for loyalty?”
* * *
The crystal chandelier, which caused loyalty competition in the Ming court, also became a topic of extreme interest in Alexandria.
Many merchants and people were paying attention to the products that would be sold in the auction house and market, but there were also quite a few people who were interested in other areas.
And as their representative, there was Prince Henrique.
When it was time for the merchants of Aden to come to Alexandria, Henrique, disguised as a merchant, came into Alexandria with his men.
Henrique’s goal was not to make a deal.
– First, negotiate with the merchants of Aden and get one or two people to join the voyage. Through them, the reality of Joseon, the ‘land of flowers’, is confirmed.
However, no merchants arrived from Aden for more than a month, and Henrique began to prepare to give up his plan.
At that moment, a subordinate who had gone into town hurriedly returned and reported to Henrique.
“Merchants are coming from Aden! But it wasn’t just the merchants from Aden who came! They say people from the ‘Land of Flowers’ are coming too!”
Upon hearing his subordinate’s report, Henrique immediately gave orders to his subordinate.
“Tell the innkeeper I’ll stay!”
“yes!”
“And release the people! “We need to collect as much information as possible!”
“All right!”
* * *
As the fifteen days passed, the whole of Alexandria became noisy.
“Merchants from Aden have arrived!”
“People from the ‘Land of Flowers’ also came!”
“Wow!”
While the citizens of Alexandria were making loud noises, Henrique went up to the roof of the inn and was able to see Oh Ha-seok and his group coming through the castle gate.
“Amazing, amazing!”
Enrique, who was watching the procession of Oh Ha-seok and his party, let out an exclamation.
There were nearly 100 camels carrying large and small wooden boxes. Considering that until the last visit, the number of camels carrying baggage was about 30 to 40, this was a huge number.
Henrique, who was trying to estimate the number of camels, did the math.
“How many ships came? “Is there at least three ships?”
Among the dhows favored by Arab merchants, the largest ships could carry an average of 10 camels.
In the case of traveling a short distance, about 15 camels were required to carry the cargo, but in the case of traveling a long distance, the maximum load was about 10 camels. This was because of the space taken up by food and drinking water on the ship.
In fact, it was said that a merchant named Mansour always traveled to and from Joseon with three ships. And when he came to Alexandria, the average number of camels carrying baggage was 30.
So, Henrique calculated that there were at least three Joseon ships.
* * *
When Oh Ha-seok presented the chandelier to the mayor and sultan of Alexandria, the news immediately spread throughout the city of Alexandria.
Influential people who heard the rumor and visited the market and the servants who served them chatted with their acquaintances about the amazing items they had seen, and the story immediately spread throughout the city of Alexandria.
While Italian and European Arab merchants were interested in the goods brought by Joseon, Henrique gave orders to his subordinates.
“Did Koreans go out after the visit from Alexandria City Hall?”
“There was none.”
“Hmm…”
Henrique, who had been pondering for a moment over his subordinate’s report, opened his mouth.
“Try to contact the people from Aden who came with the Koreans.”
“Are you planning on meeting Koreans?”
“The first thing is to obtain information about the Korean people. “We must first secure information such as the customs of the Korean people and the ships they came on.”
“All right.”
Following Prince Henry’s orders, his men cautiously approached the people of Mansur. But they were able to obtain information from an unexpected place.
The place where they got their information was a bar.
Not all of those employed in Mansur’s merchant fleet were Muslims.
A significant number of Copts (Copts, members of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt) were working as sailors, and they were drinking at the bar to relieve the fatigue of the long voyage.
What’s interesting is that even Muslim sailors who abstain from alcohol were enjoying a drink next to him.
The profession of a sailor was such a arduous one.
There was nothing more enjoyable for the sailors of Mansour Merchant Marine than coming to Alexandria.
After telling a few stories about distant Joseon, free alcohol was poured out.
For the people of Alexandria, the story of the Far East was worth the price of a drink.
Thanks to this, sailors were able to drink free alcohol from bar to bar.
“Will someone buy me and my colleagues a drink? “I will tell you the story of my Joseon!”
At the shout of the bushy-bearded sailor, Enrique’s subordinate Jose immediately came forward.
“I’ll buy it for you!”
“oh! You must have come across the Mediterranean! May Our Lady protect your voyage!”
The sailor expressed his gratitude with an exaggerated hand gesture and took a refreshing sip of the beer mug when he was handed it.
After he and his colleagues finished their glasses, Jose ordered another beer.
“Oh oh! Thank you! “What should I tell you?”
“I’m curious about the boats made in the ‘Land of Flowers.’ How many ships arrived here?”
To Jose’s question, the sailor answered by raising his right index finger straight up.
“One boat.”
The sailor’s answer caused an uproar among the onlookers nearby.
“One ship?”
“Oh, that’s ridiculous!”
Even among the people living in the port city of Alexandria, there were very few people who didn’t know about ships.
Because of this, all the onlookers reacted negatively.
However, the Mansur crew members laughed and laughed at the onlookers.
“You don’t know much about the East! “Don’t you know how big the ships that came from Kitai were in the past?”
At the mention of ‘Kitai’, the onlookers remembered the rumors they had heard about the Purification Fleet before and started whispering.
“Do you think the countries of the East have the technology to build such large ships?”
“The East is amazing…”
When the onlookers quieted down, Jose asked the question again.
“How big of a ship is it?”
At Jose’s question, the furry sailor turned to his colleagues.
“It looked to be at least 120 cubits (about 58 meters), right?”
“It will be about 120 to 140 cubits (about 62 meters). maybe.”
At the sailors’ words, not only Jose but also the surrounding onlookers gaped.
Because none of them had ever seen ships that big.
“Is it really that big?”
The furry sailor nodded and answered Jose’s question.
“Wouldn’t that be enough to load so many cannons?”
“Cannons? “How much was loaded?”
Jose quickly asked, and the sailor waved his empty glass. Jose shouted to a passing employee.
“Bring it here in a bucket!”
“What a place to be thankful for!”
As a barrel full of beer was placed on the table, the sailors responded happily.
“It looked like there were at least dozens of doors.”
“Dozens of doors? “Even if it’s 120 cubits, isn’t that too much?”
“no way! It’s not as big as a cannon used in siege warfare. However, it was not enough to wipe out the pirates we encountered on the way from Joseon to Suez. hey! “How many pirate ships did you sink on the way here?”
“There were at least 40 ships.”
“To add, about 30 ships attacked in the sea south of Kitai, and all of them were sunk by three Joseon ships.”
“Huh….”
Jose, who had only expressed exclamation at the sailors’ story, asked again.
“If it’s that big and powerful, it must be slow, right?”
“It’s so damn fast.”
“Really?”
“If you don’t believe me, go to Suez. “I don’t lie when I get free drinks.”
Jose shook his head at the sailor’s words.
“According to your description, it is a huge ship.”
“It’s huge. “We were so tempted to buy it that we gave up because of the money.”
“Huh…”
* * *
After returning to the inn, Jose reported to Henrique what he had heard from the sailors.
“Can you believe that?”
“It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I think it’s true to some extent.”
“Huh…”
Hearing Jose’s report, Enrique leaned back in his chair, letting out an ambiguous breath, whether it was admiration or sighing.
“A ship over 120 cubits?”
The most recent ship built in Portugal, his home country, was the Caravela caravel, which was 48 cubits (about 21 meters) long. Of course, there were larger galleys among the galleys, but none of them were 120 cubits.
But the ship from the east was at least 120 cubits.
‘But the amount brought this time is too much to say it’s a lie.’
If the quantity transported by more than 100 camels had really come from just one ship, there was a high possibility that the statement was true.
After thinking for a while, Henrique put down his pen and muttered.
“Is the technology of the East more advanced than ours? If so, how much?”
While I was thinking about this unresolved problem, another subordinate came into the room and reported.
“It is said that items from Joseon will be put up for auction tomorrow.”
“I get it. Good job! Go and rest. Jose, you too.”
“yes. Prince.”
After sending his men away, Henrique took a long sigh and settled the situation.
“You will be able to find out to some extent by looking at the products that come out tomorrow.”
* * *
The next day, people gathered at the largest auction house in Alexandria.
Those who showed wealth at a glance were the first to enter and took a seat at the front, while those who came to look at Joseon items to be auctioned took seats on the second floor.
“Then the auction begins!”
The auction began with the emcee announcing the start.
The auction began with the auction of slaves brought from Africa and Europe, but people’s attention was focused on the items from Joseon, which were the last to be sold.
“Uh… Then, lastly, this is an item from Joseon, the ‘land of flowers’ located in the far East. It is a ‘candelabrum’ made of ‘crystal glass (Crystal Speculo)’.”
After the host’s announcement, eight sturdy men came up carrying a chandelier covered with fabric.
As the men carefully put down the chandelier, the host explained.
“This product is of the highest quality even in terms of shipbuilding warranty. There are only 3 items on this auction. “The auction for the first of them will begin.”
After finishing the explanation, the host removed the cloth covering the chandelier.
At that moment, the inside of the auction house was filled with exclamation.
“Oh oh!”
“amazing!”
With exclamations coming from all directions, the emcee sang the praise song.
“Then we start with 20,000 ducats in gold!”
As soon as the host finished speaking, hands went up from all directions.
Competition to obtain chandeliers was fierce.
The auction, which started with 20,000 gold ducats, at some point passed 60,000 ducats and was approaching 70,000 ducats.
Oh Ha-seok, who was watching the proceedings while listening to Mansour’s interpretation at the back of the auction house, muttered with a puzzled expression on his face.
“I heard that I asked the Emperor of Ming for 20,000 taels of gold… If I do well here, I will earn money to build a challenger-class battleship.”