Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 344

Episode 344: Invisible War. (3)

“What do you mean, you are a Korean but not a Korean?”

Director Naegeum, who did not properly understand what the second director said, asked the second director for a more detailed explanation.

“Jo Han-tae and Jang Seok-il once had a drinking party at Giru. The gisaeng who attended said that the person named Jang Seok-il was truly strange.”

“It’s strange?”

“He looked like a Korean, dressed like a Korean, and spoke like a Korean, but there was something subtly unfamiliar about him.”

As the second director explained, Naegeumwijang stroked his beard and was lost in thought.

“It’s subtly unfamiliar…”

Director Naegeum thought for a moment and gave an order to the second director.

“Like you said, an in-depth investigation will be needed. “Do it right.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Director Naegeum looked at the other directors and gave an order.

“Take a good look at the upper West Sea.”

“yes.”

“And they may not be the only ones approaching Area 51 artisans. “Please take a good look.”

“All right.”

* * *

After finishing the meeting and returning to the palace, Commander Naegeum visited King Sejong and reported the situation.

“He is a Joseon person, but not a Joseon person…”

After receiving the report from Naegeumwiwi, King Sejong muttered while stroking his beard with a serious face and looked back at Naegeumwiwi.

“Who do you think you are?”

“I think the most likely thing is that they went over to China or Japan during the chaos at the end of the Joseon Dynasty or when the country was founded, or they are their descendants.”

King Sejong nodded at Naegeumwijang’s answer.

From the time when King Jeonjo began to show signs of the fall of the country, there were quite a few people who left Joseon, either willingly or unwillingly. It was talking about the possibility that he was either one of those people or a descendant of those people.

King Sejong meticulously analyzed Naegeumwijang’s reasoning.

‘It’s the Japanese country…’

* * *

Since the time of the previous king, there has been friendship with the lords of the Japanese country to solve the problem of Japanese pirates. And according to the information obtained in the process, the country of Japan was larger than Joseon and had a larger population. However, although there was an emperor and a shogunate, politics was chaotic. Technology was also very backward, except for the warped sword and a few other things.

By opening up contacts with Ouchi and the shogunate, King Sejong and the government were able to obtain more detailed information quickly and easily.

According to the information obtained in this way, the financial power of Japanese merchants was greater than imagined. In addition, as the Muromachi Shogunate, which now ruled the Japanese Empire, paid attention to overseas trade, the number of merchants entering overseas trade was increasing.

The upper echelons of the Japanese kingdom were appearing one by one, advancing not only to the Kingdom of Yugu (Ryukyu and Okinawa) but also as far away as Seomra (暹羅 Thailand).

If we sum up the information coming from superiors, the economic power of the Japanese country, including commerce, was growing.

* * *

King Sejong, who was reviewing the situation of the Japanese nation, soon had to erase the Japanese nation from his list of suspects.

‘If we only think about commerce, it is doubtful enough, but if we think about technology, it is impossible.’

Although they tried to acquire Ming and Joseon craftsmen whenever they could, the Japanese technology level was inferior overall. No matter how he tried to get the craftsmen from Area 51 to work, he didn’t have the ability to master that technology.

King Sejong, who excluded the Japanese nation from his list of suspects, became even more gloomy.

‘Then is he a master in the end?’

It was quite possible for merchants in the name.

It had an economic power several times that of Joseon and had a deep history of foreign trade dating back to the Yuan Dynasty.

In addition, although it was inferior to Joseon’s technology, which had developed rapidly through Gyeongjang (more precisely, the crown prince’s crazy behavior), it had enough technology to compete.

If we were to take artisans from Area 51, the merchant world would be the place with a sufficient foundation to digest it.

‘It’s not just merchants…’

The Ming imperial family and the royal court could not be excluded from the list of suspects. The Ming imperial family and court also competed with the Ming merchant world.

“Ha~. “It’s frustrating…”

Sejong, who was analyzing various situations, expressed his frustration.

King Sejong, who relieved some of his frustration with a long sigh, asked Captain Naegeum.

“You said Milwi would look into it more closely, right?”

“Yes, I ordered you to do so.”

“Tell them to report it as quickly as possible and in as much detail as possible. Any response will be decided after that.”

“I follow your orders!”

“And pay attention to monitoring and protecting the artisans in Area 15, no, 51. “To what extent has the organization of the secret committee, which was ordered to be organized by the Naegeumwi, progressed?”

Although he created the Secret Service, King Sejong, who was worried about the former body of the Secret Service and its tyranny through monopoly on information, organized a secret unit within the Internal Affairs Committee. ‘I hide and protect the royal family and the rock of the country.’ This was the birth of a special unit with the name ‘Bidawi’, meaning ‘Captain B’.

* * *

“We decided to create something called the emergency committee.”

Hyang’s mouth automatically opened at Sejong’s words.

“Emergency response committee?”

“Where did that come from again?”

“Oh no. “It just popped out without me realizing it.”

“Similar but different.”

King Sejong, who explained the meaning of the emergency command to Hyang, gave orders to Hyang.

“Make weapons to be used by this squadron.”

“Wouldn’t the firearms and spears and swords currently used by Naegeumwi be sufficient?”

“We need more stealthy weapons.”

“What should I do with the funds?”

“I will leave the Naesu Byeoljwa.”

In response to Sejong’s answer, Hyang immediately lowered her head.

‘You made up your mind.’

“We will proceed as quickly as possible.”

After finishing the conversation and leaving Gangnyeongjeon, Hyang muttered softly.

“Should I go towards 007 or Devguru?”

Meanwhile, Sejong, who was looking at the door inside Gangnyeongjeon, pondered what had happened a little while ago.

‘They didn’t even ask what I wanted, they first asked me the cost. That bastard! ‘I mean, I’ve already made some plans!’

“You really need to catch me and get rid of that guy… The problem is that if that guy gets out, Area 15, no, Area 51 won’t work properly…”

It’s like living with a dozen snakes in your stomach. Sejong, who was grumbling while thinking about his children, soon grumbled about something else.

“By the way, why is it called Area 51?… They keep calling it Area 15. “They suddenly added the number ‘Area 51’…”

Sejong was grumbling about the name of Area 51, which can become confusing if you lose your mind a little.

* * *

In response to King Sejong’s question about the progress of the ‘Commander’s Secret Service’, Captain Naegeum answered by bowing his head.

“The selection of personnel has been completed to some extent. “As you said, the size was set to about 30 people.”

“I guess they were chosen by those with big mouths, right?”

“yes.”

Sejong, who nodded his head at Naegeumwijang’s answer, gave additional orders.

“First, place them in Area 15 or 51. “I will write an order for you to send to the Mill Wife, so tell me to move with the Mill Wife for the time being and absorb their knowledge and skills.”

“All right.”

“However, it is said that they left the Internal Finance Committee to support the insufficient number of personnel. “Hide the identity of the emergency commander.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

* * *

Sejong, who gave orders to Captain Naegeum, let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~. They say there is no windy day for a tree with many branches….”

Sejong, who had been sighing for a long time at the situation where there were a lot of problems that would have fatal consequences if he relaxed even a little, jumped up from his seat.

“Eight! In times like these, it’s best to focus on research!”

Although it leaked into a side street, one of the butterfly effects caused by the scent was King Sejong’s night.

It is not known whether he was stimulated by the virtue of incense or by the strengthened royal authority, but King Sejong’s study of the Korean alphabet began much faster than expected.

Even in history before the intervention of Hyang, ‘he was intelligent and liked learning and devising ideas.’ It was Sejong who received the review. He quickly began to create Joseon’s own script.

In this way, the thing that had the greatest influence was the aforementioned night of King Sejong.

As King Sejong became absorbed in the study of letters, the number of women he took with him decreased significantly.

Up to the Hyebin Yang clan, history proceeded in the same way as before Hyang intervened, but other concubines did not exist except for the Sangchim Song clan.

Hyang also worried about this issue.

“what? What’s going on? Why is the nobleman the king of the night? wherefore?”

Hyang, who was worried about the changes in King Sejong, who was also famous for having many concubines and children, came up with a hypothesis that seemed the most plausible.

“Have you already started studying Hunminjeongeum? “I’ve been throwing a lot of comments at you over the years, but are you asking?”

It was a scent that reminded me of the rice cakes I had been quietly throwing away and predicted possibilities.

* * *

Meanwhile, since King Sejong’s formal order was issued, the Secret Service began an investigation in earnest.

“No matter how you look at it, they are not Koreans who have continued to live in Joseon.”

The secret service agents who gathered the report of the gisaeng who attended the drinking party between Jo Han-tae and Jang Seok-il came to that conclusion.

“Then where do you think it came from?”

“If you look at the tone of voice, it is Chinese. “I’m sure it came from Ming.”

“Myeong-ra…”

The second director trailed off while stroking his chin in response to the agents’ report.

“Is it sent by 100,000 merchants?”

One agent responded to the Second Director’s reasoning.

“According to the opinion of the royal gisaeng, it is very likely that he is a eunuch.”

“Eunuch? why?”

“They say they use a lot of perfume that has a dizzyingly strong scent. According to the words of Haengsu Gisaeng, the eunuchs who came as envoys from the Ming Dynasty exuded a great scent from their bodies, just like him.”

“Hmm… That seems plausible.”

The Second Director nodded at the agent’s words.

According to rumors, Chinese eunuchs, unlike Joseon eunuchs, removed all externally visible genitalia. In such cases, it was said that because urine leaked frequently, people wore diapers made of thick cotton or pants made of cotton and used perfume with a strong scent to cover up the smell. (Note 1)

As the Gyeongjeon system progressed and Joseon’s national power became stronger, many people used it. Although it was reduced, Joseon sent princesses and eunuchs under orders. If someone who went to the Ming Dynasty and became a eunuch came like that, then the framework was correct.

After reaching a conclusion, the second director’s face became serious.

“This is not a normal problem.”

Approaching the craftsmen of Area 51 itself was not a light matter, but if a eunuch from the Ming Dynasty’s imperial family was involved, it was a ‘very serious’ problem.

In the end, the second director gave orders to his subordinates.

“This is not a problem that will end with me. “Write a report.”

“yes.”

* * *

The report written in that way was sent directly to King Sejong through Naegumwijang.

“It’s serious…”

Sejong muttered in a hard voice after receiving and reading the report.

It was a matter involving a eunuch, a servant of the emperor.

It was very important whether this was indeed approved by the emperor or not.

Sejong, who was pondering a solution with a serious expression, had an idea.

‘Sending a eunuch secretly means that it is unofficial. If we deal with the eunuch secretly, the emperor will have nothing to say!’

“Officially, nothing has happened….”

After coming to a conclusion, King Sejong gave an order to Chief Naegeum.

“Give Milwi the license.”

“What if you say it’s a license?”

King Sejong gave a short answer to Naegeumwijang’s question.

“Extinction (滅口). However, the target group should be limited to only those from Ming.”

In response to King Sejong’s reply, Naegeumwijang immediately lowered his head.

“I follow your orders!”

King Sejong sent out his disguise and called a merchant ship.

“Bring the crown prince.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

* * *

Note 1) https://namu.wiki/w/Eunuch#s-4.1