Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 404

Episode 404: A short story. (1)

Late March, 15th year of King Sejong’s reign (1433, Gyechuk year).

King Sejong went on a vacation to Onsuhyeon (now Onyang).

The day when vacation is decided.

“I heard you tried hard?”

“I did it. “In my own way…”

When the sallow-faced Hyang-hyang asked, Sejong, with a humble expression, looked into the distance and answered.

* * *

Although Sejong’s health was intensively managed with a focus on scent, bad symptoms began to appear little by little.

The biggest cause of this was King Sejong’s overwork.

Of course, King Sejong’s eating habits, which he really liked, were a problem, but in some ways it could be seen as a minor problem.

“In the 21st century, even people who went so far as to report no bullets were still alive and well. “The important thing is that you don’t spend as much as you put in.”

Hyang grunted as he watched Sejong’s stomach gradually come forward and continued to pressure Sejong to exercise.

But as mentioned above, overwork was the problem.

Although it was not held every morning and evening like in the past, it was a contest held periodically.

Subsequently, while conducting the police investigation, we had to deal with various issues that arose and even had to make judgments on various serious crimes.

Finally, after finishing the work, I had to make the most of the remaining time to create Hunminjeongeum.

As a result, King Sejong’s body could not withstand the abuse and began to make cracking sounds little by little.

The first thing that started to change was the skin. As I sat and worked most of the day, my blood circulation began to suffer and various inflammations began to appear on my skin.

Accordingly, all of King Sejong’s clothes were kept clean and various boils on his skin were treated. In the process, it was a bonus that Balgeungo, which was created through a joint effort by members of the township and the National Assembly, played a big role.

However, skin disease became a chronic disease of King Sejong.

The next thing that caught the eye was King Sejong’s eyes. As he worked late into the night, Sejong’s eyesight got worse and worse. Not only was vision a problem, but eye disease also occurred.

In the end, the township and the local council members came to an agreement.

“Rest is the best!”

“I agree.”

In this way, King Sejong’s overseas travel was decided.

* * *

King Sejong’s overseas trips were on a huge scale.

It was a huge event in which not only King Sejong, Queen Soheon, his concubines, crown princes, and Emperor Yangwon, but also the princes, princesses, and relatives of the royal family all moved.

It wasn’t just the royal family that moved. The heads of various departments and vice ministers also moved.

Indeed, the entire Joseon government moved to Onsu-hyeon, and thanks to this, soldiers selected from the Naegumwi and 10 companies escorted the procession.

Anyeo, carrying King Sejong, moved behind the soldiers at the forefront. Behind Sejong, who was moving like that, Hyang on horseback moved, and the government’s vice ministers and the royal army’s sires followed on horseback. And after that, the eunuchs and soldiers followed on horseback.

If King Sejong and the crown prince were the first group, then the members of the royal palace centered on Queen Soheon were the second group.

Yeon (輦) carrying Queen Soheon, the center of the inner and outer registers, was followed by Gyoja (轎子) carrying Suk-ui. And after that, the princesses Soyong and Sukyong and the court ladies followed them on horseback. (Note 1)

This huge procession moved towards Heunginmun Gate.

Outside Heunginmun, the remaining officials, courtiers, and people of Hanseong gathered to send King Sejong off.

When Anyeo, carrying King Sejong, finally appeared, all those gathered raised their voices and shouted for Cheonse.

“Your Majesty the Lord, live forever!”

“A thousand years old!”

“May you live forever and ever!”

King Sejong responded to the people’s shouts by lightly raising his hand. King Sejong, who was looking at the people with a happy face, looked back at the scent.

Hyang, seeing Sejong’s gaze, drove the horse closer and Sejong opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it really nice to see the people?”

“That’s right. “It’s all thanks to Abamama’s hard work.”

“Is it all my fault? “It’s thanks to the hard work of many people, including you.”

King Sejong, who praised the incense, continued speaking while looking at the people shouting for a thousand years to come.

“I guess I’ll have to do my best to keep them smiling.”

In response to Sejong’s promise, Hyang quietly bowed her head.

* * *

The procession that left Heunginmun Gate headed toward Dumulmeori. At Dumulmeori, where Jungnangcheon Stream and the Han River meet, there was a port called Dumopo (豆毛浦).

And now, Baedari was placed in Dumopo under the direction of Hyang.

“Baedari… It must have been quite a struggle.”

Hyang responded to Sejong’s words with a small smile.

“The engineers did a great job.”

Sejong’s eyes sparkled at Hyang’s answer.

“Sappers? I see… If it weren’t for engineers, it would be difficult to build a bridge like this.”

“That’s right.”

* * *

The engineering unit established while carrying out the recovery project for the Great Hanseong Fire was recognized for its usefulness and gradually grew in size and became more specialized.

And in the process, it was the floating bridge that received the military’s attention.

When projecting power to deal with the Jurchen people in the north, the biggest obstacle was the rivers in the Liaodong region, starting with the Yalu River and the Duman River.

Before that, they chose shallow places to cross, but as the size of the artillery grew, such primitive methods began to become unreasonable.

For this reason, the local government introduced the construction of boat bridges using engineered weapons.

The ships that will make up the bridge were also supplied by a dedicated ship. Although it was not completely the same as what was used in the 20th and 21st centuries, it was a revolutionary item in the 15th century that destroyed the way of thinking up to that time.

Of course, there were drawbacks. Because there were no power lines equipped with small, high-output motors like those used by the ROK Army’s engineering units in the 21st century, engineers had to use oars and poles. Thanks to this, the engineers, especially the soldiers in the unit that operated the pontoon bridge, boasted a size that was on a completely different scale from other soldiers.

As a side note, thanks to this size and strength, the soldiers of the engineering unit were the first choice of husbands for the wives and children in the neighborhood.

* * *

Due to safety concerns, King Sejong, who had gotten off Anyeo and was crossing Baedari on foot, turned his head and looked in one direction.

“You still can’t see the bridge?”

“Now that the water dam construction has been completed, the river bed is being dug up. “If you get the basics right, your speed will increase.”

The subject of the conversation between Hyang and Sejong was the construction site of the Han River railroad bridge located further downstream from Baedari.

* * *

According to the plan planned by the county and approved by King Sejong, a total of four bridges were to be built over the Han River, two at two locations.

One bridge crossed the Han River, passing through Bamseom Island and the west of Neobeol Island, and the other was a bridge connecting Jamsil and Oksu.

The former was to connect the railways and roads from Jemulpo and Uiju, Honam, and the latter was to connect the railways and roads from Dongrae to Gilju, Wonsan.

Funnily enough, the reason it was divided into two was because of Area 51 and the research institute.

Because Area 51 and the research institute were located in Yongsan and nearby areas, the Han River railroad bridge connecting Noryangjin and Yongsan could not be built as in the history before the intervention of the township.

“Well, the Han River railroad bridge was placed there because of the Japanese’s military calculations…”

Since the flow of the Han River slowed down near Noryangjin, there was also a story that both the Baedari and the Han River railroad bridge built by Jeong Yak-yong during the reign of King Jeongjo were placed there, but they were built in Yongsan. There was also a story that a bridge was built at that point to quickly provide support to the Japanese troops who had captured the area.

However, thanks to Area 51 and the research institute that were created through Hyang’s intervention, the bridge connecting Noryangjin to Yongsan could never be built.

In any case, the creation of these two bridges had the advantage of eliminating the need for a straight line to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

* * *

As Sejong crossed the boat bridge, Hyang spoke to him.

“We have prepared a new vehicle.”

“New vehicle?”

Sejong’s eyes sparkled at Hyang’s words.

“okay? I wonder what it is like. “Where are you?”

“This way.”

“Let’s see…”

Sejong, who walked with the guidance of the fragrance, looked slightly disappointed when he saw what was in front of him.

“Isn’t it an iron horse and a carriage?”

“It’s a tow truck and a road carriage.”

“tow truck? “The one I only saw in that report?”

“That’s right.”

“Is it finished?”

“yes.”

At Hyang’s answer, Sejong’s face showed anticipation instead of disappointment.

What Hyang introduced was a steam tractor.

* * * The

reason Hyang created the steam tractor was because the guns operated by the Land Forces were getting bigger and bigger.

As the ‘original artillery defense department’, the Joseon military wanted cannons with increasingly stronger firepower. And this also satisfied Hyang’s sense of virtue.

The problem was that ‘more power = bigger size’.

Therefore, the size of the double-type artillery, which is currently being prepared for actual deployment, was considerable.

Even the large horses brought in from the West and bred in large numbers had difficulty moving.

It was natural for the military, which was struggling to solve this problem, to think of the iron horse.

‘Please develop an iron horse that can move even in places where there are no railroad tracks.’

Hyang, who received orders from the military, had to work hard to keep the corners of his mouth from rising upward.

‘Come on! ‘It’s finally steampunk Joseon!’

* * *

The process of building the iron horse, named ‘Tow Truck’, went smoothly.

This was because even with already-made iron horses, the mobility required by the military could be sufficiently demonstrated. Thanks to this, the focus of the people at the research center and Area 51 was to ‘reduce the loss of power and make it as small as possible.’

“If this is successful, we can reduce the size of the high-power iron horse!”

Thanks to hanging like that, we were able to reduce the size while minimizing the loss of output.

But soon I got stuck in the next process.

“The problem is the wheel…”

The wheel, which had iron spokes and a wooden rim, could not move properly on even slightly soft ground.

“why?”

After all sorts of trial and error to solve the problem, the conclusion was that ‘the wheels are too small and thin.’

The weight applied was too heavy compared to the area in contact with the ground.

“This never happened with iron horses and railroads, right?”

“The railroad tracks distribute the load. And the land on which the railroad tracks are laid is very compacted ground…”

“But there are limits to making the wheels too big and thick…”

While the researchers at the research institute and the artisans at Area 51 were pondering, an incense sneaked in. heard.

“I’ve been thinking about something…”

As Hyang quietly opened his mouth, people looked at him with joy.

‘yes! The Crown Prince was there!’

‘I’m sure you’ll have a good idea!’

What the fragrance released, receiving everyone’s attention, was ‘Caterbite’.

“That’s a very good idea!”

The first person to cheer after hearing Hyang’s proposal was Jang Yeong-sil. I understood it right away because it was Jang Yeong-sil who had been struggling to create a plan that moves on its own, that is, a plan that moves on its own.

“It has its own path, so if you control the width well, there will be no path you cannot travel! “What a brilliant idea!”

Thanks to the approval of Jang Yeong-sil, who is called ‘impossible’, caterpillar track was adopted and the tow truck was able to appear.

It was the birth of another monster that later made historians pull their hair out.

* * *

Note 1) King Sejong Annals and Royal Medicine (14). market economy. 2018.03.15.

http://www.meconomynews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=12085