Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 434
Episode 434: The night of betrayal – The beginning of chaos. (2)
“Master!”
“Stay still!”
Despite his subordinate’s urgent cries, Norizane tried to remain as calm as possible.
“My lord! “One o’clock is urgent!”
“Eight! “Shut up and stay still!”
After silencing his subordinate, Norizane walked back and forth around the room, thinking of a way out.
While Norizane was worrying, Norizane’s other subordinates who heard the story rushed to Norizane’s room.
“My lord!”
“My lord!”
“Be quiet!”
The subordinates who were confused by Norizane’s shouts closed their mouths and looked at Norizane.
Norizane, who had been contemplating with his mouth firmly shut, finally seemed to have made up his mind and turned his head and began to give orders to his subordinates.
“You immediately lead your men out and monitor Kamakuradono’s mansion! If anything goes wrong, report it to me immediately!”
“hot!”
“You and your men lead your men and prepare to move immediately!”
“hot!”
“You secure the gate with your men! “We must secure an escape route!”
“hot!”
Norizane, who had given orders up to that point, gave orders to the remaining subordinates.
“Bring the armor!”
“hot!”
Norizane, who gave orders quickly, sat down on the west bank and put ink on his brush. Norizane filled up a piece of paper with a single stroke of the sentence, put it in an envelope, sealed it well, and handed it to another subordinate.
“You must run to Kyoto immediately. No matter what happens, you must deliver this letter to the Shogun!”
“hot!”
After putting the letter in his arms, the samurai quickly went out and mounted his horse.
After a while, Norizane began to put on the armor with the help of his men who brought the armor.
Interestingly enough, the armor worn by Norizane was a double armor made in Joseon.
* * *
In the previous battle between the Ouchi Shibukawa Alliance and the Shoni, Ouchi Morimi was hit by several arrows, but was not injured at all due to the excellent protection of the head armor he was wearing.
‘Joseon’s armor blocks arrows and allows easy movement!’
As this rumor spread widely, it became fashionable among feudal lords with some money to obtain Joseon’s dujeongap.
This trend also had one characteristic. When purchasing Joseon’s headgear, the helmet was excluded. The reason was the decoration attached to the forehead of the helmet. The decoration attached to the forehead of the helmet was a symbol of the family or of oneself.
Of course, there were quite a few lords who were more practical and even equipped their helmets with Joseon products.
There was no Dujeong-gap in the Japanese kingdom during this period. In the past, when the allied forces of Mongolia and Goryeo invaded, they were able to obtain a considerable number of dujeonggap as trophies, and there were dujeongap made in imitation of these.
However, with the backward smelting level of the Japanese nation, it was not possible to properly create the moon iron pieces inside the armor.
Therefore, as trade with Joseon became more active, small amounts of Joseon’s dujeonggap were imported and worn.
* * *
Norizane, fully dressed in armor, climbed onto the waiting horse.
Norizane, who climbed onto the horse, looked around and raised his hand.
“let’s go!”
As soon as Norizane’s command was given, the door to the mansion opened wide. Soon after, the cavalry escorting Norizane burst through the door.
Next, the samurai guarding Mochiuji’s camp and the samurai guarding the gate of the mansion mounted their horses and joined the rear.
* * *
“My lord! Uesugi has moved! “I left the castle!”
“huh?”
Ashikaga Mochiuji immediately burst into laughter after receiving his subordinate’s report.
“ha ha ha! Heaven help this Ashikaga Mochiuji!”
Mochiuji smiled brightly and immediately began writing the letter.
“Send this to the Shogun in Kyoto immediately!”
“hot!”
“And immediately prepare a large army and inform other territories as well! We will subdue Uesugi!”
“hot!”
Mochiuji, who gave the command in a refreshing manner, looked at the topographical map on the large table and muttered.
“The first step to becoming the master of the world has finally been taken!”
* * *
Ashikaga Yoshinori’s residence in Kyoto.
“My lord! “It’s coming quickly!”
“Urgent report?”
When Yoshinori, who had been admiring the garden, sat down, the retainer presented a letter to Yoshinori and explained.
“This is an urgent message from Uesugi.”
“Uesugi?”
Yoshinori lightly expressed his doubts and immediately read the contents of the letter.
“Mochiuji is a giant soldier?”
“My lord! “It’s coming quickly!”
“What kind of emergency is this again?”
“This is an urgent report from Kamakuradono!”
“Give it to me!”
“hot!”
Yoshinori, who was handed the certificate as if he had stolen it, checked the contents.
“Uesugi is trying to commit disloyal acts?”
Yoshinori, who was looking down at the two conflicting letters, gave an order to his retainers.
“First, imprison the messenger sent by Uesugi and Mochiuji!”
“hot!”
“And gather all your vassals!”
“hot!”
* * *
Yoshinori gathered his retainers and explained the situation.
“What do you think?”
Hosokawa Mochiyuki, the most influential among the retainers, answered Yoshinori’s question.
“The relationship between the two has not been good since the last Eikyo Rebellion. Isn’t that why?”
“It’s highly likely.”
Yoshinori nodded in response to Hosokawa’s answer.
* * *
In the 8th year of Eikyo (1436, 18th year of King Sejong’s reign), a territorial dispute broke out in Shinano. Mochiuji, who was asked for help, tried to send troops, but Norizane opposed it and it was aborted.
Norizane’s reason for opposition was that Shinano was outside Mochiuji’s jurisdiction.
In the end, Ogasawara won the dispute at the time.
The problem was that even after that, Mochiuji continued to try to force deployment of troops to this area, and Norizane blocked this, causing the relationship between the two to worsen.
* * *
“The question is why did Kamakura Dono try to force the dispatch of troops?”
“Hmm…”
Yoshinori opened his mouth after gathering his thoughts for a moment at Mochiyuki’s point.
“It was aimed at me.”
“yes?”
“Mochiuji has been disobeying me for a long time. “Maybe he thought this position should have been his.”
After coming to his own conclusion, Yoshinori immediately gave an order.
“Cut down Mochiuji’s imprisoned lion. And bring Uesugi’s messenger. And Hosokawa.”
“hot!”
“Go into the court and get some orders from the emperor. The content is, ‘Ashikaga Mochiuji is an enemy of the government.’”
“hot!”
Yoshinori, who gave orders to Hosokawa, gave orders to his vassals.
“When Hosokawa receives the royalties, inform the lords of the Kanto region. ‘Ashikaga Mochiuji is an enemy of the court, so send out troops to suppress him.’ “I mean.”
“hot!”
* * *
Thus, Yoshinori, who defined Ashikaga Mochiuji as a traitor, surrounded Mochiuji using his own forces and the forces of Uesugi and other Kanto lords.
After suffering a crushing defeat in the ensuing battle, Mochiuji announced his intention to give up all authority and become a monk.
“Shogun, it would be good for you to show mercy.”
Norizane Uesugi, who played the biggest role in this incident, advised him to show mercy, but Yoshinori shook his head.
“No, you can’t do that.”
“Shogun!”
Norizane urgently tried to stop him, but Yoshinori ordered his subordinates.
“Kill all of Mochiuji’s relatives.”
“hot!”
Yoshinori, who gave the cruel command, looked back at Norizane and the vassal lords and said.
“Isn’t there a saying, ‘One punishment, one hundred punishments?’
The lords bit their lips at Yoshinori’s warning.
* * *
Meanwhile, Ouchi Morimi, who received a related report from his territory, gritted his teeth.
“It’s a warning to me. By the way, you used a really clever trick. ‘An enemy of the court’…”
The moment the emperor announced that he was an ‘enemy of the court’, all justification was given to the shogun. As long as there was a cause in the shogun’s hands, the lords had no choice but to join the shogun’s side.
“In order to realize our family’s dream, we may have to deal with the world. Assuming this, make all preparations.”
The retainers responded to Morimi’s command by bowing in unison.
“hot!”
“Fire artillery is important for victory. What about the production of long guns?”
“As craftsmen become accustomed to production, the quantity is gradually increasing.”
“To supervise properly. A long gun is a useful weapon, but if done incorrectly, it can put our allies in more danger.”
“hot!”
The long guns handed over by Joseon were cast. Thanks to this, it boasted a significant defect rate.
“And what happened to rescuing a gunpowder craftsman from the Ming?”
“The Ming Dynasty’s surveillance has become more intense, but it looks like there will be good news soon.”
“Do your best. “We cannot achieve great things by relying only on what is imported from Joseon.”
“hot!”
* * *
Joseon handed over long guns – to be exact, matchlock-type copper guns – but did not hand over gunpowder manufacturing methods. However, Ouchi could not give up his method of making gunpowder after seeing the Joseon navy use artillery to destroy Japanese pirates and pirates.
“Firearms guarantee victory!”
Ouchi, who was impressed by the power of the Joseon navy, devoted his energies to the mass production of gunpowder weapons from top to bottom.
Ouchi also began experimenting with casting large barrels based on the experience he had gained in the process of making long guns.
Of course, due to the poor level of technology, what they created was a large-caliber long gun.
* * *
“And let the news secretly spread to Joseon as well.”
“You mean in Joseon? “Will Joseon be interested?”
In response to the retainer’s question, Morimi explained the reason.
“The more the shogun does things, the more unstable the internal affairs become. In that case, it is natural for the number of Japanese pirates to increase. And as the number of Japanese pirates increases, Joseon also suffers from headaches. Of course there will be interest.”
“Oh yes! “I will prepare a messenger immediately.”
“Since this is an unofficial envoy, send it using Nagato.”
“hot!”
Morimi, who was about to give an order and end the meeting, continued speaking as if he suddenly had an idea.
“ah! “While you’re sending the messenger, try your luck with the iron horse.”
“Do you have an iron horse?”
Morimi nodded to the retainer’s question.
“okay. They say they make something similar to the iron horse of the Mingdo Joseon Dynasty. What does it mean that all those ahead of the curve are hiring? “It means that it is necessary to make the country prosperous.”
The retainers muttered to themselves at Morimi’s words.
‘Compared to Joseon and Ming, Ouchi…’
Morimi added, as if he knew the feelings of those vassals.
“It may be too much to think about just our Ouchi, but it is absolutely necessary if our Ouchi become the masters of the world. Think of it as gaining experience to prepare for that time.”
“hot!”
The retainers once again responded loudly to Morimi’s explanation.
‘Look at our master’s intentions! ‘Our Ouchi will definitely become the master of the world!’
* * *
In the 20th year of King Sejong’s reign (1438, Muo Year), a
secret messenger sent from Ouchi informed Joseon of the civil war that took place in the Japanese Empire.
“Hmm… what do you think about the information sent from Ouchi?”
Hwang Hee came forward and answered King Sejong’s question.
“It is almost similar to the information received from the superior office in Nanpa (old name for Naniwa Osaka).”
“It sounds like Daenae didn’t lie.”
Hwang Hee responded to King Sejong’s opinion.
“There may have been exaggerations, but there were no lies. “They know very well that if they do so, they will also suffer losses.”
“That’s right. Because they also have ambitions.”
Joseon also knew that Ouchi was aiming to become the head of the shogunate.