Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 439

Chapter 439: Paving stone (1)

After confirming the contents of the banquet, Jo Mal-saeng put down the banquet and massaged the area between his eyebrows with his thumb and index finger.

“How should I accept this…”

Discovering an unoccupied land that others did not yet know about was a blessing in disguise.

But the timing of discovery was a problem.

* * *

A few months ago, due to an urgent report from Aden, a decision was made to establish a naval camp in Temasek and several other regions, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was busy working toward this end.

To ensure smooth progress, Joseon paid significant bribes to influential figures in the country and region. Fortunately, the favorite items of those influential people were not gold and silver, but Joseon objects such as lamps made of crystal glass, so the expenditure was not as heavy as expected.

After hearing the story about this, Hyang laughed and muttered:

“That means there was a lot of profiteering.”

Thanks to the roasting of those in power in the region, the Joseon Navy was able to easily establish a naval camp in the region.

“The problem is the port facilities…”

The working-level staff responded calmly to Jo Mal-saeng, who checked the situation.

“I don’t think that will be a big problem either.”

“huh?”

Since decent port facilities already existed in Chittagong, a trading port with active trade, as well as in Temasek, Yugu, and at least Liosong, the only thing the Joseon navy had to worry about was preparing a living space for the Joseon navy and their families.

But there was something else that those in charge of the budget were really worried about.

It was a matter of the budget for building the wire and the cost of recruiting manpower.

“First of all, we will start by moving the existing sea emergency wires, but in the long term, we will have to build a large number of new wires.”

In response to the working-level staff’s report, Kim Jeom expressed his opinion to Jo Mal-saeng and Hwang Hee.

“First of all, it is best to draw from the reserve finances held by the military and government and properly organize next year’s budget.”

Jo Mal-saeng and Hwang Hee nodded at Kim Jeom’s words. Hwang Hee, who was looking at the budget allocation plan presented by Kim Jeom, looked at Jo Mal Saeng and opened her mouth.

“It seems that new production of electric wires can be done this way, but the problem is the supply and demand of personnel. “What are the naval forces saying?”

Jo Mal-saeng answered Hwang Hee’s question right away.

“The navy says they can handle everything if they just give us ships and budget.”

“Hmm….”

Hwang Hee, unable to hide his anxiety despite Jo Mal-saeng’s answer, called the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

“Did you call me?”

After receiving the call and entering the Prime Minister’s conference room, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy took his seat, and Hwang Hee got straight to the point.

“Are you really confident in recruiting human resources for the navy?”

“It is possible as long as the budget is properly supported.”

“how?”

“Have you forgotten that the nickname of the naval forces is ‘Goldongban (骨董飯 Bibimbap)’?”

“Ah…”

Hwang Hee and Kim Jeom Jo Mal-saeng, who were present first, nodded in response to his response, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy continued.

“As long as there is a Hunminjeongeum and a monopoly, the issue of supply and demand of personnel is not a big problem for the naval force.”

* * *

As the social changes created by Gyeongjang took full effect and Joseon’s power area gradually increased, Koreans from outside the country, not native Koreans, became strangers.

If you look at the Hanseong government right now, labor exploitation (excluding the Ministry of National Defense) was taking place under the pretext of practical training by recruiting international students sent from Ouchi who had completed the basic course.

In the military that accepted people from outside of the country early on, some of them had already risen to mid-level executives.

An interesting feature was created here.

If the land naval army, which was organized around cavalry and artillery, was composed mainly of Koreans and Jurchen people, the navy was made up of not only Koreans and Jurchen people, but also indigenous people of Daeseoldo Island and Jongjangdo Island, as well as indigenous people from the area where the naval camp was located. It was coming in.

This was due to the navy’s policy.

“The problem is that you don’t get used to sailing in a day or two, and getting used to the sea doesn’t take a day or two.”

The number of seas to be patrolled and explored was increasing, and as skilled sailors were becoming increasingly difficult to find, the naval commanders were concerned about how to solve the situation. The natives of Daeseoldo Island and Jongjangdo Island traveling around in small boats caught the eyes of the naval commanders.

All of the naval commanders who were looking at the natives muttered at the same time.

“The answers are going around?”

The natives, who roamed the rough seas of the North in small rowboats or boats roughly made of leather and wood, were the best human resources for the navy.

“How should we catch them…”

When the naval commanders were contemplating how to attract natives to the naval force, the best card was born.

It was Hunminjeongeum.

As much as the native people of Joseon welcomed Hunminjeongeum, natives from abroad also welcomed Hunminjeongeum.

Most indigenous people, except for the Jurchen people, did not have a written language to record their words. Of course, among the Ainu people of Daeseoldo, there were some who learned and used Chinese characters and hiragana through contact with the Japanese, but Hunminjeongeum was able to perfectly record even words that could not be written with Chinese characters or hiragana.

It was a natural result that the natives, who were able to record their words in Hunminjeongeum, learned the Joseon language.

Even though I didn’t know the meaning, it wasn’t difficult to read. And once I was able to read it like that, I was able to understand the meaning in an instant.

The next thing that attracted the natives was, of course, the monopoly.

The daily necessities at the monopoly had already become necessities for the natives.

In particular, fabrics such as cotton became a must-have item for children’s wedding gifts.

As a result, the natives needed money.

“The hunting and fishing that we have been doing until now is not making a steady income…”

“This is not a good place for farming either…”

While everyone was thinking like that, the navy posted a large piece of paper on the bulletin board. Attached.

There was a large phrase written in Hunminjeongeum on the paper.

-Recruitment of naval forces.

-A person who is familiar with the sea and familiar with sailing.

-Those fluent in Korean are preferred.

-No discrimination.

-Arrangements for Korean language education. However, only 1/3 of the normal salary is paid during the training period.

-Excellent workers are guaranteed quick promotions.

Not long after the notice was posted on the bulletin board, natives lined up at the entrance to the naval camp.

“I want to become a naval officer!”

“I am the right person!”

“I definitely want to do it!”

Thanks to this, the navy was able to easily recruit personnel. And the navy gained the nickname ‘Goldongban’.

* * *

As an aside, historians studying this period discovered something unusual.

Until then, when a country acquired new territory, it was common practice for most of the residents of the area so acquired to become slaves.

Of course, in the Islamic sphere of influence, according to the law, fellow Muslims were not enslaved, but the subjects had to live almost like slaves. And pagans had to be slaves.

In this way, it was common for the residents of new territories to fall into a downward spiral, but this was not the case in Joseon.

Joseon accepted without discrimination anyone who wanted to become its people. And the outsiders who were brought in like that soon began to be active in various parts of Joseon society.

The place where these cases were most clearly revealed was the military. The military was generally considered the most conservative, and the Joseon military had a large number of foreigners, almost similar to the old Roman Empire.

And historians who were researching why this happened were pulling out their hair.

“You’re the crown prince again!”

* * *

By the time Joseon came out of the stagnation period, the situation was similar to that of the navy. It was an attempt to solve the problem of insufficient population through active external blood transfusion.

Thanks to this, we were finally able to surpass 11 million in the year of Kimi.

“Of course, the problem is that most of the increased population is newborns.”

“We need to pay more attention to education and medical care.”

“Anyway, it looks like the issue of the ocean naval base camp has been somewhat resolved, so it’s okay to take a breather, right?”

While the ministers were so relieved, the naval forces threw a very large bomb.

* * *

Jo Mal-saeng, who was contemplating looking at Jang-gye, looked at the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy sitting in front of him.

“Isn’t the result really amazing for something that was pushed with the random idea of ‘harmony between yin and yang’?”

When we first started exploring east, the reason given was ‘harmony of yin and yang.’

-The world is a place where yin and yang are in harmony. In other words, it is impossible for all the land in the world to be concentrated to one side like this!

Citing plausible but not at all plausible reasons, the navy eagerly sent ships east. Of course, Kim Jeom started an uproar, spewing fire from his mouth, but as the navy continued to discover islands, they were able to stop Kim Jeom’s anger.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy responded to Jo Mal-saeng’s words with a slight smile.

“Of course, on the surface it was that reason, but on the inside it was a different reason.”

“Any other reasons?”

“Confirmation of the shortest route to their country. That was the navy’s goal. There are too many pirates on the route we are currently using. Of course, it’s not that pirates are scary, but isn’t it true that they are a bit of a hassle?”

“Ah…”

Jo Mal-saeng, who was nodding at the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy’s words, asked the question again.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to use that as a reason from the beginning?”

“Then won’t it become a political issue?”

Jo Mal-saeng nodded and muttered to the words of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

“It takes another person here.”

The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy quietly nodded at Jo Mal-saeng’s words.

Although it is said to have almost become obsolete, the name was the merchant state of Joseon. The trade that Joseon was conducting now was with countries that nominally treated the Ming Dynasty, so there were no particular problems. However, for Joseon to directly contact and communicate with the Western countries without going through the Ming, it was to ignore the Ming, the Shang Dynasty. In any case, this was because Joseon was in a situation where it was being treated poorly by the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, the direct contact between Joseon and Seoyi openly declared that Joseon was an independent country equal to the Ming. In other words, it was an expression that Ming was no longer a merchant state of Joseon.

And for the Ming, this could have been an action equivalent to a declaration of war.

* * *

After a moment of silence, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy continued.

“Perhaps Your Highness knew all of this.”

“Your Majesty?”

Jo Mal-saeng, who expressed doubt for a moment, soon nodded.

“yes. “No matter what kind of person His Majesty is, there is no way he would have given sanction just for reasons other than those reasons.”

“That’s right.”

After hearing the naval commander-in-chief’s answer, Jo Mal-saeng fell into silence again. Jo Mal-saeng, who had been staring at Jang-gye with his mouth shut for a long time, soon let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~.”

Jo Mal-saeng let out a long, earth-shattering sigh and glared at the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

“The Commander-in-Chief should report this matter directly to the Jeongjeon.”

“Hey Minister!”

“Thanks to this general, work has at least doubled. I can’t die alone, can I? “I can’t die for you.”

At Jo Mal-saeng’s words, the Commander-in-Chief of the Samdo Naval Forces’ face turned white. It seemed as if Kim Jeom’s roar had already reached his ears.

No, Kim Jeom’s voice could already be heard from far away.

“You damned whisperers! Where is the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy? “Let’s die today!”