Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 444

Episode 444 Seo Yi (西夷) comes to Joseon. (1)

In August of

the 20th year of King Sejong’s reign (1440, Gyeongsin Year), trading ships arrived riding the monsoon.

The flock of trading ships anchored at a waiting station built on Dalido, a short distance from Suyeong in Mokpo.

This was one of Joseon’s measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Regardless of nationality, trade ships docked at Dalido had to undergo a five-day quarantine period before they could enter the trade port built near Suyeong in Mokpo.

And it was a spectacle for nearby residents to see trade ships carrying things out like that.

The ships, which had strange shapes and painted hulls in all sorts of colors, were great eye candy. He was also a good customer.

Residents on small wooden boats approached trading ships and sold fresh fruit, food, and alcohol, and sailors who had not had proper food during the long voyage welcomed the residents warmly. Therefore, senior sailors who had visited Joseon several times not only had Joseon currency but were also able to converse in simple Korean.

Even when it comes to conversation, it’s ‘alcohol!’ ‘It’s expensive!’ was almost everything.

Chi-seok, one of the residents watching the boats entering Dalido, poked the side of his fellow passenger.

“why?”

Chi-seok asked back a question asked by a colleague who was looking at other ships with a sour expression on his face.

“The challenger went out and came back after hitting the cub?”

“What kind of runaway goat is the challenger? Beat the bastard and make him come back? “Are you sitting here making a fuss after eating well?”

In response to his colleague’s scolding, Chi-seok pointed to one side with his finger and raised his voice.

“Open your eyes and look over there!”

A colleague who saw what Tartar was pointing at muttered with a puzzled look on his face.

“I see?”

Behind the challenger-class front line heading towards Dalido, three ships of similar shape but much smaller were following along.

Although the hull length was short, the high bow and stern were almost identical to those of the Challenger class ships.

“Where do those ships come from?”

The ships that followed the Challenger class line were ships from Portugal.

* * *

“The prince has arrived in Joseon.”

At the captain’s words, Prince Henry came up to the deck.

“You look lively.”

The captain nodded to Prince Henry’s impressions as he looked at the Mokpo swimming pool and the trading port next to it in the distance.

“That’s right. “You look very energetic.”

Prince Henry, who was nodding at the captain’s words, clenched his fists and muttered.

“Since I came to the ‘Land of Flowers,’ I must achieve results. You have to do your best to negotiate. “Negotiation is the only way.”

Prince Henry’s words as he braced himself were filled with an unknown sense of desperation.

* * *

Recently, Prince Henry was almost at the edge of a cliff.

‘Foreign currency guest’.

This was Prince Henry’s current state.

In the race to bypass Africa, Henry invested enormous amounts of money to stay ahead of other competitors, including Spain, England, and France – especially Spain.

The problem was that it was impossible for the Kingdom of Portugal to provide all these funds.

Therefore, Henrik had to join hands with the capital of Florence, symbolized by Cosimo de’ Medici.

However, as competition intensified, more and more funds were needed, and Henry had to borrow money from other capitalists, mainly Portuguese nobles.

However, unlike Cosimo, those who invested new funds were less patient. As these investors continued to demand results, Henry distributed the colony’s territory acquired through exploration to them and supplied slaves for them.

By operating a large number of slaves on the allocated land, the nobles began to make significant profits.

But Henry still maintained the status quo. Although he gained a reputation as a ‘strong supporter of explorers’, he did not have much in hand.

As this situation continued, even the royal family began to look at Prince Henry with critical eyes, and merchants sent by Cosimo de’ Medici began to examine the ledgers more meticulously.

“To overcome this difficulty, ‘The Land of Flowers’ is the only answer!”

Prince Henry made a firm decision and headed across the desert to Suez. According to a pre-planned plan, they were waiting for the fleet that had bypassed Africa to arrive at Suez. And the time when the fleet arrived was when the ships sent from Joseon were staying in Suez.

“We are going to Joseon with Joseon’s ships! “If we can get exclusive trade rights with Joseon, we can solve everything!”

This was Henry’s plan.

“With Portugal’s strength, we can obtain exclusive trade rights!”

Henrik was even thinking of using force if things didn’t work out.

However, Henry’s confidence began to crumble little by little as time passed.

* * *

Henry’s confidence began to crumble from the moment he saw the Joseon ship anchored in Suez.

-Hull length 120 to 140 cubits (about 62 m).

At first, I knew about it through rumors collected in Alexandria and later through a report that summarized what I had personally visited Suez, but the Joseon front line that I actually saw was huge and looked solid.

Henrik was a little dispirited when he saw the hull rising so high that he had to tilt his head upward, but he still did his best to think positively.

“If you look at the fact that we are sending only two ships at most, it means that there are not many such large ships. “If you form a proper fleet, you have a chance of winning.”

While I was making that positive decision, the fleet I had been waiting for arrived.

While the Portuguese fleet was resting at Suez, Henri, accompanied by an interpreter, visited the Koreans.

“I want to follow you to Joseon with my fleet.”

The Koreans who heard of Henry’s request shared their opinions with others. The Koreans, who were exchanging opinions in the unknown Korean language, nodded as if they had reached a consensus and gave their answers through an interpreter.

“It’s a rough road, but if you’re confident, you can follow it.”

Henrik responded immediately to the interpreter’s words.

“I have confidence. thanks.”

Returning to his lodgings, Henri chuckled and laughed at the Koreans.

“It’s a rough road, but what if you’re confident? These are the people who endured the triangular waves at the tip of Africa. “You look at me so ridiculously.”

The triangular waves created when the ocean currents of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet were predators that preyed on ships carrying clumsy sailors. Those who had come through the sea were the fleet in front of us.

Henrique, who believed in his crew and ship, found the words of the Koreans absurd.

Three days later, the Korean ships departed Suez.

* * * As

the Joseon ships departing from Suez and passing through Aden went east, Henry’s confidence gradually crumbled.

The first factor that broke Henry’s confidence was the large Joseon ships leisurely dividing the sea in front of him.

Joseon’s large ships, which were not expected to be very numerous, increased to three more in Chittagong.

“If you think about the maintenance and supply of the five ships we have seen so far, at least ten…”

Henrik, who was estimating the approximate number, slightly shook his head.

“There are ten such large ships… Is it possible? A ship is not something that can be made cheaply… If you consider the supply and demand of crew members…” Henrik

calculated the numbers again, relying on the experience he had accumulated while supporting the exploration that had been going on, and came to a conclusion.

“More than ten ships is impossible. Ten ships is the limit.”

Even though that was the conclusion, Henrique’s expression was not very good.

“With ten such large ships… we will have to mobilize at least a third of the fleet. “If I do this wrong, I will lose money, right?”

But soon enough, Henrik had to recalculate.

It was the firepower of the challenger-level front that made Henrik recalculate.

Before leaving Chittagong, Henry hired a guide for a large sum of money.

“You know the way to Kitai and Joseon?”

“I know very well.”

The Kitayin guide answered very confidently.

“We are going to Joseon with those Joseon ships.”

The guide immediately frowned at Henry’s words.

“There are many pirates on the road from here to Joseon. “Is your armament strong?”

At the guide’s question, the captains’ expressions turned sharp and they all pulled out their swords.

However, despite the captains’ hurried actions, the guide became tired and laughed.

“A sword is not enough. “Do you have cannons?”

“there is.”

“many?”

“It’s appropriate.”

“There must be a lot. The Koreans’ ships have many cannons, so even pirates don’t touch them. But weak ships attack on their own like ghosts. Of course, Joseon ships stepped in to stop them, but a few of them were still captured. “It’s like a school of sharks.”

“We have cannons and Arquebus.”

“I don’t know what it is, but you have to be prepared. “Especially because the road from Chittagong to Melaka is full of pirates.”

* * *

What the guide said was not a joke.

The moment we entered the narrow strait from Chittagong to Malacca, pirates who had been ambushed from all directions attacked us.

As the pirates rushed in, the fleet of the Arab merchant Mansour, who had been following the Joseon ships, gathered in one place and the Joseon ships began to surround them.

“Quickly get in there! hurry!”

At the torch of the guide, Henry’s fleet gathered together with Mansur’s fleet. And a battle took place outside, surrounded by Joseon ships.

And Henry had to recalculate the firepower the Joseon army showed there.

Five Challenger-class ships formed a circular formation, but the gap was quite wide.

Therefore, the only aspect of the battle was the response of the pirate ships trying to break into this gap and take the merchant ship hostage, and the challenger-class fronts trying to stop them.

Both Joseon soldiers and pirates were worn-out combat masters, having been fighting continuously since the beginning of long-distance trade in Joseon.

“That’s amazing. Both…”

Both the pirates trying to break through with their amazing manipulation skills and the Joseon army blocking him and firing bombs were all beyond Henrik’s imagination.

Thanks to this, as the battle progressed, Henry’s face began to turn whiter and whiter.

“We have to deal with guys like that?”

The pirates, who were as cunning as sharks looking for loopholes, and the Joseon army, who tore the pirates to pieces, were all a step above the rivals and Arab pirates that he and his subordinate captains had faced so far.

“Even if the road to Joseon is opened, I am worried about pirates.”

While Henrik was nodding his head to the words of the captain who brought him on board, an unfamiliar noise was heard from a nearby Joseon ship.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!

With an unfamiliar noise, a pirate ship that had dug into the blind spot of the Joseon army’s cannon instantly turned red. It was stained with the blood of the pirates on the pirate ship.

And Henry could see. An unusual-looking cannon installed on the deck of a Joseon military ship was raining bullets at the unfortunate pirate ship.

The bloody battle that took place so fiercely ended with the pirates retreating as they were unable to break through the Joseon army’s defense network.

While the battle was going on, the guide who had been hiding suddenly reappeared and spoke to Henrik.

“It will be safe all the way to Melaka.”

“is it?”

That night, as he sat at his cabin desk, Henri muttered as he recorded the day’s events.

“Is it possible to mobilize the entire fleet?”