Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 498

Episode 498: Lord of war. (4)

“Katanashi (sword master) has arrived!”

Following the vassal’s cry, the old blacksmith and his disciples knelt before Mochiyo. Mochiyo walked in front of him and opened his mouth.

“There is something I need you to take care of.”

The term ‘Katanashi’ referred to the best swordsmith in the territory. That’s why Mochiyo didn’t speak rudely to him either.

Katanashi politely responded to Mochiyo’s words.

“What should I see?”

In response to Katanashi’s question, Mochiyo gave an order to the samurai nearby.

“Bring any of the boxes containing firearms sent from Joseon and open them.”

“hot!”

At Mochiyo’s order, the samurai took one of the boxes piled on one side and opened it.

“Hoo~.”

Mochiyo walked in front of the open box and let out a light exclamation. Inside the box were four long guns securely fixed.

When Mochiyo saw the barrel of the gun shining silver in the sunlight, he let out a series of exclamations in his mind.

‘This is truly amazing! Iron that shines so beautifully! I would believe it if I said it was a famous sword!’

Mochiyo, who was staring at the barrel of the gun as if fascinated, immediately shook his head.

‘Come to your senses! ‘Don’t be fooled by appearances!’

Mochiyo quickly came to her senses, took out a bag from the box, and held it out to Katanashi.

“Check out how the Joseon’s metal gun we made compares to the one captured from the shogunate. In this place. Right Now.”

“high!”

Katanashi responded to Mochiyo’s command and immediately gave orders in a low voice to the disciples who followed him.

“Go and bring us the copper guns we made and the captured artillery.”

“high!”

While his disciples brought guns, Katanashi meticulously inspected the long guns sent by Joseon.

“Huh~. Huh~. “This is it… this can’t be right…”

A series of words came out of Katanashi’s mouth as he examined the Joseon’s long guns, and I couldn’t tell whether they were exclamation or lamentation.

“Is there a problem?”

Katanashi, who was staring at Joseon’s guns as if fascinated, answered Mochiyo’s question as if he were lamenting.

“No matter how you look at it, it seems that there is someone in Joseon who receives the blessings of Oinari-sama (the Japanese god of blacksmiths). “It is impossible to produce something like this from an ordinary blacksmith shop.”

“Is it that great?”

“high.”

Just in time, Katanashi’s disciples returned with a bronze gun and a captured iron cannon from the Ming Dynasty.

Katanashi began his explanation to Mochiyo by comparing the iron cannons of the Ming Dynasty and the long guns of Joseon.

“If you look closely at the muzzle, you will see that the gun barrel of this famous country was rolled up and joined together. “But Joseon’s deck is seamless.”

“No seams? “Is that important?”

Katanashi nodded in response to Mochiyo’s question.

“The fact that there are no joints means that it was made as one pipe from the beginning. What this means is that the fire energy of gunpowder can be contained better. Also, there is no need to worry about the joints bursting due to poor jointing.”

“So is it a fetish?”

Katanashi shook his head in response to Mochiyo’s question.

“But it’s not like it was cast. Casting cannot come out this smooth, and cast iron will break when subjected to strong impact. In order for cast iron to withstand the heat of gunpowder, it must go through a complex smelting process and it is difficult to achieve such a smooth surface. “Phew~”

Katanashi let out another long sigh and concluded.

“To conclude, Joseon made gun barrels by trimming steel tubes made of the best steel that could be used as a material for making famous swords. When it comes to the barrel alone, it is at a level that even Minguk’s can’t match. But I can only say that it is Oinari-sama’s blessing that we are able to send so many boxes of these things.”

The evaluation of Katanashi, citing the god as having the form of a fox, was the highest praise.

However, the Joseon craftsmen who later heard the story from the messenger who went to Joseon muttered with rotten smiles.

“The protection of the fox monster? “If that were possible, it would have been solved by catching all the nine-tailed foxes, even if it meant tearing down all the mountains of Joseon.”

“In Joseon, there is a crown prince who is scarier than a fox.”

* * *

Many parts of Joseon were changed due to the virtue of incense, but what changed the most was ironware.

Until the time of King Sejong’s accession to the throne, Joseon’s iron-making and smelting technology was one step behind that of the Ming.

In the process of developing a toy, a howitzer, there were attempts to make it out of iron casting like the Ming Dynasty, but the heat treatment technology was inferior to the Ming Dynasty and continued to fail. (Note 1)

However, when the Hyang intervened, the whole situation changed.

Without the intervention of the local government, a full-scale large-scale steel mill was created through the mass production technology of steel, which would have been passed down to a small number of people until the late Joseon Dynasty and then disappeared during the colonial period.

Afterwards, with constant sticks and carrots, the level of Joseon’s iron and smelting technology rose almost vertically.

Thanks to this, the level of technology, which was considered to be inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty until the early days of King Sejong, was now far ahead of the Ming Kingdom in the latter half of the Gyeongjang period.

Additionally, the development of steam engines accelerated this development.

The creation of a powerful power source that was incomparably stronger than human power or axial force made it possible to mass-produce higher quality steel materials.

This was also proven through analysis of scent.

“Even if we analyze it as objectively and conservatively as possible, it seems that we have surpassed the level of the early industrial revolution…”

Hyang muttered with a serious look on his face after analyzing the situation in Joseon.

“What is needed for continued growth in the future is the market and population. The problem is solved by encouraging the population to become more prolific, expanding the river area, and at the same time accepting indigenous people into Joseon. The problem is the market… If you look at the current situation in Joseon, most of the cutting-edge technologies are being applied first to the military sector…”

Hyang, who was tapping his fingers on the desk, looked into the distance and muttered.

“It sounds like you will be punished, but… isn’t there a war breaking out somewhere? It would be nice if it took place far away from Joseon… but it would be great if it took place in Europe. “Why are these humans who fight day after day so quiet?”

While people were secretly expecting war to break out in Europe, a civil war broke out in Japan.

‘Civil war breaks out in Japan!’ After hearing the Iranian report, Hyang glanced at the sky and muttered.

“Whether or not…”

* * *

After hearing Katanashi’s evaluation, Mochiyo bit Katanashi.

“is it? Good job! “It’s okay to go back.”

In response to Mochiyo’s words, Katanashi politely bowed and retreated. Even as he retreated, Katanashi’s eyes were fixed on the rifle sent from Joseon.

As Katanashi gave the best evaluation, the surrounding high-ranking samurai focused their attention on the box.

Since it received rave reviews from Katanashi, interest grew even more.

However, the first to speak out were those with negative thoughts.

“The long guns sent by Joseon are excellent, but it will take a lot of time to produce them in proportion to their excellence. On the battlefield, quantity is as important as quality. There will definitely be a joint battle in the spring, and it will be a problem if we do not secure enough long guns before then. If the number is small, it would be better to produce more copper guns and melt the iron from those guns to make high-quality spears and swords.”

A messenger who had been to Joseon immediately stepped forward to refute the negative remarks.

“They said that in Joseon, up to 300 sacks can be produced per month!”

“300 bags a month!”

Not only the opposing samurai, but even Mochiyo were greatly surprised by the messenger’s remarks.

Currently, the maximum production of long guns produced in Ouchi’s territory is 30 guns per month.

This was the situation even though the blacksmiths in the territory were scraped together as much as possible.

The biggest reason for the low production was that blacksmiths did not only make guns.

Production was low because most war-related items, including the iron pieces for spear swords and arrowhead armor, had to go through the hands of blacksmiths.

In such a situation, if 300 guns arrived in a month, Ouchi’s concerns would be immediately resolved.

The center of gravity shifted sharply at the lion’s remarks. However, the samurai of the Munchi faction, who were wary of Saja from the Munchi faction, continued to slander him.

“But the price is too high. 12 nyang of silver per bag! Each copper gun produced in our territory costs 7 nyang of silver! To put it bluntly, if you buy one Joseon-made gun, you can buy two guns in our territory!”

In response to the opposition from the Mudan faction, those from the Munchi faction protested.

“Don’t just think about price, you have to think about time too! No matter how much we use in our territory, it’s only 30 dragons a month! But 300 bags a month! “There will be a joint battle right away in the coming spring, but the price is the problem now!”

“That’s right! “Considering the time, it’s a price you can afford!”

“But it’s still too expensive!”

As the voices of both sides grew louder, Mochiyo screamed.

“Be quiet! “What a disgrace!”

In response to Mochiyo’s reprimand, the retainers immediately shut their mouths and bowed closely.

“I apologize!”

Mochiyo, who had shut the mouths of the Munchi faction and the Mudan faction, looked back at the lion.

“You probably didn’t know about the price issue, right?”

“hot! God also knows the problem of price. However, there was a problem of time and the performance of Korean-made long guns was so excellent that we had no choice.”

“great? “But isn’t it just a long gun?”

“Joseon’s long guns do not use matchlocks!”

“huh?”

At the lion’s answer, not only Mochiyo but also the samurai of the Mudan sect focused their attention on the lion.

* * *

All the samurai’s eyes lit up when they saw the demonstration of the samurai who accompanied the lion.

One way or another, they were also samurai who would go to battle. If there was a weapon that was superior to the weapon the enemy had, it was bound to attract attention.

“When shooting a copper gun, the most important thing to pay attention to is the management of the firelock, and it is certain that it will be much more convenient if the flintlock is fired like that.”

“The fire fighter had trouble reloading after firing, but it’s good that you don’t have to worry about that.”

“You don’t have to worry about firefighting, so the firing speed will be even faster.”

While the samurai were receiving positive reviews, the lion struck the final blow.

“Joseon’s long guns do not simply end with this.”

The lion picked up the spiked bayonet contained on one side of the box and attached it to the long gun.

“If you combine the spear blades like this, you can respond to close combat as well.”

“oh!”

In the end, Ouchi decided to purchase large quantities of Korean-made long guns.

* * *

The day after the purchase of Joseon-made long guns was decided, Mochiyo called his vassals together.

“The quality of the Joseon-made rifles I saw yesterday and the Joseon-made blades I saw at mines or at Joseon’s superiors are of excellent quality.”

All the retainers nodded at Mochiyo’s words.

‘Joseon’s blades and kitchen knives are also famous swords.’

This kind of joke was going around all over Japan.

“So, in addition to purchasing long guns and gunpowder from Joseon, we will also purchase long swords in large quantities. The blacksmiths in the territory will be responsible for the production of spear blades and arrowhead armor. “At least that much will reduce the burden on the blacksmiths in the territory and allow them to arm themselves more faithfully.”

A senior retainer pointed out a problem with Mochiyo’s declaration.

“But there will be financial problems.”

“First of all, you can deal with what you got from the silver mine, and then pay back what you still lack after you win! “Winner takes all!”

In this way, Ouchi ordered a large amount of weapons to Joseon.

After hearing the story through the messenger, Hyang looked at Kim Jeom. Looking at Kim Jeom’s face who couldn’t hide his smile, Hyang muttered to herself.

‘Your mouth will be sorely torn apart!’

* * *

Note 1) Joseon’s weapons and armor. Written by Min Seung-gi. Garam Planning.