Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 502

Episode 502: Those who earn, those who spend. (4)

To be honest, the Ouchi family of Mochiyo was also under considerable financial pressure as they had been purchasing all kinds of war materials from Joseon.

In such a situation, Mochiyo was pleased when Chosun said he wanted to buy something by giving money.

“What are the things that Duke Han of Joseon wants to buy?”

“Cotton comes first, followed by sulfur and copper. “We need some grain, but the situation in the Japanese country seems to be not good, so I am offering it.”

“Hmm…”

Mochiyo’s face became slightly serious at Han Myeonghoe’s words.

‘Shibukawa produces more cotton than us, and we also pay money to buy sulfur and copper…’ Han

Myeong-hoe, who noticed that Mochiyo’s expression was not good, immediately continued.

“But if we look at the current situation in the country of Japan, isn’t it a situation where we, Joseon, can trade as we please? I hope that the head of the family can tell me a trustworthy territory or facilitate a meeting. “I’m just worried that it might be a burden to someone who is busy with a great cause.”

Mochiyo’s face brightened at Han Myeonghoe’s words.

“oh! What’s the problem with that? Please wait a few days! “I bring you good news!”

In response to Mochiyo’s answer, Han Myeong-hoe bowed her head with a bright face.

“Thank you so much!”

* * *

“Hello! Take him to a place where he can rest in peace!”

After sending Han Myeong-hoe out, Mochiyo looked back at his retainers.

“Isn’t this a good opportunity?”

“That’s right!”

“I was worried that if things continued like this, there would be a crisis, but this truly great opportunity has come! It is certain that Kamisama takes care of us!”

The retainers also looked as if all their worries had disappeared in one go. Of course, there were some people who did not know what to look for.

“I brought good news, but haven’t you treated me too much? “My lord, you will soon ascend to the position of a man of the world, but if you make a mistake, there is a high possibility that the Korean people will make a misjudgment.”

When one of the retainers made that point, Mochiyo’s face became fierce.

“You idiot! Do you think the author is simply an envoy from Joseon? He is a direct subordinate who works right next to the Crown Prince of Joseon! If the Crown Prince of Joseon ascends to the throne, he will immediately enter the core of power! But are you looking down on me now just because I’m young?”

In response to Mochiyo’s shouting, the retainer who made the problematic comment immediately fell face down on the floor.

“I’m sorry! “God forgive me for my slip of the tongue!”

“If you speak without thinking again, I will immediately cut off your head!”

“Thank you for showing me mercy.”

The vassal, who had escaped a near-death crisis, expressed his gratitude while breaking into a cold sweat.

Mochiyo, who had shaken up his retainers, settled the situation.

“Joseon’s current request is like a kamikaze sent to us by Kamisama. However, if you make even the slightest mistake, you are wasting a golden opportunity, so do your best.”

“hot!”

The retainers responded with one voice to Mochiyo’s words.

* * *

As Mochiyo said, Joseon’s purchase request was like a new wind for Ouchi and the alliance.

Although the purchase of weapons itself was settled on credit through Ouchi’s payment guarantee, maintaining a large-scale army was a costly affair.

However, if we reduced the army, it was certain that the nearby hostile territory would attack us immediately.

In the end, this financial burden had no choice but to fall on the farmers of the estate.

The problem was that it was unlikely that farmers would just accept this increased burden.

A situation arose where the village chiefs of the villages belonging to the territory immediately flocked to protest and even threatened that an Ikki might occur.

In this situation, the lords of various parts of the Japanese country were in a situation where they could not do this or that.

In such a crisis, Joseon’s demands were conveyed through Ouchi.

“What a great thing!”

The lords belonging to Ouchi, who heard Joseon’s demands through Ouchi, applauded and were happy.

* * *

Looking at the situation in Japan during this period, Joseon was in a situation where it largely dominated the Japanese market.

And a representative example of this was Gwangmok.

Cotton cloth and linen spun as a home-made industry were no match for the cotton spun by machines in Joseon.

Of course, Joseon’s cotton cloth was more expensive than Japanese cotton cloth, but it was not expensive enough to give up buying it. Rather, the Japanese purchased Joseon’s cotton because it had an overwhelming advantage in terms of marketability such as durability.

And they were the Japanese who chose to sell cotton to Joseon instead of weaving their own cloth.

“Although cotton consumes a lot of intellectual power, the profits are much greater than rice farming!”

“After all, our rice fields are on the hillside, so rice farming isn’t easy, right? “Let’s plant cotton!”

As these ideas spread, many farmers in Japan began to grow cotton.

And it was the lords who accelerated this situation.

This was because more taxes were collected from cotton than from rice farming.

Of course, there were some who felt threatened by this situation.

“Paddy fields are being used to grow cotton, which is inedible. If you continue like this, you could starve to death!”

“Cotton cultivation must be banned or reduced immediately!”

Those who opposed cotton cultivation raised their voices, but few people, from farmers to lords, listened.

“Cotton is more profitable than growing rice, so what nonsense?”

“rice? “If you have money, you can buy things without worrying about anything?”

“In fact, after growing cotton, the number of people starving has decreased!”

What those who raised objections said was true. When cotton cultivation began, grains that became scarce could be purchased with money.

This was Joseon’s target. Joseon purchased grains from Gangnam in Daewol and Seomla and supplied them to the Japanese lords. And the lords sold the grains they brought in to the people.

During this process, Joseon did not forget to secretly inform the lords.

– If you lower taxes, you can obtain more wealth.

“What nonsense?”

The lords who had tilted their heads at Joseon’s words brightened when they saw Ouchi follow Joseon’s example and lower the tax rate.

“Ouchi?”

Ouchi was equally skeptical. However, Ouchi Morimi’s decision that development could only be achieved by imitating Joseon was carried out in accordance with the strong arguments of Confucian scholars who returned from Joseon.

But the results were very good. The loyalty of the people of the territory increased further, and as commerce developed, taxes coming in began to increase.

Seeing this, other lords began to follow Ouchi’s example one by one.

Paradoxically, as farmers shifted from growing their own rice to buying and eating it, the number of farmers going hungry decreased significantly. This was because, as long as you had money, you could always go to your lord and buy grain to fill your stomach. And with the reduction in taxes, the Japanese people, who had secured more economic space, began to purchase Joseon goods.

As the situation progressed, Joseon was steadily earning goods from Japan. Even when there was a drought in Gangnam, they acquired goods by steadily supplying grain through Daewol and Seomla, and sold various items made in Joseon to the Japanese government.

As she was sorting out this situation, Hyang smiled wryly.

“Who did that? ‘If we just sell it, we can only sell Walkmans, but if we build a factory, we can sell not only CDPs but also TVs.’”

And Japan’s agriculture, industry and commerce were becoming more and more dependent on Joseon.

Later, scholars who studied the history of Japan and Northeast Asia during this period evaluated it this way.

-Joseon unleashed ‘sweet poison’ on the Japanese nation.

* * *

While Ouchi was sighing at the benefits of Joseon, the shogunate found itself in an increasingly difficult situation.

Unlike the Ouchi, which was able to accumulate capital internally through the Iwami Silver Mine, the Muromachi shogunate accumulated capital through trade with the Ming Joseon Dynasty.

However, as the civil war broke out, the volume of trade with Joseon, which was close to Ouchi, was greatly reduced. As trade with Joseon decreased, trade with Ming increased, but the profits decreased significantly.

This was because merchants who had become monopolistic began to attack.

In addition, various weapons that were initially provided free of charge had to be purchased with money.

* * *

This was because the situation had become unavoidable for the Ming Dynasty.

The 1,000 iron guns initially supplied according to the will of Emperor Seondeok could not be said to be unreasonable.

However, the arms race that occurred as the Japanese kingdom was divided into two required more and more iron guns and artillery, which began to become a burden on the Ming as well.

In addition, the chief rifle that was captured by the shogunate and handed over to the Ming Dynasty became a problem.

“There was a report that the Joseon army’s rifles did not use matchlocks when they were suppressing Lee Man-ju in the past, right?”

“That’s right.”

“At the time, Jim thought the report was a mistake. This was because they did not think it was possible to ignite gunpowder without a matchmaker. But it was possible. “I took a hit.”

As Emperor Seondeok patted the chief’s rifle with a bitter expression, Ye Bu Sangseo immediately spoke.

“I will send an envoy to Joseon immediately and say something.”

“done. “Even if I was the king of Joseon, I would have used the same method.”

Emperor Seondeok, who rejected Yebu Sangseo’s proposal, handed a rifle to Byeongbusangseo and ordered him to do so.

“Remodel the iron guns used by our military in the same way. And think of ways to develop it further. There is no way that Joseon would have released these iron guns on the Japanese without thinking. It is certain that Joseon went one step further. So we can’t stop either.”

“I obey the Emperor’s command!”

According to the orders of Emperor Seondeok, work began on modifying the iron guns used by the Ming army. During this process, there was a disruption in supply to the Japanese country.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, the largest economy in Northeast Asia, producing as many new iron guns as those supplied to the Japanese was almost a waste.

In addition, Emperor Seondeok’s cruel decision was added.

“No matter how important it is to expand your power, missing a golden opportunity proves your incompetence! It is unacceptable to provide unconditional support to these incompetent people! “Get paid!”

“I obey the Emperor’s command!”

* * *

As this happened, the shogunate began to find it increasingly difficult to expand its military base.

First month of the 27th year of King Sejong (Eulchuk Year, 1445)

“There is nothing we can do now! “We must come to a conclusion before it is too late!”

“You must!”

In the end, the heads of the shogunate slowly began preparing for a showdown.

This atmosphere was also spread to Ouchi, and Mochiyo called his retainers together.

“Now the time has come for the decisive battle! Prepare for a joint war! “Tell this to the lords of the alliance!”

“hot!”

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hanseong, Joseon, Hyang was muttering while looking at the graph.

“I saw that sales were decreasing, so I sold as much as I could. Now, I guess I’ll just have to stop playing for a while until I’m completely exhausted. However, there is nothing more profitable than selling weapons… Should we try selling them in Europe?”

It was a scent that was thinking about a new sales outlet.