Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 631

Episode 631 Now in Beijing…. (1)

While Joseon, which had been transformed into the Korean Empire and Federation, was busy preparing to take another leap forward, Beijing was noisy every day.

Bang bang bang!

“It’s already been a year since the war ended, and now we’re entering the second year! But it still looks like this! “What happened!”

Gyeongtae Emperor Joo Gi-ok hit the table and shouted.

In response to Emperor Gyeongtae’s shouting, the ministers, including the assistant cabinet secretary, all bowed to the floor and bowed their heads.

“Please forgive the gods for their incompetence!”

“If you’re that incompetent, just give up your position and step down! Have you forgotten the advice the Emperor left behind? Or has he forgotten the humiliation suffered by Joseon, which was merely a vassal state!”

“How could I have forgotten!”

“But why is it like this!”

The ministers only bowed their heads in response to Emperor Gyeongtae’s reprimand.

* * *

After the last war with Joseon, the situation of the Ming Dynasty was miserable.

The biggest cause was that the waist of the Grand Canal was cut.

Contrary to Joseon’s expectations at the time, the Ming Dynasty’s Grand Canal was severed at the waist, causing not hemiplegia but paralysis of the entire body.

“why?”

Alarmed by the fact that the situation had become more serious than expected, the Empire began to meticulously investigate the cause.

The reason why this attention was paid was because if the chaos in the Central Plains became more serious than expected, the direct damage would greatly affect the empire.

The best example of that damage was the Red Turban Rebellion, one of the main causes that led to the fall of Goryeo.

The northern and central regions of Goryeo were in shambles due to two Red Turban invasions at the end of the Yuan Empire.

In addition, the invasion of Japanese pirates left the southern and central regions in shambles, causing the Goryeo imperial family to lose its ability to run the country normally, and Joseon was born.

“Of course, the situation is completely different from then and now, but we must prevent preventable damage.”

“you’re right. And unlike before, we now have a river area that is wider than we imagined, so something similar can happen. “We need to take a close look at each person’s case and come up with measures in advance.”

The local government and ministers who reached a consensus mobilized various means. I began to carefully examine the cause-and-effect relationship to find out why something happened like that.

* * *

As expected, the biggest cause was the cutting of the waist of the Grand Canal.

As far back as Jinam, the Joseon army destroyed all the canals near Jinam and the waterways that supplied water to the canals.

This was not just simple destruction, but explosives were used to completely destroy the water gates and embankments of important reservoirs.

The characteristics of the Yellow River had a negative impact there.

As befits its name, the Yellow River was full of all kinds of impurities. Therefore, even under normal operating conditions, sediments accumulating in the canal were periodically removed.

However, due to the invasion of the Joseon army and the subsequent invasion by Japanese pirates, the canal was completely unmanaged. To make matters worse, debris and sediments piled up in the destroyed facilities, necessitating several times more effort.

If something like this had happened due to a natural disaster while the nation’s operational capabilities were normal, recovery would not have been a major problem. Of course, it would take a bit more effort, but under normal circumstances, it was easily manageable.

However, the war with Joseon and the invasion of Japanese pirates made this a nearly impossible challenge.

A large number of men were conscripted as soldiers and moved north, and many of those who remained were killed by Japanese pirates or died fighting.

* * *

It was not the case that people just turned a blind eye to this situation and watched.

Measures for efficient manpower mobilization had already been made since the time of Emperor Seondeok.

The problem was the railroad. To increase efficiency, railways were used as the main means of transportation. It was a measure to enable rapid gathering and movement by using the circular railway and the Gyeonghang Grand Canal, which were divided into three across the Yellow River and Yangtze Rivers.

However, the Japanese pirates who invaded the central Ming region destroyed all the iron tracks and steam locomotives laid on the railway and shipped them to the Japanese country.

Although it was not as good as Joseon-made, the quality of iron used in Ming’s railroads and steam locomotives was of the highest quality in Japan. Therefore, the Japanese pirates pulled out not only the railroad tracks and steam locomotives, but even the nails from the sleepers and transported them to the Japanese country.

As a result, the Ming had to abandon much of the plan established during the reign of Emperor Xuande and return to the traditional method of traveling on foot.

This wasn’t an easy task either.

The central and northern regions of the Ming Dynasty were almost conscripted to fight the war with Joseon and prevent the Oirat in the north.

And other regions in the central region, excluding the Midwest, were devastated by Japanese pirates.

Most of the manpower mobilized for recovery had to come from the southern part of the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, the southern circular railway network was intact, so people were gathered quickly, but crossing the Yangtze River was a problem.

I took the cutting-edge Gyeonghang Grand Canal as far north as possible, but from there I had to travel long distances on foot.

It was absolutely no easy task to move the 100,000 people mobilized in the first round on foot.

Clothing and putting 100,000 people to sleep was a problem, but the biggest problem was feeding them.

* * *

Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the Gangnam area in the central plains has been famous as a granary. The completion of the Gyeonghang Grand Canal during the Yuan Empire and the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was to transport large quantities of Gangnam’s abundant food to the north.

Emperor Seondeok divided the industrial structure of Gangnam and Gangbuk into two to take full advantage of the geographical characteristics of the central plains and the Gyeonghang Grand Canal.

Gangnam’s traditional agricultural-centered structure was strengthened, and the area around Beijing and the north-central region was transformed into a manufacturing-centered area.

This was not determined simply based on geographical characteristics alone. Emperor Seondeok, who considered the Oirat and Northern Yuan as well as Joseon as enemies, transformed Beijing and the northern central region into an industrial zone in order to quickly supply armament and strengthen the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.

This had the positive effect of increasing efficiency in manpower supply and logistics movement, but it also had the disadvantage of being dependent on Gangnam for food supply.

And with the invasion of Japanese pirates, that weakness was dealing a fatal blow.

* * *

As mentioned before, the Gangnam area of the Ming Dynasty suffered little damage not only from the war but also from the invasion of Japanese pirates.

The problem was that with the Gyeonghang Grand Canal cut off, there was no way to sell food.

The grain was rotting in the farmers’ barns in Gangnam, but in the area north of the Yellow River, a situation began to arise where grain could not be obtained even if several times more money was paid.

At a time like this, merchants from the empire approached him offering to buy grain.

“I’d rather feed it to pigs than sell it to the Joseon bastards!”

Some people used it as fodder, distributed it to beggars for free, and donated it to temples or temples, but many ended up selling grain to merchants of the empire.

As this situation arose, merchants began to appear one by one, taking advantage of this to make huge profits.

Grain was purchased at a low price from farmers in the Gangnam region and sold to the Gangbuk region at a multiple of the profit.

Of course, this was illegal, and during the reign of Emperor Seondeok, not only the merchant’s family but also his surrounding relatives would have died.

However, as the Gyeonghang Grand Canal was cut off and the imperial administrative network became arteriosclerotic, the seeds of corruption began to grow again.

The people who accelerated this pace of corruption were the so-called Murim people.

* * *

During the reign of Emperor Seondeok, the Murim people were purged for the crime of rebelling against the emperor and had to live while avoiding the eyes of the emperor.

The reason why these martial people rose to the surface again was because of the raids by Japanese pirates.

The Murim people, who took up the banner of ‘loyalty, righteousness, and righteousness,’ distinguished themselves in battles against Japanese pirates.

Emperor Gyeongtae praised the activities of the Murim people and gave them a considerable amount of rewards. Incited by this, martial artists appeared here and there. However, it was natural for those who showed up like this to turn into interest groups.

The Murim people began to demand significant benefits in the process of protecting workers and supplies moving from Gangnam to Gangbuk.

* * *

The area devastated by the invasion of Japanese pirates was overflowing with wandering people. Since even the administrative network to rescue them was shattered, they soon transformed into a group of thieves.

The Ming Dynasty, which had lost a large number of troops to Joseon and had to deal with the Oirat in the north with the remaining troops, needed time to select troops responsible for security.

To buy time, Myeong reached out to the martial arts people.

The same was true for merchants.

Since the Gyeonghang Grand Canal was cut off, traditional methods had to be used to carry out commercial traffic between Gangbuk and Gangnam.

You could load goods on a ship and travel by sea, or load goods on a cart and travel on foot.

However, the land routes were crowded with wandering people who had turned into bandits, and the sea routes were full of pirates.

After the Ming Dynasty navy was destroyed in the last war, the coastal sea route between Gangbuk and Gangnam became a frequent haunt of pirates.

What even the pirates had no choice about was the Joseon Navy, and indeed the Imperial Navy, roaring in the open ocean sea routes and the coastal waters of Joseon, where a lot of money was actually made. It was better to destroy a merchant ship in the easy coastal sea route than to become a meal as soon as it was discovered.

Because of this situation, merchants had no choice but to borrow the help of the martial arts people.

And the public order became even more chaotic.

As a market with enormous profits was created, fierce clashes broke out among the martial arts people. The Murim people who formed a group called Jeongpane and Sapane began not only killing Murim members of the opposing faction but also attacking the upper level protected by the opposing faction.

As this situation unfolded, what should have ended in hemiplegia worsened into full-body paralysis.

* * *

After organizing the situation, Hwang Hee reported to Hyang and added this.

“Although the Gyeonghang Grand Canal is the artery of the people, I think it is inevitable that it will have a great influence on the running of the country. However, it is difficult to understand the state of Myeong, who is on the verge of ruin.”

The other ministers all nodded at Hwang Hee’s words. After a while, Hwang Bo-in presented his thoughts.

“Is it because it’s a big country? “It is not easy to properly manage such a large river area.”

Hwang Hee shook her head resolutely at Hwang Bo-in’s words.

“These are officials chosen to properly manage that wide river area. It does not make sense.”

After that, various things were said, but no plausible reason was given.

After listening to the ministers’ words and organizing his thoughts, Hyang opened his mouth.

“It may be because there is no system of virtue. If you look at all the events that have occurred in the Ming Dynasty so far, the hand of Emperor Seondeok was touched and his intentions were reflected in every part. But I think it happened because he failed to raise proper successors and collapsed.”

“I believe what your Majesty said is most appropriate.”

Hwang Hee immediately responded to Hyang’s words, and all the ministers nodded.

The officer who recorded all of this added:

– says the officer.

I think what the Emperor said is extremely reasonable. The problem is that our empire must also think deeply about the issue of succession….

“What kind of typing does an officer spend so long doing? What kind of editorial are you writing again?”

“Oh no!”