Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 652

Episode 652: Woodpecker’s Strange Neighbor (1)

“I’m back!”

As the child’s energetic voice echoed throughout the house, the child’s mother, who had been cooking in the kitchen, came out, wiping her wet hands on a dishtowel.

“Welcome. “Were the school classes fun?”

“yes!”

The child who answered moved the small water pump on one side of the yard, filled the basin with water, and thoroughly washed his lathered hands with the soap placed next to him.

This scene seemed like the daily life of an ordinary imperial family, but there was something else.

This was Shinji, and the hat we just talked to was Shinji’s hat.

They were a new generation of indigenous people who wore clothes that were a mixture of traditional indigenous clothes and those brought from the empire, lived in brick houses with separate kitchens and flush toilets instead of traditional wigwams, used sanitation facilities using water and sewage systems, and sent their children to schools. .

“Whoa~.”

‘Woodpecker’, who had finished washing the dinner dishes, sat down on a chair in the living room with a light sigh. Grabbing a cup filled with steaming black bean tea with both hands, the woodpecker looked at his son, the ‘clever fox’, who was struggling with his homework on one side of the table.

As the woodpecker watched his son struggling with his homework under the yellow light of a bluestone lamp (so named because of the color of carbide), he suddenly felt an unfamiliar feeling.

‘When I was young, I never thought I would lead a life like this…’

* * *

Around the time when the woodpecker – so named because of its loud cries – began to properly remember, a group of remote tribesmen came to her. Contacted the tribe.

They came from places farther than the territory of the Iroquois tribe to which their own tribe belonged as well as the ‘Kanonsionni’, a union of other tribes.

She still vividly remembered how all the warriors of the alliance were very nervous when they appeared riding on beasts they had never seen before.

However, they did not show hostility and wanted to talk. After learning that they needed a place to stay in the conversation that followed with all kinds of hand and foot gestures, the union chiefs and warriors discussed their opinions with the clan mothers and were soon offered a place. This was because their skills were not known to fight them out.

Having built a nest like that, they soon became members of the union. The reason for this was because they had a hostile relationship with the Algonquin Huron people, who were hostile to the Confederacy.

Not long after their appearance, Algonquin and Huron warriors joined forces and flocked.

The unprecedented large-scale raid and the joint attack by the Algonquin and Huron tribes, who were hostile to each other as well as the Confederacy, made the Confederate chiefs and warriors prepare for extinction.

At that time, when foreigners riding on unfamiliar beasts appeared, the Algonquin and Huron warriors suddenly began to hesitate.

And when the outsiders aimed long sticks, the warriors of the two tribes suddenly began to retreat.

And with a loud sound that I had never heard in my life, as if lightning had struck nearby, smoke rose from the sticks of the outsiders, and the warriors who were hesitating and retreating fell down screaming.

After that, it was a one-sided massacre. The warriors who were hesitating and retreating attacked with vicious attacks, but fell down screaming every time smoke rose from their sticks. When the warriors who could not endure turned their backs and ran away, outsiders chased them with unfamiliar animals.

In that battle, the Union warriors were able to clearly see the power of the foreigners. Weapons made from hard wood or stone were all that the Alliance warriors had. However, the weapons the outsiders had were shiny, hard, and sharp.

The chiefs and mothers of the union who saw the power of the outsiders accepted them as members of the union.

-It is best to welcome him as a brother rather than letting him be an enemy!

And through conversations with these new members of the alliance, I learned that what they had was not just stone, but weapons made by melting down a stone called iron.

* * *

The Joseon army, which established a bridgehead in the northwest of Sinji, began to advance east according to King Sejong’s orders.

– Reach the eastern end of Shinji as quickly as possible.

-Also, secure a clear and safe transportation route between the bridgehead and the eastern advance point.

– Prioritize relations with the indigenous people you come into contact with during this process, but respond firmly if a dispute arises. The intensity of response should be similar to that of the Jurchen tribe.

The beachhead commanders who received Sejong’s order focused their attention on the last item.

“If we are to respond in line with the Jurchen tribe, this is an order to include even the Annihilation tribe.”

The commanders nodded and began to carefully examine King Sejong’s orders in order to execute them more efficiently.

“Why do you want to give priority to reaching the eastern end?”

The commanders pondered the reason. According to their common sense, the rule was to build up and expand step by step, like a wave spreading from a beachhead.

While King Sejong was pondering why he issued such an order, a commander came up with a plausible opinion.

“There is a rumor coming from the research center established by the Crown Prince that the world is round and shaped like a sphere. If that’s the case, wouldn’t you reach this new land if you keep moving westward from the land of the West?”

“Right!”

Only then did the commanders nod as if they all understood.

If you move according to the rules and miss the time, there is a chance that you will fight for leadership with the Seo-i who arrived on the other side. However, if the East and West were connected and then expanded to the North and South based on that connecting line, there was a low probability that the West would give up the initiative even if they came.

Of course, it was a bit far from the correct answer that Sejong thought – it was closer to Hyang’s idea – but it was a very close understanding.

The commanders who understood the order did their best to make it successful.

He created a friendly atmosphere with the natives he came into contact with through trade. Joseon’s advanced iron farming tools were the best weapon to win the favor of the native people.

However, they responded firmly with force against the natives who bared their teeth.

As a result of that armed conflict, the Algonquin and Huron people became hostile to Joseon. However, the difference in military strength was so great that the Algonquin and Huron people had to withdraw unconditionally when the Joseon army appeared.

Given this background, the union between the Iroquois Union and Joseon was a mutually beneficial decision.

In the case of the Iroquois Confederation, it gained a powerful ally that could subdue its archenemies, the Algonquin and Huron people, and in the case of Joseon, it joined hands with the largest group among the indigenous people.

By joining hands with the Iroquois Confederation, which controlled the eastern part of Shinji, it was possible to create a canvas on which King Sejong’s big picture would be painted.

* * *

As an unfamiliar tribe called ‘Joseon’ joined the union, great changes occurred in the lives of indigenous women like Woodpecker.

The biggest change was that women learned Hunminjeongeum.

A major part of the women’s work in the Confederacy was memorizing tribal lore. It was their job to memorize what had been passed down orally from generation to generation, teach it to their children, and pass it on to future generations.

However, their burden was greatly reduced by recording the tradition in writing using Hunminjeongeum. It wasn’t just that. By comparing what was recorded in Hunminjeongeum, it was possible to correct incorrect transmissions.

Soon after, a monopoly was established in the residences of Koreans, and the women’s society of the Union once again became agitated.

The cloth called ‘gwangmok’, which was different from the fur and roughly woven cloth that had been used as cloth up to that time, was amazing, and the needles made of iron were also shocking.

In addition, the monopoly store was full of many interesting and useful things.

“If you want something, you have to pay for it.”

“cost?”

“Gold, silver, or leather are also good.”

“I understand leather, but what about gold and silver?”

After hearing the women’s questions, the salesperson in charge opened the bag and showed them gold and silver pieces.

“The yellow one is gold and the white one is silver.”

“Ah… where can I get it?”

“The person who brought this said he picked it up from the river to the south.”

And the men of the union had to suffer from the sexualization of women.

“Go and catch a deer, or go to the river and find some gold!”

Although there were women’s sanctification, men also had needs, so they passionately engaged in hunting and gold panning.

What they wanted were Joseon weapons, especially bows and horses.

As Joseon joined the Iroquois Confederation, exchanges between the Joseon army and the warriors of the Confederation became more frequent.

“Except for that long gun and horseback gun, there doesn’t seem to be anything scary about it.”

The Joseon army grinned and muttered to itself at the words of the allied warriors.

‘You’ll faint when you see the artillery.’

Union warriors showed off the stone tools they used, such as tomahawks and war clubs, and boasted about their martial arts. And the Joseon soldiers kept nodding their heads and matching the rhythm.

However, when the natives showed their bows, the Joseon soldiers quickly raised their hands.

“for a moment! “Please wait a moment!”

After asking for understanding from the warriors, the Joseon soldiers returned to their quarters and brought out a traditional bow and arrow containing a rolled bow.

The Joseon soldiers, holding their bows to their shins and attaching their bow strings, hung arrows on the strings and spoke to the warriors.

“It’s called a bow…”

And the soldiers’ eyes widened as they watched the Joseon military’s demonstration.

Bows smaller than the ones they had shot arrows farther and more powerfully.

The warriors who saw the power of Joseon’s Gakgung all muttered the same thing.

“I want it….”

The words were even more desperate. The usefulness of horses, not only in the last battle but also in various situations thereafter, was great.

And Shin Sook-ju, who saw through the hearts of these natives, waved bait to them.

“It’s impossible to say right now, but you can buy bows and arrows at the wholesale store.”

“Really? “Thank you!”

The natives who found a way through Shin Suk-ju soon moved forward, regardless of gender. Men worked hard to hunt or collect gold, while women trimmed leather or panned for gold in the river with the men.

However, this was not efficient. With the weapons of the natives, it was difficult to catch large animals alone or in groups of two or three. Of course, we had to go hunting as a group, and if we divided the results, our share was small.

The same was true for gold dust. Even if you turned over the sand on the riverbed all day, it was rare to find a decent piece of gold.

Of course, even with such a small portion, it was possible to obtain basic necessities such as needles.

However, the natives wanted to get their hands on more expensive and valuable items, especially cotton.

At that time, a Joseon soldier passing by secretly gave advice.

“Bear or deer are best. “If you do that, you can get a lot of money just by catching one.”

“huh? “Thank you!”

And not long after, something interesting happened.

The situation where the bear was chasing and the natives were running away suddenly changed into a situation where the bear was running away and the natives were chasing in droves.