Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 667
Episode 667: Stories from other countries (2)
At Emperor Gyeongtae’s order, starting with the cabinet replenishment, all the ministers were momentarily agitated.
“Your Majesty. “Did you say it was the Heavenly Way?”
Emperor Gyeongtae nodded in response to the cabinet secretary’s question.
“exactly. Consider when it would be best to move the capital to Nanjing. “In Jim’s opinion, the faster we can move, the better.”
In response to Emperor Gyeongtae’s answer, the cabinet secretary carefully asked the reason.
“My Majesty, could you tell me why you suddenly decided to move the capital?”
In response to a question from the cabinet secretary, the Gyeongtaeje explained the reason.
-If you think about the death of Sunmangchihan (脣亡齒寒), Beijing is now in a state of death. Therefore, moving to Nanjing is beneficial to national defense.
-If we look at the current situation in Gangnam, it has been sorted out to some extent as the traitors calling themselves Hyeje and Jumungyu have been in conflict, but it is still a chaotic situation. Now that the canal has been restored, it is the right time to lead the Geumgun army down to subdue the traitors and stabilize Gangnam.
“… It’s not easy to make time if you stay in Beijing under these circumstances. Therefore, we must move the capital to Nanjing.”
The cabinet assistants and ministers nodded their heads at Emperor Gyeongtae’s words. This was because they thought it was reasonable.
In the end, the cabinet secretaries and ministers bowed their heads and answered the Gyeongtae Emperor.
“I obey the Emperor’s command!”
* * *
After the meeting, the Cabinet secretaries and ministers from each department gathered in the cabinet’s conference room.
“What do you think about Your Majesty’s Imperial Order?”
When asked by the Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of Military Affairs was the first to open his mouth.
“When it comes to national defense, the decision your Majesty made is a reasonable one. Looking at the current situation in Beijing, Oira to the north and Joseon to the east are just around the corner. In the past, there would have been a buffer zone called Liaodong, but now that Liaodong is gone, it makes sense to go down to Nanjing.”
In response to the military service chief’s answer, the military service chief raised a counterargument.
“Isn’t the situation similar in Nanjing? “Across the sea, there is Joseon to the east and Wae to the south.”
The governor of the left responded to the remarks made by the Minister of Yebu.
“But if they want to plan Nanjing, they have to cross the sea. “The sea is a good passage, but it can also be a tricky obstacle.”
“A tricky obstacle? “What do you mean?”
In response to Yebu Sangseo’s question, Jwado-dok explained in more detail.
-The sea is a place where you cannot easily venture out without proper preparation.
-The most important item in this preparation is the crew. Even a simple river boat must risk its life if it does not have skilled boatmen, but the situation is even more severe in the sea. If you think about preparing for war on land, even if you bring in worms, 100 days is enough to use them at a minimum. But for the navy, that is impossible.
-It is the same for soldiers, but it is also the same for the front lines. It takes a lot of time and money to make a proper wire. Therefore, if a wire is lost, it is not easy to replace it.
“You will understand this well when you look at the situation of our navy.”
The Cabinet secretary and ministers felt bitter at the Left Governor’s words.
* * *
In the last war, the Ming navy that Emperor Seondeok had put so much effort into raising was literally destroyed. Dozens of Daebo ships, which were considered ‘castles on the sea’, were destroyed by a single Joseon Black Flame Dragon, and the great ships and midshipmen who would assist the Daebo ships were attacked by the challenger-class and sea emergency-class fronts of the Joseon navy.
As a result, the current Ming navy was in a situation where it was too difficult to defend the entrance to major ports.
Fortunately, the new Japanese king of the Japanese kingdom was subduing the lords one by one, and the Joseon navy was holding on thanks to the eradication of pirates in the ocean.
* * *
“With this background, an invasion by sea is not an easy task. “If we strengthen our defenses by building bigger and stronger batteries at major ports than before, even Joseon will not be able to easily attempt an invasion by sea.”
The cabinet secretary, who was nodding to the left governor’s words, asked the military personnel.
“Now that I think about it… how is it going with replicating the Joseon artillery and guns captured in the last conflict?”
The Minister of Military Affairs sighed and answered the Cabinet Secretary’s question.
“Whoa~. The duplication of artillery and the Fuhrer has reached a certain level, but the problem is not its scope. “We are urging the craftsmen, but we still haven’t found an answer.”
“Huh~. “Are the skills of our craftsmen far behind those of Joseon?”
In response to the Cabinet Secretary’s question, the Minister of Military Affairs answered with a sad face.
“We are falling further behind than expected. But what’s even worse is that many craftsmen were killed or kidnapped by Japanese pirates who took advantage of the previous conflict. And what’s worse… there’s no budget. “Making silver or high-quality gunpowder is not possible with just one or two experiments, but the budget is holding us back.”
“Oh my…”
“Haa~.”
The Cabinet Secretary and other ministers all let out a long sigh at the reply of the Minister of Military Affairs.
Sang-seo, the head of the hospital, quenched his thirst with the tea cup in front of him and continued speaking.
“I believe that relocating the capital is the best way to overcome the current situation. The canal was re-opened and Geumgun was able to go down to Gangnam again. We have to clean up Gangnam as soon as possible and get things back to normal. Otherwise, it will only become more and more difficult to keep up with the Joseon bastards who call themselves an empire.”
The Cabinet secretary shook his head at the words of the Minister of Military Affairs.
“That’s true, but transferring the capital is not an easy task, is it? “That’s the problem.”
“Isn’t everything already in Nanjing? “I don’t think there will be much of a burden, right?”
The cabinet secretary sighed and responded to the comment made by the Minister of Military Affairs.
“The problem is that it all exists.”
* * *
When the Ming Dynasty founded the country, the first place they chose as their capital was Nanjing.
Afterwards, the Yongle Emperor, who came to power through the ‘Change of Justice’, changed the capital to Beijing and the name of Nanjing from ‘Jingshi (Capital)’ to Nanjing.
Although the capital was moved to Beijing, the administrative organization remained in Nanjing. Afterwards, Nanjing was operated as the second capital as the crown prince stayed there and learned how to run state affairs.
This is why the cabinet secretary was worried. Although the subjects in Nanjing were lower in rank than those in Beijing, they were studded with stones.
It was clear that a factional fight would break out the moment the vassals from Beijing entered Nanking.
To be precise, there would be no particular problems for high-ranking officials such as cabinet assistants and ministers of ministries, but fierce factional battles would break out among mid- to lower-level officials.
* * *
Secretary Hobu, who understood the words of the Cabinet Secretary, expressed his thoughts.
“If the capital is relocated, only the locations of Beijing and Nanjing will change, so there won’t be a big problem, right? Officials need to remain in Beijing just like they did in Nanking up to now. “I don’t think there will be any factional fighting you’re worried about?”
At Hobu Sang-seo’s words, Ibu Sang-seo shook his head.
“Do you think we can take care of things more easily if we leave the people who have worked hand in hand with us here and come down? If we do something wrong, we may have to work while keeping an eye on the minds of those in Nanjing. And if we leave, how will we maintain the morale of the officials who will remain here?”
“Oh my…”
Hobu Sang-seo closed his mouth at Ibu Sang-seo’s point. Lee Bu Sang-seo continued speaking.
“You might think that since Nanjing is still safe, transferring the capital will be an easy task. But the biggest problem is the process of selecting who will go with you and who will stay. As the soldier said, Beijing is the core of the defense of the north. If the morale of those who manage such a place drops, they may face great trouble later. However, if you bring them all down, not only will there be a factional fight, but there will be a problem that this place will become Muju Gongsan. That’s not all. The places that produce weapons used by the military and railways, iron horses, and steam engines are most concentrated around Beijing. We need to think about their problems too. “Do you want to take it with you or leave it behind?”
“Do you need to take me with you? “It will just be a waste of money.”
Ibu Sang-seo asked back what Hobu Sang-seo said.
“Are you saying we should keep the place that manufactures weapons used by the military out of sight?”
“You mean…”
Hobu Sang-seo’s face turned pale and he stopped talking. The reason the factories in question were located around Beijing was because of surveillance issues. If a factory was left outside of surveillance, many things would leak out no matter how hard it was managed. And if the leaked weapons fell into the hands of subversive elements, the subsequent situation would turn into the worst.
Lee Bu Sang-seo’s words made the ministers again aware of the seriousness of the capital relocation issue. It was certain that if they made even the slightest mistake, a series of serious problems would arise that would make factional fighting seem like a cute thing.
“Hmm…”
“Oh my…”
While everyone was pondering to find a good answer, the Cabinet Secretary made the decision first.
“Let us make sure that currency printing companies and factories producing military weapons accompany this capital relocation. “If we only have those two in our hands, we will be able to prevent most problems in advance.”
Everyone present nodded at the decision of the Cabinet Secretary.
“I think that’s best.”
“The best thing would be to move everything at once, but we don’t have enough money to
do that…” After confirming that the attendees agreed with his decision, the cabinet secretary moved on to the next step.
“As for the transfer of the capital, it seems that the approximate results have been obtained. Are there any other issues?”
In response to the Cabinet Secretary’s question, the Minister of Military Affairs opened his mouth.
“I mentioned the Geumgun earlier, but there is actually a problem with the Geumgun.”
“problem?”
“There is a problem mobilizing troops for subjugation.”
The Cabinet Secretary’s expression became serious at the words of the Minister of Military Affairs. Military movement and strategy establishment for war were the areas of the right and left, but all rear-end work, such as mobilizing and supplying troops to support him, was the responsibility of the Minister of Military Affairs, and he was mentioning that there was a problem with the person in charge of that work now.
“Is there a problem with mobilizing troops? “Tell me in detail.”
In response to the Cabinet Secretary’s remarks, the Minister of Military Affairs explained what the problem was.
– Excluding the troops lost in the last conflict and the troops currently assigned to defensive duties on the northern and eastern borders, the remaining troops are approximately 1 million.
-However, these 1 million troops have so far been mobilized for canal and transportation network restoration projects. And at that time, more than three years have passed.
-The troops in charge of defending the border cannot be removed right now. This is because we are still barely able to maintain the power we need.
-This means that the soldiers mobilized for the restoration project should be deployed to the subjugation. However, looking at the situation of the soldiers, training needs to be started again from the beginning.
-Apart from the training problem, morale is a problem.
“It’s already been three years since I was drafted. Of course, three years may not seem like a long time, but the problem is that three years have passed since the conflict that forced them to serve in the military ended. But then you train them again and send them into a battlefield where life and death are at stake? If done incorrectly, there could be mass desertion. However, if I send them to their hometown, problems will arise in subjugating Gangnam, which is a pain in the ass.”
Ibu Sangseo raised a counterargument to the words of Sangseo Lee.
“But there has been no talk of large-scale desertion so far, right?”
“Because it was at a construction site, not a battlefield. As a bonus, I was paid a solid salary.”
Hearing the meaningful words of Sang-seo Lee, Sang-seo Lee kept his mouth shut.
“Hmm….”
In response to the warning from the Ministry of Health, the ministers began to think of a solution again.
Soon after, Hobu Sangseo came up with a method.
“How about using those who recently returned from Liaohe?”
“Yoha? “Are you talking about those whom the Koreans drove out?”
“exactly.”
Sangseo Hobu explained his method.
-Those who have now returned from Liaohe have no protection whatsoever.
-Also, looking at the situation in Gangnam, the number of lands that have lost their owners has increased due to conflicts caused by bandits.
-The returnees are mobilized as soldiers using the ownership and cultivation rights of these lands.
“If they had no financial support, many people would support them. In addition, there will be many people who will support those who wish to return home after the restoration project is over. Then, the military issue will be able to be resolved to some extent.”
All the ministers shouted at the same time at Hobu Sangseo’s suggestion.
“That’s a really clever idea!”