Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 704
Episode 704: Second Yellow Sea Battle (2)
Imperial Year 9 (1457). autumn. Nanjing.
A meeting was going on in the hospital’s conference room. The Ministry of Injury and the Provincial Governors of the left and right gathered together to discuss the expansion of the navy’s power.
“The problem is the budget…”
“It is truly frustrating that as our budget increases, the Koreans’ budget also increases.”
“The budget that is officially revealed is uncomfortable, but I am worried about how much more the budget they use unofficially is.”
The provincial governors on the left and right nodded in unison at the words of the sick man.
* * *
After changing the name of the country from Joseon to the Federal Empire of Korea, the township established a system of officially revealing the amount of the empire’s budget for the year at the beginning of each year.
-These are taxes paid by the people! Therefore, the people also have the right to know where and how much their taxes are being used!
There was quite a bit of backlash against this decision, but the company dismissed it.
“If you use it properly, there won’t be any trouble!”
In the end, the ministers who were pushed out of the cause had to follow the will of the local government.
By making the budget public, the people of the empire can now check at the beginning of each year how much of the budget was spent last year and how much was allocated this year.
And every time, quite a few petitioners flocked to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Emperor Gyeong of the Ming Dynasty and officials discussed this behavior of the empire.
“Wouldn’t it be great for us to disclose such valuable information just because the people need to know it?”
The ministers all nodded at Emperor Gyeongtae’s words.
Revealing the budget sounded like revealing everything about oneself.
The king of Joseon, who called himself the emperor, said that the people should also know, but it was nonsense.
I’m sure the ignorant people will only complain rather than really know what it is, so why tell them?
King Gyeong-tae snorted and continued.
“joy! The king of Joseon has become so proud with just one victory! “Isn’t this a great thing for us?”
The assistant cabinet secretary stepped forward and responded to Emperor Gyeongtae’s words.
“That is true, but we must be careful that this could be the male and female number of the king of Joseon.”
“Male and female?”
“That’s right. If you look at North Korea’s budget table announced this time, the overall amount and budget for each ministry are listed, but it is not really detailed. Above all, doesn’t anyone know whether the total tax revenue they wrote down is the real total? Your Majesty, the King of Joseon, has a long reputation for being cunning. “It could be seen as a foolish act on his part out of pride, but it is also more likely that it was a trick to mislead other countries.”
“It is indeed so!”
At the words of the assistant cabinet secretary, Emperor Gyeongtae slapped his knees and raised his voice.
“If I were not careful, I would have fallen into the trap again! Truly a cabinet secretary! “I will continue to trust your wisdom!”
In response to Emperor Gyeongtae’s praise, the head of the cabinet bowed his head in silence.
“Hwang Eun is devastated.”
* * *
Because this happened, the sick note mentioned the ‘unofficial budget’.
“I’m definitely worried about that. In particular, if you look at Joseon’s battle lines wandering around in the Yellow Sea, not only the number but also the condition of the battle lines does not change… wow~.”
The left governor slurred his words and let out a long sigh. The same was true for Udodog, who sat next to him.
“The same goes for their assault return. Since the two ships are holding on in the Yellow Sea and not moving… I think something will happen if even one gets missing, but if we make a mistake, the two Two-Headed Flame Dragons we built will be useless.”
The medical examiner expressed doubts about Udodog’s words.
“huh? “Didn’t you decide to be self-reliant until you complete the three ships you aimed for?”
“The third two-headed flame dragon has already been completed. All that’s left is to burn the navy. However, if you deal with two assault ships, you have to risk losing two ships in the worst case. “This is too much of a loss.”
“Definitely…”
The Minister of Military Affairs nodded in response to Governor Wu’s answer.
* * *
The Two-Headed Flame Dragon was a battleship built with a huge budget. As a huge budget was spent on building these battle lines, rebuilding the navy, and strengthening the northern defenses, the Ming government had to tighten its belt as much as possible.
Thanks to this, Emperor Gyeongtae sometimes grumbled while remembering his predecessor, Emperor Seondeok.
“The Emperor should have promoted Oirat before Joseon…”
After losing the Liaodong region in the last war, Oirat began to show its teeth.
Thanks to this, the Ming had no choice but to pour money into the defense of the northern border area.
However, what made Emperor Gyeongtae and the ministers of Ming even more angry was that Oirat, who showed his teeth to them, bowed down to Joseon, the self-proclaimed ’empire’, like a dog that has met its master and shows its belly and plays tricks.
However, this was something that even Oirat could not help. This was because I was able to see and even taste the power of the empire in the last war.
After the Liaodong region became part of the empire, there were small-scale conflicts between the Oirats and the empire in the border area north of Liaodong. And in that conflict, Oirat’s warriors were all turned into food for beasts, leaving only a few survivors.
The problem was that at the time, the number of Oirat warriors was more than twice that of the imperial cavalry.
Afterwards, the empire warned the Oirat by mobilizing all its power to completely annihilate the Oirat tribe in question. After receiving the warning, Oirat had to bow down to the Empire.
* * *
“Hmm… If there is even one less assault ship, I can take advantage of the opportunity…”
“That’s right.”
“It’s really frustrating.”
While the sick and provincial governors were discussing their frustrating thoughts, a young military officer hurriedly entered the conference room and offered a military salute.
“What’s going on?”
The military officer immediately answered the question from the medical examiner.
“There was a personnel change in the Joseon Navy! The Chief of Staff of the Joseon Navy and many generals resigned from their positions.”
“what!”
Upon hearing the military officer’s report, the military inspector and provincial governors simultaneously jumped up from their seats.
According to a report brought by a young military officer, those with similar experience who had commanded Joseon’s naval forces since the last war were simultaneously pushed out of their positions and moved to the ‘Far East Fleet Command.’
“Far East Fleet Headquarters… Is that the fleet that the Koreans are building on the island they say is Shinji?”
“Maybe that’s the right place.”
The left governor nodded his head in response to the illness inspector’s question.
* * *
When Shinji was discovered and rumors about him began to circulate little by little, the government began strict secrecy control and proactive measures.
-If you go a little further east of the Northeast Islands, there is an incredibly large island. That place is Shinji.
-The size of Shinji is approximately three times the size of Daeseoldo. That’s why he was given the name Shinji.
-Most of Shinji is a plain area.
The people of the empire nodded to the rumors that the government had spread.
“Daeseoldo is a really big island, but it’s three times bigger than that? Then it’s land.”
“cancer!”
“It’s a plain area, so do you think there will be some farming? “Shall I apply to Social Security later?”
While struggling so hard, the Empire worked hard to control confidentiality. Letters sent by Europeans to their hometowns were censored even more strictly, and letters sent by imperialists who volunteered to emigrate to new lands to their relatives were also strictly censored.
Through this kind of tampering and censorship, what the general public of the empire and foreigners thought of the new world was much smaller than it actually was.
* * *
Because of this perception, the military inspectors, the provincial governors, and the military officers who reported this all came to think that they had ‘stepped down’ or ‘were pushed out.’
“Please forward this report to the Assistant Cabinet Secretary immediately.”
“yes!”
After sending the documents back to the military officer, the soldier looked back at the provincial governors.
“What do you think? “I think the King of Joseon did something for his son?”
The provincial governors all nodded at the words of the sick man.
“I agree.”
“There are a lot of rumors that the King of Joseon will step down next year or the year after. Let’s see if that’s true.”
The Ministry of Health and the provincial governors believed that the reason for this personnel change was a political purge.
-It’s funny, but the rumor is that the current king of Joseon wants to ascend to the throne quickly.
-According to other rumors, he plans to go to a place called Shinji as soon as he is elected.
-The Joseon prince who will inherit the throne still has limited political experience.
-In that case, a political purge is necessary for a stable transfer of power.
-The military, and especially the navy, has been growing in stature since the last war.
-That is why a purge occurred under the guise of a personnel change.
After analyzing the situation up to this point, the military inspector looked back at the provincial governors.
“The atmosphere in the Joseon navy must be very turbulent.”
“It will be very confusing.”
“If we do this well…”
Udodog trailed off, but everyone else knew what came next.
‘If you do well, you will have the best chance of getting revenge!’
* * *
As the sick report and the thoughts of the governors suggested, the atmosphere in the Imperial Navy was turbulent. In particular, a cold north wind was blowing at the Imperial Navy headquarters in Seoul.
Everyone from the lowest-ranking soldier to the general was moving cautiously, only paying attention to the Chief of Naval Staff.
“Ugh!”
“Eek! It exploded again!”
“Jump! “Bounce!”
When a scream-like shout suddenly came out from the office of the Chief of Staff, the soldiers and generals around him immediately disappeared.
“At this age! Start building your fleet again from scratch! “At this age!”
The person screaming into the air was Shin Shin-son, the Chief of Staff of the Navy.
“Whoa~. Phew~.”
Shin Shin-son calmed down his anger by repeatedly taking deep breaths and lamented as he placed his hand on his forehead.
“What a fool I am… I fell for His Majesty’s words, ‘The only person who can complete this great task is a
general .’… ”
I had it.
“General, how well do you know about the construction of the Far East Fleet stationed in Shinji?”
“I know that we are forming a sizable fleet.”
“It’s not a significant scale, it’s more than that.”
In response to Shin In-son’s answer, Hyang explained the ‘sea wall plan’ that King Sejong had conceived and that he had worked on.
“…This is the sea defense plan. “I hope the general will join me in completing this plan.”
“yes?”
Hyang explained to Shin In-son in more detail.
-We are trying our best to stop it, but rumors about Shinji are slowly spreading into Europe.
-Europeans will definitely come to Shinji.
-Then the direction is most likely to be east.
-Therefore, the sea defenses must be completed as much as possible before they arrive….
“And there is another reason. “It’s Myung.”
At Hyang’s words, Shin In-son immediately felt the pulse.
“Are you trying to misjudge my name?”
“exactly. Only a general can accomplish the great task of achieving these two goals. “Please listen to Jim’s request.”
Seeing Hyang bowing his head, Shin In-son was startled and threw up his hands.
“I don’t mind asking you to do me a favor. “All you have to do is give an order.”
“Then will you join us?”
“I will!”
That’s how the personnel change was decided.
* * *
Shin In-son sighed again, remembering what happened back then.
“Whoa~. “I’m a fool!”