Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 723

Episode 723: Seonwi (5)

After bickering with Jinpyeong and lightly relaxing, Hyang got on a horse and headed to Shinji Temporary Palace.

“I said it was quite large…”

Hyang couldn’t hide his curiosity as he headed towards the temporary palace, which was about 5 ri (2 km) away.

* * *

After discovering Shinji and securing a bridgehead now called Chosi, the empire – Joseon at the time – began construction work to strengthen the bridgehead.

The soldiers working on the construction work at the time had to cut down trees like crazy.

“Now just looking at the ax makes me sick!”

An enormous amount of logging had to be done in Chosi, to the point where this rumor was widely circulated among engineers. This was because the surrounding area was all woodland. The problem was the size of the woodland.

The forest area of Shinji was so enormous that it easily surpassed the cognitive realm of the people of the empire.

“The forest area north of Dongbing Port was also amazing, but Shinji seems to be several times that size.”

It was so vast that even seasoned veterans who participated in the construction of Dongbing Port and the subsequent exploration of the northern forest area were left speechless.

However, even with these complaints pouring in, logging could not be stopped.

This was because space was needed to store supplies sent from the mainland.

“There are two ways. One is to fill up the sea and the other is to cut down all those damn trees. “Which one should I take?”

Upon hearing the words of the executives in charge of administrative supply, the soldiers immediately shut their mouths and picked up saws and axes.

The trees that were cut down to create space for residence were dried well and then transformed into materials for building buildings.

From this point on, things got interesting.

* * *

“I don’t think there will be enough plaster for this? The same goes for rebar.”

“yes? However, we cannot reduce food, medicine, and gunpowder.”

On the mainland, plaster and rebar had replaced wood as the main building materials.

However, it was inconvenient to use plaster and rebar in the new area, which was too far away to receive supplies from the mainland.

And even at the beginning of the development of the new land, there were more hostile tribes than friendly tribes, so it was not possible to reduce the supply of ammunition.

In the end, the commanders had no choice but to come to a conclusion.

“Let’s just build it out of wood! “Because the tree is everywhere!”

Fortunately, among the lower and mid-level officers in the engineering unit, there were many people who had worked as carpenters or masons. This was natural, because from the beginning of the establishment of the engineering unit, the township actively recruited carpenters and masons.

And because there was so much wood and stone everywhere, they were so excited that they started building buildings.

“The quality of the wood is this good! In the mainland, you couldn’t even dream of building a house with wood like this unless you were quite rich! I can’t believe I can use such great ingredients for free! Oh, that’s good!”

The decisions of high-ranking executives and officials also played a role.

“It is certain that more and more supplies and people will arrive in the future, so build big while you are building!”

“yes!”

“Not enough space? Then cut down some more trees!”

“yes!”

According to the decisions of high-ranking people, the buildings of Chu Shi boasted a considerable size from the beginning.

Afterwards, as the eastward movement began, large forts and garrisons were built along the way.

Through this process, the skills of the carpenters and masons in the engineering unit improved greatly.

Thanks to this, the further east you go, the more magnificent and sophisticated the buildings were built.

It didn’t just become bigger and grander. Even in the case of defense facilities, they were made large and strong using wood, earth and stones.

These buildings also had an unexpected effect: the nearby tribes who saw the magnificent buildings began to become friendly.

“Have you been to where the Thunder Clan stays? “How can they build such big buildings?”

At the time, it was safe to say that the standard of living of the natives of North America, unlike that of the natives of Central and South America, was almost at the Neolithic level.

Most of them lived in tents made from the skins of bison and deer. A small number of tribes built houses using wood, dirt, and stones, but in the absence of bronze, let alone iron, it was difficult to build structures that were limited to huts.

In such a situation, just looking at the magnificent buildings and fortresses built by the imperial army was intimidating.

Because of this, the surrounding tribes bowed their heads and began to come in.

And the pinnacle of this change was the temporary palace built in Mishgama.

* * *

The further east we went, the more dense and hard wood the woodland trees became.

The solid hulls of American ships, which became infamous during the US-British War in history before the intervention of the township, were made from lumber harvested in this eastern region.

Thanks to this, it was very easy to obtain the best building materials as long as they were properly trimmed.

The decisive moment was the discovery of the Great Lakes (now the Great Lakes region).

Since it was an area with many resource areas nearby and the east coast was just a little further east, King Sejong decided to make this the center of new land development.

Of course, the abundant flavor of MSG also played a role.

“You can’t miss the Rust Belt!”

Since Sejong’s decision had been made, the New Land Pioneer Corps carefully considered where to build a base city.

“I suddenly became an ambassador for martial arts!”

“Then is this the Wangsimni seal?”

Although it was half-joking and half-serious, the pioneering team searched around Daeho-gun with the mindset of Ambassador Muhak looking for a new capital.

After much deliberation, the place we decided on was Mishgama. Mishgama, which means ‘large water and abundant water’ in the indigenous language, borders four of the five Great Lakes.

“A railroad will be built anyway, but until then, water transportation is available, so it’s the best area.”

“It’s also good because the lake itself serves as a natural defense facility.”

Having established themselves in this way, the pioneering group began to clearly establish a connection road to the bridgehead (later named Choshi) and began to erect buildings.

After receiving the report, King Sejong sent a large-scale development team, further speeding up the construction of Mishgama.

In particular, with the large-scale arrival of craftsmen for the construction and operation of Area 52, which was modeled after Area 51, Mishgama officials had a big picture in mind.

“Let’s create a city that will not be compared to Hanseong – current Seoul!”

“That’s great!” It’s going to be recorded anyway! “I have to write my name properly at least once!”

As a ‘country of records’, the empire recorded the names of all involved people without exception in all administrative tasks.

There were widespread rumors that King Sejong would move to Shinji and take command after his election.

And it was clear that the management of Shinji would not stop with Sejong, as the situation remained in Shinji.

-Then let’s do it clearly from the start!

The problem was money.

However, there was wood everywhere and the necessary steel was supplied by craftsmen who had come to build Area 52, so it seemed like a solution to some extent was possible.

The issue of minerals to supply to artisans could be easily solved by coaxing the surrounding tribes.

After much consideration, the officials and soldiers came to the conclusion that it was quite possible.

“Okay, let’s do it!”

“let’s go!”

* * *

Because of that development background, Hyang was curious about the temporary palace built in Mishgama.

And when Hyang arrived at the main gate of the temporary palace, her mouth widened.

“This is a temporary palace?”

The official answered Hyang’s question with a face full of pride.

“That’s right.”

“It’s quite spacious.”

“Yes, it’s a bit spacious!”

Hyang muttered to himself at the official’s answer.

‘The Forbidden City looks shabby.’

“How big is it?”

“It is 5 ri (about 2 km) from east to west and 6 ri (about 2.4 km) from north to south.”

Hyang shook his head in response to the official’s answer.

‘Did the Cheonjo-guk scale come from a lump of land, not from a person? If it had grown a little more, it would have been as big as the whole of Seoul!’

Hyang, who was shaking his head at the unimaginable scale, asked the official.

“Isn’t it too big?”

“As it increased work efficiency, it grew in size.”

“Work efficiency?”

“Yes, because the administrative buildings and the imperial military garrison are located close together, it has grown in size.”

“So, the buildings of the six dynasties, the palace, and the military garrison that defends Mishgama are all there?”

“That’s right. “It grew in size as we added a place for people living outside to take refuge in case of emergency.”

Hyang nodded at the official’s explanation.

“It’s quite reasonable… I understand. “Let’s go in.”

“yes. your majesty.”

Guided by the official, Hyang and his party headed to the main gate of the temporary palace.

“insect!”

After passing through the main gate while receiving a military salute from the soldiers guarding the main gate, Hyang shook his head again as he looked at the straight street.

“I guess I’ll have to ride a horse around the palace too.”

“For reasons of cleanliness and efficiency, we are planning to operate a circular carriage.”

“Circle carriage?”

“yes.”

In response to the official’s answer, Hyang shook his head again and shouted inwardly.

‘Abama! ‘What on earth have you made?’

* * *

Hyang arrived at the inner palace and main palace and immediately gave an order to the official as soon as he unpacked his luggage.

“Please bring the map of Mishgama.”

“From Yeodog to Pushim….”

“Yeodog is Yeodog and work is one thing. “Bring it with you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After checking the large map the official brought, Hyang muttered with an embarrassed smile.

“This is it, Won…”

Hearing Hyang’s muttering, the official hesitated for a moment and then held out a letter to Hyang.

“Something?”

“If His Majesty Sang-tae finds the map first, here is a letter left by Tae Sang-tae telling him to forward it to His Majesty Sang-tae.”

After receiving the letter from the official, Hyang opened the envelope and took out the letter.

The content, which was clearly written by King Sejong, was short and concise.

-I didn’t start it. It just fanned the flames.

“Hahaha….”

Hyang burst out laughing with a helpless expression, looked at the map, and gave an order to the official.

“Tell Duke Jinpyeong to come.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After sending the official out, Hyang glared at the map and sighed.

“Whoa~. Rather than an east-west crossing railway, we should first build a circular railway within the city. “I never thought I would come across a situation where the saying ‘I don’t know how high the sky is, I only know how wide the land is.’”

* * *

“Have you called me?”

As soon as Jinpyeong arrived, Hyang pointed to the map and got to the point.

“First, we need to build a railroad that goes around Mishgama.”

“yes?”

When Jinpyeong expressed his doubts, Hyang pointed to the map with his finger.

“What the…”

Jinpyeong, who suppressed the curse that was about to burst out as soon as he saw the map, looked back toward the village.

“I didn’t see this map on the way here. Why are you showing me this now?”

“I’m not like that.”

“yes?”

Jinpyeong, who was expressing doubts, soon let out a long sigh.

“It seems like Tae Sang-tae really didn’t want to come back to Seoul.”

“I agree.”

It was King Sejong’s small revenge for having to return to Seoul even though he wanted to stay in Shinji.

The brothers sighed as they looked at the map and soon came to a conclusion.

“I think we need to abandon the concepts of distance and weight that we were used to in Seoul.”

“That’s right. I thought this was too ridiculous of Shinji’s size. “Yodong was great, but here even Yodong looks ridiculous.”