Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 732
Episode 732: Bisu (2)
The situation Hyang analyzed was this.
-The War of the Roses took place in England, just like in history before the intervention of the Fragrances. For the time being, I don’t have the energy to worry about the outside world.
-Britain began its overseas expansion in earnest during the reign of Elizabeth I, so if we count it as long as possible, there are still 100 years left.
-France began to show interest in overseas expansion through its alliance with Portugal. However, the aftereffects of the 100 Years’ War still remain.
-Portugal has grown more rapidly compared to its history before the intervention, but it is still lagging behind Spain.
– Portugal has the upper hand over Spain in terms of maritime power, having taken the lead on African shipping routes, but is overwhelmingly behind in land power and territorial population.
-If the discovery of the New World is delayed as much as possible by holding Spain back, it will take more time for Europe’s perspective to move beyond Africa.
-The later it is before Europe turns its attention to the New World, the more the empire will be able to digest the New World.
After summarizing the situation up to that point, Hyang muttered to herself.
“The bottom line is that the best thing to do is to tie up Spain. And the best card that can tie Spain down is Gibraltar. The problem is that no matter how you look at it, it seems to have fallen into Spanish hands sooner than expected. Was it the butterfly effect that I brought about?”
It was a suspicion, but it was true.
***
The fall of the Emirate of Granada, the last Islamic state occupying the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula, occurred in 1492. The fall of the
Emirate of Granada, sooner than expected, was due to the dispute over Suez. It was an aftereffect of the international war.
The international war between the Portuguese alliance and Spain – to be exact, the United Kingdom of Castile and Leon –
resulted in the massive supply of gunpowder weapons.
Although Spain withdrew after signing a humiliating agreement that bordered on defeat in the war over Suez, it was on a large scale. Spain had muskets and artillery.
And Spain used these forces to destroy the Emirate of Granada.
And Gibraltar, which it obtained after destroying the Emirate of Granada, began to gain more value as a strategic point.
Portugal acquired goods and slaves from Africa . In order to export goods to the eastern Mediterranean, or to export the imperial goods that arrived at Suez to Northern Europe, they had to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The problem was that with Spain taking control of Gibraltar, Portugal’s maritime transportation routes became dangerous.
The Spanish fleet stationed in Gibraltar They began to attack Portuguese merchant ships whenever they had the chance.
Of course, they could not do so openly because they had accepted the Pope’s mediation. However, Portuguese merchant ships traveling alone became prey to the Spanish navy.
As a countermeasure, Portugal They moved by forming a large fleet, but this was quite uneconomical.
Another solution was to use land routes on the African continent and send goods to Northern Europe through Italy. However, this was also not a good method.
Right now, the inland area of the African continent was It was a place without any information. There was a route from the Western Sahara region to the northern part of Africa, but the countries along that route were all enemies of Portugal.
The good news was that those countries hated Spain as much as they hated Portugal. Using Italy was an even bigger problem, as a significant portion of the profits were still being taken by Italy, especially the Medici family of Florence .
It was foolish to use Italy in such a situation.
In other words, Gibraltar had become a shackle preventing Portugal’s growth.
***
Because of this background, Hyang was confident that Portugal would cooperate with the empire.
“Portugal probably thinks there is nothing to lose. Even if we fight, we fight. But if we take over Gibraltar, Europe will have to watch out for us from then on. Hmm…” Something suddenly occurred to me
. Hyang stopped talking and was silent for a long time.
After a while, Hyang smiled and muttered.
“If you do well, you can pull off a huge fraud. The reason Columbus moved west in the first place was to find another route to India, right? But the situation has changed, so this time it will be to find an empire. So I came, no, from the west. “If the empire comes…”
Hyang’s eyes began to glow dangerously.
“Until the Spanish discovered the New World, Europe did not know about the existence of the New World. Did you know that Columbus also believed that the place he discovered was India? In that case, Columbus, whether it was someone other than him, came to the west, and when the imperial fleet stood and blocked him, he immediately believed it. “I’ll throw it away. Tsk tsk tsk!”
Hyang began to laugh mischievously.
If they believed that the place they had arrived was not the New World, Europe’s imperialistic expansion would be delayed much longer than expected.
“For us, it’s a new land, but on the outside, it’s a federal empire! Hehehehe! New Admiral. “I can reduce your worries. We’ll have to discuss our opinions again tomorrow.”
The next day, Shin In-son, who heard Hyang’s story, slapped his knee and was impressed.
“What a mysterious plan! People have a hard time accepting new things easily. Even when you see something new, you fit into the framework of what you already know, seeing only what you want to see and believing only what you want to believe. Therefore, it will take a considerable amount of time for the Europeans to learn the truth!”
After confirming Shin In-son’s strong support, Hyang immediately revised his plan.
“Then, I will inform Seoul of this as well.”
As an aside, later foreign countries spoke about this amendment. The assessment made by historians was as follows:
– The first international fraud of the Korean Federal Empire.
And Hyang and Wan gained notoriety as
– Those who blocked the development of geography.
Whenever this was said, the spokesperson of the Federal Empire said: Commented as follows:
– It is not a fraud, but just a legitimate disguise to protect national interests.
– The information related to Shinji was not known to other countries, but was already widely known internally. You only found out about it late.
Nevertheless, you continue to criticize. When this came out, the spokesperson responded as follows:
“Are you willing to die for dishonoring the great emperors of the empire? Are you willing to die? Are you ready to be declared war?”
***
A plan for Europe was established and decided to be implemented, but Hyang had something to confirm before that.
Area 52’s artillery testing site.
Hyang, Shin In-son, and the naval generals brought by In-son gathered at the test site.
What brought them together was to re-check the strength of Shinji’s wooden hull.
“It may be pointlessly repeating the same thing, as the saying goes, ‘there is a roof on top of the roof,’ but wouldn’t everything go well if the people commanding those ships feel safe?” In Hyang’s words, Shin In-
son said, and the navy generals all nodded.
Seeing that, Jang On looked at the incense and bowed his head.
“It is an obvious decision.”
However, Jang On’s true feelings were exactly the opposite.
‘no! ‘What did you say last time?’
Jang On wanted to raise his voice and argue, but he was forced to hold back.
Hyang didn’t know if he knew Jang On’s feelings, but his expression was slightly excited.
‘No matter how much I think about it, I can’t just ignore something fun like this! And it’s a good cause!’
It was a fragrance that found a very good excuse to satisfy its virtue.
“Then let’s begin the experiment!”
A total of 30 virtual hulls were built, including virtual hulls made according to the thickness and assembly method set in the original design and thicknesses reduced in 5-penny increments, ultimately reducing the original thickness by 30%, and artillery was fired targeting these hulls. It has been done.
Experiments were conducted under various conditions, including not only the existing imperial navy’s normal artillery, but also new types of artillery that had just begun to be deployed, from monolithic bombs that were simple pieces of metal to incandescent bombs filled with gunpowder.
Subsequently, artillery from Ming and Europe were brought in and experiments were conducted.
Lastly, an experiment was conducted in which artillery was fired at the thinnest mock hull until a hole was created.
After checking the results of the experiment, Hyang looked back at Shin In-son and the navy generals.
“What do you think? In your opinion, even though you cut 30%, it seems like you have more than enough.”
“I think the director is sufficient as well.”
“Do you have any other opinions?”
There were no generals who expressed opposition to Hyang’s question. Although the hull was made of 30% carved wood, it showed sufficient defensive power.
When their concerns were resolved, the generals’ expressions brightened.
“The more space we have, the better we can carry more water and food.”
“I welcome you back! Due to the nature of Shinji, we often have to go on long distance voyages, and if we have plenty of water and food, we can use more diverse strategies.”
“With more space, gunpowder and explosives can be stored more safely.”
When the generals also responded positively, Hyang looked back at Jang On.
“Then, thank you for continuing with the original plan.”
“Here comes the Emperor. I will do as you commanded.”
***
With one worry out of the way, Hyang moved on to the next problem.
“How are things going with the issue of vegetables to be grown on the front line?”
“We are experimenting with various things. First of all, green onions and lettuce are the best, so we will start cultivating them on board first.”
“I don’t think those two alone will be enough?”
“That’s why we keep experimenting.”
Hyang, who thought for a moment at Shin In-son’s answer, continued. .
“Take a look at Shinji’s vegetables as there may be something useful in them. “If you ask the natives, you will get the answer.”
“I will.”
As long-distance voyages from the Korean Peninsula to Suez became more common, maintaining the health of sailors became important.
Staying at intermediate stops such as the Southwestern Province and Malacca Temasek kept people healthy. It was a good way to recover, but the importance of food eaten during the voyage was immediately mentioned. The problem of drinking water was
solved to some extent through distilled water created with the virtue of scent and a distiller using sorghum, but the dry quantity was a problem. Dry
mass does not spoil easily. However, as it became clear that it was difficult to maintain health with dry food alone, a plan to grow vegetables in the stomach emerged as a solution to this problem.
When this method was introduced, the scent was based on memories of seeing it on the Internet, and it was called mung bean sprouts, bean sprouts, and bean sprouts. and bean sprouts were proposed
, but this turned out to be unreasonable.
Water was the problem.
It was possible to supply drinking water using stills and purification plants, but it
was impossible to grow bean sprouts and bean sprouts.
Of course, additional stills and purified water were needed. It was possible to mount the frame, but there was a space problem.
So this part was still being researched.
“When advancing from New Zealand to Europe, you may encounter the worst case scenario of no intermediate stopover. So, do your best to find an alternative.”
“I follow your orders.”
As an aside, the Europeans called the Challenger-class front lines ‘Rogues of the Sea.’ And the biggest reason for this nickname was the Challenger class that was created in Shinji and advanced into Europe. They were wires.