Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 760

Chapter 760 Encounter (5)

Hyang’s order was immediately delivered to the Imperial Navy headquarters stationed in Shinji.

The commander, Admiral Shin In-son, read Hyang’s orders and then handed them to the captains.

“Make sure you memorize it and act accordingly.”

“Are there no copies?”

When one of the captains asked a question, Admiral Shin In-son gave a short answer.

“This is a confidential order from His Majesty the Situation. “There are no copies.”

Following Admiral Shin In-son’s words, the captains took turns reading the orders.

When Hyang’s order came back, Admiral Shin In-son asked again.

“Do you have any questions?”

In response to Admiral Shin’s question, one of the captains stood up.

“I have spent the past five years in the East Sea. What I knew for sure during this time was that the sea of the East Sea, especially the winter sea, was as rough as the North Inland Sea (now the Bering Strait). No, it’s not just winter. Even in the summer sea, if you are a little negligent in caution, life-threatening events frequently occur. To cross these seas, not only must you be well prepared, but your crew must also be experienced. Is it really possible?”

* * *

As Shinji was discovered and geographical information symbolized by maps was gradually accumulated, imperial names were decided, not the names known to the local people.

First, the West Sea was renamed the West Inland Sea, and the East Sea was renamed the Inland Sea.

The only sea that was not renamed was the South Sea, but the scope has changed. The South Sea was a wide sea extending all the way to the southwestern provinces and became the South Sea. Of course, because there was a relic in the middle, the calabash character Pyo (瓢) was used, giving it the nickname Pyohae. And the strait between Tsushima and Japan became the Korean Strait, named after the ‘Federal Empire of Korea.’

And in history before the intervention of the Xiang Dynasty, the sea called the Pacific Ocean was named the Middle Sea.

Of course, because of its enormous size, there was a suggestion to give it the word ‘large’, but it was immediately rejected.

It was because of the people who called themselves Junghwa (中華).

“You never know what nonsense they might say in the future.”

For this reason, it became Junghae without the word ‘dae’, but the name was changed again soon after.

“If that’s the reason, the middle character is also a problem! Let’s use the character ‘between’ instead! “It’s the sea between our hometown and Shinji!”

Eventually, after a heated debate, the Pacific Ocean was given the name Daegan Sea.

Finally, the Atlantic Ocean became the East Sea. This was because it was the eastern sea of the empire.

When all the naming was finished, Hyang looked at the map with a complicated expression.

“The great Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have become mere seas of empire.”

* * *

Fellow captains also nodded to that question.

The North Inland Sea, the closest sea route from the home base to Shinji, was notorious for its rough winter seas. Everything on the ship and even the sea was frozen.

In addition, as the waves became rougher, captains who frequently traveled the North Inland Sea route were given higher ratings than captains who had experience in other seas.

The place where even such captains were very nervous was the winter Northeast Sea.

Admiral Shin In-son immediately responded to the sight of the captains.

“Of course, there is little chance of success from the beginning. However, if 10 ships participate and only 1 succeeds and returns, from then on, the impossible becomes possible. If the sailors who gained experience on that one ship spread to other ships, one ship will become two, and soon dozens and hundreds of ships will cross the Outer East Sea. “Didn’t we do that too?”

The captains fell silent at Admiral Shin In-son’s words. Admiral Shin In-son continued speaking while looking at the captains.

“It would be best to prevent the Europeans from advancing until we are fully prepared, but that is probably impossible. But you have to do your best to buy time. From now on, treat ships approaching from the east as if they are pirates or pirates.”

While Joseon was turning into an empire, Japanese pirates and pirates almost disappeared. However, it did not go extinct because of the circumstances of the countries along the route to Suez.

Due to internal instability, armed conflicts between tribes, and the hardships of life, pirates constantly emerged and became targets of subjugation.

Thanks to this, it became a routine practice for imperial ships traveling on the Suez route to first open the gunboat shutters whenever an unidentified ship was seen, and to raise a white flag first for unidentified ships.

‘Treat it the same way you deal with Japanese pirates and pirates.’

One of the captains again questioned Admiral Shin In-son’s order.

“What if they find out we are an imperial ship and raise a white flag?”

“First, capture them and if they resist, sink them.”

With that question, the meeting ended and the captains left the conference room.

After the delivery of ‘Order No. 65′ to European ships coming from the east, only Admiral Shin In-son and his subordinate admirals remained in the empty conference room.

The admirals who came to Shinji with Shin In-son were busy moving about.

I boarded a ship and observed the coastline, or rode a horse and traveled along the coastline to look for military strategic points.

When we found a good area to secure a bridgehead, we recorded each point on the map and analyzed its military value with Admiral Shin In-son.

After such analysis, defense facilities and military ports were built and fleets were stationed in places with the highest military value.

The admirals who were appointed as top commanders in charge of the respective military ports and defense facilities operated the ships under their command and explored the surrounding area.

Admiral Shin In-son talked with the admirals while sharing black bean tea and refreshments prepared by the administrative soldiers.

“His Majesty left a request to be especially careful when exploring the southern region.”

“Is this a request?”

“Please.”

The admirals’ expressions turned strange at Admiral Shin In-son’s answer.

* * *

Strange rumors have been circulating among the soldiers and officials of the empire for a long time.

-Never ignore the emperor’s instructions!

“I’m a little nervous. “Please be careful.”

If a person says something like this about a certain issue, problems will most likely arise soon after.

As this happened repeatedly, an unwritten rule arose among the imperial officials and soldiers.

-Hyang’s request = Stay alert, look closely, and prepare for the worst.

-Hyang’s command = You didn’t forget what I asked you, right? Move now!

Thanks to these events, this rumor circulated among soldiers and officials.

“Did you at least receive a divine gift?”

When Hyang heard these rumors through various channels, he smiled bitterly.

“How can I explain this when all I know is, ‘This is going to happen?’ I just have to make a request…”

* * *

While pondering the ‘request of the scent,’ the admirals in charge of the southern coast nodded.

“I’m definitely a little concerned that the further south you go, the more dense the forest becomes.”

“That’s right. “It’s not a good place.”

“I agree. “It’s definitely not a good place when you think about exploring the islands near Luzon or Temasek.”

The admirals had experience of the tropical jungle since the empire was still Joseon.

In order to ensure the safety of the route to Suez, a port of call was needed where one could rest or avoid the route.

The Suez route wasn’t everything. In order to obtain things that were essential for Joseon but were not available in Joseon, it was necessary to contact tribes near Luzon and Temasek and secure geographical information.

What I learned during this process was the ‘fear of the jungle.’

Although there were trees everywhere, the jungle was far from safe.

The jungle was a place teeming with all kinds of poisonous insects, poisonous animals, and wild beasts.

But the most important problem was that of drinking water.

Because there were trees everywhere, it seemed like drinking water would be found quickly, but it was difficult to find a proper source of drinking water unless you were the natives living there.

That wasn’t all. In the dense jungle, it was easy to get lost even with a compass. If you lost your way without access to drinking water, you would be in a life-threatening danger.

Nature wasn’t the only enemy. The natives who survived in this harsh environment were not at all friendly.

-Everyone who is not their own tribe is an enemy.

Since most of the natives had this way of thinking, a peaceful approach was unreasonable.

Thanks to this, the faces of the admirals who recalled their experiences at Hyang’s request became serious.

* * *

The admirals in charge of the southern region had newly updated geographical information and topographic maps spread out in front of them and talked with Admiral Shin In-son.

“So far, we have advanced all the way to this unnamed peninsula.”

The location that the admiral in charge of the report pointed to was the Florida Peninsula.

Admiral Shin In-son’s eyes sparkled at the admiral’s report.

“Was it a peninsula?”

“yes. I thought it was a protruding coastline, but it turned out to be a peninsula. And the islands continue to the southeast.”

Hearing the admiral’s explanation, Shin In-son and the other admirals sighed involuntarily.

“It’s too wide.”

“It’s okay to call it New World, not Shinji.”

As the exploration continued, Shin In-son and the admirals’ expressions became distant as the size of Shinji became increasingly wider.

‘Can our empire properly digest this land?’

‘If you try to force it, won’t your stomach burst and you die?’

Shin Shin-son and the admirals felt anxiety creeping up from deep within their hearts.

Although they were soldiers, they were not ignorant of economics.

They were the ones who felt the importance of money more keenly than anyone else as they battled with the Ministry of Finance and Economy every year over budget issues and secured war funds in the war against the Ming Dynasty.

– In order to develop an enormous territory that far exceeds expectations, an equally enormous budget is required.

– If you look at the development of new land through the prenatal situation and situation up to the Tang Jin emperor, it is a method of actively inducing the migration of native people and the return of indigenous people.

– However, if you look at the current situation of the indigenous people in Shinji, their numbers are too small and they are spread out too widely. Therefore, it costs more than expected and is less efficient.

All of the admirals who had been thinking up to this point had similar thoughts.

‘Is slavery the best answer?’

To the admirals, slaves were not strangers.

Through the Gyeongjang system started by King Sejong, there were almost no slaves in the empire except for government slaves. However, when the admirals were young, Sanobi were common in every family.

Additionally, slaves were still abundant in countries along the trade route to Suez and in European countries beyond Suez.

Shin Shin-son muttered to himself as he analyzed the situation.

‘Steam engines and other objects are very useful, but when you think about cost and efficiency, slaves may be more beneficial. But…’

Shin In-son stopped thinking there.

‘If I advocate slavery here, my head will be cut off. ‘Because it goes against the policy that has been in place since the time of Tae-sang.’

As Shin In-son said, introducing slavery was a reversal of the policy of reducing slaves that had been in place since the reign of King Sejong.

This was something that undermined the authority of past emperors, and there was no way King Sejong would tolerate this right away.

No matter what justification you give.