Black Corporation: Joseon Chapter 118

Episode 118 Made in Joseon. (1)

As the mysterious fleet approached, the tension among the head and captain of the Otaibi family, as well as the crew, increased further.

“It’s big…”

As the ship in question got closer and closer, the crew of the merchant ship became more and more intimidated.

The dhow they were riding was also a large ship called the Baggala mule, but the size of the approaching ship was bigger than theirs.

To be precise, their ship was longer, but the ship in question was taller.

“It’s definitely not a famous ship. “The shape is completely different.”

“Then is it a Zipangu?”

“Jipangu doesn’t have a ship that big.”

“Then which country is this ship from?”

The leader, feeling frustrated, was angry, but the captain also had nothing to say.

“I do not know.”

After a while, a small ship disembarked from the mysterious fleet that was approaching a certain distance and approached.

As we got close enough to distinguish the colors of the people on the boat, the elder who was riding with us shouted in joy.

“It’s the Joseon Army! stripe! “It’s Joseon!”

“Joseon?”

In response to the leader’s question, the elder nodded deeply.

“yes! “I’m sure it’s the Joseon military uniform I saw the last time I went to Joseon!”

“Then why didn’t you recognize the boat?”

The elder answered the leader’s question with a puzzled expression.

“At that time, I had never seen a ship that big.”

At the elder’s answer, the leader looked at the ships presumed to be Joseon ships with surprised eyes.

“You mean they built those ships in just over a year? Enough to form a fleet?”

The captain added to the leader’s muttering.

“As soon as they saw that ship, the pirates ran away. “If you look at that, it’s been a while since those ships dominated this sea.”

The leader nodded at the captain’s words.

“It would be right to see it that way.”

While the leader and the captain were talking, a Joseon soldier on a small boat that was just a stone’s throw away raised an unusual-looking object to his mouth and shouted.

“Where do these ships come from?”

The interpreter on board the ship answered the Joseon soldier’s question in Minggu.

“I am a merchant from Aden! “I brought the items requested by the Prince of Joseon!”

In response to the interpreter’s shout, the Korean soldiers on the small boat talked about something and shouted again.

“Wait a moment!”

“I understand!”

After that, a short confirmation process took place with small boats making several round trips, and the Joseon military’s decision was made.

“Follow me! “We will protect you!”

“I understand! “Thank you!”

When the boat turned around, not only the leader and captain, but also the crew all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whoa~. “Now I’m alive.”

“That’s right.”

In this way, the merchant ships of the Otaibi and Azram families – fortunately not a single ship was lost – began to return to Joseon, surrounded by three Joseon ships.

Of course, in the process, the Arab sailors all fainted as they saw the Joseon ships circling on the spot.

“Is that possible?”

“It’s my first time seeing this too…”

Seeing the captain answer with a confused expression, the leader muttered to himself again.

“What kind of country is Joseon?”

* * *

Meanwhile, the sailors, who had found some leisure time as safety was secured, were observing Joseon’s front lines moving side by side from a distance.

“The ship is very special.”

“It seems to be shorter than our ship, but it is much taller.”

As the sailors said, the Panokseon operated by the Joseon Navy was quite tall.

If we estimate the position of the Joseon navy behind the wall on the side of the hull, the roof of the stern cabin, the highest part of the hull of the large dhow carrying Arab merchants, and the first floor deck of the Joseon ship were almost at the same height.

Among the sailors who were observing the Joseon battle lines, the older and more experienced sailors nodded.

“It would be difficult to give up the ship without at least suffering quite a bit.”

“Young Master. “Isn’t that a large arrow sticking out on the side of that wire?”

“arrow?”

The sailor, who was called ‘inspiration’ by the young sailor’s point, narrowed his eyes and observed the Joseon battle lines.

“Indeed… it’s an arrow… but why use it only for siege warfare?”

The old man, who was tilting his head as he looked at the Daejeon loaded in the general’s gun, looked even more uncertain.

“What kind of crossbow do you use that makes the gap so narrow?”

* * *

Sailors were not the only ones who observed Joseon’s battle lines. The head of the Otaibi family and the captain were also observing the front line and exchanged opinions after discovering an object believed to be the crossbow.

“It won’t be a crossbow.”

The captain observed with his eyes as wide as possible and came to a conclusion.

“The spacing is narrow and the arrow position is too low to be considered a crossbow.”

“Then which is the most likely?”

The captain, who was thinking deeply about the leader’s question, gave a short answer.

“Cannon.”

“Cannon?”

The leader briefly questioned the captain’s words and shook his head.

“If you count the arrows that are visible right now, it looks like there are 10, so that means that that ship was equipped with at least 20 cannons. Even those Catholic pagans don’t carry that much.”

In response to the leader’s words, the captain asked back.

“Aren’t they Catholic pagans?”

“Huh…”

the leader muttered in shock.

“There are crazy people carrying more than 20 cannons on each ship? “Is there any gunpowder left?”

* * *

Meanwhile, a war of words was taking place in the Joseon fleet.

“Are they really merchants who received orders from the royal court?”

The officer in charge of civil affairs answered the question of Mokpo Manho, who led the squadron.

“The commercial license has been confirmed.”

“Isn’t the problem that we have never seen merchants who received that trade license in the jurisdiction of Woosuyeong, Jeolla?”

A subordinate officer responded to Mokpo Manho’s point.

“That is true, but licenses with the same name have already been issued to merchants traveling to and from the Shandong region, and the official seal on the document was that of the government.”

After hearing the answer, Mokpo Manho sighed slightly and concluded.

“I’ll figure it out if I go back first and then send Jang-gye. By the way….”

Mokpo Manho turned the topic to its main business.

“It’s a shame I missed those damn pirates. “It’s getting harder and harder to catch these days.”

“Because as soon as we fire the Singijeon, they immediately run away.”

“Singijeon is useful in many ways, but it has this side effect.”

“That’s right.”

In response to Mokpo Manho’s complaints, the subordinate officer nodded and added.

“There is also the problem with this Panokseon.”

* * *

As Hyang intervened in history, not only weapons were created that quickly advanced several levels.

“You have to make useful things and use them!”

Weapons that originally existed in history were also made according to the decision of the village.

Of course, it was not the original item.

A representative example was Singijeon.

Among these new devices, Hyang developed the small new device for two purposes.

One was a long-range suppression weapon using gunpowder as a propellant, as intended, and the other was for signaling purposes.

Explosives mixed with gunpowder, several minerals, and dyes were loaded into the front compartment of the paper barrel attached to the bottom of the arrow, causing multi-colored smoke to explode during the day and multi-colored fireworks at night.

And we made it possible to understand various situations at once by the type of color and the order of explosion.

The military was very fond of the small signal device that was created in this way. And the combination of a monoscope and a small signal device that Hyang created by replacing Pietro and Raphael greatly expanded the scope of the Joseon military’s activities.

In the case of cavalrymen engaged in grappling with the Jurchen tribes, the cavalrymen who went to the outpost were useful.

However, it was the naval forces that made the most useful use of the small signal device.

Sosingijeon wasn’t the only thing that was useful.

The Daesin mechanism with a warhead made entirely the same as the Bigyeokjincheonroe except that the body was made of paper instead of iron was also a masterpiece.

The power is half that of Bigyeokjincheonroe, but the range is 250 paces (about 300m) longer than the maximum range of Bigyeokjincheonroe, creating a monster with a vicious range of 800 steps (about 960m).

* * *

When the subordinate officer mentioned the Panokseon they were on, Mokpo Manho nodded.

“yes. I like everything about this Panokseon, but the only thing I don’t like is the slow pace. Thanks to this, pirates now run away as soon as they see Singijeon’s signal or Panokseon…”

The Panokseon, which Hyang built ahead of history, satisfied the navy.

The high and large hull, which was built from the beginning with the assumption of mass operation of artillery, could not easily be overcome even by pirate ships with pirates or pirates approaching. And arrow and artillery attacks using the height difference were able to destroy enemy ships from a greater distance than before.

In addition, due to the increased strength as well as the increased size, there were cases where ships carrying pirates and Japanese pirates were completely destroyed in collisions.

However, the Panokseon also had a fatal flaw in that it was slow.

The hull, which appears rectangular when viewed from above, was useful in coastal waters, but speed problems arose when going out to sea.

Thanks to this, the Japanese pirates and pirates who initially looked down on them and attacked them, but were greatly defeated, turned around and ran away as soon as they saw the Panokseon.

Of course, there were pirates and Japanese pirates who believed in their own speed and attacked, but after seeing them shattered by shells coming from farther away than the arrows could reach, there were no more courageous Japanese pirates.

Mokpo Manho licked his lips and turned his head.

“I hear a rumor that high-performance artillery has been developed, but we need more ships that are faster and stronger than guns.”

“With the crown prince and outstanding people in Area 51, good results will come soon.”

Mokpo Manho shook his head at the words of his subordinate officer.

“Area 51? There are many people who are crazy about artillery, but there are no people who are crazy about ships. “That’s the problem.”

However, Mokpo Manho was wrong.

If I had heard the scent, it would have responded like this.

“You give Abama a budget! “Even these days, I get scolded at least once a day, saying, ‘You bastard!’”

* * *

After five days of sailing, the merchant ships of the Odaibi and Azram families arrived at Jeollasuyeong and dropped anchor.

“I have sent Jang Gye to Hanseong, so I am asking you to wait a few days.”

“I will do that.”

“ah! “I asked if you needed anything.”

In response to the interpreter’s question, the leader turned to the captain. The captain answered the unspoken question right away.

“First, just ask for food.”

“All right.”

While the reply came from Hanseong, the heads of the Odaibi family and captains of merchant ships used their spare time to visit Jeollajwa Swimming Pool.

“It’s a military base, so don’t wander around carelessly.”

“yes. “Then, can I take a look at the marketplace outside?”

“Hmm… It just so happens that today is the market opening day.”

After receiving permission from Cheomjeoljesa, the commander of Usuyeong, the head of the Odaibi family led the people outside and headed to the marketplace.

The head’s face was full of disappointment when he saw the market.

“This is it… it’s nothing special. “Compared to the Chinese market I saw once, it can’t be called a market.”

The leader, who was looking at the goods in the market while complaining, stopped at one place.

“That!”

The place where the head’s gaze was directed was to a small guesthouse. White porcelain and glasses were sparkling on the table where people had eaten.

“How do such great things end up in such an underdeveloped place?”

The unexpected disharmony threw the leader into confusion.

“What on earth is this country called Joseon?”