Black Corporation: Joseon Chapter 503

Episode 503: Roses have thorns. (1)

A trading port built in Mokpo.

“hey! “Now let’s start the inspection!”

“Yes, Nari!”

Following the orders of Hanmyeonghoe, workers unloaded the wooden boxes and began to open their lids.

As the workers opened the lid, the waiting soldiers took out long guns from the box and began inspecting them one by one.

click! click! widely!

After pulling the trigger, checking that the fire door cover moves properly, and pulling the trigger to check that it fires properly, the soldiers put the rifle back in the box. The workers closed the lid of the box again and nailed it, while waiting officials glued a red paper strip to seal it.

The Arab and Portuguese sailors who were watching from afar seemed to be amazed by this inspection process, so they secretly asked questions to the nearby Koreans.

“What is that?”

“huh? what?”

As the Koreans could not properly understand the poor Korean language of the Portuguese sailors, the Portuguese sailors became frustrated and raised their fingers to point to the inspection process.

“That thing over there…”

“Ah…”

The Koreans saw where the Portuguese sailors were pointing and then nodded and answered.

“We are inspecting long guns sent to Japan.”

“Why?”

“What was that… dick?”

The Korean man, who found it difficult to explain, approached a nearby official. The Korean man who heard what the official said came back with a bright face and answered.

“Jipanggu!”

“ah!”

The Portuguese sailor nodded and asked the question again.

“Long gun what?”

“What is a long gun?”

When the Portuguese sailor nodded, the Korean pointed to the long gun on the shoulder of the soldier guarding the inspection site.

“Long gun.”

“Ah…”

* * *

Through this process, the story about the long guns exported by Joseon to the Japanese reached the ears of the captains of the Portuguese fleet.

“Have you heard about the hand cannon being exported to Jipangu?”

“It would be better to think of it as a musket rather than a hand cannon.”

“In terms of size, wouldn’t it be closer to an arquebus than a musket?”

At that time, matchlock rifles were just becoming common in Europe. According to European standards at this time, small guns were classified as arquebus and large guns were classified as muskets.

According to the standards of Europeans, the type of barreled barrel that Joseon exported to Japan was close to the Arquebus.

Of course, just by appearance.

“Hmm, do you want to take a look?”

“I agree.”

At this time, merchant ships were warships, and their captains were military commanders. Naturally, they couldn’t help but show interest.

“Wouldn’t there be nothing special about the Arquebooth?”

Of course, there were some who reacted negatively. This was because well-made armor during the early arquebus era was often able to block pistol bullets and archebus bullets.

Therefore, the Joseon long guns, which looked thin compared to the muskets they were accustomed to, seemed unreliable to them.

“Exporting to Jipanggu can be seen as having considerable power, right? And if it’s not as powerful as we think, we can sell our muskets to Zipangu.”

The other captains nodded to the opinion expressed by one of the captains.

“That’s a good idea!”

“I brought you some really good drinks, so let’s try some!”

‘I want to see Joseon’s long guns being exported to Japan!’

Mokpo Manho, who received a request from the Portuguese captains, turned to Han Myeong-hoe.

“It seems like the plan worked.”

“That’s right.”

* * *

“Secretary Myeong-hoe Han, I need to go to Mokpo.”

“yes?”

At the sudden command of the incense, Han Myeong-hoe unconsciously raised her head and looked at the incense.

“why? You don’t want to go? Then, someone else…”

When Hyang turned his head, Han Myeong-hoe quickly stepped forward and bowed his head.

“ah! No! “I just wanted to know why you told me to go to Mokpo!”

* * *

The four people who were selected as secretaries of the township were forced to roll around and around according to the instructions of the township. As we endured high-intensity work every day, our camaraderie became stronger, but on the other hand, competition was also becoming fiercer.

This was a competition to determine who would occupy the core of the government after Hyang ascended to the throne. Even if the kick was difficult, I would definitely be able to get into the core of the kick, and if I wanted to get even one step closer to Hyang, I had to do well now.

And if you look at the rankings so far, Han Myeong-hoe was significantly ahead.

His ability to handle political affairs was good and he showed excellent coping skills even in situations that required improvisation.

Even so, in the eyes of the governor and the ministers, it was there. Because of this, the four people had to run until the sweet smell came out of their mouths.

* * *

After hearing Han Myeong-hoe’s answer, Hyang explained the reason.

“Portuguese and Arab merchant ships entered the trading port of Mokpo. “Let’s make them interested in the double-barreled gun.”

“Are you going to sell them thermal rifles?”

“That’s right. But let’s hook them without making it obvious that we want to sell those guns. “That’s how you can gain an upper hand in trading.”

Han Myeong-hoe’s expression darkened slightly at Hyang’s command.

“It won’t be easy.”

“so? do not want to do it? “Then should I leave it to someone else?”

“Oh no! “I will go and make it happen!”

Hyang smiled and responded to Han Myeong-hoe’s answer.

“It’s befitting of Hanmyeonghoe to come out like that. “I will believe it.”

“yes! “Then we will move right away!”

“Like that.”

Han Myeong-hoe bowed cheerfully and left Seunghwadang. The flame of competition was burning brightly in the eyes of the other three people as they watched Han Myeong-hoe take big, swift steps.

Hyang, who was looking closely at Han Myeong-hoe and the trio, smiled inwardly.

‘also! Well mixed! The results are better than expected!’

* * *

Han Myeong-hoe, who came down to Mokpo with such vigor, explained his purpose to Mokpo Man-ho and put their heads together.

“Do the Arabs and Portuguese have similar weapons?”

“Hmm… let me see. Arab merchants may not know this, but Portuguese sailors were often seen carrying similar weapons. No, it would be more accurate to say that it is similar to a tung gun rather than similar to our Gap-sik long gun or ten-type rifle.”

“Is that so?”

“exactly.”

After hearing Mokpo Manho’s answer, Han Myeong-hoe became lost in thought.

‘How do I do it?’

Han Myeong-hoe, who was thinking about various methods, soon came up with a plan.

“How about doing an inspection?”

“Inspection?”

Han Myeong-hoe explained his plan, and upon hearing this, Mokpo Manho hit his knee.

“What a good plan!”

In this way, an open inspection was carried out and the Portuguese captains took the bait.

* * *

A demonstration was held for the Portuguese captains who took the bait.

“This is a long gun exported to Japan.”

After listening to the interpreter’s interpretation, the captains lifted up the column guns placed on the long desk and examined them.

“huh?”

“uh?”

“ah!”

The captains’ eyes, which were looking at the long guns here and there, were all fixed on the percussion parts, and questions and exclamations came out of their mouths.

“Firestone?”

The captains shouted in unison when they saw that it was not a familiar matchlock, but a flint-fired column gun.

“I want to see the accuracy and power!”

At the captains’ request, a shooting test was held. A traditional target was set up on one side of the archery field, and a Portuguese-made breastplate was hung next to it.

The captains on the bow range of the archery range talked while measuring the distance to the target.

“Is it about 60 fatams (about 104 meters)?”

“Does it look like that?”

The captains who were measuring the distance soon shook their heads slightly.

“Piercing through a breastplate at this distance?”

“No, is it even possible to hit the mark?”

The accuracy rate of muskets and arquebuses made in Europe during this period was disastrous. This was not only due to the problem of black powder, but also because the accuracy of the barrel was very low.

‘joy! Take a look! ‘You’ll be mesmerized!’

Han Myeong-hoe, who was snorting inwardly at the negative reactions of the captains, gave an order to the military officer.

“Let’s begin.”

“yes.”

The military officer who received the order walked next to the soldiers and shouted.

“Bangpo!”

Ta-ta-tang!

* * *

After the demonstration was over, the captains’ reaction was exactly as Han Myeong-hoe had expected.

Five soldiers punched five holes in the red circle made on the target and five holes in the breastplate.

That was also through salvo fire.

“Did all shots hit?”

“On this street?”

The captains, who were surprised by the better-than-expected accuracy and power, were shocked when they noticed another fact.

“It’s only the size of a musket, but it has that much power and accuracy?”

In the end, the captain, who was fascinated by the power of the column gun, approached Han Myeong-hoe.

“He said he wanted to buy that long gun.”

Han Myeong-hoe immediately responded to the interpreter’s words.

“The minimum unit is 50 Joseon silver coins per bag of 10 bags.”

The captains who heard the interpreter’s words soon became divided in their opinions.

“500 ducats of silver per bag?”

“Besides, you have to buy at least 10 bags at the same time!”

Some people shook their heads at the higher-than-expected price, but others did not.

“No, no. “If you look at that level of accuracy and power, it is well worth the price.”

“And I think it would be quite helpful to bring about 10 bags to each boat?”

“But you think it would be quite fun to go back to Portugal and sell it later, right?”

“The problem is money!”

When one of the captains mentioned money, the pro-choice captain responded with a slight smile.

“Aren’t there things you have been receiving as performance bonuses? “I think it would be better to buy that long gun rather than worrying about which one will sell well.”

At those words, all the captains started calculating their profits and losses with serious faces.

Captains who sailed to Joseon received a lot of basic pay, but they also received significant performance bonuses. Thanks to this, it was common for captains traveling on trade routes to earn extra income by collecting performance bonuses and personally purchasing and selling goods.

In the end, after various profit and loss calculations and arguments, the captains came to a conclusion.

“I’ll buy 50 bags!”

Han Myeong-hoe immediately responded to the captains’ words.

“Tell them that it is an advance payment and that the goods will be sent right before departure.”

“yes.”

* * *

After completing the task given by Hyang, Han Myeong-hoe returned to Hanseong and reported to Hyang.

“Good job. As expected, Han Myeong-hoe. “After all, it’s Han Myeong-hoe.”

Han Myeong-hoe bowed her head in response to Hyang’s praise.

“That’s too much praise.”

After hearing Han Myeong-hoe’s answer, Hyang called General Icheon and told him about the situation.

“Hopefully, we will need to increase production. Is that possible?”

Icheon immediately answered Hyang’s question.

“You can double it.”

“Good.”

Meanwhile, Hawiji, who was listening to the conversation between Hyang and Icheon from the side, joined the conversation.

“I may be pretentious, but I know that you guys are also very dexterous. “The Japanese are not dexterous and have no choice but to buy from us, but won’t they try to copy instead of buying from us?”

Hyang smiled wryly and answered Hawiji’s question.

“It’s impossible at their level now. And I don’t have time.”

“Yes?”

When Hawiji did not understand properly, Hyang answered.

“They say their dexterity is good, but it’s still lacking. Of course, if they ask us to catch up, we will, but will the current situation give us enough time to do that?”