Chapter 161
Our Seongjeol mission, led by the Crown Prince, accomplished all its objectives.
We even secured permission from those Ming bastards—who deserve to have their heads flattened with a mace right now—to wage wars of expansion north of Hamgyeong and Pyeongan.
That was because the Ming court had recognized the Crown Prince’s authority in one form or another.
The only problem was that the form it took looked down on Joseon so thoroughly that our pride was badly wounded.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
At my words, Munjong replied with a gloomy expression.
“I do not wish to speak with anyone right now. Anger is boiling up inside me so fiercely that I feel I might fall ill, and I fear I may vent it on someone who has done nothing wrong.”
The Ming emperor had openly engaged the Crown Prince in a battle of wills at the Forbidden City, making it clear that Joseon was in no position to dare defy Ming.
Munjong must have suffered tremendous stress in the process.
Yet once a person begins carrying stress around, it is liable to turn into a mental illness such as depression in the end.
It is better to relieve it somehow before a problem arises.
Especially when the other person is still a child who has not yet reached adulthood.
“Your Highness, would you like to devise a new gunpowder weapon together during the long journey back to Joseon?”
Even Munjong, who had shown only a dignified bearing until then, smiled as soon as he heard the words “new gunpowder weapon.”
Although Munjong had always maintained a dignified bearing before the Ming emperor and everyone else, it seemed he was still a child after all.
He had been so dispirited that merely hearing the words “gunpowder weapon” was enough to cheer him up.
“Wasn’t that a craftsman’s job?”
“Does Your Highness know why the Three Sovereigns are respected?”
“I was taught that it is because the Three Sovereigns taught the people living in the Central Plains how to farm, how to weave cotton into clothing, how to hunt, how to make nets, and how to fire pottery, thereby enabling people to live as human beings.”
“Yes, exactly. Strictly speaking, making cannons is a craftsman’s job, but devising good weapons so that we can exterminate the barbarians even more effectively benefits the people.”
One trait shared by people who endure modern society’s harshness well is having a hobby and immersing themselves in it to a reasonable degree.
When that is done properly, a person can somehow endure even tremendous stress.
So, even for the sake of giving Munjong the strength to withstand stress, I needed to have him immerse himself in a hobby during his free time.
“Can I really benefit the people by making a good gunpowder weapon?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Did Confucius not say that the virtue of the Three Sovereigns was supreme because, although no records of their benevolent virtue remained, they fed the people until their bellies were full and enabled them to seek the Way? Gunpowder weapons may not fill the people’s bellies, but they keep the people safe, which is no less important. Is that not so, Deputy Envoy?”
I handed the baton to Choe Yun-deok and signaled him with a gesture.
Understanding what I meant, Choe Yun-deok lent weight to my words.
“Even if there had been no arquebuses or military drills created by the Document Officer, Joseon would have been capable of driving out the Jurchen barbarians. However, we would have suffered far more casualties than we have now, and our victories would have been far fewer as well. Therefore, I believe there is merit to his words.”
When even Choe Yun-deok agreed with me, a smile spread across Munjong’s face.
“Then it would be good to devise something proper together, for the sake of the people.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Once you have designed a good weapon, I will have Jang Hogun make it himself.”
“Good. Then the weapon I devised is...”
Munjong, who was deeply attached to gunpowder weapons, seemed to have a vast number of ideas in his head.
The moment he opened his mouth, all sorts of ideas about weapons came pouring out.
He had so many ideas already worked out in his head that even counting them all was burdensome, but...
I roughly divided them into three categories.
Weapons that could neither be used nor made realistically; weapons that would be useful but could not be implemented with our current technology; and weapons that could produce a major effect immediately and could be made right now.
I focused on the good weapons we could make at once and guided the conversation in that direction.
"Could you tell me more about the weapon called the hwacha?"
"Whether we are fighting barbarians or Japanese pirates, surely the most certain way to subdue the enemy is to project a great deal of firepower at once."
"Yes, exactly. All battles are like that, but weapons such as spears are used to maintain formations and fight at close range... In practice, the weapons that kill the most enemies are arrows and arquebuses."
Back when I was studying history at university, a friend of mine who was unusually good at Japanese once said something like this.
There was a study analyzing which weapons had killed the people who fell in the wars of the Sengoku period...
It said that the weapon recorded as having killed the most people was the bow, followed by the arquebus.
The proportion accounted for by close-combat weapons such as spears was surprisingly low.
Moreover, Joseon used better bows than the Japanese and preferred ranged combat even more strongly, so the proportion of enemy casualties caused by close-combat weapons such as spears would be even lower here.
"And arrows and arquebuses can only be used during the limited period when the enemy has entered their range. So if we use the power of gunpowder to fire dozens or hundreds of arrows at once, would that not greatly aid us in subduing the barbarians?"
"If we can rain thousands of arrows down on the enemy in an instant, as Your Highness says, our forces will be able to wage war far more advantageously."
"If we put a cannon-like launcher capable of firing a great number of arrows onto a cart, it should be easy to move. And if we mounted something fitted with dozens of arquebus barrels on that cart, it could produce an effect equivalent to firing dozens of arquebuses at once."
A weapon designed to pour out arrows in an instant could also be used like a multiple rocket launcher.
In fact, even medium-sized singijeon rockets had small bombs attached to them, so we could deliver bombs by express straight into the enemy camp.
Moreover, a hwacha fitted with dozens of barrels would, with a little exaggeration, be highly effective at stopping infantry, much like a Gatling gun.
"...... This really looks like it could be a great boon to Joseon."
Munjong’s expression brightened at my words.
"After we return, I shall submit a memorial to His Majesty and ask him to have the cannon Your Highness designed produced as a prototype."
"Is that really so?"
"How could I speak falsehood before Your Highness?"
If that hwacha were built properly, it could become a secret weapon that would bolster Joseon’s firepower.
Even if we could not get tanks running across the Manchurian plains, there was no reason we could not get hwacha running across them.
Ah, and I should ask him to equip all our cannons with gun carriages, like putting a cart under the hwacha, so that they could all be moved with ease.
I would have to ask Jang Yeong-sil for a great deal of help for the first time in a while.
"Since Jang Hogun will be busy, I ought to visit him personally along the way and encourage him."
Seeing how much harder Jang Yeong-sil was being worked than in actual history...
That gentleman only made it as far as the third junior rank in actual history, but at this rate, he would probably rise to the rank of senior court official without difficulty.
Poor fellow, truly.
**
As soon as I returned, I went straight to Chief State Councillor Hwang Hui.
The reason was simple.
Since Joseon produced no silver, we had to invade Tsushima, where silver was found, and wring it from them.
"Chief State Councillor, since silver is not produced in Joseon, it seems we will have to rely on the lord of Tsushima once more in the end."
"Good grief, do you think the lord of Tsushima is some kind of servant? You speak as though you left your silver in his keeping."
"The lord of Tsushima will never, for as long as the heavens and earth endure, dare even consider resisting Joseon."
If Tsushima lost its authority over trade and diplomatic dealings with Joseon, it would simply starve to death.
Thus, the lord of Tsushima was effectively bound by a leash held by Joseon.
"Well, I agree with your idea of bringing silver from the lord of Tsushima. There is quite a lot of it there, after all."
"Yes, and so... I think I will have to visit Tsushima myself."
"Could we not send another official? If Jukheon (Kim Daebung’s pen name) leaves the court now, the work piled up like a mountain..."
"Isn’t finding a way to obtain silver we do not have more important? From now on, we must pay Ming 300 nyang of silver every year..."
"Right, Joseon has no silver mines."
A Dancheon mine did exist, in fact, but although I knew its location roughly, we would have to send prospectors to identify its exact position.
Even then, it would take quite some time before we could begin mining it.
"And while meeting the lord of Tsushima to extract silver from him..."
I told Hwang Hui about the little prank I intended to play on Ming.
He immediately slapped his knee and agreed.
"...... Well, well, would you look at this fellow. You have thought of something truly excellent. Good, I must report this to His Majesty at once. I am deeply impressed by how you have not forgotten the imperial favor we received from Ming and are determined to remain loyal."
If Ming called us barbarians, then we should return the favor and act like barbarians too.