Chapter 162
There is a saying in the Bible.
'Treat others as you would like to be treated.'
Based on those words, Kim Daebung interpreted Ming's actions as follows.
Ming was a country with national power on par with the strongest in the world, yet, like the states that had conquered the Central Plains throughout history, it harbored a dark desire to be trampled beneath the heel of a barbarian with overwhelming power.
Thus, while disparaging foreign countries, including Joseon, as barbarians, perhaps it was revealing an instinct to be properly taught a lesson?
Since the Xuande Emperor of Ming possessed such a twisted proclivity, Kim Daebung submitted a memorial to Sejong and Yi Bang-won containing a scheme to satisfy it.
Yi Bang-won slapped his knee and laughed heartily upon reading the memorial.
"Ho ho, it really is Kim Daebung! A man with ambitions of this magnitude must be why he could offer such unflinching remonstrance before the mace that beat Jeong Mong-ju to death. Truly an excellent subject, would you not say, Doya?"
"I too agree with Father. I have many truly excellent subjects, but among them Kim Daebung stands head and shoulders above the rest. Wherever he is placed, he displays astonishing ability."
"When that damned Ming emperor tried to pick a quarrel with a young Crown Prince, I thought my insides were burning away, but thanks to Kim Daebung's handling, we managed to prevent it from becoming a major problem. I wanted to praise him and reward him handsomely for that alone, but now he says he has devised a plan to take revenge in a way Ming can never detect, while also filling the state treasury... Truly an excellent subject. I am exceedingly pleased."
Both Yi Bang-won and Sejong hated Ming.
But this time, they summoned the young Crown Prince, engaged him in a battle of wills, then sent him home after tossing him a few words of praise at the end, as though soothing a dog or pig to placate him.
Having suffered such an outrage at their hands, their hatred of Ming had grown several times stronger.
Now they hated Ming so much that they could hardly bear to share the same sky with it.
“Reading the memorial Kim Daebung submitted, I see that since Ming treats Joseon as a barbarian country, it is only right for Joseon to indulge them by acting like barbarians. I truly believe he is right. If they torment Joseon for no reason, would it not be acceptable to give them a reason to hate us outright?”
A sinister smile redolent of bloodshed appeared on Sejong's face.
It was an expression that never appeared when he thought of Joseon's young subjects.
“Through Tsushima, Joseon will earn money by selling iron to the lairs of Japanese raiders, including those on Iki, while the raiders will grow stronger with the iron they purchase, causing their ability to plunder Ming to increase by leaps and bounds. For Ming, which will suffer at their hands, the consequences will be unimaginably brutal.”
“Now that I think about it, it might be good to supply iron through Tsushima all the way to Yue (Vietnam). Yue has not even dared contemplate fighting Ming since its war with the Yongle Emperor, has it? They must be short of iron as well. So if we let them know we are selling iron cheaply, they too will gladly step forward to buy it.”
Vietnam, or Yue as it was called in this era, did win independence after a long war with Ming.
And it even concluded a peace treaty with Ming.
Yet it was still treated as a barbarian country only slightly better than the land of Japanese pirates.
Since this had happened less than ten years ago, it was reasonable to assume that Yue still remained deeply wary of Ming and would seek to strengthen its defenses in preparation for a war with Ming.
Strengthening national defenses—building up an army—obviously required more iron, and still more iron.
“Now that we have greatly expanded the steel mill and have iron in abundance, it would indeed be wise to sell that iron to countries other than Ming. If we use it to obtain what we need and add the proceeds to the court's finances, it will greatly aid us in pursuing Joseon's grand ambitions in the future.”
Yi Bang-won disliked Jeong Do-jeon.
Yet there were a few things Jeong Do-jeon had said that he could sympathize with.
One of them was his proposal to launch a Liaodong Expedition to show those Ming bastards, who had seized the world despite having no common sense at all, the bitter taste of Joseon.
Of course, it had been an unrealistic goal that ignored Joseon's circumstances, so even Yi Seong-gye had opposed it...
‘If it is at all possible, we must repay Ming for the resentment we bear over its torment and mistreatment of us.’
“But tell me this. If we grant Tsushima the right to broker the sale of steel, do you really think they will hand over their silver mines to Joseon?”
The silver-lead separation method had not yet been developed in this era.
As a result, when silver mined from the mines was refined, they could not obtain very much silver.
Yet on Tsushima, whose soil was wretchedly barren, silver mines were the only remotely reliable source of income besides trade (piracy)...
They had staked their lives on those silver mines.
Sejong knew this well, which was why he could hardly understand why Kim Daebung had said he would “take over the silver mines,” whatever he was thinking...
“According to what Kim Mandeok's merchant guild, based in Jeongui-hyeon, Jeju, heard from a Japanese trader with whom it frequently did business, Tsushima is an extremely barren and impoverished land that would have no choice but to starve to death immediately without trade with Joseon. Therefore, he said that if the lord of Tsushima displeased us, we could replace him at will by transferring his trading rights with Joseon to someone else on Tsushima.”
“...... I knew Tsushima devoted itself to trade with Joseon, but I had never imagined there were circumstances like that behind it.”
“Thus, he said that in order to survive, the lord of Tsushima would have no choice but to hand over the silver mines in accordance with Joseon's wishes.”
“Kim Daebung's stratagem is a great blessing for Joseon and a great calamity for Tsushima.”
When Yi Bang-won considered it, even if he himself had been lord of Tsushima, he could not imagine any way to escape Kim Daebung's grasp.
“And he said that once we take over the silver mines, we will establish a new district there inhabited by Joseon people. He also said that we would test a new method of refining silver.”
“Now I am wondering whom it would be best to send.”
“I shall order the State Council to recommend a suitable person.”
Before long, a diplomatic mission led by Kim Daebung was assembled.
**
As several bokseon transport ships were built, Joseon's transportation situation improved dramatically.
Thanks to that, whereas traveling from Busan to Seoul used to take more than a fortnight one way, we could now make the trip in under three days.
And since taking a ship from Busan to Tsushima took only about a day, ships were indeed the best option in this era.
No wonder our ancestors tried to transport everything by sea rather than opening roads over land.
"Oh my, Lord of Tsushima. It is truly an honor to see you again like this."
When I first came to Tsushima, the lord of Tsushima had acted as though he was subtly looking down on me.
But now he treated me like a formidable master whom he had to serve.
"It is I who am honored to meet you again like this. I never imagined you would come all this way again."
"For the sake of friendship between Tsushima and Joseon, I would come hundreds—no, even thousands—of times."
"Ha ha, I am truly grateful that you feel that way. And now, take a look at the official robes I am wearing."
"You are wearing the official robes bestowed upon you by Joseon."
"Naturally. Though I am technically a vassal of Wa, that is merely a formality. In my heart, there is only Joseon, and I am always grateful for His Majesty's grace, as vast as the sea. To express that feeling, if only a little, I always wear Joseon's official robes, and I am studying the Joseon language as well. My Joseon speech is quite good, is it not?"
His Joseon pronunciation was awkward, but it was good enough to carry on a conversation without any difficulty.
That lord of Tsushima was getting on in years, yet he had learned to speak this much Joseon in only a few years... He must truly have made a grueling effort.
It had all happened because I had enlightened the lord of Tsushima by telling him, 'Joseon knows everything.'
"You may as well call yourself Joseonese now."
At the word "Joseonese," the Tsushima interpreters and the lord of Tsushima simultaneously frowned.
Yet it seemed none of them dared go so far as to protest to me.
It was probably because their anger was easily kept under control when they knew perfectly well who held the leash—or rather, the lifeline—of the people of Tsushima.
"Is my Joseon speech truly that fluent? I am delighted to have your approval. All those hours of study were worth it."
"His Majesty will be overjoyed when he hears this news as well. To think that the lord of Tsushima was moved by Joseon's civilizing influence and learned Joseon speech of his own accord. It also means that Joseon's virtue is exceedingly profound."
"You are making me feel embarrassed. Come inside quickly. I have prepared a very special banquet for you."
"Thank you. Then, as a token of our gratitude, we would like to present the lord of Tsushima with some splendid entertainment."
When I mentioned entertainment, one hwacha was unloaded from the ship I had come on.
"It is fireworks—a spectacle in which gunpowder is detonated to embroider the night sky with beauty."
The concept of fireworks did not yet exist in Japan in this era.
That was because Japan had neither the technology to produce gunpowder nor any proper gunpowder weapons yet.
Meanwhile, in Joseon, it was customary to burn through an enormous amount of gunpowder and put on fireworks whenever a Ming diplomatic mission arrived.
Fireworks were monsters that devoured gunpowder, but this time we were using only an extremely small amount, so it was hardly a major waste.
At my hand signal, dozens of arrows were launched into the sky simultaneously.
Multicolored sparks traced lines along their flight paths.
Before long, fireworks burst where the lines ended, dyeing the sky in vivid colors.
It was a simple performance repeated only a few times, but the faces of the lord of Tsushima and the other Tsushima men went completely rigid.
"This is a weapon called the hwacha, newly devised by His Highness the Crown Prince of Joseon. It can fire dozens upon dozens of arrows at once."
In truth, the hwacha itself could hardly be called a particularly efficient weapon.
Yet the sight of dozens of arrows being launched at once and raining down upon the enemy was highly effective at instilling fear in them.
That was why I judged this weapon would be useful in actual combat.
After all, warfare in this era was ultimately also a contest over who would lose morale first and become unable to maintain formation.
"Isn't its power truly magnificent?"