Chapter 164
For Lord So Sadamori of Tsushima, Joseon was an object of both love and hatred.
After Joseon opened Jeju Island to them, allowing unlimited trade, the people of Tsushima no longer had to worry about starving.
That was because Joseon bought the goods they had looted from Ming to their hearts' content at good prices.
Yet Joseon did not offer them kindness alone.
In exchange for opening trade, Kim Daebung, a close aide to the king of Joseon, threatened him, saying, ‘Joseon can replace the position of Lord of Tsushima at will,’ and...
This time, in exchange for granting them the right to broker the trade of twenty thousand geun of steel, they had to hand over Tsushima's silver mines.
Moreover, they had to allow Joseon people to live around the silver mines.
“Kim Daebung, you vile bastard.”
He was a chief retainer of the Shoni clan, one of Wa's major daimyo families, and the Lord of Tsushima, with the authority to rule the island...
Yet whenever that man appeared, he felt as though he was no longer the Lord of Tsushima but a slave of Joseon.
What angered him even more was that he could not even imagine defying the words that came from that demon-possessed tongue.
How in the world did Joseon know that his family possessed neither the office of Tsushimanokami, which symbolized the island's legitimate ruler, nor the position of Tsushima shugo, proof that the shogunate recognized them—
and that they were rivals of the wako in Hirado, many of whom were Ming subjects as well?
“Ha, it is all that bastard Kim Daebung's fault.”
During the previous conquest of Tsushima, Joseon had mistaken them for the leaders of the wako, so when the campaign ended, he had bluffed as though that were true, and Joseon had fallen for it completely.
But everything changed after that bastard Kim Daebung appeared in Tsushima.
Now, if he tried anything like that, Kim Daebung would immediately appear, drive him out, summon Hanataro from the coast, and install him as Lord of Tsushima. He could not even imagine defying Joseon.
In the end, the Lord of Tsushima continued to mutter insults at Kim Daebung and Joseon to himself.
He wanted to gather his retainers and curse Joseon together, but if he did, those disloyal and unfaithful retainers might secretly inform Joseon, so he could not bring himself to do it.
“My lord, the miners sent from Joseon, their families, and even the troops sent from Joseon have arrived at the port.”
“They came quickly. It has not even been seven days since Kim Daebung arrived, yet they have already brought miners, their families, and even soldiers. Unless they were certain that we would be unable to refuse their proposal and prepared everything in advance, Joseon could not have sent people this quickly.”
Even while complaining, the Lord of Tsushima was once again dressed in the official robes bestowed upon him by Joseon.
If he incurred Joseon's displeasure, he had no idea when not only his position but also all the benefits he had received thus far might be taken away.
The Lord of Tsushima hurried toward the port.
Since he could survive only by remaining in Joseon's good graces, he had already thrown himself into the mud. Rolling around in it one more time would hardly make a difference.
Upon reaching the port, So Sadamori greeted the Joseon people warmly in halting Joseon speech.
“I am So Sadamori, Lord of Tsushima. While you remain here, so long as you do not cause any major trouble, I will do everything I can to help you in return for His Majesty's grace. So make yourselves comfortable.”
The Joseon people who had arrived in Tsushima were dumbfounded to find that the Lord of Tsushima was welcoming them in Joseon speech.
At the same time, they felt a small surge of pride.
Seeing the Lord of Tsushima, who had once done little but raid Joseon and kill Joseon people at every opportunity, now wearing Joseon official robes and welcoming them in Joseon speech...
Because of this, they could feel that Joseon had truly grown much stronger than before.
“Who is the representative among those gathered here?”
“His Majesty chose me and entrusted me with the position of representative, my lord.”
“Welcome to Tsushima. Though I am a man who serves the Shoni clan, I too have received the grace of Joseon's king, vast as the sea... I will regard the Joseon people here as no different from the people of Tsushima and care for them with all sincerity.”
“Thank you, my lord. However, His Majesty was concerned that Tsushima's food shortages and small population might limit the ability of Tsushima's soldiers to protect the miners sent from Joseon. Thus, when he sent the miners and their families, he also sent three hundred Joseon soldiers and ordered them to protect the miners and their families.”
Tsushima's population was approximately twenty thousand, so strictly speaking, three hundred soldiers alone could not perfectly protect the miners and their families sent here.
Nevertheless, the deployment of troops was Sejong's warning to the Lord of Tsushima—
that if he did anything foolish, Joseon would turn Tsushima into a land where no human being could live at a moment's notice...
“It seems His Majesty sent Joseon's finest troops. The movements of these three hundred soldiers fit together as though they were a single body, and the way they move as one is truly remarkable. It makes me wish Tsushima had many samurai like them.”
At that point, a military official contradicted the Lord of Tsushima.
“They are nothing more than ordinary soldiers fulfilling their military service in Joseon. However, since they have left Joseon's eight provinces to serve far away, we are paying them generous wages in return for their service.”
“...... Just ordinary soldiers?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Strictly speaking, they had not simply been rounded up at random and sent.
Since Joseon had promised one gyeol of land to anyone who served in Tsushima for three years, countless people had volunteered in hopes of changing their fortunes.
Only those who made it through fierce competition had been selected and sent.
Yet among them, even counting all the military officers, elite guards, and soldiers who had received military or minor official appointments, there were only about twenty men who could be compared to samurai.
As the military official had said, the vast majority of them really were ordinary soldiers.
At first, the Lord of Tsushima doubted his words, but after examining the military official's expression, he was forced to acknowledge that they were true.
‘There is not a trace of bluster in him.’
“His Majesty also said that Joseon would regularly supply food for the soldiers and miners sent from Joseon and their families, so you need not worry.”
“His Majesty's grace is boundless.”
“And, as Ironworks Magistrate Kim Daebung promised, we have brought twenty thousand geun of steel as well.”
“Thank you.”
The Joseon soldiers boldly brought out and displayed twenty thousand geun of steel before all the people of Tsushima.
At the same time, they showed enormous quantities of grain and livestock being unloaded.
“At this rate, that looks like enough food to last nearly half a year...”
“Ah, that amount would only be enough to feed Joseon people for two months.”
Unless one runs a mukbang channel, eating a great deal is not much to boast about in the twenty-first century, but...
In premodern times, the fact that even ordinary people could eat a great deal was itself a sign that the country's national strength was considerable.
Imagining the staggering quantities eaten by Joseon people, the Lord of Tsushima was left speechless before Joseon's national power.
“His Majesty said that the Lord of Tsushima should dispose of the steel as he sees fit. In that case, we will go straight to the silver mines, prepare for mining, and improve the facilities so that our people can live there.”
“Indeed...”
After disembarking, the Joseon miners, their families, and the soldiers gathered together before hurrying toward the silver mines.
The Lord of Tsushima watched Joseon's abundance, which allowed it to consume such enormous quantities of food, and its orderly soldiers moving as one, and thought:
Never oppose Joseon.
Instead, align himself with the order led by Joseon and devote himself to making Tsushima prosper.
“Yanagawa!”
“Yes, my lord.”
“When the miners from Joseon build their homes and establish a place to live, mobilize the people of Tsushima to help them. And tell my retainers and samurai to grant as many of their requests as possible.”
“Isn't that too much?”
“The Shoni clan we serve is being outmatched by those Ouchi bastards and may be destroyed at any time. But you saw it with your own eyes just now, did you not? Joseon is firm and prosperous. Having seen the same thing, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“I apologize.”
The Lord of Tsushima clicked his tongue inwardly.
To think that a man like this was his chief retainer. Had Tsushima's doom arrived?
“And once the Joseon people begin full-scale work at the mine, we will go to Hirado.”
“Isn't that enemy territory?”
“We will forge weapons and armor from the twenty thousand geun of steel and show them our strength. Then we will coax and cajole them, promising to give them steel if they follow us. If we do that, the Hirado wako will surely follow us.”
To the wako, iron was power itself.
That was because processing iron turned it into weapons and armor.
With good weapons and armor, it became much easier to raid Ming or the indigenous peoples around Lusong (the Philippines).
“Prepare at once.”
As time passed, when the miners from Joseon had extracted silver and were ready to use technologies such as the silver-lead separation method, the Lord of Tsushima led his samurai to Hirado in person.
**
“Where is Matsuura?”
As soon as he arrived, the Lord of Tsushima summoned the leader of the Hirado wako.
The Hirado wako tried to show their displeasure at this...
But when they saw that not only Tsushima's samurai but even its ordinary soldiers were armed with weapons made of steel, they quickly fell into line.
“Why have you come, Lord of Tsushima?”
“Will you join us in raiding the Ming coast?”
If they were going to raid anyway, it was better for several forces to gather and do it together.
That way, they would be less likely to be caught by Ming's government troops and punished.
“...... What if we refuse?”
“Then don't. But if you join us in the raids, we will sell you steel.”
“You still have steel left over after equipping yourselves? Well, fine. We have to raid anyway, and if we can both raid and buy steel, it is a win on both fronts.”
Thus, the Hirado wako and the Lord of Tsushima joined hands.
Together, they ravaged the areas they passed through along the Ming coast—more precisely, Fujian Province—and returned.