Chapter 203
The Ming vessel known as a treasure ship, boasting a hull length of 63 meters, a beam of 14 meters, and a displacement of 1,300 tons.
The European ships of the line from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, famed for challenging the limits of wooden warships, were roughly this size as well.
Ming's technological prowess in producing such a massive vessel in the early fifteenth century, a full two centuries ahead of Europe, was truly worthy of being called the world's greatest.
No, it was not merely self-proclaimed: objectively speaking, Ming was the world's strongest and most advanced nation in the fifteenth century.
The problem was that these people became intoxicated by their status as the world's strongest and stopped developing altogether.
‘For now, Ming really is the world's strongest.’
“Kim Eung-gyo.”
As I was looking around the treasure ship, someone suddenly called out to me.
It was the eunuch Zheng He, commander in chief of the great voyage known as Zheng He's Western Ocean expedition.
“Yes, Taigam.”
“What do you think of our Ming treasure ships?”
“They are large and beautiful. It is as though a castle were floating and moving across the water.”
Zheng He's treasure ship was a vessel so enormous that it could be compared one-to-one with a ship of the line.
Of course, compared to the ships of the line that appeared later, Zheng He's treasure ship did have various shortcomings...
Whether in size, the firepower of the cannons it carried, or the number of sailors aboard...
By every measure, judged by fifteenth-century standards, a treasure ship was more than adequate as a mobile fortress at sea.
In reality, it would take dozens of panokseons just to take on a single treasure ship.
Zheng He answered me with a hearty laugh.
"Ah, in truth, this ship is hardly different from a castle. When I was suppressing that Chen Zuyi bastard (a Ming pirate), I fought and defeated the thirty warships under his command with just this one treasure ship. And naturally, the treasure ship suffered no significant damage."
"There cannot be a navy anywhere in the world capable of fighting and defeating a ship this large."
Admiral Yi Sun-sin fought fiercely for quite a long time during the Battle of Myeongnyang under the conditions of one ship against 133 ships.
That was possible because Uldolmok itself was a narrow strait, preventing many ships from rushing at once into the narrow channel Admiral Yi Sun-sin was defending...
It was also possible because the panokseon itself was far larger than the sekibune the Japanese used as their main warship.
So, with a little exaggeration, one could say that the Japanese navy attacking a panokseon was ‘similar to trying to take a fortress with ordinary infantry.’
However, although a panokseon was much larger than a Japanese warship, it was still far smaller than the treasure ships Zheng He operated...
'Even dozens of ships led by Chen Zuyi would have stood no chance before a treasure ship.'
“No navy anywhere in the world can defeat our grand fleet in a naval battle. Therefore, whether they are the Tsushima Wokou or the Iki Wokou, they are no match for our Western Ocean expeditionary force.”
“When I went to the imperial palace, I heard that Lord Zheng had nearly destroyed the Zhaowa Kingdom (the Majapahit Kingdom, a tribal confederation that ruled the Indonesian region) for daring to defy Great Ming.”
“Great Ming is a mighty nation that embraces the Four Seas (all under Heaven). We sent a delegation to those barbarians to establish diplomatic relations and civilize them, but those bastards insolently dared to massacre our entire delegation. So naturally, we had no choice but to do what we did.”
The Majapahit Kingdom had never intended to kill the Ming delegation.
Although Ming had completely locked down the sea routes with its sea ban, its merchants still engaged in smuggling from time to time, just as drug smuggling somehow takes place even in the twenty-first century despite evading the police dragnet...
And because Vietnam and the Ayutthaya Kingdom had interacted with Majapahit and talked its ears off about Ming's formidable national power...
The Majapahit Kingdom knew very well just how powerful Ming was.
It was just that a civil war was raging in Majapahit, so some dim-witted pirates with nothing in their heads committed the atrocity of killing the Ming delegation without knowing what they were doing.
As a result, the Ming delegation tore the Majapahit Kingdom apart, quite literally.
“The Wokou deserve to die.”
Although he called the people he intended to kill Wokou, I could read another intention hidden in his words.
It was that Joseon, too, would be ruled by the sword if it defied Ming.
What a laughable thing to say.
If Joseon were to face Ming head-on right now... winning would of course be impossible, but...
Weren't you Ming people yourselves unable to secure a proper victory even against mere Vietnam?
The way Ming was subtly revealing that it could conquer Joseon by force... honestly, it was rather pathetic.
“His Majesty has declared that he will slaughter every Wokou and bring peace to all under Heaven, so Joseon will follow his lead.”
Ming's national power is at its peak right now.
It would later come close to ruin during the Tumu Crisis, but from Ming's perspective, it was truly Heaven's luck that Northern Yuan lacked the strength to continue the war.
It was fortunate that Esen Taishi did not slowly conquer Ming territory, like a drizzle gradually soaking clothes.
Otherwise, they might have collapsed with the end of the Zhengtong Emperor's reign.
Even if they had not collapsed, there would have been a fairly high chance of the country splitting in half, like the Southern Song or Southern Ming.
Therefore, if they ever declare that they will slaughter Joseon and try to carry it out, we will have no choice.
We will join hands with Northern Yuan and make a final stand, I suppose.
"That is good. However, when I came to Joseon this time, there was one thing that puzzled me."
"What puzzling matter are you referring to?"
"As I led the expeditionary force to Hanyang, I saw more than a hundred treasure ships moored in Incheon alone. I had heard that Joseon had almost no large ships apart from warships, so I was truly curious about how this had come to be. And, as it happens, all those large ships were Fuchuan ships."
If I showed even the slightest sign of being flustered by his question here and gave a single wrong answer...
When the campaigns against Tsushima and Iki ended, I would not be returning to Joseon; I would be dragged straight before the emperor.
And he would demand that Sejong provide a proper explanation for this situation.
Using that as a pretext, he would thoroughly tame Joseon, then make us destroy all our merchant ships ourselves to prove our loyalty.
These people found it difficult to eradicate the Wokou because of their military power and the pirates' tendency to appear without warning and flee in an instant.
They were the sort of people who forcibly relocated every Ming subject living peacefully along the coast to the interior, causing a great many of them to die en masse without a second thought.
“After the Yongle Emperor passed away and the Hongxi Emperor ascended the throne, the shipyards throughout Ming were abolished, were they not? As a result, the shipwrights lost their livelihoods, something Lord Zheng must be aware of. However, some of them came to Joseon seeking a way to survive and asked to be naturalized. His Majesty recognized the value of their shipbuilding skills, accepted their naturalization, and merely permitted them to build ships in Joseon.”
If this had been a world where the concept of intellectual property existed, they could have sued or lodged some other protest, claiming that Joseon had infringed on Ming's intellectual property.
But this era had neither patents nor intellectual property.
And unless they could produce proof that I had poached shipwrights from Ming and brought them to Joseon...
But they would never be able to find proof that we had poached the shipwrights, either, so if we simply said that those people, desperate for a livelihood after losing their jobs, had voluntarily become Joseon citizens and provided Joseon with their shipbuilding skills, they would have no grounds to question or challenge us any further.
“Also, Joseon has not the slightest intention of violating the sea ban established by Great Ming.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. Joseon built many Fuchuan ships simply because the country is surrounded by sea on three sides and needs them to transport supplies easily within the country. It is not because we wish to violate the sea ban and trade with barbarians.”
To put this a little more precisely, while you are attacking Tsushima and Iki, Joseon merchants and the Joseon court will strictly observe the sea ban.
Unless we had openly violated the sea ban and opposed the prohibition you imposed, what could you Ming bastards possibly do to us?
“Joseon has no large canal like the Jinghang Grand Canal, making the transport of supplies extremely difficult. That is why we genuinely need so many large ships.”
If we tried to transport supplies by land, there would be so many high and rugged passes to cross, and so many tigers—the giant cats people on the internet call them—that traveling by land at night would be like protesting that I wanted to die quickly and begging to be killed as I wished.
That was why the inns of late Joseon often had long-term guests: they had to gather a certain number of people and travel as a group to avoid being mauled to death by tigers.
“I see. That certainly seems plausible. I understand. In fact, just seeing that Joseon's king sent you, a minister he cherishes dearly, aboard this treasure ship proves that Joseon's loyalty is beyond question.”
“Thank you for believing me, my lord.”
Zheng He gave me a faint smirk and said,
“Joseon must continue to show its loyalty to our Great Ming. And today, you will witness the fate of those who chose to become barbarians rather than show their loyalty.”
Not long after Zheng He finished speaking, trumpets began blaring from the flagship carrying him.
“Iki is in sight! Load the cannons and arm the soldiers!”
“The emperor's decree is to kill every adult male without leaving a single one alive! Capture all the women and children and turn them into slaves!”
And on that day, Zheng He's grand fleet turned Iki into a wasteland unfit for human habitation.
The daimyo who ruled Iki was captured as well.
Before long, Tsushima suffered the same fate.