Black Corporation: Joseon

“Shopkeeper, this Western prince wishes to purchase some gat.”

“Gat, you say?”

After hearing the interpreter’s words, the shopkeeper looked at Henry briefly before calling his assistant.

“Gapdong! Go fetch Master Jin!”

“Yes, sir!”

The official interjected at the shopkeeper’s words.

“Who is Master Jin?”

“He’s the head of the gat craftsmen.”

“Why him?”

The shopkeeper pointed at Henry while explaining to the official.

“The head shapes of these Westerners, including their prince, differ somewhat from us Joseon people.”

“Can’t you just make and sell them as usual?”

The merchant raised his voice while waving his hands dismissively.

“My goodness, sir! Though the gat may look simple to make, if it doesn’t fit the head perfectly, it’s both uncomfortable to wear and unsightly! How can we make them carelessly when the nobles of Hanseong and the surrounding Giho region are so particular? Do you want my shop to go bankrupt?”

“Is that so? Well…”

The official nodded upon hearing the explanation. He too had experience trying on and examining various gats before buying, and would seek out specific shops rumored to make particularly stylish ones.

Meanwhile, Henry nodded slightly after hearing the shopkeeper’s words through the interpreter.

“Even the marketplace merchants have such mindset… Is this why products from the ‘Country of Flowers’ are superior?”

Hearing Henry’s muttering, the interpreter thought to himself:

Well… What was that saying among merchants? That there are no pickier customers than the people of Hanseong?

As the capital of Joseon, Hanseong housed the nation’s highest classes. Such people were naturally fastidious, and if there was even a slight defect, word would spread instantly, leading to swift business failure.

Soon after, Master Jin arrived at the summons and looked at Henry’s group after hearing the situation.

“The craftsman asks if he may measure your head.”

“That’s fine.”

Shortly after, the craftsman examined Henry’s head from various angles while seated, taking measurements with different tools before reaching a conclusion, which the interpreter conveyed.

“The craftsman says that since your head shape differs considerably from Joseon people, he must remake the frame from scratch. Therefore, it will take quite some time.”

Henry nodded nonchalantly at the interpreter’s words.

“That’s fine, as we must stay in Joseon until the winds change anyway.”

“Then how many would you like?”

“Let’s start with 100.”

The merchant’s face brightened upon hearing this through the interpreter and began his sales pitch in earnest.

“What kind of gat box would you prefer?”

“What’s a gat box?”

At Henry’s question, the merchant showed him wooden boxes for storing gats.

Upon seeing the boxes, ranging from simple fitted ones polished with pine resin to those decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay, Henry recalled the official’s words.

“They said you should be prepared to spend money from the moment you buy a gat…”

Eventually, Henry had to reduce his order from 100 to 30 gats. As he decreased the quantity, he clicked his tongue with a regretful expression.

“There’s so much to buy, but we can’t just buy gats… Tsk!”

***

After this initiation into gat purchasing, Henry’s expression grew increasingly serious as he toured Hanseong’s marketplace.

“Of all the things we could buy in Alexandria, except for a few true top-quality items, everything else was just middle-grade!”

Many items that commanded high prices in Alexandria could be purchased for one-third the cost here in Joseon, their place of origin. Moreover, most items that were expensive and hard to obtain even within Joseon were things completely unavailable in Alexandria. Many of these items could bring enormous profits if they could only be transported.

“If we could only transport them…”

Upon returning to the guesthouse, Henry muttered with a bitter expression.

***

Items like the extremely ornate mother-of-pearl inlaid furniture that had caught Henry’s eye in the marketplace were masterpieces that European royal families would pay for without hesitation – if they could be brought to Europe.

However, the problem lay in their size and transportation difficulties. Items like the mother-of-pearl furniture would easily deteriorate if exposed to moisture. Shipping them by sea over several months meant accounting for such losses. Especially if they had to circumnavigate Africa like their current fleet, they’d be lucky if even one out of ten arrived intact.

“Then we’d have to set astronomical prices. That would make sales difficult. No wonder that Arab merchant gave up.”

The merchant ships operated by Arabs were smaller in size. Therefore, they mainly dealt in high-value items of small volume.

However, among the items brought from Joseon, the most profitable were large luxury items like candelabrum.

And since only Joseon’s large sailing ships could transport such large luxury items, Joseon could rake in enormous profits.

“We can somewhat handle the large ship issue with our vessels, but the problem is the voyage duration… Going around Africa takes too long…”

After contemplating various solutions, Henry let out a long sigh.

“Perhaps the iron horse after all…”

***

Henry’s group’s purchase consultations stretched on for nearly two months.

This lengthy duration was due to a casual remark made by the official conducting the consultation on the tenth day.

“While most goods gather in Hanseong, there are many that don’t.”

“Is that so?”

Henry’s eyes sparkled at the official’s words.

This is my chance!

Since becoming fascinated with the iron horse, Henry had desperately wanted to ride one. However, seeing the Joseon military’s iron-tight security around the guesthouse, he had been forced to suppress that desire.

This isn’t protection but a warning! Don’t move around carelessly!

Thus, Henry had been limited to merely viewing the marketplace.

In this situation, the official’s comment, aimed at selling more goods, presented Henry with the perfect opportunity.

“Since we have plenty of time, I’d like to see specialties from other regions. Could you convey my request to His Majesty?”

The official’s face brightened as he nodded at Henry’s request.

“Yes! I will submit your request!”

Upon hearing Henry’s request through the official, Sejong sought opinions from Hyang and his ministers.

“What do you think?”

“As long as we avoid military strategic points, it should be fine.”

“The Crown Prince’s words seem appropriate.”

The ministers showed no particular objection to Hyang’s response. Seeing the positive reactions from Hyang and the ministers, Sejong made his decision.

“Then arrange for them to travel by iron horse.”

“Shall we arrange a special train?”

“That would inconvenience the people – let’s arrange to charter one passenger car instead. They are honored guests, after all?”

***

While Henry was traveling around Joseon by iron horse, Sejong received an unexpected report.

“A strange prophecy is circulating among the Westerners in the research institute?”

Jeong-cho immediately bowed his head and responded to Sejong’s question.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What does it say?”

At Sejong’s question, Jeong-cho immediately explained its content. After hearing Jeong-cho’s answer, Sejong stroked his beard and muttered.

“‘A small spark rising from the East shall set the entire West ablaze,’ you say…”

Jeong-cho continued as Sejong muttered.

“When we asked Angelo and Giovanni, the leaders of the Westerners, they said this prophecy has been passed down since ancient times, and previously referred to the Mongols, or Yuan.”

“Is that so…”

***

The initial spread of this saying came from conversations between Giovanni’s disciples and Angelo’s disciples.

“An interesting rumor is circulating in the Vatican these days!”

“What kind of rumor?”

As the talk began to spread, Angelo frantically tried to stop his disciples.

“Never speak of this outside! Don’t you know how Joseon deals with prophecies!”

Joseon would track down and severely punish those who spread such prophecies whenever they circulated. Knowing this, Angelo hurriedly tried to silence his careless disciples, but the prophecy had already spread among other alchemists and scholars, and finally reached Joseon ears. Consequently, Angelo had to explain himself when summoned by Jeong-cho.

***

“Hmm… If it’s reached the point of being reported to me, the Crown Prince must know about it too. What did he say?”

“He laughed at first, then became serious.”

“Became serious?”

“He said there were several things that caught his attention…”

At Jeong-cho’s words, Sejong and his ministers nodded simultaneously.

“Indeed, looking at recent surrounding circumstances, there are more than a few things to consider…”

***

“There are quite a few troublesome matters here.”

After hearing the prophecy from the Vatican, Hyang examined the map with a serious expression.

“First, Ming. They’re preparing to film a makjang drama^[1].”

In Ming’s case, Emperor Xuande’s health was gradually deteriorating.

The problem was Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen, who would become the next emperor. No matter how one tried to sugar-coat it, he had an arbitrary and unreasonable personality.

‘His derailment was caused by the emperor’s excessive expectations.’

While such assessments existed, Ming’s officials, both high and low, sank into worry whenever they thought of the Crown Prince.

Eventually, from last year, Zhu Qizhen had left the Forbidden City to live in Nanking.

At that time, Nanking had an administrative organization identical to the northern court in Beijing, so the intent was to have him learn administration through it.

This was also true for Emperor Xuande. When Emperor Hongxi died, Xuande, who had been learning administrative duties in Nanking, had to hurriedly return to Beijing.

However, the reports coming up from Nanking were not very positive, and the ministers’ concerns deepened.

As a result, talks of ‘replacing the imperial Crown Prince’ began to circulate quietly.

While Ming had these internal problems, externally, tensions with Northern Yuan were rising again.

Ming had opened trading posts and established permanent markets along its border with Northern Yuan for commerce. However, while Northern Yuan had little to sell except horses and sheep, Ming merchants who possessed various goods needed by Northern Yuan were increasingly price-gouging. Consequently, the atmosphere in the border region was growing increasingly hostile.

“While Ming could explode at any time, inside or out, Japan is a place where civil war could break out tomorrow and no one would be surprised.”

After the previous Shogun’s young son ascended to the position following his father’s assassination, the Hosokawa clan eliminated the family of Akamatsu Mitsusuke, the main culprit of the assassination.

The shogunate appeared to have stabilized thanks to the efforts of the Hosokawa clan, who had successfully completed the suppression and became guardians of the young Shogun.

However, in reality, it could collapse at any moment.

The biggest reason was that the Shogun was too young. While the families in charge of the Shogun’s guardianship, including the Hosokawa clan, worked to maintain the shogunate’s stability, daimyos with ambitions began to emerge stealthily.

Among such ambitious ones, the most prominent clan was the Ouchi.