Episode 413: Lord of War. Hua Sang (4)
In the subsequent test run, the new iron horse satisfied Sejong.
After the release ceremony and test drive, King Sejong returned to the palace and gave orders to Kim Jeom.
“Prepare a budget to mass produce the new iron horse and its accompanying passenger and freight cars.”
Kim Jeom immediately responded to King Sejong’s command by bowing his head.
“I have already budgeted for the immediate needs. And we are prepared to execute it every year over the next five years.”
“huh?”
“uh?”
“to?”
When Kim Jeom answered right away, not only King Sejong but also the ministers and ministers and even officers and eunuchs looked at Kim Jeom with wide eyes.
As everyone in Geunjeongjeon turned their attention to him, Kim Jeom looked at King Sejong with a puzzled face.
“Have you done something wrong?”
“Oh, that’s not it. It’s because you answered so refreshingly.”
Kim Jeom responded to Sejong’s words.
“The iron horse is a piece that is sure to be of great help to the people’s lives as well as to improving the country’s fortunes. And since railroads and bridges are already being laid across the country, isn’t it natural to prepare in advance and wait?”
“That’s true... That’s not true...”
King Sejong kept nodding his head in response to Kim Jeom’s answer, but it was a very unfamiliar situation.
* * *
In any case, as the budget was implemented by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Area 51 and railroad construction sites across the country were busy.
At the production warehouse in Area 51, new iron horses were being manufactured in large quantities, and carriages much larger than those for the Hanseong Iron Horses and stagecoaches running on tow trucks were being built step by step.
And final inspections were continuing at railroad construction sites across the country that were slowly entering the final phase.
During this final inspection process, the routes that the superintendents were most concerned about were the track connecting Hanseong to Wonsan and the railway running north to south along the east coast.
Coal from the North and Gangwon Province was transported to the steel mill located in Yeonil, South. Additionally, steel produced in Musan and Yeonil went to Hanseong via the Gyeongwon Line or were distributed throughout the country using overland routes that had been completed. The same was true with coal.
Following the east coast axis, the west coast and south coast axis lines were also nearing completion.
The railway planned and executed by Joseon had its own characteristics. First, a main route was created along the coastline, and branch lines were connected to the inland from that route.
The reason this method was adopted was because of the mountain ranges that occupy 70% of the Korean Peninsula. Although Hyang was good at all kinds of virtues, his weakness was in architecture and civil engineering. Although locomotives with increasingly stronger output were being developed and researched, climbing a mountain was still difficult.
Therefore, the main line was laid along the coastline, which was a flat area, and branch lines went inland.
At the center of this magnificent railway network was Hanseong.
On the day that the Hansu Railroad Bridge, which is still under intense construction, was completed, the entire Joseon Dynasty would be connected by rail.
And for that day, Jinpyeong was riding around all over Joseon on horseback and making all kinds of observations.
“The completion of Joseon’s national railway network is the beginning of my dream! Starting from Joseon, we will build a railroad to the Central Liaodong Plain and beyond! “I will take the train to Heaven and Alexandria!”
Jinpyeong was a man who wandered around the construction site, excitedly shouting out loud things that would make Kim Jeom cry.
And when Hyang heard this, his face turned serious and he muttered.
“Isn’t that dream of Gyeyucheolnan not a dog dream but a precognitive dream?”
* * *
In this way, a variable was thrown into Joseon, which was moving peacefully above the water and fiercely below the water.
The 18th year of King Sejong (1436, Byeongjin year). april.
Ouchi’s envoy urgently visited Joseon. King Sejong and the ministers had a serious look on their faces because the envoy came suddenly rather than regularly every year.
“The head of the Daenae clan, Daenaeseonggyeon (大內盛見), is quite old, so isn’t there some problem?”
Lee Maeng-gyun answered King Sejong’s question.
“The adult dog is quite old, but he is not yet 60 years old, and he enjoys hunting and pays attention to his diet, so I think the probability of that happening is low.”
“is it?”
Sejong answered briefly and glanced at Hyang. Most of the things that Morimi observed and did were things that Hyang insisted to King Sejong that he must observe.
Sejong cleared his throat and gave an order.
“greatness! In any case, the sudden arrival of an envoy is bound to be due to a twist and turn, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should find out the twist and turn in detail.”
“I follow your orders!”
* * *
The officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who welcomed the envoy suddenly changed their complexion upon hearing the news delivered by Ouchi’s envoy, and immediately submitted a report to Lee Maeng-gyun, who ran to King Sejong.
“Open the box.”
At King Sejong’s command, the eunuch opened the lid of the box and showed King Sejong the contents.
Inside the box was a barrel with joints like bamboo.
After confirming the president in question, King Sejong looked back at Jo Mal-saeng.
“Do you think it looks a little different from the Fuhrer that our Joseon military used in the past?”
“That’s right. No, it’s definitely different.”
“Hmm...”
King Sejong, who was stroking his beard and organizing his thoughts upon Jo Mal-saeng’s confirmation, ordered Do Seung-ji.
“Please stop by and tell General Choi Hae-san and General Icheon immediately.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
* * *
Choi Hae-san and Lee Cheon, who were working in Area 51, hurried to Gyeongbokgung Palace when King Sejong called.
Choi Hae-san, who stabilized the North, volunteered to work at the Weapons Bureau created in Area 51 as soon as he returned.
He was strongly influenced by his father, Mu-seon Choi, and working at the Weapons Bureau in Area 51 was his calling.
In this way, Choi Hae-san and Lee Cheon were in charge of leading the development and improvement of gunpowder weapons at Area 51 and the research institute.
And looking at Choi Haesan like this, I commented on the scent like this.
“When it comes to gunpowder, you are a bigger fan of gunpowder than I am. “Next is me and number 3 is General Icheon.”
* * *
Choi Hae-san and Lee Cheon, who are such fans of sincerity, looked at the president in question and came to the same conclusion.
“It’s a stone fire.”
“That’s right.”
The two people who reached a consensus immediately reported it to King Sejong.
“This is the stone fire spear used by the Ming Dynasty army.”
“Is it the Hwachang of the Ming Dynasty?”
“That’s right.”
“I understand. “You may take a seat.”
King Sejong, who knew that the commander in question was the stone fire spear used by the Ming army, asked Mochiyo.
“Are there many of these presidents among the three families threatening Daenae?”
“I understand that you have at least a sack of spirit. And it continues to increase even now.”
“Hmm...”
Mochiyo’s explanation made Sejong lost in thought again. After thinking for a while, Sejong opened his mouth to see if he had made a decision.
“Listen to the internal situation. It is a very serious problem that people who are in conflict with the Daenae family use this type of president. The Daenae family and our Joseon Dynasty have continued their relationship until now, so how can we just ignore it? “I will find a good answer and let you know soon, so go back to the Sashin Hall and wait.”
Mochiyo responded to King Sejong’s command by immediately kneeling on the floor.
“I sincerely hope that you will look down on our poor family and help us!”
“I will find a good answer.”
* * *
After sending the envoys away, King Sejong looked back at the ministers.
“I guess we should help them. Daenae and we have a close relationship. “If Daenae goes wrong, we’ll be in trouble too.”
Following King Sejong’s words, Jo Mal-saeng immediately stepped forward.
“I’ll buy it back. In particular, the biggest problem is Mr. Soi. “Now that they have settled down in Tsushima Island, if they do anything wrong, there is a high possibility that the Japanese pirates will become violent again.”
The ministers all nodded at Jo Mal-saeng’s words. After seeing the reactions of the ministers, Jo Mal-saeng went one step further.
“It is important to help Mr. Daenae, but it is also important to deal with areas that may cause problems in advance.”
Hwang Hee intervened in Jo Mal-Saeng’s remarks.
“Pre-processing? Are you planning to attack Tsushima Island?”
“Mr. Soi’s problem is not only Daenae’s problem, but it is also our problem. Doesn’t even Samcheok-dong know that So-i, who was defeated by Daenae in the last battle, is plotting to seize power? Where are you going to get the money to buy that land? Is there anything more than piracy? “They may seem calm now, but we never know when they will come and attack us, so we won’t let this opportunity pass us by!”
“Do you think war is easy? Have you forgotten the hardships we went through preparing the army and raising war funds during the conquest of Tsushima Island in the previous year?”
“The current Joseon back then was no different! “In today’s Joseon, we don’t have to suffer as much as we did back then!”
The topic suddenly changed to ‘the second Tsushima conquest’ and the atmosphere in Daejeon became noisy.