Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Transportation Reform (4)
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Among Joseon's government offices, the one leading the charge in multiculturalism was none other than the Ship Arsenal.
This was a place where Ming Chinese, Japanese, and Joseon natives all worked side by side.
Just watching them was a heartwarming sight of true multiculturalism in action.
In the shipbuilding yard, a craftsman from the Ming Dynasty was teaching Joseon artisans who had come to learn the ways of building treasure ships.
"Wooden pegs—no, you can't use those! I said no wooden pegs!"
The Joseon artisan who heard this exploded in anger.
"Of course we use wooden pegs for building ships. What kind of nonsense is using iron nails without any real foundation?"
"Ming treasure ships are built with iron nails. If you keep insisting on wooden pegs, I'll call the clerk over!"
"Fine, fine. Calm down."
"Use proper respect."
"Alright, alright, I understand."
"I'm the foreman here. Do it right on your own."
From what I knew, it took at least a year of living in Korea for a foreigner to speak the language that fluently.
But with the Office of Interpreters' advanced foreign language education system—a method that would still work even in the 21st century—combined with the flower of 21st-century military training, guerrilla gymnastics...
They had become that proficient in Korean in just two months.
The interpreters who had witnessed this effect firsthand had reported it upward, declaring that from now on, if anyone spoke Joseon language during lessons at the Office of Interpreters, they'd make the whole unit do guerrilla gymnastics as collective punishment...
Thinking of those who would suffer in the future, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.
Still, I had introduced guerrilla gymnastics for the comfortable lives of Joseon's people.
So, whatever happened next was an unavoidable sacrifice for everyone's sake.
"Then, Foreman, buy us a round of makgeolli tonight. In Joseon, it's tradition for the foreman to treat his hardworking apprentices or subordinates to a shot of liquor after a long day."
At his words, the Ming craftsman made a face like Sima Yi falling into Zhuge Liang's trap.
But whether in Joseon or the Ming, laborers always obsessed over saving face.
The Ming craftsman let out a deep sigh and said,
"I'll buy the rounds tonight!"
"As expected from our generous foreman."
"No hard work, no liquor!"
This was the front line of cultural integration.
Ming craftsmen acting as foremen, accepted by Joseon's shipbuilders, conversing in the Joseon tongue.
Joseon artisans pressuring their Ming foreman to buy them makgeolli, and him gladly accepting—it was all so endearing.
"What a delightful sight."
Seeing them blend so seamlessly, in about ten years, those guys would be fully Joseon people.
The only difference from someone born and raised in Joseon might be occasionally whipping up some Chinese dishes to eat and introducing them to neighbors as "hometown food."
"Lord Je Geom, we've finalized the structure for the shipyard. Please take a look."
"Let's see it, then."
I examined the blueprints handed over by Jeongbin.
The layout was incredibly efficient.
Dry docks, auxiliary cranes for hauling heavy planks from the sides, and other heavy equipment, plus passages for people and goods—all meticulously arranged. As expected of Jeongbin.
But there was one fatal flaw.
"As expected from Jeong the Magistrate, famed even among Joseon's renowned master builders for understanding civil engineering better than anyone. Not a single thing to nitpick."
"I apologize, my lord."
"However, you've overlooked one thing."
The eyes of Jeongbin, obsessed with civil engineering, changed.
If I were the same rank as him, a fifth-grade official, he probably would've charged at me right then.
If I didn't give a satisfactory answer, he would've protested even if I were the king instead of a fourth-grade official.
He looked ready to file a regional grievance petition.
"What part doesn't meet your approval?"
"Joseon will need at least thousands of ships in the future."
Jeongbin's face stiffened at the word "thousands."
Well, maintaining just 10,000 soldiers was no small feat...
Ships that devoured far more money than soldiers, in the thousands? It must've been unimaginable.
Jeongbin's current state was probably like a high-spec game crashing from CPU overload.
"Even adding up every ship the Joseon navy has now wouldn't reach 200."
"That's true. But to successfully implement the Bangwon Law, we'll need that many. And nine out of ten—90%—should be for civilian use, not warships."
"You're saying we need to build thousands of merchant ships?"
"Exactly. So even though the Ship Arsenal's yard is only in Incheon now... soon, every naval base across the country will have one."
"... You're Lord Je Geom, so I'll believe it."
Humans know full well they could die chasing money, yet they dive in anyway.
In the Age of Exploration, sailors in the spice trade, from pepper and beyond, could make a fortune just by sailing to India and back.
Enough to buy fields and a house back home, live as a mid-level landowner with tenant farmers.
Though most sailors blew it all on entertainment, of course.
Would Joseon's merchants be any different?
That navigators from Tsushima (Japanese pirates before naturalization) knew routes past Taiwan to Southeast Asia was common knowledge among those in the know in Joseon.
Those lured by greed would stake their lives to get rich.
'They'd go all the way to India, no doubt.'
"Joseon people will soon reach as far as the Kingdom of Tianzhu."
Jeongbin burst out laughing at my words.
"Lord Je Geom, you jest well. Tianzhu? That's 90,000 ri away from Joseon. How on earth do you suggest getting there?"
"Human greed knows no bounds."
I figured about 20 years.
At the current pace, in around 20 years, they'd really make it to India...
"Anyway, this blueprint's scale is too small. Building one treasure ship takes three months at best, half a year at worst. At this size, you'd barely manage ten ships in half a year."
"Isn't that more than enough—overflowing, even?"
"Expand it to handle at least twenty ships in half a year—thirty in emergencies. Prepare for the unprepared, as they say. Better safe than sorry."
This was a national facility, but there was no need to build only 'government ships.'
Joseon's navy trained soldiers while also transporting civilian merchants' goods.
They might not build warships like panokseon, but civilian treasure ships? No issue.
No, waiting for merchants to build their own massive-capital shipyards would be inefficient.
Just have the state build the yard, hire the workers, then take merchants' money to build 'merchant ships.' Far more efficient.
"No, make it for forty ships."
"Lord Je Geom, that'll drain the treasury dry. The Finance Ministry officials are already grumbling about the Ship Arsenal's spending..."
"Why must the Ship Arsenal only build grain transports and warships? Why not take money from merchants who need ships and build them treasure ships?"
"... As long as they're not warships with cannons and such for military use, it shouldn't be a big problem."
"If building one treasure ship costs 350 seom of white rice all told, charge merchants 550 seom. That's 200 seom profit per ship—enough to cover some of the Ship Arsenal and court's needs."
We pocket 200 seom of rice profit, and merchants avoid the burden of maintaining their own yards.
Win-win for everyone.
This was the essence of a deal where both sister and brother-in-law benefit.
"I'll petition His Highness directly. Joseon needs a ton of ships, so allow the Ship Arsenal to build them for merchants who pay."
"... As expected of Lord Je Geom."
Of course it'd be approved, so once it was, the artisan master and I would scrape together every spare coin for shipbuilding commissions.
Ship demand and value would skyrocket—no fool would miss that.
"Prepare for fifty ships under construction at once. And ensure my new assembly-line division of labor is strictly followed."
To spark an Industrial Revolution, you needed 'factory-style handicrafts' before steam engines.
Only then could you swap people for machines in factories.
"I'll head over to where Magistrate Jang is, then."
I turned and walked toward Jang Yeong-sil.
Jang Yeong-sil was in the midst of a deep discussion with the Ming craftsmen.
"From what I've seen, you assemble the planks first, then insert the keel and frame. We do the same in Joseon, but it's inefficient. From now on, build the keel and frame first, then add the planks."
"That's different from our method..."
"When building a house, you raise pillars and beams before filling walls with clay and adding the roof. Just try it my way on one ship—consider it a loss if it doesn't work."
As expected of Jang Yeong-sil. Toss him in a shipyard, and he reinvented the super-efficient techniques from Venice's Arsenal on his own.
Now I just needed to write the petition.
And a few days later, I was summoned to the audience chamber.