The Daehan Yanghaeng (3)
There is always a decisive moment in historical events. The moment when a choice is made can alter the content of history books. And that decisive moment is not always limited to political or social choices.
Today was a prime example of that.
The Korean cuisine of Joseon would soon conquer the world.
*****
"Everyone, please."
The place I was standing was the courtyard in front of the main building of the Jeonju Gamyeong, granted by Shim I-taek, the Jeolla Province Governor and Jeonju Bu-yun.
The main building was filled with the influential figures of Jeonju, as well as merchants from across the country led by Yi Yong-ik and Lee Ha-young, and blood relatives from the prominent yangban families of Jeolla.
Most of them were audience members who had taken their seats at my urging to join my speech, my book, and the Alliance Association.
And these people here were the key investors for our grand cause in the future.
Revolution demands a vast amount of blood. If you want to reduce the amount of blood you spill, there's only one way: have more money to pay the price instead.
"Here are two bowls of gomtang."
They looked at the steaming hot gomtang in front of them and just murmured. I asked them.
"On the surface, it looks no different from the national porridge sold at the market, right?"
A dozen pairs of eyes blinked in confusion, not understanding my question, nodding up and down. With a confident expression, I placed my hand on my waist and spoke proudly.
"Everyone, you didn't eat lunch as I instructed, did you? Good. From now on, each of you will empty two bowls of gomtang. By the way, this entire thing was specially prepared with gratitude in my heart for those who came from far away to find me, so please enjoy it at your leisure."
Many people's eyes widened at my words. After all, even if it's a meal provided, most are newly minted yangban, and to make them stand in the courtyard like commoners to eat?
When people hesitated, I bowed slightly and snapped my fingers toward one side of the main building.
"Ah, don't be startled. I'll have the tables set."
Then, the attendants and soldiers of Jeonju Gamyeong brought several large tables, laid out mats in the courtyard, and set up tables on the floor, creating a banquet atmosphere.
Instead of a hundred questions and a thousand explanations, I forcefully pushed the tables in front of the murmuring people and said, "Just eat."
Before long, reactions began to erupt from all sides, just as I had expected.
"What is this? Why is it so delicious?"
"Huuuurk! Wow, the broth is delicious!"
"Amazing! How can it taste like this!?"
"Slurp, slurp! Hey, if there's any leftover broth, give me another bowl!"
"Me too, me too! Give me more rice!"
Looking at the people's reactions, I smiled faintly.
The long-awaited, 'Wow! Delicious! Amazing!' feast!
Even the high-ranking yangban who had been living off 'ahem, ahem' were sweating profusely, trying to eat another spoonful of the national porridge, their minds in a daze.
Yes, the raw expressions that weren't forced told me everything.
Ah! It's way better than what I ate at home!
"Huuuurk!"
The governor next to me gulped down the entire bowl of broth in one go, set it down, and exclaimed in admiration.
"I've never tasted broth like this before! Did someone cast a spell in the cauldron?"
"...Yes, this is the first time I've tasted this kind of flavor."
Seo Gong-sun, the Namwon magistrate, who was nodding like someone bewitched by a ghost at Shim I-taek's mutter, was the same. The people gathered around me were sending me silent pressure with expressions full of curiosity.
You, hurry and reveal the secret recipe!
I smiled without meaning and stood up, walking among the people who were still busy eating the gomtang and starting to explain.
"A picture is worth a thousand words," I think there are no more people who would want to ask me why I invited you today.
People holding spoons and bowls nodded their heads while eating, their minds not quite there.
"Governor, there is no shamanistic sorcery you are worried about. It's simply that this great fellow was put in with the broth from the beginning when boiling the stock."
"Oh."
When I showed the brown crystal from the unidentified white paper envelope in my pocket to the people, everyone leaned in to figure out its identity.
"Mmm, it had a slight sweetness in the broth, is this candy?"
"'Sweet.' To be honest, it seemed to have a stronger salty taste rather than sweetness."
"I think the mysterious and wonderful taste in between."
"Hoo hoo, my ignorant ancestors, no matter how many times you argue, this is the true essence of advanced science."
While everyone debated about the brown crystal, I had plenty of time. Argue all you want, the answer will come out.
Then.
Even Choe Ik-hyeon, the most learned, was only speculating about the taste secret with Yu In-seok, when an unexpected person raised his hand and blurted out his guess!
"Um, isn't this kelp? It looks like kelp..."
"Eh...?"
I was startled when my secret recipe was exposed and quickly turned my head to find the voice. And I was even more surprised. The speaker was Lee Ha-young!
"Slurp slurp! But it seems to have a stronger flavor, and the salty taste is stronger."
Who are you? How did you know this?
Suddenly, an unexpected person casually revealed the secret, and I was not just surprised but filled with fear.
Could it be... did you come from Korea too...?
"...How do you know that, comrade?"
I barely regained my composure and asked Lee Ha-young, who was slurping with a spoon, "How do you know that?"
He smiled brightly without knowing the circumstances and opened his mouth.
"Uh, I passed through Busan and Japan for a while and sold it there. Japanese nobles go crazy for Korean kelp and seaweed. Thanks to that, my capital doubled."
'Damn!'
At Lee Ha-young's words, Yi Yong-ik slammed his knee and added explanation.
"Ah, I think I heard it from a previous trade. Moreover, Korean kelp is ranked the best in the three countries of Joseon, Qing, and Japan. Especially, the Japanese say that the rice, cowhide, and then kelp and seaweed are the most imported at the Japanese consulate in Incheon."
"..."
Then, the scholars and yangban from Gyeongsang, who came from there, raised their hands saying they had heard it too. When you go to the Japanese consulate in Incheon, the dried seaweed is always piled like a mountain, they say.
Anyway, back to the main point, the secret to the gomtang that the literati and merchants tasted now is exactly that guy you are thinking of.
The name familiar to Koreans, Meiwon (Taste Origin).
And the brown crystal I served is a small amount of rock salt mixed after boiling a lot of kelp for a whole day and then finely ground.
What, mass production?
There is no such thing in Joseon now.
'If I have to, I can solve it by importing a lot of wheat and sugarcane...'
Anyway, the field of mass production is a problem that can be solved whenever there is enough time and money. No need to worry anymore.
And the problem was separate.
"Ah, it was kelp?"
"Hmm, then I understand this heavenly taste too."
Yeah, who believes in shamanism these days?
"Hey? The governor over there earlier-"
"It's Meiwon! Meiwon! Not just some kelp!"
The atmosphere in the venue quickly cooled with the news that the secret of taste was roughly kelp.
Everyone slurping 'slurp slurp' and looking disappointed 'so this is it? Unsatisfied?' I quickly took out the next bundle.
"Once you've finished your meal, you should have dessert."
Managing my expression, I waved my hand in the air, and the underlings who were doing odd jobs came pouring out from somewhere, cleared the tables, and placed firmly sealed hori bottles and small silver boxes neatly on top, and disappeared in an instant.
"Let's see."
First, Shim I-taek opened the box and pointed to the sparkling surface, the bumpy and snow-white crystal candy, and the one with red color and transparent inside, asking.
"What is this?"
"Questions are unnecessary. First, try it and then share your thoughts."
"Hmm, here."
Shim I-taek, tilting his head, put it in his mouth first, then the others started tasting it one after another. After a while, the courtyard was unified by one emotion.
"Oh my god!"
Naturally, with eyes bulging and mouths agape, I barely regained my composure.
Yes, this is the reaction I wanted!
Seo Gong-sun, who was shocked by the first taste of sweetness and the chewy jelly, trembled and asked me.
"This, this..."
The one who stuttered. For the ignorant in taste, I generously showed leniency.
"The white one is star candy, and the red one is danmuk (jelly) shaped like grapes."
"...Danmuk! Candy!"
At first, I didn't think so, but Seo Gong-sun, who liked sweets, kept saying 'danmuk, danmuk!' like an idiot and snatched the grape-shaped jelly repeatedly. Some scholars who were waving empty bowls looked at him resentfully. How rude!
At that moment, the representative of the merchants who had barely gotten the star candy and jelly from the yangban crowd pushed his head in front of me and said together.
"Now I think I understand why Teacher Woo Nam invited us to this place!"
"Really?"
"You intend to distribute Meiwon, candy, and this danmuk, right? And this is part of the grand project called the Three Whites Industry, right? Correct!"
The representatives and the merchants with fire in their eyes behind them were already out of their minds. If I said 'No? Not selling?' here, they would open my head to steal the manufacturing secret.
"You are impatient. There is still one left."
"Eh?"
"Try this too."
I pointed to the hori bottle with its mouth tightly sealed at the tip of my chin, and the representative, with a dazed look, picked up the bottle and opened the cap.
Then, an intoxicating and fragrant apple scent spread around. At the same time, the representative took a shot of the liquid.
"Huup! K, kuhk!"
"What, what? Is it poison?"
Startled by the representative's violent coughing, the surrounding merchants rushed over, but the representative stopped them by reaching out, looked at me with disbelief, then picked up the bottle again and put it to his mouth.
"Glug! Glug!"
"Kya!"
Yes, the 'kya!' comes out naturally?
I asked the representative with a half-enlightened face as if I had seen the Jade Emperor.
"How is it?"
"I can't explain this taste to you. And..."
The representative, with his voice trailing off, shook the empty bottle several times, then smiled and bowed deeply to me.
"Truly, Teacher Woo Nam is a genius of taste."
"Good. Then, shall we talk about investment?"
The Chojeong carbonated water brought from Cheongju really did a great job.
With the satisfied representative's reaction, I rubbed my palms and made people sit down. It was time to get to the main point.
"I think you have already heard the rumor that the Alliance Association is establishing a company called Daehan Yanghaeng. Correct. I have no intention of watching with open eyes as this country Joseon becomes nothing but a market for barbarians, so I have gathered you here."
Why did I come all the way to Jeonju and do this nonsense in front of people like a store clerk? It's all because of money. With money, we can protect our nation, my country, my family.
"What is the greatest concern of our literati?"
Choe Ik-hyeon, the top expert in this field, answered immediately.
"The foreign goods are more expensive and more abundant than our local products, causing our country's industry to collapse."
Most nodded at his answer. Whether scholar, official, or merchant. Choe Ik-hyeon's answer was not wrong. Rather, it simply and clearly summarized the problem Joseon is facing right now.
"What if we have our own industrial products that can rival theirs?"
"Of course."
Instead of Choe Ik-hyeon, who couldn't answer readily, Shim I-taek and Seo Gong-sun took turns speaking.
"Then, private anxiety will be resolved, and the future prices will stabilize. We no longer need to use precious gold and silver for luxurious things."
"But the new trade treaties we made are still disadvantageous to us. Even if they have good products for us, those greedy ones will just be spectators."
Then, the merchants, who were hesitant, countered by bringing out Yi Yong-ik and Lee Ha-young.
"Instead, the tax is collected twice as much as before, and through customs, many foreign ships pay a lot of costs to enrich the state's treasury."
"Moreover, when the economy improves, countless trading houses and companies will spring up, and there will be no one sitting idly on the streets because people are scarce."
"When the country becomes rich, it will naturally become prosperous. By collecting taxes and training strong soldiers and recommending excellent generals to protect the country's defense."
Then, on one side, the country's officials, on the other, the literati scholars, and the remaining merchants split sides and engaged in deep discussions about Joseon's future economy and trade.
Watching this scene quietly, I swallowed a sigh.
"Um."
The one thing I didn't expect was that the Joseon yangban didn't disdain or ignore the merchants out of the ordinary. They didn't casually bring up status or age to crush the merchants' arguments when they lost in logic. Even if they couldn't rebut, they didn't force it.
'Mutual respect. After all, there is no reason for the talkative yangban to commit such rudeness.'
They were cultured yangban in a world where etiquette was more precious than life.
When the time was ripe, I gestured to Woo Beom-seon to calm the people and speak.
"Thank you for all the opinions. The reason I gathered you here today is that I hope we will have many such meetings regularly."
"Regular meetings?"
Someone asked, and I nodded silently toward the venue.
"I have roughly thought of a name. The Federation of Korean Economic Persons. I am not just thinking of merchants who buy and sell things, but to dramatically raise the living standards of the people of this country and achieve a peaceful age, you, the members of the Alliance Association here, and the renowned scholars must establish an innovative, progressive, and correct economic theory. And before that, the scholars must take up the spear and flag and guide the people to the right path."
"What, what should we do...?"
"It's simple."
[Clang!]
At my vague answer that no one understood, the venue murmured, and I slammed the table and answered.
"Step up, intervene, meddle! Research how many times the hungry people will eat rice in their lifetime, whether they will eat meat soup in this rice, or whether they have ever set up a sacrificial table! If you know who is playing with that precious white rice, who is hoarding to fatten their bellies, catch them and immediately put them in jail! If someone exploits the foolish people, use the name of loving the people to punish them! Making the people happy with a rich table, making them shout 'Ah! Our scholars are doing their job well!' That is precisely the duty and responsibility that we scholars must bear! The people come first in everything! That is what the scholar is!"
People who were deeply moved by the long speech clapped as if bewitched by a ghost, and then Woo Beom-seon carefully signed the petition without a soul.
The Daehan Economic Persons Federation was born.
A hybrid of ideological systems stretching into the world.
The first flag of Joseon Confucian Social Populism.