Awakening and Growth (8)
Yi I did not like meat.
Even the boiled chicken was too tough for his taste, he had said.
He could understand that.
Joseon’s chickens were small and, in truth, remarkably tough.
Still, it was meat that no one else could eat.
Had he once been a monk?
It was possible.
He had left the temple after only a year.
Yet he still worried about his health and kept his health inspector’s duties.
But here Yi I was, eating chicken.
And not just any chicken. He was using it as an appetizer, turning it into jerky and chewing that hard piece of meat with completely unfocused eyes like a madman.
Yi Yeon left him alone without touching him.
It was because he seemed like a computer performing enormous calculations.
Everywhere, campfires crackled and popped, their flames leaping upward toward the bright moon before fading away.
The gurgle of the stream matched the croaking of frogs and the chirping of insects.
Fireflies danced, lighting up the night in reply.
“How good…”
How long had it been since he felt this freedom?
Yi Yeon’s mind drifted back to the past.
The day he and Stephen filmed YouTube together.
“Do I really have to build a perfect steam engine? Can’t we just fake it? Everyone else does.”
“What if we get caught?”
“Come on, who’s gonna catch us?”
“You know others fake it too, right?”
“Yeah.”
So he had made a real steam engine that worked with actual steam.
Since the channel pretended to be realistic, they had even skipped the big steam engines that ran on electricity.
Stephen, strong and muscular, turned the toothed wheel while Yi Yeon adjusted the bits and cutters to shape the iron.
After all that hard work, the moment the steam engine started working normally, Yi Yeon had hugged it and almost burned himself.
But they couldn’t drink the liquor they had bought.
They had been too tired. So they had kept the campfire burning late, roasting the meat and eating it before collapsing where they sat.
That experience was why he could build the steam engine himself.
But he hadn’t.
“I can’t do everything by myself.”
“What?”
Yi I blinked and asked again.
“I am most grateful, Your Majesty. I did not hear what you said.”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, what are you thinking?”
“I believe we can create a saw using steam.”
“A saw?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. As you said, if we send steam back and forth like this, we can make a saw like the one in your hand.”
Yi I was excited, gesturing with his hands, but Yi Yeon was not.
“No matter how much of a genius he is, he can’t break out of his way of thinking without seeing it himself.”
Wagons using wheels were rare but not unknown.
Still, the world looked small to Yi I.
Yi Yeon was about to tell him to break that limit when Yi I spoke again.
“Your Majesty, if we build it standing up, we can grind grain too.”
“Automatically?”
“If you mean ‘automatically’…”
“That it moves by itself?”
“Correct. It seems we could make one that both saws wood and grinds grain on its own.”
Once more Yi I demonstrated the motion with his hands.
His loose robe made it look comical, but Yi Yeon asked without laughing.
“Anything else?”
“Well…”
“If we use steam, we could make machines that move automatically in other ways. Is there nothing else you can think of?”
“Why would there be none?”
Yi I unconsciously grabbed the jerky, put it in his mouth, and chewed while speaking.
“We could do printing too, and… forging. Anything that moves left and right could be used.”
“Hmm…”
Yi Yeon clicked his tongue, and Yi I flattened himself onto the ground.
Spitting out the jerky still in his mouth, he said, “I have committed a capital crime, Your Majesty.”
“What do you mean ‘capital crime’? Get up.”
“But still…”
“Come on! Even if I say get up, you still…?”
Yi I rose, bowing his head.
“I am most grateful, Your Majesty.”
“What is there to be grateful for? We’re just eating.”
“Isn’t it for the sake of life?”
“From now on, the age will be one where we live for eating.”
“What? Ah…”
Yi I nodded, seeming to have realized something.
“Anyway, is there nothing else you can think of? For example, converting reciprocal motion into rotational motion?”
“What?”
Yi I blinked again.
Yi Yeon judged he needed more information and asked once more.
“What if we connect it to the water mill’s handle instead of to the saw or mortar?”
“What?!”
Words alone could not explain it.
So he picked up an empty bowl and chopsticks and demonstrated the motion.
“Ah…”
Only then did Yi I’s exclamation burst out.
“How is it?”
“It is truly wonderful. How could you think of such a thing?”
“While I was here, I saw several things. When I combined them, I thought this would be good.”
“Could you tell me what they are?”
“A paddle wheel boat.”
“What?”
“Instead of rowing a paddle wheel boat, if we attach this round thing and connect it, it will turn like a water mill and move faster.”
“Ah…”
Yi I clapped his thigh with a loud sound.
Unconsciously he had been copying the king’s actions.
Yi Yeon smiled faintly and spoke quickly.
“In short, Your Majesty, I hope you can make these rotating machines using steam. If we have those, I do not need to worry about supply.”
“Understood, Your Majesty. However, since I have only just thought of it, it will take time.”
“I will shorten that time for you.”
“How, Your Majesty?”
Yi Yeon called Kim Yang-bo in a loud voice.
“Yang-bo! Clear this table and bring paper and pencils.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Under the bright moonlight that filled the night, Yi Yeon drew while holding a pencil.
Beyond the table, Yi I watched in admiration.
“If we drill a hole at the joint and connect it with male and female screws instead of rivets, it will seal tightly.”
“Ah…”
“If we add one more like this, it will automatically release the steam, won’t it?”
“Oh…”
“If we add one more rod and shift its position slightly up and down, we can also specify the direction of rotation, can we not?”
“Wow…”
The young king and genius minister worked through the night without noticing the deepening darkness, designing a steam engine.
* * *
The Ming eunuch Yao Chen and Yi Gyeong were in deep thought.
They presented the mirroriors and mirrors brought from Joseon to the emperor and received the greatest praise.
But that was all.
Before the emperor could even raise the mining rights from Joseon, he had retreated.
So they went to the harem hoping to meet him again, but every time they were refused.
The eunuchs in charge blocked them from even stepping inside.
“Ha… Last year we had high expectations…”
“Indeed.”
After ascending the throne, the Grand Secretary declared that he would correct the misdeeds of the previous emperor.
He was showing his will to reform.
He had worked to prevent corruption.
He had also tried to resolve the border issues with Mongolia.
To fix the collapsed economy, he had abolished the maritime ban and allowed private trade.
But he gave up after only a short time.
Internal chaos and the powerful ministers had forced him to hand over reforms and innovation to Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng.
“Why not ask Wei Shan? If he steps in, the harem eunuchs cannot stop us.”
“Hmph! You don’t know what he’s after—mirrors.”
“Just give them to him. We’ll get them again next year.”
“What do you say to Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng? They are also asking for mirrors.”
“Really?”
“I heard it just now.”
“This…”
Now the real power was split between Wei Shan, the head eunuch, and Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, who led the court.
“Then what about simply washing our mouths?”
“If we do that, we won’t even get the bones left.”
Both still heard Sim Tong-won’s words about Joseon’s maritime trade bureau.
“Our lord has declared that he will force the mining.”
It was almost a threat.
So they had tried every way to hand over the mining rights, but it was difficult.
While the dragon was lost in women, wolves and foxes were already fighting over the spoils.
“We cannot simply hand it over as they demand.”
“No.”
Wei Shan had demanded half, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng half.
So after giving them what they asked, nothing remained.
Moreover, Liaodong General Li Chengliang had to be persuaded.
“What if we propose this?”
“Speak.”
“Joseon claimed monopoly over us, but since the maritime ban is abolished, we cannot be sure what will happen.”
“Damn it!”
The real reason they were troubled was exactly that.
They had planned to control the volume and make big profits as merchants.
But now they had to abandon that plan.
Since the emperor allowed private trade, even if the merchants boarded ships and bought mirrors and mirroriors in Joseon, there was no reason to stop them.
Competition would only grow fiercer.
So they had tried to run their own merchant guilds.
It would bring even greater profit than passing them on to others.
But they lacked capital.
They had emptied themselves after pouring everything out to the competitors while competing to be the envoy to Joseon.
“In my opinion, we should offer two hundred pieces to Wei Shan, two hundred to Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, and the remaining one hundred as our own business funds. They will understand.”
“What about Li Chengliang?”
“Give him mirroriors at half price and that should settle it.”
“Will he accept? His profit is only half.”
“Then what about giving up?”
“Hmm… Let’s hear what you say.”
“Yes, my lord.”
In Joseon they shouted loudly, but as soon as they returned to Beijing, they had to make a pained sound.
* * *
Yi Yeon woke to the noisy croaking of frogs and insects.
He reached for the large bowl beside his pillow on habit and drank cool water.
“This is enough to be a king.”
Unlike in his previous life, sincerity shone through.
He had explained the steam engine to Yi I until late at night, then simply lay down and slept.
But he was lying on the floor mat.
A huge silk tent was draped over it, and since he could not touch the king’s body, that was why.
“Yang-bo!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kim Yang-bo, eyes hollow from staying awake all night to guard him, pushed aside the edge of the tent and came in.
“Did you rest well?”
“Yes, thanks to you I slept well. But?”
“I have already sent for the royal physician. You need not worry.”
“You worked hard.”
“It is nothing, Your Majesty.”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’? Now go and rest.”
“It is fine, Your Majesty.”
“Come on!”
“I will obey the command, Your Majesty.”
Now he had become much bolder, yet he still refused once.
Outside, Yi Yeon washed his face briefly with the hot water Kim Yang-bo had prepared and walked around the village.
“Hmm, it would be good to build a reservoir here.”
The water flowing down from the mountains to the east had gathered in a large pond, then flowed onward.
If they built a dam, they could generate hydropower too.
By now Namgung Chim, the commander of the Royal Guard, had come up and bowed.
“Is Your Majesty in good health this morning?”
“Thanks to you. And you?”
“Seeing Your Majesty’s strong figure gives this humble one energy.”
“Then let’s walk together.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As they descended along the stream, more people followed behind.
When the tide flats appeared, Yi Yeon turned toward the mountain.
Walking along the gentle slope until the end, the West Sea came into view.
Yi Yeon called Kim Ji.
“Manager?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Where are the cannons being tested?”
“Over there.”
“What?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The target is reaching the opposite island of Seokmo, about ten li away.”
The effective range of the thousand-foot cannon, with its barrel slightly over a meter, was about five hundred meters, but the maximum was one kilometer.
Even at forty-five degrees, it was limited to one point five kilometers.
They had fired it with the newly made black powder, but the range had only slightly exceeded two kilometers.
To increase the range, they would have needed more black powder, but the barrel of the thousand-foot cannon might crack, so they gave up.
Instead, he gave the design for a breech-loading cannon and told them to make it with ductile iron.
The barrel length was also extended to one point five meters.
With that, it might fly two point five kilometers.
It was still not enough, so he ordered them to dig a canal.
They had never made cannons before, so who knew what would happen.
“You worked hard.”
“It is nothing, Your Majesty. What I did was the effort of the artisans of the Six Ministries.”
“You didn’t do nothing either.”
“That is correct.”
“Good. You also worked hard.”
“I am most grateful, Your Majesty.”
Kim Ji was bewildered by the king’s praise.
He had not prepared a place to stay because the king suddenly came, yet he had received praise instead of a scolding.
“In my opinion, we should build a watchtower and install artillery around here. What do you think?”
“Here?”
“Yes. Since the target is ten li, it seems we can watch and attack every ship that passes this area.”
“Ah, understood, Your Majesty.”
“Not just here. Also on the east and north. Then every ship entering Han-yang can be stopped.”
“I will do as you say.”
Yi Yeon had heard from Lee Tak, who had gone to meet the Ming envoy, that the Ming had abolished the maritime ban.
So he decided to build the defense line on Ganghwado first as soon as the cannons were completed.
“We cannot let anyone pass without permission.”
* * *
(Note: The following facilities are being built in the Ganghwado area.)