Innovation and Revolution (3)
Jeong Yeo-lip wiped the used revolver with a fury that had already smeared his face with oil, polishing every crevice and turning it over with obsessive care. This time he had lost the bet badly.
“Damn it!” he grumbled under his breath.
Even the one Seon-sin had used.
“I’m clearly a better archer than him, yet the difference is ridiculous.”
Jeong Yeo-lip shook his head in confusion, unable to understand the gap.
“One day I’ll become an archer like Seon-sin, even if it takes becoming the headmaster first!”
He had fallen for the gun the moment King Yi Yeon fired it with one hand—far worse accuracy than a bow or the old matchlocks, yet so damn cool.
He had thought it would be easy. The target sat only ten meters away, and he could simply pop it with a watermelon. But it never worked. The moment he pulled the trigger the muzzle jerked; he could never hit center mass. Yet Seon-sin never missed. Every single shot landed dead center.
Jeong Yeo-lip had begged him to compete again and again so he could learn the secret. Today he had only been humiliated once more.
“I’ve lost over two hundred won already,” he muttered while he finished polishing the revolver.
A voice behind him asked, “What exactly did you lose this time?”
He turned. It was Jo Gyeong.
“To Seon-sin in a bet,” Jeong Yeo-lip answered flatly.
Among the academy students, they always spoke on equal terms—age difference or not. They refused to be bound by outdated etiquette.
“Inefficient, meaningless,” they would complain.
‘The military students who have their names given to them by their parents should cherish them, not use hae-ho titles that make everything look fake.’
The logic was sound. Using hae-ho titles looked pretentious, so there was no reason to refuse.
“Why do you keep competing when you can’t win?” Jo Gyeong asked.
“Because you can’t give up, right?” Jeong Yeo-lip replied.
“You want to learn by watching him, don’t you?”
Jeong Yeo-lip nodded.
Jo Gyeong looked at him with pity. “Should I teach you?”
“What?”
“The technique.”
“For real?” Jeong Yeo-lip’s eyes widened.
Jo Gyeong simply held out his hand. Jeong Yeo-lip passed him the cleaned revolver. While loading a bullet, Jo Gyeong instructed, “Set up the target.”
“Understood.”
Jeong Yeo-lip placed the target on a wooden holder. He cranked the winch, sending the paper to ten meters away.
“Hold the handle with thumb and forefinger, gripping firmly. The other fingers should feel like they’re just supporting.”
“Like drawing a bow?”
“Exactly!” Yi Yeon had only given the basic grip. He wanted students to feel it for themselves so each could find their own optimal stance. The instructors had no idea how to use the new weapon either, so the students had been teaching each other. Except for the arrogant Jeong Yeo-lip.
Jo Gyeong stepped in out of pity. Surprisingly, Jeong Yeo-lip accepted without protest.
“Then extend your arm straight and aim.”
“I know that.”
“Listen carefully!”
“Yes.”
“The most important thing is to tense your left arm against your side. That way the recoil will be absorbed.”
“Ah…” Jeong Yeo-lip nodded vigorously. He remembered seeing Seon-sin do exactly that.
“Lean your body forward slightly, lower your head, and pull the trigger as gently as possible.”
“Like releasing the bowstring?”
“Correct.”
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Not as steady as Seon-sin’s, but Jo Gyeong’s bullets tore through the center of the target.
“Incredible.”
“Nothing special. You just didn’t try.”
“Tsk…” Jeong Yeo-lip clicked his tongue, bitter.
He had been the best at everything since childhood, so the world had always seemed ridiculous. The academy had welcomed him as the top student, so everyone else looked foolish.
It was a mistaken belief. Everyone possessed some unique talent that was almost impossible to imitate. Even Jo Gyeong, who stood next to him, had built a wall no one else could replicate.
His pride had been hurt. He had believed he had to be good at everything, yet it kept failing. He had gradually become isolated.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Jo Gyeong handed back the revolver and turned to leave. Jeong Yeo-lip called out quickly.
“One question.”
“What is it?”
“How does Seon-sin do it so well?”
“His talent is obvious, but in my opinion his calm personality is what makes the difference.”
“Ah…”
‘That was the gap between us.’
Even now, in the written exams he and Seon-sin were still neck and neck. In practicals, Seon-sin dominated except in archery. He was unbeatable in the slow mock naval battle; in the fast mock land battle they were even.
After Jo Gyeong left, Jeong Yeo-lip stayed lost in thought, replaying every event at the academy like an autopsy.
Then the others appeared.
“Today I’ll win.”
“Please do.”
The only ones who used formal honorifics among the academy students. They said it kept them from violating academy rules.
“Eh? Is that Jeong Yeo-lip-hyung?”
“Brother-in-law Jin! Come quick. And Gwon Yul-hyung too, welcome.”
Normally Jeong Yeo-lip would have nodded and slipped away to avoid the honorifics. Not this time. He had felt something from Jo Gyeong’s words.
Hwang Jin glanced at Gwon Yul, startled. Gwon Yul simply smiled. “Yeo-lip-ah, I’m happy to see you too.”
Jeong Yeo-lip handed the revolver to Gwon Yul. “I polished this one for you. Would you like to try?”
“Thank you.”
Gwon Yul grinned and accepted the gun, stepped up to the line, and fired. Hwang Jin followed right behind.
Meanwhile Jeong Yeo-lip did not leave the spot.
“Hyung, I heard it’s time to die when a person changes. Looks like war is coming.”
“Haha, brother-in-law. You shouldn’t speak like that casually. Words like that can be seeds of calamity.”
“True, but war is what lets us step up and become generals, right?”
“The safety of your subordinates is far more important than becoming a general. The headmaster always says so.”
“Ah, I spoke out of turn.”
“And Yeo-lip is our comrade and friend.”
“Forgive me, hyung.”
“It’s all right, brother-in-law. I’ll have some chicken waiting when you’re done polishing.”
“Yes, hyung. I’ll finish quickly and be right there.”
Yi Yeon called the academy students “gun-saeng.” He had considered “saeng-do” but settled on “gun-saeng” because there was already a word for student.
Yet the students’ pride was immense. They lived in facilities no ordinary palace could match and got to fire the newest weapons first. It was not the weapons or the facilities. It was the sense of mission to protect the country and expand its territory.
On days off, when they left in lines, they moved with perfect discipline wherever they went. Yet they waited desperately for war so they could stand out and become famous.
So Yi Yeon had told them clearly: protect your subordinates first. Like a hen protecting her chicks.
In mock battles, units that suffered heavy casualties lost points; if more than half died, the entire unit was disbanded.
Still, the young gun-saeng like Hwang Jin listened to rumors of Japanese pirates stirring on the southern coast and prayed for war so they could shine.
* * *
Yi Yeon headed to Changdeokgung instead of Ganghwa Island. The morning was still dark, and in the early spring the waves were too rough.
‘Damn it! I should have finished the bridge already.’
While building a bridge across the Han River, he had planned to connect Ganghwa Island as well. But he had no choice but to abandon that idea.
Steel was already being produced. The cement plant at Pocheon and Geompo would finish soon. There was something far more urgent.
While planning the new industrial complex he had learned that seawater intrusion was ruining farming in the lower Han River. Instead of the bridge he changed the plan to a weir in the lower reaches.
Weirs had destroyed ecosystems in his previous life, but here they would be useful. They would block illegal salt penetration, provide enormous irrigation water, and turn salty land into farmland.
At the same time he decided to build a massive “Hwaryeok Industrial Complex” along the vast stretch from Geompo to Jemyeolpo. A place full of steam engines and power plants.
‘First I need to make copper wire.’
With the steam engine finished, they would start mass-producing copper wire. ‘Then we can build generators to produce electricity.’
‘If I can’t extrude it with force, I have to hammer each piece by hand.’
‘That’s insane.’
That was why he had waited until the steam engine was ready. The Hwaryeok Industrial Complex also needed workers, so the slave system had to be abolished. Only then could they stop the lazy nobles who waited for the master’s eyes to notice them and start producing at full capacity.
Fortunately Yi Hwang was handling it well. He had sent letters to his students and friends, carefully analyzing the flaws of the slave system from a Neo-Confucian perspective. He also freed all the slaves he owned and paid them for their work.
There had been many absconded slaves, but it was still significant. The yangban and landlords were in an uproar. His students supported him, but the idle young masters called it nonsense and opposed. Yet Yi Hwang’s logic was perfect, so it was dismissed as empty talk and he only lost popularity.
Yi Yeon contacted the palace. “Make new farming tools immediately.”
‘If we have good tools, even if farm hands disappear from the countryside the harvest won’t drop.’
Many places still used wooden plows and low-quality iron sickles and hoes that broke if they hit a stone. Most farming implements on the market were pathetic.
He decided to supply sturdy, long-lasting tools made of ductile iron and steel. Fortunately the third steel mill beside the small fishing village of Songlimbang on the Daedong River had just completed.
‘They had planned to build trains and rails there…’
It was a shame, but they had no choice. Production was still far too low. ‘Compared to my previous life, the forge in the industrial zone can’t even match a steel mill.’
So he had no choice but to focus. Instead of trains and rails, mass-produce farming tools.
When Yi Yeon entered the Changdeokgung garden, the palace master and his men bowed deeply. Not with loud shouts like on Ganghwa Island, but in a very quiet voice.
“We greet Your Majesty.”
Changdeokgung was the second royal palace of Joseon, so everything required caution. But because the staff kept moving in and out while the palace was being relocated, he could not be too careful.
Yi Yeon had decided to install the facilities from the Hwaryeok Military Academy in Gyeongbokgung as well: sewers, glass windows, flush toilets, indoor baths, separate drainage, ondol boilers, and every other modern convenience he had used in his previous life.
To do that the palace would have to be emptied for large-scale construction.
“Yes, you’ve worked hard.”
“It is nothing, Your Majesty. I am happy to serve the people.”
The expressions of the palace master and his workers, dressed in silk with cogwheel patterns, were extremely bright and full of energy. They had no choice. They received the same monthly stipend as the officials yet received huge special bonuses whenever they asked.
“Good. I’m pleased too. Now, explain.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The palace master had already produced every kind of tool Yi Yeon had sketched, not just the farming implements shown on the market.
“This one uses a long handle and a bamboo hook to cut grain or grass and pile it neatly on one side. It is more than ten times more efficient than sitting and doing it by hand.”
It was a sickle with a bamboo hook on the long handle, perfect for piling cut grass or grain to one side.
“Excellent work.”
Yi Yeon was genuinely satisfied. It looked far better than what he and Stephen had made in his previous life.
‘I only made that rough prototype to show that such tools existed.’
Even so, the wooden handle was beautifully smooth. The threshing machine with nails everywhere, the rice mill that rotated grain inside cylinders to remove husks. All of them showed high craftsmanship.
And shovels, which were harder to make than axes or picks.
“Did you use the steam engine?”
“Yes, Your Majesty! We connected the tools to the steam engine sent by Minister Seokheon and the production speed and quality were both excellent.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
‘This is enough to start right away.’
Yi Yeon summoned Kim Yang-bo.
“Yang-bo?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Prepare everything so we can go to Ganghwa Island quickly.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Yi Yeon immediately began the overhaul of the boats that had been postponed. They would sail to Daemado, the nest of the Japanese pirates, and sink them.
* * *