Lee Jinmyeong's Time
Sama Yun cradled Woo-ju in her arms, a blissful smile on her face, until she suddenly turned to Hwiyeom and asked,
"Husband, do you think Secretary Lee's matter will turn out well?"
"The Mongol horse import?"
"Yes. I'm worried it might give Beijing's politicians an opening to accuse him of colluding with the enemy…."
Hwiyeom smiled at her concern.
"Well, that would be true if it were an official import."
"Then you're saying he'll bring them in through unofficial means?"
"Exactly. If it were me…."
When Hwiyeom laid out his thoughts, Sama Yun's face brightened at once.
"Ah! So that's the way."
Then her expression clouded again.
"But… will Secretary Lee manage it properly?"
"Of course."
Hwiyeom said,
"Secretary Lee is as good as my own disciple."
Looking at the situation, even Adiya Khan could not help but find Lee Jinmyeong's proposal deeply tempting.
Horses might be precious, but they were nothing compared to human lives.
If he failed to secure food at once, countless people would starve, and the Chagatai Khanate might fracture once more into rival uluses amid fresh rebellion.
Yet to trade with the Gyeong Dynasty—now a sworn mortal enemy? That alone would be political suicide, enough to cost him the Great Khan's seat.
He fixed Lee Jinmyeong with a sharp glare.
"Speak, then."
"Official dealings would burden us both. So… we raid."
"Raid?"
Adiya Khan shot back at once.
"We will build a grain warehouse in a county on the outskirts of Sichuan. It would be ideal if a few of Chagatai's tribal folk simply plundered it."
"Of course, the Great Khan would know nothing of it, and we would never announce anything publicly—we have no desire for the war to flare up again."
"…Would a ruse like that even work?"
"Political pretexts are always like that. Anyone can see the truth, but without decisive proof or a clear pretext, it is hard to call anyone out."
"And the Mongol horses?"
"Well… what if the fences broke and the horses stampeded away in large numbers? How does that sound?"
Adiya Khan's face twisted in disbelief at Lee Jinmyeong's words.
"Three thousand Mongol horses escaping because of broken fences? Do you think that sounds remotely plausible?"
"Making it sound plausible is the Great Khan's specialty, is it not?"
"Hmm…."
After a moment's thought, Adiya Khan nodded.
"Three thousand at once is still too absurd no matter how you spin it. We will stage smaller leaks across multiple places over several occasions."
In short, he wanted to pay in installments. Lee Jinmyeong's expression soured briefly, but he quickly recovered his composure.
"Then take the grain in small raids as well. If you plan to claim it was the work of minor tribes beyond the Khan's control, that would sound far more believable."
"…Grr."
Adiya Khan nodded as if he had no choice.
"Fine. We will do it that way."
"As the party who first proposed the deal, we will provide the grain first. After you have 'raided' the food, release the horses at an appropriate time."
"What if we free the horses and you fail to catch them?"
"It would be troublesome if you forgot this is a metaphor. If the horses do not arrive, there will be no next raid."
"…Understood."
And so the "transaction" between the Sichuan Dang Family and the Chagatai Khanate was sealed beneath the surface.
The moment Lee Jinmyeong returned to the Sichuan Dang Family, he reported the matter to Hwiyeom.
Hwiyeom nodded with a smile.
"You've solved the most critical problem—the horses. Now draw up a proper business plan."
"Yes, sir!"
Lee Jinmyeong was hurrying cheerfully toward his office when he spotted Ye-eun streaking down the distant corridor like the wind.
"W-wait! Senior!"
"?"
Ye-eun stopped short and turned. Lee Jinmyeong ran up and bowed deeply.
"Thank you! For obtaining the Chagatai intelligence… Without your help I would still be floundering."
"Forget it."
Ye-eun answered with a face that looked strangely exhausted.
"Just finish the business quickly and propose already. Stop wearing everyone out."
"Yes, ma'am!"
After expressing his gratitude, Lee Jinmyeong shut himself in his office.
"Hmm… Quite apart from the special horses, the carriages themselves will need special fittings. The Young Master's trial run with coil springs and leaf springs as shock absorbers was certainly smoother and more comfortable than ordinary carriages… but isn't there a better way still?"
After a short spell of thought, Lee Jinmyeong dusted off his backside, rose, and headed for Michelangelo's workshop.
Situated deep inside the Innovation Hall, Michelangelo's workshop had already become one of its pillars.
The moment he stepped inside, he found Michelangelo and Dang Unhwa screaming at each other.
"Obviously the chassis comes first!!"
"Nonsense! The gun comes first!!"
Michelangelo roared,
"No matter how powerful the cannon, if the self-propelled gun cart that carries it lacks durability and speed, it's no better than a regular field piece being dragged around!"
Dang Unhwa refused to yield.
"The whole point of a self-propelled gun cart is rapid, decisive projection of firepower! A self-propelled cart without firepower is just a damn handcart!"
"Mobility!"
"Firepower!"
Lee Jinmyeong stared blankly for a moment at the two men snarling at each other, then noticed Dang Su-jeong covering her eyes with a look that said, Here we go again… He walked over.
"Director Su-jeong. Hello."
"Hyak?!"
Dang Su-jeong jumped like a startled cat. The instant she recognized him, her face flushed and she greeted him shyly.
"Ah, um, Secretary Lee… you're back? Th-that was fast. When I heard you were going all the way to Chagatai I thought it would take longer…."
"Yes. I managed to ride a fine horse on the way home."
"Ah, so the horses—?"
Her expression brightened, and Lee Jinmyeong smiled.
"The deal was a success."
"I knew it!"
Dang Su-jeong beamed as if it were her own victory.
"Then the biggest mountain is behind us, right?"
"Yes. Now I need to design large carriages for the business… so I came to ask Director Michelangelo for advice…."
He glanced at Michelangelo and Dang Unhwa still locked in a growling contest of wills and muttered,
"Hmm, bad timing, maybe?"
"Hold on—hey, hey, hey, cut it out already! Just stop!"
Dang Su-jeong shoved herself between Dang Unhwa and Michelangelo and forcibly broke up their staring match.
"What is it, old maid? Why are you butting—guh!"
Her Cheolma-gak—the Iron Horse Kick—slammed mercilessly into the crotch of Dang Unhwa, who had just mocked her as an old maid.
Watching Unhwa sink foaming at the mouth, Michelangelo instinctively clamped his own thighs together.
I-it didn't rupture, right?
When Dang Su-jeong turned her gaze on him, Michelangelo flinched without meaning to.
"What? What business do you have!"
"Secretary Lee has a request. So stop the childish fighting and listen."
"A request? From Secretary Lee?"
Michelangelo turned his head. Lee Jinmyeong, smiling awkwardly, bowed and said,
"Yes… I would like to build a large carriage that can carry ten to twenty people at once…."
"If possible, something quiet, with minimal vibration, and easy for horses to pull. Is that feasible?"
"Twenty people… You're not thinking one horse can pull a carriage with three or four people, so five horses will do for twenty, are you? A carriage seating five and one seating twenty are completely different sizes!"
"So it's impossible?"
"I never said that!"
Michelangelo shouted.
"Given enough time and budget, this body can create anything!"
"Then I leave it to you. The budget is… about this much."
"…What? Isn't this way over budget?"
Michelangelo eyed him with suspicion. The same Lee Jinmyeong who had refused every supplemental budget request while Michelangelo rolled around the courtyard wearing a headband and wailing that he had nothing left to eat or die with—now casually produced a fortune of unknown origin.
But Lee Jinmyeong gave an answer no one expected.
"It's my personal fortune."
"What?"
Michelangelo stared at him with a look that said, Is this man insane? Dang Su-jeong also looked at him in open shock.
Small wonder—the figure Lee Jinmyeong had written down was a sum equal to the yearly profits of an ordinary business establishment.
Yet Lee Jinmyeong spoke calmly.
"If succeeding in this venture is what it takes to win Su-jeong, I would throw away everything I own without a shred of regret."
"?! Haaahk!"
Dang Su-jeong clutched her chest and sank to the floor as though she had taken a direct hit from some internal-energy weight-amplification technique. Michelangelo's jaw dropped; then, without thinking, he twirled a finger beside his temple and muttered,
"To willingly clap on the shackles of marriage with money like this… he really has lost his—no! Perfectly rational spending, yes!"
Catching the eerie green eyes gleaming beneath Dang Su-jeong's bowed hair, Michelangelo hastily twisted the rest of the sentence around.
His usual sharp tongue was not worth risking after the terrifying Iron Horse Kick that had just sunk Unhwa.
"Just go back for now. I'll give it some serious thought."
"Yes. I place my full trust in you, Director Michelangelo."
Lee Jinmyeong bowed to Michelangelo and withdrew.
A few days later Michelangelo arrived carrying a thick stack of blueprints.
Skipping any greeting, he spread the drawings across the table and spoke.
"Shock absorption for the seats is easy—leaf springs plus coil springs under each seat. Reducing the body weight is also doable. Instead of thick wooden planks for the body, we build a skeleton of Damascus steel—our current iron—and sheath it with thin boards. That cuts a great deal of weight."
"An iron frame, and you claim it's lighter than wood?"
"You clearly have no idea how much a thick log weighs. Of course it is. Compared to hollow iron pipe, solid timber is twice as heavy."
Michelangelo answered dryly.
"On top of that, the wheels—reducing both the bulk and the weight of the wheels is essential."
The wooden wheels used even in this age—spokes set into a wooden rim and bound with metal or leather—were already lighter and stronger than the ancient method of simply slicing a log into a disk. Still, they remained heavy and fragile under impact, breaking often.
Michelangelo tapped the blueprint with a finger.
"Old man da Vinci once sketched flying machines after studying the hollow bones of birds. Same idea—if we make hollow iron wheels, they can be both strong and light."
"But… even if you wrap a leather band around an iron wheel, the wheel will still wear out quickly…."
Unlike wood, which absorbs a certain amount of shock with its natural springiness, iron wheels would simply dent and deform beyond a certain impact.
Michelangelo said,
"That's the problem. I tried wrapping the commercial rubber we have around the outside, but the rubber tore easily. Make it thick enough to stop the tearing and the wheel starts spinning free inside the tire…."
"Hmm…."
Michelangelo glanced at Lee Jinmyeong with a sly look.
"Maybe if we asked the Young Master, he'd have an answer?"
"Ah."
Lee Jinmyeong's face lit up.
"He just might. He always comes up with the most brilliant ideas… But why don't you go ask him yourself?"
At that, Michelangelo cleared his throat.
"Hah! I have the pride of a maestro. How could I go crawling first, begging for answers!"
"…."
Thinking what a tiresome man he was, Lee Jinmyeong nevertheless smiled and gathered up Michelangelo's blueprints.
"Understood. I'll go ask the Young Master myself."
"The fee for the blueprints is one guan of silver."
"…."
When Lee Jinmyeong stared blankly, Michelangelo laughed sheepishly.
"I brought them fast, didn't I? Slip me a little something for the trouble."
Without a word of protest, Lee Jinmyeong produced one guan of silver, pressed it into Michelangelo's hand, and said,
"…I trust I'll also be seeing the finished product soon?"
"Of course."
Michelangelo grinned and sauntered off.
Blueprints in hand and nerves taut, Lee Jinmyeong sought out Hwiyeom.
When he reported on Michelangelo's carriage design, the iron wheels, and the rubber problem, Hwiyeom's eyes sparkled with interest.
"Pneumatic rubber tires already, is it?"
"Pardon?"