Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Winds Blow Over Jeju (1)
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At this time, the Jeju governor and defender was Jo Wi-jin, who had previously served as the Hwanghae inspector.
Excluding the civil official positions in the Seoul court that Kim Unhaeng had "inevitably adjusted," promotions elsewhere had mostly followed the established rules, so things here hadn't strayed far from history.
And the anxiety was the same.
Jeju had suffered major famines for two years running. It was infuriating to hear that the neighboring region of Honam had bumper crops the moment the king left for recuperation, with the people praising the nation—or rather, the crown prince.
The king was currently undergoing electrotherapy, so he couldn't deliver the historical threat of, "If you let the people of Jeju go hungry for a day, it's as good as starving me for a day." But the sense of relative deprivation was even stronger.
It wasn't just the talk of Honam's good harvest. It was more that the Four Directions, with bases in Honam and Yeongnam, were raking in huge profits.
Jo Wi-jin had come up with countermeasures of his own.
He'd heard lately that the weight officials carried with Kim Unhaeng was determined by the value of their tribute gifts. Jeju had plenty of rare local specialties, making this popular posting for magistrates a potential opportunity.
Cattle gallstones, which were abundant on Jeju, came to mind first, but those would likely go to his brother Kim Jeok-haeng, the pharmacist, rather than Kim Unhaeng directly. He needed something that would hit Kim Unhaeng straight on.
Jeju's famous products weren't just cattle—there were horses too.
If even half the tales of Kim Unhaeng's martial exploits were true, no one since King Taejo could match him at mounted archery. No idea why he was a civil official, but he surely wouldn't turn down a fine steed.
It might not measure up to that dragon horse—the pony—from Hamgyong Province that had supposedly carried Kim Unhaeng like the wind, but Jeju's Huoma horses were imported from Qing, each one a quality beast.
Of course, horses could sometimes jump fences and "escape" while being raised. Since Kim Unhaeng owned a ranch himself, he'd understand perfectly.
The ships currently on Jeju Island made him a bit uneasy (he wasn't planning to stop at just one or two), so he'd need to borrow a large transport vessel from somewhere nearby like the Jeolla Naval Command. Fortunately, as a former Hwanghae inspector, he could probably pull some strings.
And as if on cue, a message arrived from the new Jeolla Naval Commander, Hong Yak-su.
As summer approached again this year, the Japanese copper import ships were, as always, making final preparations at Sapo Garrison in Zhejiang Province down south. It was an official trade voyage sponsored by the local magnate Ko Il-sin.
But this time, the atmosphere felt somehow different from usual.
Ko San-hwi, a younger relative of Ko Il-sin who was captaining this ship and leading the private trade bureau (a licensed civilian merchant group operating alongside official vessels), clenched his jaw tight.
Instead of checking the sugar, silk, books, and other exports loaded aboard, Ko San-hwi ordered inspections of something else.
"Make sure the sailors have their spears and swords. Tell those with matchlocks to double-check their powder hasn't gotten wet."
Dismissing Emperor Kangxi's outright ban on civilian firearms and gunpowder as if it were a neighbor's dog barking—that was the spirit of the Han Chinese heroes from Jiangnan.
The government couldn't protect them, after all. They couldn't very well bring along pirate acquaintances on official trade runs either.
Even the officials who'd been bribed to look the other way on the guns wouldn't tolerate that. What nation would let pirates flaunt state-issued passes?
His subordinate executive Jeong Geon-nam had no objections there.
Instead, he voiced another curiosity.
"Boss, do you really think the rumors are true—that Westerners are rampaging at sea? Weren't they all locked up in Guangzhou on the emperor's orders last year?"
Last year—1757—Emperor Qianlong, fed up with European smuggling, had issued the famous Single Port Trade decree, restricting all foreigners to Guangzhou alone.
It was a historical event, and in reality, it wasn't enforced that strictly.
The Dutch were one thing, but the British East India Company was the real issue. Trying to block Britons with laws and justice was more foolish than warding off the plague with masks and perfume.
But now, in 1756, Kim Unhaeng's delegation had introduced a minor change.
Kim Unhaeng had slandered all of Europe, including the Dutch, before Qianlong. And when suspicious Russian movements regarding the Dzungars followed the next year, Qianlong's Single Port policy was enforced more rigorously and held firmer.
Kim Unhaeng's Asia-wide trend of "national seclusion," following Japan's lead, had influenced China too. That gave Europeans a convenient alibi of sorts.
The Dutch in particular had pulled most of their factors from the Chinese market after Japan's silver trade lockdown, hunkering down in Java. Their boasted Batavia revenge armada—if it even existed—would be needed just to maintain neutrality in the Seven Years' War.
That didn't rule out Western involvement entirely, though.
Dutch flags or not, those ships looked plenty Western to Jiangnan folk, familiar enough from sightings. And they had motive after last year's trade restrictions.
The VOC insisted it was those Joseon thieves who'd stolen their ship, frothing at the mouth. But no one took such accusations seriously.
Not because Qing recognized Joseon as a moral paragon. It was just common sense.
If a chicken gets bitten to death, you suspect the cat prowling the coop, not the cow standing idly in the stable.
To chase maritime gains, it had to be groups already active at sea, like the wokou pirates.
Piracy doesn't end with plunder. You need fences to offload the goods, deals with power brokers (unless the state itself is the pirate), domestic support for manpower and supplies, and safe bases.
All that requires long years of experience and history. The idea of Joseon suddenly turning pirate sounded to Qing ears like a blind man stealing a book.
Of course, if the book was titled How to Open Your Eyes, that might be different.
As such, amid heated debates on the phantom pirates' identity, Joseon wasn't even on the suspect list.
And the solid Captain Ko San-hwi despised such pointless speculation.
"I don't care if they're Westerners, wokou, or 성성 folk. They're pirates—that's what matters. Quit yapping and gear up properly."
"Yes, sir. Got it... But no way they'd target official ships, right?"
The copper importers were the only ones Qing truly cared about—even South China Sea pirates steered clear.
Then or now, all crime thrives only with state complicity. No one wanted to add reviving the Tianjie Decree to Emperor Qianlong's infamous list of failures.
When it suited them, the emperor was the Son of Heaven; when full-bellied, those Jurchen bastards—that was the Han flexible mindset. Jeong Geon-nam, like Ko San-hwi, hoped the pirates would bow to imperial majesty.
And as such expectations often do, it was spectacularly betrayed.
Jeong Geon-nam turned around, pale as a ghost.
"You! And you! Didn't you say you trained under some Dongchun-gong or whatever up north? Step forward!"
"W-well... We haven't reached the extreme stage where our hair falls out yet..."
"Look at these con artists! You gonna cough up all the money we paid you or not?!"
"If we survive this, we'll pay you back as much as you want!"
Ko San-hwi had no time to break up the bickering idiots. He stared blankly upward.
A patchwork sail, evoking colorful children's hanbok, filled his view.
Junk ships weren't as small or weak as they appeared in most media, where they served as cannon fodder for British broadsides. Ships unfit for a millennium of use wouldn't have lasted.
The larger junks plying Japan this era could haul over 150 tons of cargo, displacing 300-plus tons.
So even the Gustav Willem blocking their path from the east was maybe three times that.
Big, sure. But with their fleet nearing twenty ships combined, it wasn't impossible. Both sides' cannons were Dutch or similar derivatives anyway.
But starting a fight just because the odds looked winnable on paper? Only gamers safe behind monitors could afford that.
Sane man Ko San-hwi shouted no battle cry. He whipped around for the official warships meant to protect them. Private merchants had no guns.
But the high-and-mighty were different indeed. They were always a step quicker than the common folk.
Ko San-hwi couldn't hide his shock as the official flotilla elegantly slipped south.
"You fucking bastards!"
It was an unbelievable 90-degree turn. The junk's versatile sails were performing at peak now.
Theorists claiming square-riggers couldn't maneuver sharply would tremble at human potential unleashed.
And Ko San-hwi decided to unlock his own.
The Gustav Willem, Duines Belt, and Joseon-built Ha-ran ships were sluggish to turn due to their bulk or the Joseon navy's construction limits.
Ko San-hwi seized the gap.
"Hard to port! Angle the sails forward on starboard! What? Worry about the other ships? Why seek enlightenment right fucking now? Buddha's come calling! If you're scared, hoist a signal! Follow if you don't wanna die!"
The perforated stern rudder on Chinese junks let water flow between blades, shedding drag—the secret to sharper turns than Western square-riggers.
Tailing the officials now would just make them shields for those three plague ships.
So veteran Captain Ko San-hwi led his private fleet north instead. With luck, half the pirates might chase the officials.
Regrettably, the pirates pursued them.
Two straight days of chase, punctuated by sporadic cannon fire "cheering" from behind—and those were the most tenacious, sluggish pirates he'd ever seen—had drained Ko San-hwi's stamina and sanity to rock bottom.
But Ko San-hwi was the indomitable captain who'd drifted nearly across the Pacific and lived. He wasn't dying here.
And sure enough, his luck proved extraordinary.
Over thirty ships appeared ahead.
Joseon vessels Ko San-hwi had glimpsed once or twice illegally fishing in his youth.
The lead great battleship of the fearless Joseon fleet rowing straight at the barbarians flew a flag no pirate would dare.
The navy commander's banner, the Suja Banner, recognizable even to Chinese.
And as if advertising something grand, they'd scrawled a huge calling card on sailcloth, draping it like a bedsheet along the gunwale. Unheard of in East Asia.
Jeong Geon-nam shouted.
"The Western big ship astern is fleeing!"
Too outnumbered to engage, evidently. Lucky Captain Ko San-hwi knelt weeping at the rail.
The Joseon fleet escorted the Chinese to the nearest island, Jeju.
Jo Wi-jin, with preparations already in place, welcomed them warmly. Joseon had long enjoyed a reputation for caring well for castaways.
As the Chinese gratefully shoveled down rice, Jo Wi-jin whispered to Park Jae-ha.
"Success at last."
"Don't remind me. After the fifth failure, I wanted to scrap the whole thing."
Park Jae-ha shook his head in disgust.
Even with radar and radios, herding on the vast open sea wasn't easy. Success on the first try would be the real cheat.
Thanks to detailed charts from the Liberation Squadron and "allied" Japanese guides, the sixth attempt worked. Kim Chunsik's SIT bio-mechanical chronometer (whalebone-equipped) deserved special mention too.
Optimistically, it was five failures' worth of luck hitting at once.
The pirates had targeted official ships out of desperation, but the government fleet obligingly fled south while the private one went north. Better than having to shake them deliberately or write them off as lost.
"Naval Commander Hong Yak-su's fleet will swing west back to Jeolla, so from here on, it's up to the governor's wits. Fail to charm them first, and the grand plan stalls before takeoff."
"They call you 'Chunsik of a Hundred Stratagems,' but I've already grasped the intent. Please tell Kim Chunsik to drop all worries."
Jo Wi-jin straightened his official robes solemnly.
Not as the steadfast Jeju defender, but as the benevolent governor tending his flock.
As governor, Jo Wi-jin personally met Ko San-hwi, setting an example by aiding foreigners himself.
"No losses in men or cargo?"
Han Chinese or not, Ko San-hwi couldn't ignore such grace. He bowed low.
"Thanks to Joseon's grace, we're mostly intact. We have mostly sugar aboard—we'll pay our keep with that and be on our way."
Jo Wi-jin didn't say, "Pirates infest the south—how'll you leave?" Too obvious.
"We're helping out of pity, not for money. If ships and men are fine, you're heading back to Japan now?"
Ko San-hwi's face darkened.
Without official escort or passes, Nagasaki was a pipe dream. Even before Dejima's lockdown, it wasn't a free port.
For Ko San-hwi, only returning to Zhejiang empty-handed after massive expense remained.
But returning spelled trouble. They'd lost the officials.
Managers bolted first, true—but that "truth" wouldn't fly back home. Officials would pin everything on the privates to cover their blunder.
Better than pirate-ransacked, sure. But human hearts don't beat the same coming and going.
And Jo Wi-jin knew how to win hearts. He offered Ko San-hwi a solution a thousand times better.
"I asked because I love tales of foreign wonders. Recently, some Japanese castaways dumped a load of 'copper' here, begging us to buy it since pirates made China impossible. If you need to trade, swap your remaining sugar for that."
Who was he to start international trade? The words died unspoken on Ko San-hwi's lips.
Going back empty meant doom for him. Ko Il-sin might eat the financial loss but ditch his nephew under official pressure.
But "trading" for "money" to bring home would lighten the blame greatly. Best case, the copper-hungry officials shut up, everyone happy.
Ko San-hwi glanced slyly, last scrap of conscience or shameless self-preservation.
"W-we're fugitives without passes..."
"Joseon and Qing's amity is ancient—what need for passes? Your robes are pass enough."
Ko San-hwi was deeply moved. In this era, trading sans passes meant pirate dens only. He repented his old secret fishing off Joseon.
And Jo Wi-jin, successfully swapping "Japanese castaways' copper" for "pirate-rescued Chinese sugar," moved him further.
"Show your face again, and we'll take you. Come back soon."
Solid advice. Ko San-hwi resolved to return.
No bribes to both Qing and Japan—just Joseon. No passes needed (code for fencing stolen goods). And a harbor guarded by mighty navy from pirates—the dream of every sea merchant.
He'd suspected since his castaway days: luck followed him. Ko San-hwi gladly paid hefty "transshipment fees."
The birth of Jeju as an international "transshipment port."
Author's Note
The subtitle comes from the first line of the song "Gamsugwang."
1. In 1757, Honam truly had bumper crops while Jeju suffered famine. Yeongjo's famous line and Jeju's free-range Huoma horses were real too.
2. Ko San-hwi and Jeong Geon-nam were real Zhejiang merchants trading Qing-Japan; records show they drifted to Hachijo-jima in 1753.
Hachijo-jima is ~300km south of Tokyo. East of it lies 4,000km of open ocean to Midway—passing it meant the end. Guessing they drifted east in the East China Sea, they were damn lucky.
Ko Il-sin, likely Ko San-hwi's clan backer, drifted to Fujian in 1751. Navigation was rough then—why piracy often went undetected.
(Refs: Matsuura Akira, 2002, etc.)
3. Single Port Trade's background was complex, simplified here.
Qianlong's edict targeted rampant European (esp. British EIC; Macartney's way off) smuggling. But really, it balanced corrupt officials colluding with foreigners, Guangzhou elites hogging smuggling profits, and resultant clashes.
4. As mentioned mid-story, Dutch VOC triangle-traded Indian copper, Japanese silver, Chinese gold. But by now, pre-Kim Unhaeng shogunal silver controls and British India incursions had weakened them. Why VOC didn't (couldn't) retake Dejima desperately.
5. Tianjie Decree was Kangxi's coastal evacuation for maritime bans, strictly enforced then but loosened under Yongzheng. Pak Je-ga urged inviting Chinese ships for relay trade profits—but Qing had no need for Joseon's help then.