Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 40: Laughing and Crying in Devotion (5)

The reason I thought incense was Gyereuk was because of a lecture given by a professor of Chinese history, which I took as a liberal arts subject in college.

A professor whose major was Ming and Qing explained the ‘Great Expedition of Purification’ as follows.

-Why did Emperor Yonglek go on a great expedition through Jeonghwa? To know that, you must first know how Emperor Yongle came to power. As you all know, the Yongle Emperor came to power through ‘a change of tribulation.’ Like most leaders who came to power through a coup, they needed their achievements to boast about to the people of Yeongnak Island. So what I chose was the Great Expedition of Mongol subjugation and purification.

-But why wasn’t Jeonghwa’s great expedition, said to be the greatest adventure of the 15th century, repeated later? If you think about it a little, the famous ‘Age of Exploration’ could have appeared first in Asia, not Europe?

-This is because the form of foreign trade at the time was not trade but tribute trade. Even if you go to a far away country, there won’t be much left behind. On the contrary, even if the messenger comes, it is of no use.

-Considering the funds that went into Jeonghwa’s great expedition, tribute trade is not the answer. Once you go on a voyage and come back, you have to give various rewards, repair broken ships, and build new ships that have sunk. Would this be worth a penny or two?

-And what was important to Emperor Yongle was the foreign cultural relics brought by Zheng He through his voyage. It was important to show off one’s dignity through exotic items. In the end, the voyage itself was not important.

-That’s why, after the death of Emperor Yongle, his subjects destroyed the records of the expedition. I’m afraid that the new emperor will see that record and start making money again.

“··· Because of this, Ming’s subjects must have thought this was a good idea.”

King Sejong and the ministers all nodded at Hyang’s explanation.

“It certainly will.”

“I guess so. An expedition requires a huge amount of money. Such an expedition was carried out simultaneously on land and sea…”

The ‘expedition on land’ that King Sejong referred to was the ‘subjugation of the Mongols.’

There were four subjugations since Emperor Yongle took the throne, and there were rumors that another subjugation was being prepared this year.

When he found out the reason why the original came instead of a copy, Yejo Panseo opened his mouth.

“If it’s so difficult for a country to erase its records, shouldn’t we do it too?”

Several ministers nodded in response to Yejo Panseo’s question and smelled incense.

“We are different from people. “The Ming trade in the form of tribute and gifts, but we must move in the form of mutual trade.”

“Mutual trade?”

“Simply put, it’s uphill.”

The scent was explained in more detail.

-At first the diplomatic envoy will move, but after that it will move around the top.

-Because the upper commerce is centered, it becomes a trade where we exchange goods that the other country needs and goods that we need. It is not a tribute trade like the Ming Dynasty.

-What is the role of coordination here?

1) Providing means of transportation, protecting the top, and collecting fees and taxes in this process.

2) Stabilization of prices through the resale of goods essential to the lives of the people.

Judge Hojo tilted his head and intervened in Hyang’s explanation.

“An item that is essential to the lives of the people? Is there such a thing abroad? A considerable amount of this is already happening in our country. No, even if I wasn’t born in Joseon, would it really be of any use since I’m already used to not having it?”

Hyang asked back at Judge Hojo’s words.

“Old Man Hopan. “Don’t you know about pepper?”

“ah!”

In response to Hyang’s question, all the ministers, including the Minister of Hojo, showed expressions of understanding.

Pepper, brought in by Arab merchants during the Goryeo Dynasty, was a top-class spice. Garlic and ginger were used to neutralize the spicy smell of the meat, but pepper was a powerful spice that could completely change the flavor of the dish even in small amounts. And it was that expensive.

Thanks to this, most people who did not have money had to eat mainly Cheoncho (川椒, Chopinnamul).

After hearing Hyang’s explanation, Panseo Hojo nodded and continued to ask questions.

“I understand that you used hocho as an example, but is it really necessary to import such a product? “If we do it wrong, the risk of the people spending their money to buy such products increases and the country’s wealth drains away.”

“There is a risk of that. However, when people have more money, they start looking for good things to eat and wear. However, if you blindly block the outflow of wealth, smuggling will increase. Because it is a smuggling trade, people will pay more to buy it due to the risk, which will cause a vicious cycle of increasing prices. No, it would be fortunate if a vicious cycle of prices simply rising occurred. In order to hide smuggling, officials will be bribed. It’s the famous ‘frog price’. What do you think will happen then? Corruption will be rampant.”

“okay.”

Judge Hojo nodded at Hyang’s explanation. Before merchants were officially involved in envoy travel, much of the trade with foreign countries was smuggling. Sejong, who was listening to the story next to him, nodded and listened to the story.

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“It’s the price of a frog… so I understand.”

Hyang bowed her head in response to Sejong’s praise.

“I am devastated.”

‘The price of a frog’ was a Chinese folk tale related to Lee Gyu-bo, a civil servant during the reign of King Munjong of Goryeo.

-Tteumbugi and Oriole were fighting over which of their voices was more beautiful. When they couldn’t come to a conclusion, the two asked their neighbor’s stork for a ruling. The stork, who was in charge of the ruling, asked for three days, and during those three days, Deumbugi offered frogs to the stork without the oriole’s knowledge. In the end, the stork sided with Tteumbugi, and this is where the word ‘Wairyo (蛙餌料)’ came from.

Funnily enough, King Sejong and his ministers knew about it from old records, but they learned about Hyang through their Korean language teacher in high school in the 21st century.

-There are things you guys get confused about sometimes. First of all, ‘Wairo’ and ‘Saba Saba’. At first glance, Wairo sounds like Japanese and Sabasaba sounds like Korean, right? In fact, it’s the opposite.

Hyang, energized by Sejong’s praise, continued speaking.

“I’ll say it again, if Joseon becomes richer and stronger, the lives of its people will also become richer. When life becomes abundant, it is human nature to find good and delicious things little by little, no matter how frugal we are. “Do you admit it?”

“I admit it.”

The ministers nodded in response to Hyang’s question.

“So, first of all, we have to resell food, which is the thing that will have the most impact.”

“Now I understand.”

The ministers nodded at Hyang’s words. Hyang, who was watching this, asked Judge Hojo a question.

“Did you hear during this trip that I asked you to save me some books instead of reducing them?”

Panseo Hojo, who was looking through a book listing items, answered the question.

“I’m in. “There are 20 chests back there.”

“Is that so! “It’s more than I expected!”

Hyang was pleased with Judge Hojo’s answer and ran towards the chests in question. Hyang opened the box’s lid and smiled brightly.

“also!”

King Sejong and his ministers, unable to overcome their curiosity, approached the scent because they liked it so much.

“What was that?”

Hyang smiled and answered Sejong’s question.

“Candy (sugar) is coming!”

“candy!”

* * *

Hyang, who was looking at the list of books that the envoy had found and brought, grumbled softly.

“Is this because the amount of books I am getting is increasing? After all, if it were a famous country at this time, you wouldn’t be able to get a new book.”

As the number of books brought by envoys decreased, Hyang began to worry.

“What should I ask you to get?”

As Hyang was pondering, a plate containing medicinal herbs appeared in his eyes. Scent, looking at the plate, snapped her fingers.

“This is it!”

“Lowering? “What’s going on?”

“It is nothing!”

Hyang grumbled in a low voice as he answered the eunuch standing outside the door.

“This is it… I have no privacy. Private life…”

As expected, Mr. Samcheonpo had a big role to play in choosing sugar as the flavor.

-Sugar was a very precious food ingredient not only during the Goryeo Dynasty but also during the Joseon Dynasty, and if you look at the Annals, you can see how closely the Joseon Dynasty lived. When Queen Soheon, King Munjong’s biological mother, fell ill, she wanted to eat sugar, but she could not get it. Thanks to this, there is a story that King Munjong, who later obtained sugar, offered sugar to his mother’s memory and cried profusely… During the reign of King Jungjong, an envoy from the Ming came and offered sugar to King Jungjong, saying, ‘In Korea, it is a cheap food that can be bought at the bottom of the market, but in Joseon Dynasty. ‘I am sending it here because it is a valuable item that is only offered at ancestral rites.’ Although I spoke politely, I said, ‘Yep! You hillbillies! Doesn’t that make you feel like, ‘This is sugar!’?

* * *

Making sugar using sugar cane has already been practiced in India since BC. This technology was transferred to China during the Tang Dynasty, and mass production of sugar began during the Song Dynasty. Mass production of sugar began when sugar cane began to be cultivated in large quantities in the Gangnam region. Afterwards, in China during the Ming Dynasty, using water transport including the Grand Canal, it became common enough that even ordinary people consumed sugar in their tea, or in other words, it was supplied at a low price.

“Are you secretly upset?”

As I remembered Teacher Samcheonpo’s words, the scent filled me with heat.

“The bottom line is sugar! The chili peppers are still a long way off, and thanks to that, even if the bright red and hot spicy taste is later, the sweet-salty-sweet-salty flavor is still possible! Wow, only is now a requirement!”

* * *

“Candy, this expensive thing…”

“Crown, no matter how much of a crown prince you are, such luxury is…”

After hearing that everything contained in the huge number of chests – 20 – was sugar, the ministers and the King Sejong all glared at the incense and said a word to each other. However, Hyang smiled and asked Judge Hojo.

“Old Man Hopan. “The purchase cost is written on the item, right?”

“yes.”

“how much?”

“Eh… let’s see… candy… candy… eh? “20 nyang of silver?”

“How much do all the candies you bought for 20 nyang weigh?”

“···200 pipes (800 kg).”

King Sejong and the ministers could not close their mouths at Hojopanseo’s answer. If you wanted to get 200 pipes of sugar from a market in Joseon, you had to pay a huge amount of money. No, it was impossible even for the royal family to obtain 200 pipes of sugar at once.

But the crown prince put it into practice. And that too at the bargain price of only 20 nyang.

Of course, 20 nyang was not a small amount of money. However, considering it cost 200 pipes of sugar, it was a huge bargain.

“That’s all sugar, and you only got it for 20 nyang?”

“Yes, Abama.”

“200 coffins… that’s a huge amount.”

“They are gold nuggets.”

“Nugget of gold? yes. “Maybe it’s a famous country, but in Joseon, it’s an expensive item.”

“No, that candy, along with salt, will be a big part of the items to be resold by the government. Those candies could greatly fill the treasury. “Very definitely.”

The ears of King Sejong and the ministers perked up at Hyang’s words.

After seeing the reaction of King Sejong and the ministers, Hyang first organized the situation.

“It would be a very long explanation to give right now. “How about we start cleaning up here first?”

“I see!”

In his haste to hear Hyang’s explanation, King Sejong gave orders quickly.

“Scholars of Jiphyeonjeon, take these records and organize them immediately! Organize the locations, routes, climates, customs, habits, special products, etc. of the countries that have gone through purification in a clear and concise manner! And store those candy boxes carefully in the warehouse!”

“I follow your orders!”

“Okay then, Crown Prince! “Let’s go in!”

“Yes, Abama!”

King Sejong headed toward Geunjeongjeon, holding Hyang’s hand, and the ministers quickly followed behind him.

When King Sejong and his ministers disappeared like the wind, only the scholars of Jiphyeonjeon and those who would carry the luggage remained.

“How many volumes are there in total?”

As the Jiphyeonjeon scholar muttered to himself, the Hojo official next to him searched through a book and answered.

“A total of 360 volumes.”

“three hundred···.”

Bachelor Jiphyeonjeon, who had a dejected expression on his face, gestured to the porters.

“Please move the chests that Seochaek heard to Jiphyeonjeon.”

“Yes, Nari.”

As the chests containing the books began to be moved, Hojo’s official also gave orders to the porters.

“Move all these boxes to the warehouse!”

“Yes, sir!”

end