Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 312 Hanseong

While Challenger was staying in Alexandria, the Invincible ship No.2 and Maengjin ship, fully loaded with pyrite, were leaving Chittagong in the Bengal Sultanate.

Just before departure, the captains of Invincible ship and Maengjin ship, Jang Gwang-seok and Kang Nam-gil, were strictly warning the crew.

“You know what kind of thing this pyrite is, don’t you? Be careful not to make the first anniversary of your death fall on this day next year.”

“Aye!”

The crew responded in unison to the captains’ warning.

***

As the Joseon army began to use gunpowder in large quantities, the first problem that arose was safety accidents due to carelessness.

Worried about this, Hyang urged the commanders to conduct regular safety training.

“This damned gunpowder, you see, it kills the enemies well, but it also kills you bastards well! Don’t forget that if you let your guard down even for a moment, you, I, and all of us will die!”

In fact, through safety training conducted while detonating gunpowder right in front of the soldiers’ noses, Joseon’s soldiers took the utmost care when handling gunpowder.

***

While the two warships were leaving Chittagong, Hanseong was bustling with activity.

“The iron horse is finally running!”

“The iron horse is running today!”

“Let’s go watch!”

It was the day when the East-West Circular Line, which circulated through the downtown area of Hanseong from east to west, was opening.

Today’s opening was a partial one.

The North-South Circular Line, connecting to the housing complex for the homeless officials on the southern outskirts of Hanseong, was still under construction. Many laborers were sweating at the construction site, demolishing the fortress wall next to Sungnyemun Gate to lay the railroad tracks and developing the housing complex.

A tremendous number of Hanseong residents had already gathered around Bosingak Belfry, where the opening ceremony was being held.

“Do not cross the golden line!”

“Hey! I told you not to cross the golden line!”

“Buy some taffy! Buy some taffy!”

“Buy some rice cakes! Rice cakes!”

Amid the shouts of the guards preventing people from entering inside the golden line that cordoned off the event venue and the cries of various peddlers, the nobleman and gisaeng were sitting on the second and third floors of nearby taverns, watching the event venue. In the neighboring teahouses, women from noble families had gathered to observe the ceremony.

After a while, the gate of Gwanghwamun opened, and Sejong emerged with his ministers.

“Make way! His Majesty the King is passing through! Make way!”

At the shout of the royal guard, all the residents who had gathered at the event venue prostrated themselves on the ground to the left and right.

Sejong, who was on horseback, surveying the residents of Hanseong, smiled slightly.

‘The people’s appearance looks good! The efforts so far do not seem to have been in vain!’

When he first ascended to the throne, famines had been occurring every year. Reports of people starving to death from all directions had been constantly coming in.

However, now that the economic reform was nearing its final stages, reports of famines or starving people were no longer being received.

Sejong’s eyes were filled with pride as he glanced at Hyang, who was following beside him.

‘Thanks to you, we have come this far! I am truly grateful!’

Sejong, who would have exploded with anger at Hyang, who usually made all sorts of excuses—quite appropriate ones that were hard to refute—and only sought to do what he wanted, felt proud of his son today.

***

The iron horse, with passenger cars already connected, was prepared at the event venue. The furnace of the iron horse was constantly burning finely crushed coal with blue flames so that it could depart at any time.

Sejong, who was looking at the engine room of the iron horse, turned to Hyang.

“Every time I see those flames, I feel that it is truly amazing.”

“They are very helpful flames.”

As he answered, Hyang muttered to himself.

‘Thanks to them, it’s a constant struggle every day, though…’

***

Hyang’s choice of coal as fuel was an inevitable one.

“It’s absolutely not because I liked steampunk!”

As he had made excuses to himself, the best choice possible with Joseon’s situation and technological level was none other than coal.

To solve the problems of natural disasters caused by deforestation due to the use of wood as fuel in industrial facilities and households, and the damage caused by predators that had lost their food source as forests disappeared, an alternative fuel had to be found to replace wood.

However, with Joseon’s technological level and the knowledge Hyang possessed, using petroleum was impossible.

“I’m an fanatic, not a chemical engineer!”

As Hyang had protested to himself, he lacked specialized knowledge in the field of petrochemistry. Nuclear power? That area was not within the scope of his fanatic interests.

Moreover, petroleum did not exist on the Korean Peninsula. Of course, based on what he had learned in middle and high school, he knew that there were oil fields in Siberia and northern Manchuria, but he did not know their exact locations.

In the end, the only option left was coal.

However, the problem was that most of the coal produced in Joseon was anthracite.

Anthracite was surprisingly a decent fuel.

It had a higher calorific value than lignite or bituminous coal and produced less ash and smoke. Also, since most of the coal mined on the Korean Peninsula was anthracite, it was easy to secure a supply.

However, apart from those advantages, anthracite had all the disadvantages.

Although it had a high calorific value, it was equally difficult to ignite. Moreover, if the combustion conditions—mainly temperature—were not met, it caused incomplete combustion, producing a tremendous amount of ash. While the supply was said to be easy, mining required digging deep into coal mines.

Using anthracite, which was difficult to ignite, as fuel meant a “war with temperature.” To raise the temperature to the point where ignition was possible and maintain that temperature, Hyang and the craftsmen of Area 51 had to create and experiment with all sorts of materials and devices.

However, what was fortunate for Hyang was that Joseon’s ironworkers and potters were already accustomed to the “war with temperature.”

The charcoal used to produce the highest quality iron products, especially white charcoal, was as difficult to ignite as coal.

The same was true for ceramics. To create high-quality porcelain, the temperature had to be raised to around 1,500 degrees Celsius. In a situation where there were no precise temperature measuring devices, Joseon’s potters were displaying the miraculous ability to match this temperature based solely on experience.

Thanks to these craftsmen, Hyang was able to build a large-scale ironworks using coal in such a short time.

Therefore, Hyang sometimes muttered to himself.

“Fortunately, I was born in Joseon and as the Crown Prince!”

It was possible because there were craftsmen with a considerable level of skill, and he was in a position to mobilize such craftsmen immediately.

Of course, the researchers and craftsmen under him had a hellish time.

However, it was not as if Hyang only gave orders. Hyang also had to endure a lot of hardship.

Hyang’s hardship came from the process of miniaturizing these devices and improving them to have higher performance.

It was a grueling time of trial and error, creating compounds with all sorts of natural materials that could be obtained together with the craftsmen and conducting demonstrations.

Ironically, this process was the part that maximally satisfied Hyang’s fanatic spirit.

Not the cutting-edge machines designed with computers and covered with all sorts of electronic devices, but these classical and oldie tasks were Hyang’s specialty.

In other words, the excuse Hyang made to himself was an unconvincing persuasion.

***

“I shall bestow rewards upon the craftsmen who created such devices!”

Although he was unaware of the various grueling struggles behind the scenes, Sejong did not forget to praise the craftsmen who participated in the production.

When they first saw the iron horse in Area 51, the craftsmen had already received rewards. However, receiving them now in front of many people had a different meaning.

This was because Hyang had strongly insisted on it.

“It must be done publicly to prevent the disregard for craftsmen and to continue producing more and more exceptional craftsmen in the future!”

At Hyang’s insistence, Sejong and the ministers nodded their heads.

“The Crown Prince’s words seem to be correct.”

“Indeed, Your Majesty.”

Having witnessed the results brought about by the development of Joseon’s technological prowess, Sejong and the ministers readily accepted Hyang’s argument.

As a result, Sejong publicly praised and rewarded the craftsmen and researchers who participated in the development in front of many residents of Hanseong.

Those involved and the craftsmen received promotions along with becoming the second beneficiaries of the newly established honors system.

Although the honors were more symbolic than material, it was a tremendous honor for the king himself to pin the medals in front of the public.

Seeing many young children’s eyes shining, Hyang prayed inwardly.

‘Just keep growing like that! It’s still not enough!’

With the honors ceremony concluding in that manner, a ritual was conducted under Sejong’s supervision.

After the reading of the prayer for the safe operation of the iron horse and the bowing were finished, Sejong burned the prayer text.

As the burning prayer paper soared into the sky following Sejong’s hand gesture, the people cheered.

“It’s an auspicious sign!”

“An auspicious sign indeed!”

“Long live His Majesty the King!”

“Long live!”

**

With the ritual also completed, preparations for the test run began.

In the presence of Sejong and the ministers, the invited people—residents of Hanseong and elderly individuals over the age of 60 from nearby Gyeonggi Province—boarded the passenger cars.

Originally, King Sejong should have been the first to board, followed by the ministers and the elderly, but Sejong changed this.

“Even though I am the king, how can I disregard the elderly? It is inappropriate.”

Following Sejong’s decision, the elderly began boarding the passenger cars first, and Sejong spoke to them as they did so.

“Longevity is a blessing bestowed by heaven, so I pray that you live a long life free from illness.”

As the elderly started boarding the passenger cars, Sejong held each of their hands and offered words of blessing.

The elderly who heard Sejong’s blessings bowed deeply and responded.

“Your grace is immeasurable!”

“Such an honor! Your grace is immeasurable!”

Watching the scene from the side, the families of the elderly became filled with pride.

‘I want to see the face of Mr. Park, the scholar from our village!’

‘People of the village! Our mother had an audience with the king! Have you ever had such an experience?’

The families of the elderly suppressed their desire to immediately return to the village and hold a feast, watching the scene unfold.

After having the elderly board, Sejong approached those who would operate the iron horse and manage the passenger cars.

“Huh? Jinpyeong, why are you here?”

As Sejong wondered at the sight of Jinpyeong standing together with the locomotive engineers, Jinpyeong answered with a grin.

“How could I remain still when the king is boarding, Your Majesty?”

“Is that so? Then I shall entrust it to you.”

“Yes!”

Seeing Jinpyeong responding with a loud voice, Hyang grumbled inwardly.

‘This rail fanatic bastard.’

***

Upon hearing that Sejong had ridden the iron horse in Area 51, Jinpyeong had rushed straight to Hyang and confronted him.

“Your Highness! Why did you exclude me from such an occasion?”

“It was a sudden decision…”

“Even so, that’s not right! It was an event where the king himself witnessed the iron horse directly!”

Jinpyeong, who had been confronting Hyang, literally rolled on the ground, expressing his dissatisfaction with his entire body.

Hyang, who watched this scene with his hand on his forehead, finally shouted.

“Alright, alright! I’ll let you operate the train when the official opening ceremony is held in Hanseong!”

“Do you really mean it?”

“I really mean it!”

“Is that a promise?”

“I promise!”

“In writing…”

“Get out, you bastard!”

After chasing Jinpyeong away, Hyang let out a long sigh.

“Whew~. They say rail fanatics are severe cases…”

Hyang did not even consider that compared to his own fanatic antics, Jinpyeong’s were quite tame.

***

Peep!

With a loud whistle, the iron horse began to move, recording the unprecedented event of a “grand prince” personally operating it.

It was the first time in Joseon, no, in the world, that a steam locomotive officially began operation.

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