Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 1000 In the meantime, elsewhere….. (5)

Various products using chicle have taken Japan and Europe by storm. In particular, shoes with chicle soles and cartwheels almost monopolized the market. In this situation, some people began to smell money.

“I don’t know the exact time, but I think I can make a lot of money. I can smell the money.”

“The problem is that it smells like blood.”

The first to smell the ‘smell of bloody money’ were Japanese merchants, especially those from Naniwa (old name for Osaka).

* * *

Osaka’s merchants have long been renowned for their unique merchants and wealth. In addition, he had an excellent international sense as he played a leading role in the joint trade that was carried out with the Ming Dynasty during the Muromachi shogunate era. Therefore, it was the most welcoming place when Joseon opened a business office in Japan.

Even when Ouchi was accumulating power, the first to notice this and knowingly or unknowingly aligned themselves with Ouchi were merchants in Osaka. The period of civil war that followed was a difficult time for them. This was because internal logistics in Japan were paralyzed due to the civil war, and military funds had to be provided to powerful daimyo.

Whether you want it or not.

And because of this issue of military funding, they had to go through even more difficult times afterwards.

“You said you gave military funds to my enemy?”

Due to this issue of military funding, a significant number of Osaka merchants were hated by Ouchi and had to lose everything from their property to their lives. The merchants who barely survived had a difficult time as well. As the feudal lords who ‘borrowed’ military funds were defeated, ‘ It had become an ‘irrecoverable bond.’ Not only that.

They also had to engage in a fierce competition for survival with merchants from Ouchi. The merchants of Ouchi, backed by the ‘new rulers of Japan,’ were very strong competitors. In the end, merchants from Osaka They had to spend a long time consulting with Japanese merchants. However, the power of Osaka’s merchants gradually regained their past glory, and eventually the two major commercial powers of Yamaguchi and Osaka were born.

Osaka’s merchants once again regained their past glory. It was because of the war that took place in Italy.

* * *

From the process of preparing for the war in Italy, the European powers had to consume enormous amounts of military expenditure. The Habsburg-Hungary War that took place immediately before showed that a new war would consume a huge amount of materials. It was because I saw it clearly. And if a war broke out, it was clear that the real opponent would be the empire.

Considering the empire’s volume war during the construction of the Suez railroad and the war against pirates, poor preparation could never be tolerated. This is how a war started. In the process of preparation, the problem that the European powers had the most trouble with was ‘securing sufficient stocks of gunpowder.’

In the history before the intervention of Fragrance, the European powers always had trouble securing saltpeter, the main material for gunpowder. The most basic way to obtain it was to conduct initial warfare similar to the Joseon Dynasty. Of course, there was always a shortage and the soldiers’ live shooting training was poor. The only country that was free from this problem was Britain after taking control of India.

Thanks to sufficient gunpowder stocks, live ammunition training was poor. It was a natural result that the British army, which faithfully obeyed the rule, became a powerful force in Europe. And the history that changed with the intervention of Hyang showed a greatly different aspect in this part as well. First, the Bengal Sultanate in India became very powerful. Through the cornerstone trade with the empire. The Sultan of Bengal enjoyed great fun and sold saltpeter to other countries.

And based on this economic gain, it strengthened its military power and grew into a powerful force in the Indian region. With the Sultanate of Bengal holding firm, the European powers were able to escape the cornerstone problem. In this way, he was able to escape from the shackles of saltpeter, but another problem remained: sulfur. European powers, worried about not being able to secure sufficient supplies through existing supply routes, turned their eyes to the East.

And I found Japan. European merchants who arrived in Japan purchased large quantities of sulfur and carried it away. The first to respond to the unexpected purchase of sulfur by merchants from European powers were Osaka merchants. Sulfur was a useful medicine before it was used as a raw material for gunpowder, and has long been one of the main export products to China and the Korean Peninsula.

Therefore, Osaka merchants had their own trading lines that had been passed down from generation to generation. And this was something that the merchants of Ouchi and Yamaguchi did not have. Instead, Yamaguchi merchants brought in sulfur from the empire’s Daeseoldo and sold it. This difference enabled Osaka merchants to make a comeback based on the sudden ‘sulfur sweep incident’.

As mentioned earlier, sulfur was an ingredient in gunpowder. Because of this, the empire was very picky about the export of this sulfur, and Yamaguchi merchants were unable to respond in a timely manner. However, Osaka merchants who had secured business lines within Japan were able to not miss the opportunity.

“Not enough workers? Then hire more! Don’t worry about money!”

In this way, enormous amounts of gold bars and imperial currency came into the pockets of Osaka merchants who met the demand.

* * *

Osaka merchants who recovered through the ‘Sulfur Sweeping Incident’ began to ask why this happened.

“I need to know if this is just this one time or if it will happen again.”

‘After a series of inquiries using all kinds of methods – the world of beauty is the basic one – Osaka merchants became aware of the ‘increasingly dark war clouds in Italy.’

“The empire and European powers are joining forces?”

“Against the Empire? Are you crazy?”

“These days, the number of European merchants inquiring about credit transactions is increasing, so I think we should stop doing business.”

The initial reaction was like this, but as various information came in from the empire, the expressions on the Osaka merchants’ faces became strange.

“You think the empire’s attitude is strange?”

“It’s sincere, but it’s not full power? What is this? It doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“I don’t know.”

In a situation that was difficult to understand, Osaka merchants once again began asking around. Osaka merchants, who could not be tampered with by the empire, had contact with European merchants. Osaka merchants who analyzed the information received using alcohol and women’s gold came to a conclusion.

“A vein of ore has burst that will provide enough income for at least 10 years!”

And the expectations of Osaka merchants were correct. The war that took place in Italy became a war of attrition beyond what the European powers had expected. Trade ships from European powers flocked to Osaka due to the consumption of materials, especially gunpowder, exceeding the consumption of people. Seeing the gold bars and imperial coins accumulating as European trade ships arrived, Osaka merchants once again recalled a maxim that had been passed down from generation to generation.

-War costs money.

* * *

The ‘War of Italian Unification’ ended with the creation of the ‘Italian Federal State’. However, the smell of gunpowder continued to waft from various parts of Europe.

First of all, it was Spain.

The loss of Gibraltar was fatal to Spain. Ceuta, a strategic point south of the Strait of Gibraltar, was taken over by Portugal, and Gibraltar and Algeciras to the north were occupied by the empire, blocking Spain’s access to the Atlantic Ocean. To solve this problem, Spain fought several battles to recapture Gibraltar and Algeciras.

However, they were completely robbed by the Imperial Navy at sea, and by the Imperial Army and Swiss Army, which occupied the high ground. In the end, Spain had no choice but to give up its immediate attempt to recapture Gibraltar. On land, the troops were driven 2 leagues (approximately 9.6 km) away from the defensive line guarded by the Imperial Army and Swiss Army.

It was even more humiliating at sea. While passing in front of Gibraltar and Ceuta, all Spanish ships had to move in groups of two or three at most, and all portholes on the left and right sides had to be tightly closed. The moment the three ships crossed over, the Imperial Navy from Gibraltar and the Portuguese Navy from Ceuta rushed out to monitor them. In the process, the moment it was discovered that even one of the portholes of the Spanish ships was open, it was assumed that they were willing to fight and they were sunk. In the end, Spain had to rely heavily on trade with its African colonies and the Mediterranean region.

“In this era when everyone else is crossing the Atlantic…”

Spain’s powerful people gritted their teeth at the reality of not being able to escape the Mediterranean region, which was increasingly moving away from the center of the economy.

“We’ll see!”

Those in power in Spain, who were spending time consulting with each other, secretly made a line to France.

“You’re making new cannons and steam engine carts? Let’s do it together!”

* * *

France also suffered serious losses, but it was still not as serious as Spain. And France had ample potential to recover from this wound on its own. France was the country with the largest territory and population in mainland Europe. It also had ports with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to this, France was recovering its losses with a little more time than Spain.

“It was a bit heartbreaking to lose in Italy, but we gained a lot in return…”

What we gained on the Italian front was significant. The most representative example was a new gun salvaged from the Imperial Navy’s sunken ship on the northern coast of Corsica. Unlike Europe, where full-length cannons were still the main force, the imperial artillery was breech-loading.

By analyzing the Imperial breech-loading artillery that had been saved at the risk of their lives, the French military developed a new artillery. The Imperial Navy in a first-line area rather than a second-line area such as the Mediterranean was unaware that breech-loading artillery guns with two-seater ports were already being deployed.

Next was the armored assault vehicle used by the assault corps and the tow truck that pulled the artillery pieces. The imperial armored assault vehicles that confidently broke through the trench lines that they trusted and relied on, and the tow trucks that easily dragged imperial artillery that was much larger than their own cannons, were things that they must have.

“We have a steam engine too! Let’s make one!”

“But it’s difficult…”

“If you just make it, you’ll be able to earn enough wealth to last you a lifetime!”

“Let’s start designing right now!”

There were also many changes politically. The fall of the nobles who had kept the king in check further accelerated. Immediately after the end of the war, the generals who commanded the war were forced to retire due to the guilt of defeat. Since most of the generals who participated in the war were from the royal army, the king’s personal guard, this was seen as a victory for the aristocratic forces against the king. However, for Charles VIII, this was ‘one step back to take two steps forward.’

“Now that I think about it, Gwain said at that time that he should not set foot in Italy out of consideration for friendship with the empire. But who was the one who strongly advocated participation in the war? Bring me the records of the general secretary.”

One of the butterfly effects brought about by the intervention of fragrance was the creation of an official historical office in Europe. Although there had been historians before, they were not at the level of recording every move of the king and his cabinet without missing a single word. But the newly created officer had to make this possible.

It was the butterfly effect that later caused the amount of research by scholars studying European history to increase severalfold. In any case, based on this record, the conservative aristocratic forces who insisted on ‘participating in the war’ began to be driven out.