Black Corporation: Joseon

Late December of the Imja year. Otaornai Port on Daeseol Island. (Now Otaru)

There was quite a complicated story behind the name ‘Otaornai Port’.

At first, it was named ‘Sajangcheon (沙場川)’, meaning ‘river in the middle of a sandy beach’, taking the meaning of Otaornai.

However, the Ainu people’s reaction was not favorable, and thanks to Hunminjeongeum being introduced earlier than in other places, the name was settled as Otaornai Port, its original name.

And a Challenger-class warship was docking at the pier of Otaornai Port, where snow was piled high.

On the side of the ship’s bow and stern, a nameplate with the Chinese characters ‘길림 (Kirin)’ was attached.

It was the 10th ship of the Challenger-class, ‘Kirin’, named to commemorate the ‘Battle of Kirin’ where the Joseon army crushed the Jurchen tribes led by Yi Manchu and Mengtemu.

***

Go Il-nam, the captain of the Kirin ship docked at the pier, shouted to the sailors.

“Rest for a day, and complete resupply and maintenance as quickly as possible! We’ll return to Wonsan as soon as maintenance is finished!”

“Yes, sir!”

The sailors responded energetically to Go Il-nam’s order.

After Go Il-nam’s instruction ended, the sailors who rushed off the ship soon scattered in groups of threes and fives.

Go Il-nam, who disembarked last, sought out the port’s defense command headquarters.

After receiving a brief report from Go Il-nam, Commander Kang Ho-jun asked Il-nam:

“What’s happening that you’re moving so urgently?”

“Yes. We discovered something while investigating the northeast direction, and I think we should report it immediately.”

“What is it?”

At Ho-jun’s interested question, Il-nam answered simply.

“We seem to have found an archipelago extending eastward.”

At Il-nam’s answer, Ho-jun jumped up from his seat.

“Is that true!”

***

It was before the debate between the geocentric and heliocentric theories broke out in the research institute, but the navy’s captains and high-ranking officers were already accepting the spherical Earth theory.

This was due to the accumulated experiences from various natural phenomena they were familiar with during navigation – such as time differences and the curved appearance of the horizon – and the ‘hypotheses’ presented by the research institute.

Among the navy officers who had physically experienced this, one question emerged.

“Then what’s in the east?”

The reason the navy officers came to have this question was due to the traditionally passed down ‘theory of harmony’.

-Yin and yang harmonize with each other, and the five elements also harmonize through mutual generation and overcoming.

According to this theory of harmony, various natural disasters and epidemics occurred when this harmony was broken.

And the main reason for this harmony breaking was people becoming unvirtuous.

Therefore, when various natural disasters and epidemics occurred, the king would first come forward to offer sacrifices to heaven and compose himself.

***

Hyang, who had obtained Zheng He’s navigation records and observational data, mobilized researchers from the institute to create maps. These completed maps were supplemented with Islamic maps that came through Mansur, and as navigation records obtained during voyages to Suez – or more precisely, Alexandria – were added, the maps became increasingly detailed.

As the existence of an ocean discovered while investigating the surroundings of Daeseol Island was added, the navy began to have questions.

“If all the land in the world is gathered in one place like this, it’s not balanced, is it?”

“Right? It doesn’t seem harmonious.”

“The harmony of yin-yang and the five elements is not harmonious at all. There’s too much water energy like this.”

Although the question started from the traditional ‘theory of harmony’, the navy gradually began to harbor doubts and possibilities.

‘There must be land in the east!’

These doubts and possibilities were immediately written into documents and sent up to Geunjeongjeon.

“Review this once.”

“Yes, Father.”

After reading the report handed over by Sejong, Hyang’s face became incredulous.

“Does it work out like this? Well, if we were to nitpick, there’d be no end…”

Hyang reported to Sejong as follows:

“It seems worth trying.”

And after hearing about the debates that took place in the research institute and their results – which included even an estimate of this Earth’s diameter, although it was just an estimate – the navy’s atmosphere changed from possibility to certainty.

“If this world is that big, there must be land in the east!”

Although they were convinced that there was definitely land in the east, the navy couldn’t immediately act on it.

***

There were several obstacles that prevented the Joseon navy from taking action, but broadly speaking, there were two.

The first obstacle was the chronic problem of manpower shortage, which affected not only the navy but all of Joseon.

Due to the manpower shortage problem, the Joseon navy had to make a choice. They concluded to prioritize the deployment of Haeung-class warships to secure control of the seas near Joseon.

As Haeung-class warships were prioritized for deployment, the production and deployment of Challenger-class warships were pushed back.

Although Challenger-class warships had the strongest combat power and long-distance navigation ability among the warships possessed by the Joseon navy, they also required considerable human resources.

“Of course, if you think about it, Haeung-class isn’t easy either…”

While examining the related reports, Hyang put his hand on his throbbing forehead.

In absolute numbers, it had fewer crew members than the Challenger-class, but relatively, the Haeung-class carried more crew members compared to its size.

The reason for this was the sails that supported the Haeung-class’s fast maneuverability. Although it was smaller in size, the number of sails attached to the Haeung was just two fewer than those on the Challenger-class.

Therefore, not only the Ministry of National Defense but also Sejong and the ministers had to ponder over the Challenger and Haeung.

“We must prioritize Challenger-class warships! Considering Joseon’s increasing trade volume, we must unconditionally prioritize Challenger-class warships!”

Although Kim Jeom, the Minister of Finance and Economy, strongly argued that Challenger-class warships should be prioritized, a decision was made to give priority to Haeung-class warships for the time being.

Ironically, the background for this decision was due to the Challenger-class’s excellent long-distance navigation ability. Long-distance navigation meant that many sailors would be away from their posts for that long.

Even so, the construction and deployment of Challenger-class warships were not completely halted. Construction and deployment proceeded slowly but steadily, and the launching of the 11th ship had been completed.

***

The second obstacle was the enormous size of the ocean located east of Daeseol Island.

Joseon confirmed that the ocean east of Daeseol Island was literally a vast sea through the distress of the Challenger-class 6th ship ‘Jinpo’.

After finishing the coastline survey of Daeseol Island, the Joseon navy decided to explore the ocean located east of Daeseol Island once.

The Jinpo, chosen for the exploratory voyage, was loaded with minimal armament – just enough for one battle – and the rest was filled with food and water.

“With the food and water currently loaded, a three-month voyage without resupply is possible. Of course, if we ration well, it might be possible for up to four months. But anything beyond that is absolutely impossible.”

Kim Eok-su, the captain of the Jinpo, nodded at the caution from the supply officer who had completed the ship’s provisioning.

“I understand. We’ll be careful.”

The Jinpo, which set sail after such preparation, was confident from the captain down to the lowest-ranking sailors.

This was because since its commissioning, they had made several trips to Alexandria and Chittagong, and had experienced the rough seas of the northeastern region of Daeseol Island.

The Jinpo, which headed east like this, didn’t encounter land for a month and a half.

“Should we turn back, or should we go a bit further?”

“How about going a bit further, sir?”

“If we remember the times we went to Chittagong or Alexandria, didn’t we encounter islands or land at every critical moment? It will be the same this time.”

At Kim Eok-su’s question, most of his subordinate officers argued to go further east.

This was because, as they said, they had similar experiences when going to Alexandria or Chittagong.

They thought it was an endless sea with nothing, but if they went just a little further, Malacca appeared.

Despite the officers’ answers, Kim Eok-su, wanting to confirm more solid support, called even the sailors and asked for their opinions.

The sailors, after hearing the situation explanation from Kim Eok-su, agreed with the officers’ opinions. The sailors also expected it to be similar to the long-distance voyages they had experienced so far.

However, even after two months and ten days, no island or land appeared.

“We can’t go any further.”

Having confirmed that it was impossible, Kim Eok-su finally had to turn the ship around.

But from then on, the Jinpo faced a series of hardships. This was because they had to move against both the ocean currents and the wind.

As a result, it was almost half a year after setting sail when the Jinpo returned to Daeseol Island.

Thanks to the distillation apparatus and dried vegetables and meat that Hyang had deployed just in case, there were no starvation deaths, but from Captain Kim Eok-su to the lowest-ranking crew members, everyone was in a serious state of malnutrition. Upon receiving the report that it would take about two months for them to regain their strength, the navy and the Ministry of National Defense concluded:

“For the time being, exploration of the due east route is suspended. Instead, focus on exploring the northeast direction.”

It was in this state of decision that the Kirin ship found the possibility of discovering an archipelago extending eastward.

***

Given the situation, the Kirin ship headed towards Wonsan at maximum speed.

Unlike the usual case where they would rest for about three days and resupply after returning to Daeseol Island from northeastern region exploration before heading to Wonsan, the sailors had no particular complaints.

This was because the sailors were also excited with anticipation.

For those living on warships, from captains to sailors, the ‘distress of the Jinpo’ was a kind of shame.

“The world’s best warship manned by the world’s best sailors, and yet a distress? This is shameful!”

They had suffered a great blow to their pride, which had risen to the sky after experiencing situations where even the fierce Wokou and pirates would tuck their tails and flee at the sight of a Challenger-class warship.

“You shouldn’t underestimate the sea!”

Of course, experienced veterans warned, but the current Joseon navy was young from captains to sailors.

***

The report written by the captain of the Kirin ship that arrived in Wonsan was immediately sent up to Hanseong.

“This must be reported to His Majesty as quickly as possible!”

Jo Mal-saeng, who confirmed the report, grabbed the scroll and ran to Geunjeongjeon.

After confirming the report from the Kirin ship’s captain submitted by Jo Mal-saeng, Sejong, with an excited face, issued an order.

“Summon the captain of the Kirin ship immediately to write a more detailed report!”

“I receive your command!”

“No, to know properly, we need the memories of more people, so summon all the people from the Kirin ship to Hanseong!”

“I receive your command!”

***

According to Sejong’s order, Go Il-nam and his officers, as well as the sailors who were staying in Wonsan, had to come to Hanseong.

The officials from the Ministry of National Defense began to dig deeply into those who came to Hanseong like this.

Based on the information secured from not only the oral reports of the captain, officers, and crew, but also navigation records and personal records, the officials of the Ministry of National Defense began to meticulously examine the possibilities.

After examining like this, the officials soon reached similar conclusions.

“There seems to be a possibility?”

And that conclusion soon transformed into a thick report and was submitted to Jo Mal-saeng.

After confirming the report, Jo Mal-saeng ordered his subordinates.

“Prepare to report properly in Geunjeongjeon. Who was that guy with the good voice?”