Black Corporation: Joseon

Despite experiencing various large and small events, Joseon and Ming were steadily moving forward on their own trajectories.

The population was gradually increasing, and merchant ships for trade were lining up on the seas.

Looking at the overall situation, Joseon was moving most actively, followed by Ming, and behind Ming were countries like Dai Viet, Ryukyu (Okinawa), and Siam (Thailand), traveling between Joseon, Ming, and India.

However, the country that conducted the most trade and reaped the most profits was Joseon.

Countries like Dai Viet and Siam mostly traded their natural resources. And with just these natural resources, they couldn’t make significant profits.

But Joseon, and Ming following behind, could make large profits with products made using advanced technology.

From nearby Japan to distant India and Alexandria, in the international trade market, Joseon was establishing its position with top-quality goods, while Ming was solidifying its position with cost-effectiveness.

***

While Joseon and Ming, as well as surrounding countries, were busily moving forward, there was a country falling increasingly behind in this competition.

Particularly, unlike Joseon and Ming maintaining relatively stable situations right next to it, Japan was rushing towards a tipping point.

The entity driving Japan’s internal crisis was the shogun of the bakufu, Ashikaga Yoshinori.

Born as the third son of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun, Yoshinori had become a monk and was living as the head priest of the Tendai sect.

When the fifth shogun Ashikaga Yoshikazu, the son of his full brother Ashikaga Yoshimochi, suddenly died, followed by Yoshimochi’s death, he became the shogun.

The most notable characteristic of Yoshinori, who became the sixth shogun, was his firm belief that his becoming shogun was the Mandate of Heaven (天命).

This conviction was born from the process of him becoming shogun.

When his son suddenly died and he himself fell critically ill, Yoshimochi refused to designate a successor. In response, the bakufu officials agreed to determine the new shogun through a lottery.

Yoshinori was chosen as shogun in the lottery held at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. (Note 1)

Because Yoshinori became shogun in this way, he developed a strong conviction that he had received the Mandate of Heaven.

-Anyone who offends his eyes or opposes his will is defying the Mandate of Heaven. Therefore, punishing such people is only natural.

The combination of this belief and the political goals of reviving the fallen authority of the bakufu and reviving the shogun’s direct rule system led to the birth of a reign of terror.

Starting with the political retaliation shown in the conflict with Enryakuji Temple, the history of the bakufu began to be written in blood.

In addition to these major incidents, Yoshinori imposed harsh punishments if someone even slightly offended his eyes, and because of this, the phrase “terror of ten thousand people” (万人恐怖) was circulating among people.

***

This situation in Japan worsened even more after Hyang’s intervention.

With the combination of the cannon-addicted Joseon navy and Hyang’s enthusiasm, not only were the Wokou pirates crushed, but the bakufu’s control over the sea also significantly weakened.

This was because the path to advance into the East Sea of Joseon, which was one of the major fishing grounds, was blocked.

The follow-up blow that came after taking this hit was Joseon’s economic invasion.

Unlike the Kamakura bakufu, the previous shogunate before Muromachi, whose main source of income was traditional agricultural products, the Muromachi bakufu’s main source of income was the tally trade (勘合貿易) with Ming.

The intermediary profits gained through the Ming trade monopolized by the bakufu strengthened the power of the Muromachi bakufu.

In this situation, Joseon’s request to establish trading posts was seen as another opportunity.

Therefore, Yoshinori allowed Joseon to establish trading posts.

However, as time passed, Yoshinori realized that this decision was a fatal mistake.

The Joseon trading post established in Naniwa (the old name for Osaka), which was firmly within the bakufu’s sphere of influence, benefited the bakufu as Yoshinori thought. This was because massive wealth flowed in as daimyo from nearby regions flocked to obtain Joseon goods.

However, the second Joseon trading post established in Nagato was a trap.

Ordering the creation of a trading post in Nagato rather than Shimonoseki, which had been a traditional trading port that the Ouchi family had put effort into for generations, was aimed at bleeding the Ouchi dry. It was intended to weaken the Ouchi through the process of developing the area where the trading post would be established, deploying defense facilities and troops to guard the trading post area, and incurring additional military expenditures.

“Of course, profits will be generated through the Joseon trading post in Nagato. But if I give a slight hint to the daimyo around Ouchi, they’ll know what to do. Then Nagato will become burdensome for Ouchi. At that time, I’ll step in and take it.”

This was Yoshinori’s calculation. And it was a misjudgment.

The Ouchi endured that expenditure. And once they endured that expenditure, the profits coming in through Nagato fattened the Ouchi.

“Did Ouchi have wealth that I didn’t know about?”

Sensing something amiss, Yoshinori quietly sent spies, but none returned.

Examining these circumstances, Yoshinori reached one conclusion.

“It’s certain they’ve joined hands with Joseon!”

Though he was certain of this, Yoshinori couldn’t easily lay hands on the Ouchi.

The Ouchi, who had grown unrecognizably after joining hands with Joseon, were difficult for even Yoshinori to handle carelessly.

Yoshinori, who knew well the ambitions of the Ouchi lords throughout generations, kept a sharp eye of surveillance on the Ouchi family.

What made Yoshinori uneasy was that on one hand, daimyo were appearing who were watching his mood while slowly joining hands with Joseon or Ouchi.

A prime example of this was the Shibukawa family, who had received the position of Kyushu Tandai.

The Shibukawa family, known to Joseon as the Minamoto clan, were given the hereditary office of Kyushu Tandai by the bakufu.

However, from around the time Sejong ascended to the throne, they were in a state of dependence on the Ouchi, pushed back in conflicts with the Sō clan.

In this state, the hand extended by Joseon was impossible to refuse. The Shibukawa family, who grasped the hand extended by Joseon, joined forces with the Ouchi to reclaim the land they had lost, and in turn, created a situation where the Sō clan fled to Tsushima.

The Shibukawa family, who had thus recovered their foundation, began large-scale cotton cultivation for Joseon. And this contract farming became an important source of income for the Shibukawa family.

And seeing the growth of Ouchi and Shibukawa, surrounding daimyo began to slowly approach Ouchi and Joseon.

“Damn it all!”

Yoshinori cursed upon receiving reports of the situation.

It was a situation of intense regret, but laying hands on Joseon or Ouchi was out of the question.

Ouchi was already a formidable opponent, and Joseon was even more so. Even if it were the Joseon of the past, for example, the Joseon that had sent troops to Tsushima, they could have been harassed to some extent, but the current Joseon was an opponent that would turn Kyoto into a sea of fire as soon as such a thing was attempted.

Moreover, from a political perspective, laying hands on Joseon or Ouchi was absolutely something that should not be done.

-Everything I do is following the Mandate of Heaven, so there’s not a single mistake!

This was Yoshinori’s political philosophy.

Overturning something done according to the Mandate of Heaven would be Yoshinori himself undermining his own authority.

If that happened, it would not only damage the authority of the bakufu that he had worked hard to revive, but it would also certainly destroy his system of direct rule.

“Damn Joseon! Damn Ouchi!”

Yoshinori endlessly cursed Joseon and Ouchi, but this was also a limitation of the Muromachi bakufu.

***

In any country, the biggest energy maintaining the state system was finance.

The problem with the bakufu was that it would collapse immediately when problems arose in this financial operation.

This was because the emperor occupied the other axis maintaining the regime – legitimacy.

Therefore, the bakufu could only survive by holding the purse strings.

The solution to these purse strings that the Muromachi bakufu chose was the aforementioned monopoly trade.

However, the Muromachi bakufu’s policy of relying solely on trade for securing finances was bound to have limitations.

Even within Japan, as the population increased, commerce and industry began to develop steadily, and with the introduction of advanced agricultural techniques, the surplus production capacity of rural areas also began to increase.

Even as these changes were occurring, the Muromachi bakufu only emphasized trade, and eventually, this economic power that grew internally was all absorbed by local daimyo, becoming the spark that would later ignite the large fire of the Sengoku period. (Note 2)

***

Finally, even in a situation where he could do neither this nor that, Yoshinori kept a sharp eye of surveillance on the Ouchi.

And on the other hand, the intensity of his reign of terror increased. If someone even slightly deviated from his eyes, even if they were close associates, they would immediately receive severe punishment or lose their heads.

Or else, they might suddenly be attacked by assassins one day and die.

Eventually, Ouchi Morimi fortified the interior of his mansion in Kyoto.

However, despite this, Morimi, feeling threatened, used illness as an excuse to leave Kyoto and holed up in his domain.

“It’s better to wage a struggle! Being assassinated is out of the question!”

As Yoshinori lost people’s hearts like this, the seeds of rebellion began to sprout slowly.

And at the center of this rebellion was Ashikaga Mochiuji.

***

Ashikaga Mochiuji of the Kamakura gosho had quite a few complaints of his own.

All the brothers of the third shogun, Yoshimochi, had become monks and entered the priesthood, but he had not entered the priesthood.

Therefore, if one were to argue properly, he should have become the shogun.

“Yet they make a monk return to secular life and become shogun? This is clearly a conspiracy!”

However, due to Yoshinori’s reign of terror and watchful eye, Mochiuji couldn’t express his dissatisfaction openly.

Seeing Yoshinori gradually lose people’s hearts in this situation of groping in the dark, Mochiuji smiled. Especially when he heard about the curse incident of Mount Hiei that occurred in the aftermath of the Enryakuji conflict, Mochiuji clenched his fist.

“Is my chance finally coming?”

Mochiuji quietly began to reorganize his troops.

And there was someone watching these movements of Mochiuji.

It was Uesugi Sadazane, who held the responsibility of Kantō Kanrei, the assistant role to Mochiuji.

Sadazane, who could know Mochiuji’s movements well because he was the assistant, muttered with a face full of worry.

“It’s dangerous…”

The increasingly full-scale troop reorganization was also a worrying situation. He wanted to caution about this, but Mochiuji was increasingly distancing himself from him, and at some point even showed hostility.

“How long has it been since the war ended…”

Bang!

While Sadazane was muttering with a face full of worry, a subordinate rushed in with a loud noise.

“My lord! Please escape!”

“What’s happening?”

“The movements of the Kamakura-dono are not normal! It’s dangerous!”

At the subordinate’s words, Sadazane gritted his teeth.

“It has begun!”

***

Note 1) https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/아시카가_요시노리

Note 2) https://빅데이터협회.com/2359