He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 154

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Joseon Steel Mill (6)

No factory in the world operates without people.

No matter how much technology advances, this fact will never change.

For this reason, the steel mill that Kim Dae-bung built also recruited workers from all regions of the nation.

Kim Deok-bae, who had spent his entire life working as a merchant porter in Hanyang, was one of those who saw the steel mill recruitment notice and was moved to travel all the way to distant Jaeryeong.

“Several new workshops have been established in Hanyang recently. I thought even those were tremendous, but coming here, I see those workshops are nothing more than minnows. I can already see three chimneys towering high like mountains.”

The chimneys towering high like mountains that he mentioned were the blast furnaces that Kim Dae-bung had built.

The sight of black smoke rising from there was truly spectacular, and the heat from the chimneys reaching even quite distant places made one realize their scale and left one unable to contain their amazement.

Not only himself, but the reactions of others who came with him were almost the same.

“My uncle often goes to iron works for labor service, and he told me that iron smelting furnaces aren’t that big…”

“Is this really a workshop?”

“They said this huge thing runs all day long, no, without stopping for even a moment? It’s really hard to believe… Since when has Joseon had something like this?”

The iron smelting furnaces used in Joseon could produce about 90kg of iron, or about 150 geun by Joseon era standards, of wrought iron (pig iron) each time they were operated.

However, the blast furnace that Kim Dae-bung created in collaboration with Jang Yeong-sil could melt 2 tons, about 3,300 geun of iron at once, and unlike iron smelting furnaces, there was no need to rest the blast furnace.

Thus, it became possible to produce roughly 10 times more iron than what the largest iron works in traditional Joseon could produce.

Kim Dae-bung still thought it was far from sufficient, but Jang Yeong-sil, Jeong Bun, and others thought differently.

When they heard the expected production volume, they were so shocked that they couldn’t close their gaping mouths for quite a while.

While the newly recruited workers were gathered and murmuring, one craftsman walked out from inside the steel mill.

“Attention!”

At the booming loud voice that was no less powerful than the guerrilla training instructors of what was called Loyalty Calisthenics, Deok-bae and the others felt their ears ringing.

“Welcome to Jaeryeong Steel Mill! I am Kim Gae-nam, a craftsman belonging to this Jaeryeong Steel Mill. Although the official position I’ve been granted is a miscellaneous post, I am clearly receiving a salary from the Royal Court, so keep that in mind.”

Craftsman, a miscellaneous 9th rank position under the Ministry of Public Works.

If someone with a miscellaneous rank went to a military camp, they could take on positions equivalent to a non-commissioned officer or junior officer level.

Therefore, in terms of the civil service grades that Kim Dae-bung thought of, he would be someone positioned at least at the 7th grade level.

With King Sejong’s promise that achieving results here could lead to becoming an official government worker in the future, his motivation was burning even brighter.

“From the moment you enter this place, you will receive wages equivalent to a 9th rank official. That means you’ll be given 14 seom of white rice annually. And when you advance in rank after a certain number of years, your wages will increase accordingly.”

Nowhere in all of Joseon was there a place that gave newly hired workers 14 seom of white rice annually.

Therefore, smiles naturally formed on the faces of Kim Deok-bae and the others.

When they worked as porters, they received at most 8 seom of white rice, so after paying rent in Hanseong, there was almost nothing left and they barely managed to put food on the table.

Here, they would receive 14 seom of white rice alone annually, meaning their salary would increase tremendously compared to their previous workplace.

“In addition, we will provide 3 seom of white rice each at the summer and winter solstices every year. That means 6 seom of white rice will be provided separately from your wages. And if you work here for 10 years, we’ll give you a house for free, and for those who are married with wives and children, we’ll provide free housing.”

It was truly jaw-dropping news.

To give a mere worker as much as 20 seom of white rice, and even provide a house for free after working for 10 years.

Kim Deok-bae was speechless upon hearing welfare benefits so high that he had never even imagined them in his entire life.

“Is that really true?”

“This steel mill was established by His Majesty. His Majesty does not lie.”

“Of course he wouldn’t. It’s just that this grace is so overwhelming…”

“Oh, and there’s one more thing. If you work here for 3 years, the state will even arrange marriages for you.”

While love marriages might be mainstream in the 21st century, in Joseon it was common for even poor common people to marry through their parents’ matchmaking.

Steel mill craftsmen belonged to those who earned quite well by Joseon standards, so arranging marriages for them wasn’t particularly difficult, making this possible.

“However, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The reason His Majesty provides for you so generously is also because this work is so arduous that you couldn’t endure it without such treatment.”

Steel mill work wasn’t impossible for humans to do, but it was indeed extremely arduous.

Due to the nature of working very close to fire and molten iron, even the slightest carelessness could kill a person.

This was a place where any small mistake by anyone working here could lead to major accidents that could kill several workers at any time.

“This place is completely different from where you’ve worked before. A small mistake could cause your arm to completely melt away, or your entire body could burn up in an instant. Therefore, as long as you work here, you must absolutely obey the commands of myself and other seniors, if only to survive.”

At those words, the new workers gathered here gulped nervously.

“Because the work is so arduous, at first there will come moments when you think ‘I’m going to collapse!’ You’ll have to endlessly carry iron ore and charcoal weighing a hundred geun (60kg) on your shoulders every day, and even when it feels like your arms will fall off, you must continue operating the bellows and stirring molten iron. During all this, you cannot let your guard down for even a moment, because the instant you do, an accident will happen.”

To borrow Kim Dae-bung’s assessment, he said that compared to steel mill labor without automated systems, all other types of physical labor were as easy as ‘lying down and chewing gum.’

In reality, the labor of having to carry all sorts of heavy things and continuously operate the bellows in a place where the internal temperature reaches 50 degrees Celsius or higher would make it no surprise if someone collapsed and died from heat stroke at any moment.

“Hearing it a hundred times in words is all useless. Learn and feel it through actual experience. From now on, you will be assigned to work at the blast furnaces and reverberatory furnaces. Follow what your seniors say as if they were your parents’ words.”

Listening to his guidance, Kim Deok-bae firmly steeled his resolve, and when he was assigned his work position, he diligently performed the tasks entrusted to him according to his senior’s teachings.

And while working, he came to personally understand what it meant that people could die from this work…

Nevertheless, all those employed at the steel mill endured to the very end through sheer grit and determination, thinking of their high wages.

**

The new city centered around the steel mill was created very successfully.

The craftsmen belonging to the steel mill alone number over 300, and when combined with the loggers, merchants, and their families, it’s expected that over 10,000 people will settle in this place.

No, it might become a city with even more population than that.

And with ships constantly coming and going to the newly built harbor, I think this place will eventually become quite a large port city.

Just like Pohang where POSCO is located.

Perhaps because of this success, the county magistrate who governs Jaeryeong came to visit this place, saying he wanted to meet me personally.

“My, what brings the Jaeryeong County Magistrate all the way to this distant place?”

“Since such a large city has been built in Jaeryeong County, I felt I must come see it at least once as the Jaeryeong County Magistrate. I made time to come visit.”

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule.”

During this steel mill construction, I really received a lot of help from the Jaeryeong County Magistrate.

Although the wages for the laborers were paid from the royal court budget, the county magistrate stepped forward to help recruit common people to mobilize for corvée labor during the agricultural off-season.

He also put in a lot of effort to help obtain the countless various items that were needed.

“This place was nothing but an empty field until just six months ago, but now that such a large steel mill has been built here, it has instantly become a bustling city. This must be what they mean when they say development happens with each passing day.”

“If the Jaeryeong County Magistrate had not helped so enthusiastically, things would not have proceeded so smoothly.”

“National affairs are things that government officials like us must all cooperate to accomplish, aren’t they? Yes, you’ve really worked hard coming all the way here. So, how much iron is currently being produced at the steel mill?”

“At the current rate, it appears we can obtain about 200,000 geun of wrought iron and 50,000 geun of refined iron annually. I’m planning to expand the steel mill to more than twice its current size in the future, so we might be able to obtain about 100,000 geun of refined iron alone each year.”

200,000 geun of wrought iron amounts to only 120 tons per year.

Of course, even this alone produces 16 times more iron than the Dalcheon-ri Iron Works in Ulsan County, which was recorded as producing the most iron among the iron works listed in the Sejong Sillok Jiriji.

‘The Dalcheon-ri Iron Works produced about 12,500 geun of iron annually.’

“And in the future, I plan to establish 10 more steel mills of this scale throughout Joseon. As the nation’s finances improve, I intend to expand the scale of the steel mills even further.”

“Is that possible… no wait, if our Iron Works Director says it, it must be certain.”

If I increase iron production like this, King Sejong will be truly pleased.

“Soon, I will hand over all steel mill-related duties to the newly appointed Iron Works Director and depart for Hanyang.”

I heard that the newly appointed Iron Works Director is Jeong In-ji.

From what I heard, he volunteered for this position because when I return, I’ll likely go to Jiphyeonjeon before becoming Secretary of Seongcheolsa and departing for Ming Dynasty…

Would King Sejong really do that?

“I will never forget the help My Lord has provided. Now please follow me as I show you inside the steel mill.”

And after completing his tour of the steel mill under my guidance that day, the Jaeryeong County Magistrate looked at me and said one thing.

“Jaeryeong County is going to be quite bustling… work will pour in like a mountain.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————