He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 85

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Sowing Discord in the Ming Dynasty (1)

People say that when the US president changes, the international relations and economic structures of every country on Earth change.

So after I passed the Administrative Examination, I too would rack my brains daily over questions like who would become the next US president, and what impact it would have on our country if candidate A among the presidential candidates was elected.

But now that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, currently the world’s greatest superpower, has died, it’s like fire has fallen on Joseon’s feet.

The situation was so serious that Jo Mal-saeng, the Minister of War, could barely come to work at the Ministry of War because he was constantly being called to the State Council to discuss countermeasures, and a royal command was issued allowing the Six Ministries to work overtime.

According to what I heard from the eunuchs, King Sejong has been greatly disappointed lately because he can’t go mountain climbing…

Would King Sejong really be sad about not being able to go mountain climbing?

No way. He’d be secretly delighted, saying he doesn’t have to exercise.

“Gungi Sijeong, My Lord.”

“… Are you saying that in this situation, you’ve thought of making new weapons?”

There’s an old saying that goes like this:

‘The more your life seems ruined, the calmer you must be.’

When I was in my twenties, if I had invested the 20 million won I had saved up until then in cryptocurrency and lost 50% of it, I should have recognized that as a sign to stop appropriately and quit.

Ten million won is definitely not a small amount of money, but my life wouldn’t be ruined because of that money.

I could just think of it as a painful experience, never touch cryptocurrency again, and live by steadily saving money in a sound manner.

However, if I thought “I’m ruined anyway, so it’s all or nothing” and made leveraged investments to recover the lost money, then I would truly face an irreversible situation.

In the same context, the Ming emperor’s death is what it is, and what I need to do is what I need to do, so I should do everything properly.

“If we prepare in advance before a crisis strikes, wouldn’t we have no worries? The Ming Emperor’s death is what it is, and we cannot know what the newly enthroned His Majesty will do. We must simply do our best in our respective positions and hope that Heaven will bring things to a good conclusion.”

“As expected of Kim Jeongnang. But why do you suddenly want to make new weapons? Does this have anything to do with the Ming Emperor’s death?”

The emperor who newly ascended to the throne of Ming is Emperor Xuande.

He received great favor from Emperor Yongle and thanks to that, participated in Emperor Yongle’s various campaigns and received direct teachings, making him an excellent emperor in many aspects.

Historians call the period when Emperor Xuande reigned the golden age of the Ming Dynasty.

But the unfortunate thing is that if that bastard runs the Ming Dynasty well, Joseon’s Northern Region becomes chaotic.

When the Ming Dynasty is in chaos, most of the Jurchen Tribes are busy attacking Ming territory, so those with great power don’t really bother Joseon much.

Because when the Ming Dynasty grows stronger, they will try to turn their arrows of attack toward Joseon, which is relatively easier to handle.

Since I opened trade with Tsushima Island and the Japanese, a similar situation will unfold where the Japanese Pirates who used to harass Joseon will flock to the Ming Dynasty coastline.

“From what I hear, His Majesty currently possesses the bearing of Emperor Yongle the Great and has deep knowledge in scholarship as well. Then wouldn’t the Ming Dynasty’s politics stabilize in the future?”

“That’s right.”

“A Ming Dynasty with stable politics will cleverly deploy the Jimi Policy to make the barbarians fight among themselves, and will try to strengthen their northern defenses. Then some of the starving barbarians will set their sights on Joseon.”

When people are driven to extreme situations, they’re bound to do absolutely anything.

Not only will they resort to theft they never did before, but they’ll even threaten or kill people with swords.

But barbarians who don’t even know what order means from the start, and only have the ethical consciousness of not engaging in internal swordplay among themselves – well, it goes without saying.

“And the best thing for dealing with them is gunpowder weapons. While you can block cavalry by using long spears to form battle formations, it’s difficult to properly counterattack.”

“Kim Jeongnang, you’re right. But looking at the blueprint and explanation of this weapon called matchlock gun that you’ve presented, it seems similar to the Il-chongtong that individual soldiers use. Wouldn’t mass-producing Il-chongtong be sufficient…”

Before matchlock guns were developed, Joseon used many personal firearms like Il-chongtong, I-chongtong, and Sajeon-chongtong.

What these are, you ask – they’re hand cannons for firing arrows at enemies.

The small cannons used as personal firearms are quite usable, but if there’s one problem… they’re extremely inefficient compared to matchlocks.

It would be good to improve efficiency even a little if possible.

“The matchlock gun I want to create has several major advantages as a weapon compared to the Il-chongtong.”

“Several advantages as a weapon, you say. Tell me.”

“First is that ammunition is easy to make. For things like Il-chongtong, I-chongtong, and Sajeon-chongtong, when making the arrows to load and fire, the effort and cost involved is quite considerable. In contrast, matchlock lead bullets only require putting lead in a mold and letting it harden, so even a common soldier can easily make them. To exaggerate a bit, with the money to make one Chasejeon arrow, you could make 100 matchlock bullets.”

Lead bullets are nothing more than balls made by melting lead.

So as soon as matchlocks were developed, both medieval soldiers and line infantry soldiers would melt lead to make their own when they ran short of ammunition.

Chasejeon arrows used in cannons require arrow craftsmen to obtain precious feathers, carve bamboo, and make iron arrowheads to produce.

You can tell which is more suitable as a weapon just from this alone.

Generally speaking, having overwhelmingly greater numbers for the price is unconditionally better.

“The second advantage is that soldiers can easily control when they want to fire. When you pull this trigger, the match cord ignites the gunpowder in the flash pan and fires the bullet.”

“Il-chongtong certainly fires at completely unexpected times once you light the fuse, so even military officers complain that while the power is quite useful, it’s difficult to subdue multiple barbarians at once.”

“Bows and long spears are effective at blocking barbarian cavalry because everyone moves as one body. Hundreds or thousands of arrows are fired at once, attacking the enemy like a net, and soldiers in battle formation block them like an iron wall.”

1,000 soldiers in battle formation can achieve overwhelming victory against thousands of infantry charging haphazardly.

This is because moving as one body greatly increases both defensive and offensive capabilities.

Conversely, infantry that cannot properly form battle formations become mere prey for cavalry.

According to records, 2,000 Song Dynasty infantry were completely wiped out by just 17 Jin Dynasty cavalry.

Therefore, if we could form battle formations with matchlocks – what military scholars call “spears that take one minute to thrust once”…

The Joseon army would completely devastate the Jurchen tribes and then some.

“Everything sounds good, but do these matchlocks absolutely have to be made of iron?”

“They must be made of iron to keep costs as low as possible. Copper is precious, but iron is much cheaper than copper, isn’t it?”

Iron is a metal, but copper is such an expensive material that it’s still classified as a precious metal even in modern times.

One reason Lee Bang-won and King Sejong failed to distribute currency was their inability to properly secure copper, which is a precious metal…

To give matchlock guns to all soldiers instead of spears and swords, they naturally must be made of iron.

Ah, come to think of it, I should also visit the Ministry of Public Works.

How wonderful it would be to go to the Ministry of Public Works and have them build steel mills.

And while we’re at it, completely overhaul the iron market system that’s on the verge of complete chaos.

“I understand. As you say, what should our Military Equipment Office be doing right now? Making better weapons in greater quantities, shouldn’t we?”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all. But in the current situation, I think the Ministry of War will be desperately looking for you…”

Right now at the Ministry of War, there must be very heated discussions and scoldings going on about how to deploy soldiers in the Northern Region and how to manage military service.

While everyone else is getting scolded, I boldly showed the blueprint to the Vice Minister and legally escaped.

“A gentleman knows how to avoid danger.”

It’s best not to go near dangerous places.

If I went close, I’d get caught up in it too.

“And if I were in that position, the Vice Minister would compare me with others. I judged that wouldn’t be better.”

The most hated person in the world is the one who gets praised alone while everyone else is being scolded.

The US Military uses this psychology to correct problematic trainees.

They make the troublemaking trainee sit comfortably while watching their fellow trainees get disciplined.

Then, out of guilt toward their peers, they end up correcting most of their problematic behavior.

If there’s someone who still doesn’t change even after that, then they’re simply hopeless.

“Then I shall take my leave now.”

Emperor Xuande is a wise ruler of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the one who becomes emperor after him is as incompetent as Won Gyun.

He’s like someone who combined the worst traits of King Injo and Won Gyun, you could say?

If such a combination were created in Joseon, it would be quite tragic…

Since diplomatic relations work where others’ happiness is my misfortune and others’ misfortune is my happiness, if the Ming Dynasty falls, there would only be benefits for Joseon, nothing bad.

Therefore, I will personally go to the Ming Dynasty to meet the excellent person who will become the Ming Dynasty’s Won Gyun in about 10 years.

Since his value is still cheap right now, if I go now and plant Joseon loyalty in him, he will repay it thousands or tens of thousands of times over later.

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