Black Corporation: Joseon

“Then, how does the improved gunpowder ignite?”

“It uses the gunpowder that His Highness the Crown Prince made.”

Upon hearing Choi Hae-san’s answer, King Sejong pointed out a problem. “Wouldn’t that make things too complicated? Now we have another type of gunpowder going between the fuse and the original gunpowder.”

Upon King Sejong’s remark, all the accompanying officials nodded in agreement.

Most of them were civil officials, but some had experience in the military, and even those who didn’t knew how to use firearms. They all had heard about it at least once. They also knew from the previous demonstration that a fuse was absolutely necessary to ignite gunpowder.

Choi Hae-san immediately replied to Sejong’s remark.

“We do not use a fuse with double-strength gunpowder. Instead, we use a cap (spoken in English), no, a ‘copper ignition cap’.”

“Copper ignition cap?”

As King Sejong expressed his confusion, Hyang quickly wrote the characters on a memo and handed it to him.

“Hmm… Do we have a real one?”

Upon Sejong’s words, Choi Hae-san moved a copper plate on a tray to Sejong’s front.

“The small one is for guns, and the large one is for cannons.”

“Hmm…”

King Sejong closely examined the copper ignition cap placed on the copper plate.

The one for guns was slightly smaller than the nail of an index finger, and the one for cannons was about the size of a thumb joint.

As Sejong inspected the objects, he looked at Choi Hae-san.

“Can we have a demonstration?”

“It has already been prepared. This way.”

Choi Hae-san guided Sejong and the officials a bit away from where the tray was placed.

The place Choi Hae-san guided them to was an area approximately 20 zhang (丈, about 60m) wide and 150 zhang (about 450m) long.

Seeing the place Choi Hae-san guided them to, Sejong commented, “This place is quite desolate.” 

As per Sejong’s observation, the area was indeed desolate. Aside from where the people stood, there were dirt walls at least two zhang tall on three sides. They also piled up bags of dirt up to chest height to create a wall where the people stood. Inside the wall, there were numerous pits dug here and there.

As Sejong and the officials took their place behind the dirt wall, Choi Hae-san began to speak, “Then I will start the demonstration. Start!”

At Choi Hae-san’s command, the waiting artisans moved a small tray to the front of the demonstration area. On the tray were copper plates and small wooden barrels.

“The stuff in the barrel on the left is single-strength gunpowder, and in the right barrel is double-strength gunpowder.”

While Choi Hae-san was explaining, the artisans scooped the gunpowder onto the copper plates using a spoon made of magnetite, then inserted the fuses. Once they confirmed the fuses were properly inserted, they lit them and retreated.

Bang! Fizz.

The single-strength gunpowder lit by the fuse exploded with smoke, but the double-strength gunpowder only burned the fuse and ended.

“This time, we will use the modified gun with a copper ignition cap. Let’s start.”

At the command, the artisans brought two guns. The artisans who moved the gunpowder from the barrels into the guns then inserted a wad of paper and started ramming it.

The artisans who had tightly rammed it pulled the striker sticking out from the back of the gun and then attached the copper ignition cap. When they finished all the tasks, the artisans held the gunstock firmly under their right armpits, gripped the cord connected to the striker in their left hand, and aimed at the wall across from them.

“Fire, fire, fire!”

Boom!

After loudly shouting the command three times, when the artisans pulled the cord at once, the two guns simultaneously spit out fire.

“Oh!”

“Wow!”

As the two guns spat out flames, the officials let out exclamations of admiration.

Sejong looked at Hyang.

“So this is why you don’t use a fuse? Hmm… There seem to be fewer constraints than when using a fuse.”

“That’s correct.”

“Indeed, you have worked hard.”

King Sejong looked at Hyang with an expression of admiration. However, his face quickly hardened, and he threw out a question, “You said the name of the gunpowder you’ve made is ‘silver powder’. You’re not using precious silver, are you?”

“No, your Majesty. It uses mercury. Of course, mercury is valuable, but it is easier to obtain than silver and is only used for ignition, so it costs less than expected.”

“But still. That’s a relief.”

At Hyang’s response that the cost was lower than expected, King Sejong’s face brightened. Regardless, gunpowder was an item that consumed a massive amount of wealth. With a much relaxed expression, King Sejong turned his head towards the demonstration area.

“I would like to know about the other gunpowder you made, General.”

“Yes, your Majesty. Bring the ‘silver powder’.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Choi Hae-san’s order, the artisans came in carefully holding a small wooden box.

“Tilt the box to show the inside.”

The artisans tilted the box so King Sejong and his officials could see inside. In the center of the box, filled with sawdust, was a tiny ceramic bottle.

Choi Hae-san, who took out the ceramic bottle from the box, pulled out the cork and tilted it slightly towards the empty ground.

Boom!

A single drop of ‘silver powder’ fell from the mouth of the ceramic bottle onto the ground, and a loud explosion occurred at that moment.

“Gasp!”

“Good heavens!”

As the officials were surprised by the unexpected explosion, Choi Hae-san introduced it with a mischievous smile.

“This is ‘silver powder’.”

“Amazing! Astonishing! My prince, it’s truly astonishing! It truly lives up to the name ‘silver powder’! General, then how about its power?”

“It cannot be compared to the gunpowder used by our Joseon army. The saying ‘sky and earth difference’ would be fitting. Prepare it.”

“Yes, General.”

The artisans began to prepare a demonstration to compare the power of the black powder and ‘silver powder’.

“This is a thick cannon tube made for testing power. The amount of gunpowder used is 1/4 ‘nyang‘ (a traditional unit, approx. 9g) for both sides. First, it’s the single-strength powder.”

After packing 1/4 ‘nyang’ of single-strength powder into the cannon tube, the artisan fastened it to a tripod set up in advance on the ground. Then, he fitted a large mushroom-shaped iron cap to the slightly tilted mouth of the cannon tube. The artisan who had pulled back the igniter with a fuse, stepped back and shouted loudly.

“Fire! Fire! Fire!”

Boom!

With a loud explosion, the iron cap flew in a parabolic path and fell to the ground.

The artisan began to count units as he retrieved the rope attached to the iron cap.

“1 ‘bo’! 2 ‘bo’!…” Choi Hae-san quickly explained to King Sejong.

“We can measure the distance it flew using ‘bo’ units.”

“Is that so?”

“50 ‘bo’! (approx. 60m)”

“Now we will experiment with ‘silver powder’.”

At Choi Hae-san’s signal, the artisans began preparing for the second firing. The artisans handling the ‘silver powder’ were extremely cautious.

“You’re being very careful, aren’t you?”

At King Sejong’s question, Hyang immediately responded, “It is an incredibly delicate substance, your Majesty.”

“But still?”

“Fire! Fire! Fire!”

In the midst of their conversation, the artisan who had finished preparing pulled the rope connected to the igniter.

Bang!

With an even louder and sharper explosion than the previous gunpowder, the iron cap soared into the sky and started to fly far away.

The artisan who retrieved the iron cap that had flown a considerable distance shouted out the distance loudly.

“110 ‘bo’! (approx. 132m)”

At the artisan’s shout, King Sejong’s eyes widened in surprise.

“It flew over twice as far, didn’t it?”

“Yes, your Majesty. As finicky as it is, its power is extraordinary.”

Seeing Hyang’s responding expression, King Sejong clicked his tongue. “Tsk! Looking at your face, it seems it’s not something we can use easily.”

“Yes, your Majesty. Given our current situation in Joseon, ‘silver powder’ itself is something we can’t make use of.”

“What a shame.”

At Hyang’s response, King Sejong couldn’t hide his disappointment and licked his lips. “It’s a pity.”

“I agree.”

Listening to the conversation between King Sejong and Hyang, the officials also had a similar expression to King Sejong.

The Prince they knew seemed to prioritize performance, but surprisingly, he also took production costs into account.

However, the fact that the Crown Prince didn’t mention the cost indicated that the court could bear the production cost. However, the Crown Prince had judged the item to be ‘useless’ at present.

“How tedious could it possibly be to have you say so?”

“It’s extremely tedious.”

Hyang explained the reasons to Sejong.

• Firstly, production itself is impossible in the warmer spring or summer seasons. The synthesis process generates high heat and there is a high possibility of self-explosion or catching fire due to this heat. Hyang himself could only attempt synthesis when winter began and had to use a large amount of ice from the ice storage house.
• Great caution is required during the synthesis process. Protective equipment must be worn to protect the skin of the hands and face because a highly concentrated acid is used. Ventilation equipment is also essential.
• Even a little impurity can greatly increase the risk of explosion. Due to this, Hyang had to go through numerous refining processes before and after synthesis.
• Storage is also not easy. It’s extremely sensitive to shocks, so if the containers bump into each other or are shaken hard during transportation, it immediately explodes.

If a lightning bolt were to strike nearby, it would immediately explode. If impurities are not properly removed as mentioned above, it will self-destruct over time. Due to the issue of self-destruction, it must be stored in a cool place. In Hyang’s case, he had to dig a hole in Namsan (South Mountain) to make a storage place.

“For these reasons, this gunpowder itself is absolutely useless.”

“Truly a cursed thing.”

At Hyang’s explanation, Sejong unwittingly spat out a curse. However, this time the ministers agreed.

“Truly a cursed thing.”

“It’s very powerful, but… with such a terrible disposition…”

Setting aside his regrets about gunpowder, Sejong moved on.

“The next gunpowder I will introduce is cotton powder.”

“Cotton powder? Is it named cotton powder because it uses cotton cloth? Or does it use cotton cloth for the gunpowder?”

Sejong, who remembered the explanation given by Choi Hae-san when he first saw it, wore an incredulous expression. The ministers were the same.

“Do they make gunpowder from cotton cloth?”

“Of course, cotton cloth does burn…”

While Sejong and the ministers were murmuring with suspicion, Choi Hae-san picked up a piece of cotton cloth on the tray with tongs.

“Light it.”

“Yes, General.”

Boom!

“A—ack!”

“Goodness!”

When the artisan set the cotton on fire, it burned to ash with a loud explosion.

Laughing at the sight of the startled ministers making a fuss, Choi Hae-san opened his mouth, “It is made using well-twisted cotton cloth and several types of acid. As you can see, it has powerful firepower. And… there’s one very important thing. Starting with that gunpowder, cotton powder, and ‘virtuous’ style gunpowder are all smokeless gunpowder.”

“Smokeless… does it not produce smoke?”

“To be precise, it produces very little.”

In the ensuing demonstration, the cotton powder showed enough power to be stronger than black powder, though weaker than the gunpowder.

“Finally, I will show you Virtuous (Deok)-style gunpowder.”

“Virtuous-style? What’s the reason for that name?”

At Sejong’s question, Choi Hae-san looked at Hyang. Following Choi Hae-san’s gaze, the eyes of Sejong and the ministers were all focused on Hyang.

Hyang answered, scratching the back of his head.

“Hmm. I thought that it would be a virtue to make it convenient for all soldiers using gunpowder, and that it was thanks to Father that we could make it that way, so I named it that way.”

“Huh? It’s a little embarrassing, but it’s a pretty good naming.”

Upon hearing Hyang’s explanation, both Sejong and the ministers nodded in agreement. However, Hyang couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

‘Through my obsession with the Internet, I came across a piece of information about explosives and the manufacturing method used in Germany. I absolutely can’t say that it was borrowed from a fandom community called “deok-guk” which used to refer to people who were hardcore fans devoted to something!

Choi Hae-san continued to explain, “This ‘virtuous’ gunpowder is made by mixing cotton gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and gunpowder in a certain ratio.”

Upon hearing Choi Hae-san’s explanation, Sejong, with wide-eyed surprise, pointed out a problem, “You mixed in gunpowder? Didn’t you just say that the nature of gunpowder is so difficult that it can’t be used?”

“Cotton gunpowder and glycerin have neutralized that characteristic.”

“Is that so? But the cotton gunpowder was white, why is this gunpowder black?”

“It’s coated with graphite, or rather, it’s wrapped around it.”

In the subsequent demonstration of its power, ‘virtuous’ gunpowder showed a power equivalent to that of nitroglycerin.

Upon seeing its power, Sejong clapped his hands in delight.

“Truly splendid! Excellent!”

As Sejong seemed overjoyed, Hyang felt proud.

‘As expected of the hardcore fans!’

However, this was a mistake on Hyang’s part.

What Hyang remembered was not a German formula, but a British one. To be precise, it was the formula for Cordite MD¹..

Sejong, who was very pleased with the newly created gunpowder, looked at the ministers.

“Since we have such good gunpowder, how about we mass-produce it?”

In response to Sejong’s proposal, Hwang Hee asked Hyang, “How much would the production cost be?”

“It costs about 30% more than producing the same weight of smokeless gunpowder. However, even if we only put in half of the smokeless gunpowder, it has more power.”

Upon hearing Hyang’s answer, Hwang Hee nodded and then said to Sejong,

“Even though it costs more, we can compensate for it by using less, so I think it would be good to mass-produce it.”

“I think Left State Councilor Hwang’s words are right.”

Once the ministers agreed, Sejong looked at Hyang and Choi Hae-san.

“Prepare for the mass production of ‘virtuous’ gunpowder.”

Upon hearing Sejong’s order, Hyang responded with a troubled expression. “I am sorry to say this, but given the current situation in Joseon, it is impossible to mass-produce ‘virtuous’ gunpowder.”

1. Cordite MD is a type of smokeless propellant originally developed by the British military as a replacement for black powder in the late 19th century. Specifically known as Modified Cordite or Modified Double Base Cordite, it consists of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. Cordite MD was widely used during World War II in firearms and artillery due to its improved performance and reduced smoke. However, its usage has declined since then with the introduction of newer propellants[↩]