Black Corporation: Joseon

When Yong turned three years old, he was registered as the adopted son of the Grand Prince Seongnyeong¹, who later passed away at tender age of fourteen. 

From then on, as he grew older, he lived between the palace and Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s house. One day, while on his way to the palace, he saw a performance by the Namdasang troupe², which became a turning point in his life. 

In the midst of the noise coming from outside, Yong, who was riding in a palanquin, showed curiosity. 

“Huh. What’s all this noise?” 

In response to Yong’s question, the chamberlain who was accompanying him assessed the situation and answered, “It seems that the Namdasang troupe is putting on a show.”

“Namdasang? Let’s take a look.”

At Yong’s words, the chamberlain attempted to dissuade him with a troubled expression.

“It’s too crude for your viewing, so it would be better if you didn’t.”

“But I want to see!”

When Yong was stubborn, the nursemaid who was also riding in the palanquin with Yong, came forward to help the chamberlain.

“My lord, in a place with so many vulgar things…”

“I said I want to see!”

As Yong’s voice grew louder, the nursemaid sighed and spoke to the chamberlain.

“Let’s stop and watch for a moment.”

“Wow! Wow! They’re so good!”

Yong, who had watched the Namdasang’s performance, clapped continuously in delight. 

The acrobatics of the performer, walking a tightrope hung high up, were fascinating, and the tricks of the clown spinning dishes and bowls on a thin stick while exchanging jests were also intriguing.

Thus, after watching three rounds of the Namdasang’s performance – originally there should have been six rounds, but Yong joined in the middle so he only saw three – Yong couldn’t forget the experience.

It seemed like he saw an unattainable freedom in the scene of a child of his own age flying through the sky, performing acrobatics, and dancing. 

And above all, it was exciting.

In the end, Yong made up his mind firmly.

“I’m going to be a Namdasang!”

* * *

When Sejong heard that Yong, his third son, had something to say, he called for Yong. Taking a brief break from his official duties, Sejong sipped his tea and threw a question at Yong.

“So, what do you want to say to your father?”

“Father, I want to become a Namdasang!”

“What! You, this child!”

At Yong’s absurd remark, Sejong spit out his tea in anger.

Following this, not only Sejong, but also Queen Soheon and Princess Jeonghye scolded him, but Yong’s stubbornness did not waver.

“No! No! I’m going to be a Namdasang!”

Receiving the chamberlain’s report, Sejong put his hand on his forehead and let out a long sigh.

“I thought things were getting better with Yu, but now Yong… these kids…”

* * *

As the worries of the entire family, including Sejong, deepened, eventually Hyang stepped forward.

Having called Yong and seated him, Hyang asked him quietly.

“Yong, did you say you want to become a Namdasang?”

“Yes!”

“Do you like to dance and sing like a Namdasang, or do you like to watch their performances?”

“Um…”

Unable to respond immediately to Hyang’s question, Yong tilted his head in thought. Seeing Yong struggling to discern what he truly liked, Hyang asked another question.

“If you become a Namdasang, you won’t be able to eat your favorite medicine or candy properly, would you still want to be a Namdasang?”

“I don’t want that…”

“You don’t want that, but you like to watch the Namdasang’s performances, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s simple. You can grow up to be a great person and invite the Namdasang to perform for you, right? If your name becomes prominent, you could even invite all the Namdasang troupes in the country to perform, couldn’t you?”

“Ah…”

Upon hearing Hyang’s words, Yong’s mouth opened wide as he imagined the scenario in his head. Then Hyang poured cold water on his joyful imagination.

“But here’s the thing. From what I can see, you don’t seem like you can grow up to be a great person.”

“Why not!”

“Look at you now. You’re causing your father, mother, and sister to worry by throwing a tantrum about becoming a Namdasang, how can you become a great person?”

“I will become a great person!”

At Yong’s outcry, Hyang shook his head.

“That’s difficult. No, it’s impossible. You don’t listen, you don’t study. It definitely won’t work.”

“I can if I try! I can!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“You promise!”

“I promise!”

At Yong’s firm response, Hyang smiled.

“Good, then I’ll also make a promise. If you learn properly from the prince tutor, I’ll personally arrange for you to see a Namdasang performance! And if you grow up to be a great person, I’ll invite all the Namdasang troupes from across the country to perform for you!”

“You promise!”

“It’s a promise!”

At Hyang’s words, Yong walked a similar path to Yoo. When Sejong received a report that said ‘Hyang had set Yong straight’, he was overjoyed.

“Hahaha! As expected of the crown prince! As expected of the eldest son!”

As Sejong rejoiced, the court officials also joined in.

“Truly, they are the good fortune of our Joseon!”

“Indeed!”

Meanwhile, Hyang, thinking of his two brothers in his room, shook his head vehemently.

“One is a fanatic and the other is an otaku… How could they have fallen into hobbies that are known to be difficult to recover from, even with all the treatments… At least I succeeded in making them study, I should thank my teachers for that.”

The teachers Hyang mentioned were those who taught him when he was a high school student in the 21st century. The teachers who knew about Hyang’s notorious fanaticism habits advised him as follows:

“If you don’t want to be criticized as an otaku, be successful! Become a talented or successful fanatic, then you won’t be called a ‘damned otaku,’ but a ‘enthusiast with a maniac hobby’!”

“Even if you like drinking, if you empty a soju glass while dragging your slippers and slurring, you’re seen as an alcoholic, but if you sip premium whiskey at a hotel bar in an upscale suit, you’re evaluated as enjoying a drink! Isn’t it disgusting? That’s how the world is.”

Hyang, ruminating on his past memories, scratched his head.

“Anyway, whether it’s me or those guys… If such otakus keep coming out, I wonder if there would be a ‘Jeonju Yi clan Otaku faction’ or something?”

Even though a small storm was brewing over the issue of the princes’ education, many court officials didn’t care much.

“We should spend the time caring about work rather than that, which is more beneficial!”

They were the officials for whom the princes’ future paths were a story of another world, when they saw the books and scrolls piling up no matter how hard they worked.

And the biggest reason they didn’t care was because Hyang, who had an extremely strong presence, was holding out as the sole heir.

“Why would we need to worry when the Crown Prince is holding out well?”

* * *

However, there were those who were having headaches over questions that did not get resolved amidst all this.

Hassan, having joined as a 9th-rank official via the industrial-academic training course, was now an 8th-rank industrial-academic instructor. In addition, he also held the position of a research staff member at the research institute.

“Senior Hassan, why do you look so troubled lately? Is there a problem at home?”

A research institute colleague who found Hassan with an unhappy expression asked him. Since Hassan’s younger brother was also working as an industrial-academic instructor and a research staff member, the research institute officials were distinguishing between them by calling them ‘Senior Hassan and Junior Hassan.’

The catch was that his younger brother was actually physically larger.

When asked by his colleague, Hassan muttered with a downcast head.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You look like you have a big crisis at home?”

“Well, there’s a problem that I can’t quite resolve…”

At Hassan’s reply, his colleague sympathetically responded.

“If there’s a problem you can’t solve, you should ask that oddball! Why are you torturing yourself alone? Go ask right away!”

“Yes, yes…”

To Hassan’s lukewarm reply, his colleague stepped in.

“Hey! Is there a problem between you and your wife? Let’s go together!”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Come on! Follow me!”

The meddling colleague ended up dragging Hassan to find Soonji.

“What can I do for you?”

When Soonji asked, Hassan hesitated.

“Well, it’s just that…”

“Speak up quickly. Isn’t time passing? It’s precious time.”

Pressured by Soonji, Hassan steeled himself and opened his mouth.

“I have a problem that I just can’t solve.”

At Hassan’s words, Soonji’s eyes started to sparkle.

“A problem you can’t solve? Oh? A mystery that even the great Hassan can’t solve… This is intriguing. So, what’s the problem?”

“Who on earth are these Western Barbarians that His Highness the Crown Prince speaks of?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Both Soonji and his colleague blinked their eyes at Hassan’s question, which was far from what they expected.

“I don’t understand… why all of a sudden Western Barbarians?”

At Soonji’s question about the reason, Hassan added more, “As much as it sounds like self-praise, in the current court, the ones who know most about the Western Barbarians would be my brother, myself, and the rest of the rest of the scholars who entered along with us.”

“That’s probably true.”

Both Soonji and his colleague nodded at Hassan’s words.

After pausing for a moment to organize his thoughts, Hassan continued, “Even though it’s been 30 years since our family settled in Joseon, we still had some contact with the Catholic nations known as the Western Barbarians in Joseon. Through that, we heard stories about the Western Barbarians. But…”

* * *

Hassan’s explanation continued for a long time. Listening to his story with a serious face, Soonji reached a conclusion.

“This doesn’t seem like a problem that can end with my expertise. You should move with me.”

“Yes.”

Soonji, who stood up from his seat, warned the colleague who had come with him.

“It would be best if you could keep this matter quiet. Its for your own safety.”

At Soonji’s warning, the colleague swallowed with a pale face and responded.

“Yes, sure!”

“No, you should also move with us.”

“I will definitely keep it a secret!”

“There’s a saying, isn’t there? ‘A body already abandoned’. Stop hesitating and follow me.”

At Soonji’s firm command, the colleague responded with a gloomy face.

“Yes…”

Hassan, who was watching the spectacle from the side, patted his colleague’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I just dug my own grave. This meddlesomeness of mine…”

“Come quickly!”

“Yes!”

* * *

“Hmm… so you’re saying the things that the Crown Prince claimed to be from the West, are things that even the Westerners couldn’t make?”

At Jeong-cho’s question, Hassan nodded his head.

“Do you have any concrete evidence?”

At Jeong-cho’s question, Hassan immediately responded, “The most definitive proof is those ships.”

“The ships?”

“Yes, do you remember when I went to Ming under His Highness’s command to find glass artisans?”

At Hassan’s question, Jeong-cho nodded his head.

“I remember well. You couldn’t find artisan at the desired level, so your brother returned to his hometown, didn’t he?”

“Yes. The condition proposed by His Highness was ‘an artisan capable of producing flat glass and a device called a lens’. And the standard for the flat glass was 2 cheok (about 70cm) in both length and width.”

When Hassan told his relative about this, the latter was shocked.

“Is this Crown Prince an Italian?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was only recently in Italy that they started mass-producing such large flat glass! We only heard the news recently!”

“…So, the Crown Prince knew about a technology that was recently developed in a country he never visited.”

At Hassan’s words, Jeong-cho immediately put forward a counterargument.

“Maybe the Crown Prince just set high standards? Like, ‘It has to be at least this good.'”

“It’s possible, but the standards were too detailed, so detailed that one could not set them without a certain degree of specific knowledge. And….” Pausing for a moment, Hassan pointed to the hallway. “The most incomprehensible thing is those ships. Especially the last line-of-battle ship is the biggest problem.”

“The line-of-battle ship? Why?”

“From what I’ve heard, there is not a single country in the West that has built a ship like that.”

“Eh?”

Shocked by the issue of flat glass, his relative responded to Hassan’s question about what he was most curious about.

“By the way, aren’t there ships built by those Catholic infidels that move only with sails and don’t use oars?”

“Yes, there are. I went to my hometown with an imperial envoy from Ming named Jeonghwa. On the way back, we went as far as the Mediterranean to earn more money, and the Spaniards had built a large ship. They called it a carrack?”

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Carrack_Madre_de_Deus.jpg/400px-Carrack_Madre_de_Deus.jpg

[T/N: A carrack is a type of ship that was widely used for ocean travel in the 14th to the early 17th century. It was a large, durable vessel with high rounded sterns and a significant amount of cargo space, making it suitable for long voyages across the sea. Carracks typically had three (or sometimes four) masts and a combination of square and lateen sails. These ships were notably used by European explorers during the Age of Exploration. The Santa Maria, the ship sailed by Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the New World, is one of the most famous examples of a carrack.]

“What did it look like?”

“Well….”

At Hassan’s question, his elder cousin remembered and drew a picture on paper. Hassan asked again after seeing the picture.

“So, this is the latest model used by the infidels?”

“That’s right!”

“The ship in the picture drawn by my relative at that time was the ship that the Crown Prince had called ‘1st generation’.”

“Do you have that picture?”

At Jeong-cho’s question, Hassan searched his sleeve, took out a piece of paper, and handed it over. Jeong-cho’s face stiffened as he looked at the drawing on the paper. The ship drawn on the paper was a bit sloppy, but it resembled what Hassan called the ‘1st generation line-of-battle ship’.

Seeing Jeong-cho’s expression, Hassan continued his words, “Even stranger is the new armor that started being supplied to the royal guards. Although it is covered with cloth on the outside, it is undoubtedly the Westerners’ plate armor, no matter how you look at it.”

“Well, the swordsmanship that the royal guards are learning is Western swordsmanship….”

“Yes, I know. Among the books His Highness procured, there was a book on Western swordsmanship, and those royal guards swordsmen who had not learned any other swordsmanship were made to learn it. However, it is impossible to create such a perfect armor with just a few drawings. Even the Westerners didn’t have the technology to stamp it out in a mold at once. It’s literally a new technology. That’s why I’m telling you that I don’t know. Just where is this West that the Crown Prince speaks of?”

“Your words are….”

“I’m sure the place His Highness calls the West is mistaken. Then the question arises, ‘Why did he say it was the West? Why is he so wary of the West?'”

“Hmm… It’s a matter that requires thought.”

Nodding his head, Jeong-cho gave a warning to Hassan, Yi Soonji, and the servant who was dragged along.

“We will have to keep this matter a secret for now. It could be a matter that affects the rise and fall of Joseon.”

“Yes.”

* * *

A few days later, on the official holiday of the research institute, a servant came to Hassan’s house.

“He asks you to come to Jeong-cho’s house by Sulsimal (9 PM).”

“I understand.”

After delivering the message, the servant bowed and quietly disappeared.

At 9 PM, Hassan headed towards Jeong-cho’s house.

A servant waiting at the main gate quietly guided Hassan into the living room when he saw him.

“My lord, the guest you’ve been waiting for has arrived.”

“Bring him in.”

“Yes, please come in.”

“I understand.”

Upon stepping into the living room, Hassan turned his head and looked towards the inner room. Seeing Sejong seated at the farthest seat in the inner room, Hassan quickly bowed.

“Y-Your Majesty….”

“Shh! Come in quietly.”

“Yes.”

Upon Sejong’s command, Hassan entered the room and took the last seat.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s get down to business.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The start of this matter is with that Hassan…”

Jeong-cho explained the circumstances of the case in detail.

After listening to the explanation, Sejong nodded.

“Recently, I’ve also been having similar doubts. I’ve read the books that the Crown Prince has collected, but I couldn’t find any that explain what the Crown Prince said. So, where did the Crown Prince’s knowledge come from?”

At Sejong’s question, Jeong-cho took over the conversation.

“I also had similar doubts. Thinking about the issue of heliocentric theory most recently, it seemed as though it was self-evident, making it hard to explain.”

“Is that possible?”

At Sejong’s question, Yi Soonji stepped forward to answer, “In my case, when I see certain formulas, the answer immediately comes to mind, but I sometimes struggle to explain the solution. It could be something similar.”

As Yi Soonji defended Hassan, Choi Hae-san added more, “When we look back at the time when we designed and tested the musket, even though we already knew the outcome, I strongly felt that he was leading us to understand it.”

“But why?”

At Sejong’s question, no one immediately responded.

After a moment, Jeong Inji spoke up.

“I think it’s because of his age.”

“Because of the crown prince’s age…”

As Sejong nodded, Jeong Inji continued, “When we look at his actions so far, he has always done something to gain approval first, and then used that achievement to do bigger things. If it weren’t for this process, how likely would it be that the ministers and officers of the court would listen to him?”

“So, he anticipated this and set up a situation, using the Western barbarians as an excuse?”

“It’s the most likely possibility.”

“Hmm….”

While stroking his beard and contemplating the possibilities, Sejong turned to Hassan.

“You say you’re Hassan?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Are these writers, the Western barbarians, really ignorant as the prince said?”

“They indeed are!”

Hassan strongly affirmed the ignorance of the Western barbarians.

“Your Majesty, these writers, the Westerners, take great pride in being descendants of the great Roman Empire! They do not hesitate to kill those who believe in other gods under the pretense of their god’s will! They also have a strong desire for technology as much as they do for wealth!”

“Then, if we meet them without preparation, would it end up as the prince said?”

“Yes, it would!”

“Then….”

Following Hassan’s words, Sejong began to organize his thoughts.

“I command fellow officials.”

“We will heed Your Majesty’s command!”

Sejong issued an order in a careful tone.

“I believe that most of what the Crown Prince has made or announced so far has come from the prince’s own mind. However, to the outside world, make it known that these are the things of the Western barbarians, as the prince had said. This is a strategy with two advantages: making other countries believe this technology is the Western barbarian’s to protect the prince, and spending energy and time finding them, thus buying us some time. Do you understand what I mean?”

“We will keep this in mind!”

“And Hassan. You know you have to keep this secret, don’t you?”

In response to Sejong’s question, Hassan bowed his head and answered. “I, Hassan Ahmed Mohammed Al-Otaibi, swear that my place to settle down and die is Joseon! I will keep the secret on my family’s honor!”

“Can you swear in the name of the god you believe in?”

“I swear to you in the name of Allah, the one true God! I will not reveal the secret to my family!”

“Do not forget that there will be a price to pay.”

And so, the secret that would be the biggest topic of debate among historians in the future and cause headaches was born in Jeong-cho’s house.

* * *

“Huh! That kid!”

Leaving Jeong-cho’s house and returning to the palace, Sejong suddenly let out a chuckle.

“What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”

“It’s nothing important.”

Sejong waved his hand lightly and grumbled to himself. 

‘That kid! He probably already has some idea about the alphabet! But he’s still playing coy? I have a lot of affairs to deal with, should I just pass it all to him?’

Thinking about his cunning son who had been dropping hints about the alphabet and making him act, Sejong shook his head.

“No! I can’t be a worse father than my son!”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just saying that the ministers will be busy starting from tomorrow.”

“Yes~.”

‘My prince! I, your father, will do my best to pave the way for you so you can rise to the throne and freely express your will!’

That night, all the ministers were under pressure.

1. Sejong’s younger brother of same mother[↩]
2. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), there were nomadic troupes of entertainers called namsadang, who traveled across the nation and engaged in a wide array of performances, including singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, acrobatic feats, mask dances and puppet plays. They were very popular among commoners who seldom had an opportunity for entertainment or an outlet to relieve the weariness of their hardworking lives. Cr: Korean Cultural Heritage Admission.[↩]