Black Corporation: Joseon

While the Joseon army announced a victory near the Amnok River, Hyang was still busily moving about.

“Has the connection of streams reached some level of completion?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Looking at the map spread across the large table, Hyang and his officials were exchanging opinions.

‘By connecting the Cheonggyecheon and major streams, we will solve the sewage problem throughout Hanyang.’

If this was Hyang’s final goal, then what had been carried out so far was a phase-one process that prioritized the small streams in areas where houses had been completely burned down in fires.

According to Hyang’s plan, the exposed streams were densely connected using sewage channels.

Most of the sewers were exposed channels above ground, but those crossing major roads were dug and buried underground.

Of course, for that task, sewer pipes were supplied in bulk, made using cement and steel in Area 51.

“Making sewer pipes with cement and steel? Fascinating.”

“It’s called reinforced concrete.”

“Reinforced concrete? This is the first time I’ve heard it.”

Not only King Sejong but also the ministers tilted their heads at a term they had never heard before.

“It’s a combination of Hanja and Western words. The Westerners call the mix of cement, sand, and gravel [concrete (written in English in the raws)]. I couldn’t think of an appropriate name, so I used it as it is. It’s due to my lack of skill, and I’m ashamed before Your Majesty. Please forgive me.”

“No, the prince has much to do, and time is limited, so it’s an inevitable situation that everyone knows. Let’s think about how to change that strange name later. What do you think, ministers?”

In response to Sejong’s question, the ministers all bowed their heads and answered in unison.

“It’s a wise decision, Your Majesty!”

However, there were those who were frantic about Sejong’s decision.

They were the officials recording the meeting and the main scribes of the Royal Secretariat.

‘How to write concrete?’

For a moment, they fell into a state of panic and froze on the spot.

“So, what’s the utility of combining this steel and concrete?”

To Sejong’s question about utility, the officials regained their composure and began to write diligently.

The space where the problematic ‘concrete’ would be placed was left blank using the punctuation mark (_), which had begun to be used widely centered around the Royal Library and the research institute.

Hyang explained its utility in response to Sejong’s question.

“Yes, mixing cement, sand, and gravel is like artificially making a stone. This stone endures compressive forces well but is vulnerable to tensile forces.”

“Is that so?”

To Sejong’s question, the chief secretary immediately answered.

“Yes, Your Majesty. That’s why, in the quarry, they insert a wedge into a crack and pull the stone out by attaching a rope to it.”

“I see, then?”

“Steel, on the other hand, endures tensile forces well but is weak to compressive forces. So by combining the two, they complement each other’s weaknesses and strengthen their advantages.”

“Ho, really?”

“Huh! Such a method···.”

Gasps of admiration came from all around the room.

“Ha~, truly, this is like a symbol of harmony using the interdependence and opposition of the Five Elements! What a clever method indeed!”

Not only Sejong but also the ministers were sincerely admiring.

* * *

“You may leave. You must’ve been busy with disaster recovery.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Having finished the report, which began with sewer pipes and ended with reinforced concrete, Hyang bowed to Sejong.

Once Hyang had left, Sejong looked back at the ministers.

“Let’s take a short break.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

As soon as Sejong announced a recess, the officials and writers briskly left their seats and scurried out.

“Huh?”

Noticing the strange behavior of the officials and writers, Sejong quietly followed them.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Discussing the construction progress with his officials, Hyang stopped when he heard someone calling him.

“What is it?”

“Heh, ha~, huff. Your Highness, that word···.”

“Catch your breath first, then speak.”

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

“And do some exercise. How far is it from the office to here? Tsk!”

As Hyang scolded, the red-faced officials caught their breath. During that time, Hyang continued to exchange opinions with his officials.

“It’s not that··· how should we write the word ‘concrete’?”

While talking with the officials, Hyang extended his hand without looking back.

“Writing brush.”

“Here it is, Your Highness.”

As an official hastily handed over the writing tablet and brush, Hyang absentmindedly moved the brush.

“Conc… Ah!¹”

“Your Highness!”

Suddenly, Hyang screamed, causing everyone around to be taken aback.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

Frantically waving his hands to calm the people down, Hyang made a thick blot of ink on the characters he had been writing diligently with a golden brush. Making sure the characters were erased completely, Hyang wrote anew.

[Concrete]

“It’s written like this in the foreign characters. If you can’t think of a proper Hanja, just use these characters as they are.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Then, since I’m busy with work…”

Once again confirming that he had erased it properly, Hyang moved swiftly away.

‘Phew! That was close!’

Though he maintained a calm expression on the outside, inside, he was forcibly calming his wildly beating heart as he passed the gates of Gwanghwamun.

‘Get a grip, Hyang! You almost made a major accident, on the level of a meteorite crash!’

He had been so engrossed in discussing national defense that he almost unconsciously wrote the Korean word ‘콘크리트’ (Concrete).

Fortunately, he realized his mistake midway through and erased it, but even now, Hyang’s back was soaked with cold sweat.

‘If something went wrong, I’d be finished! Fanaticism is welcome when done willingly, but when it’s forced, it’s a no-go!’

“How should I translate this…?”

The officer who learned the word from Hyang returned to the war room, pondering.

His fellow officers and scribes were also deep in thought, looking for the right word to translate.

“Should we use Fanqie (反切)?”

“That seems best… The problem is ‘크’ and ‘트’. For ‘콘’, we can combine ‘쾌’ and ‘온’…”

While discussing how to transliterate the word ‘콘크리트’ (Concrete), Sejong called them over.

“Officers and scribes, come here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“What did you ask my son?”

“Ah… We were asking how to write ‘concrete’.”

“Can I see it?”

Upon Sejong’s request, the officers briefly discussed and then respectfully handed over the wooden slab.

“It’s not a private letter… It is doable.”

Receiving the slab, Sejong read the word.

“Con…crete“

As Sejong read the word, the eyes of the officers and scribes widened.

“Your Majesty, can you read it?”

“I learned it while reading foreign books brought by the crown prince. But… What’s this ink blot?”

“He suddenly blotted it out.”

“Suddenly? What character was it?”

At Sejong’s question, a sharp-eyed officer replied.

“It was a character I’ve never seen before.”

“Never seen before? Not one of the foreign characters written here?”

“It was a completely different shape.”

“Really?”

After a brief reply, Sejong thought for a moment and then returned the slab to the officer.

“You’ve looked at it well.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Remember! If you remember what it looked like, write it down before you leave.”

“I saw it only briefly, so I don’t remember… Ah!”

With an exclamation, the officer wrote on the slab.

“He wrote two characters, but both started with the same shape.”

Sejong received the slab written by the officer and looked at it.

‘ㅋㅋ’²

“…”

King Sejong looked at the characters inscribed on the stone tablet and furrowed his brows, tilting his head. He handed the tablet back to the official.

The official who received the tablet back bowed politely and returned to his post.

After sending the officials and scribes away, King Sejong stood like a general, lost in thought with his hands behind his back.

‘The characters, no, the patterns written by the official are entirely unfamiliar. Could they be from Cheonchuk (India) or Hoehoegyo? No, to my knowledge, there are no similar characters. Moreover, there are western’s words and western’s characters, so why use the characters of Cheonchuk or Hoehoegyo? The same goes for Geum’s and Mongol’s characters… Could they have simplified the Hanja themselves? It’s not unlikely, but there’s no need to smudge them like that…’

The simple curiosity began to grow in Sejong’s mind.

Sejong recalled a gathering he had attended at Jeong-cho’s house not long ago.

‘Everyone knows the crown prince is exceptional. But few know how exceptional. He tends not to show more than is necessary. Why is that?’

Sejong unknowingly muttered to himself.

“He schemed just to do what he wanted. A cunning fellow.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Just talking to myself.”

Sejong briefly answered to Chief Eunuch’s question and continued to organize his thoughts.

‘The crown prince has been subtly mentioning our own characters since he received his appointment. And most importantly, the phonology books… The brat has already read them all.’

The books on phonology that Sejong had requested were not sent to him immediately.

To avoid the prying eyes of the inquisitive ministers, they had to be hidden away for some time.

But when he went to borrow them, he often received this answer:

“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but it’s already checked out…”

“Who checked it out?”

“The crown prince.”

“I see.”

As Sejong recalled, he realized something he had overlooked.

‘If you listen to the crown prince’s answers to the sly questions from me and the ministers… That brat has read them all! And not just read them!’

“Hmm…”

Sejong finally reached a conclusion after organizing his thoughts.

‘That brat has already produced some results! This clever fellow!’

Doubt turned into conviction.

Sejong smiled mischievously and muttered, “I was feeling a bit stuck lately, but this is good news. I’ll have to squeeze him for information when I find the time.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Just talking to myself. Let’s go!”

After stretching lightly, Sejong headed toward Geunjeongjeon Palace.

“Listen, Chief Eunuch.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Sejong, leisurely walking, spoke to Chief Eunuch following him.

“Don’t you think having a talented child is a blessing?”

At Sejong’s words, Chief Eunuch paused to recall his memories.

Having been with Sejong almost 24 hours a day, he knew well what Sejong was up to lately.

After a moment of reflection, Chief Eunuch replied,

“It is, Your Majesty, but… moderation is the best policy. He’s still young.”

Sejong smiled slyly at Chief Eunuch’s pointed response and answered, “With people… it’s not like he’s going to eat them up, right?”

At Sejong’s words, Chief Eunuch silently looked toward Geunjeongjeon.

The faces of the officials and ministers walking towards Geunjeongjeon were filled with fatigue.

“He won’t eat them, but he will push them to the brink of death…”

“Eh?”

“No, nothing.”

* * *

“Ugh!”

While directing the construction site vigorously, Hyang suddenly felt a chill throughout his body and began to shiver uncontrollably.

“What’s the matter, Your Highness?”

“A sudden chill…”

Seeing Hyang’s suddenly pale face, the supervisor quickly gestured to the inner chamberlain.

“Summon the medical officer!”

The medical officer, who had been on standby in case of an accident, received the call from the inner chamberlain and hurriedly ran to Hyang.

“Your Highness, I’ll check your pulse momentarily.”

“Please do so.”

Taking Hyang’s wrist and feeling his pulse, the medical officer examined his body temperature and complexion before diagnosing him.

“You’ve been accumulating a lot of fatigue. You need to rest.”

“There’s no time to rest for now.”

“Even so.”

“I’m sleeping at least 4 hours a day, so I should be fine, right?”

At Hyang’s firm response, the medical officer sighed softly and replied, “I’ll send over some herbal medicine.”

“Thank you.”

After the medical officer left, Hyang looked back at the supervisor.

“Let’s move on to the construction of the road to Hansung (capital).”

“Yes, Your Highness. All preparations are now complete.”

“Good. Let’s start with the road connecting Gyeongbokgung and Sungnyemun³.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As the supervisor who had received the order stepped outside the tent, Hyang still rubbed his trembling body.

“What on earth is this? A sudden, strong feeling…”

* * *

“We must finish the construction before the rainy season begins!”

To complete the road construction before the rainy season, Hyang mobilized laborers and soldiers on a large scale.

After digging about one ‘jang’ deep (a traditional Korean unit of length, approx. 3.3 meters), they excavated sand and gathered gravel to fill the holes.

Once the holes were filled, the laborers began to tamp down the gravel using tools that looked like large pestles.

After compacting the gravel, rebar produced in Area 51 was brought in and laid on top of the gravel. Then, the supervisor shouted to the workers and soldiers.

“Pour the plaster (plaster)⁴!”

At the site, the term ‘concrete’ had been replaced with ‘plaster’.

Upon the supervisor’s command, carts filled with well-mixed plaster came in a line, and they poured the plaster over the rebar.

[TL/N: Rebar is reinforced steel.

]

Once the plaster was poured, the laborers standing by stirred it vigorously with long wooden sticks to make sure it settled well between the rebar.

“Over there! Don’t step your foot into the rebar plaster! Do you want to get scolded?!”

“Sorry, sir!”

A laborer who accidentally stepped on the concrete retreated quickly after the supervisor’s scolding.

Without protective gear like rubber boots or waterproof safety shoes, the best that Hyang could do was to use long sticks to carry out the concrete laying. 

“Going as far as South America is an unimaginable dream for now… Reality is always a mess.”

Hyang grumbled every time he saw such a sight. However, knowing that failing to seize the opportunity created by the great fire would cost several times more later on, he proceeded with the construction reluctantly.

1. Hyang’s written this in Hangul (Korean writing) which hadn’t existed yet since Sejong didn’t create them yet at this point.[↩]
2. Pronounced as Keu[↩]
3. Near Namdaemun Market, southward from the main palace of Gyeongbokgung[↩]
4. They are taking the term from Hanja here[↩]