With Kim Jong-seo and the experts arriving on site, the estimate revision picked up even more speed.
“Even so… there’s not much difference compared to the estimate we brought from Seoul…”
“Well, that’s thanks to the surveyors’ thorough preliminary investigation.”
While the staff in charge of estimates were having this conversation, the section chief who had just returned from Kim Jong-seo threw down his documents roughly and shouted.
“Hey! Redo everything from scratch!”
“What?”
“What?”
The staff, momentarily bewildered by the section chief’s shout, simultaneously frowned.
“Ah, why!”
“Haven’t we already raised the estimate so high that if we were in Seoul, we’d deserve to be dragged to the police office with curses of ‘These bastards are committing fraud’?”
At the subordinates’ protest, the section chief’s frown deepened.
“Then why don’t you go argue with Minister Kim yourself!”
“…”
At the section chief’s shout, the staff fell silent and while gathering the scattered documents, asked:
“Which parts should we revise?”
“How could we possibly face Minister Kim…”
Seeing his subordinates quickly changing their attitude, the section chief finally exploded.
“You bastards!”
“Waah!”
“Dodging like loaches when it comes to those below, crushing people when it comes to those above, fine then! Let’s all die today, you bastards!”
“Section chief, please calm down!”
“Get the calming medicine! The calming medicine!”
The staff struggled to calm down the section chief whose stress and frustration of being caught in the middle had exploded all at once.
***
The section chief’s explosion had its reasons.
Though the surveyors had done thorough preliminary investigations, the more detailed investigations they conducted, the more changes kept popping up everywhere.
Each time, the staff in charge of estimates would revise the numbers and submit them to Kim Jong-seo.
And Kim Jong-seo’s response was always the same.
“How can this little amount be enough? Increase the numbers more.”
“Even this amount has been increased quite substantially…”
“Haven’t you felt anything coming all the way here? This is absolutely not an easy path. And what about the climate, and the water? No matter how positively you phrase it, you can never say it’s good, right?”
“That’s true.”
“That means where ten people could do the job back home, here we need at least twenty, no, at least thirty, wouldn’t you say? And is it just the people? Shouldn’t we prepare plenty of spare parts in advance for maintaining excavators and tractors? If something breaks and we don’t have the parts, we’ll have to sit idle for at least half a year. Isn’t that all money?”
“… That’s true.”
“So, increase the numbers more.”
“…Yes.”
The opposite case was equally frustrating.
“… According to newly investigated data, it seems we can reduce costs in this area.”
At the section chief’s report, Kim Jong-seo put down his black bean tea and stared at him intently.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
‘Why is he looking at me with that expression? I haven’t made any mistakes, have I?’
As if reading the section chief’s inner thoughts, Kim Jong-seo responded with a look of exasperation.
“Why reduce it?”
“What? Well, naturally…”
“It might seem reducible now, but isn’t it a variable that could change as construction progresses? Haven’t you thought about that?”
At Kim Jong-seo’s words, the section chief had no choice but to bow his head.
“We’ll keep it at the original estimate.”
“No, didn’t you hear me say ‘variable’? If there’s variation, it means it could decrease, but couldn’t it also increase? Increase it a bit more.”
“…Yes.”
After getting scolded by Kim Jong-seo and coming out, the section chief let out a long sigh.
“Sigh… I don’t know if it’s fortunate or unfortunate that the Finance Ministry officials didn’t come along…”
The most difficult people to deal with when conducting railway construction were the officials from the Finance Ministry.
They were the ones who would bring records of all income and expenditure for six months – or in severe cases, three years – and scrutinize down to a single coin to check for any wasteful spending. Having dealt with such Finance Ministry officials, the railway construction staff had become accustomed to recording exact amounts for everything.
As a result, it was natural for them to have psychological resistance every time they had to carry out Kim Jong-seo’s orders.
They were barely hanging on by self-hypnosis using the excuses Kim Jong-seo gave them.
Looking at the estimate that was taking increasingly definite shape through the staff’s struggles, Kim Jong-seo smiled knowingly.
“Hmm… It should be about time they arrive.”
Kim Jong-seo was gathering his resolve while looking at the allied nations’ representatives’ lodgings visible through the window.
“You dare try to play petty tricks against the empire?”
***
Imperial Year 7 (1455) July.
Finally, the high-ranking representatives of the allied nations arrived in Suez.
“Later than expected.”
At his subordinate’s words, Kim Jong-seo smiled and responded.
“Isn’t crossing the desert from the north to here in Suez time-consuming? Of course, that’s just an excuse – they probably met among themselves first to coordinate their stories.”
“Ah…”
Seeing the official nodding at his answer, Kim Jong-seo continued.
“Now that they’ve arrived, an invitation will come in about five days. Using the excuse of recovering from travel fatigue. Of course, their real intention will be to gain the upper hand, but still.”
“Is it about gaining the upper hand?”
“Gaining the upper hand and making an empty show of force. But they’ve made a mistake. They’re the ones in a hurry, not us.”
“Ah…”
Watching his subordinate continuously nodding, Kim Jong-seo leaned back in his chair with a relaxed expression.
“Regardless, we just need to do our work. Ah! Don’t forget to keep the surveyors and estimate staff from talking.”
“I’ll have them block their approaches.”
“Blocking approaches is important, but they also need to be careful about carelessly letting things slip. Tell them to refrain from using nearby taverns for now.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Kim Jong-seo’s predictions were exactly right.
Exactly five days later, an invitation arrived from the allied nations’ representatives.
“Finally, it begins.”
After confirming the invitation, Kim Jong-seo rose leisurely from his seat.
***
The meeting between the empire and the alliance began as the sun was setting to avoid the midday heat.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Kim Jong-seo, Minister of General Affairs of the Great Han Federal Empire.”
Following Kim Jong-seo’s self-introduction, the allied nations’ representatives began their own introductions.
Portugal’s Henrique and Florence’s Giovanni, and trusted confidants of the king and sultan from France and the Ottoman Empire introduced themselves as representatives.
After such introductions and exchanging brief greetings, the conference disguised as a banquet began.
“Today, we French have prepared the meal.”
At the French representative’s words, Kim Jong-seo’s eyes lit up slightly as he responded.
“Oh, is that so? I have high expectations for the cuisine of France, known as a great nation.”
“You will be thoroughly satisfied.”
The French representative smiled in response and lightly clapped his hands to signal the servants.
The servants who received the signal began entering with bowls of water for the representatives to wash their hands, placing them in front of each representative.
The allied representatives watched with eyes full of curiosity to see what Kim Jong-seo would do. According to their gathered information, the empire, Ming, and Japan used chopsticks and thus did not wash their hands.
If Kim Jong-seo were to take other actions – such as drinking the water – without washing his hands, they planned to use this opportunity to apply psychological pressure.
However, Kim Jong-seo’s actions broke their expectations.
“Indeed, this region’s dust is quite troublesome.”
Saying this while leisurely washing his hands, Kim Jong-seo neatly dried them with the linen napkin placed beside him.
Seeing Kim Jong-seo acting elegantly according to European etiquette, the French representative wore a sour expression as he clapped his hands again.
Kim Jong-seo, watching the scene with a friendly smile, muttered internally.
‘Not deviating even an inch from His Majesty’s predictions.’
***
“They will use every petty trick to try to break our empire’s spirit. We must prepare for this as much as possible.”
Having said this, Hyang summoned all the European university professors working at the research institute and ordered:
“Thoroughly teach them walking styles, behavior patterns, and dining etiquette appropriate for European nobility!”
At Hyang’s orders, the professors rigorously trained the officials belonging to the delegation.
Some ministers raised questions to Hyang about such rigorous training.
“Our empire has had excellent etiquette since ancient times. Is there really a need to learn these Westerners’ etiquette?”
To the ministers’ point, Hyang immediately replied:
“Everyone knows that each country has different etiquette. However, they have strong pride in their own superiority. Therefore, they will mock those who don’t know their etiquette. But if we properly observe their etiquette while they fail to properly perform our etiquette, won’t we be able to mock them? This means we can gain the upper hand they tried to secure first.”
The ministers who had raised questions could only nod and close their mouths at Hyang’s words.
And as a result of such rigorous training, the imperial representatives attending the banquet enjoyed it while precisely following European etiquette.
Seeing the imperial delegation’s behavior, Henrique and Giovanni shook their heads slightly while glaring at the French representative.
‘Was this all you had planned?’
‘You still don’t know what kind of place the empire is.’
And they came to the same conclusion.
‘This is going to be difficult from the start.’
And their predictions were accurate.
Two days after the introductory banquet ended, formal talks began in earnest.
“At your earnest request to lay railway tracks in this region, our empire dispatched experts to conduct investigations. To state the conclusion first, it won’t be an easy task.”
The allied representatives’ expressions began to crumple at Kim Jong-seo’s words, which plainly revealed his inner thoughts of ‘We looked into it because you kept whining, and it’s going to cost you dearly.’
Henry, emptying the water glass in front of him, asked Kim Jong-seo on behalf of the representatives:
“So how much are the expected costs?”
At Henry’s question, Kim Jong-seo gestured to the officials waiting behind him. Seeing Kim Jong-seo’s gesture, the officials placed a thick folder of documents in front of each representative’s seat.
“The number on the second page is the expected construction cost, and everything after that is detailed records for each sector.”
The representatives, turning the cover page while listening to Kim Jong-seo’s words, all widened their eyes at the enormous number written there.
“Hup!”
“Heup!”
The representatives, who had sharply inhaled at the enormous amount, checked the numbers again. Finally, before long, Henry asked Kim Jong-seo:
“Is this amount accurate?”
“As of now, this is the minimum estimate. Depending on what variables emerge as construction progresses, it’s highly likely to increase further.”
At Kim Jong-seo’s answer, the French representative burst out shouting.
“Unbelievable!”
Kim Jong-seo, hearing the French representative’s outburst through the interpreter, hardened his expression and put force into his voice.
“Are you viewing our empire as fraudsters? Considering the trade relations we’ve maintained until now, you should know well what kind of country our empire is?”
At Kim Jong-seo’s words, the French representative fell silent. Imperial goods were famous for their reliability. While items from the empire were expensive, they were always worth their price.
As a result, the ‘Country of Flowers’ was a symbol of trust.
“Still, it’s too much.”
To Henry’s words, Kim Jong-seo immediately replied.
“Then you can simply abandon the railway project, can’t you? I’ll say again, you requested this first. Our empire never asked to lay railway tracks.”
Kim Jong-seo was launching an aggressive stance that essentially said ‘If you can’t do it, then overturn the whole deal.’