“Please execute me!”
‘It’s over….’
At Jang On’s cry, Hyang inwardly muttered. However, he somewhat understood the situation.
‘Well, if it’s Jang Yeong-sil…’
As if sensing Hyang’s thoughts, Jang On desperately explained.
“Wasn’t the late Director Jang Yeong-sil a man whose wondrous talents reached the heavens? Even we who lived with him for over a decade and became accustomed to him would often marvel at his mysterious abilities. So naturally, the naive natives would consider such extraordinary talents beyond human capability! The deceased knew this well and prevented people from deifying him during his lifetime, but these natives are so ignorant…”
“Enough. I understand what you’re trying to say.”
Hyang raised his hand to stop Jang On.
‘Even I have wondered if Jang Yeong-sil might be an alien, so how much more would they?’
While Hyang was thinking this, Jang On and the other craftsmen turned pale as they anxiously watched for his reaction.
They were pale because deifying Jang Yeong-sil was a tremendous act of irreverence.
Since ancient times, only the king was considered equal to Heaven. For an ordinary subject, merely a craftsman, to be worshipped as a god implied that the subject and the king were of equal status.
This was naturally considered irreverence, or rather, disloyalty—a situation where they couldn’t defend themselves if charged.
While Jang On and the craftsmen trembled in fear, Hyang, recalling memories of Jang Yeong-sil, asked Jang On.
“Was the Venerable Emperor aware of this situation?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What did he say?”
“He said not to punish them, as they had never known the wider world. However, he ordered that this be strictly prohibited from now on.”
“Hmm…”
After pondering briefly at Jang On’s words, Hyang immediately made a decision.
“The Venerable Emperor’s words are absolutely correct. So follow them accordingly.”
“I shall obey your command!”
“I will not question your guilt this time, but if such a thing happens again, I will immediately hold you accountable.”
“We shall engrave it on our hearts and bones!”
“It would be good to gather those things made by the natives separately for display, and place a sign in front of them that says, ‘These were made by those who admired Jang Yeong-sil’s wondrous talents and expressed their own craftsmanship.’ You understand what I mean?”
“We shall do so immediately!”
Jang On and the craftsmen, who had been given a second chance at life, answered in unison.
And they immediately implemented Hyang’s orders.
Leaving only a monument and altar in front of Jang Yeong-sil’s grave, Jang On and the craftsmen built a small exhibition hall nearby. The space, consisting of only pillars and a roof, displayed various sculptures created and brought by the natives, and at the entrance of the exhibition hall stood a stone monument engraved with Hyang’s words.
As a side note, this exhibition hall later transformed into a gallery preserving the traditional crafts and culture of New Frontier’s native people.
***
Recalling this past episode, Hyang strengthened his resolve.
‘The equality of all people has been legalized, and the class system has significantly diluted in practice. Except for political prisoners who became government slaves.’
As Hyang noted, the class system in the Empire had significantly diluted. Particularly, with private slaves being treated as property and subjected to additional taxes, private slavery had nearly disappeared. The remaining private slaves were mostly those too old to be self-sufficient. Recognizing this issue, the Imperial court had even appropriately reduced taxes in such situations.
However, government slaves still existed in significant numbers. But the concept of government slaves had changed considerably; those now working as government slaves in mines and various harsh labor camps were political prisoners and their descendants.
Of course, Sejong had created a law providing relief for those who became government slaves at birth due to being descendants of political prisoners, allowing them to be freed after the third generation.
The problem was that there were hardly any third-generation descendants of political prisoners.
Though the class system had significantly diluted excluding government slaves, subtle discrimination still persisted.
Because of this, Hyang began to consider using Jang Yeong-sil’s name.
‘The weight of Jang Yeong-sil’s name among craftsmen is tremendous. If used well, it could dilute the harmful custom of looking down on craftsmen and merchants, and serve as a powerful motivation for growth. So indeed…’
Having strengthened his resolve, Hyang muttered softly.
“I should probably contact Seoul.”
***
“So we’ll handle that issue as discussed…”
Hyang’s gaze, having found a way to use Jang Yeong-sil’s name, turned to the last remaining blueprint.
“Combining a Type B fire cart with a steam engine?”
“Yes, the Type B fire cart is operated by people turning it with their hands or stepping on pedals.”
“That’s right.”
Hyang nodded at Jang On’s words.
When the Type B fire cart was first created, it was operated by turning an axle by hand. However, this method resulted in a slow firing rate. To improve this, Hyang attached a device similar to the pedal of an old sewing machine to the Type B fire cart.
By attaching pedals to both sides of the Type B fire cart and having two soldiers sit and pedal to rotate the fire cart’s barrel, the firing rate of the Type B fire cart became significantly faster, highlighting the advantages of belt-fed ammunition.
However, this increased the size of the fire cart. Due to this size issue, Type B fire carts moving with cavalry or infantry were assigned the original hand-cranked version, while the modified version was deployed in fortresses and frontlines.
Jang On continued his explanation.
“So he thought that using a steam engine to rotate the Type B fire cart would give it a significantly faster firing rate than turning it by hand or foot.”
At Jang On’s explanation, Hyang shook his head.
“There seem to be several problems. First and most obvious, placing a steam engine that uses fire right next to bullets full of gunpowder? Too dangerous. Second, combining a steam engine with each Type B fire cart would make the accessory larger than the main item. Third, if you combine a Type B fire cart with a steam engine, the weight would be enormous, making it too laborious to rotate left and right.”
At Hyang’s observations, Jang On immediately bowed his head.
“The late Director Jang Yeong-sil also ended with just the blueprint due to these very issues. He merely said that if the steam engine problem were solved, it would be good to create a Type B fire cart using the half-chi bullets I showed you earlier or even larger bullets.”
“A reasonable decision.”
Nodding, Hyang added.
“Put the deceased’s observations in the challenge record so that future generations can continue to ponder them.”
“I shall obey your command!”
Having issued this order, Hyang stroked his chin while looking at the problematic ‘DP-28 lookalike.’
‘It’s a decent gun, but something feels lacking. Especially that pan, it’s not to my taste.’
Deliberating between reason and personal preference, Hyang finally made a decision.
“This looks good too, but there’s a problem. That round pan, the thing storing bullets, what did you name it?”
“As it stores bullets (tan, 彈), it was named tango.”
“Tango…”
‘If the tango runs out, does it mean we’re in a tango? That sounds unfamiliar. Let’s change it!’
Finding the term very unfamiliar, Hyang immediately corrected the name.
“Rather than go, using the character for storehouse, chang (倉), calling it tanchang would sound better.”
“Yes. We’ll change it immediately.”
Having renamed tango to tanchang (magazine), Hyang continued.
“That round pan-like magazine would be inconvenient to carry. It might be fine for cavalry to hang it on the side of the saddle. But it doesn’t seem easy for infantry to carry.”
“According to the military’s requirements, it’s to be operated by two people, so I think it would be fine if one carries the fire cart and the other carries this.”
“Wouldn’t that still be cumbersome? I think it should be modified. Bring me paper and a brush.”
“Yes!”
At Hyang’s command, Jang On and the craftsmen hurriedly went outside and brought paper and a brush.
“Here it is, Your Majesty!”
The eyes of Jang On and the craftsmen offering the paper and brush respectfully gleamed with excitement.
To craftsmen who had been through Area 51, Hyang was a figure on par with Jang Yeong-sil.
—Though he cannot create proper blueprints, his ideas are unparalleled in the world!
This was the evaluation of Hyang circulating among craftsmen.
‘To actually see His Majesty designing personally! This is the greatest fortune of my life!’
‘What luck! I’ll have something to boast about for generations!’
‘What kind of fire cart is he thinking of?’
“Hmm… hmm…”
Holding the brush, Hyang sketched while explaining.
“The basic structure is the same as what the late Director Jang Yeong-sil thought of. It uses the power of the gunpowder that fires the bullet. However, using the gunpowder exhaust directly could lead to malfunctions due to soot clogging the tube. So we attach a piston like this, allowing the exhaust to push the piston.”
“Ah!”
“And the magazine is made in a box shape and inserted from above like this. This way, even if the spring inside the magazine breaks, bullets continue to come down, so there’s no worry.”
“Ah! Indeed! Truly ingenious!”
Jang On and the craftsmen continually expressed admiration as they listened to the explanation and viewed the drawings.
But what impressed Jang On and the craftsmen most was the concept of exchanging barrels.
“…By exchanging the fire cart’s barrel like this, the overheating problem can also be solved. Of course, if enemies swarm in without giving time to exchange, it would be problematic, but I think that’s an issue for commanders to resolve.”
“Indeed!”
Seeing Jang On and the craftsmen nodding continuously, Hyang took a light breath and asked.
“Whew~ I’ve thought about it like this for now, what do you think?”
As soon as Hyang’s question ended, Jang On and the craftsmen prostrated themselves and exclaimed.
“Your Majesty has bestowed grace upon us and broadened our understanding! The imperial favor is boundless!”
“The imperial favor is boundless!”
At Jang On and the craftsmen’s exclamation, Hyang smiled awkwardly and waved his hands.
“Imperial favor is too much… Well, what do you think? Does it seem good?”
“It’s the best! We’ll create proper blueprints and a prototype right away!”
“I appreciate your effort.”
Watching the high-spirited Jang On and craftsmen, Hyang muttered inwardly.
‘If made properly, it’ll be the Bren light machine gun that dominated World War I.’
What Hyang showed the craftsmen was the Bren light machine gun. As Hyang assessed, it was one of the light machine guns that dominated World War I.
It was one of the firearms whose structure he had thoroughly observed through his friendly American gun enthusiasts during his time in the United States.
“Please name this fire cart, Your Majesty.”
At Jang On’s request, Hyang immediately replied.
“Since it’s a light fire cart that can be carried alone, call it a light fire cart (gyeonghwacha). And since it’s the first of its kind, add Type A (gap) to make it a Type A Light Fire Cart.”
“Yes. We shall do so!”
As Hyang organized the situation while listening to Jang On’s response, he suddenly seemed to remember something and continued.
“Ah! That prototype fire cart made by Director Jang Yeong-sil earlier? The small one.”
“Pardon? Yes.”
“Add a clause to the documents related to that prototype fire cart stating ‘barrel exchange should be easily possible.’ If the barrel can be easily exchanged, it would be very useful.”
“Ah! Indeed! I’ll add it right away! I’ll also put it on the challenge record immediately!”
At Jang On’s words, Hyang shook his head.
“Have you forgotten why Director Jang Yeong-sil gave such an order? Just keep it in storage for now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Though Jang On couldn’t hide his disappointment, Hyang had his reasons.
‘If the military sees it, they’ll definitely insist on adopting it immediately. With so many financial demands already, if they propose to completely change everything starting from the bullets, it won’t be the military but the Ministry of Finance staging a coup. In the current situation, with plenty of leeway, keeping it hidden is best.’
Having resolved one issue, Hyang left with a refreshed expression, inwardly exclaiming.
‘Now I finally feel alive! Indeed, life becomes enjoyable when you can indulge in your passions! What else is there to life?’