The various products made with chicle took Ming, Japan, and Europe by storm. In particular, shoes with chicle soles and cart wheels with chicle tires came to all but monopolize the market. In this situation, a select few began to smell money.

“I don’t know exactly when, but I think there’s a fortune to be made here. The smell of money is thick in the air.”

“The problem is that the reek of blood is mixed in with it.”

The first to catch this ‘blood-tinged smell of money’ were the merchants of Japan, specifically the merchants of Naniwa (the old name for Osaka).

***

The merchants of Osaka had long been renowned for their unique business acumen and skill in amassing wealth. Furthermore, as the main players in the tally trade with the Ming Dynasty during the Muromachi period, they possessed an outstanding international sense. For this reason, they had been among the most welcoming when Joseon opened a trading post in Japan. They were also the first to recognize the growing power of the Ouchi clan and had secretly established connections with them.

The subsequent period of civil war was a difficult time for them as well. The internal logistics of Japan were paralyzed by the conflict, and they were forced to provide war funds to the influential daimyō, whether they wanted to or not. This issue of funding would lead to even harder times later.

‘I hear you provided war funds to my enemy.’

On this pretext, a significant number of Osaka merchants fell out of favor with the Ouchi and lost everything, from their fortunes to their lives. The merchants who barely managed to survive faced their own struggles. The loans they had made to the daimyō who had been defeated in the war became ‘unrecoverable debt.’ And that was not all. They also had to fight a fierce battle for survival against the merchants from the Ouchi’s home domain of Yamaguchi. Backed by the ‘new rulers of Japan,’ the Yamaguchi merchants were formidable competitors. In the end, the merchants of Osaka had to endure a long period of ‘lying on firewood and tasting gall’.

However, the resilience of the Osaka merchants allowed them to slowly reclaim their past glory, and eventually, the two great commercial powers of Yamaguchi and Osaka were born. What allowed the merchants of Osaka to once again find their former splendor was a war that broke out in Italy.

***

In the process of preparing for the war on the Italian peninsula, the great powers of Europe had to expend enormous military funds. They had clearly seen in the recent Habsburg-Hungary war that a new kind of warfare consumed vast amounts of materiel. And it was certain that if war broke out, their true opponent would be the Empire. Considering the logistical supremacy the Empire had displayed during the construction of the Suez railway and in its anti-piracy campaigns, shoddy preparations were absolutely unacceptable. In this process, the greatest difficulty the European powers faced was ‘securing a sufficient stockpile of gunpowder.’

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, the European powers had always been plagued by the problem of securing saltpeter, the main ingredient of gunpowder. The most basic method of obtaining saltpeter in Europe was similar to Joseon’s: operating saltpeter fields. Naturally, it was always in short supply, and the live-fire training for their soldiers was inadequate. The only nation free from this problem was Great Britain, after it had gained control of India. It was a natural consequence that the British army, which could conduct thorough live-fire training thanks to its ample supply of gunpowder, became a formidable force in Europe.

The history changed by Hyang’s intervention showed a greatly different picture in this regard as well. First, the Bengal Sultanate in India had become extremely powerful. The Sultan of Bengal, who had profited handsomely from the saltpeter trade with the Empire, began selling it to other nations as well. Based on this economic gain, he strengthened his military and grew into a regional power. With the Bengal Sultanate standing firm, the European powers were freed from their saltpeter problem. But even after escaping the shackles of saltpeter, another problem remained: sulfur. Unable to secure sufficient quantities through their existing supply routes, the European powers turned their eyes to the East.

And they found Japan. European merchants arrived in Japan and purchased—no, swept up—massive quantities of sulfur. The first to react to this unexpected bulk purchasing were the merchants of Osaka. Sulfur, before being a component of gunpowder, was a useful medicinal ingredient, and had long been one of Japan’s main exports to China and the Korean peninsula. Because of this, the Osaka merchants had their own trade routes, passed down through generations. This was something the Ouchi—or rather, the Yamaguchi—merchants did not possess. Instead, the Yamaguchi merchants had been importing sulfur from the Empire’s Daeseoldo and selling it. This difference, in the face of the sudden ‘sulfur sweep,’ was what allowed the merchants of Osaka to make their comeback.

As mentioned before, sulfur was a component of gunpowder. For this reason, the Empire was extremely strict about its export, and the Yamaguchi merchants could not respond in a timely manner. However, the Osaka merchants, who had secured domestic trade routes in Japan, were able to seize the moment.

“Not enough manpower? Hire more! Don’t worry about the money!”

And so, as they met the surging demand, vast quantities of gold bullion and Imperial currency poured into the coffers of the Osaka merchants.

***

The Osaka merchants, having revived their fortunes through the ‘sulfur sweep,’ began to investigate why this was happening. “We need to know if this is a one-time event or something that will be repeated.”

After a thorough investigation that employed any and all means—honey traps being a basic tool—the Osaka merchants learned of the ‘darkening war clouds over Italy.’

“The Empire is going to fight the great powers of Europe?”

“Against the Empire? Are they insane?”

“The number of European merchants asking for credit has been increasing lately. We should cut them off.”

This was their initial reaction, but as various pieces of information began to flow in from the Empire, the Osaka merchants’ expressions grew nuanced.

“The Empire’s attitude is strange, you say?”

“They’re serious, but they’re not committing their full strength? What is this? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I can’t figure it out.”

Unable to easily understand the situation, the Osaka merchants once again began to make inquiries everywhere. Unable to touch the Empire rashly, they contacted the European merchants. After analyzing the information they extracted using wine, women, and gold, the Osaka merchants reached a conclusion.

“A gold mine has just opened up that we can work for at least ten years!”

And their prediction hit the mark. The war that broke out in Italy became a war of attrition that went beyond anything the European powers had imagined. The consumption of materiel, especially gunpowder, outpaced the consumption of human lives, and European trade ships flocked to Osaka. Watching the gold bars and Imperial currency pile up each time a European ship arrived, the merchants of Osaka were reminded of a maxim that had been passed down for generations: ‘War is good for business.’

The ‘Italian Unification War’ ended with the birth of the ‘Italian Federation.’ However, the smell of gunpowder continued to waft from various corners of Europe.

First, there was Spain. The loss of the Gibraltar region was a fatal blow. With Portugal holding Ceuta, the southern chokepoint of the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Empire holding Gibraltar and Algeciras to the north, Spain’s path to the Atlantic was blocked. To solve this problem, Spain launched several campaigns to retake Gibraltar and Algeciras. But at sea, they were utterly crushed by the Imperial Navy, and on land, they were crushed by the Imperial Army and Swiss forces who had seized the high ground. In the end, Spain had no choice but to give up on the immediate recapture of the region. On land, they had to pull back their troops to a line two leagues (about 9.6 km) away from the defensive line held by the Imperial and Swiss forces.

At sea, it was even more humiliating. All Spanish ships passing in front of Gibraltar and Ceuta had to move in groups of no more than two or three, and all gunports on their port and starboard sides had to be firmly sealed. The moment a group of more than three ships was spotted, or if a single gunport on a Spanish ship was found open, the Imperial Navy in Gibraltar and the Portuguese Navy in Ceuta would swarm out to monitor them. In this process, if even one open gunport was discovered, it was considered an act of hostile intent, and the ship was sunk.

Ultimately, Spain had to rely heavily on its African colonies and its trade in the Mediterranean region. “In an age when everyone else is crossing the Atlantic…” The rulers of Spain ground their teeth at the reality of being unable to escape the Mediterranean, which was increasingly becoming an economic backwater. “Just you wait!”

Biding their time, the rulers of Spain secretly sent a line to France. “We hear you are building new cannons and steam carriages. Let us do it together!”

***

France had also suffered serious losses, but not as severe as Spain’s. And France possessed sufficient potential to recover from its wounds on its own. It was the country with the largest territory and population on the European mainland. It also had ports with direct access to the Atlantic. Thanks to this, France was recovering its losses with a bit more breathing room than Spain.

“The defeat in Italy was bitter, but we gained a lot in return…”

What they had gained on the Italian front was considerable. The most representative prize was a new-type cannon salvaged from a sunken Imperial Navy warship off the northern coast of Corsica. Unlike in Europe, where muzzle-loading cannons were still the mainstay, the Empire’s cannons were breech-loaders. By analyzing the Imperial breech-loading cannon, which they had recovered at great risk, the French military began to develop a new cannon of its own—though they were unaware that the Empire’s front-line navy in regions other than the Mediterranean was already being equipped with breech-loaders that had recoil mechanisms.

Next were the armored assault vehicles used by the shock troops and the tractors that towed their artillery. The Empire’s armored assault vehicles, which had confidently broken through the trench lines they had trusted and relied on, and the tractors that effortlessly pulled Imperial cannons far larger than their own, were items they absolutely had to possess.

“We have steam engines too! Let’s build them!”

“But it is a difficult task…”

“If you can build it, you will earn enough wealth to live in comfort for the rest of your life!”

“I will start on the design immediately!”

There were also many political changes. The decline of the noble class that had checked the king’s power was further accelerated. Immediately after the war, the generals who had commanded the armies, blamed for the defeat, were forced to retire. Since most of the generals who had participated in the war were from the king’s own royal army, this was seen as a victory for the aristocratic faction against the king. However, for Charles VIII, this was ‘one step back for two steps forward.’

“Come to think of it, I argued against setting foot in Italy, for the sake of friendship with the Empire. But who was it that so strongly insisted on participating in the war? Chief Secretary, bring the records.”

One of the butterfly effects of Hyang’s intervention was the establishment of official scribes in Europe. While scribes had existed before, they had not recorded the every move and utterance of the king and his cabinet without omission. But the newly established scribes were required to do just that. It was a butterfly effect that would increase the research load of European historians by several times in the future. In any case, based on these records, the conservative noble faction that had advocated for the war began to be purged in turn.