In the end, Giovanni had to board the iron horse for Mokpo first thing the next morning.
“His Majesty’s words were not wrong. Next time, I hope you’ll come with an offer that cannot be refused,” Heo Hu said, seeing him off.
Giovanni bowed his head and replied, “I shall certainly do so.”
After boarding the iron horse, Giovanni gazed out the window and let out a long sigh, muttering, “Will I even be able to return this year…?”
Through the window, he could see rice stalks in the fields turning golden yellow.
“Aden is going to be the first problem…”
The journey from Mokpo to Aden was smooth. Pirates still lurked around Ming’s Jiangnan region and near Luzon and Malaya. However, they only caused trouble in coastal waters and nearshore areas. Even the most notorious pirates dared not show themselves along the deep-sea trade routes.
This was thanks to the Federal Empire’s naval warships and merchant vessels having thoroughly established their presence.
The pirates were particularly terrified of the merchant vessels operated by the Empire’s trading companies.
Despite being merchant ships, they were as sturdy as Imperial warships while being even larger in size.
That wasn’t all. These merchant vessels carried as many cannons as the warships of most nations.
Because of this, there was constant debate at the Malacca trading port about whether these were merchant ships or warships. When Imperial sailors heard these discussions, they would respond:
“Of course they’re merchant ships! Compared to our navy’s warships, this is just the minimum armament needed for self-defense!”
Upon hearing this, sailors from other nations would all say the same thing:
“You’re making an unfair comparison! Can you even call your nation’s ships warships? They’re floating fortresses! You haven’t mounted cannons on ships—you’ve put fortresses on boats!”
But the pirates’ aversion to Imperial merchant vessels wasn’t just due to their defensive capabilities and firepower.
The problem was their meddlesome nature.
Whether attacked or not, Imperial merchant ships would stealthily trail any pirate vessel they spotted. After identifying the suspected locations of pirate hideouts, they would head straight to the nearest Imperial naval base to report them.
Since most merchant vessel crew members were veterans, their assumptions were highly accurate.
And once the Imperial Navy received such intelligence, they would mobilize their fleet to utterly destroy the unfortunate pirates.
Thanks to this, the route from Mokpo to Suez and Aden was peaceful.
The problem came after that. The climate of the land route from Aden to the Mediterranean was far from pleasant, and public security was poor. Fortunately, as the Ottomans pushed southward, security had somewhat stabilized, though many gaps remained.
However, compared to the Mediterranean, this land route was quite safe.
The Mediterranean was a hotbed of pirates. Christian, Muslim, black, white, Arab, Portuguese, Spanish, even English and Norwegian pirates from the far north—their ships swarmed throughout the Mediterranean.
Even more lethal was the fact that most of these pirate ships masqueraded as legitimate merchant vessels during normal times. They would suddenly transform into pirate ships when trade wasn’t profitable enough or when rumors spread about ships carrying valuable cargo passing through.
“Haah…”
Thinking about all this made Giovanni’s head spin, and he let out another long sigh.
“What a predicament…”
Having been rejected by Hyang and feeling utterly lost, Giovanni watched a Challenger-class warship passing by and muttered to himself:
“If things go well and the waterway opens up, we’ll see these warships in the Mediterranean too. The pirates will be trembling in fear.”
After briefly imagining such a transformed Mediterranean, Giovanni let out a small laugh.
“Hah! That would be quite a sight to see. Bandits meeting even more fearsome bandits.”
It was certain that even the notorious Mediterranean pirates would tremble before the Empire’s navy, who became excited at the mere sight of pirates.
After kicking Giovanni out, Hyang continued dealing with the mountain of pending issues.
“The Ming Emperor will handle Ming’s situation himself, so we just need to wait for the right moment… Hmm…”
While reviewing documents, Hyang picked up a file from one side and after examining its contents, asked the ministers:
“How are the preparations for the migration to the New Frontier progressing?”
Hwang Hui stepped forward to answer.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Official notices will be distributed throughout the mainland after the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
“What kind of response do you expect?”
“Since rumors about the New Frontier have already spread widely, we anticipate considerable interest.”
As Hwang Hui finished, Kim Jong-seo continued:
“Many people will volunteer for migration out of curiosity alone. We’ve heard that herb gatherers in particular are quite stirred up.”
Kim Jong-seo’s words piqued Hyang’s curiosity.
“Herb gatherers? For what reason?”
“It’s because of the antlers, Your Majesty.”
“Antlers?”
After the New Frontier was discovered and quite a few people had relocated there, rumors about it began circulating among the common people.
“If you sail straight east from Jongjangdo, you’ll find an enormous island—that’s the New Frontier!”
“The New Frontier is an incredibly vast land! It’s a continent!”
When people on the mainland first heard these stories, their expressions were full of disbelief.
“Bah, it’s probably just a large island.”
“But they said it’s a continent.”
“You believe those sailors’ tall tales? These are the same people who claim schools of whales bigger than decent-sized tile-roofed houses swim in the seas, and that there are duruchi (sharks’ old name) big enough to bite a grown man in half with one bite!”
“Hey! I’ve seen whales, and they are big! Even if there’s some exaggeration, if they insist it’s a continent, it must be quite large.”
As people continued their skeptical debates, more and more stories about the New Frontier’s features began circulating. The situation took a rather negative turn.
“What? The mountain ranges are so high they can be seen from 1,000 li (about 400km) away? Come on, talk sense!”
“What? The deer are as big as thatched houses? Bears run away from them? Bears from deer? That’s nonsense!”
“Bears being chased by wild cattle? What are these New Frontier bears, neighborhood mongrels? Always getting pushed around by this and that?”
“What looked like an ocean turned out to be freshwater, a lake? Get out of here!”
The more stories they heard about the New Frontier, the more skeptical Joseon people became. The tales went beyond their realm of understanding.
This skepticism began to dissolve when the northeastern forest region started being developed in earnest.
As time passed, development expanded deeper inland from the initial area around Dongbyeong Harbor.
During this process, a moose was captured and presented to Gyeongbok Palace.
“Wow! Look at the size of that thing!”
“Is that a deer or a bear?”
As people marveled at the massive moose being unloaded at the railway station for transport to Gyeongbok Palace, their thoughts quickly shifted:
“Wait, didn’t they say the deer in the New Frontier were as big as thatched houses? So it wasn’t a joke?”
Some went further and caught the scent of money.
“Look at those antlers! If we could cut those off and sell them as velvet antlers… gulp!“
Those whose thoughts went in this direction soon started stroking their chins while looking toward Gyeongbok Palace.
“Since they’ve discovered such a vast land, they’ll probably accept migrants like they did with the Northern Territory and Greater Snow Island? Hmm… Maybe…”
“Hah…”
After hearing Kim Jong-seo’s explanation, Hyang shook his head. In the 21st century, when he had run away to America for his fandom activities, the deer he saw there had been incredibly large.
And it wasn’t just the deer. What about the bears? If the deer were armored vehicles, the bears were tanks!
After shaking his head, Hyang quickly issued an order.
“While good interest is welcome, we must prevent those seeking quick riches from flooding in. Prepare to conduct strict screening for the selection process.”
“We receive your command!”
After settling this matter, Hyang opened the next file.
“Hmm…”
After carefully reading its contents, Hyang’s expression turned serious as he looked at the ministers.
“Is public security in the Northern Territory still unstable?”
At Hyang’s words, Hwang Hui stepped forward and bowed his head.
“We beg your pardon. Due to our insufficient abilities, we have caused Your Majesty concern.”
“I’m not criticizing you. I merely wish to know the reason.”
In response to Hyang’s inquiry, Hwangbo In stepped forward to answer.
“The Jianzhou Jurchens and the remaining Ming people in the Liaodong region are causing problems.”
Hyang’s expression sharpened at Hwangbo In’s response.
“The remaining Ming people? Still?”
“Forgive me for reporting this, but yes, Your Majesty.”
“Tch!”
Hyang clicked his tongue in disapproval at Hwangbo In’s answer, causing all the ministers to flinch.
Regardless, Hyang shook his head.
“We told them from the start to leave if they didn’t like the Empire, so why do they stay and cause trouble… tch!”
Hwang Hui stepped forward to respond.
“They seem to believe their territory will soon return to Ming’s domain.”
At Hwang Hui’s words, Hyang raised his voice.
“Foolish ones!”
In the previous war, Ming had acknowledged defeat and was forced to cede both Liaodong and Liaoxi to Joseon.
After acquiring the Liao region, Joseon widely announced this fact to its residents.
-The Liao region is now part of our Joseon territory! All residents in this region must follow our Joseon laws! If you do not wish to do so, pack your belongings and leave!
A considerable number of Ming people who received Joseon’s proclamation responded with strong resistance.
“We are subjects of Great Ming! We will neither accept Joseon’s rule nor leave!”
They resisted because they believed Ming would soon return.
-Ming is a great nation! It cannot possibly lose to a small country like Joseon! This retreat was merely due to bad luck! They will return soon!
Most Ming people residing in the Liao region shared this belief, which led to their strong resistance against Joseon’s proclamation.
No, they went beyond mere resistance to armed uprising.
Ming soldiers who had deserted and gone into hiding during the previous war either joined the uprising or provided weapons. The rebel forces also found weapons that the retreating Ming army had hastily buried or hidden during the previous war, and used these to resist Joseon forces.
However, the uprising by the Ming people in the Liao region failed miserably. They lacked capable leadership, while the Joseon forces stationed in the Liao region had gained combat experience through the previous war.
Eventually, most of the rebel forces were unilaterally suppressed, and the few who managed to escape transformed into bandit groups, engaging in pursuit and evasion with Joseon cavalry units.
As the situation developed this way, a significant number of Ming people began packing their belongings and returning to Zhongyuan.
However, many Ming people still remained.
“This is land our ancestors have lived on for generations! We cannot leave!”
They insisted on this, but in reality, most of them hadn’t even been settled in the Liao region for a hundred years.
It had started with people Ming had relocated to sinicize the Jurchen region after driving out the Yuan.
Those who neither successfully rebelled nor left chose non-compliance.
-Soon the Emperor’s heavenly army will return! Then our loyalty will be rewarded!
These Ming people continued their non-compliance with such firm conviction.