This broth began to spread throughout the New Frontier along with the imperial army and government stores, and many natives came to taste it as well.
“This flavor!”
Since the natives were no strangers to good taste, it wasn’t long before soups similar to this broth began circulating among them.
Among the natives, some with culinary talent began to incorporate salt and spices into their pemmican, mimicking the jerky from the empire.
“…and so, meat cakes with various flavors began to emerge,” the cook explained.
Hyang’s curiosity grew as he listened.
“Do the natives enjoy spices?”
“There may be some who haven’t tried them yet, but no one who has tasted them just once.”
“That’s unexpected.”
At Hyang’s comment, the cook elaborated.
“When natives make meat cakes, they add fruits along with grain flour. Looking at these fruits, while some serve to make one feel full, others are added specifically to counteract the gamey smell.”
At the cook’s explanation, Hyang nodded in understanding.
“Like the Chinese pepper often used in the homeland?”
“Exactly, Your Majesty.”
As Hyang continued nodding at the cook’s explanation, he turned to the official beside him with a question.
“Earlier you mentioned military contracts. I’m curious about that process.”
“I’ll explain, Your Majesty. It began with…”
***
The natives, having been introduced to spices through the government stores, began actively using them when making pemmican.
Seeing this and tasting the newly created pemmican, imperial citizens all nodded and made similar remarks.
“I guess human taste is universal after all…”
“I thought New Frontier people had very peculiar tastes.”
As they sampled the new pemmican, imperial citizens soon realized something.
“This is interesting, isn’t it?”
“Right?”
“It’s not even our traditional paste…”
The pemmican newly created by the natives had subtle flavor differences depending on which tribe made it, or even who made it.
It was similar to how soybean paste and soy sauce made in households throughout the empire tasted slightly different from home to home.
Before long, it became a new form of entertainment among imperial residents in the New Frontier to obtain and taste various kinds of pemmican from nearby tribes.
And the imperial cavalry stationed in the New Frontier began using this pemmican as combat rations.
Preserved foods like pemmican weren’t unfamiliar to the imperial cavalry. They already had the dry rations created and supplied by Hyang, and jerky they purchased individually. Looking further back, there was bortz, introduced during the Mongol invasions.
Thanks to this, the imperial cavalry became accustomed to pemmican faster than other imperial citizens. Saddlebags of imperial cavalry on long-range patrols and the wagons loaded with supplies invariably contained sacks filled with pemmican.
Eating hot broth boiled with pemmican in vast plains or dense forests was a special delicacy.
And for nearby tribes, the broth boiled with pemmican served as a herald announcing the arrival of imperial cavalry.
This was because the smell of soybean paste used in the broth could be detected from afar.
As a result, both tribes that had already submitted to the empire and those that hadn’t yet could prepare themselves upon catching the scent of this broth.
The imperial cavalry used this quite ingeniously.
They employed it as a diversionary tactic when going to suppress tribes that had shown hostility toward the empire.
The imperial cavalry would either substitute meals by putting dry rations in their mouths and drinking water, or send small detachments in the opposite direction to boil broth and spread the smell.
This way, they confounded hostile tribes about the imperial cavalry’s location.
Afterward, the imperial cavalry would muzzle their horses, put coverings on their hooves, and approach hostile tribes slowly while suppressing noise.
This stealthy approach to strike from behind at hostile tribes that were either off guard or distracted in the wrong direction became the favored tactic of imperial cavalry stationed in the New Frontier.
Having grown accustomed to pemmican this way, a small entertainment soon emerged among the imperial cavalry.
They would take turns sampling and rating the pemmican made by tribes within their jurisdiction. This practice gradually expanded until they began exchanging pemmican with other imperial military units.
After some time, they discovered that pemmican made by certain specific tribes perfectly matched imperial tastes.
“This could make money if handled properly…”
Imperial soldiers and officials who caught the scent of profit here contacted these tribes and established supply contracts.
They even registered the mixing ratios of pemmican made by these tribes as intellectual property.
Moreover, several particularly popular pemmicans were mass-distributed throughout the New Frontier with government stores taking the lead.
***
Having heard the explanation up to this point, Hyang couldn’t hide his curiosity and continued with questions.
“As I understand it, the natives have almost no concept of property or owning goods, is that not correct?”
To Hyang’s question, the official answered with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“It was like that at first, Your Majesty. However, as they became accustomed to using the government stores and more of them entered imperial administration and military service, they grew quite familiar with the concepts of property and possessions. Looking at the current situation, there are many natives who are quicker at calculations than most imperial citizens.”
At the official’s answer, Hyang muttered to himself.
The power of capitalism indeed!
As he emptied his soup bowl while marveling at the powerful influence of the government stores, Hyang realized another fact and muttered inwardly.
Well… there’s another reason we need to push south at least to the Mexico region. I’ll need to get chili peppers too.
Pepper and Chinese pepper couldn’t match the unique spicy and sharp taste of chili peppers. So Hyang once again felt the necessity of southward expansion.
We found something similar to rubber in India, but it lacks economic viability. That dandelion sap method I saw on the internet in the 21st century is impossible to discuss in terms of economic viability without DNA manipulation. And since chili peppers, potatoes, and sweet potatoes all originated from those southern regions… the conclusion is clear: we must push south.
***
Hyang arrived at Mississippi two months and ten days after departing from Chosi by iron horse.
Disembarking from the iron horse upon arriving at Mississippi, Hyang stretched his stiffened back and clicked his tongue.
“What an infuriatingly vast land.”
Well, even by airplane it takes nearly a day to cross east to west…
Jinpyeong, also stretching his stiff body beside him, nodded at Hyang’s words.
“Indeed, Your Majesty. We spoke of the Northern Territory being vast, but the New Frontier is on an entirely different scale. It seems we need to focus not just on the rails but also on the iron horses themselves. In the homeland, we considered them very fast, and in the Northern Territory we felt they were a bit slow, but here they move at a pace that would make a turtle seem speedy…”
Hyang nodded at Jinpyeong’s complaint.
***
Even after establishing themselves as a formal means of transportation, iron horses continued to undergo improvements.
The primary focus was on durability, followed by speed. After steady improvements, iron horses boasted overwhelming durability and reliability compared to those of Ming.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that the quality of Ming-made iron horses was far inferior to imperial products.
At any rate, after securing reliability, the next challenge for iron horses was speed.
Through continuous material improvements, iron horses could stably maintain speeds from 180 li per time-period (about 36 km/h) to 200 li per time-period (about 40 km/h).
Converting to the metric system, this meant an increase from 36 km/h to 40 km/h. Of course, by pushing them to overload, speeds of 70-80 km/h could be achieved, but stable operation couldn’t be guaranteed.
The iron horses that arrived in the New Frontier were these improved versions. However, the tremendous vastness of the New Frontier made even these iron horses seem like turtles.
***
While nodding at Jinpyeong’s grumbling, Hyang earnestly defended the iron horses.
“It’s not just that the iron horses are slow; shouldn’t we also count the time we stopped along the way?”
As Hyang pointed out, they hadn’t traveled non-stop from Chosi to Mississippi.
They had to stop three times a day for Hyang’s meals, and each time they had to spend at least half a time-period (about one hour).
Among the passenger cars connected to the iron horse, four were allocated for kitchen use—one for Hyang and major dignitaries, another for the guard forces, eunuchs, court ladies, and low-ranking officials, a third for dishwashing, and the last for storing drinking and washing water. Despite preparing meals in advance during operation, that time was still consumed.
Moreover, for safe travel, operation stopped at night. When the sun set, tents were erected beside the halted iron horse, and Hyang’s entourage slept there.
Additionally, for Hyang’s health, they paused operations for one day every ten days to rest.
This is why it took two months and ten days from Chosi to Mississippi.
***
“Even considering that, it’s too slow, Your Majesty. For iron horses to properly establish themselves in the New Frontier, they need to become much faster. I’ve heard that when creating the specifications for the rails the iron horses run on, the Venerable Emperor designed them expecting speeds several times faster than current ones.”
At Jinpyeong’s words, Hyang gave a wry smile and answered.
“That’s true. However, since we set the standards based on scaled models without proper field measurements, there’s likely to be considerable error.”
When first laying rails nationwide, Hyang had used the speed of 21st-century trains as a reference. Of course, not high-speed like the KTX, but the speed of ordinary diesel trains.
“Narrow gauge won’t do! Even if it costs more, we need to do it right from the start! If we make a mistake, we’ll end up like Japan!”
Knowing about the problems with Japanese railways through the internet—most were narrow gauge except for the Shinkansen, making efficient freight transport impossible—Hyang had insisted on broad gauge.
The problem was that while he knew the term “broad gauge,” he didn’t know the exact specifications.
To solve this, Hyang had created scaled models of iron horses with various wheel gauges (the distance between the left and right wheels) and model rails with various curvatures and widths to begin experiments.
Of course, unable to test all possible combinations, he created five iron horse models and ten rail models for repeated experiments, and had to develop calculation formulas based on the data obtained.
This formula was naturally created through the blood, sweat, and tears of research institute researchers. However, Yi Sunji had enjoyed it immensely.
The rail specifications determined through these calculations could theoretically reach speeds of 500 li per time-period (about 100 km/h).
And that’s what Jinpyeong was pointing out.
***
“But wouldn’t it be faster than it is now?”
“That’s true.”
“Then we should research it.”
“Budget is the issue.”
“I was under the impression that a significant portion of the reparations from Ming would be coming to the New Frontier?”
“Don’t we have many places to use it? We must save.”
At Hyang’s answer, Jinpyeong looked at him with a peculiar gaze.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Your Majesty, didn’t you always tell the Venerable Emperor that time and budget…”
“You little…!”