The chicle-related products, which were the ambitious works of the Imperial Court and Hyang, steadily found their footing amidst various commotions.

The rubber shoes, in particular, was met with fervent enthusiasm by the common people of the empire and the Japanese, who wore similar straw sandals or geta, which were much simpler in form compared to the Korean wooden clogs.

The Ming Dynasty was no different. At the time, the common footwear for the Ming people consisted of shoes made with a wooden sole and a top made of brocade or cloth. In contrast to the hard wooden soles, the thick soles made of chicle were comfortable on the feet, and no one in the Ming disliked them.

Meanwhile, in Europe, insoles made of chicle began to gain popularity. In Europe as well, the soles of shoes were typically made of wood or leather. On top of that, European streets were notoriously filthy. To avoid the excrement and various other filth littering the streets, high-heeled shoes, with thick wooden or iron-framed heels, caused considerable fatigue to the feet. In this situation, the chicle insoles exported from the empire became a top-selling product beloved by everyone in Europe, from nobles to peasants.

And this is where a problem arose.

***

A significant number of the goods sold by the empire had substitutes. They could be replaced by products made within Europe or by low-cost items produced in the Ming or Japan. While imperial products were a must for certain items that guaranteed performance and quality, or for luxury goods like chandeliers, even these were gradually being replaced by European-made alternatives.

However, the products made from chicle came exclusively from the empire. Furthermore, items like the insoles perfectly scratched an itch for consumers, and their prices were reasonable. Thanks to this, once people had a taste, they continued to purchase these goods.

And here again, the European nations began to run a trade deficit with the empire. This was especially true because the chicle products could be bought without a great burden as long as one was not too poor. The saying, “one’s clothes get wet in a drizzle,” became a reality as everyone rushed to buy them.

Consequently, European monarchs and merchants once again began to send spies.

• Where in the world has the empire secured this ‘chicle’?

However, the first to find the answer to this question were European scholars.

• The word ‘chicle’ has no etymological roots in the imperial language.
• This means it was not secured from the empire’s original territories.
• That leaves the empire’s external territories like the Northern Territories, Daeseoldo, or Jongjangdo, but considering when these regions became part of the empire, chicle appeared too late.
• Then it must be New Frontier!

Information that subsequently arrived from sailors and spies turned this assertion into an established fact.

• The empire’s first emperor is involved in the development of chicle products!

“Considering that the place the first emperor stayed most recently was New Frontier, it must be New Frontier.”

Although European monarchs and merchants were convinced that the products came from New Frontier, all they could do was lick their lips in frustration.

“We know it’s a place called New Frontier, but…”

“That New Frontier is the problem.”

It was no longer a suspicion but a certainty that the empire was involved in the disappearance of the expeditions that had set out to explore the Eastern Sea Route. Even if they wanted to protest, they had no concrete evidence, and the empire exercised its right to remain silent whenever such questions were raised. As for holding them accountable through military action, the empire was too far away and was a formidable military power.

Therefore, the Europeans began to search for similar substitutes in Southeast Asia and Africa. But this was no easy task either. The immediate problem was that they didn’t even know what chicle was made of.

“We don’t know if it’s a mineral or a byproduct of some plant or animal…”

Another reason was the situation in the Southeast Asian countries. Having actively engaged with the empire, the Ming, and Japan from early on, their political systems and cultures had developed considerably, as had their military capabilities. Simply put, if the Europeans brought out guns and cannons, these nations would bring out their own guns and cannons, and their performance was not inferior.

Consequently, the Europeans had to treat them as trading partners rather than as colonies. The only regions where Europeans could roam about, exercising violence as they pleased, were the inland and southern parts of Africa, and the new continent to the south discovered about a decade ago.

Ultimately, most European monarchs had reached a tacit agreement.

• Sooner or later, we must land a military blow against the empire!

And the flames of war slowly kindling in Italy were certain to be that opportunity.

***

The reason Europe’s great powers saw Italy as a field of opportunity was because of the ‘Italian Unification Movement’ that was sweeping through the various cities of the northern Italian region, which could be seen as the choicest part of Italy.

While it initially began among a small number of intellectuals, by this time it had become so ‘generalized’ that even ordinary citizens were shouting the slogans.

The problem was the question of who would lead the unification.

• We will unify Italy and resurrect the glory of ancient Rome!
• The Holy Roman Empire is just Gallic barbarians borrowing Rome’s name!
• The only ones who can resurrect the true Rome are we Italians!
• Therefore, you guys from the other cities should follow us!

This last part was the problem. The powerful cities of northern Italy, such as Milan, Genoa, Venice, and Florence, all insisted that they themselves should be the ones to lead the unification.

The movements of these Italian cities quickly reached the ears of the European great powers. Upon receiving and analyzing the reports, the European monarchs reached the following conclusion:

• They cannot do it on their own.

And the Italian city-states had reached the same conclusion. Many of them sought out their own backers and formed alliances. Those backers were France, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and finally, the empire.

It was here that the European great powers found their chance to land a blow on the empire.

• The empire has joined hands with Florence.
• If war breaks out, the empire will have no choice but to commit its military forces.
• However, Italy and the empire are too far apart. It is impossible for the empire to deploy its troops and supplies in time.
• In the end, the empire is bound to be defeated.
• A defeated empire will have no choice but to concede many of its interests to us.

What France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire all coveted were the Suez shares held by the empire and Florence. On top of that, Spain was also eyeing Portugal.

• If the empire and Florence fall, Portugal will have nowhere to turn! We can take it then!

The problem was that none of them, be it France, the Holy Roman Empire, or Spain, had any intention of sharing the Suez shares with the other European powers. This hinted at another war to come.

Thus, the great powers of Europe began to steadily prepare for war, each aiming to make the profits from Italy their own.

***

The empire, for its part, had not been idle.

After securing a bridgehead with solid defensive capabilities by constructing a naval base at Livorno, the empire built a railway network connecting Florence, Livorno, and the surrounding cities.

The fact that the empire was taking the lead, in other words, pouring its own money into constructing the railway, was met with considerable opposition from imperial citizens and officials.

“Why should we have to build a railway in Italy with our money?”

“This also helps Florence, so we should demand funds from Florence as well!”

Despite such opposition, Wan pushed the project forward by exercising his authority for the sake of expediency.

After about five years, the completed railway brought great benefits to the empire. First and foremost, the rail usage fees belonged to the empire. Although it was a relatively short distance connecting Livorno and Florence, it was a great help to the merchants.

The merchants who used this railway were not limited to those from the empire and Florence. The sea route between Prince Henrique Port and Livorno was secured by the Imperial Navy, and many merchants, seeking to avoid the infamous Mediterranean pirates, either moved their ships along this route or loaded themselves and their cargo onto imperial and Florentine transport ships.

Watching the movement of these merchants, the Imperial Navy commanders would smile wryly.

“To think that pirates who run scared at the sight of these little scrap ships are considered objects of fear… honestly…”

***

The Imperial Navy ships that guarded the Livorno route were built at the shipyard in Prince Henrique Port. Naturally, they followed European design rather than imperial design. The Imperial Navy sailors called these vessels ‘scrap ships,’ because they were smaller than even the Sea Eagle-class warships, let alone the Challenger-class. The reason for this was that maneuverability was more important than long-range cruising performance in the Mediterranean, and it was also to prevent the secrets of the Challenger-class or Sea Eagle-class warships from being leaked to the Europeans. The one area where the empire’s preference was clearly reflected was in the number of cannons it carried.

• Twenty cannons in total, combining the port and starboard sides.

Ironically, this warship was the most powerful in the Mediterranean, and indeed, in all of Europe. At this time, no other ship in the Mediterranean or European region carried more cannons. The number of cannons was fearsome enough, but the cannons themselves were made in and brought from the empire.

Thanks to this, the naval commanders of the European great powers who saw these warships all trembled with rage.

“Those bastards really are crazy about cannons! It wasn’t a joke!”

“At least there are only a few of them, and their defense is the same as our ships, so that’s a relief.”

Even as they said this, the European great powers began to construct warships similar to the Imperial Navy’s ‘scrap ships.’

“Our cannons are weaker than theirs! In that case, we will load more!”

“We won’t just load more cannons! We will build more ships!”

The ones who suffered from this naval arms race were the finance officials.

“It’s not enough that we are building warships similar to the Challenger-class for long-range voyages, now we have to build another type for the Mediterranean? And more of them at that?”

“What do you think the budget is!”

Even as the arms race unfolded and ships similar to the empire’s Mediterranean-specific warship began to appear here and there, the atmosphere in the Imperial Navy was carefree.

“Ships with such paper armor…”

“They would piss their pants if they ever saw an Assault Turtle Ship.”

***

In any case, as merchant ships came and went along the route secured by the Imperial Navy, the port of Livorno began to overflow with merchants and cargo. And to move this cargo to their home bases, the merchants made avid use of the railway.

“It only goes from here to Florence, but that’s still something, isn’t it?”

Merchants, for whom time was money, willingly paid the fee to use the railway. Of course, spies and soldiers disguised as merchants meticulously inspected the railway.

“It would certainly be advantageous for transporting troops. However, if you cut the line in just one or two places between Livorno and Florence, it would become useless.”

However, they were unaware. The railway the empire had laid in Florence and the surrounding cities had been routed in anticipation of this very possibility. Even if one or two places were cut, troops could be transported using bypass routes. Of course, these bypasses were not fully connected; they were left partially disconnected in the middle so that their true nature could not be discovered before a war broke out.

If a war were to occur, the empire would immediately connect these severed sections and complete the railway network. It was to hide this clever trick that the empire had funded the construction of the railway network with its own money. Through the railway network and the luminous communication towers that followed it, the empire had secured and was maintaining its own independent transportation and communication network.