Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 295

As the summer heat of the 13th year of Sejong’s reign (1431, the year of Sinhai) passed and autumn approached, the Jeolla Right Naval Station was busy preparing for the departure of the challenger-class warships.

“You’re going on a long journey, so inspect everything thoroughly!”

“Yes, sir!”

“If there’s even the slightest suspicious part, make sure to mark it and report it!”

“Yes, sir!”

“No, wait. If there’s even the slightest odd part, rip it out and replace it immediately!”

“Pardon?”

“It’s better to replace it in advance than to have a leak in the vast ocean! If there’s anything strange, replace it right away!”

“Yes, sir!”

According to the records thus far, Mansur’s merchant group always arrived in Joseon around the end of summer. After conducting trade and repairing their ships, Mansur’s group waited for the change of seasons and set sail when the seasonal winds shifted.

Therefore, as the time for Mansur’s group to arrive drew near, the challenger-class warships were busy preparing for departure.

Three challenger-class warships were set to depart this time. One was to head to Aden alongside Mansur’s group and then sail up the Red Sea. Afterward, it was scheduled to cross the desert and reach Alexandria. The destination of another ship was Tianzhu—India. What Joseon desired from Tianzhu was realgar.

The last ship’s mission was to take over and carry out the task in case any of the other ships were lost due to unforeseen accidents or disasters, or to deal with pirates.

The other two challenger-class ships had to carry more commodities than gunpowder and fire arrows for trade, so this final third ship had to handle most of the combat.

As it was Joseon’s first ocean voyage and they had to pass through seas and straits notorious for infamous pirates, the officers, sailors, and craftsmen inspected the ships repeatedly, making them in the best condition possible.

Meanwhile, the captains had to be busy traveling between the Jeolla Right Naval Station and Hanseong.

The research institute and Area 51 in Hanseong were creating various items for long-distance voyages or selecting existing items to present to the captains.

Among those items, the first thing the captains encountered was earthenware jars, followed by distillation pots.

With Hyang observing from behind, a researcher from the institute explained to the captains.

“The purpose of the earthenware jars and wooden barrels is to store drinking water. Through this voyage, we need to test which one, between earthenware and wooden barrels, is more suitable for storing drinking water.”

In response to the researcher’s explanation, the captains immediately voiced their opinions.

“Usually, earthenware is used…”

“No, wooden barrels are often used as well. Earthenware is fragile.”

“That’s true, that’s the problem with earthenware.”

Listening to the captains’ words, Hyang nodded slightly.

‘As expected, wooden barrels? But considering the issue of spoilage, I think earthenware would be better…’

During the ‘Age of Exploration,’ the biggest problem that plagued sailors was the issue of drinking water. Water stored in large oak barrels spoiled quickly, and sailors had to suffer because of this spoiled water.

To solve this problem, Hyang had chosen earthenware. Traditional earthenware had good antiseptic properties.

However, earthenware had a fatal flaw: it was easily broken. In that regard, wooden barrels were far superior to earthenware.

In the end, Hyang had designed a section that could safely store earthenware from the beginning. It involved creating partitions with wood and placing earthenware in each compartment.

However, theory was theory, and reality was reality. Therefore, starting with this voyage, the plan was to find the optimal solution through several voyages.

“But when we were deployed to the war in Liaodong earlier this year, wasn’t earthenware good enough?”

Researchers, craftsmen, and even naval commanders expressed doubts, but Hyang still insisted on conducting the test.

“We can’t be certain just from moving for a few days, can we? We have to pass through vast oceans, unexpected weather, and regions with different climates than Joseon, so the circumstances are different.”

“That is true.”

Thus, the test was set to proceed.

***

The next items the research institute showed the captains were distillation pots and water purification frames.

With the distillation pots in front of them, the researcher explained their use to the captains.

“During a long-distance voyage, there may be situations where you lose your drinking water due to unforeseen circumstances.”

“That’s true.”

The captains nodded at the researcher’s explanation.

Those appointed as captains of the challenger-class ships were individuals whose experience and abilities were recognized by others. The issue of drinking water was something they had experienced many times as well, even though most of their voyages were in coastal waters near land.

Seeing the captains’ reactions, the researcher continued his explanation.

“In such a situation where you’ve lost your drinking water, you use seawater to produce fresh water.”

The water purification process the researcher described was as follows:

Scoop up seawater and filter it using the water purification frame. Although the purification frame cannot remove the salty taste, it eliminates any potential impurities.

Take the clean seawater obtained through filtration, put it in the distillation pot, and distill it to secure fresh water.

“How does the fresh water obtained in this way taste?”

In response to the captains’ question, the researcher answered with a slight bitter smile.

“It has no taste. Compared to actual fresh water, it’s still salty. However, in an emergency, it will definitely serve its purpose.”

The captains nodded at the researcher’s words.

“Well, it’s certainly better than having nothing.”

“Indeed. It’s definitely better than just drinking seawater.”

Seeing the captains’ reactions, the researcher continued.

“These water purification frames and distillation pots are also good for fresh water. When using fresh water from other regions as drinking water, filtering it through the purification frame and then processing it with the distillation pot can prevent stomach ailments caused by changes in water. There have been many experiences of suffering after drinking water that looked clear, haven’t there?”

The captains nodded once again.

***

Before Hyang created the water purification frame, Joseon people suffered from various waterborne diseases. During droughts, they drank dirty water from dried-up ponds or wells and fell ill. After floods, they drank muddy water from damaged wells or rivers and became sick.

Hyang’s water purification frame solved that problem. Using the purification frame, even muddy water became clear.

In addition, through Hyang’s repeated admonitions, people were required to boil the water they had purified before drinking it. As a result, the frequency of waterborne illnesses in Joseon greatly decreased.

***

Since the captains also sympathized with the necessity, the water purification frames and distillation pots were loaded onto the ships without much resistance. Of course, there were sailors who curiously lit up their eyes and smacked their lips while looking at those distillation pots.

“I should procure some yeast in advance…”

The tradition of making secret alcohol, common among sailors across the East and West, was something even Joseon could not escape.

***

Having confirmed the issue of drinking water, the captains now had to discuss the food items with the researchers.

“It’s a given that we’ll carry soy sauce and soybean paste, so let’s move on. I also understand loading dried grain, salted meat, and jerky. But why are we loading dried radish greens? We’re already loading pickled vegetables of various types, aren’t we?”

“Soy sauce and other ingredients also contain a lot of salt. The physicians say that not eating salt at all is problematic, but consuming too much salt is also troublesome. They say that using dried vegetables to remove the saltiness will allow us to endure long voyages.”

“Hmm… I understand.”

“Well, if the physicians say so, we should follow their advice.”

The captains had no choice but to nod at the researcher’s answer. They didn’t immediately accept it, but they had to comply.

“If the physicians say so, we should follow.”

“Also, if we enter a port or have to stay somewhere, make sure the sailors can consume plenty of fresh fruits. Especially fruits with a sour taste should be stored on the ship so that they can be consumed during the voyage.”

“Fruits with a sour taste?”

“I mean things like immature citrons (jisil).”

“Immature citrons?”

When one captain tilted his head, the captain next to him added an explanation in a small voice.

“Citrons.”

“Ah…”

“Is there any benefit to fruits with a sour taste?”

“The component that gives fruits their sour taste is said to have an awakening effect, dispelling fatigue and maintaining health.”

The captains all nodded at the researcher’s explanation.

“I see.”

“They say there’s nothing useless in this world…”

“Fruits with a sour taste…”

***

The parts about dried radish greens and fruits were where Hyang actively stepped in.

“If we continue to suffer casualties from scurvy or plague, they might insist on closing the doors like before.”

While preparing for long-distance voyages, this was Hyang’s biggest concern. Of course, officials who had tasted the benefits of trade through the ongoing exchanges would not revert to seclusion, but there was still a high probability that they would insist on passive trade, only accepting those who came, rather than actively engaging in trade.

Such passive trade was absolutely not what Hyang wanted.

“In the past or present, no, no… In the present or future, information is the most important. Just sitting and receiving information brought by others will only leave us behind. We need to actively engage. To do that, we need to actively trade.”

So, Hyang paid attention to the ingredients to maintain the health of the sailors who embarked on long-distance voyages.

“Did you say to include dried radish greens?”

“Yes. Looking at the ingredients we’ve prepared so far, they’re all salty and meat-based. For a person to maintain vitality for a long time, shouldn’t the food also balance the harmony of yin and yang?”

At Hyang’s point, the physicians all nodded. “Medicine and food have the same origin” and “Harmony of yin and yang” were the most emphasized concepts in traditional Korean medicine.

Thanks to that, it was easy to include dried vegetables in the ingredients.

“How did you solve the vegetable issue, but what about vitamin C?”

While searching through medical books to solve the problem, Hyang soon found the best answer.

“Immature citrons are very effective as a qi-regulating medicine when one’s qi is deficient and easily fatigued. They are also effective for stomach ailments and food poisoning.”

“The symptoms match perfectly.”

Having found the optimal answer, Hyang informed the physicians. The physicians, who were nodding their heads, asked Hyang a question.

“It’s true that citrons have such effects, but do other sour fruits have the same effects?”

“What is the most distinctive feature of citrons compared to other fruits? Isn’t it the sourness? Wouldn’t that sourness be caused by the component that has those medicinal effects?”

At Hyang’s answer, the physicians put their heads together and discussed. Among them, the physicians well-versed in medicinal ingredients soon voiced their agreement with Hyang’s words.

“We believe Your Highness’s opinion is reasonable.”

Thus, the issue of vitamin C was also resolved.

As a side note, through this decision, a new tradition emerged among the Joseon Navy and sailors.

It involved starting the day with a cup of citron tea during long voyages. It was also a rite of passage for new recruits and sailors, as it was one of the hardest things to get used to the bitter and astringent taste.

However, thanks to the tradition of eating a balanced diet of grains, meat, and vegetables—if not possible, there was a royal order to pick and consume seaweed—and consistently consuming citrons, lemons, and limes, the Joseon Navy and sailors were able to reduce the damage from scurvy and plague even during ocean voyages.

Ship owners in the West, who suffered great losses from scurvy and plague, took note of this aspect and adopted the Joseon-style shipboard menu. Of course, the sailors who had to eat it vehemently protested, saying, “Are we cows?”