It Became a Symbol of the Bronze Age - Chapter 299



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Episode 299. Sweet Black Horn Island (3)

The coast of Okinawa.

“Grrrrrrr….”

A tiger from Asadal Mountain walked out from the waves.

In his mouth is a piece of prey he has eagerly caught.

The prey had already been dead for a long time. Its neck was already broken the moment it was caught, and even if it hadn’t died then, it would have died while being dragged.

“Grrrr….”

Even though the tiger was hungry, it didn’t greedily eat its prey. Before that, it looked around. It learned about the ecology of this place.

And the tiger realizes that this is a very unfamiliar place. The weather is stinging hot, and wherever he looks, he sees only the sea.

Of course, the tiger did not know that this was Okinawa in the distant Ryukyu Islands, or that it was the first tiger to come to Okinawa.

What the tiger felt was hunger. The saying that even the Diamond Mountains look better after a meal is not only applicable to humans. The tiger looked at the prey it had caught.

About the size of a deer. This won’t fit the castle. Flutter, flutter – The tiger’s nose moved. There was the scent of numerous ‘prey’ all around.

And then the prey gets closer.

At that point the tiger’s hair stands on end.

It’s not the smell of prey.

Mixed in there, I smell the smell of steel.

The tiger knows that those that don’t smell like steel are ‘prey’, but those that smell like steel are to be avoided.

However, hunger prevented the tiger from running away.

“Hey, I found it!”

“Kill him!”

With those sounds, the tiger realized that something hard was stuck in his waist.

Whether that was a ‘brain attack’ or not is something the tiger will never know.

***

“Did you catch it?”

“Yes, over there, they’re skinning it right now.”

“What about the other beasts you brought with you?”

“It’s the same.”

As soon as we arrived, the beasts that were brought in became like a proverb, meaning that they died and left their skins behind.

It had to be that way. If the islanders found out that tigers and bears couldn’t actually breathe fire, there might be some trouble.

‘Besides, it’s something the islanders requested.’

They also found out that a tiger had crawled onto the island. Roughly speaking, if you multiply the fear of a hornet entering a school classroom by about 30 times, you can imagine a similar feeling.

-Please, catch that ‘tiger’!

They spoke heatedly, and I immediately sent a sergeant to catch the tiger and kill it. Fortunately, the tiger, unfamiliar with the geography of this place, was found wandering along the beach by the Asadal soldiers and was skinned.

“What are you going to do with the leather?”

“It would be good to give it to the people of this area.”

This area is not that cold, so it doesn’t have much significance as a ‘warmth’ source.

Fur is not just about keeping you warm.

Of course, it serves as an ornament, but it also has the authority of carrying that huge and fearsome beast on your shoulders.

Sure, it’s filthy hot, but formal clothes are inherently uncomfortable to some degree.

‘Besides… it’s also good for showing Asadal’s authority.’

Just by leaving traces of that great beast on the island, the islanders will be able to remember today’s events by looking at the beast’s skin.

“What about Jin-go?”

“We are building a port.”

While Geoguroo was busy hunting tigers, Jingo was building a port.

At present, the people of the Central Plains are the undisputed kings of civil engineering, and Jingu, the famous general of the Yan state, is unrivaled. In terms of building speed, no one could keep up with the Central Plains until the pre-modern era.

“Do the locals cooperate well?”

“It’s not very smooth because the language is different, and except for a few refugees, the linguistic gap is severe… but at least they don’t show any signs of attacking us or anything.”

That’s worth it.

We saw two things, a wild beast and a cannon, and yet no human was stupid enough to pick a fight with us.

“They were actually more cooperative than the people of the islands.”

… that makes sense.

There is a big difference in the nature of the islanders, who are mostly pirates, and the Ryukyuans, who are mostly fishermen.

‘Besides, this area is subtropical, so it’s quite hot.’

People who live in hot places are usually said to be polite.

Because it is an area with a high discomfort index, minor fights often escalate into major ones.

And it is a shame that all adult males in the present age always carry weapons.

Their harmony and cooperation made them a very rational choice from a geopolitical perspective.

“What about the island villages?”

“There are several villages, each with a long moat and excellent defenses.”

As soon as I heard that, I laughed.

‘It seems to be close to a clan society.’

In a clan society, each village’s defenses are strengthened, but when these clans come together to form a mature tribal society, the village’s defenses are weakened.

In a tribal society, there is no need for each village to maintain a defense system. When a battle breaks out, the warrior class immediately gathers and rushes in. This is similar to the reason why 21st century Korea does not have guns in every apartment.

With this level of system, Asadal can easily enter. Fear has been used enough, so now it is time to take a step further.

“Are you eating well?”

“Yes.”

And Asadal spread grain to them.

On an island where food is never abundant, the influx of new foods is an indispensable value.

“Then, what about Asadal’s songju?”

Actually, I was also interested in this song.

Ancient rituals usually consisted of light, dance, fire, and alcohol (or medicine).

therefore.

Light a fire and make it hot,

Bronze mirrors or metal instruments that shine brightly (even before bronze, instruments made of gold or silver were often found),

Banging the drum loudly.

Screaming and shaking my body wildly.

It feels like finishing with something like a drug or alcohol that helps with the ecstasy effect of Hwalongjeomjeong.

And in a region called Ryukyu, not only is alcohol hard to come by, but even its substitute, marijuana, is hard to come by.

‘It’s recorded like that too.’

In the Korean Peninsula, China, and Japan, hemp, or hemp, was a very common plant, so common people often wore hemp cloth made from hemp.

However, in Ryukyu, only the nobility could wear cotton and hemp, while commoners mainly wore clothes made of safflower or banana.

That is, this area would not have ecstasy drinks like the archipelago… I was thinking of spreading alcohol here and naturally drawing their interest in Asadal’s culture.

“…There was alcohol?”

“There is?”

“Yes. It’s made from sugarcane.”

A drink made from sugarcane?

So, you already have rum?

“No. It’s not exactly alcohol… It’s just that stick, that thing the vice-minister calls ‘sugar cane’, if you squeeze the juice out of it and leave it alone, it ferments and makes you drunk if you drink it.”

Hmm, it’s not rum, but it feels closer to ‘bagasse’, an ingredient in rum.

At this point, there’s no need to worry.

‘In this day and age, how great can a liquor made through natural fermentation be?’

At best, it would be a 2-3 degree beer, worse than a 21st century beer.

The method to suppress such things is simple.

“Even soju.”

“…That precious thing to them?”

“It’s precious, so we have to give it to them. Only then will they pay attention to us, right?”

In this way, Asadal released high-proof soju made through a soju distillation machine.

And the soju’s soy sauce.

“Kwaaah! My throat is burning, my throat is burning!”

It means burning.

“Are you okay, Grandfather? Assassination? Assassination? Did Asadal give you poison?”

“No, no, that’s not it….”

The clan leader, who had been drinking soju half in doubt, immediately held out his glass again with a flushed face.

“Ha, one more drink…!”

okay.

This is it.

***

This procession wasn’t just about the military.

Half of them were armed merchants, and the leader was naturally Adalla of the Wind and White Merchant Company.

He was recognized as the best explorer in Asadal due to his contribution in opening the southern route last time, and Poongbaek was not a great man who would not use such a talented person.

And, Adalah’s subordinates said:

Adallah is never an excited person.

He values ​​his appearance and is always calm.

He is a role model for merchants.

But now, the thoughts of the merchants who followed him have changed little by little.

“Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy!”

Adallah, who was looking around the island, was excited.

He didn’t even say anything.

“How many laps is this?”

“15 laps. That’s a new record.”

Amazingly, he even did a somersault.

I wonder if it wasn’t similar to when Heejae created a mountain wave by doing a naked handstand in front of the members of the National Assembly.

It was worth it.

“Water buffalo thirty, sixty, ninety… three hundred…!”

He spread his palms in the air and said, Counting numbers on the palm of one’s hand is a skill that only a great merchant can demonstrate.

“Three hundred black cows…! And this isn’t even the entire island?”

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The first thing he did was to find out the value of this island.

The first value is, of course, black.

In the first place, Asadal called this island ‘Heukgaek Island.’

And, there were so many buffalo living on this island that it was almost swarming.

There are three hundred on the island with the largest population, and if you look around the surrounding islands, there seem to be about five or six hundred in total.

These days, the number of black trouts brought in through the newly opened southern route is usually around 50 pairs at a time, but isn’t it at least ten times that number?

“…Really, I want to take them all.”

But that can’t be the case.

If we continue like that, the buffalo will run out of seeds.

It is better not to do the foolish thing of giving up thousands of future buffalo horns for one present buffalo horn.

Besides, if a lot of horns are imported, their value may fall.

“…First, let’s count the number of buffalo. If we report it, Lord Dalbi will be pleased.”

“All right.”

Adallah prioritized ‘Dalbi Sangdanju’ over ‘Pungbaek Busa’ because his superior, a merchant, was closer to Dalbi than to Pungbaek.

And when I heard this news.

“Kiyooooooo!”

“…How many laps this time?”

“Six laps. You’re old, so you can’t do that much.”

Poongbaek also did somersaults diligently.

***

“Five hundred, that’s huge.”

I never thought there would be this many water buffalo in this area.

Adallah, who was doing a somersault facing me, said.

“How much buffalo horn should we harvest?”

“First of all, since there is also the Southern Route, wouldn’t 50 pairs per year be enough?”

Asadal calls the coastal route north of the Yellow Sea the ‘Northern Route’, and the route south of the Yellow Sea the ‘Southern Route’. And 50 pairs of water buffalo horns come in every year from the southern route to the country of Wu, so if you combine the two, it is enough to meet Asadal’s black horn needs.

Besides, there is another reason.

“If we do more than that, the buffalo seed will dry up. What do you think?”

“I think 50 pairs of buffalo horns would be enough… but if we buy less, it will be difficult to sustain the buffalo population.”

At Adallah’s words, Poongbaek asked.

“Why?”

“Once word gets out to the merchants of Asadal that buffalo horns are being sold at high prices, they will do whatever it takes to catch at least one more buffalo.”

“Can’t we ban the overhunting of water buffalo?”

“That would require quite a lot of soldiers… Wouldn’t it be difficult to deploy that many soldiers in this far-off region and manage them all?”

“…That’s right.”

“Besides, there is another reason. Water buffalo is an important food source for the people of this region. Furthermore, since trade with Asadal has been established, the population of this region is likely to increase. As the population increases, additional food is needed, and the most easily obtainable meat for them is water buffalo.”

Yeah, that’s right.

To summarize the situation:

It is difficult for Asadal to control the entire region.

And buffalo will be hunted in ever greater numbers, whether for their value or for their meat.

If that happens, the buffalo will run out of seeds, which is not good for Asadal… .

It feels like that.

‘Once the water buffalo in this area dries up, there’s no answer.’

In a country like Ona, no matter how many buffalo are slaughtered, there is a high probability that new buffalo will be introduced from somewhere in that vast land.

But what about Ryukyu?

It’s a closed ecosystem.

Once you start cultivating buffalo in an island environment with no additional inflow, extinction is instantaneous.

Now, the number of Ryukyuans is small, and it is easier to catch fish than water buffalo, so there are quite a few water buffalo… but as the population increases and the value of water buffalo is discovered, extinction is only a matter of time.

‘Even Ryukyu in its history… at one point, they started hunting water buffalo indiscriminately, and ended up experiencing a water buffalo shortage.’

Well then… we have to stop this.

First of all, banning overfishing itself is… not difficult.

“We will purchase 50 pairs of black horns every year. As long as Asadal exists, it will be every year.”

“Every year… you say?”

“Yes. In return, I will give you everything you want. And… I will never buy more than 50 pairs. And if you sell black horns to peddlers who are not official merchants of Asadal, we will treat them as pirates.”

First of all, buffalo horn was placed in the category of ‘public trade’.

Because the buffalo horn is a ‘strategic weapon’ in Asadal, it is treated the same as saltpeter and sulfur.

So, in the future, if there are any bastards who import buffalo horns without permission, they will be treated like those who secretly buy saltpeter and sulfur.

That means you’re falling behind.

“So, you should raise the buffalo as if you were raising your own children. If the buffalo disappears, you will also lose the goods you sell in Asadal. On the other hand, if you protect the buffalo, you will be able to live in wealth for your children’s children’s children.”

Even if we can do this, we will be able to prevent overhunting of water buffalo to some extent.

They will ‘voluntarily’ try to stop the over-hunting of buffalo.

However, this alone is somewhat insufficient.

Anyway, there will come a time when you need meat. There is fish as a protein source here, but… the sea is not a place where fish come out all year round.

So, it is right to give new proteins.

So that we can survive without having to eat buffalo. If that’s the food… there’s only one.

“Cough! Cough!”

“What, what is this beast?”

“Ah, this is a pig.”

I felt a little awkward giving the pig to Ryukyu.

The Ryukyu region that I know is famous for its pork.

‘It was around the 14th century, after pigs from China were imported.’

Even in the 21st century, the Ryukyu Ago breed of pig is quite famous, so much so that there is even a saying in Japan that “Cows are Wagyu, and pigs are Ago.”

I explained.

“These guys eat fish by-products, leftover food from human meals, and even human feces.”

Similarly, one of the largest pig-raising areas in present-day Asadal is Susinbu.

Fish are caught in abundance in the rivers and seas of the receiving area, and pigs enjoy eating the skins and entrails of the fish.

Unlike other regions where excrement is treated as a major resource, whether for tanning or as fertilizer for farming (even this is written in religious texts that if it is not kept for at least 30 days, the god of excrement will curse you), in the Susinbu area, where hunting is the main activity, human excrement can be used as feed for pigs.

“This is the perfect animal to raise here.”

In fact, if you look at production efficiency alone, chickens are better than pigs… but that’s limited to farmers.

‘Chickens eat grains…’

In the first place, it is said that the chicken itself, a domestic animal, originated around 1,500 BC in Southeast Asia when a mountain chicken came down to eat grain for humans and was caught.

But this area doesn’t grow grain to that extent.

And honestly.

I have no intention of making it happen.

***

The clan leaders here, who saw the grains of Asadal, requested that these grains be spread to the island as well.

“If we had this, our lives would be much easier!”

“Give us grain!”

“It’s not difficult to give grain.”

I looked at the chieftains and said.

“Is there really a need for that? If you want grain, there are better ways than planting it.”

“A better way?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

I pointed to the sugarcane.

“We call that sugarcane.”

“Suddenly honeysuckle… So, sugarcane? Anyway, why are you telling me that story?”

Wow, you’re so impatient, you must be a sailor.

“…It would be difficult to grow grains here. Grain farming is not easy, and it would be difficult to send people from Asadal to teach farming. However, sugarcane is different. You have been growing sugarcane for quite some time, haven’t you? And we greatly value that sugarcane. So, I suggest that you grow sugarcane instead of grains.”

“Just sugarcane… you say?”

“Yes. Asadal will unconditionally buy it with grains in quantities far greater than the amount you produce yourself.”

When you need fish, catch fish.

When you need grain, you mill grain.

This is the answer in a self-sufficient barter economy.

But, I think this is a waste.

Grains such as barley can be produced somehow, whether on the Korean Peninsula, in the archipelago, or even in Manchuria.

But what about sugarcane?

As of now, there is no other place to make it.

And growing grain in a place that already produces sugarcane is, frankly, stupid.

It may be an inevitable choice in a self-sufficient economy.

I am.

Asadal.

Didn’t you want to move on to the next step?

‘Comparative advantage, not self-sufficiency.’

In Asadal, where grains are abundant, grains are grown.

On Black Horn Island, where sugarcane is abundant, sugarcane is produced and regularly traded via large ships.

In that case, both sides can benefit.

Mutual benefit through comparative advantage theory.

Commercial activity that creates something from nothing.

That was the moment when the concept was fully applied.

Moreover, you can go one step further.

‘What if this situation, where Ryukyu maintains its overall food supply in Asadal, continues for a few decades?’

If the Ryukyu population increases due to food from Asadal, Ryukyu will have no choice but to depend on Asadal.

If that happens, it will be easy to subjugate Ryukyu to Asadal itself.

It would be difficult to bring the army here directly and rule this place, but if they wanted to come to Asadal directly, it would be easy to accept it.

‘I like it.’

Asadal never.

Once you get your hands on something, you don’t let it go.

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