It Became a Symbol of the Bronze Age - Chapter 308



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Episode 308. Gongmilre Gongmilre (3)

“Father, are you preparing something delicious?”

“right.”

“…You’re not doing it yourself, are you?”

“Should I do it myself?”

“Then it wouldn’t be delicious…?”

“Don’t worry. This is really easy and delicious.”

While I was in Seorabeolbu, I spent some time with the kids for the first time in a while. And, by the way, I thought it would be a good idea to try out some new foods.

“But if you’re going to cook, why don’t you do it in the village instead of in this mountain?”

“Isn’t it close to the cold bone? The dish I’m making now requires cold bone.”

“What on earth are you trying to do?”

“First, bring me the tea.”

“Here it is.”

“Good. You brought a big one.”

Modern grapes are not the same size as those of the 21st century. They are about the size of blueberries.

But even among them, there are those that grow quite robustly. As anyone who has ever worked in an orchard knows, an orchard that usually produces apples the size of two fists can sometimes produce apples the size of melons.

So I pressed a few large grapes into a long, cut birch branch and took some brown powder out of my pocket.

What can I say, it’s refined sugar.

It is a simple manufacturing method that involves putting molasses in a comb-patterned pottery and pressing it with a stone.

The important thing is that it must be pottery and not organic, and that it has a comb-like pattern.

Only then will the moisture evaporate through the outer surface of the pottery, forming sugar crystals, and these sugar crystals will gather at the sharp points of the pottery.

If you use a flat-bottomed bowl, the sugar crystals will melt again and mix, and if you use an organic bowl, the water will not evaporate, so the sugar will not come out in the first place… they say.

‘It’s impossible for the Tang Dynasty not to know.’

How could you imagine that the secret of that expensive sugar was the comb-pattern pottery used in the Neolithic period? You must have been dumbfounded after learning this.

I guess it’s like stealing the blueprints for a fancy new aircraft carrier, only to find out that its engines are actually powered by cows and horses.

I mixed sugar in water and boiled it until it was just thick enough.

Chop chop-!

After putting the fruit in the finished sugar water and taking it out,

“Jump!”

I ran towards Naenggol holding the fruit skewers.

The cold was so chilly that my breath was freezing even though it wasn’t winter.

“Hoo, hoo.”

“…What kind of food makes you do this much?”

“Why, sis? I’m having fun.”

Song Ha looked like he was annoyed because he was getting older, but on the contrary, he seemed quite happy.

When my body started to shiver like that.

I tried to sneak a bite of two skewers together.

Knock knock!

Ugh, this is the sound.

I held out the skewers to the children.

“Try it. It’ll be delicious.”

Song Ha looked quite dubious when she said, ‘I cooked,’ but… she didn’t refuse the food her old father made for her.

and.

Wah-!

As the refreshing sound burst out of her teeth, Song Ha’s eyes grew wide.

“What, why is this so delicious? I’m sure it was my father who made it….”

Oh, I’ll end it by saying it’s delicious.

Why is it so delicious? Why is it so delicious?

I felt a strange sense of confusion and handed a skewer to Hwalbo.

“Try eating Hwalbo too.”

“yes.”

Hwalbo also picked up the stick I gave him and made the same “thwack-!” sound, and then he made an ecstatic expression.

“It’s so sweet, sour, and delicious!”

“yes?”

“What’s the name of this?”

“Tanghulu.”

In the 21st century, Korean dentists saw the popularity of tang-hulu and were delighted, thinking, “Awesome. Now we can build a building in Gangnam.”

Of course, Asadal… is not at that level.

Even if you secure sugarcane cultivation land, only a very small number of people will be able to make tanghooru with it.

‘Because sugar is a luxury.’

And luxury is one of the best motivators for work, regardless of time or place.

‘It’s time to give them some motivation to work.’

These days, there are a lot of people in Asadal who are ‘worth living’. And these people are usually too lazy to create or do anything new.

-It’s a good place to live now, so why bother?

A feeling like.

From a communist perspective, this kind of society is an ideal society in which proletarian revolution has been achieved.

It is a society of small states and few people as Lao Tzu said.

It may be the utopia that Thomas Moore advocated, but… it doesn’t fit the reality.

In reality, a country must always compete with its neighbors. So, eventually, there must be an element that forces this society to return to its original state… Usually, in history, luxury goods often played that role.

‘Luxury and pleasure are not important.’

The or that Western Rome fell due to luxury and hedonism are theories that do not have much support by 21st century standards.

Rather, it was the heyday of the Western Roman Empire, an era overflowing with luxury and pleasure, and it began to decline around the 4th century, when luxury and pleasure decreased and asceticism spread.

In this context, there are quite a few scholars who have recently dismissed this as a discourse created by medieval Christians.

Conversely, recently, ‘excessive sexual ethics and population decline due to ascetic culture’ have been cited as one of the causes of the fall of Western Rome. Sparta was similar.

And among these luxuries, the ones ranked highest are not things like gold or silver.

Once you buy something like this, it’s permanent.

So what is a truly great luxury?

‘Consumer goods.’

You can see this by looking at the positions that things like pepper, silk, and black tea occupy in European history.

Unlike gold or silver, these items generate a constant desire to purchase.

And sugar is also not lacking in this member. The nobles of Europe at the time loved sugar so much that their teeth all rotted away, right?

Therefore, it would be more correct to view this ‘Tanghulu’ not just a snack, but… one way to use the new product, ‘sugar.’

“Tanghurura, this is delicious! One more!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Song Ha was happy to be here.

“…But, the name is Je Nara Sik. Is it a food from my country?”

Hwalbo expressed his doubts in a scholarly manner.

I shook my head.

“It’s not my country.”

“Then the state of Chu?”

“It’s not even the state of Cho… I made it.”

“But why did you insist on giving it a Jungwon-style name?”

… Ah, that’s such a reasonable point that I can’t think of anything to say in rebuttal. Hwalbo said bluntly.

“Of course, in the present Asadal, we are well versed in the language of the Central Plains. After all, the Central Plains are our most important trading partner, and at the same time, they are also our diplomatic partners.

Also, unlike Asadal, the central script (Chinese characters) of the Central Plains contains meaning in each letter, so it is good for abbreviating long words and saves paper, so it is quite popular in the center of Asadal.”

“…right.”

“However, this is the case with writing. Words are different. It’s a bit strange to borrow the words of the Central Plains to create words, leaving aside Asadal’s words. To be honest, I’m a bit dissatisfied with the word Central Plains itself. If they’re the Central, then we’re the East.”

“Hmm, since the people of the Central Plains call themselves the Central Plains, it’s not a good attitude to look down on them.”

Let’s think about the Xin dynasty founded by Wang Mang.

These friends saw the Chanyu of the Xiongnu and said, “Are these bastards the wolves of the sky?” and changed their name to Xiangnu Fuyu (the character for surrender is included in the name!).

After seeing Goguryeo, he said, “What’s so great about those guys?” and arbitrarily lowered them and called them Goguryeo Martyrs, and then he had to fight a mad war with Goguryeo’s Daemusin King and the Xiongnu’s Wuzhou Ryuakje Chanyu.

Carthage was a little smarter than that.

By the 5th century BC, Carthage’s power had already surpassed that of its suzerain state, Sur, but even then they referred to Sur as their suzerain.

There was no need to create unnecessary trouble by belittling the proud Sur.

My position is also on the second side.

“If you do not call the Central Plains the Central Plains and treat them badly, they will not stay still. If you can prevent war with just one word and do not give them a justification, then why should you not call them that?

“If the people of the Central Plains called us Dongyi, then that would be another matter, but don’t they also call us Dongseong (the shining country of the east) to distinguish us from other eastern tribes?”

“…I understand up to that point.”

He is smart. However, he is still weak in worldly affairs. He is only fifteen years old, which is equivalent to a second year middle school student in the 21st century.

It’s often too early to realize that there are more important things in the world than self-esteem.

However, the following point was correct:

“…However, it is not right to give the food we make a name of the Central Plains. Isn’t the word ‘tang-hulu’ not even a Kin-mun, but just a North Chinese word?”

… This is, oh so true.

It’s the 21st century. This is food that came from China, so they called it in Chinese, but now it’s food that I made.

‘… What is the source of this?’

In the original history, it is a Chinese food that became popular around the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, but in this history, I created it by bringing in knowledge from the future.

So should this food be respectful of the original, or should I just brazenly say, ‘I made it myself’?

The worry didn’t last long.

“It was my mistake.”

Let’s make it Made in Asadal.

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Of course, I feel a little guilty from my perspective… but wouldn’t it be enough if I could give the title of ‘Original Snack’ to future generations of Asadals at the cost of my own heartache?

“…A mistake?”

“Yes. I am very satisfied that you pointed out my shortcomings. Then, Hwalbo, do you have a good name? I would like you to give me a name….”

“Uh, uh, what’s your name?”

Hwalbo thought about it for a moment. Originally, when you were in the second year of middle school, you liked naming things. Being able to name things is a privilege of being in the second year of middle school.

“…Since it is a sweet fruit covered in honey, how about something called honey fruit? If it is too long to be written in gold letters, something like 糖菓 (sweet candy) would be more appropriate, but since it is not common to write the name of a snack like this on paper, the name honey fruit seems more appropriate.”

“Honey Fruit, what a good name.”

I smiled happily.

That day, a new snack called ‘Honey Fruit’ was born in Asadal.

And I gave the winner of the foot volleyball competition held in Seorabeolbu a chance to eat this honey fruit a while later.

“This is truly the fruit of the victor!”

It only took a moment for the nickname “winner’s fruit” to be given to him.

***

After the honey fruit, this linguistic purification took place in one more place.

“Hey, pass!”

“Don’t pass, give me the ball!”

“why?”

“Let’s do that from today!”

We also plan to erase the word ‘pass’, which was frequently used in foot volleyball.

It’s not for nothing that the word ‘pass’ remains in the records, and the fact that foot volleyball is not originally from Asadal, but a culture imported from Indo-Europe… I think it would be quite disappointing if the same word remained.

‘… It’s good that the origin of foot volleyball is also Asadal.’

Other than that, there is something like ‘Coke’.

Since Coke has already voluntarily acquired the name of Darae-tteok, I think we can just let it go. (Eulji got angry as soon as he heard this story. He said that his wife’s cooking is not that good.)

To be honest, I’m astonished that I never thought of this problem before. Why did I only think of it now? Am I the same old me?

‘… Ah, I see.’

In the past, when I was younger, I focused on moving forward as quickly as possible.

‘It was a time of struggle, and we had to survive.’

Besides, I was the center of it all. Because the only thing that was different from the original history was me.

That’s why, at that time, I prioritized what was comfortable for me. As for words, I chose to use words that I knew easily rather than necessarily creating new ones.

Coke was like that, and so was Pass.

But now it’s different.

I’m now thinking about ‘what’s left’.

What will I leave behind in Asadal, and how will it be remembered… things like that.

‘That means… you have more free time, right?’

I decided to take this in a positive light.

Now that the need for survival has been satisfied, it can be said that the need for memory has finally arisen.

In other words, Asadal has now entered a period of ‘development’ rather than a period of ‘struggle’.

The turning point of history is no longer just me. Countless waves have joined the flow of history that I began to change, and now each of those waves has functioned as a ‘changed history’.

At some point, the size of Asadal led by these numerous seeds became much larger than the share led by me alone.

I am only now beginning to accept it with my body and mind.

“by the way….”

I looked at a group of people in the distance. They were merchants from Pungbaek Sangdan. In front of them, Dalbi was checking each of them carefully.

“I hope you loaded the candy well?”

I plan to make a living by selling only sugar, not molasses.

I think that would be a lot more profitable. Just like selling semiconductors is more profitable than selling silicon.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Good. This is the main trade item that will be heading to the Central Plains this time. You should transport it to Haedongseong without any problems and receive payment.”

“Of course!”

He’s very disciplined. To me, he’s a lovely lady, but to them, he’s the leader of the merchants.

“Besides… this procession isn’t just for you. Your husband (a term for husband) is also going with you, so you should take good care of him!”

“I will keep that in mind!”

Seeing that sight, I stepped on the stirrup and mounted the horse.

“Ugh, it’s tall, it’s tall.”

“Heeeeeel!”

Usually, when you ride Asadal’s horse, you don’t really hear the word ‘high’ because it’s a Samcheok horse.

But the horse I’m riding now isn’t a Samcheok horse.

He is a Caucasian blood horse, well-educated, and a good guy who has ridden several ships.

And now the tail is a bit shorter.

That’s because it was cut off a while ago.

‘That’s the guy that the heavy water was riding.’

Originally, he was supposed to go to Hanjin, but Hanjin refused to accept his offer. The reason was simple.

-Because the horse’s name is rude.

That guy secretly named his horse ‘Insolent’. I don’t know why.

Hanjin didn’t like teaching old horses new names or riding horses with my name on them, so naturally this horse became mine.

I wouldn’t have refused it either. The only problem would be that it’s a bit old, but since I’m not going to ride this into battle, it’s not really a big deal.

“Sorry, I’ve been a bit behind on things.”

“It’s okay.”

“By the way… I know it’s late to ask this, but are you really going to go all the way to Jungwon yourself?”

“I’m thinking about that. I need to see how much this candy sells in the Central Plains, and I’m curious about the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And by the way… I’ll also learn a little about the Wolna.”

I have only seen a person from the Moon once in my life.

Just before the Je-Yeon War, among the envoys who came to Asadal to check on the situation, there was Wolin.

Now that I think about it, I wonder how they even got here… I think they probably just took a boat from Shandong. They’re good at sailing.

And that meeting… wasn’t good.

‘You only talk nonsense, you can’t even speak my language properly, let alone Asadal.’

Judging from the fact that they fought and cursed at the Wu people, it seems that the Wu people had a common language with the Yue people… But there was no way that the Wu people would interpret what the Yue people were saying. (Even if they did, it would be a problem. Would they be able to interpret it properly?)

Among the people from Wol, there was one who seemed to have learned the local language and was trying hard to speak something, but to my ears, it sounded like a Japanese person who had learned English poorly and was pronouncing ‘Focus On’ as ‘Hokasonja’.

Seriously, I couldn’t understand a thing. Even my own people were surprised and said, “That’s our language? No way!”

… And so, Asadal and Wol’s historic first meeting ended in vain without any words being exchanged.

Since then, whether it was because he was upset over the defeat in the talks, or because he had lost interest in Asadal due to the lack of major events between Asadal and Jungwon after the Jeyeon War, he had not had any particular contact with Asadal.

Since the Ministry of Internal Affairs occasionally catches pirates from the Moon Kingdom who go on expeditions targeting merchant ships, I was thinking of picking on them.

“…I don’t think you need to go there yourself. You came back from Heukgak Island not long ago, and you went all the way to Beomseong for Jungsu’s funeral without even having time to rest, right?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve taken care of everything.”

“…That’s not the story, is it?”

“I know what you mean. But….”

I smiled brightly.

“I consider this work as my final task. As such, I have a strong desire to see it bear fruit.”

“…You’ve always been like that.”

Dalby said.

“So, I liked it.”

“Thank you for saying that, but are you still a bit blind?”

“Well, I don’t know when this will come off. You’re clearly all old, but you still act like you’re nothing but a fool… And yet, I don’t know why you still look so cool to me. Hmm, maybe it’s because you’ve been old since I first met you?”

Dalbi snickered, saying something that was either a compliment or an insult. She gently stroked the horse’s tail.

“Hey, you arrogant bastard, don’t get into trouble.”

“…Are you talking to me?”

“No way, hahaha… If you happen to be in my country, please say hello to my younger brother.”

… Those words made me feel a little guilty.

Among the futures in my imagination, there is one called ‘Asadal’s conquest of my country and entry into North China.’

But still… since some of my blood is mixed in there, I can’t help but hope that the people of Asadal in the future will treat the royal family of my country with some affection.

Dalbina and Yeoreum wouldn’t have been unaware of this in the first place. Isn’t that how a country is supposed to be?

“Have a nice trip. You guys should say hello too.”

“Have a nice day, Father!”

“…Please come carefully.”

Songha and Hwalbo greeted each other.

“…Have a nice day, Poongbaek… Your Excellency.”

Next to me, Kwan-nuri carefully lowered his head. He still had an expression on his face, wondering whether he should call me father-in-law or not. I patted his head.

“Now call me master.”

“…yes?”

“I’m planning on getting married to Song-ha and having you registered as a naturalized citizen. Shouldn’t we be doing that soon? It seems like you’ve kept your promise to me faithfully.”

“Okay, Master! Thank you!”

“I should be the one thanking you. My lady, please prepare the wedding for these two.”

“I was wondering when this story would come up.”

Dalbi laughed.

“We are preparing the most splendid wedding in Asadal.”

“That’s about it. Whose daughter is she?”

After exchanging greetings with Gwan-nuri… no, Pung-baek-nuri, I took hold of the horse’s reins.

“Let’s go, you rascal.”

“Heeeeeeling!”

So, I, Poongbaek Bulson, rode on my black horse Bulson and started heading towards the central plains.

I would also like to look at the sales routes in the Central Plains, look at trade performance, and visit the Ministry of Internal Affairs… If possible, I would also like to get information on the Yue Nation and even Taiwan…

There was so much to do.

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