It Became a Symbol of the Bronze Age - Chapter 310



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Episode 310. Happy Trade (1)

There are three main routes to Asadal.

The Southern Route is a direct ocean route that departs from Heuksando and arrives at Yeomcheong in Onara.

If you go during the monsoon season, you can arrive in about 4 to 5 days.

The spice route that started from Seorabeol-bu and arrived in Ryukyu via Nagasaki was gradually established thanks to the success of this trade.

And finally, there is the Northern Sea Route, a coastal route that goes through Liaodong and the northern part of the Yellow Sea to the inner part of Shandong.

This route takes approximately 10 days from Haedongseong, and is currently the largest route in Asadal.

This is not just about trade volume.

‘Because the Ministry of Justice is a remote area.’

The Naeminbu is not an area adjacent to Asadal.

It can only be connected through the sea.

The archipelago, Ryukyu, and Shindalbu (Jeju) are also connected to the sea, but… the situation is a bit different. They are tribal in any case, but there are powerful vassal states like Je and Lu near the inner part.

However, let me list a few reasons why the Ministry of Internal Affairs is in Asadal’s hands.

“Do you see? Those numerous swamps and mountains. In addition, there are fortresses set up at every crossroads between them, so even if they are from the states of Qi or Lu, it would be difficult to invade this place by crossing the vast Taishan Mountain and the swamps.”

The first is the existence of Mount Tai, one of the Five Sacred Mountains of the Central Plains, which blocks the Shandong Peninsula.

The reason why my country was unable to conquer the Nayis in Shandong even though it had driven out all of the Nayis in North China was also because of Mount Tai.

Even the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, such as Jiang Taigong and Duke Huan of Qi, failed to occupy this region… The point at which the Qi State finally took over Shandong was during the Warring States Period. I think it was around 567 B.C.

It was probably thanks to these natural borders that the massive bandits of Peng Yue could exist during the Han Dynasty, that Li Zhengqi from Goguryeo could establish the state of Qi in this region during the Tang Dynasty, and that the rebel group Liangshanbo could exist during the Song Dynasty.

However, even this Shandong is not a land that can be considered completely defended. To be honest, it is a lower level of Sichuan, that is, the Pachu region.

Pachu is a large landmass that can sustain a fairly large army and be self-sufficient, but Shandong is not at that level. If Pachu is a land of rebellion, Shandong is at best a land of bandits.

But now?

It is connected to Asadal by sea, so it is possible to continuously supply resources. Historically, there is a land with a similar peninsula terrain.

‘Istanbul.’

A natural fortress with a triple Theodosian wall that was useful for defense and capable of continuous defensive battles thanks to the unique maritime capabilities of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Now, Mount Taishan is playing the role that the triple walls of Theodosius once played.

In addition, Asadal’s maritime capabilities are continuously being raised… Through this, it seems that it is not entirely impossible to keep this Shandong region under Asadal’s control.

‘And besides, Asadal has a swift ship and Asadal’s fire…’

Let’s assume that my country attacks Shandong… .

First, we will conduct a space defense battle at Taishan in Shandong.

In the meantime, we can send our army through the Shanhai Pass to attack the northern part of our country… and directly deploy troops to the Ministry of Internal Affairs through the navy.

It is not a simple scenario in the head, but something that has already been accomplished once during the Je-Yeon War, and the achievements made at that time have long been verified numerous times by brains like Jin-go and Gae-son, and have been established as a grand strategy.

‘Even now, the largest number of Asadal naval forces are stationed near here.’

In case of any unforeseen circumstances, most of the Pungbaekseon are patrolling around this area. Since coastal navigation is the base here, it is convenient to use the Pungbaekseon.

Those pirate ships occasionally attacked and frightened pirates who came without knowing what was going on, and they also protected trading ships, so they held a firm grip on the seas in this area.

Of course, these days there are no pirates, so the navy as a whole has no chance to attack, so they are very, very excited… but once the spice route is fully opened, those guys will have a lot of work to do.

When that time comes, I might regret it and say, ‘Whew, I wish I had been able to catch pirates that only came out two or three times a month.’

And now, I am on a ship heading to Shandong.

Honestly, I have a few complaints.

‘Ahem, this… I don’t like the taste of this.’

There are many things I am dissatisfied with when I first boarded the Phoenician merchant ship and then the Asadal trading ship.

So I suppressed my dissatisfaction inside.

“…I don’t like the loading capacity of the ship, and since it’s a flat-bottomed ship, it rocks back and forth whenever the waves hit it, and I also feel uneasy about its small size.”

Adallah just blurted out what I was thinking.

“As the old Poongbaek Deputy said, you don’t know when you’re using a good product, but when you use a bad product, you notice it. That’s exactly how I feel.”

Oh, me too.

Do you feel like you’re using a feature phone because your smartphone suddenly broke?

“And perhaps… the merchants of Haedongseong will also feel this firsthand. If a few years pass like this, I think Asadal’s Central Plains trading ships will naturally change into Benigi-style merchant ships.”

The concepts of Shinto Buddhism and our own are good are useless to people who risk their lives working like sailors. They think of their boats as their lives, and if there is a good boat, they will never turn it down.

Didn’t Joseon make good use of Japanese swords after the Imjin War? It would be foolish not to use good things.

“Besides, the current coastal navigation often goes around the Bohai Bay, so if there are merchant ships, that won’t happen.”

That statement struck me as a bit odd.

“Does that make sense? The salt shortage originally meant going to Shandong by sailing between the peninsulas in flat boats?”

“That’s… because they’re the best of the best. But it’s hard for everyone to do that.”

Adalah explained.

“In the past, when we were doing Shandong trade, Yan was keeping an eye on us. Those who could only go around Balhae were not able to get involved in Central Plains trade in the first place.

But these days, things are different. After the Yan kingdom was reorganized, there are quite a few merchants and tribes that use the sea route.

However, the skills of the new arrivals are not that great, so they usually just go around Balhae Bay.”

So, I roughly understood it as something like a lantern.

The Cimmerians and Scythians rode horses without stirrups.

However, ordinary people need stirrups when riding a horse.

This voyage is similar.

Originally, this Shandong trade was the privilege of excellent navigators, including salt merchants, and they were able to penetrate the 60km distance between Liaodong and Shandong using flat-bottomed ships.

But now that the Yan kingdom has disappeared, things are different.

After the route was stabilized, even somewhat ordinary people who were not veterans also entered the Shandong trade.

They say that since it is difficult to penetrate 60km with a flat-bottomed ship, they are choosing to go around the coast.

“However, if these pointed-bottomed Benny ships are popularized, even if they are not good sailors, it will be possible to reach Shandong directly from Liaodong. Besides, Benny ships are not difficult to build.”

“Hoo….”

… This isn’t bad, is it?

If ordinary people could make sailing a little easier… wouldn’t private trade, rather than public trade, develop a little more?

‘I remember. One of the reasons Spain became a center of public trade was because of the difficulty of navigation.’

It is said that in the early days of the Age of Exploration, the difficulty of navigation was so high that long-distance voyages were very difficult for all but the most experienced sailors.

So, since these veterans were usually state-affiliated or created with state support, it was natural that commerce and politics were linked, resulting in mercantilism… That was the content.

In the case of the British or Dutch East India Companies, which broke through this, they created systems like ‘stocks’ and ‘funds’ so that ordinary citizens could also invest and build ships, so this tendency was less.

And even ‘stocks’ are hard to imitate at this point, but Asadal also has a concept called a fund. It’s where several people pool their money and invest in a business.

This is not surprising, as it is a concept that has existed in Mesopotamia since 2000 BC.

And from my perspective of supporting comparative advantage rather than mercantilism, this change in Asadal is not a bad thing.

Let’s go like that for a while longer.

Adalah said.

“Oh, I see Sai Island over there.”

It’s a stopover.

***

Sai Island is called ‘Daqin Island’ in the 21st century and is located in the middle of Shandong and Liaodong.

It is an island that frequently appears in the records of Balhae and the Tang Dynasty, and was called Guheumdo at that time.

But right now, this land has never been the land of the Central Plains people… and since Asadal currently occupies this land, it seems they simply refer to it as ‘Saiseom.’

“Usually Asadal’s Pungbaekseon anchors at that island. It’s a geographically important location.”

As the saying goes, the Asadal ships with their bottoms blackened with bitumen were bobbing about on Sai Island.

“These are great ships that protect free traders. Of course, they get paid accordingly.”

“How do I collect the tip?”

“First, those who pay the fee are given a large flag for a year. They are also given a whistle, a drum, and a horn to make sounds. They are also given a torch made of sulfur and bitumen. With this, you can see those who ask for help from afar. Those who pass by without this are temporarily treated as pirates in Asadal.”

Farmers’ taxes are easy to collect.

They operate in local areas, it is difficult to hide their warehouses, and local residents know roughly how many spoons their neighbors have.

But commercial tax cannot be used in this way.

Because they were constantly on the move, they were taxed in a very different way from farmers.

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“Usually, in the case of domestic trade, tolls are collected or taxes are collected at the market. However, in the case of Central Plains trade, both of these are somewhat difficult.”

“That’s right. It’s not easy to figure out how much goods were sold in the Central Plains.”

“Yes. That’s why we came up with this method. Ships seeking protection first have their cargo inspected and then pay the corresponding amount. This amount is determined through discussions with the members of the National Assembly.”

… That is, they set up a system where they occupy key locations that must be passed through and then make those who need to collect taxes come to them on their own.

If you don’t give it to me, I’ll just treat you like a pirate and punish you.

In fact, they are smugglers because they trade without paying taxes, and in this day and age, it would be nonsense to distinguish between smugglers and pirates.

So, after getting off at Sai Island and finishing the supply run.

The Asadal trading ship departed for Shandong.

It took about two days.

***

“It’s coming in! It’s Asadal’s ship!”

As soon as Asadal’s ship came in, the Naeminbu port began to get crowded. It’s easy to imagine the scene when a 21st century fishing boat comes in.

Just as the numerous people who want to buy fish aim to win the auction, these people have also been staying here for a long time, waiting for the trade ships from Asadal to arrive.

of course.

They didn’t just sit there quietly waiting.

“…Damn, I feel sick.”

“I told you to drink soju in moderation.”

“The side dish is good, but what should I do?”

At least at the inn, I enjoyed Seongdo-byeong, Asadal-style fried chicken, and soju, a ‘burning drink’.

“Will this work? I lost so much playing mahjong yesterday.”

“I told you to do it in moderation! What if you even take public funds?”

“No, what should I do when all I see is the station in front of my eyes?”

Those who were more serious about having fun would often go to mahjong parlors and play mahjong all day long.

In other words, Asadal’s commerce and the region’s entertainment were inseparable.

“Get out of the way, get out of the way!”

“Be quiet!”

Meanwhile.

The chiefs of the internal affairs department, who had been prepared in advance, rushed in and put an end to the disturbance in the hall.

“The boat is getting off!”

“Everyone move your luggage!”

As soon as the Asadal trade ship arrived, many people gathered and began to unload the ship. The one leading the pack was, of course, Saul Bae, the vice-minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As soon as Saul Bae arrived, his eyes opened wide.

“Hey, sir? How did you get here…?”

Saulbae didn’t even know I was coming. Well, that could be possible. The speed of information transmission in this era is by no means fast.

“I stopped by to check on the new items that were arriving.”

“If there’s a new item coming… is it something called ‘candy’?”

Even if you haven’t heard from me, you’ve probably heard from Candy.

“Yes. Besides that, Asadal is about to advance to Habayi Island, so before that, we need to understand the situation on the nearby moon and islands.”

Saul understood what I meant right away.

“…It’s important.”

“Yes. This candy comes from Black Horn Island, but it will come in even larger quantities from Ha-bai Island.”

There are also rubber and coffee beans, but I skipped them for now. They’re just in my head right now.

“…So, what do you think is the value of candy?”

“You’ll have to try it to know.”

At Saulbae’s words, I dug through my pocket and pulled out a candy. It was made by lumping together sugar, but to people in the 21st century, it would be more like ‘sugar cubes’ than candy.

“Huh.”

Saulbae put the candy into his mouth without much thought.

and.

“…oh my god!”

His eyes grew wide. He chewed until all the candy had melted and disappeared, then he asked me.

“…It’s incredibly sweet. Plus, it lingers in your mouth longer than something like honey.”

Since it is something you put in your mouth and suck on, it seems to taste a bit sweeter than regular food.

“How much do you think this item should cost?”

“After calculating with Dalbi, it seems that we can make a certain amount of profit if we sell it for five times the price of honey. So, I think it would be appropriate to sell it for about ten times the price.”

And when Saul heard this tenfold, his eyes grew wide.

“Ten times?”

He asked, as if he found it ridiculous.

I thought I had taken it too big.

“…Just that?”

It was the opposite.

Saulbae said.

“You can tell by the number of bee farms here. The people of the Central Plains… no, everyone in the world is crazy about sweets. And this candy is, how should I put it… a new kind of sweetness.”

“…That’s right? Don’t they have a lot of sweet things like kiwi, orange, and peach in addition to honey?”

“I think that Elder and Lord Dalbi have misunderstood the concept of luxury. Well, I guess that’s understandable.”

Saulbae said.

“The old man is not a merchant, and the main things that Dalbi Sangdanju deals with are sulfur, copper, gold, and silver. Before that, he dealt in salt.

But I sell luxury and entertainment, so I know this kind of business well… Luxury is not about spending money efficiently. It’s about spending a lot of money for a very small difference.

“To show off that you can spend this much money for this little thing. That’s the essence of luxury. If it were efficient, the rich wouldn’t buy it.”

… I think I know what that feels like.

In the past, a luxury brand adopted a policy of lowering prices, but it is said that sales actually decreased.

Because it has become something that everyone wears, it is no longer a ‘special’ item.

“So, my guess is. Fifty times.”

“Fifty times the amount of honey?”

No matter how many apiaries there are in the Central Plains, honey is by no means cheap. Even honey is something that commoners only eat once a year. But 50 times that?

“I guarantee you that even if you sell it for fifty times the price of honey, you will sell all this candy in a week.”

Saulbae spoke so confidently.

It didn’t take long for him to be proven wrong.

“Come on, try some sugar. It’s very expensive!”

From then on, Saulbae distributed lumps of sugar to many merchants for tasting.

And the merchants of the Central Plains, after tasting this, fell into deep thought.

“…I need to buy some copper.”

“But, copper is copper, but this candy….”

“I wish I hadn’t blown it while playing mahjong!”

“The world is so vast, yet another sweetness? This taste is different from all the fruits in the world, and it is different from honey or rice syrup! All the lords of the world will probably be dazzled by this ‘new sweetness’!”

“Besides, according to the merchants, they melt it and dip it in fruit to eat!”

There is a saying that has been passed down to them since the Shang Dynasty called ‘consciousness mobilization.’

It means that food and medicine are the same, and it is the motto of Chinese food culture itself.

“The ancient sages said that new food has new energy that invigorates the human body, and that new energy is expressed in the taste of the place. This is also a new taste, so won’t it invigorate humans?”

“As soon as you put it in your mouth, it feels like your head is clearing up, and unlike honey that is sweet at first but gets covered up by a unique scent, the sweetness lingers on your tongue for a long time, so it is truly a delicacy!”

“This candy is comparable to the kelp powder, sea cucumber, and soybean oil sold at Asadal!”

“You have to buy everything, everything! Even if you deduct the intermediate peddling costs, it’s still a huge profit!”

Merchants flocked in like crazy.

“Give me candy! Candy! Give me all the rest! 150 times as much as honey! Buy it 150 times!”

The candy sold out in just three days.

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