Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The Great Matter of Human Relations (2)

Before talking about Nobel, first I will talk about my marriage story.

The beginning was really pure.

Until older sister Violet looked for her girls’ school juniors, and club people said they would look for a decent young lady there was no problem whatsoever.

All fires always start from one trivial spark.

This spark started from the card game always done at the club.

“Arthur, one has to marry quickly?”

“Yes. In the Joseon Kingdom of course and in the Far East generally marriage is soon the coming-of-age ceremony. Men there do a hairstyle called ‘sangtu’ as a symbol of adult, if an unmarried bachelor ties this sangtu he gets scolded. It means you are not an adult.”

“Haha! Merciless. To be able to know the presence or absence of adult at a glance by the head shape.”

“Then is a bald person not an adult?”

Like that exchanging trivial stories cards embroidered the table, and from everyone’s mouths tobacco smoke spouted like factory chimneys.

Me? I don’t smoke.

I said. Only this once.

“Do Joseon people not smoke tobacco?”

“They smoke enormously. Thinking selling matches in Joseon will make big money match export is also in preparation.”

“Not tobacco?”

“Tobacco they cultivate a lot themselves there too. Ambiguous whether one can pierce the local market.”

Various stories.

Which company is promising, where is how. Who died. Who gave birth to a child etc.

Recently Napoleon III stories were coming out the most. As much as the nephew of that Napoleon the words whether he would fight one round with Britain and take revenge for the uncle was a too natural thought flow for British people.

After chewing Napoleon III and French people once there was a person naturally chewed together precisely Mister Delusion, Lord Palmerston.

Palmerston was famous as ‘pro-French faction’ within Britain. The logic that one must liquidate confrontation with France and establish friendly relations to freely cause trouble all over the world.

- That... fuck, the idea is too amazing?

Even if a rich person goes bankrupt it goes for 3 years and even if France goes bad it’s France.

If France is an enemy country Britain has to fold all the stalls spread elsewhere and devote to preparing to face France so one can see Palmerston was not particularly wrong.

But since Napoleon III caused the coup, Anglo-French relations are gradually cooling again. Palmerston was being teased as an idiot who bought French coin and got liquidated.

“Still Arthur must marry a Whig Party side person, right?”

“Yes?”

“Not a noble, engaged in trade, that distant Far East is the core of business, right. Then of course Whig Party. When the name value is highest now if just building marriage ties with a high person of the Whig Party how good?”

“No, why are you suddenly forcing your political views.”

“What other method is there besides this?”

“Since promising in the future, there is also the method of marrying a daughter of a noble house whose family name value remains but financially not affluent. If so the Conservative Party might be better.”

“Arthur is not a person to associate with dirty Conservative Party bastards who only suck the Corn Law or try to pile tariff barriers!”

Suddenly the two uncles excluding me started arguing among themselves.

In the end are all men the same? Whether wearing a silk hat on the head or wearing a Taegeukgi hat is quarreling with political stories a universal common?

Up to here I thought it was just one of the flowing chats.

But from when Gladstone appeared in front of me it gradually became not the area of ‘chat’.

“I want to introduce some young ladies how do you think?”

“No, member. If the member introduces of course it is an honor for me.”

“There are many decent people in the Conservative Party too. Especially even within the Conservative Party the Peelites, free trade supporters have quite a force.”

“That... I am not a politician.”

“With that reputation and that career saying not doing politics? Moreover you are an intellectual. Not using that wisdom and ability for the development of the British Empire seems a serious loss. Even if no thought of a member seat having a close relationship with the supporting party will be a great help to your business too.”

Gladstone poured passionate speech about how solid the force of the faction he belongs to, the Peelites is within the Conservative Party and how much they are striving the most for Britain’s future.

And a few days later.

One letter flew to the hotel room I was staying in.

[To former plenipotentiary Arthur Lee.

I want to hear a detailed story about the opening of Joseon’s doors and the Far East side diplomatic strategy you excellently concluded.

If okay I want to invite you setting an appropriate day, so if giving a reply-]

The sender is... Lord Palmerston.

Although Palmerston is a duck egg in the Nakdong River now, this person is a big shot politician who broke the head of the prime minister who is his own party leader and also collapsed the cabinet.

But would he just call saying he wants to hear my story a bit?

Wouldn’t marriage talk naturally pop out no matter who sees?

Love calls are coming in from all sides.

But if grabbing one hand the other side doesn’t seem to stay still.

Unlike the presidential system in the cabinet system one doesn’t know when the regime will change swish swish, what if the party that dislikes me seizes the regime and does ‘hmm. An individual is too deeply involved in Joseon’s interests. Let’s blow this guy away?’ Fucked.

It was a crisis.

Before bulking up my weight class I wanted to lie low a bit more and keep distance from politics, but became too famous compared to the weight class.

How to wisely overcome this difficulty.

Future-come Z warrior Park In-ho can do it. Intellectuals of the 21st century, lend me strength!

- Doing nonsense, doing nonsense...

It came to mind.

- What? What will you do?

As expected wisdom comes from books. 19th century people don’t know but I a 21st century person have much vaster reference materials and references full.

The wisdom of the 21st century I took out.

That is precisely - ninjas are strong but runaway ninjas are much stronger fact.

“I’ll go to America for business.”

“What? Suddenly?”

“America is also fiddling with the Far East side so one has to go once. It seems if not now there will be no opportunity.”

For my smooth Joseon management one has to taste America once.

Moreover Alfred Nobel is also in New York now.

Originally looking at web novels historical big shots pre-invest before even sprouting leaves and hit the jackpot, right. To recruit Nobel of course now is the best timing.

Absolutely, absolutely not fleeing to America because scared of the marriage problem burning now! Because I overflow with passion for business this much!

Like that I boarded the transatlantic passenger ship.

***

Current 1852.

In the Atlantic a war without gunshots between Britain and America is happening.

Since humanity began challenging toward the sea there were several unchanging immutable laws.

Ships are made of wood.

Ships advance borrowing the power of wind or rowing oars.

But the development of 19th century science and industry destroyed even this law.

First auxiliary steamships appeared.

Not only sails, but using steam engines turning huge paddle wheels obtained much more stable propulsion than oars.

Steam engines were developing day by day, and the most sensitive experts at some moment reached the inference that it seems hard to withstand the powerful power of steam engines with wooden hulls.

The era of iron ships is coming.

Transatlantic crossing was in that point a business of enormous profit and at the same time an item that can show the country’s competitiveness and technology.

Britain’s Cunard Line and America’s Collins Line are precisely the champions of this fight without gunshots.

These two companies each receiving vast subsidies from their home governments were putting heat on constructing faster and superior transatlantic ships day after day, and recently German or French companies also began jumping into this competition.

Wanting to jump into shipbuilding but ambiguous in various ways. Ships are a business that really requires enormous capital and technology. Even the Collins Line alone is a zombie company full of deficit that will die if no government subsidy even for one day.

Anyway, the reason I could easily decide to go to America was also thanks to this Atlantic shipping competition.

Cunard Line’s latest passenger ship, Asia.

As soon as seeing the name decided to board this ship. There is also the sister ship Africa but this looks much more plausible.

Surprisingly it did not even take just ten days for the Asia to depart Liverpool and arrive in New York. A little more and the era when world tour in 80 days is possible will come.

The things to do in America are largely two.

The first is of course recruiting Alfred Nobel and inserting a pick into the explosion king’s seat. The thought of long-conning the Nobel Prize also slightly comes, but instead of Nobel Prize Lee Prize the nuance looks very poor.

- Then if doing Lee Prize it would be fine.

Since the thirteen children are scary reject that too.

Idle talk up to here, next is finding a sponsor.

Can’t openly insert into Joseon. Whether Far East Company or Far East Colonization Joint Stock Company not only I eat but countless capitalists have shares.

But if other interests we have not yet secured?

Instead of giving Yankees the right to slightly taste Joseon, if I can also receive the right to eat in Japan?

Can’t be satisfied with just Joseon.

Must hit a big jackpot in China and Japan too.

To do that first must persuade Nobel.

***

“Finally met. I am Arthur Lee.”

“I am Alfred Nobel! My goodness, I never imagined you would come all the way here!”

“Business and research are ultimately things people do. Coming directly to know people is only a thing to do naturally to the end.”

Speaking of Nobel the uncle with that furry beard engraved on the Nobel Prize medal is automatically associated, but surprisingly Alfred Nobel was a fluffy downy rookie chemist and literature person one year younger than me.

Alfred’s father Immanuel Nobel was also an inventor and businessman.

Once failed in business and went bankrupt, then after migrating to St. Petersburg Russia succeeded in revival like a roly-poly and was managing a company handling machine tools and explosives etc.

The fact that Alfred can go back and forth Europe and America and spend study abroad life is also because the family’s economic power supports.

He was currently working under the highly reputed Swedish inventor John Ericsson while simultaneously seeking various inventions and research.

“Although nitroglycerin is an extremely unstable and dangerous substance, if only knowing the method to handle this it will definitely become a miracle substance that helps countless people.”

“I also think so. Saying one must not research because dangerous.”

“Of course. Correct. But why did Representative Lee come to pay attention to this substance?”

“Secured quite a lot of mine development rights in the Joseon Kingdom of Far East Asia. If China, Joseon, Japan open sequentially in the future countless mines, countless civil engineering works will happen. Demand for efficient and excellent explosives will swell enormously.”

Nobel still young no young.

A youth one year older who already left the immortal achievement of <​Arthur’s Drift Record> even in literature his interest.

Moreover as soon as opening the mouth thrilling adventure stories that happened in the Far East play in lines like a phonograph, and opinions are the same even on the topic of explosive research and already achieved success in business too.

Trivial.

The work of roasting and boiling Nobel who is still only a greenhorn is nothing more than eating cold porridge for this special grade salesman Park In-ho.

1 week.

They say Jehovah created heaven and earth in 6 days and played games at home for one day, if I have 1 week time it is more than enough to make a hyung-dongsaeng relationship.

“Are you that friend who completely captivated my assistant’s soul?”

“Haha. Captivating the soul.”

“Business guys are all the same. While making words flashy they eat the profit and only think of hitting the back of the head of the developing person.”

John Ericsson was also a great person.

Reputation was widespread as a ship developer, and he was a pioneering figure of the idea of attaching a screw to the ship and propelling.

- Is that great?

Like the ‘Asia’ we came on now advances the ship by turning paddle wheels, but future ships all attach screws to engines and advance.

I wanted to somehow pull this person into the same side too but already a too big shot person so seed wouldn’t work. Seemed to have one soul friend-like businessman too.

“Hehe. Don’t worry. I am not such a myopic businessman who only looks right in front.”

“Everyone says words like that.”

“This is the business conception I intend to propose to Mr. Nobel. If really worried please look and give him some advice.”

Arthur Lee provides the funds necessary for all research and production, and ‘ideas’.

Alfred Nobel receives money and diligently engages in research and development.

Anyway since there is no separate explosive factory of my ownership, in the full-scale product mass production process Immanuel Nobel’s company takes that role.

Instead if the manufacturing method is established must necessarily deliver it to the company Arthur will found, and has monopoly rights on that nitroglycerin-based new explosive in Britain and the Far East.

Anyway the Nobel family’s core regions are Sweden and Russia. Whether Britain or Joseon it is truly ambiguous for them to jump in directly. So I cleanly take it.

“Too good so more like fraud. Right, what on earth is that idea?”

“······.”

“One mouth is heavy. How great an idea is that.”

“Can’t endure the curiosity. Is it fine if signing here?”

“Hey! Hey!!”

“Of course. Then I will also sign.”

Not long after we concluded the contract, and decided to establish a joint company called <​Nobel & Lee Chemical Factory> in Britain. No particular reason for Nobel to be in America anyway.

“Now please tell. What discovery did you make that you crossed even the Atlantic looking for a nitroglycerin researcher?”

Those sparkling eyes.

Eyes that will bring me a mountain of gold from now on. Kkeueo.

“Diatomaceous earth.”

“What?”

“Diatomaceous earth. That mined in Germany.”

“Yes.”

“If mixing nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth it becomes a much more stable substance.”

Blink.

And the following joy.

“Really!”

“Of course. Please confirm directly once.”

“My goodness. My goodness. Really a discovery that will change the world. How can this be. Oh, my goodness! Then excuse me but I will go first!”

Of course it doesn’t become everything goes well with just this.

But since informed the most core and important discovery much earlier, the birth of dynamite will be advanced if advanced and there will be no matter of being delayed.

If diatomaceous earth is needed for dynamite production demand will of course increase, and diatomaceous earth price rising is also an extremely natural market principle.

But do you know that?

Diatomaceous earth is also mined in Korea and Japan.

Only the matter of money being copied remains.

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Author's note

Thank you to Time Flight for your sponsorships!!