Chapter 92 · 9 min

Chapter 92

Did London Bridge Fall (2)

Joseon on the opposite side of the Earth.

The center of that Joseon, Hanyang.

“Catch!!”

“Find!! Must find and catch!!”

“Catch alive!!”

“Uwoeoeoe!!!”

Hanyang streets were literally turned upside down.

The atmosphere was more ominous than ever, and those who were not knowing what on earth this matter is immediately joined the rioter ranks hearing the words surrounding people gave.

Joseon people who quickly learn picking good things also quickly snatched <mounted police> among the systems of the superior country British Empire. Because Jo Byeonghyeon vividly testified that when lowly things make a fuss in groups if mounted police run and trample with horse hooves any riot is resolved in one queue.

But before that mounted police received the dispatch order, the one who turned all Hanyang upside down freely popped out from his house corner and stood tall on a temporary podium.

“Don’t get angry and listen, Joseon people.”

His name is Saigo Takamori.

He who caused an accident without fail was truly confident.

And that too confident attitude and the point of being proficient in Joseon language as a Japanese topic, moreover the brilliant medal he came out attaching on the chest temporarily suppressed Joseon people’s anger.

The medal system also the thing the Joseon Kingdom government copied most quickly.

The Joseon government that had to give some award to foreigners with the ‘Russian expedition’ that was in the Far East last time immediately introduced medals. Until now only using money-going methods like meritorious subjects or official post upgrades then learning the method of giving honor and scrap metal and wiping the mouth too good in the court’s view.

But in the lowly things’ view different.

That medal is the mark itself <I established great merit in Joseon>.

Even those who were saying save or not immediately becoming let’s just hear once mode seeing that medal was natural.

“As I contributed to the newspaper.

Joseon rice has no taste.”

“Kill!!”

“Drag out immediately!!”

“That bastard, tie the limbs and stuff kimchi in the mouth!!”

And this patience disappeared in less than 1 minute.

“Good rice means plump, glossy, size even and when cooking rice must be pure white like snow! But what about Joseon rice! If cooking rice most is red rice, red rice is rather fortunate husk, barnyard grass of course even sand and gravel full! Where seeing this is rice!”

“Kill!!”

“Let’s put that guy in the rice cooker and cook!!”

“Eating this saying rice! Your rice no taste! Your rice really no taste!!”

Saigo just liked causing a mess.

Precisely a type of human who if not saying what he thinks is right dies suffering from internal illness.

The streets really became a mess, and this fuss ended only after mounted police ran and stamped the rioters with six-sided clubs. Saigo was rescued by mounted police right before becoming salted fish alive then got beaten by those police and entered the detention center.

But after the farce ended, the high people who were watching the lowly things making a fuss drinking coffee from high-rise buildings changed thoughts a bit.

“Japanese rice quality that good?”

“Not Japanese country but Japan.”

“Anyway. If saying Joseon’s products 9 out of 10 are rice, does it make sense Japanese rice is better than Joseon rice?”

“Where not. Said Japan is hot and humid much better environment for growing rice.”

How tasty is Japanese rice to be able to stamp ‘your rice no taste’ in the middle of Hanyang?

The monsters born by capitalism, Joseon merchants did not miss this opportunity and immediately attempted to purchase rice from Japan.

“Said sell rice? Refuse! If selling rice overseas naturally rice prices will rise, and if rice prices rise won’t the people harbor antipathy!”

“But a good opportunity to improve the trade balance.”

“Will not sell rice. If there is a domain secretly selling rice will never leave alone!”

The shogunate without economic knowledge was immovable. Actually in this era fine to see as no country with economic knowledge.

Those who were emphasizing what benefits can obtain by exporting grain had to replace their world with prison as the price of showing off intellectual vanity with boring and pedantic words.

However Joseon merchants who were dyed as much as dyed by the British Empire reverse ghost Arthur Lee and Beijing Nero Im Sangok were different.

“Perhaps... scared?”

“What!!”

“If Japanese rice is released in the Joseon market no matter who sees the quality of Japanese rice is inferior will show and no confidence? If Japanese rice crosses to Joseon and is treated as low-grade rice the shogunate’s authority will definitely fall...”

“These guys think if chattering with open mouths all! Japan is precisely the place where the most excellent rice comes out! Arrogant Joseon bastards, will clearly show!”

If failing necks would fly denggang denggang but no reason to endure this huge business because of such trivial risk. If a guy who values life precious why doing merchant-like things in Joseon the country of scholars farmers artisans merchants instead of farming?

Anyway the import succeeded.

The properly scratched shogunate and Japanese people somehow became we are the world mode and exported strictly selected quality rice sharpening knives.

And now Joseon’s turn to suffer.

“How! This is rice, these uncivilized Joseon bastards!”

“Your polishing, became wanting to die trivial. Lived polishing rice this shabbily?”

Although Joseon received consulting from some 21st century person and quickly stamped the reverse Ganghwa Treaty and inserted a steel straw into Japan, Joseon and Japan are different from weight class first.

Japan urbanized and commercial development occurred from long ago, and the technology of sticky exploiting farmers so neither die nor live and enjoying luxurious life also reached the realm of mystery upon entering the Edo shogunate.

Moreover although Joseon of course likes white rice, Japanese people almost worshipped white rice at a religious level. From hundreds of years ago eating only white rice beriberi was even named ‘Edo disease’ so words all done. From the beginning Koreans’ love for white rice also deepened receiving Japanese influence going through the Japanese colonial period.

As the highest quality Japanese rice prepared seriously appeared in Hanyang, the hardened nobles and upper class who are not envious of others if money fell into enormous culture shock literally.

“This is rice!”

“Then what was the rice I was eating until now...?”

Above all Japanese rice accurately sniped these upper class’s vanity and desire for luxury.

The fact that the rice imported this time is the highest level rice even in Japan, rice ordinary people cannot easily taste was not very important.

Once Japanese rice secured a premium image, that heart wanting to look superior to others even in one trivial thing grew the Japanese rice craze even more.

“Aigo, these days fortune looks good?”

“Heum heum. This really. Since starting to cook rice with Japanese rice the stomach became comfortable so.”

“Hahaha! Should have eaten earlier? Rather than the colorful Joseon dining table this pure white Japanese rice dining table is the dining table befitting a scholar’s dignity.”

“Of course. Of course.”

Actually Joseon people already experienced a similar thing in the cotton cloth market. As British cotton cloth began carpet bombing the market Joseon’s handmade cotton cloth was greatly threatened.

Rice is even more important than cotton cloth.

The Joseon court that already got hit big once at cotton cloth immediately set out to prepare countermeasures.

“How do Japanese polish that gravel is much less?”

“Water wheel? Use water wheel?”

“Divert all that can divert! Whether farm tools or seeds or whatever!”

Ironically, because crushed all large landlords saying doing land reform if the court does not take the lead there was no subject to raise commercial competitiveness particularly.

The Joseon-Japan guillotine match with the pride of the rice-eating people that must never lose started from now.

***

Among humans living in rice culture sphere no way a human who dislikes white rice exists.

21st century people living in the era of nutritional excess eat brown rice or black rice for health. No matter a person surviving on instant rice everyone knows pure white rice is not good for the body.

Ah. But bean rice won’t do. Bean rice at least cannot endure. Even Joseon people ate beans only at the final moment like famine barley hill.

Rice of this era is rough. Polishing is polishing in good words in one word ‘rice shaving’, shaving off edible parts denggang denggang putting enormous time and effort to eat rice a bit tasty and good-looking? Hard for the Confucian DNA flowing in Joseon people’s blood vessels to endure.

But what if polishing wing- with machines.

What if putting that glossy white rice flowing into the mouth.

Blood sugar spike hard for 19th century people to imagine! Overwhelming taste that makes the head spin!

Right. As expected steam engine is truth. Once polishing with the power of machines rice culture sphere people cannot endure. This will definitely be one heart one will for both japonica and indica.

I held a kind of contest jointly with the Joseon legation in Britain.

Not an ordinary opportunity.

Not an opportunity that comes every day.

The will of one country’s government, and a company with strong influence to push seriously!

“Will inventors really develop doing this?”

“Must wait slowly for that.”

Because not a thing that becomes done in one or two days. Rice must ripen to become rice, look at already being impatient.

But cannot just blankly wait, so I called the boy Ye Chengzhong who followed from China through Joseon now to Britain.

“To find talents who can invent a rice polishing machine what must do?”

“Learned there is a system called patent in this West. Securing the list of people who filed patents related to farm tools and recommending them to participate in the contest how...?”

Keu. As expected a great merchant who will leave a name in history is different from the sprout.

I used people to search related information, while also taking care of Jingchungi’s education this way and that. If obtained such a talent of course must teach well and raise as a reliable helper.

And some time passed.

I secured a thick list and vast materials about what inventor submitted what patent.

“Now if selecting people among these-”

“What sound? Must send letters to all.”

Words good letter paper actually the same as advertisement paper.

Informing these that there is such and such a contest, writing and sending that hope a talent like you definitely submits. If this is not advertisement what. 21st century style targeted marketing.

In the middle.

One interesting material was seen in my eyes.

“Submitted at the 51 exhibition?”

An item some American invented.

A plow mounted on cows or horses to plow fields, the unique point is an item that if putting seeds inside the plow automatically sows little by little while plowing the field, and even covers soil on the sown seeds.

“Jingchung. Does this item look good?”

“If only cows fine? Meaning no need for people to sow rice seeds one by one. But no use for seedbeds so no particular need in neighborhoods using the transplanting method.”

“Heum. Will write a letter directly to this person.”

“Understood. America so enormously far?”

This person’s name is quite to my liking.

Richard Jordan Gatling.

Rather than farm tools... a name that seems good to make something a bit hotter.