The Bottom of a Large Company Does a Good Job - Chapter 496



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Episode 496: The Great Famine [6]

I didn’t even ask about Joseon.

At this stage, it is possible to roughly predict what would happen if the British Empire were to enter Joseon.

Joseon, the country of study abroad… … .

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Manchurian Eight Banners, or the barbarian Qing Dynasty, China may have become much more open-minded than before.

Well… … In the end, Emperor Kangxi implemented a policy of assimilation of the Han people and began to promote Confucianism in earnest, but even so, it must be seen that many of the principles of Silhak were mixed in.

‘Well… … Originally, civilization wasn’t confined to one place.’

Even the Middle Ages, which we define as the Dark Ages, did not gradually develop and advance as time passed.

If it hadn’t been like that in the first place, how would ocean navigation have been possible?

The same goes for the 600 years of Joseon Dynasty.

Silhak scholars began to appear to some extent in the 18th century, not the 19th century.

Park Ji-won, famous for his travel diary, Hong Dae-yong, and Jeong Yak-yong are all like that.

Oh, Jeong Yak-yong must have passed away a while ago, anyway.

‘But Joseon chose to go down a closed path despite all that.’

What inhibits the development of a civilization?

Is it simply human intelligence?

no.

The problem is that people’s perception changes slowly.

And usually the people who are slow to change their perceptions are the ones with power in that society.

I’m already happy and doing well enough, so why would I turn the world upside down?

‘In some ways, Europe might have benefited from the Black Death and other damn diseases.’

Only when they are shaken will the world change.

Whether or not the change is necessarily for the better, Western civilization has become a much more powerful force than pre-modern civilizations.

Among them, the most powerful British Empire will set foot in Joseon?

Is that because of me too?

-The greatest villain of all time, Kim Tae-pyeong series 10, finally sells out the country.

I see the future.

If you believe that the British Empire will keep its promise to protect Joseon, you are greatly mistaken.

Our British Empire is a great nation that even colonizes and plunders Ireland, its closest country.

Aren’t you planning to slurp down the salty flavor of the whole country soon?

If you hear something like that and think, ‘No way,’ just think of the British Museum.

If you go there, you will see that it is full of relics plundered from all over the world, including the ruins that our Earl of Elgin’s ancestors brought from the Parthenon Temple in Greece, a fellow European country.

Seriously… … .

You could say they are descendants of Vikings.

No, if the Vikings of long ago saw the British Empire today, they would probably say, ‘Haha, our descendants are quite the people.’

‘There will be chaos… … First, they will open the ports… … They will plunder everything from ginseng and red ginseng to ceramics… … They will sell cotton textiles, and if they think they will lose money on that, they will sell opium at any time.’

It’s obvious.

-I saw it before, our Tiepyeong Kyung would go crazy when you said opium.

-Haha, then we should put in some effort. Sell good opium. That’s how we can repay Lord Tiepyeong.

-It seems like medicine hasn’t developed as much as I thought.

-Look around carefully. There’ll be something, something worth bringing!

This is going to be really fucked up.

Could it help modernization?

Just think of the countries that claim to have helped Joseon modernize.

It’s Japanese.

Is that kind of modernization… … really helpful?

‘What… … If we spin the hope circuit a lot, we can do something like the Meiji Restoration first, like the Gabo Reforms. I guess we could try something like that… … ?’

They say it’s reform and revolution, but if you do that, you’ll lose your head.

There is an existing system in place and those in power are there, so how can we overturn it?

Would that be easy?

The reason that this was possible in Japan was by no means because Japan was superior to Qing or Joseon.

Paradoxically, this must be seen as possible because complete rule was not possible.

When you think of 19th century Joseon, the image of a ruined country often comes to mind, but in fact, Japan was even worse than that.

Here, the continued famine, the existing rebellion of the warrior class, and the presence of black ships like ours are causing great confusion.

That’s why the revolution was successful.

‘Okay… Let’s forget about Joseon. I work for humanity.’

In fact, I had been worrying about this for several months before coming here.

No matter what, I was a South Korean in my past life and I am still a descendant of a Joseon person, so I felt it was a bit odd to just sit back and watch when I knew full well that Joseon would fall.

But I also thought that history is something that can be further damaged if touched carelessly.

I’m not a monster like Kim Yu-jin.

“Hey, Pyeong. What were you dreaming about that kept you up all night?”

I fell asleep while thinking about that, and for some reason, I slept with a cold sweat pouring down my body, which was unusual for me.

It looked like he was tossing and turning.

The blanket was completely spread out on the floor.

“I… I don’t remember.”

I didn’t really want to talk about Joseon, so I just muddled through.

Liston didn’t ask any further questions, perhaps because he wasn’t really curious.

Instead, he pointed to the food that was served for breakfast and asked.

“By the way, do you know what this is?”

“Ah… … This is pickled vegetables.”

“Pickled vegetables… …? They smell bad.”

Do you know which city in the world will have the most Michelin 3-star restaurants as of 2024?

Anyone who thinks of London, please come to your senses.

Because the British have lost their sense of taste as punishment for their karma, which is still piling up in real time.

The person who thought of Paris is better, but that is not the correct answer.

Surprisingly, Tokyo is the city with the most Michelin three-star restaurants.

I didn’t study this or anything, I just got it from a food review YouTuber called DeoXri who I watch often on YouTube.

Going to a restaurant that looks really delicious and is expensive, and eating really well is the best channel for vicarious satisfaction.

Anyway, it’s true that I had some expectations because I knew that.

“But what is the unit price… … ?”

“That’s what they said. Surprisingly.”

“No… How can a person live by eating only grass?”

“That’s true. But… … Didn’t you feel it yesterday? Everyone was so skinny. Just like Indians. Oh, and by the way, do you eat vegetarian too?”

Liston shuddered as he recalled the horrible memory.

This was because I had hardly seen any fish during the few days I was in port in India.

Of course, just because you’re British doesn’t mean you can eat meat every day.

Most workers are eating potatoes for their meals.

But the upper class like Nana Liston could afford to eat beef when they were bored, but in India… … .

-What? Haha… … A rebellion is taking place.

-I’m sure I’ve seen Indians eating meat.

-Ah… …Brahmin caste? They can eat it.

-But why can’t we?

– It’s not that you can’t eat it… … but it’s not wise to eat it openly. You can eat chicken, though. This isn’t common either.

-cadet.

It was a place that I didn’t understand.

It was especially interesting who got it and who didn’t.

I thought this was the caste I had only heard about, but unfortunately I had to leave before I could see it for myself.

In the first place, we were near a military base, so we were isolated from ordinary Indians, so it didn’t seem like it would matter.

“No, that’s not true.”

“But why is there no meat?”

“I don’t know. The curry there was decent though… … .”

“That? I… … uh… … .”

It’s so strange for a British person to complain about food in another country.

If it weren’t for Liston, I would have just broken his head, but it’s a shame that I can’t.

“By the way, is this how it’s always going to be?”

“At least there was a fish dish yesterday.”

“Oh, that was edible.”

“Because this is a port. It’s delicious if you catch it and grill it right away.”

“But why do you give it to me like this in the morning?”

“I don’t know. Could this also be neglect?”

Of course, looking at the side dishes that came out now, even British grandfathers, not to mention British people, would be dissatisfied.

There’s really nothing but pickled vegetables and rice.

The Japan I know is not like this, so I was starting to have doubts, but then an interpreter came.

“Have you coughed?”

He was overly polite, having seen our might yesterday.

No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like he would hit me in the back of the head with food, but I asked anyway just in case.

“hey.”

“yes.”

“Is this how you usually eat breakfast?”

“Huh? Oh… … No. I don’t eat this fancy.”

“splendor?”

I thought he was Japanese and had learned English incorrectly.

All I got was five pieces of pickled vegetables and a bowl of rice. What’s so fancy about that?

“Didn’t you decorate it with various colors? It’s not something you mix together and eat, it’s food you look at and savor one by one.”

“Mix it? Oh, my brother.”

I kept thinking he was talking nonsense, so I looked at Liston, and it turned out that our British friend had been a beggar in the martial arts world in his past life, or something like that.

The food was already unappealing, but now it just looked like food waste.

“It’s better if you eat it like this.”

The interpreter tried his best not to be rude when he saw such a liston.

He said he turned his head.

“Yes, that’s good. Anyway, as I promised yesterday, I plan to go to a farther place today.”

“Is it walkable?”

“Yes? We should walk. It’s not far enough to ride a horse.”

“Oh, I see.”

Anyway, we ate a lousy breakfast and followed the interpreter out.

Some of the samurai I saw yesterday were posing as my attendants.

It seemed quite sincere, which was to be expected.

What can I do when there is a person who cuts off people’s limbs like tofu?

“Come this way.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Of course, now that it was an official procession, several of our soldiers also accompanied them.

Because the red coats were too eye-catching, everyone, including me, changed into Japanese clothes.

Then Liston started teasing me when he saw me.

“If you dress like this, you’ll look like a Japanese person. In Korean, it’s called Waegu.”

“No… … That means pirate.”

“You’re a great pirate. How many people have you plundered so far? Why?”

“And those words… … I think everyone will understand?”

“Oh, really?”

Even after Liston noticed that the eyes around him were unusual, he didn’t stop.

I said that because I am a person who doesn’t have to stop.

I was a little jealous.

“The atmosphere over there will probably be a little different.”

The interpreter continued to guide Liston, trying hard not to understand what he was saying.

The place we arrived at had a very different atmosphere from where we had been.

First of all, there was no one on the street.

“Why is it like this?”

“I don’t know, were we attacked or something?”

“Is there smoke rising from the cooking rice?”

It meant that it wasn’t an empty town.

It was only after Liston’s comment that the interpreter began to get angry, wondering if something was wrong.

“They seem to think we’re a bunch of bandits. Should we start by beheading the village chief?”

I thought he was a gentle guy, but it seems he was a typical strong-weak-weak-strong guy.