Chapter 14

Chapter 14 < Metal Type and School. >

What is the most essential thing for education?

There could be many answers to this question. But the most urgent one is…

‘Printing. We need to make type.’

Of course, with the current level of technology, it was impossible to expect the same efficiency as a modern printing press. But Gutenberg’s metal type was feasible to make.

‘We have to distribute books in large quantities.’

Copying by hand could not meet the demand for education. 

Since Hangul was not widely used for long, it would take a very long time to accumulate books naturally.

To overcome this situation in a short period of time, printing was necessary.

As soon as he made up his mind, Kim Ki-woo headed straight to the smithy.

“What brings you here again?”

“Ha ha. Why are you so snappy?”

“You know very well why, Master Kim.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kim Ki-woo and Solid Hammer exchanged a smirk.

Solid Hammer was known as the best blacksmith in the tribe. 

So whenever Kim Ki-woo had something new to make related to metallurgy, he looked for Solid Hammer first.

That’s why Solid Hammer reacted like that every time Kim Ki-woo came. 

He was already busy, and he brought some weird things to make his work harder.

But he didn’t really hate it, even though he complained with his mouth. 

It was a very happy thing for him, a craftsman, to be able to make something new.

‘He’s such a tsundere.’

Kim Ki-woo got straight to the point.

“You know about the letters, right?”

“I do. You’re amazing. Thanks to you, I got to study at the end of my life.”

“That’s good. Especially you should study harder. You have to set an example for the younger ones. Anyway, the letters are made, but there are not enough books made of paper.”

“That’s true.”

Solid Hammer also learned how to write by sharing one book with many craftsmen. He sympathized with the inconvenience.

“So don’t you think the spread of letters will be slow?”

“Do you have any clever ideas?”

“That’s why I came all the way here.”

“Ho ho. Judging by your expression, Master Kim, you’re going to make something amazing again.”

“Just listen and judge for yourself.”

Kim Ki-woo explained the concept of Gutenberg’s metal type to Solid Hammer. 

As he spoke, Solid Hammer’s eyes sparkled more and more.

“Ho ho. If we do that, it will definitely…”

“What do you think? Do you think it’s possible?”

“We’ll have to try it first… but it doesn’t seem impossible.”

“Then let’s make it.”

From then on, Kim Ki-woo, Solid Hammer, and his apprentices gathered and started working.

First, they cut iron to make matrices. They carved consonants and vowels such as and in relief.

Hangul is straight except for and . Especially , which they were making experimentally now, was very easy to cut.

They placed the matrix on a copper mold and hammered it. Then a punch with the same letter in intaglio was made.

They fixed the punch firmly under a mold that was long and hollow inside.

They poured lead alloy into it and let it harden.

Then a metal type with the same shape as the matrix was made. It was a long metal type that could interlock with the mold in a serrated shape to prevent it from being twisted when printing.

“Wow. If we make a lot of these letters and print them on paper, we can print in large quantities!”

“Ha ha. We still have a lot to do. Don’t get too excited yet.”

Kim Ki-woo took the first prototype and examined it carefully after hearing one of his apprentices.

‘Hangul has initial, medial, and final consonants, so it’s at a disadvantage compared to the alphabet in this type of type.’

The alphabet can just be written in a row. But if Hangul is written in a row, the word ‘mountain range’ would be written as ‘’.

It was very uncomfortable to look at.

So Kim Ki-woo came up with a way.

The initial consonant on top, the medial vowel in the middle, and the final consonant at the bottom.

He made it so that he could fit three types in one space. Of course, the consonants and vowels had to be longer horizontally than vertically.

Not but,







It was like pressing down from above. Of course, the writing was horizontal, not vertical.

He decided to insert a type that did not print in cases where there was no final consonant, such as ‘’.

The work proceeded as Kim Ki-woo intended. 

Of course, Kim Ki-woo could not be involved in all the work as he did on the first day. He only checked the progress whenever he had time.

But there were no major problems. It was because Solid Hammer’s skill was excellent.

It was not difficult after carving one matrix. He just had to keep hammering the matrix on copper to make punches, and then fix them on the mold and pour lead alloy.

Kim Ki-woo wrote a book to print with metal type during that time. It was not difficult because it was about basic words, grammar, math, etc.

He was able to carry out the first printing. He arranged the metal type as he wanted and stamped ink on it.

Of course, the ink he used now was viscous enough for metal type printing.

“Start.”

Kim Ki-woo tried to imprint every process in his eyes with excitement.

Gutenberg’s printing changed human history. It is said that there were more records in the next fifty years than in a thousand years before that.

The work was done in an instant. He fixed the paper on a frame with a small needle, then covered it with metal type. And he pressed it with a press.

Of course, he made a new press. It was not very difficult to make.

“Success!”

“Wow!”

“I’ve never seen anything written so neatly in my life!”

When he opened the frame and peeled off the paper, he saw it printed neatly. The craftsmen who participated in the work cheered, and Kim Ki-woo also felt joy inside.

‘Ah, this is the feeling. Hehehehe!’

Every day was insanely busy, but he couldn’t stop this kind of development as he saw the world changing by his hands. It felt like he had taken a bowl of drugs.

“You all did a great job. But I hope you’ll work harder from now on. We have to provide enough of these books to many Creek people who live on this land!”

“Of course. Ha ha ha!”

It wouldn’t be long before Hangul, created by King Sejong, conquered North America.

But Kim Ki-woo didn’t know yet.

How his initial-medial-final consonant grouping would change the shape of Hangul.

*

The printing factory was added to the lineup of numerous types of factories. 

And from there, basic books written by Kim Ki-woo began to pour out. The efficiency difference from copying by hand was incomparable.

“How’s work these days?”

“It’s not that hard yet, but the workload is gradually increasing.”

“Ha ha. Do you like your department?”

Smart Head smiled at Kim Ki-woo’s question.

“I enjoy every day because you entrusted me with the education department, not any other department.”

“What’s the matter?”

Smart Head ran over as soon as he was called by Kim Ki-woo while he was working. Kim Ki-woo cleared his throat at his straightforward question.

“Ahem. The amount of books has increased a lot lately, right?”

“That’s right. That metal type is an amazing device. It will surely help reduce illiteracy.”

“Right! We have to eradicate illiteracy and educate many people. Do you think so too?”

“Of course. That’s our department’s goal.”

“Then let’s start in earnest.”

“What do you mean?”

Kim Ki-woo avoided his gaze and spoke. 

It was obvious that the education department would become one of the hardest departments from a relatively easy one when this started.

“First of all, the printing factory will continue to grow, and I think the education department should manage it. After all, it will be the main source of printing books.”

“I agree with that.”

“Good. And now I’m thinking of creating an educational institution called a school.”

“School…”

“A place where you learn basic subjects from letters to math. For the time being, I’m going to give the same education to everyone from children to adults, but once the school is established, I’m going to divide it into stages according to the level of learning.”

“Hmm. Isn’t it too early? As you know, Grand Chief Kim, most of the tribespeople are busy working. Even young children are helping with labor.”

He was right. He was still putting them into other jobs as soon as the work situation improved. And since construction had started, labor was always scarce.

Everything is organically related to each other in every industry. The conclusion is that manpower is still lacking.

“It’s true what the head of education says. I’m not saying I’m going to send a lot of people to school right away. First, I’ll make schools in each village and then give basic education such as reading and writing, arithmetic, etc. to adults first. One or two days a week, only a few hours after work.”

“Hmm. Will they stop going to school when their education is over?”

“That’s right. If they have more willingness to learn, I’ll make it possible for them to learn more deeply.”

The ultimate goal was obviously compulsory education. But it was hard to do that now. He intended to educate those who had a passion for learning more deeply.

Smart Head understood Kim Ki-woo’s words. 

If things went as Kim Ki-woo said, although their knowledge would be shallow, most of the tribespeople would know how to read and write and do arithmetic in time.

“The important thing is to sow the seeds of education first. We have to reduce the number of blind tribespeople as much as possible, don’t we? There will be more contracts and such things in the future. And I’ll pick mostly women as teachers for the school, so it won’t interfere with other work.”

“Women?”

“They’re doing things that don’t require much strength now, right? Being a teacher requires less strength than that.”

“That makes sense.”

This would be the start of an educational policy worthy of the education department…

‘Wait.’

A thought crossed Smart Head’s mind for a moment.

“Do we have to decide when and how to send hundreds of thousands of tribespeople to school and arrange them in the education department?”

“Well, well… wouldn’t we have to?”

“No, we haven’t even done a proper census yet…”

“That’s something the administration department will do soon. Take the list they surveyed and arrange it well in the education department. Before that, I’ll pick some women for you first, so train them well as teachers.”

“…”

Smart Head’s face soured. He realized why Kim Ki-woo had called him separately. It was something he could have announced at a tribal meeting.

Smart Head unconsciously looked at his son, Straight Tree, who was standing next to Kim Ki-woo.

But Straight Tree just shook his fist once as if to cheer him up.

‘You, you…’

He felt a chill down his spine.

At that moment, he sensed it.

The good days were already over.

< Metal Type and School > End