Chapter 38

Chapter 38: < A Great Beginning. >

Ever since that day.

He had continued to experiment with different ratios of iron and carbon in the crucible to find the optimal steel.

Numerous experimental works were created, and many of them broke countless times during the experiment.

Some were too soft, and some were too brittle.

But as more data accumulated, he was able to find the most optimal ratio.

Based on the information he obtained, he finally started mass production of steel.

Clang! Clang!

“Phew… It’s really hard.”

“Is this really possible?”

“Haha. Aren’t you seeing it with your own eyes?”

The final test of the strength of the mass-produced steel.

Many craftsmen, including the head of industry, showed disbelief.

But they couldn’t deny what was clearly happening in front of their eyes.

‘Finally, I can mass-produce steel…’

Kim Ki-woo felt a new emotion.

When he first arrived on the American continent.

The level of civilization in North America was so dismal that it made him sigh. They didn’t even have iron tools.

But before he knew it, he had gone through wrought iron, cast iron, pig iron, and entered the era of steel.

‘Of course, the empire is still lacking.’

Kim Ki-woo had only built the backbone that would become the core of the empire.

He still had to add enough flesh to it over time.

But because of the backbone that Kim Ki-woo had built, they had made progress at an unimaginable speed.

If this trend continued, he felt that he could achieve his goal, his dream of advancing civilization.

Steel would surely add momentum to this trend that Kim Ki-woo didn’t expect.

As he thought about this, Kim Ki-woo’s chest became hot. He wanted to share this thrilling sensation with all the craftsmen.

“Attention everyone!”

He put his thoughts aside and shouted loudly.

The noisy atmosphere quickly subsided.

The eyes of the craftsmen were drawn to Kim Ki-woo.

Kim Ki-woo looked around at them and opened his mouth.

“You’ve all worked very hard for a long time. With this, we have completed steel, which will be the foundation of the Wakan Tanka Empire. From now on, instead of brittle iron, this hard steel will spread widely.”

Steel is called the rice of industry.

It means that it is absolutely necessary to raise an industry.

Although it still takes a lot of manpower and resources to produce steel, the steel in front of him was more than enough to justify it.

Of course, most of the steel would be poured into weapons for now.

But after the war ended, and as time passed, the power of steel would gradually become apparent.

Kim Ki-woo began to give a passionate speech.

“Steel will make the Wakan Tanka Empire even stronger! The enemies of the empire will despair at the terror of steel weapons, and steel will be used in many industries! How was all this leap possible? It was because of your hard work!”

“…!”

As Kim Ki-woo’s speech continued, a shiver began to rise from deep within their hearts.

“You have won a war that seemed impossible: making steel! Are there any great warriors elsewhere? I think you are truly great warriors!

Enjoy today’s precious victory! And do your best to win in the many wars that lie ahead! I will not spare my best support for you to do so!”

Kim Ki-woo calmed down his excitement for a moment. And he looked warmly at each craftsman.

“Will you all trust me and walk with me on this great journey?”

Kim Ki-woo’s words were over.

Then there was a silence that seemed to last forever.

But such a silence soon gave way to a huge cheer.

“Yes!”

“We will do so!”

“Woohoo!”

The craftsmen’s shouts erupted.

Kim Ki-woo smiled brightly as he heard the pleasant roar.

*

His purpose in going to the Black Sky was perfectly accomplished.

He no longer needed to be in the Black Sky. The rest would be taken care of by the craftsmen.

As soon as he decided that, Kim Ki-woo and his party left the Black Sky.

The return to the capital was relatively quiet. He had returned as secretly as possible to prevent any unnecessary noise.

When he entered the main gate of the palace.

“Your Majesty!”

Many heads of departments came out to greet Kim Ki-woo.

‘He really came back.’

Kim Ki-woo realized when he saw them.

That his long journey had come to an end.

“Haha. How have you all been?”

Kim Ki-woo briefly exchanged greetings with them.

‘He looks pale.’

There was a deep fatigue on their faces.

They must have had a hard time while Kim Ki-woo was away.

In fact, the heads of departments felt the absence of Kim Ki-woo painfully.

At this time, when the country had transitioned to a wartime system, the leader of the nation had left his seat.

Naturally, the workload of each department increased.

That’s why they welcomed Kim Ki-woo’s return so warmly.

“Welcome back.”

“Madam!”

As he entered the palace, Deep Lake was there.

Kim Ki-woo hugged Deep Lake tightly.

She had always been by his side since the founding of the nation.

This was the first time they had been apart for such a long time.

If the heads of departments missed Kim Ki-woo, Kim Ki-woo realized the presence of the empress during this time.

“Ouch, I seem to be too excited. Are you okay?”

Kim Ki-woo came to his senses. He had hugged her too tightly in his joy.

Deep Lake smiled and shook her head.

“My body is already healed. Please don’t worry about me, Your Majesty.”

“Is that so? Haha! That’s a relief.”

Deep Lake’s complexion was not bad. It was very different from her pale face before he left the capital.

After that, Kim Ki-woo had various conversations with Deep Lake as they entered the palace. It was very enjoyable because it was a long time since they had talked.

“How is the prince?”

“He is growing up healthy and well. See for yourself. He will surely welcome his father.”

But Deep Lake’s words were wrong.

The moment Kim Ki-woo took the prince from the nanny.

“Waaaaah! Waaah!”

The prince suddenly started crying and kicking as if he was very sad.

“Huh!”

He felt suddenly sad.

His father had gone through a lot of hardships in a faraway place…

But a more sad situation unfolded afterwards.

As soon as Deep Lake took the prince, his crying stopped abruptly.

Not only that, but he finally relaxed and smiled brightly.

“…”

Kim Ki-woo lost his words.

Was his arms so uncomfortable?

‘They say children are useless no matter how much you raise them.’

He didn’t expect to feel this way since he was a baby.

Deep Lake comforted Kim Ki-woo who looked dejected.

“It must be because he hasn’t seen you for a long time. Please don’t worry too much, Your Majesty.”

“…Thank you for saying that. Who can I blame? It’s my fault for not spending time with him.”

He felt that way, but when he saw the smiling face of the prince, his mood melted away.

‘I should pay more attention to my son.’

He was the emperor of the Wakan Tanka Empire.

He would surely be uncomfortable with him when he grew up.

But Kim Ki-woo didn’t want that to happen.

So he vowed to himself.

To spend more time with his son.

***

After returning to the capital, Kim Ki-woo rested for three days with his family.

He had accumulated fatigue unknowingly while traveling on his journey.

‘Time flies when you’re resting.’

He played with his son, spent intimate time with Deep Lake, and before he knew it, it was time to return to work.

“I heard your trip went well. I’m really happy for you, Your Majesty.”

“You’re amazing.”

“You’ve all worked hard too. You’ve managed the empire well without me. I wonder if I’m not needed anymore. Maybe I should go on a tour of other regions too.”

“Gasp!”

“What are you saying!”

The faces of the heads of departments turned pale. Kim Ki-woo’s reaction was much more intense than he expected.

“Haha. I’m kidding. Why are you so surprised?”

“Please don’t say such things even as a joke. My old heart can’t take it.”

He continued to chat with various heads of departments.

How much time had passed?

Finally, all the heads of departments entered the conference room.

“Well, let’s start the imperial conference.”

Kim Ki-woo’s declaration made the noisy conference room calm down in an instant.

The first issue that came up was money.

“Gold and silver from the Andes region are being used more and more.”

“That’s right. At least in the vicinity of the capital and the coastal region, people are used to buying things with gold and silver.”

It was a rather welcome news.

Of course, the currency issued by the state was not yet in circulation.

But gold and silver themselves were slowly taking on the role of money.

Gold and silver had value in themselves, and were rare, thanks to that perception.

‘It was too inconvenient to trade goods for goods until now.’

To buy grain, one had to carry around things of equal value and exchange them.

How inconvenient was that?

Compared to that, precious metals like gold and silver could easily buy such things with a small amount.

And they were also intuitive.

Above all…

‘The newspaper mentioned several times that gold and silver were minted as currency.’

In other words, it was almost like the state guaranteed the value of gold and silver.

In fact, these days, the state allowed people to receive their wages in gold or silver.

‘Even if I release the currency to the public, it’s useless if they don’t use it as money.’

But while going through this process, the people were naturally learning how to use money.

When the people became familiar enough with this situation and enough gold and silver were imported.

The imperial currency with Kim Ki-woo’s face on it would reveal itself to the world.

“Let’s pay more attention to maintaining this trend in the Commerce Department.”

“We will do so.”

After that, Kim Ki-woo moved on to the next issue.

“Minister of Internal Affairs.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How is the state budget?”

“It’s not as bad as you worry, Your Majesty. Since the trade with the Andes began, we have never reached a dangerous level.”

Kim Ki-woo was slightly relieved at the minister’s words.

‘It was painful to stop all the construction work, but there was no choice.’

He had stopped construction work such as paving roads when he entered a wartime system.

He couldn’t maintain such work while fighting a war.

‘Because of the conscription, there is a shortage of people.’

Kim Ki-woo had stipulated in the constitution since he founded the Wakan Tanka Empire that there was a duty of national defense.

The content was as follows.

When the empire enters a wartime system, the people must serve the empire according to the state’s conscription order.

Also, those who are not conscripted by the empire must pay a fixed defense tax to the empire.

That is, a military system that maintains conscripted troops with defense taxes from other people.

Did he pay extra wages to those who were conscripted?

‘No way.’

He couldn’t afford it with his current financial situation.

It was literally conscription.

He just provided them with daily food and basic necessities, as well as weapons and armor based on defense taxes.

Thanks to this, he was able to recruit a lot of troops while maintaining the state budget.

Anyway, the important thing was that they were all valuable laborers of the empire.

‘They were all conscripted at once…’

Naturally, screams began to erupt from various industrial sites.

He recruited as many workers as possible from the tribes in the coastal region, but there was a limit to this.

Eventually, until the war ended and everything was settled, work such as paving roads had to be temporarily suspended.

But not all industries were like this.

Some industries were even more active.

For example, ironmaking, steelmaking…

‘And shipyards.’

The shipyards that built ships increased even more, and are still increasing.

There was only one reason for this.

He needed more ships.

‘He couldn’t march the conscripted warriors all the way to where the Aztecs were.’

It was very difficult from the mainland of the empire to where the Aztecs were. It was far away too.

Marching them along that road?

There was no crazier thing. He couldn’t afford it either.

He obviously needed ships to carry troops and war materials.

He had already built many ships during this time, but more ships were better than less ships.

“Things are going well now, but you never know when variables will occur. Let’s try to maintain our finances as we are now.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

This way, preparations for war were progressing smoothly in the Wakan Tanka Empire.

< A Great Beginning. > The End