Chapter 83

Chapter 83: The First Exchange.

The imperial army’s vanguard returned to the mainland.

“Wow!”

The imperial citizens cheered enthusiastically whenever they marched.

After the reform ceremony and Kim Ki-woo’s victory declaration, a victory celebration followed.

The instigators of this incident were subjected to a very terrible pain according to Kim Ki-woo’s will, and then disappeared as dew on the gallows.

And the prisoners who came in one after another were put into various despised works.

Most of the things were settled like this, but there was still an important problem left.

“What are you going to do?”

“Hmm.”

Kim Ki-woo stroked his chin as he received the eyes of the chiefs.

‘Land…’

It was a very sensitive issue.

The area occupied by this war was still occupied by the imperial army.

Of course, they could continue to occupy it as they are now.

But this was not a very good choice.

‘It’s too far away.’

There were many forces in between the direct territory and the occupied area.

Therefore, Kim Ki-woo did not consider this much.

It was one of two things in the end.

‘Either exchange land with nearby tribes or sell it for money.’

Anyway, there was nothing else that other forces did in this war.

That is, there was no chance to get a spoon in the Aztec destruction war like last time.

Then it was natural to think about the benefits to be gained while disposing of this area.

But the former was also difficult to choose.

“Are they still the same?”

“Yes. They are adamant even though we offered them much larger land.”

At that answer, Kim Ki-woo looked at the map of the central continent spread out.

The size of the direct territory shown on the map was definitely wider than before.

This was because there were places among the surrounding forces that had given up their land as a whole and became naturalized to the empire with all their residents.

But this was only a part, and most of the forces were living on while enjoying the advantage of being close to the direct territory.

Even considering that residents are periodically naturalized to the empire, the leaders of these forces were satisfied with being attached to the direct territory.

They made a lot of money by providing labor to the direct territory, and accumulated a lot of wealth by buying industrial goods from the empire and reselling them to other regions.

Thanks to this, they made more money than any other region in the entire region.

‘There is no reason to move to a distant area for no reason.’

These guys were writers who wanted to make more money and had no intention of naturalizing to the empire.

Therefore, this also did not seem very promising.

“It seems that there is no way but to sell that area.”

“We also think that’s the best.”

There was plenty of land on the mainland anyway.

There weren’t enough people, but there wasn’t enough land.

Therefore, Kim Ki-woo and the chiefs did not care much about a small piece of land on the central continent.

“Then let’s prepare in the direction of selling land.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

***

After this matter was finally decided at the imperial conference, the news of selling off the occupied area spread quickly.

Naturally, the surrounding forces who coveted the occupied area showed great interest.

They ran to the imperial envoy in the occupied area and asked about how to sell it.

“We will buy this much land! How much money do you want?”

“Hey! This is our share! Look for another place!”

“Why do you decide that!”

As many people who wanted an occupied area gathered, the room became noisy in an instant.

It was a natural sight, in a way.

There were better areas within the occupied territory.

Areas that included more mines and farmlands, and that were adjacent to their own. 

They had to acquire those areas to gain more power.

The Reaper, who had been watching this conflict escalate, slammed his desk.

“Please be quiet, everyone. You are not here to fight, are you?”

The Reaper shouted loudly, and the noise gradually subsided.

He continued his speech.

“The method of selling the occupied territory has already been decided. So there is nothing you can gain by asking us.”

“What is that method?”

“Ha ha. I was about to explain it to you. The method is simple. Look at this map…”

The Reaper unfolded a new map and pointed to the occupied territory with a long and thin wooden stick.

The map showed the various regions of the occupied territory, divided into small pieces and numbered.

“The sale will proceed from the lowest number marked here. Any faction that wants to buy the territory can participate from anywhere, and we will sell the region to the one who offers the highest price.”

“What if someone else offers a higher price than me?”

“Then you have to offer a higher price. Isn’t it simple?”

“Ah…”

Most of the people realized the auction method from his words.

The Reaper explained more about the auction method and precautions, and then uttered his last words.

“One month from now, we will conduct the sale of the occupied territory here. So please think carefully before you come.”

After that, they returned to their bases and informed everyone of this.

Then, long discussions began in various regions.

“We have to take this place. No matter how much we have to offer!”

“Hmm… But what if they offer a lot more on the other side?”

“We must make this place our land, even if we have to borrow money from those who are not interested in this sale!”

“They will surely demand a huge interest…”

“It’s worth it if we can get the precious metals from this region. You have to look at the big picture. Don’t you agree?”

That’s how some people suggested borrowing money.

And some actually borrowed money at a very high interest rate.

It was possible because the factions that were far away from the occupied territory did not participate in the auction.

A month passed like that.

Finally, the auction took place.

As the auction went on, many people’s faces turned pale.

Especially because the prices of the main regions went sky-high.

“Oh, my…”

“Isn’t this too expensive?”

But regardless of how some people felt or said, they kept raising their hands with the money they had gathered.

Thus, all the lands were sold at high prices.

‘Ha ha. I knew that the local nobles had accumulated wealth by exploiting a lot, but they sure have a lot.’

Kim Ki-woo looked at the final prices with a sneer.

‘Thanks to them, I’ll get a lot of help with my finances.’

The proceeds from selling the occupied territory were entirely used as funds to develop the empire’s industry.

***

Meanwhile, the expeditionary force that went to Europe split into ten squads and landed in their target areas.

“What is that ship?”

When they saw a large ship they had never seen before entering their port, curiosity filled the faces of the local residents.

And finally, after the ship docked at the port, a historic first exchange took place.

The Wakan Tanka’s sailors set foot on European soil for the first time.

“…Are those pale-skinned ones really human?”

“Eek… I feel bad.”

“Shh. Don’t say that.”

“Hey. Don’t worry about it. They won’t understand the imperial standard language anyway.”

The sailors chatted with each other as they looked at the white people who came to greet them.

The splendid captain warned them.

“Be quiet. We are not here for fun.”

“Haha. Yes! We will be quiet.”

The splendid captain then approached the unfamiliar white people.

“Where are you from?”

The man asked, looking at the sailors who seemed to be Indians but had slightly different appearances.

However, the splendid captain, who did not know any European languages, could not understand him.

He just made a gesture that he did not understand.

The man muttered in disbelief.

“Huh, they seem to be here for trade, but they don’t have a single interpreter.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

It was possible that the interpreter had died during the voyage.

But body language was a universal language, so some basic communication was possible.

The man understood that they came to buy and sell goods and made a gesture for them to show their goods.

“Bring them out.”

“Yes.”

The splendid captain ordered the crew to bring out the samples.

Soon after.

The imperial products were finally introduced to the Europeans.

“Oh!”

“How beautiful these porcelain are!”

“Wow… They are very exotic.”

“This, this is sugar?”

The men exclaimed as they saw the porcelain, cloth, art pieces, sugar and other goods.

Thanks to that, their eyes changed 180 degrees from when they first met the imperial sailors.

“This is amazing!”

The men treated the splendid captain and the imperial sailors very well.

They invited them to their city, but the splendid captain firmly refused.

Kim Ki-woo had told him to avoid contact as much as possible.

After that, the splendid captain and the sailors stayed on the anchored ship and learned the local language.

After learning some of the language.

“Where did you come from?”

The men asked the splendid captain and the sailors, but

“We came from a faraway country in the east.”

“The east?”

“You probably won’t know it even if we tell you.”

They evaded like that.

Kim Ki-woo had warned them not to tell the exact location of the empire.

“This place is called Ireland.”

They also learned the name of this island, its current situation, and that it was 1485 according to their calendar.

The splendid captain clicked his tongue as he heard about the chaotic situation in Europe from the people on this island.

“This place is very noisy.”

He thought of the Andes region, where a fierce war had been fought until recently.

“Sigh…”

And he was amazed by the new livestock such as horses, cows, and sheep.

“That’s amazing.”

He finally realized why Kim Ki-woo had told him to bring back new livestock from the new continent.

The splendid captain sold his goods and bought livestock, various books, and useful items.

After finishing all this, the splendid wildflower felt a deep regret.

“Is it time to go… I wish I could see more places.”

“Can’t we stay a little longer?”

“That’s impossible. That would be disobeying His Majesty’s order. It’s unfortunate, but we have to stop here.”

“Hmm… I understand.”

The splendid wildflower and the imperial sailors left behind their attachment and departed from the island’s port.

And they began to cross the Atlantic Ocean again.

***

Of course, not all squads were in the same situation.

Bang! Crash!

“Damn. What kind of pirates are so many!”

Due to the chaotic situation in Europe, there were pirate attacks everywhere.

But they couldn’t penetrate the three ships.

Because of the superiority of cannons and guns.

Of course, it would have been different if countless pirate fleets had attacked at the same time, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

And…

“Ugh!”

“Hack… Hurrk!”

They avoided contact with people as much as possible, but there were squads that spread the plague while learning about letters, surroundings, history, and trading goods.

“I’m sorry… I hope you rest well in the arms of the spirits.”

They sacrificed them as soon as the plague broke out.

Since they had already decided to do this in case of such a situation, the decision was quick.

But there were also squads that were in a state where most of the sailors had contracted the plague during the incubation period, and these squads suffered almost annihilation.

This is how the first visit to Europe ended with the death of many sailors.