Chapter 175: Feedback (4)
Since it was Sejong's command, Hyang diligently sought a solution.
The first person Hyang sought was Yi Cheon, who was in charge of managing District 51.
"Are you speaking of beacon fires?"
"Yes. Beacon fires use fire and smoke, but they cannot be used during rain, can they?"
"That is true."
"In such cases, how do you notify others?"
At Hyang's words, Yi Cheon stroked his beard while searching through related memories.
"Hmm... According to my memory, I heard that they raise white or red flags on tall poles to substitute for beacon fires."
"Is that so? Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Returning to his office, Hyang tapped his desk with his fingers and muttered.
"This is truly troublesome. If there were telegraphs, I could at least tap out Morse code. This..."
Hyang suddenly stopped speaking. Opening his eyes as wide as possible, Hyang chewed over his own words.
"Morse code? Code? Code?"
Bang!
Suddenly rising from his seat, Hyang ran to the wall where maps were hanging.
"The positions of Jins and Guarisons, and military barracks..."
"The positions of each local government office..."
Hyang's face brightened as he muttered while pointing here and there on the map with his finger.
"I found it!"
* * *
Five days later, Hyang visited Geunjeongjeon with a bright face.
"So, what brings you here today? Seeing your bright face, it seems like good news."
At Sejong's words, Hyang answered with a broad smile.
"That is correct, Your Majesty."
"Is that so? What good thing has made our Crown Prince smile?"
"I have resolved the communication problem you ordered me to solve a few days ago."
At Hyang's answer, Sejong's face brightened.
"Really?"
"Yes. Court attendant, hang that up."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The court attendant who had followed Hyang's order hung a wall chart on a stand placed in one corner of Geunjeongjeon.
Standing beside the map, Hyang began explaining to Sejong and the ministers.
"On this map, the red dots are the military barracks and naval headquarters installed throughout Joseon. The blue dots are the Jin-guan established through this military reform. And the green dots are the relay stations across the country."
"I see."
At Hyang's explanation, Sejong and the ministers nodded, but their faces were full of the question 'so what?'
Seeing such expressions, Hyang flipped the wall chart and continued his explanation. On the second map, red and blue lines were drawn crisscrossing.
"As you can see from this map, if we connect the military barracks, naval headquarters, Jin-guan, and relay stations, we can connect the entire region of Joseon."
"That is true. Your words seem to suggest communicating through such connections, but aren't we already doing that? The problem is that the speed is slow, so we use beacon fires as an improvement measure, but the difficulty is that with beacon fires alone, it's hard to know in detail what has happened."
At Sejong's point, Hyang nodded.
"That's correct. That is exactly the part I pointed out. What I wish to present is that rapid communication is possible through this connection network."
Hyang flipped the paper of the wall chart and showed the third map to Sejong and the ministers. On the third map, two-digit numbers were written on the military barracks and naval headquarters of each province.
"We designate the capital Hanyang as 0 and assign two-digit numbers to the military barracks and naval headquarters of each province. Then we assign two-digit numbers again to the Jin-guan on that command line. We also assign two-digit numbers to the towns near the Jin-guan. This way, we can identify which region it is with six numbers."
"Oh?"
Sejong, whose face had been full of doubt until then, twinkled his eyes and straightened his posture.
"I see. With six digits like that, you can immediately know where it is. So? You're not suggesting delivering that with beacon fires, are you? To do that, the number of beacon towers would need to increase too much right now."
"That's correct. To deliver not only the region but also the content, the fire pits of the beacon towers would need far more than the current five."
"Exactly."
"Therefore, I propose building watchtowers along the relay stations I mentioned earlier."
"Build watchtowers?"
"Yes, building watchtowers at 5-li (2km) intervals to deliver content through hand signals."
"Hand signals?"
At Hyang's words, Sejong tilted his head, and Jo Mal-saeng made a somewhat ambiguous expression.
"I have certainly heard that the navy sends signals with flags."
"Similar, but different."
Answering Jo Mal-saeng's remark, Hyang flipped the paper.
On the fourth paper, four-digit number combinations for various situations were written.
"Starting with 1111 indicating all clear, through combinations of numbers, we can know not only enemy invasions but also their scale, and can immediately report the occurrence of natural disasters and epidemics."
"That's not bad. It's not bad, but... It's a total of 10 digits. Are you saying to deliver this using watchtowers? How?"
At Sejong's point, all the ministers nodded. At Sejong's question, Hyang answered with a confident face.
"Two flags are enough."
"Two flags?"
"I have prepared a demonstration in the front courtyard of Geunjeongjeon."
"Is that so? Let's all go see."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At Hyang's words, Sejong came down from the dais and walked with long strides. Following behind Sejong, the ministers also moved.
* * *
As Sejong and the ministers, full of curiosity, appeared in the front courtyard of Geunjeongjeon, the soldiers and military officers waiting there all saluted at once.
"Salute!"
"Loyalty!"
"You have worked hard."
At Sejong's return salute, when the military officers and soldiers straightened their postures, Sejong looked back at Hyang.
"Alright. I want to see how it's done."
"Yes. Proceed with the demonstration!"
"Yes! Signalmen, forward!"
At the military officer's command, four soldiers stepped forward holding flags in both hands. When the soldiers holding flags painted half red and half yellow in diagonal patterns in both hands lined up, the military officer gave the command.
"Prepare!"
At the military officer's command, the soldiers extended both hands holding the flags straight forward.
"One! Two! Three! Four!..."
Each time the military officer's command fell, the soldiers moved the flags held in both hands here and there to express numbers.
After confirming that all 10 numbers from 1 to 0 were expressed with flags, Sejong nodded.
"Certainly, with this method, all numbers can be expressed with just two flags. Hmm... Let me organize this. What the Crown Prince is thinking is to build watchtowers at 5-li intervals and place soldiers trained like that to communicate?"
"That's correct. We conduct regular communication every shi-jin unit, and when there is urgent news such as enemy invasion, we hoist a red flag at the top of the watchtower to signal an emergency and send hand signals to spread the content. Additionally, just in case, we station one horse at each watchtower."
At Hyang's explanation, Sejong nodded continuously.
"That's good. It's good."
When Sejong's praise came out, Yi Jik, standing behind, pointed out a problem.
"However, the size of the flags is small. Considering the distance of 5-li, wouldn't it be difficult to confirm?"
At Yi Jik's point, Jo Mal-saeng stepped forward on Hyang's behalf.
"No, it is sufficiently possible. With the large telescopes that the navy uses on warships, even 10-li is possible."
"Is that so?"
"It is."
After answering Yi Jik, Jo Mal-saeng bowed to Sejong and spoke.
"Your Majesty! Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince insisted on 5-li, considering the deployment and operation of soldiers, that interval is too narrow. I believe that with the large telescopes used by the navy, discrimination would be sufficiently possible even at a distance of 10-li."
"Hmm... 10-li..."
At Jo Mal-saeng's words, Sejong stroked his beard and fell into thought.
'Certainly, training soldiers and maintaining facilities all cost money. It would be good to spend as little money as possible, but there's no way the Crown Prince, this fellow, wouldn't have thought of that...'
After pondering for a while, Sejong reached a conclusion.
"The Ministry of War shall test the telescopes used by the Land Defense Forces and the Naval Forces to determine which is more useful. Also, test what distance between watchtowers is most appropriate and report back."
"I receive your command!"
At Sejong's command, Jo Mal-saeng answered excitedly. It was because thanks to Hyang, work had increased, but a very good high-speed communication method had been created for the military.
* * *
Returning to Geunjeongjeon and ascending the dais, Sejong looked at the ministers.
"Though I have given the command to the Ministry of War, I wish to hear your judgments."
The first to answer Sejong's question was Heo Jo.
"Your subject, Minister of Personnel Heo Jo, reports to Your Majesty. I believe the method proposed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is truly a useful method. Even excluding wartime, for things like epidemics or disasters, the faster the response, the more we can reduce damage. If we use the method proposed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, response at a speed incomparable to now is possible."
"Is that so? Any other opinions?"
At Sejong's question, Prime Minister Yi Jik stepped forward.
"I believe the proposal presented by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the optimal method."
With the Prime Minister, the head of the ministers, stepping forward to agree, the situation seemed to be concluded. No, it almost ended.
The Chief Inspector, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, stepped forward.
"Your Majesty. I have one question for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Please grant permission."
"Chief Inspector? Granted~. It has been a while since we heard the Chief Inspector's words. I will permit it."
"I am deeply grateful for your grace."
Having received permission, the Chief Inspector looked at Hyang and asked.
"I have something I wish to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Yes, I will listen carefully."
At the Chief Inspector's words, Hyang straightened his posture with great tension. After all, the representative figures of 'strictness' were this Chief Inspector and the Chief State Councillor.
After hearing Hyang's answer, the Chief Inspector slowly opened his mouth.
"I do not know military strategy well, nor do I know much about instruments. However, I understand well the usefulness of what His Royal Highness spoke of today."
'Huh? Sudden praise?'
At the Chief Inspector's praise, not only Hyang himself but also Sejong and all the ministers looked at the Chief Inspector with surprised eyes.
To say again, the representative figure of 'strictness' was the Chief Inspector. He was someone who, if there was even the slightest problem, would bite and hold on until the end.
That was why Hyang looked at the Chief Inspector with an even more tense face. Whether knowing Hyang's feelings or not, the Chief Inspector continued speaking.
"As I said again, I do not know much about instruments. Therefore, I ask Your Highness. Those flag signals are useful, but it is a method that must be seen and confirmed with human eyes. If fog forms, or during rain, or at night when flags cannot be confirmed with eyes, what should be done?"
"Ah!"
At the Chief Inspector's point, everyone in Geunjeongjeon made expressions of realization. Sejong looked at Hyang with eyes full of worry.
'Son!'
'It's within expected range!'
At the Chief Inspector's question, Hyang breathed a sigh of relief internally. After catching his breath for a moment, Hyang answered the Chief Inspector's question.
"As the Chief Inspector questioned, flag signals are certainly difficult in situations such as fog, rain, or night."
"Then, is there an alternative?"
"It is currently being researched. The reason I did not bring it out now was because the plan to build watchtowers first needed to be decided for this to continue."
"Is that so? You mean there is an alternative?"
"That is correct."
At Hyang's answer, the Chief Inspector bowed to Sejong and opened his mouth.
"My curiosity has been resolved, so I have no further questions."
"Then do you also agree with the Crown Prince's proposal?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After hearing the Chief Inspector's answer, Sejong looked at the ministers.
"I will now reach a definite conclusion. The Ministry of War will conduct experiments as I commanded earlier, and the ministers of other ministries will construct communication watchtowers nationwide according to the results the Ministry of War will present."
"We receive your command!"
After hearing the ministers' answers, Sejong looked back at Hyang.
"Crown Prince, you have worked hard too. I hope to see even better results in the future."
At Sejong's instruction, Hyang bowed deeply.
"I receive your command!"
* * *
Returning to the Eastern Palace, Hyang loosened his stiff neck from tension and muttered.
"Teacher Samcheonpo, that gentleman was right. It's not that people in the past were stupid, but that they only appeared stupid because the amount of information they could obtain was small - those words are absolutely correct."