American: Native Empire - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: The Warring States Period.

There were many people in the empire who longed for a splendid life, just like the Brilliant Flower.

His life was written in countless books, and plays based on his adventures were still being performed at this very moment.

Thanks to that, there were many people who had a dream of having a thrilling and great adventure like the Brilliant Flower since they were young.

The swift rope was one of them.

“Father, mother. I will be leaving now.”

“Please take care of yourself… Sob!”

“Ugh, tsk!”

At the swift rope’s words, his mother wiped away her tears, but his father clicked his tongue as if he was displeased.

It couldn’t be helped.

His family was a prestigious clan.

They had been active as Kim Kiwoo’s aides since the Creek tribe era, and they were the clan that was founded by the far-seeing eye.

The far-seeing eye was very famous as the person who created the imperial power that was still used in the empire.

Thanks to that, the clan members had been active as scholars in various fields of study, including astronomy, for generations.

But the eldest son of the clan, the swift rope, had been stubborn about doing something completely different from what the clan wanted since he was young: he wanted to go on an adventure.

And now he was on the verge of achieving his goal.

“…Come back alive. If you feel it’s dangerous, run away. Do you understand?”

“Yes, father. I will definitely do that.”

The swift rope felt a deep paternal love in his father’s indifferent voice.

He knew it well.

The fact that his father loved him very much.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gathered the clan’s wealth and made a decent fleet for him.

He quickly turned around and left the house, feeling like tears would flow.

“Captain!”

“Are you ready?”

“Of course. There’s nothing missing, it’s perfect! We just need to set sail now.”

“Really?”

Even at his closest aide’s confident answer, the swift rope checked everything himself again with his own eyes: the status of the goods and the ship, and everything else.

It would be too late after going out to the vast sea.

“Good. Everything is ready as you said.”

“I told you so? Don’t you trust me? This is hurtful…”

“Who would I trust if not you? I just checked it out, don’t worry too much. Now, let’s get ready to sail.”

The fleet led by the swift rope consisted of five ships.

Thanks to his father’s full support, all the ships were steamships, and they were very large because they were of the latest model.

Soon after, the swift rope’s command was broadcasted to all the ships.

And after everything was ready, the voyage began in earnest.

‘I wonder what’s beyond that big sea in the west?’

The swift rope looked at the horizon of the Pacific Ocean and wondered.

He had only sailed across the Atlantic Ocean so far, and not much was known about what was beyond the Pacific Ocean.

Of course, there was some information about the East that came from Europe, but it was too vague.

So he had to explore it himself with his own hands.

‘I will reveal many things with my own hands, just like Mr. Brilliant Flower.’

Right now, he had more curiosity than making money.

***

The place where the swift rope’s fleet departed was near the western part of North Continent, California region.

The port area there was also quite developed, so it was good to start sailing.

Most importantly, since the latitude was similar, the climate would be similar too, so he made that decision.

The fleet maintained that latitude and headed eastward across the sea, and then eastward again.

Since they ran the steam engine from time to time and quickly sailed across the sea, their speed was much faster than ordinary ships.

Thanks to that, they were able to cross the Pacific Ocean faster than expected.

This is how it looks after my editing:

Suddenly, a cry rang out.

“Land, land ahoy!”

“What? Is that true?”

At last, beyond the horizon, the sight of land that they had longed and wished for finally came into view.

Nareul, who had been resting in his cabin, quickly ran out to the deck when he heard the news.

He took a telescope from a sailor and checked the direction they were pointing at.

‘It’s real! It’s land!’

He felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight that was both unfamiliar and familiar.

He was overjoyed that they had crossed the vast sea without any major accidents on their first voyage.

“Wow!”

“We made it!”

As they got closer and closer, the coast became clearer and clearer.

All the sailors cheered.

Nareul regained his composure at their excited expressions.

He was the chief officer of the ship, after all.

“Don’t let your guard down, everyone. This is an unknown world. Anything can happen here. Stay at your posts and do your assigned tasks!”

At Nareul’s command, the atmosphere that had been boiling with excitement gradually calmed down.

And tension returned to the sailors’ eyes.

As they slowly approached the shore.

“Are those the natives who live here?”

“They’re out in droves. Haha!”

“Look at their faces. They’re so shocked they’re about to fall over.”

Nareul nodded at those words.

He looked around and saw that there were no ships here that could match their galleon, let alone anything smaller than that.

He couldn’t judge everything by this, but he could tell by their astonished faces that ships as big as theirs were not common here.

***

“What? A huge ship suddenly appeared?”

“Yes, that’s right…”

The news of Nareul’s ship’s arrival reached Hojo Ujitsuna, who ruled this region.

He was a powerful daimyo in Kanto, who inherited many lands from his father, Hojo Soun.

“Hmm…”

Hojo Ujitsuna found it hard to believe the report he received from his subordinate.

If it had been a few testimonies, he would have wanted to call it a lie, but there were too many people who saw the strange ship.

And his personality was originally cautious, so he never took this information lightly.

“I see. What did they say their purpose of visiting here was?”

“We couldn’t communicate well, but it seems like they came here for trade.”

“Trade, huh.”

“Yes. And… what they brought was also amazing. They had a lot of them on their big ship.”

“Really? Can I see them?”

“I was just about to bring you some samples they gave us.”

As his subordinate said, Hojo Ujitsuna was able to see the products of the Wakan Tanka Empire with his own eyes soon after.

And like his other subordinates, he was greatly surprised.

“These are amazing… They are better than what the Tang people (Chinese) brought.”

He exclaimed over and over again as he checked each sample.

The porcelain was very sturdy and elegant, and the cotton fabrics were very even and dense.

The most shocking thing was the white paper.

‘How do they make these?’

He had seen many papers in his life, but this was the first time he saw paper that was so white and uniform in quality.

But his joy was short-lived, and Hojo Ujitsuna’s face darkened.

‘…Can we afford to buy these?’

This was a time of war.

It was an era of constant wars with the surrounding dynasties.

He had built a large faction with his father’s and his own efforts, but he always had to work hard to become the true winner.

As a result, he had to maintain a lot of troops, and his finances were not very abundant.

He could not guarantee that the strange visitors who brought such precious things would be satisfied.

“First of all, treat them well. I will visit them myself soon.”

“You could have called them here.”

“I want to see their ships with my own eyes. Just do as I say.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

After that day, Hojo Ujitsuna’s visit was soon arranged.

He finished only the most necessary tasks and headed straight to the coast.

His curiosity was very strong.

“…They are much more amazing than I heard.”

“Indeed. How can such ships float on the sea?”

He looked at the five huge ships and understood very well why the witnesses were so excited.

“That must be him.”

Swift Rope, the leader of the empire, watched the natives’ actions closely and realized that Hojo Ujitsuna was their chief.

“They say he is the loser of this region’s warlords.”

“I see.”

The interpreter had learned some Japanese in a short time, and the other side’s envoy also learned some imperial language, so they could communicate to some extent.

After observing each other for a while, the leaders of the two factions approached each other.

And they introduced themselves.

“I am Swift Rope of the Wakan Tanka Empire.”

“I am Hojo Ujitsuna, the head of the Hozo clan.”

After introducing themselves, Hojo Ujitsuna asked.

“May I take a look around your ships?”

“Well, I don’t see why not. But you have to leave your warriors behind, except for a minimum escort.”

“What?”

As soon as Swift Rope’s demand was finished, a samurai who was guarding him grumbled.

But Hojo Ujitsuna raised his hand firmly.

“Back off. I will board the ship alone.”

“What if you board alone…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

At his firm words, Swift Rope was also slightly surprised.

He did not expect him to agree to leave even the minimum escort behind so easily.

“Can I look around the ship now?”

“Follow me.”

Then Hojo Ujitsuna followed Swift Rope onto the ship.

And he saw it.

A huge amount of trade goods piled up like mountains, coal, gunpowder, guns and other weapons, and even steam engines that he had never seen before.

“What are these?”

“These are steam engines. They make this ship move very fast.”

“What do you mean…?”

“If you want, I can show you.”

Hojo Ujitsuna could not refuse Swift Rope’s offer at all.

So he said yes.

Then the ship lifted its anchor and headed out to sea.

Not long after that.

Chiiik!

The steam engine that had finished preheating finally started to operate.

And it quickly accelerated, moving forward at a speed that Hojo Ujitsuna had never experienced before.

“…!”

This made a crack in his face that was always serious about everything.

“It’s really fast, isn’t it?”

“…Yes. So this is a steam engine.”

“Haha. As long as we have enough coal, we can travel very fast.”

Swift Rope explained the mechanism of the steamship briefly.

He also explained many other things about the empire, such as guns and steel cannons.

‘It’s really tempting.’

He wanted to take all these things away if he could.

But he soon gave up.

He had heard that the empire where they came from was a country that had developed so much that these ships were common.

If this fact became known to the empire, he would have no chance of resisting them.

But on the other hand…

‘This could be a great help in pacifying this chaos.’

Especially the guns and steel cannons they had were beyond imagination.

If he had those things, he could go beyond the Kanto region and become the true master of the whole country.

‘I have to get them on our side.’

A hot ambition began to rise in Hojo Ujitsuna’s chest.