American: Native Empire

Chapter 21 < The Reason for the Expedition >

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. You know how the Grand Chief always encourages the craftsmen to create something new, right?”

“But I’m not a craftsman…”

“Who was born a craftsman? You can become one too.”

“Hmm.”

He was not entirely uninterested in becoming a craftsman, so his wife’s words intrigued him.

Of course, he knew that to become a craftsman, he had to enter as an apprentice and endure hardships, so he didn’t bother to try.

The experienced miller thought carefully and soon made up his mind.

“Okay. Let’s try to make it. If it doesn’t work, well, it just wasn’t meant to be, right?”

“You made a good decision, honey.”

From that day on, every night, the couple wondered and pondered how they could make a device that could grind grains automatically.

One day.

“What if we use the water from the river?”

“Huh? The water from the river?”

“Yes. The river always flows, right? We can use the power of the fast-flowing water.”

“Is that possible?”

He doubted it, but it was a convincing suggestion.

After that day, they drew their imagined device on paper in various ways.

Time flew by quickly.

Their efforts did not betray them. They finally drew something quite plausible.

“We did it! We can make this!”

Having worked at the mill for a long time, the experienced miller could tell at a glance.

If it was made according to plan, he could grind grains much more easily than now.

After that, the couple ran to the carpentry shop where their friend from the same tribe worked.

“You want me to make this? What are you going to use it for?”

“Well…”

Bright Starlight listened to his friend’s words quietly. At first, he thought it was a nonsense story, but as he listened, it seemed quite credible.

“What do you think?”

“This…”

He said with sparkling eyes.

“It seems possible?”

From that day on, they started to make an experimental device.

And the day they saw the potential of their device with their own eyes.

The experienced miller boldly quit his job at the mill. His wife also quit her job as a middle school teacher.

That’s how the first waterwheel was born, not by Kim Ki-woo’s order, but by the suggestion of a tribal member.

And later on, the experienced miller left a big mark in the history of the empire as a great craftsman who made various devices including waterwheels, and the giant palm that had laughed at his words ended his life as a worker in the flour factory made by the experienced miller.

*

“Huh…”

Kim Ki-woo read the report and marveled again and again.

‘I didn’t expect such an awake tribal member to appear so soon.’

Quite a variety of experimental devices were being made around the craftsmen.

But none of them had as much success as the couple who invented the waterwheel.

He had been busy without a break. That’s why the introduction of the waterwheel was delayed.

Of course, he was planning to invent the waterwheel soon enough.

But they had already made a waterwheel without him even teaching them the concept.

Although he could see that there were many parts that needed to be modified in this design.

‘It’s a very good phenomenon.’

This was a very positive sign.

If Kim Ki-woo himself ordered everything to be made, it would be faster.

And most of the work in the future would have to be done that way.

Kim Ki-woo came back to the past with modern science. And he also had an obligation to develop civilization as fast as possible.

But if people rely on him for everything and only do what he tells them to do, it will slow down development. Kim Ki-woo’s daily workload is limited.

He didn’t have enough time in the first place. Otherwise, he would have been the first designer of the waterwheel himself.

The more people put their heads together, the faster development will be. Isn’t modern development at an unbelievable speed because information circulates quickly?

If there are more people like this couple who made the waterwheel, he will be more comfortable and naturally accelerate civilization development.

“I have to reward this couple who invented this device called waterwheel greatly.”

If he rewards such people generously, more people will try creative things in the future.

“Is this really that amazing?”

“It is amazing. It saves labor, doesn’t it? Look at this design. It uses water to turn an axle and grind grains easily.”

“That would make grinding grains easier.”

“This is just the beginning. There are many things we can do with this waterwheel. As long as the water flows, the power will continue to be generated.”

“Is that so?”

“Look at this design. It uses water to turn an axle and grind grains easily. Not only that, we can use this power for spinning and weaving, which we now do by hand. And what about the fulling process that is needed for ironmaking? We can make it stronger and more uniform with the waterwheel. That will improve the quality of iron.”

“…Ah!”

Only then did Straight Tree open his eyes wide.

“There are many other possible uses. Like grinding limestone or rock salt into powder. Think about it when you have time. Later on, not only hydropower but various other powers will be used…”

Kim Ki-woo’s modern civilization flashed through his mind.

“Someday, the world will develop dazzlingly.”

“Hmm…”

He had lived in a world changed by such energy.

Kim Ki-woo looked at Straight Tree, who was puzzled by his words, and smiled softly.

*

“One couple per household is the law. Haven’t we been enforcing this on the tribal members until now? No matter how much it is the Grand chief’s marriage problem, we cannot deviate from this principle.”

“But the Grand chief will become the supreme ruler of the nation that will be established in the future. To prepare for something too fearful to mention, he must strengthen his heirs.”

“Hey, how can you say that the Grand Chief is wrong so easily?”

“It is an important issue that determines the future of the nation. How can you think so emotionally?”

“Emotionally? It is a very rational judgment. The law must be strict. There should be no exceptions!”

Kim Ki-woo clasped his forehead as he listened to the argument between the chief justice and the agriculture director.

They were not yet fighting like factional politics, dividing into completely different sides, but when there was a disagreement, they temporarily split into supporters and opponents and argued fiercely.

It was the same everywhere where people lived. Later on, they would split into factions according to their values.

‘I don’t want to marry multiple women.’

What good would it do to increase his wives unnecessarily? Kim Ki-woo had no dream of a harem.

If he did, he would have acted on it long ago.

‘And I’m already strongly enforcing the monogamy policy, so there’s no need to scratch a scab.’

The seeds of the surrounding tribes had dried up long ago. That is, all the tribes that were close to the Creek tribe had been subjugated.

As a result, he had to go as far as distant tribes to increase his tribal members.

The farther away they were, the more different their cultures were.

The marriage customs were also different.

Some places practiced monogamy or polygamy, but some tribes did not marry and only had relations with outstanding warriors when they conceived children.

‘That’s unacceptable.’

Kim Ki-woo had no intention of tolerating any marriage system other than monogamy.

Of course, there were exceptions for those who were already married to multiple wives. He couldn’t force them to divorce just to comply with the law.

The best thing was to prevent such cases from happening in the future.

Unless there was a big war, the sex ratio would naturally balance out.

If he allowed polygamy, there might be more bachelors. Kim Ki-woo, who was already a bachelor himself, didn’t want such men to exist.

“Stop.”

Kim Ki-woo stopped the argument between the chief justice and the agriculture director.

“Agriculture director.”

“Yes.”

“I understand your intention. It is true that stability of heirs is essential if we want to establish a nation that will last for generations. But the law must be strict. The leader of a country cannot arbitrarily violate the law that is being enforced.”

“But…”

“Follow me and the chief justice on matters related to law.”

The nation that would be established in the future was based on rule of law.

Of course, it was a blindfolded lie. The legislative power was in the executive branch. That is, Kim Ki-woo.

And he also held the personnel rights of major positions. He could easily amend the law if it bothered him.

But he had to keep up appearances of complying with the law. If even the emperor violated the law, who would trust it?

‘And I’m going to be emperor for a very long time.’

The directors who agreed with the agriculture director had a clear idea. They had to prepare for when Kim Ki-woo died unavoidably.

That concern was reasonable.

He could easily find out from the history of continental Europe.

When a monarch founded a country, it usually went well.

The problem occurred after the death of the founding monarch.

‘The kings of the later generations can never have the same prestige as the founding monarch.’

The famous Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty and Alexander the Great of the Macedonian Empire were examples.

They had something in common with Kim Ki-woo.

They invaded and absorbed many groups based on their own power. In other words, it meant that they could easily collapse.

That’s why the agriculture director argued that Kim Ki-woo should have as many children as possible and entrust the future to the most wise child.

But Kim Ki-woo planned to rule for a long time as the founding monarch.

In other words, unless Kim Ki-woo died in an accident, his country would not collapse so easily like theirs.

‘And it’s not like the agriculture director’s idea is right.’

Qin Shi Huang, Alexander the Great, and other conquerors had many women.

Yet their countries were divided or destroyed after their deaths.

It was often because they had too many children.

They fought each other to become the emperor.

There were pros and cons to everything.

“…If that’s what the Grand Chief wants, I guess we can’t help it.”

“Don’t be too upset.”

“I understand.”

The agriculture director realized that he couldn’t change Kim Ki-woo’s mind and stepped back.

Kim Ki-woo moved on to the next issue.

“Education director.”

“Yes, chief.”

“Is the establishment of the press bureau going well?”

“Don’t worry. We will be able to publish newspapers regularly soon.”

“Good. Pay as much attention as possible until the press bureau is established.”

“Of course.”

The education director’s face was very calm. He had turned pale when he was ordered to make newspapers a while ago.

‘He must have thought I would dump the newspaper production on the education department.’

Making regular publications with metal type? And the main purpose is to teach language to the tribal members?

Doesn’t it sound like something for the education department?

But Kim Ki-woo had a conscience.

He worked his staff like modern slaves, but he didn’t push them to the point of paralysis.

That’s why he established an independent agency called the press bureau. 

Of course, the education department was in charge of the establishment process, but it was a different story from taking over the whole work.

Kim Ki-woo decided to skip over anything related to newspapers for now.

“Military director.”

“Tell me.”

“Is the expedition preparation going well?”

“Yes. The training is all done, and we just need to solve the supply problem.”

“Hmm. Supply is always a problem. Just prepare as much as you can, and get the rest locally. It’s our first sea expedition, so we have to be well prepared.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The military director bowed his head with a solemn expression.

The expedition being discussed was different from the previous North American expeditions.

The destination was South America.

‘We can’t go by land.’

The road from North America to Aztec was rough enough. But below that, from modern Guatemala to Colombia, it was a rugged tropical isthmus. So going through Aztec to Andes was practically impossible.

That’s why there had been no trade between North and South America until now. That’s why llamas didn’t spread to North America.

‘Well, we have no choice but to go by boat.’

For this, he made a compass and taught them navigation skills quickly. But this was their first ocean voyage.

No matter how hard Kim Ki-woo tried, he couldn’t prevent various accidents. Many lives might be lost in this process.

‘But we have to do it.’

Even at this moment, roads were being paved steadily. To use them properly, he needed animals that could pull carts.

Unless he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and went to Europe and brought back horses or cows, there was no animal that could replace them except llamas.

In other words, there was only one purpose for this expedition.

To secure llamas.