American: Native Empire

Chapter 56: < The Plague and the Rule of Two. >

“I read your paper on the heliocentric theory that was recently published. It was very impressive. The astronomers played a big role in it.”

“Ha ha. The scholars at the university did more work than us.”

“You don’t have to be modest. Without the data that you observed at the observatory, we wouldn’t have been able to discover such important knowledge.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

The heliocentric theory that Kim Kiwoo mentioned was the theory that the planets in the solar system revolve around the sun.

In other words, it was the geocentric theory.

At the Imperial University, countless papers were being presented at this very moment.

Until now, Kim Kiwoo had compiled and disseminated basic knowledge to the empire, but now there was enough foundation knowledge.

Thanks to that, various papers were pouring out like crazy.

There were many absurd ones among them, but there were also quite a few important papers like the heliocentric theory.

The beginning of the heliocentric theory was when they found out that the earth was round.

Before civilization progressed, most of the imperial citizens believed that the earth was flat.

But this was not true.

The earth was round.

Kim Kiwoo also included this fact in the textbooks when he established the school.

‘It was easy to prove that the earth was round.’

You could tell for sure just by looking at how a ship approaching from beyond the horizon showed its sail first.

There was also a lunar eclipse.

With these examples, most of the imperial citizens learned that the earth was round.

Then came the geocentric theory. 

That is, the celestial motion theory.

The idea that since the earth was round, the sky would revolve around it.

But many scholars began to question this.

‘It didn’t make sense no matter how you thought about it.’

This was first raised by the astronomers who observed at the observatory.

They observed the surrounding planets every day with telescopes.

But if the sky revolved around the earth, the orbits of the planets were strange.

If the geocentric theory was correct, the planets should always move straight.

But sometimes they saw the planets moving backwards.

And two planets. 

That is, Mercury and Venus could not be observed at midnight.

If they revolved around the earth, they should have been observable at midnight as well.

Of course, they tried to explain these phenomena as much as possible, but there were too many unsatisfactory parts.

The astronomers’ thoughts soon spread widely among the scholars at the university. And they also began to question it.

‘It’s different from Europe here.’

This was possible because there was no reason why celestial motion theory had to be true as in the Bible, and there was no firmly established paradigm like Ptolemy’s claim.

After that, research was conducted based on countless data observed by astronomers so far.

As soon as research began, errors in geocentric theory continued to be discovered.

Venus sometimes had a full moon shape, and Jupiter’s satellites were discovered, etc.

These were decisive evidence that Earth was not the center of this universe.

On the other hand, mathematicians calculated with their heads and found that if planets revolved around sun, everything could be explained.

Of course, this assumed that other stars in sky were unimaginably far away.

‘In conclusion, celestial motion theory is now being abolished.’

Kim Kiwoo liked this situation very much.

It wasn’t because an incorrect theory had been refuted.

It was because he liked this process of questioning and hypothesizing and proving it mathematically.

It meant that scientific methodology that Kim Kiwoo had longed for had been properly transplanted into empire.

And by calculating movement of planets like this, physical thinking would naturally take root among mathematicians as well.

“Please keep up good work. Thanks to you, empire’s scholarship will develop further.”

“Thank you. But I have one question I’m curious about. Can I ask you?”

“Hmm?”

As he tried to end conversation, a question from Far-sighted Eyes flew in.

Kim Kiwoo nodded his head.

“Tell me. I’ll tell you what I know.”

“It’s not anything else, but you know story that’s making empire buzz these days.”

Where is there only one or two of those? 

He could think of six or seven just by thinking for a moment.

As if he noticed Kim Kiwoo’s question, Far-sighted Eyes went straight to point.

“It’s claim that there is another continent across sea.”

“Ah.”

Kim Kiwoo finally understood what Far-sighted Eyes wanted to ask him.

The claim that there was another continent on Earth was heating up academic world right now.

This was a natural question in a way.

It had been a long time since it became established fact that Earth was round.

And now, the imperial ships had sailed as far as the California region in the west.

This meant that they had roughly mapped out the coastline of this continent.

But the problem was, there was not much difference in the time zones between the east and west of the continent.

That implied that this huge continent was only a small part of the Earth.

‘Besides, we have recently calculated the radius of the Earth by using the shadow of the sun.’

Naturally, the scholars began to wonder about this.

Was there really nothing else on this vast Earth besides the Wakan Tanka continent?

Was there nothing but sea beyond the sea?

Wouldn’t that be a serious waste of space?

Or could there be other continents and islands where people lived across the sea?

These claims were being raised one after another.

And Kim Ki-woo knew the answer better than anyone else.

‘How could I not know?’

Kim Ki-woo was from a small peninsula on the other side of the sea.

And if he told them what he knew, most of the imperial citizens would believe him without question.

They had spread the perception that Kim Ki-woo’s words were the truth.

That’s why Kim Ki-woo couldn’t answer Wide Sky’s question easily.

“I’m afraid I don’t have anything to say about that.”

“…I see.”

Wide Sky’s face quickly turned gloomy.

He believed that Kim Ki-woo could see through many truths, and he hoped that he would reveal this truth as well.

“I’m sorry. I think I’ve caused you unnecessary trouble.”

“No, don’t worry about it too much.”

Their conversation ended like that.

Kim Ki-woo left Wide Sky behind and approached the crown prince who was observing the sky with great interest.

“Are you having fun?”

“Of course! With this telescope, I can see even the rough surface of the moon!”

“Haha. But don’t you think it’s time to go back?”

“What? Uh… I want to stay a little longer…”

The crown prince looked reluctant to leave.

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to come to the observatory for a while after today.

“You have to sleep early to grow taller. Besides, your mother wouldn’t like you staying out late.”

“…Alright.”

But the crown prince couldn’t go against Kim Ki-woo’s words.

***

The next day.

Kim Ki-woo called for his secretary as soon as he arrived at his office.

“Did you call me?”

“Yes. I heard there’s been a lot of talk about other continents lately. Can I see some related documents?”

“Yes. I’ll bring them right away.”

Kim Ki-woo fell into deep thought while waiting for his secretary to prepare the documents.

His thoughts had changed a bit lately.

The ships, navigation skills, and basic sciences were developing faster than he expected.

He wondered if it would be better to send ships directly from the empire before Columbus arrived, rather than waiting for him.

‘It won’t be long before we make a proper chronometer.’

Steel had appeared, and springs and gears had been made.

The most rapidly developing thing in the empire was none other than metal processing skills.

They were still using pendulum clocks, but they were steadily accumulating the technology to make spring clocks.

The chronometer would make ocean navigation possible.

“Your Majesty, I brought you the documents.”

Kim Ki-woo snapped out of his thoughts at his secretary’s voice.

He then skimmed through the documents.

‘As expected.’

The situation was not different from Kim Ki-woo’s prediction.

Many merchants were interested in the hypothesis that there could be other continents.

Some sailors even wanted to buy a ship with their savings and sail across the vast sea.

‘I understand their thoughts.’

Many merchants who sailed the sea knew the sweetness of trade.

In this situation, what if they discovered another continent and brought back valuable treasures from there?

They might make a lot of money.

Many merchants had this idea in mind.

Kim Ki-woo shook his head slowly.

‘They’re taking ocean navigation too lightly.’

If they tried to cross the ocean, whether it was the Pacific or the Atlantic, in their current state, most of the ships would be stranded in the middle of the sea.

‘Even if they succeed, it would be a problem.’

The problem would only begin if they somehow managed to reach Europe or Asia by luck.

Most of the empire’s sailors would die from the plagues of the old continent.

And if they were lucky enough to survive and return to the empire’s mainland?

Then they would face the plague shock that Kim Ki-woo was worried about.

It was a lose-lose situation for the empire, no matter how lucky or unlucky they were.

‘I have to control this part strictly.’

After assessing the situation, Kim Ki-woo quickly made a decision.

He decided to ban any adventures across the sea in advance, just like he did when he limited the interest rate.

‘I have to lead the contact with other continents.’

Kim Ki-woo had a world map that he brought from the modern era, and he also knew the direction of the currents and winds.

If he could develop large ships and chronometers, he would be able to reach the old continent easily.

Of course, this plan would inevitably involve the sacrifice of many sailors.

Even if they came back, it would be hard for them to set foot on the mainland.

He planned to conduct a thorough investigation on the islands of the Caribbean Sea.

But if he could bring in livestock from the old continent, such as cows and horses…

As regrettable as it was, Kim Ki-woo was willing to sacrifice the empire’s sailors without hesitation.

It was better than losing most of the empire’s people to the plague.

‘Moreover, if I have cows from the old continent, I can execute the cowpox method.’

The main culprit that massacred the natives of America before its discovery was none other than smallpox.

Of course, there were many other plagues that followed, such as measles, typhus, typhoid fever, influenza, and so on. 

But smallpox was the most devastating one.

And smallpox could be prevented if there were cows infected with cowpox in this situation.

What Kim Ki-woo wanted was not cows as livestock, but cows as vaccines.

Of course, he was only thinking about this matter for now.

Right now, he had to make a law that prohibited ocean voyages.

As soon as he sorted out his thoughts, Kim Ki-woo called for the chief justice and laid out the framework for a new bill.

And he made sure to publish this fact in detail in the newspaper and inform the people of the empire.

-Any attempt to venture across the sea without the approval of the imperial administration is strictly forbidden.

Thanks to this, the opening of the age of exploration by the empire was delayed a little more.

< Plague and Cowpox. > The end