Black Corporation: Joseon

A small Franciscan monastery on the outskirts of Florence.

“Brother Giovanni. A letter has arrived from Brother Angelo.”

“Is that so? Thank you.”

Giovanni, taking the letter, returned to his room and sat at his desk.

Seeing the thick envelope, Giovanni sighed softly and muttered.

“I wonder how much has been redacted this time…”

***

The letters his friend Angelo consistently sent from Joseon gave him both joy and pain.

The stories of daily life in Joseon and its people written in the letters were full of the strangeness of a foreign land he couldn’t visit himself.

However, any sentences that might have contained even slightly important formulas or information were mercilessly blacked out.

And these blackouts gave him a thirst.

“What on earth could have been written in these hidden sentences?”

This wasn’t just Giovanni’s curiosity. The intellectuals residing in nearby Florence were the same.

After Angelo’s first letter was read at the Vatican, the intellectuals of Florence awaited Angelo’s letters as much as Giovanni did.

The letters sent by Angelo crossed the sea from Alexandria, passed through Florence, and then arrived at the monastery.

Therefore, the intellectuals of Florence knew well when a letter had arrived. As a result, about three days after the letter came into Giovanni’s hands, scholars would flock from Florence and the monastery would become bustling.

“I’m sorry for disturbing the monastery that should be quiet.”

To Giovanni’s apology, the abbot shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Aren’t they at least courteous enough not to open the seal of the letter first? We should endure this much. And… I’m curious about the contents of the letter too.”

***

Sighing softly, Giovanni broke the wax seal and opened the envelope.

“My dear friend Giovanni. I am still doing well, receiving the Lord’s protection…”

The front part of the letter was densely filled with content about how he was wrestling fiercely with numbers and formulas every day at the research institute in Joseon.

Reading the content full of complaints, Giovanni smiled slightly.

“This friend, he’s enjoying it.”

However, as soon as he turned to the next page, Giovanni’s eyes widened.

“They created their own script?”

-A script unique to this Joseon has been created. It’s a script that the king himself created, the crown prince assisted, and the second and third princes verified for ease of use.

I have tried using it myself, and its convenience is such that Latin cannot keep up.

This Joseon alphabet and its usage method are….

However, after that, it was densely blacked out, and the reason was written in red ink.

-The alphabet named ‘Hunminjeongeum’ has not yet been officially promulgated. Therefore, it is planned to declassify after official promulgation.

“This damn…!”

Giovanni, who unknowingly blurted out a curse, hurriedly made the sign of the cross.

After calming his mind, Giovanni examined the next page of the letter. The entire next page was blacked out.

Seeing the paper that had become completely ink-stained, Giovanni sighed and grumbled.

“Huh~. If they’re going to do this, they might as well remove it entirely… It’s not like they’re mocking people… Really, these Joseon people are diligent even in unnecessary parts…”

Grumbling, Giovanni flipped through the ink-stained papers and focused again when text reappeared.

-Ah! And we had a debate about the time difference issue confirmed as Joseon’s ships frequently traveled to Alexandria and various other countries.

In the end, after a heated debate, it was concluded that ‘the earth is round.’

“Of course it’s round. Why state the obvious…”

As Giovanni had a similar level of knowledge as Angelo, he made an expression that suggested this part was nothing special, or rather, “Only now?”

“They say Joseon’s scientific level is considerable, but it doesn’t seem like much.”

With a slightly deflated expression, Giovanni continued reading, but his face turned pale.

The following content was shocking and terrifying in itself.

-However, a heated argument broke out over the question the Crown Prince of Joseon posed next.

‘The fact that there is a time difference means that this world rotates. But what is it rotating around? Is this world the center? Or is the sun in the sky the center?’

Due to this problem, the people in the research institute were almost evenly divided, and a debate broke out.

To tell you the result first, based on astronomical records observed in Joseon, the astronomical records we brought, and data on the occurrence of solar terms and seasons, etc., after calculations…

We had to conclude that the earth rotates on its own while orbiting around the sun.

“This is insane!”

He blurted out a curse unconsciously, but Giovanni couldn’t even think of making the sign of the cross.

The content written in the letter was that shocking.

Gathering his thoughts, Giovanni carefully read the following content.

The following content detailed the process of verifying the heliocentric theory based on recorded astronomical knowledge, related formulas, and the process of debate.

After reading the contents of the letter, Giovanni picked up the pen and paper placed beside him and began to calculate the formulas.

After two days of calculation, forgetting to eat or sleep, Giovanni finally put down his pen and let out a long sigh.

“Huh~. It’s hard to refute.”

Having barely escaped from the shock of the concepts he had known until then crumbling, Giovanni tried to continue reading the letter.

Knock knock!

At that moment, the sound of knocking on the door broke Giovanni’s concentration, and he got up from his seat with an unpleasant face to open the door.

“What is it?”

Seeing Giovanni’s unpleasant expression, the young monk hurriedly stated his business.

“The abbot is worried because you’ve been skipping meals and prayer times.”

“Ah… I had something to think deeply about. Tell the abbot I’m sorry.”

“And guests have also come from Florence.”

“Tell them I’m not feeling well now and to come back in a few days. Also, convey my apologies.”

“Yes…”

After telling the young monk what to say, Giovanni immediately closed the door and sat at his desk to continue reading the letter.

***

Two days after that commotion, Giovanni sought out the abbot.

“Are you feeling better? I hope it’s not an illness that requires long-term treatment?”

To the abbot’s meaningful words, Giovanni also gave a meaningful answer.

“Well… I need your opinion, Father Abbot.”

“Is it that serious?”

At the abbot’s question, Giovanni took out Angelo’s letter from his bosom and held it out.

“Please read it and prescribe a treatment.”

At Giovanni’s request, the abbot’s face became serious.

Giovanni was as well-versed in the philosophy and scientific knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome as Angelo. However, there was a difference from Angelo, who had to leave Florence almost forcibly: Giovanni had political sense that Angelo lacked. That’s why Giovanni could remain in Italy.

As he read through the letter left by Angelo, the abbot’s face gradually turned pale.

The abbot, who put down the letter with slightly trembling hands, let out a long sigh.

“Huh~.”

Seeing this, Giovanni spoke up.

“The unique script of Joseon itself is not much of a problem. The problem is the theory that follows, stating ‘the earth revolves around the sun.'”

At Giovanni’s words, the abbot shook his head.

“No, that might not be a big problem either. We can just say it’s a theory from a different perspective. The problem is the sentence attached to the very last part.”

The abbot tapped his finger on the very last page of the letter.

-What the Crown Prince of Joseon said to me was shocking.

‘Are you certain that your God said the orbits of stars must be perfect circles? I’ve read your scriptures, but I couldn’t find the part where God said so.’

‘Are you confident that there isn’t a single error in the records of your God’s words during the process of oral transmission, then writing it down, and then translating it into Latin?’

‘The providence of God you believe in might be infallible, but can you be confident that the doctrine is also infallible?’

-When the Crown Prince of Joseon asked me this, I couldn’t answer confidently even once.

And neither Giovanni nor the abbot who read the letter could answer this confidently either.

“Huh~.”

Sighing deeply once again, the abbot burst out in frustration while looking at the letter.

“They blacked out other things so well! Why didn’t they black this out!”

In the letter Angelo sent this time, there were also points he felt while observing Hyang during the verification process.

-Now that I think about it, the Crown Prince of Joseon is…

And after that, nearly half a page was blacked out. That’s what the abbot was grumbling about.

***

With the problematic letter sent from Joseon placed between them, Giovanni and the abbot pondered a solution.

“The biggest problem is the scholars who will flock from Florence. If they know about this, there will be an uproar.”

“We can block those people with the excuse of illness, but the problem is the Vatican.”

Every time a letter from Angelo arrived, Giovanni would go to the Vatican to read it aloud.

This reading session was a mandatory event for the Pope, high-ranking priests, and leaders of nearby city-states to attend.

This was because there was tremendous interest in Joseon, which was said to be even further away than India, not to mention the Islamic countries across the sea.

“If we’re not careful, it could be seen as a serious challenge to traditional doctrine.”

“That’s right. But we can’t just skip the reading session either.”

“Should we black it out?”

“That would be a good method, but what if it’s found out?”

It would have been best if they blacked it out and kept quiet on their own, but if it was discovered, they could be put on the stake for trying to hide heresy.

The reason they couldn’t rule out the possibility of discovery was because of the scholars in Florence and the Vatican.

They were as curious about the blacked-out parts as Giovanni was. To solve this curiosity, they made every effort to erase the blacked-out parts. In the process, they had become the best forgery detectors when it came to letters sent from Joseon.

In the end, after much deliberation, the abbot had no choice but to choose the next best option.

“Let’s consult with the Bishop.”

***

The next day, the abbot and Giovanni immediately sought out the Bishop of Florence.

“Welcome. So, a letter has come from the country of flowers?”

The abbot and Giovanni, who paid their respects to the Bishop welcoming them, immediately got to the point.

“Yes, we have something to consult with you about that matter.”

“Hm?”

After hearing the whole story from the abbot and Giovanni, the Cardinal’s face became troubled.

“This issue is beyond my ability to decide.”

And so, the letter sent by Angelo gradually went up to higher-ranking officials, and finally reached the Pope.

***

In the conference room of the Vatican Papal Office.

Pope Eugene IV and the cardinals were sitting around with serious faces.

In the middle of the conference table they were sitting around was the letter sent by Angelo.

“There certainly is a problem.”

At Eugene IV’s words, the cardinals all nodded.

“Should we incinerate it?”

One cardinal suggested incineration, but another cardinal came forward to object.

“Half of Italy already knows that the letter has arrived. And we’re going to incinerate it? The matter will only grow bigger.”

No sooner had those words ended than another cardinal expressed support for the opposing opinion.

“If we handle it that way, the council won’t stay quiet. Aren’t they already making a fuss at every little thing they can find fault with?”

Since last year, the Council of Basel and the Pope had been in serious conflict. The point of contention was which was superior between the council and the Pope.

Eugene IV, who had been pondering for an appropriate solution, finally reached a conclusion.

“Let’s incinerate it.”

“Yes.”

Bang!

“Wait!”

At that moment, with a loud noise, a group of men entered the conference room.

“The council orders the letter to be made public!”

“The professors of the University of Florence petition for the letter to be made public!”

“The professors of Venice also…”

“The professors of Genoa also…”

Not only the council, but professors from universities located in major Italian cities flocked to request the letter be made public.

Under this pressure, Eugene IV finally decided to make Angelo’s letter public.

It was the beginning of ‘Angelo’s Letter Incident’, which caused an earthquake in 15th century European humanities and science, and became the spark for the Renaissance.

And Hyang, who heard the story through Mansur and others traveling to and from Alexandria, expressed slight regret.

“It’s more fun to watch the fire pit in real-time…”

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