Episode 658: This time we also brought firewood, and a lot of it. (4)
The professors’ first hires were cksmiths living in the city and nearby viges.
And here, many professors experienced their first trial and error.
A small cksmith shop on the outskirts of Paris.
The expressions on the cksmiths’ faces as they epted the professors’ requests were truly mysterious. Jacques, the head of the cksmiths, looked at the drawings and asked the professors.
“What is this piece of paper?”
“This is a drawing of a steam engine.”
“So… are you saying that we have to make the strange object depicted in this picture?”
“That’s right.”
“Do the numbers next to you indicate the size?”
“That’s right.”
After hearing the professors’ exnations, Zach let out a long sigh.
“Whoa~. Sirs. “You’re joking too much.”
“It’s no joke!”
Hearing the professors’ words, Zach raised his hand and pointed to his cksmith shop.
“If the numbers written on the blueprint are urate, you are now asking me to create arger object at my forge!”
“huh?”
“uh?”
Hearing Jacques’ words, the professors looked at Jacques’ forge and looked perplexed. Looking at the professors’ expressions, Jacques added.
“Let me give you some advice: my cksmith shop is the secondrgest in Paris and its surrounding areas.”
* * *
After hitting the first wall, they soon began looking around for people who could produce suchrge-scale objects.
The first people they contacted were craftsmen who made bells.
Since even small bells in the countryside boasted a weight of several hundred Paris livres (French weight unit), it was thought that it would be possible for craftsmen who made such heavy objects to create a steam engine boasting a size.
However, this second attempt did not produce good results either. Although it was sessful in casting arge piece, there was a problem with pressure resistance.
“Who can make objects that can withstand great pressure?”
Those who had been struggling so hard soon found the answer.
“Cannon craftsmen are the answer!”
There again a problem arose.
* * *
During this period, European cannon craftsmen were both artisans and mercenaries.
Cannon craftsmen jumped into battle with themselves, their apprentices, and the cannons they made. And their customers were overflowing regardless of country or religion.
In history before the intervention of incense, the Hungarian gunsmith Urban made the Dardanelles guns for Mehmed II of the Ottomans.
In addition, it was alsomon for gs to be changed to promise higherpensation even while the war was in full swing.
It was not until the reign of Louis XIV that this aspect of history changed before the intervention of perfume.
* * *
Although it was said to be mostly over, small-scale wars due to religious disputes were urring here and there, andrge-scale battles were continuing to take ce, especially in the Suez region.
Thanks to this, the prices of cannon craftsmen continued to soar. European professors had to rush to attract cannon craftsmen whose arrogance was as high as their value.
In the end, strongpetitors appeared just before it was possible to recruit retired craftsmen and craftsmen who were curious about steam engines.
These were professors who worked in a different way than their own.
* * *
Unlike those who were motivated and went through trial and error, there were professors who moved forward by gradually umting experience.
Remembering the model of the iron horse they had seen in the exhibition hall that was only partially open to the public, they created a scale model of the steam engine they designed.
They contracted with cksmiths in the area who were reputed to bepetent, and soon began making actual scale models, recording errors arising from differences between theory and reality, and searching for answers.
Chuk-chuk-chuk! Boom boom boom!
“Finally… sess!”
“It’s a sess!”
When the scale model created after all the hard work began to emit water and move, the professors and cksmiths couldn’t hide their joy as they hugged each other.
After gaining a certain amount of experience andpleting a scale model that worked well, the professors and cksmiths attempted to create a full-scale model, and there they faced a wall again.
When it was erged to the same extent as it had been reduced, it becamerger than expected and was very inefficient.
“I think we could reduce the thickness a bit…”
“But if we do it in a haphazard way, it will take up too much time.”
Those looking for the best method immediately thought of cannon craftsmen.
“Anyone who builds cannons must be well-versed in pressure issues! “Let’s meet them!”
In this way, apetition began to acquire cannon craftsmen.
Funnily enough, thispetition gradually began to create deeper rifts between European universities.
* * *
During this period, European universities had their own strongworks.
The glue that held thiswork together was Latin and ssical.
Regardless of nationality, students and professors who entered university were required to use only Latin.
‘Thenguage of the old Roman Empire was Latin, and we are the keepers of Rome’s heritage.’
To preserve this pride, professors and students spoke in Latin and took notes in Latin.
The problem of ssics was also the same. Most books and documents from the Roman Empire used parchment. Of course, it was expensive and there were very few of them. Therefore, professors were active in interacting with other professors.
Due to these two factors, European universities boasted a strongwork. Of course, there were rtionships that were greatly strained due to the war, such as between France and Ennd. However, that was the situation of those two countries, and universities in Ennd and France still maintained a closework with universities in other regions, excluding the universities in the other country.
Thiswork was so strong that college students were recognized even if they changed schools midway through taking sses.
However, thiswork slowly began to copse.
As an aside,ter historians evaluated the beginning of this rift as follows:
-The cause was not the steam engine, but the ssics produced by the empire!
And this was mostly true.
* * *
Professors who visited the lodgings of monks staying in Seoul were greatly surprised to see books filled with books on a bookshelf on one side.
“Aren’t these all precious ssics? Where did you get this?”
“As you can see, these are ssics printed by the empire.”
While listening to the monks’ exnations, the professors carefully looked at the books again and were surprised again.
“Such clear printing!”
“No typos!”
The professors were again surprised by the clear print quality and almost no typos in the printed version.
Two years earlier, in 1448, Gutenberg had created printing using metal type, but it was not yetmon. The most used ce was the printing of indulgences, followed by misceneous books read by the general public.
Thanks to this, most of the ssics of ancient Greece and Rome were still books copied on parchment.
But now, the monks’ bookshelf was filled with vividly printed ssics.
“The amount of books on the shelves is equivalent to that of a typical monastery library.”
“It’s also one room…”
“Do you know what’s even more surprising? “The owner of this room is a young monk.”
“Huh…”
The faces of the professors who muttered like that were a mixture of envy and greed.
“Who printed those books?”
“It was printed by the Empire.”
“By whose orders?”
“It started from the time when His Majesty was the Crown Prince.”
The monks told stories rted to this to the professors.
“We are the empire! It was Joseon at the time. One of the things I did when I came to Joseon was to inspect the ssics collected by Joseon. We and the alchemists were all mobilized to inspect everything to see if there were any duplicates or transcription errors. “Afterpleting the review and proofreading, we printed arge number of ssics.”
“why? wherefore?”
“I heard that this is to prevent researchers working in research institutes from not being able to work because they don’t have books. Afterwards, we continue to produce books for use by students studying atnguage schools, industry academies, and engineering institutes.”
The professors’ ears perked up at the monks’ answer.
“They’re still printing? “Then can we be saved too?”
The monks thought for a moment and answered the professors’ questions.
“If you have money, you can get it, maybe?”
“Wouldn’t it be too expensive?”
“No matter how expensive it is, it will be much cheaper than getting a manuscript.”
“okay? “That’s right!”
Soon, officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy, who had heard that many professors—or, to be precise, all visitors to Seoul—wanted to buy the book, went to work.
“You need books?”
“exactly.”
“Here’s the list. And which do you want, Bakbon (薄本) or Ryeobon (麗本)?”
“Park Bon? “Have you tried it?”
In response to the professors’ questions, Ministry of Finance and Economy officials took out two books. One was a cover made of thick yellow paper with the contents printed on yellow paper, and the other was a cover with the contents printed on the highest quality Korean paper and the title written in gold leaf on a thin wooden board covered with well-trimmed leather.
And this idea stimted the vanity of the professors.
“Ryeovon! “I’ll buy it for free!”
“thank you!”
Meanwhile, there were professors who made other requests.
“If there are any books that aren’t on the list….”
“I’m still collecting them, so you can get themter.”
“Is it possible to ce a bulk order with a printed copy?”
“Avable in units of 50 volumes.”
“Among the books I have, there is something that is not on the list, but maybe…”
Before I could finish speaking, the Ministry of Finance and Economy official answered with a smile.
“Is that so! “If you provide us with a copy of the book you have, we will give you one copy to read for free and at the same time distribute a certain percentage of the profits based on the number of copies sold!”
“exactly?”
The Ministry of Finance and Economy official nodded vigorously, stood up and gestured to the professor in question.
“yes! “How about having a separate consultation for a while?”
“Let’s do that.”
* * *
In this way, as printed books of ssics could be purchased inrge quantities at low prices through the empire, thework between universities began to crack.
It was because of the professors’ pride.
-This is a rare book I found this time. Would you like toe and take a look? It cost quite a bit of money, but it wasn’t a big deal for someone like me.
-The copy of your ssic copy was a mess. Why didn’t you spend some money and get a proper copy?
Although they said they interacted by looking at rare ssics that they each owned, there were many instances where their pride was hurt in this way.
However, as ssics became easily avable at low prices through the empire, such exchanges decreased.
-Why do something that will hurt your pride when you can just buy it from the empire?
As the battle for craftsmen broke out, even deeper cracks began to form.
As a side note, one of the things that continued toe from the Empire to Europe after the professors’ visit was a catalog of ssic books sold in the Empire. Even though it was a paid catalog, demand was steady.
After receiving this report, Kim Jeom looked towards Geunjeongjeon and muttered.
“Ever since I was young and sold copies of the Tripitaka Koreana to Japanese lords, I thought it was unusual….”