Saltpeter is forming.
A makeshift saltpeter workshop was hastily erected behind the old shipyard at Nangju.
Large furnaces were installed.
Dozens of jars filled with soil and straw heaps were set in place.
Cauldrons for boiling lye were lined up, and soldiers clung to the bellows, feeding the fires.
The Daehan artillery adviser shouted instructions at the top of his voice.
"Stir the soil from bottom to top."
"Add water gradually."
"If it foams too much, cool it."
"Heat it to just before boiling."
"Stop there."
Park Seongjin stood with his arms folded at one side of the workshop, watching the flow of work.
Technicians ran back and forth.
Corvée laborers carried jars.
The powder master took charge of the slurry and tended the furnace.
Steam rose from the cauldrons.
White crystals began to form on the surface.
"General."
"Saltpeter is forming."
Inside a small bowl, pale, translucent crystals slowly gathered.
Park Seongjin stared at them for a long while, then spoke quietly.
"This single handful saves the people."
Late at night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Park Seongjin stood alone behind the workshop.
The rough sensation of saltpeter powder still clung to his fingertips.
He muttered to himself.
"This is more brutal than a war fought with blades."
Obtaining a handful of gunpowder was harder than defeating an enemy at sea.
In the process, the people of Jeolla—artisans, technicians, and soldiers alike—had gathered one by one.
They stood beside him.
Ships were built.
Saltpeter was made.
Sulfur was mined.
When word spread that willow charcoal was needed, charcoal kilns sprang up overnight.
The white crystals laid out on the worktable amounted to less than a pinch of salt.
"Not everything—but still far too little."
Park Seongjin looked down at the crystals in silence.
The technicians cheered.
The soldiers patted each other on the back.
On Park Seongjin's face, however, lay not joy but a deep weariness.
At that moment, Jang Sagi approached like a shadow and asked in a low voice,
"General. Your heart feels heavy, does it not?"
Park Seongjin looked up.
"It is light."
"For someone who says that, your expression is unusually revealing."
Park Seongjin pressed his lips together.
Jang Sagi picked up a pinch of saltpeter and rolled it between his fingers.
"The technicians see success."
"You see the objective."
"You are thinking this must be a thousand, ten thousand times more to burn the enemy's heartland."
Park Seongjin closed his eyes.
This man understood people too well.
After a brief silence, Jang Sagi added without smiling,
"Today's yield does not reach even a thousandth of what you hoped for."
"I am a man who sees technical success. You are a man who sees the purpose of war."
He asked carefully,
"You were disappointed by the quantity."
Park Seongjin lowered his head slightly, like someone caught out.
"People are placing their hopes on this. If I speak carelessly, that hope could vanish."
Jang Sagi drew a long breath.
"General. If today's process were repeated thousands of times, would it yield what you want?"
Park Seongjin exhaled deeply.
"It would be difficult."
Jang Sagi's voice dropped.
"There is another path."
Park Seongjin lifted his eyes.
"What path?"
"To formally request it from the Great King."
Brushing saltpeter dust from his fingertips, Jang Sagi continued.
"In Jiangnan, there are regions rich in saltpeter. Dig the earth, and it comes out. The quantity and quality are incomparable to this place."
A look of sudden clarity crossed Park Seongjin's face.
"You mean the Great King already knew?"
Jang Sagi smiled faintly.
"It is an inference. Among the technicians sent here were those who knew how to extract saltpeter from aged soil."
Park Seongjin blinked.
"They calculated the shortage and sent them accordingly," Jang Sagi said softly.
"They know the first shipment was nowhere near enough. The Great King will help willingly."
Park Seongjin nodded slowly.
"So he knew it would be difficult to obtain saltpeter here."
"Yes. And more certain than that is one thing."
"The Great King values you."
As Jang Sagi turned to leave, Park Seongjin reached out and caught his arm.
"Wait. Why are you leaving just like that?"
He clasped his hands together and asked earnestly.
"Please see this through. Go to the Great King yourself and persuade him."
Jang Sagi's mouth fell open.
"Ah—truly. I should not have opened my mouth."
"I will prepare a fast courier ship."
"Ah… you move the moment words are spoken."
Park Seongjin smiled.
"Since you have come this far, please do all of it. We need gunpowder."
Covering his face with one hand, Jang Sagi slowly bowed his head.
"You are something else, General."
He stepped outside the tent.
Park Seongjin sent Jang Sagi to Daehan to request gunpowder.
"Anyone who stands above others must have more than one contingency," Jang Sagi said, holding up two fingers.
"If one's thinking cannot keep pace, one ends up driving subordinates mercilessly for results. What is gained then is not progress, but the erosion of humanity."
Park Seongjin blinked once.
"Did I do that?"
Jang Sagi smiled gently.
"You do not seem like one who forces people into motion by tightening the noose. But you carry too much alone. You swallow what should be discussed, and spill what should be swallowed in front of your men. Even a great general can quickly come to resemble a bad superior."
Park Seongjin gave a bitter smile.
"I learned much from Lord Jang. I learned that strength alone does not make a commander. That is why I once refused an empty promotion. I believed my station suited a jungnangjang or nangjang."
Jang Sagi shook his head.
"I did not speak to hear humility. One issue must yield two or three solutions. That is strategic thinking. Without solutions, one grows anxious. With anxiety, one presses subordinates. Breadth of vision. Willingness to listen. Persistence in seeing one thing through—when these align, an answer appears. That is the condition for standing above others."
He continued,
"Those who rise merely because the time comes are the problem. Most are unqualified. A man with the capacity of a company officer placed atop grand policy—how miserable his subordinates must be. How frightened he himself must be."
Rolling his words on his tongue, Jang Sagi went on.
"Those who extract results by grinding down their men ruin organizations. When such people gather, the organization rots from within."
Park Seongjin's eyes widened slightly.
"So I made another mistake."
Jang Sagi laughed and spread his palm.
"No. Seeing that you asked me instead of driving your men, I thought it admirable. While pushing for saltpeter for the greater goal, you also sought another solution. Long term, it must be obtained here. Short term, you chose to request it from Daehan."
"That was only natural—"
"Organizational matters are simple," Jang Sagi cut in.
"Use those worth using. Remove those who must be removed. Most do the opposite—keeping those who endure, cutting those who are capable."
"I learn much from your words."
"Remove arrogance and incompetence, elevate ability and respect, and the organization moves on its own. Without you forcing it."
Park Seongjin said quietly,
"Ah… I see."
Jang Sagi drove the point home once more.
"Keeping someone merely because they obey you leads straight to ruin. Adding another of the same kind is simply opening another hole."
Park Seongjin's face brightened.
"Is that the principle of appointments?"
Jang Sagi laughed heartily.
"It is."
Park Seongjin laughed as well.
Beneath the laughter, a firm understanding settled in place.
A blade cuts one man.
Appointments move hundreds.
Logistics bring wars to an end.
"I am truly learning a great deal. If you see where I fall short, please point it out."
Jang Sagi grinned.
"I bring you a good proposal, and instead I am given an errand."
Park Seongjin laughed, clutching his belly.
"My apologies. I just realized you are the right man. I should go myself, but I cannot leave here."
Jang Sagi narrowed his eyes.
"Then divide that judgment as well—two or three contingencies."
"If not you…"
"There should have been other plans."
"I have already petitioned Gaegyeong. Lord Yi Injung would not have made only a single request."
"Indeed. Requesting from Gaegyeong is another path. There may be ways to obtain saltpeter there as well."
Park Seongjin nodded.
Jang Sagi added, as if on another topic,
"The reason I appear successful may simply be that I have only taken on tasks that could succeed."
The words made it seem certain he would succeed in this as well.
Before Park Seongjin's smile had fully faded, he summoned the old boatman.
"Prepare the fastest route to Jiangnan. The fastest possible."
The old man pricked up his ears and thought for a moment.
"One medium fast ship. Skilled sailors who can sleep in turns. A helmsman to hold the rudder, and a guide who knows the currents. That combination gives the greatest speed."
Park Seongjin nodded.
"Recommend that combination. At once. Jang Sagi must go to Jiangnan."
Jang Sagi's expression stiffened.
"Ah… truly, I am going again?"
Park Seongjin smiled brightly.
"Yes. There is no one else I trust with this. Only you."
Jang Sagi raised both hands to the sky.
"My goodness. I planned to rest a little in Goryeo—enjoy myself, learn more at your side."
"Haha, I ask you."
"What a subtle and relentless coercion."
Park Seongjin pointed into the air.
"Please solve the second contingency yourself."
Everything moved swiftly.
At dawn the next day, the fast ship and crew were ready.
Jang Sagi and several Daehan envoys departed together, taking a direct sea route toward Jiangnan.
The old maritime road—once used during the era of military rule to carry imperial porcelain from the southern coast to Jiangnan—was opened once more.