Chapter 47
47 The Smithy (2)
‘Let’s just shove this in their face for now.’
As Ji-young presented the ‘Butcher’s Token,’ she recalled Bong-dan effortlessly dismantling a cow with a single iron knife.
Whether butchering animals and breaking down their meat, or working as a gatbachi, tanning leather, a sharp blade was always essential.
‘There’s no way skilled blacksmiths wouldn’t be sought after by butchers.’
Butchers were undoubtedly a significant clientele for blacksmiths, so they wouldn't dismiss someone with their token without even hearing them out.
Moreover, butchers were the most despised class in Joseon society, and blacksmiths weren't much different. The sense of kinship stemming from that couldn't be ignored.
‘The so-called ‘eight ignoble classes’ of the Joseon era included artisans…….’
The so-called mubon eokmal.
‘Emphasize the root and suppress the trivial.Here, 'root' meant agriculture, and 'trivial' meant commerce and industry.
So, mubon eokmal, which was the Joseon Dynasty's national policy, meant a national policy stance that emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce and industry.
That's why it was not good to mention the name of the government in front of a blacksmith, who was a craftsman.
It would be better to sell the name of the Butcher.
“Are you a Butcher?”
“Not exactly…… I’m a cook. But I have a close relationship with butchers, a rather complicated story.”
Ji-young vaguely trailed off, seeing Jang Chun-saeng scrutinize her with suspicious eyes.
Chun-saeng then gestured with his chin towards Im Sungjae next to her.
“Then what’s that simpleton doing here?”
“He’s a government official, but you don’t have to worry about him. He’s just a bit… eccentric.”
“Ahem!”
Sungjae, overhearing her, cleared his throat and glared at Ji-young, but the atmosphere was gradually easing, so he seemed unable to say anything more.
“So, what brings you all the way from Hanyang?”
“I came to ask you to make something for me. I’ll pay you properly, so don’t worry.”
Chun-saeng stared at them silently for a moment before muttering a single word and heading inside the shack.
“……Come in. Let’s hear what you have to say.”
Entering the shack, Ji-young couldn't help but gasp at the sight that unfolded before her.
“Wow~”
The shack was filled with countless contraptions that Chun-saeng himself must have made.
Various ingenious devices made of wood and metal, connected with strings to operate. And blueprints for making them.
The haphazardly scattered odds and ends seemed to hold countless stories and ideas.
‘This isn’t so much a smithy as a technical research lab…….’
It seemed the claim that he resembled Jang Yeong-sil in his youth wasn't just empty words.
“Sit.”
Jang Chun-saeng pointed to a tree stump that barely qualified as a chair.
Sungjae frowned and looked displeased, but Ji-young ignored him and sat down, handing over the blueprint.
“Take a look at this first, then we can talk.”
For someone like him, showing the blueprint directly would be much faster than explaining it a hundred times.
Ji-young could see Chun-saeng’s eyebrows rise and his expression change as soon as he received the blueprint.
“This, this is……”
“……Can you make it?”
“Where did you get something like this?”
His tone suggested he was questioning the origin of the blueprint.
“It’s a cooking pot used where I used to live. I just transferred it into a drawing.”
“I don’t know where you lived, but this isn’t something that can be made easily. I can’t do it.”
Chun-saeng returned the blueprint to Ji-young, glancing sideways at Sungjae.
“……I also refuse to be used by the government and end up ruined. You should all go back now.”
“You impudent brat! I’ve been tolerating you since earlier!”
Ji-young reached out to calm Sungjae, who couldn't contain his anger and jumped to his feet.
“Why are you really doing this, after coming all this way.”
Getting angry wouldn't solve anything.
If the man before them couldn't make the item in the blueprint, they would surely fail to win the competition at the Farewell banquet in a few days.
The Ming Dynasty envoy, who was pushing the contest in their favor, and the obstructive forces hidden within the Joseon court.
And Dang Baek-ryong, the opposing cook with terrifying skills.
To overcome all of this with cooking, they needed something not just delicious, but earth-shattering.
Otherwise, they would lose, and Ji-young and Sungjae would be held responsible and executed.
‘……Because there are plenty of people who want that outcome.’
To do that, they first had to move the heart of the man before them, Chun-saeng.
“Then let’s have a meal together.”
“What?”
“It’s almost dinner time anyway. You have to eat anyway. We need to eat something before heading back to Hanyang too.”
Chun-saeng stared at Ji-young for a moment before nodding as if to say, do as you please.
“There’s a pot and stove outside, so do whatever you want. But you need to hurry and leave.”
And with that, he got up as if he had said everything he needed to, turning away without a word.
“What are you trying to do!”
“Just watch quietly. Don’t keep interfering.”
“You really!”
Ji-young lightly ignored Sungjae, who had been restless since earlier, and began to unpack her bundle.
‘I didn’t bring it for this purpose, but…….’
Inside the bundle were flour, glutinous rice flour, an oil bottle, some minced meat and seafood, and a bunch of green onions.
Ingredients she had prepared on purpose.
‘It’s not like we have anything to lose.’
Ji-young had a fragment of memory in her mind. A memory related to a place Ji-young had visited on a school trip in her student days.
The ‘Jang Yeong-sil Science Museum’ in Dongnae, Busan.
‘If it weren't for that, I wouldn't even remember that Jang Yeong-sil was from Dongnae.’
But what remained in her memory wasn't the obvious science museum visit.
The reason that day remained in her memory was because of the unique food she had eaten nearby after the visit.
Dongnae green onion pancake.
‘People say that memories of taste and smell last the longest.’
It wasn't clear how long the history of Dongnae green onion pancake was. But perhaps it was a food that Jang Yeong-sil, who spent his youth as a government slave in Dongnae, might have eaten.
If so, there might be a connection with Jang Chun-saeng as well.
‘Well, if not, so be it.’
Ji-young flipped the pot lid hanging on the stove outside the shack, drizzled oil on it, and heated it up.
Meanwhile, she mixed flour and glutinous rice flour with water to make a batter, then mixed in the minced beef and seafood.
The key was to make it more viscous than regular pancake batter, with a thick consistency.
‘And then arrange the green onions in a row on the hot pan and cook them thoroughly.’
As she neatly placed the green onions on the oiled griddle and cooked them until they smoked, a subtle aroma began to spread.
‘In Spain, there’s a dish called ‘calcotada,’ where they cook scallions until they’re almost burnt.’
Because of the unique flavor that comes from burning the scallions, ‘calcotada’ is a delicacy enjoyed so much in the Catalonia region of Spain that locals hold festivals every winter.
So, what Ji-young was making now was a Dongnae green onion pancake that applied the calcotada method.
First, cooking the green onions almost to the point of burning.
As the neatly arranged green onions turned dark brown and began to emit a unique flavor, Ji-young carefully poured the batter mixed with seafood over them.
- Sizzle
With the sound of the pancake cooking deliciously, a savory aroma began to fill the area around the shack.
* * *
“Please, try it. I didn’t have much time, so I only prepared something simple.”
On the humble wooden table were a few slices of golden-brown Dongnae green onion pancake.
“Huh? This smell is…….”
Chun-saeng’s eyes, who had come out from his work, trembled slightly even before he sat down.
Ji-young couldn't possibly miss that sign.
‘Definitely, the eyes of someone who knows this smell!’
Chun-saeng suddenly glared at Ji-young with suspicious eyes.
“……How do you know this dish?”
“Because I’ve eaten it before.”
“What? You’ve eaten this?”
“If you don’t believe me, try it.”
Chun-saeng picked up chopsticks with a disbelieving expression, tore off a piece of pancake, dipped it lightly in the sauce, and put it in his mouth.
And.
In that moment, Chun-saeng’s thick eyebrows twitched slightly.
The first thing he felt was the crispness of the outer surface.
And the texture of the batter inside, slightly undercooked and melting richly.
Soon, the intense flavor of the grilled green onions began to spread throughout his mouth.
‘This, this taste is…….’
It was definitely the taste that his grandfather always made for him when he visited.
At the same time, Chun-saeng’s memories flashed back to the past in an instant.
‘Chun-saeng, everything in the world has its use.’
To young Chun-saeng, his grandfather was a hero.
To be exact, it should have been his great-grandfather, but young Chun-saeng simply called him grandfather.
His grandfather never bothered Chun-saeng, who was curious about everything in the world.
‘Even the smallest creatures have their own meaning, so try to find it.’
At his grandfather’s words, Chun-saeng carefully observed even a small leaf.
The sun, moon, and stars in the sky, the changing seasons, even the sounds of insects chirping, his grandfather said that everything had a reason.
‘It’s true that your uncle raised the family, but it’s also his fault that we became outcasts!’
There were frequent disputes among the family elders.
Chun-saeng’s father told him not to get close to his great-grandfather.
Some people whispered that his great-grandfather was a traitor.
The fact that His Majesty’s palanquin was broken was an act of treason to assassinate His Majesty.
They said that he, a lowly man from a government slave background, had acted recklessly without fear.
‘Is it a sin to dream?’
Around the age of twenty, Chun-saeng was full of ambition and talent.
He had even tried to pass the technical examination to raise his family.
But no matter how hard he tried, all that came back was the label of outcast.
‘The life of the grandfather I respected so much…… has become a shackle holding me back.’
Chun-saeng had already realized it.
That what a lowly person gains when flying high is only the extreme pain they receive when they fall.
‘I will never live foolishly like my grandfather.’
Mubon eokmal.
In this country dominated by those four letters, there is no use for me.
It was from then on that Chun-saeng distanced himself from the government and chose a life of seclusion.
But, what is the strange woman in front of me saying now?
“Your great-grandfather was a great man.”
“What?”
“Hundreds of years from now, people will still be talking about your great-grandfather.”
“That’s impossible. That can’t be. Don’t say such ridiculous things!”
“He wasn’t someone who hid inside like you. He was someone who broke out, no matter how thick the wall was!”
In an instant, Chun-saeng was speechless.
Ji-young’s words were like a hammer hitting the back of his head, making him feel dazed.
From the lingering aroma of the green onion pancake in his mouth, which he hadn't yet swallowed, he remembered his grandfather's words that he had forgotten.
‘Chun-saeng, there are voices hidden in all the principles of the world. Reveal them. Let people hear those voices.’
In fact, Chun-saeng also knew.
That his grandfather would never want him to live hidden like this.
He had only been trying to deny it by closing his eyes and ears.
Tears began to well up in Chun-saeng’s eyes as he chewed on the green onion pancake in his mouth.
“The, the green onion pancake is so delicious that it’s making me cry. Ah, that’s delicious…….”
On Chun-saeng’s face was a strange expression mixed with tears and laughter, regret and longing.
* * *
“Thanks to you, I had a delicious and precious meal. I should pay for the meal…….”
After clearing the table, Chun-saeng, Ji-young, and Sungjae sat together again.
Sungjae, noticing that Chun-saeng’s attitude had changed, quickly began to bluster.
“Ahem! A great task now rests in your hands. Your small talent is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be of great use to the country. So…… Ugh!”
While blocking Sungjae’s mouth, who was trying to explain in detail while giving grand meaning, Ji-young instead handed over the blueprint she had shown him earlier.
“……Can you make this? I really need this thing.”
“Ahem, really. I can’t tell you to go back now……. What do you call this thing anyway?”
Seeing Chun-saeng frown and seriously examine the blueprint, Ji-young smiled slightly.
“Ah, this is a pressure cooker, it’s called a pressure cooker.”
※Author's Note
The ‘Jang Chun-saeng’ in this work is, of course, a fictional character.
However, I would like to inform you that I have borrowed the name of one of Jang Yeong-sil's nephews from the Asan Jang clan genealogy.
