Chapter 28: Shijimi Cooperative (6)

In Russia, as a village grows and the population increases, an official is dispatched to manage it.

However, because Far East Russia suffers from a shortage of bureaucrats, officials often inspect the situation and appoint a local fluent in Russian as the administrator.

At such times, the Russian Orthodox Church often dispatches a priest and establishes a church.

This is not necessarily a negative development, primarily because these priests also serve as teachers.

They do not merely proselytize or conduct services.

They teach the Russian language to the residents and children, and handle administrative or judicial matters for residents who do not know Russian.

Of course, this is only when a decent priest arrives; there are swindlers everywhere, and some humans care only for money while neglecting their duties.

The case was similar for our Sidimi village. An official was dispatched, appointed Fridolf Gek as the Village Chief, and then returned.

Fridolf Gek is a sailor and is frequently away from the village due to academic survey requests.

On the other hand, Mikhail Yankovsky is not quite suitable to be the Village Chief either.

The fact that he is a hunter who disappears for days at a time is a problem.

Moreover, since he was a man who settled here after being exiled to Siberia for his involvement in the Polish Independence Movement during his youth, unable to return to his homeland, it is a bit difficult to entrust him with a position like Village Chief.

Yuli Briner is even more of a problem, and besides these three, I am the only one who speaks Russian.

However, you cannot exactly entrust the role of Village Chief to a 12-year-old child (11 by international age).

Around this time, the equipment for the construction of the shipyard, which had been ordered from Kunst and Albers, arrived.

It included sawmill equipment, a simple crane, and several other machines.

The shipyard Fridolf Gek originally aimed for was a shipyard for small schooners.

Since we would be building small wooden ships, the sawmill was inevitably crucial.

Even establishing a sawmill was not a simple task in this era.

First, a simple waterway had to be dug to transport logs from the river or the sea to the sawmill.

This was not particularly difficult for us, as the site for the sawmill was on the coast at the lower reaches of the Sizimi River.

Furthermore, horses or oxen are needed to transport these logs; we had many horses, which made this part easy.

Pulling the timber out of the waterway and transporting it to the factory is also a significant task.

Again, horses or oxen are required, and we had plenty of horses.

Once the logs are placed on the machinery, they must be cut with a saw.

There are many types of saws.

There are those used by people, those powered by animals or water, and those using steam engines.

Among power saws, there are reciprocating saws and circular saws.

Some reciprocating saws operate individually, while others run multiple blades simultaneously to increase productivity.

The highest productivity comes from those with multiple reciprocating blades, but these are quite expensive, extremely difficult to maintain, and require a separate technician.

Therefore, these are only used in large sawmills in Western Europe or the United States, not in small sawmills.

The next most productive is the circular saw, and this one alone cost 2,000 Ruble.

However, because large logs are difficult to process with a circular saw, we also purchased a separate reciprocating saw.

As for power, since the environment made it difficult to use water power, we decided to use a steam engine.

Originally, the steam engine was purchased to bundle hay and for threshing or milling rice, but since there was little use for it outside of harvest season, it could be used to drive the saws.

The various scraps of wood produced when milling the logs were sufficient as fuel for the steam engine.

Once the logs were processed into timber by the circular or reciprocating saws, they were then placed in a drying room.

Before the advent of the Artificial Drying Method using steam, natural drying was the only answer.

To use wood for ships, it supposedly had to be dried for two years, but thanks to the artificial drying room, it now takes about a month.

In truth, drying time varies depending on the thickness of the wood.

General planks dry in a month, but structural timber or wood for masts takes an enormous amount of time.

However, since such thick timber undergoes little deformation even if it is not dried, it can be used as is and then allowed to dry naturally once the ship is built.

Therefore, for a small Schooner, only the various planks are dried, while the parts used for the frame are used immediately and left to dry naturally later.

Fridolf and I had already built the drying room, the wood workshop, and the waterway, and we had stockpiled a significant number of logs.

This allowed us to save time, but even so, it took over a month just to dry the wood.

It was not until September that full-scale shipbuilding began.

Even though the shipyard was intended for building small schooners, the first vessel to undergo construction was not a schooner but an even smaller boat.

There is a high demand for schooners in this region, so building and selling a 50-ton small Schooner could easily fetch 1,000 Ruble.

However, even a 50-ton Schooner required significant skill.

It was better to start with small boats to teach the Koryo-saram workers the techniques, and the women also needed small boats to harvest sea cucumbers or kelp.

I had bought several boats for them, but there isn’t always a supply of boats ready for purchase in this region, and it was better to build them for the sake of accumulating experience and technology.

While Fridolf Gek was in the middle of building boats with the Koryo-saram, I announced that I would be visiting the United Kingdom.

“I need to go to the United Kingdom for a while.”

“There is a lot of work to do here as well.”

“Just harvesting and delivering hay should be possible for the people here now. Whether I am here or not won’t make a difference for the rice or grain harvests. If things look like they are going wrong, the Skipper can help them out a bit.”

“That is true, but what is the reason you want to go to the United Kingdom specifically now?”

“To plant rubber on the land I bought in Malaya last time, I need to buy rubber saplings from the United Kingdom.”

Having seen me use Brazilian rubber to make rubber diving suits, fins, and goggles, Fridolf Gek recognized the utility of rubber.

“Rubber certainly does have many uses. Establishing a rubber plantation now will surely make money. However, isn’t it a bit much to have your hands in such a distant place when there is so much to do here?”

Regarding that, Yuli Briner, who was listening nearby, answered.

“The Skipper also knows that it would be a waste for Viktor to be buried in this backwater.

We shouldn’t think about tying him down here; we should help him head out into the wider world.”

Fridolf Gek nodded and said.

“I know that too. I am not saying Viktor should stay stuck here forever. It’s just that he is still young, and I am worried that simply being young could make things dangerous once he leaves Sidimi.”

“Well, that may be true, but I will be accompanying him this time, so there won’t be anything dangerous. With an adult standing by his side, who would dare do anything?”

“It looks more dangerous with you there, Yuli, but I suppose it can’t be helped. Fine, Mikhail and I will discuss and handle the work here, so you go ahead to the United Kingdom, Viktor.”

Yuli and I loaded the boat with the kelp and sea cucumbers we had collected, as well as the Agar Powder we had smuggled from Joseon.

After Uncle Taeseok and I went to Joseon, we promised to trade with the Songsang merchants we had dealt with for ginseng, and later at Myeongcheon.

Since then, we had been able to obtain quite a bit of ginseng and Agar Powder.

After Busan opened its port to Japan, Joseon’s coastal surveillance became much looser, and we were able to smuggle various goods quite easily.

In Joseon, the consumption of Western goods was gradually increasing.

In particular, there was a growing demand for Western scissors, needles, and Geumgyerap.

Since we were a source for importing these items and simultaneously a sales outlet for ginseng, it was good for the Songsang merchants as well.

I asked Yuli Briner.

“Are you going to sell these to Archie again this time?”

“No, this time we are going to Hong Kong. Last time we went to Shanghai because we were going to buy tea, but this time we have to go all the way to the United Kingdom, so it is better to dispose of them in Hong Kong.”

“Is there a demand for these goods in Hong Kong too?”

“More than in Shanghai. I don’t know the exact reason, but people in the south want agar and kelp more than the people in the north. The same goes for sea cucumbers. Perhaps the people there enjoy gourmet food more. Ginseng sells similarly everywhere, but it might sell for a slightly higher price in the south. However, don’t expect the same kind of luck where we can sell everything to Archie at a high price like last time.”

“I know that. And what I want most from this trip is to obtain rubber tree saplings in the United Kingdom. Everything else is secondary.”

“There’s no need to even go into Guangzhou in Guangdong Province; we can dispose of it right in Hong Kong, so we can go straight to the United Kingdom from there.”

We headed toward Hong Kong while having such conversations.

Since there was no direct flight, we transferred to a ship bound for Hong Kong from Nagasaki, Japan.

Sure enough, as Yuli Briner said, they paid a higher price for the agar, kelp, and sea cucumbers in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was already a city under the strict control of the British Governor-General, so Chinese merchants could trade comfortably, and it was easy to hand over the goods.

The merchant who purchased the agar, kelp, and sea cucumbers from us said.

“Goods coming from Joseon or Japan like these are very welcome. They are essential ingredients for Cantonese cuisine, but they don’t grow well in China, so we have no choice but to rely on Japan or Joseon. If you can also get abalone or shiitake mushrooms, please get some for me.”

Hearing the words abalone and shiitake mushrooms, two types of farming immediately came to mind.

While abalone farming might be difficult, shiitake mushroom farming seemed possible even in Vladivostok.

After handing over the various seafood, we also sold the 200 catties of ginseng we obtained through the Songsang for a quite high price.

Although it had lost its dominance to Shanghai now, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province was the place that led China’s overseas trade until the Opium War, and it still had many wealthy people.

However, the border of Joseon, where Goryeo Ginseng grows, was too far from Guangdong.

Even though they had gold in their hands, it was not easy for them to obtain Goryeo Ginseng.

200 catties of top-quality Goryeo Ginseng placed before their eyes was enough to capture their souls, and we were able to dispose of the ginseng for a total of 50,000 Chinese Silver Tael.

After disposing of all the goods we had prepared in Hong Kong, we even had the luck of catching a government vessel sailing directly from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom.

Since Hong Kong was Britain’s most important colony in the East (Shanghai was a Concession, not a colony), not only various merchant ships or warships but also official government vessels operated regularly.

When we said our destination was London, we were able to get a ride.

Instead of a giant passenger ship, it was a small clipper of about 2,000 tons.

Although its stability was a bit lower, it was good because it was fast.

We were not the only ones who caught a ride on this ship; there were several others, including a merchant with his daughter.

Named Edward Spencer, he said he had once resided in the Swiss Confederation and became friendly with Yuli Briner.

“…So, Mr. Briner, you are currently residing in Russia. It must be quite rare for a Swiss person to drift as far as Russia.”

“Even rarer to Far East Russia, I suppose. But as life goes, even being born in Switzerland, I ended up drifting all the way to Far East Russia. By the way, since you have established a business here, why are you returning to London?”

“My daughter is of age now, so we are on our way to debut her in society and choose a partner for her.”

“Isn’t Spencer a noble family name?”

“Haha, it’s just a coincidence that the name is the same. I am a merchant who has no relation to that family. By the way, is the Eastern boy next to you a servant by any chance?”

To British people of this period, it was not at all rude to ask if an Eastern child they saw for the first time was a servant.

“Oh, a servant? Not at all. This boy may be young, but he is several times wealthier than I am. Among the Chinese Taipans, there are probably few as rich as this boy.”

Taipan is a term used to refer to a Grand Merchant in the Asian region.

Yuli continued.

“Having lost his parents early, this boy set out on the path of business himself. He is not Chinese but Joseon, and currently uses the name Viktor Lee.”

“This is my first time seeing a Joseon person in my life. Living in China, I heard many things about Joseon, but I never had the chance to meet a Joseon person.”

Mr. Spencer and Miss Jane Spencer, who was listening to our conversation from the side, greeted me.

“My name is Edward Spencer, and I am currently doing business in Hong Kong. And this is my daughter, Jane Spencer.”

“My name is Jane Spencer. This is also my first time seeing a Joseon person. Are all Joseon people as handsome as Confucius?”