After thinking in this way, he constructed trade harbors with several quays there. With the harbors and quays he planned to make a triangular trade among the countries. After the construction, he named his garrison Cheonghae-Jin (淸海鎭in Chinese, meaning Blue City by the Sea). As a result, Cheonghae-Jin was literally transformed intothe International Trade Center or Emporium by the Sea.
Thereafter, it changed into a tenable seaport with the military garrison. Escorted by his armored-clad ships he sent his merchant ships to neighboring countries, Japan, China and other island countries. He informed them that Cheonghae-Jin be prepared with quays and open the ‘emporium’ as an international marketing place for the international trade in the Far East. Thanks to geographical merits from Korea to China and Japan, hundreds of tribunal ships and merchant fleets harbored in the Trade Center. Connected with the military strength, merchant ships did not worry about the safety in sailing the Yellow Sea.
From there, they could have successfully managed the trade among Korea, China, Japan, and other South-East Asian countries including Indonesia and Arabia in the order. They would stop by the emporium and take a rest there on official or private business over the meal and drink. Further, they could have freely and safely sold and bought agricultural products, sea fish and seaweed, clothing, etc.
Innumerous products and materials from the countries were bartered there. For instance, cereals such as rice, barley and corn, pile, textiles such as silk and cotton, gold, silver, steel, and other jewelries, herbs, tea, ginseng, sulfur, aloe, ceramics like inlaid porcelain and Chinaware, floriated carpets, dried fish, deer horn, ivory, tiger skin, peltry, and other animal fur, harness such as saddle, stirrup, livestock such as cow, pig, horse, camel, deer, paper, books and Chinese ink, pulsatile and stringed instruments, machines, military requisitions such as arrow, armors, firearms, swords, art and craft goods and so on were exchanged in the Stripe of Cheonghae-Jin.
Within a few years the Blue City by the Sea came to be known as the International Trade Center in the Far East.
13 Capstone of Conspiracy
The thriving trade lasted for almost twenty years. Such an international trade with foreign countries was the first time in the Far East. That made his country, Shilla, richer and more prosperous. His peoples, also, could run a farm and make fishing without concerns. Also they came to manage a business such as marketing and exchange of materials with foreigners freely and safely. Thanks to the trade interest and military justice, a niceish fortune accrued to them from international businesses. Money continued to pile up. Afterwards, Chang Bo-ko came to the Trade Center as a merchant prince.”
This part of the book was its climax.
The book added that ‘Even until now the relics are found and unearthed from the soil around the selected island and other islands as the proofs of such activities. Indeed, it was the florescence of his life.
It was natural to draw the boy’s interest.
Further, it alarmed the boy. Full-hearted, the boy, Cheong Ju-young, thought aloud:
“Aha, ah ha, characteristically he won the battle of life in the end. Also, with new thinking he created the international trade, buckled down to the business, and accumulated a colossal fortune. By leveraging the triangle trade he could contribute immensely to his country through international trade interest. His dream was full-fledged and fulfilled finally. Really I want to be a man like him. It was really new possibility, at least, to me.”
“Dastard & Assassin”
At this point, however,the biography turned into his late life rapidly and tragically as follow:
“As his material abundance increased bigger and bigger his professional reputation spread beyond the country as the Mistress of the Sea. With his military power formidable and wealth bigger, he became one of the most powerful and richest moguls in the country. Thereupon, he inadvertently entered the realm of politics, where he thought he could commit himself to enhance the welfare and well-being of his people. The more wealth he had amassed, the more he had become the talk of gossip. Especially high pillows at the court of Shilla were severely envious and jealous of great wealth and growing reputation. To their eyes, his riches and great army were formidable and threatening. Then they began to show their dislike of his great fame and fortune and defamed him at the back as below:
‘He has now a whacking wealth with a great army that might be a potential threat to us. If he poses as a political enemy to us in the future he may jeopardize our political interest. Basically he is an able man so as to pretend the crown. His power is astounding so as to overturn the established reign system. Once he fixes up an ambitious mind, no one can match him. This time it is better to get rid of him for the sake of our future and interest.’
Like this, he became their political target so as to oppose their personal and political interests. It was an ominous signal to the bright future of Chang Bo-ko and his country.
Pregnant with envy and jealousy, they got together. And then they came to think out the cunning idea and machinated how to do him harm. One of them, as a talebearer, dastardly suggested some crooked idea using the string-pulling like this:
‘Frankly he, as a pretender, might revolt with his army sooner or later. For this goal we’ll make a pretending rumor like that. Then, we can easily let the rumor spread over throughout the country. Then we can easily wipe him out on the charge of revolt.’
Hearing of the guileful plot, another dastard chuckled.
Then he supported his cunning idea in an ingenuous way by saying this as below:
‘Oh, yes. That sounds good. If and once he is eliminated there is no evidence to support our plot. Nobody can find out our crime. We, as the most powerful men in the country, have the responsibility to investigate his sudden assassination. However, the very plotters are no other than the very investigators. Thus, nobody can intervene in this affair. In other words, nobody can investigate who is the ringleader of the plot of his assassination and who and who are concretely involved in the plot. Subsequently, the affair of his sudden death will be thrown into the puzzle if we do not investigate thoroughly. Then nobody can find out the plot. Rather, if we assert that he is to revolt for his old country with his great army, the affair of his assassination will be able to be justified as a patriotic act. So there will be no problem if we make a plot to kill him. Thus, we do not have to worry about anything about his assassination. Further, we will be able to praise the killer as a great patriot to bar the revolt before his rebellion. Then the killer will be, also, saved from the crime without any dishonor.’
