The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 38



< Putting Wings on a Tiger’s Back (2) >

There is a Korean proverb that says ‘A pumpkin rolls in with its vine.’

It seemed to perfectly match the situation I was facing right now.

“Nice to meet you Prince. My name is Orville Wright.”

“What about you?”

“Oh this is my older brother Wilbur Wright. Brother you have something to say too.”

“Please take good care of me Your Highness.”

No why are the Wright brothers coming to see me?

Suddenly my heart started pounding.

“I’m also happy to meet a celebrity like this in person.”

“Do you know us?”

Of course I know that.

Who are you guys….

Those famous Wright brothers.

“Do you happen to know why we came here?”

“It must be because of that airplane or something.”

“Yes that’s right.”

The two brothers began to praise me with strength in their voices.

“Actually we also know this prince well.”

“me?”

“Yes. Isn’t this prince a very enterprising person?”

I?

The rumor is spreading like that?

“At least that’s what the world knows. Didn’t you turn the wasteland into a paradise?”

“We were impressed when we heard this news. It was a great challenge that no one had ever attempted before.”

“Success is more difficult than challenge. Your Majesty you have accomplished both at the same time. It is truly amazing.”

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“Haha. Are you the only ones who can do this? Who would have thought that humans could fly?”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

Wilbur the older of the two brothers seemed to relax a little and his complexion brightened up a lot compared to the beginning.

In contrast his younger brother Orville’s face was still stiff.

“I heard that you are showing great interest in newly-established companies these days. Why not invest in our company as well?”

“Oh Prince please read these.”

Orville rummaged through my bag.

Then he immediately handed me a bundle of documents.

『The Wright Brothers Fly』

Also included in the pile of papers were articles covering their flight successes.

There is also a brief summary of information about the planes they built.

“The model listed in the article is Flyer 1. But you know the one in the documents you gave me says Flyer 3.”

I tend to look over documents very carefully.

This is because I have seen quite a few cases where a single misspelled word led to a lawsuit.

Wilbur answered my question with a big smile.

“We haven’t been sitting still either. We’ve been improving our performance even further.”

“That’s right. We’ve doubled the flight time allowing you to glide through the sky for 30 minutes.”

I expressed one concern with a rather worried expression.

“How stable is the new model? If we’re not careful it could easily lead to a crash.”

A crash in an airplane means imminent death.

Even if he survives considering the poor medical environment of this era it would be right to see him as becoming paralyzed on one side of his body.

“Don’t worry. We have taken this into account and have changed the structure of the aircraft to make it safer.”

I crossed my arms and leaned back on the sofa.

It was a slightly arrogant attitude.

But it wasn’t a problem because I was the one holding the knife at the moment.

‘I’m glad to meet them but a ball is a ball and a life is a life.’

I feel a little sorry for the Wright brothers but wasn’t that the original structure of the world?

The person who is in desperate need is ‘乙’ and the person who is less desperate is ‘甲’.

Friendship between friends.

Love between lovers too.

Negotiations between investors and inventors.

entire.

“There’s one thing I want to ask you guys.”

“Please speak Your Majesty.”

I asked them the most important key points as if to confirm who was in control now.

“That Flyer 3 plane you guys built. What on earth were you going to use it for?”

“….”

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“….”

The Wright brothers were not easy to talk about.

It can just fly in the sky.

This story must have been told to many people after the airplane was built.

‘It seems like it’s been more than five years since the airplane was built.’

Yet they haven’t been able to properly secure a single investor.

Of course the Smithsonian Institution in Washington was interfering with the Wright brothers’ every move for some reason.

‘If it’s that good it should sell like hotcakes. So much so that I won’t have a chance to invest.’

Wilbur began to look for a use for it urgently.

“We are planning to supply this model to the military for now.”

“Is there a contract?”

“The contract was made conditionally.”

“What conditions?”

“If the flight is successful we have decided to deliver it to the US military.”

“Hmm. That’s strange.”

I paused for a moment and then asked the two brothers.

“Then what are these articles? Aren’t they all reporting news of your successful flight? Are these articles fabricated?”

“No it’s true.”

“then?”

“….”

“….”

“Oh does that mean the US military is defaulting on their contract?”

“Yes that’s right.”

I started crossing my arms and clicking my tongue.

“So even if we build a factory there is currently no way to sell this plane.”

“No no. In fact we are receiving quite a few investment proposals from other countries.”

“It is as you said brother. France is nearby and the Ottoman Empire and Japan are also showing great interest in this.”

I snorted at their words.

“Isn’t that under the premise of building a factory overseas?”

“That’s right.”

“If that happens important technology will be leaked. You all know that very well.”

“If you push things forward through someone you trust it’s a different story.”

“Well it seems like the person you trust is the one who ends up stabbing you in the back of the head. That’s how business is always like.”

There was silence for a while.

As expected the Wright brothers were incredibly good at one invention.

The rest were duds.

‘You’re missing the selling point.’

Absence of sales force.

Director of Marketing Strategy.

Lack of media relations skills.

And then you get hit in the back of the head.

It is said that the security capabilities are also lacking.

It’s a total mess.

‘What if the product is good? The original product is not everything. Unplugging like marketing is also important.’

The Wright brothers looked disappointed as things seemed to be going awry.

I looked at them and analyzed their strengths and weaknesses.

‘Since he is the best in terms of invention ability I should make him focus on product development. As for the rest I can either invite a professional manager or take care of it myself.’

If they join hands with me it will be very different from the original history.

What am I best at?

It’s unplugged.

Unfollow.

If I could cover this shortcoming of the Wright brothers the soon-to-be successors would have less of a share of the pie taken away.

“Let’s start with a demonstration flight. Shouldn’t I see for myself whether there are any defects in the thing I invented? So when can I see the Flyer 3 with my own eyes?”

* * *

It was quite some time before the two brothers met again.

A temporary airfield had to be hastily built near San Francisco.

At the same time the Wright brothers also had to reassemble the disassembled Flyer 3.

“Okay this way. Follow me.”

I ordered Ahn Chang-ho and Park Yong-man to establish an educational institution.

Kim Jong-rim was instructed to select personnel to improve agricultural machinery.

The people gathered here were students selected by three people.

I invited them all to the airport because I thought it would be a perfect place for creativity education.

‘It’s good to let children experience many things while they are young.’

Wouldn’t that make your imagination richer?

“Your Majesty who are these people?”

Orville shot a slightly wary look at the strangers’ appearance.

Here I introduced their identities.

“My people. I invited my people to watch the demonstration with me today.”

I looked at my companions for a moment then turned my gaze back to the Wright brothers.

“Why? Is that a problem?”

His older brother Wilbur took a half step forward.

“No. My brother gets a little sensitive whenever he gets on a plane so I think he asked the prince a little harshly.”

Wilbur quickly took control of the situation and consoled his brother.

Orville nodded at this.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t disassembling the fuselage I was just watching the demonstration from the side. I was being too sensitive.”

“No that might be the case.”

“Well then I guess I’ll be going now. It’s almost time to fly.”

Orville trudged towards Flyer 3.

After that he started it up.

Shiver- shiver-

The heavy exhaust sound spread out in all directions.

“Now for the next 30 minutes my brother will be flying in the sky.”

After hearing Wilbur’s explanation I approached my group.

“Watch closely. They say it’s about to start.”

Wilbur walked across the airfield and began waving the flag signaling departure.

Then Orville slowly moved Flyer 3 forward.

“Wow! My goodness.”

After running hard down the long runway Flyer 3 soared high into the sky.

At this the students’ mouths grew as wide as hippos.

“Oh my god… a person is flying in the sky.”

“Your Majesty. Is this a dream or reality?”

From children who look about ten years old.

Young men who have just shed their boyish appearance.

And there are even middle-aged Korean residents who look quite old.

Everyone watched this scene and let out exclamations.

As a modern person I have seen countless airplanes fly but this is my first time seeing them so I can’t help but react this way.

“Do you know why I called you here?”

I spoke to those who were completely out of their minds carrying their bags on their backs.

“There is nothing impossible in this world. The era in which people can fly has arrived. So let’s work even harder and create new things that we have only imagined.”

After patting each student on the shoulder and encouraging them I quickly moved to Kim Jong-rim’s side.

“How have you been? Are the farm equipment you bought last month any good?”

Kim Jong-rim looked up at the sky with a blank expression for a moment then turned his gaze towards me.

He answered my questions quickly.

“Agricultural efficiency has increased dramatically. One tractor can complete a task faster than a hundred men.”

I chuckled and pointed to the plane Orville was on.

“Why do you think I called you here?”

“Perhaps Your Majesty has invited me here because he dreams of another agricultural revolution using that flying machine?”

“That’s right. I’m never satisfied. The machine I bought last time wasn’t enough.”

I looked at Kim Jong-rim again smiling brightly.

“What do you think? Does that plane look useful? If it does what can you do with it?”

“Well I’m not sure yet.”

So I called someone.

“Someone please bring me a glass of water.”

After receiving the glass I slowly began to sprinkle water on the floor.

“If you radiate liquids or solids from the sky like this they will spread out in all directions.”

“Um… Ah!”

Kim Jong-rim made a face as if he knew something about my intentions.

“You could probably scatter rice seeds on the ground. Pesticides and fertilizers might also work.”

Two out of three are correct.

‘Fertilizer is so heavy that it wouldn’t be easy to spread it by airplane.’

But I didn’t necessarily correct it on the spot.

There will be a lot of trial and error in the future and Kim Jong-rim will figure it out on his own.

“Yes. But there will be many difficulties waiting for you during this process. It won’t be easy to evenly distribute the desired amount to the desired location.”

“Yes. Many conditions have to be met at once. For example the weather has to be good and the pilots have to learn how to fly. And the aircraft’s performance has to be improved. Thirty minutes is too short.”

“That’s right.”

I quickly turned my gaze to Park Yong-man who was eavesdropping next to me.

After meeting Yongman Park today I didn’t exchange a single word with him other than a greeting.

I spoke to him for the first time.

“Then it’s your turn now. Why did I call you here?”

“I don’t know.”

I pointed to Wilbur who was about 20 yards away and subtly told Yongman Park what the airplane was used for.

“Wilbur over there said they were trying to deliver this aircraft to the military.”

“Are you talking about the US military?”

“Yes. It will take some time but one day the US military will use this plane as a weapon.”

I took a step closer to Park Yong-man.

“The technology is still lacking but if we just wait a little longer we might be able to get from here to Hawaii on that plane.”

“Hawaii?”

“Maybe I could go all the way to Japan.”

Kim Jong-rim’s facial muscles twitched at the word ‘Japan.’

“You said you wanted to establish a military academy?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“I can’t do it right now. There are too many eyes watching me. I can’t move rashly because I might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”

Park Yong-man looked slightly disappointed at these words.

“But flight school is a different story. If you farm using airplanes no one can find fault with it.”

Park Yong-man asked me with narrowed eyes.

“Are you thinking of leaving the flight school to me?”

“Yes. As you know there is a slight difference between civilian and military use.”

Even gunpowder was like that.

What’s the difference between a mine blaster and a bomb?

Park Yong-man smiled brightly and pounded his chest with his hand as if he understood my hidden meaning.

“Please trust me and leave it to me. I am Park Yong-man.”

“okay.”

I looked up at the sky again.

Because the Flyer 3 that Orville was riding was slowly descending to the ground.

< Putting Wings on a Tiger’s Back (2) > End