“Dig! Deeper!”
“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”
The winter mountainside burned hot with the laborers’ heat.
The sound of hundreds of pickaxes striking the earth at once echoed like war drums across a battlefield.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
There was no trace of subzero cold here.
White steam rose from the backs of men who had stripped bare to the waist.
It looked as though the entire mountain were a great dragon breathing.
I sat on a rock overlooking the construction site, watching the spectacular sight.
“Impressive. Koreans really are unbelievably good at digging.”
It reminded me of the fortification work I had done during my military service.
Back then, I had hated digging more than death itself. Now, every shovelful of earth looked like money to me.
“My lord, is this deep enough?”
Master Gong approached with his face caked in dirt.
Holding the plans, he scratched his head.
“We have already dug three jang, roughly nine meters. If we dig any farther, we may hit groundwater.”
“We cannot have groundwater. Let us stop there.”
I rose and walked toward the pit.
A massive hole twenty meters across and nine meters deep.
It looked like a crater left by a meteorite strike.
“Level the bottom, then lay the drainage channels at once.”
“Drainage channels?”
“Yes. Ice will inevitably melt. If the melted water pools inside, it will cause the remaining ice to melt away in no time. Give it a slope so the water drains immediately, then lay gravel and charcoal to create a drainage layer.”
This was one of the key techniques.
One reason traditional ice storehouses had failed in the past was poor drainage.
Meltwater, at zero degrees, was warmer than ice below freezing. Once water surrounded the ice, the melting accelerated.
Therefore, the water had to be drained away as soon as it formed.
“And what about waterproofing the walls?”
“Apply a thick layer of clay, then build fires over it and bake it until it hardens like pottery.”
“Ah! Like firing earthenware?”
“Exactly. That will keep moisture from accumulating.”
Master Gong nodded in admiration.
This was both a massive scientific experiment and a precise civil-engineering project.
“The next part is the most important: insulation.”
I pointed at the piles of materials stacked beside the pit.
Rice straw left after last autumn’s harvest, along with rice husks from the mill.
People normally used them as firewood or cattle feed, but to me, they were cutting-edge insulating materials.
“Weave the straw into a layer one ja thick—about thirty centimeters—and line the walls with it. Spread rice husks at least one and a half ja thick across the floor as well.”
“That thick? There will be less space left for the ice.”
“It does not matter if we store a little less ice. What matters is that it does not melt.”
Straw and rice husks, both filled with pockets of air, had extremely low thermal conductivity.
They could block heat from the ground and trap the cold inside almost as effectively as Styrofoam.
It was essentially the thermos effect.
“Understood. At this rate, frost may form even in midsummer.”
Full of enthusiasm, Master Gong rushed toward the workers.
“You heard him! Tamp the floor and spread the charcoal! Do not let even a drop of water pool inside!”
“Yes, sir!”
Their booming response echoed through the mountains.
Smiling with satisfaction, I checked the sun’s position.
It was nearly noon.
“Chilbok.”
“Yes, Big Brother!”
Chilbok came running over with a ledger tucked beneath his arm. He had been so busy managing the laborers and procuring materials that he barely had a moment to breathe.
“It is time to eat. Get things ready.”
“Goodness, Big Brother, the smell has been drifting over from there for ages. The workers are saying they cannot even focus on their work.”
Chilbok snickered and gestured toward one side of the construction site.
White smoke rose from the makeshift outdoor kitchen.
Beodeuri and the village women were fighting a war around five enormous cauldrons.
“Let us eat!”
At my shout, a gong rang out.
GONG—! GONG—!
The sound was like a magic spell.
Three hundred laborers stopped swinging their pickaxes and charged toward the kitchen.
They looked like a starving pack of wolves, but their faces were as bright as children’s.
“Form a line! A line! There is plenty of food, so do not push!”
Manseok shouted as he waved a ladle.
Today’s menu was beef and radish soup.
Using the gold we had received for the cucumbers, we had slaughtered an entire old cow.
Then we had chopped up Great Peace Domain’s sweet super-radishes, added plenty of green onions and garlic, and simmered everything until tender.
“Here. Eat as much as you like.”
Beodeuri ladled the soup and rice into earthenware bowls.
Fat glistened atop the steaming broth, which was filled with generous chunks of meat.
“G-Good heavens... M-Meat!”
An old laborer who received his meal first began trembling.
He was a tenant farmer from a neighboring village. Having run out of rice during the bad harvest, he had gone hungry for days before hearing the news and coming here.
SLURP.
He gulped down the hot broth.
The rich beef stock and sweet radish slid down his throat and warmly embraced his empty stomach.
“Sniff...”
The old man suddenly buried his face in his bowl and began to sob.
“Sir, what is wrong? Does it not taste good?”
A young man beside him asked in alarm.
“No... No... It is too good... In all my life, I have never had meat soup like this...”
The old man’s tears fell into the broth.
The other laborers nearby sniffled as well.
This was an era when people could work themselves to the bone their whole lives and still struggle to eat their fill of barley rice.
Yet here, they had merely dug some earth and were being served meat soup fit for a king.
“Long live the head of Great Peace Village!”
Someone shouted.
“Long live my lord! Long live Lord Choi San!”
Cheers erupted everywhere.
As they ate, they bowed repeatedly in my direction.
I watched them from afar as I ate my own bowl of soup and rice.
‘This is it.’
This was exactly what I wanted.
It was far more profitable to fill people’s stomachs like this than to use ten nyang of gold to buy rice and stack it away in a warehouse.
A single bowl of soup and rice had bought their loyalty.
From now on, even without being told, they would become sentries guarding my domain.
“Big Brother, are you pleased?”
Chilbok asked as he chewed on pickled radish.
“Yes. I feel full.”
“We spent an awful lot of money. It looks like one cow will be gone in a single day.”
“It is fine. We only need to sell a few more cucumbers.”
I took another sip of broth.
It was refreshing.
“Now that we have filled our bellies, it is time to get to the main event.”
“The main event? Have we not already dug the pit?”
“If we have built the storehouse, we need to fill it.”
I pointed toward the river.
“Let us go harvest ice.”
A tributary of the Nakdong River.
The river had frozen thick beneath the bitter winter cold.
The ice looked at least thirty centimeters thick—strong enough for people to walk across safely.
“Wow... It has frozen solid.”
Manseok stomped on the ice and marveled.
“Be careful, idiot. If it breaks, you are dead.”
I gathered the workers along the riverbank.
Now that they had eaten their fill, the laborers were overflowing with energy.
“Starting now, we harvest ice. Cut it into square blocks, one and a half ja on each side—about forty-five centimeters.”
I demonstrated.
Special ice saws and chisels had been made at the blacksmith’s.
Their steel blades had been sharpened, and their handles had been made long enough to let the workers operate them while standing.
“First, mark the lines and cut with the saw. At the end, strike it lightly with a chisel to break it free. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
The work began.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE.
The sound of saws biting into ice filled the riverbank.
White ice dust scattered through the air like snow.
“Heave! Heave!”
The cut blocks of ice were remarkably heavy.
Each one weighed at least forty kilograms.
The ordinary workers strained as they carried a single block between two people.
Then—
“Move aside! Ice coming through!”
Manseok shouted.
Everyone turned to look.
He wore a carrying frame on his back, with no fewer than five ice blocks stacked on it.
More than two hundred kilograms.
Yet he ran around with them on his back.
“Th-That monster...”
“What incredible strength.”
The laborers clicked their tongues in amazement.
Manseok enjoyed the attention and ran even more energetically.
“Big Brother! These are so cold that I am not even sweating!”
He was thrilled.
I shook my head and smiled. He more than earned his meals.
The harvested ice was transparent and pure.
It glittered like jewels beneath the sunlight.
In summer, it would be worth more than gold.
“Handle it carefully! If it breaks, it loses its value as merchandise!”
I directed the work while inspecting the quality of the ice.
We discarded cloudy blocks and selected only those as clear as crystal.
The carts loaded with ice traveled nonstop toward the ice-storehouse site.
Back on the mountainside.
Inside the pit where the floor work had been completed, the ice blocks began to be stacked in neat layers.
“Spread more rice husks! More!”
After laying each layer of ice, we scattered thick layers of rice husks and sawdust over it.
This prevented the ice blocks from sticking to one another and formed air layers that preserved the cold.
Like stacking layers of steamed rice cake.
One layer, two layers, three layers...
The pit gradually filled with ice.
By sunset, the nine-meter-deep pit was nearly full.
Thousands of ice blocks slept inside the mountain.
“Cover it up!”
Finally, we covered it with several layers of straw mats, then piled thick soil over them to form a mound.
From the outside, it looked like a gigantic grave.
But inside was a winter kingdom where time had stopped.
“Whew...”
Covered in dirt, I sank to the ground.
My back felt as though it might break, but the sight of the mound of earth before me made me smile.
‘Success.’
With this, our preparations for summer were complete.
When the nobles of Caegyeong panted from the heat, I would open that door and sell them refreshing cold air.
I would make shaved ice with red beans, chilled tea, and more.
The very thought was exhilarating.
“My lord, you have worked hard.”
Master Gong approached and offered me water. He, too, was utterly exhausted.
“You are the one who worked hard, Master Gong. Thanks to you, we have an excellent storehouse.”
“Ha ha, this is my first time building something like this. Will the ice truly remain until summer?”
“Just wait and see. I will pour cold water over your back in summer.”
We looked at each other and laughed.
Then Chilbok approached hesitantly.
“Big Brother.”
“What is it? Is there a problem?”
Chilbok’s expression was grim.
“Well... There is an unpleasant rumor going around.”
“A rumor?”
“Yes. I heard it while we were serving the soup and rice earlier. The local ruffians from the neighboring village have caught wind of us.”
“What wind? The smell of meat?”
“No. The smell of money.”
Chilbok lowered his voice.
“We are carrying out a large construction project in winter and slaughtered a cow to hold a feast... People are saying that Great Peace Village has a golden calf. The ruffians in town apparently have their eyes on us...”
Ah. So it had come at last.
The flies that inevitably gathered when one became rich.
A rich man had suddenly appeared in a poor village. Naturally, there would be people envious of him and others looking to take a bite out of him.
I rose to my feet and brushed the dirt from my clothes.
“A golden calf...”
I called to Manseok.
Manseok still seemed to have energy left. He was tossing pieces of ice around as though playing jacks.
“Manseok!”
“Yes, Big Brother!”
“Starting tonight, you will stand night watch.”
“Are thieves coming?”
Manseok’s eyes gleamed.
It was not that he enjoyed fighting. He was simply always looking for something against which to show off his strength.
Despite his bandit-like build, he also had a strong sense of justice.
“Yes. It seems some rats will be gathering around us.”
I looked toward the ice storehouse.
Soon, it would become the heart of Great Peace Village.
“Chilbok.”
“Yes.”
“Pick out the biggest workers with the sharpest eyes.”
“Are you forming a guard force?”
“Yes. We should let them earn their meals. Prepare some clubs as well.”
I clenched my fist.
“Those who eat my food are under my protection. But anyone who tries to steal my bowl...”
I grinned.
“I will bury them beneath the floor of the ice storehouse.”
A cold winter wind blew past.
But behind me stood three hundred well-fed laborers, and beneath the ground slept a treasure of ice.
Ruffians or bandits—let them come.