Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 83

Jjanggeura

Hello, Bomb!

83. The White-Clothed Scholar (2)

The ‘Document Sorting Punishment’ was a penalty that struck fear into the hearts of all officials as soon as it was created.

In the 21st century, when discussing the Joseon Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 1392 to 1897] online, there’s a joke about them being ‘record-obsessed people.’ The Joseon literati were incredibly enthusiastic about recording everything.

Thus, although it had only been a little over 30 years since the founding of Joseon, the records related to state affairs were already enormous.

Hyang’s assessment of this volume was scathing.

“A fool obsessed with taking notes!”

Hyang likened it to the notes of a student who, believing that ‘good note-taking makes you a top student,’ meticulously took notes with colorful pens and memory markers.

“The problem was how to organize and digest it afterward…”

Among the meticulously recorded documents, the only ones that underwent a proper organization process were the Veritable Records [detailed annals of the Joseon Dynasty].

Therefore, Hyang, having solidified his position through the Crown Prince’s investiture, proposed organizing the records by each ministry.

In truth, the problem was the almost obsessive recording, but its value couldn’t be denied.

However, this task was exhausting.

The volume of documents was immense, and the tasks that needed immediate attention kept piling up.

The amount of memorials, reports, and other documents submitted to the court daily was enormous, and the number of royal replies was equally significant.

It was a constant cycle of ‘organizing one cartload of documents only to have two cartloads of work pile up.’

In this situation, the ‘Document Sorting Punishment,’ created to punish the Ministry of Taxation officials who had failed to grasp the situation and held a coming-out ceremony, was the best solution.

The officials who received this punishment, the worst kind—’If you don’t produce results within the allotted time, the remaining time and workload will be calculated to determine your exile period’—had to work like ‘stone statues in some archive.’

“What if this data organization is done sloppily?”

Sejong asked, and Hyang replied with an indifferent expression.

“We should apply the system of shared responsibility.”

“Shared responsibility?”

“We’ll bring in the high-ranking members of the family and the scholarly community. If the guy being punished tries to be clever and messes up the work? We’ll summon the elders of his family and scholarly community…”

Sejong clapped his knees at Hyang’s words.

“Aha!”

* * *

With all their assets confiscated, Jo Mal-saeng and his wife had to rely on their eldest son, Jo Seon’s, household.

“Father, welcome.”

“Welcome.”

As Jo Seon and Princess Jeongjeong greeted them, Jo Mal-saeng and his wife bowed deeply, begging for forgiveness.

“We are sorry to trouble Your Highness.”

“We are sorry.”

“It’s alright. Please, come in.”

Thus, Jo Mal-saeng and his wife had to set up their household in a separate residence within Jo Seon’s home.

On the day Jo Mal-saeng and his wife took refuge in Jo Seon’s house, Sejong had the Royal Secretary deliver a letter to Jo Mal-saeng.

The letter’s contents were simple.

-Be cautious and even more cautious. Do not forget whose blood I have inherited.

It was a short but powerful warning.

* * *

A Ministry of Justice official was carefully reading a scroll to Jo Mal-saeng, who had come out to serve the document sorting punishment he had only heard about.

“…Therefore, the criminal must do his best in sorting the documents!” This is the royal order. Do you understand?”

At the cautious words of the Ministry of Justice official, Jo Mal-saeng nodded weakly.

“I understand. And since I am a criminal, you may speak comfortably.”

“Then… would that be alright with you?”

“I am a criminal.”

“Then I will speak comfortably… ahem. Follow me.”

“Yes.”

Jo Mal-saeng followed the still uncomfortable-looking Ministry of Justice official, looking up at the sky.

“Damn it, the sky is so clear.”

The April sky was dazzlingly clear.

* * *

Jo Mal-saeng headed to newly constructed buildings next to Gyeongbok Palace [main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty], behind Yukjo Street.

The court had purchased the areas of Junghak-dong and Susong-dong from the 21st century, and after demolishing all the private houses, enormous buildings were erected on the wide open space.

At the entrance to the space surrounded by high walls, there was a signboard written by Sejong himself.

‘Joseon National Document Archives’

That was the name inscribed on the signboard.

It was a place where a terrifying legend was etched: ‘The red color of the archives’ pillars is dyed with the blood and nosebleeds of the officials and criminals who worked in the archives.’

“Heo….”

Jo Mal-saeng, seeing the magnificent scale of the archives he had only heard about, opened his mouth without realizing it.

He had not fully grasped the scale and budget he had heard in the throne room as a Minister, but seeing it in person gave him a different feeling.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go….”

Jo Mal-saeng, who had been standing blankly and looking at the buildings, had to hurry his steps at the official’s words.

The Ministry of Justice official clicked his tongue as he looked at Jo Mal-saeng, who had quickly approached.

“Ahem… If you have too many other thoughts… you will most likely be subject to shared responsibility.”

“Ah, I understand!”

Jo Mal-saeng, his face pale at the words of the Ministry of Justice official, shook his head.

* * *

“This is where the criminal will be working from now on.”

“Yes.”

Jo Mal-saeng arrived at one of the several buildings built in the archives. The signboard on the building’s front gate read ‘Ministry of War.’

Jo Mal-saeng sighed without realizing it as he entered the building.

“Haa~.”

Inside the building, in a large room in the center, nine long desks were arranged in three rows, and officials with dark circles around their eyes were rummaging through scrolls and transcribing them into books.

Jo Mal-saeng felt bitter as he looked at the exhausted officials.

‘Am I going to become like that, like that shape?’

“I will now explain the work process.”

“…Yes.”

Whether it was because he had been told to speak comfortably, or because he recognized that Jo Mal-saeng was nothing more than a criminal, the Ministry of Justice official’s words had become blunt, unlike at first.

“First, you will be assigned a workload by the supervisor sitting in front of you, and then you will process it. You should be familiar with the Ministry of War, right?”

“…Yes.”

The words were polite, but there was a slight barb hidden in the content.

The official, who was looking at Jo Mal-saeng with a face mixed with pity and criticism, continued.

“Since it’s the Ministry of War, it will probably start with the reports coming up from each region. Check the date the report came up, find the corresponding date in the Seungjeongwon Ilgi (Royal Secretariat Diary) [records of daily meetings between the king and his advisors], record what was discussed, and if a royal reply was issued, check the date the reply was issued, find a copy, and record the exact content. That’s the end.”

“Then, do I have to go to the Seungjeongwon… is that right?”

“Follow me.”

The official took Jo Mal-saeng to the entrance. Standing in front of the entrance, the official pointed to the two large buildings in the center of the archives.

“Looking from here, the one on the left is where the Seungjeongwon Ilgi is kept, and the one on the right is where the copies of the royal replies are kept. They are categorized by year, month, and day, so if you find them properly, the work will be easy.”

“Yes….”

Jo Mal-saeng replied in a subdued voice, looking at the two large buildings.

The official’s explanation was coming to an end.

“…When the bell rings once, you will have a 1-gak (15 minutes) [unit of time] break. During that time, you can go to the restroom and stretch your stiff body. And when the bell rings twice, you can go out to the entrance and have a meal at the cafeteria on the left. You will be given one meal a day, a lunch. Finally, when the bell rings three times, you will leave work. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Then, start working.”

“…Yes.”

Feeling the gaze of the Ministry of Justice official behind him, Jo Mal-saeng walked towards the supervisor.

“The criminal should start with these 10 first.”

The supervisor took out 10 scrolls from the scrolls piled up on the bookshelf behind him and handed them to Jo Mal-saeng.

Jo Mal-saeng, receiving the scrolls, unknowingly read the date written on the top scroll.

“Hongwu (洪武) 26th year (1393, 2nd year of Taejo) [era name used during the Ming Dynasty]; Heok!”

Jo Mal-saeng, horrified, looked at the supervisor with surprised eyes. The supervisor, reading Jo Mal-saeng’s expression, nodded.

“It’s a bit old, right? There are hardly any people who have committed crimes in the Ministry of War. Or they are illiterate… The goal is to proceed to the 6th year of King Taejong within this year.”

It was a total of 14 years of records.

The supervisor, seeing Jo Mal-saeng’s blank expression, urged him.

“Get to work! Don’t forget that shared responsibility will be applied if the work is delayed or errors occur! Especially in the case of a criminal, you have committed a serious crime of deceiving the monarch, so don’t forget that even a single mistake will result in immediate shared responsibility!”

“Yes, yes!”

At the supervisor’s urging, Jo Mal-saeng hurriedly found an empty seat and sat down, unfolding the scroll.

“Writing tools… Heo-heo….”

Jo Mal-saeng, looking for writing tools, had a hollow expression. In the center of the long desk, there was a pen holder with several gold pens, an inkstone filled with ink, and a stack of blank paper.

He had become a stone statue who had to write documents.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Jo Seon’s house, Jo Mal-saeng’s wife, Lady Shin, was complaining to Princess Jeongjeong.

“Your Highness. Can’t Your Highness use your influence to help us?”

Despite Lady Shin’s plea, the Princess shook her head with a troubled expression.

“It is beyond my power. His Majesty is unyielding on this matter.”

“Haa~. What should we do….”

At the Princess’s answer, Lady Shin beat her chest and lamented.

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, Jo Mal-saeng, whose bribery was revealed, had to go into exile. Not long after going into exile, he was reinstated, and after 2 years, Jo Mal-saeng was able to return to the central political arena.

But that was the end.

Jo Mal-saeng never sat in the position of Chief State Councilor that Taejong had promised him until he died. The evaluation recorded in the Veritable Records at the time of Jo Mal-saeng’s death was as follows:

-His character was good, and he was competent, but a ‘flaw’ blocked his path.

To Sejong, who had a strong desire for talent, Jo Mal-saeng was a decent talent, but not of the same caliber as Hwang Hee.

In simple terms, Jo Mal-saeng was someone who was used because talent was needed, but not a talent that was truly pleasing to the heart.

However, as Hyang intervened, the scope of change gradually increased, and with the creation of the excellent means of disposal called ‘Document Sorting Punishment,’ Jo Mal-saeng’s return to politics became uncertain.

* * *

Meanwhile, during the one-month deadline set by Sejong, a huge amount of wealth poured into the national treasury.

“Land documents, slaves, gold, silver, horse meat, and horse equipment. Coral, jade, and jadeite… All the wealth that can be found in Joseon is here.”

The ministers had no choice but to bow their heads at Sejong’s words. Sejong, glaring at the ministers who had bowed their heads, continued.

“To be able to eat… to receive so much and still be fine… I cannot help but admire your skills. Truly mysterious skills.”

At Sejong’s barbed words, the ministers all prostrated themselves on the floor and shouted.

“Please kill us!”

“I would like to do as you say or subject you all to document sorting punishment, but since I have made a promise, I will just let it go this time. However, if this happens again, do not expect my mercy.”

“We will engrave it in our hearts!”

“Then let’s get to the main point.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

With the bribery issue sealed, state affairs began to move along the rails again.

Outside the palace, they were busy with reconstruction work, and inside, they were busy carrying out state affairs, a subtle ripple arose among the officials.

It was due to Sejong’s instructions regarding the government female servants (官婢, female servants employed by the government).

“It shall be the rule to give central and local government female servants 100 days of leave when they give birth.”

“We obey the command.”

Sejong’s order was somewhat reasonable because government female servants who had given birth often became ill or their babies died because they could not properly recover and had to work.

However, this order caused a stir for another reason.

“No! Government female servants are given maternity leave, but what about us!”

The officials, exhausted from overwork, began to complain.

The officials’ complaints reached the ears of Sejong and Hyang through the eunuchs. Hyang scoffed at the complaints.

“Humph! Tell them to write a letter of resignation if they feel wronged! They are complaining when they are given so many benefits! Do they think power is so easily obtained?”

Sejong went one step further.

“I heard that there are many complaints about giving government female servants maternity leave?”

As soon as Sejong’s words fell, Hwang Hee began to work on calming the situation.

“There are always people who complain, no matter when or where.”

“I would like to catch them all and have them do document sorting for about 100 days each.”

“Please bestow the mercy of the monarch.”

“Tsk! Let’s do that! But it’s frustrating. It’s not like I didn’t give them holidays!”

“We are in great fear!”

At that time, there were holidays in Joseon. Holidays such as New Year’s Day, Daeboreum [the first full moon of the lunar year], Dano [the fifth day of the fifth lunar month], Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving], the days corresponding to the 24 solar terms, the king’s birthday, and the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 23rd of each month were official holidays.

In addition to these official holidays, each institution had days off in rotation for officials according to internal regulations, just as Hyang had given them one day off every 10 days.

Therefore, when the solar terms, holidays, official holidays, and holidays according to internal regulations overlapped, there were cases where they rested for 4 to 5 consecutive days, and every year on the day the Gwan Sang Gam (Office of Astronomy) [government office responsible for astronomy, meteorology, and calendar-making] distributed the calendar, officials flocked to confirm the holidays.

That’s why Sejong got angry when the officials complained. Sejong, after sending out the ministers, grumbled to the Royal Secretary.

“Really, what do you think about finding them all and putting them through 100 days of document sorting punishment?”

At Sejong’s question, the Royal Secretary closed his eyes tightly and answered sincerely.

“Please save me, Your Majesty!”