There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 14

< The Hero Doesn't Study (2) >

In China, there was a time when they vigorously promoted a stove improvement project as part of their energy conservation policy.

In the 80s and 90s, most of the population in rural China used stoves, so this initiative aimed to use fuel more efficiently.

Thus, the Chinese government and each province set out to improve stoves, and the one I chose as a model was the PT model developed in Fujian Province.

The improved stove I made had a firewood support to completely burn the fuel and a heat discharge delay structure to minimize heat loss through the chimney.

‘I heard that over 100 million people in China used improved stoves.’

I pointed to the stove and said to the officials who had followed me, looking bewildered.

“This stove is so efficient that it can boil 8 *geun* [approximately 4.8 kg] of water with only 13 *nyang* [approximately 487.5 grams] of firewood.”

This damn traditional measurement system. I’m going to switch it all to the metric system someday.

To put it simply, it can boil 5kg of water with 0.5kg of firewood.

Some officials blinked, but others, who seemed to have helped with household chores, smacked their foreheads.

“Oh, you can really save a lot of firewood!”

The turbulent times of the late Goryeo and early Joseon dynasties had not long passed.

Among the officials, there would be many who had lit fires in the stove themselves and sighed while counting the remaining firewood.

One official pointed to the stove and asked.

“If this is distributed throughout the country, the damage to the mountains and trees will be greatly reduced. Is it easy to make?”

“It’s something that can be made in a day or two with skilled technicians.”

I said triumphantly.

“His Royal Highness wasn’t just enjoying baths.”

“To think he was considering such a plan behind the scenes.”

The atmosphere of my teachers, who had been scolding me, became subtle.

To be precise, it split into two factions.

One group acknowledged my achievements, while the other…

“Your Highness, such things are for lowly servants to ponder, not for a gentleman to get involved in! True learning is in the classics. How can you be so engrossed in playing with clay?”

‘Aren’t you the ones who said using firewood is a luxury, and now you’re saying this?’

My face crumpled as Preceptor Woo stepped forward to argue.

True learning is in the classics?

‘From now on, the Heir Apparent will start a *myeong-eon* [wise saying] *pokgyeok* [bombardment].’

“What’s so important about the classics?”

“Therefore, you should keep the books closer to you… Huh?”

Preceptor Woo’s words were cut off, as he didn’t expect me to refute him immediately.

I didn’t miss the gap and pointed my finger at him.

“Rummaging through the classics and reciting plausible passages is what rotten scholars do!”

“……!”

“In the past, Jiang Ziya [a famous strategist] and Zhang Liang [another famous strategist] were people who achieved great things by coming up with great plans, but I have never heard that they separately mastered any classics. Is Preceptor Woo saying that he is better than Jiang Ziya or Zhang Liang?”

“Ha, but.”

“I am not someone who tries to imitate the writing of *seosaeng* [bookworms]!”

‘Thank you, Luo Guanzhong!’

I’ve read the Battle of Red Cliffs from the cartoon Romance of the Three Kingdoms more than ten times.

I’m using the words that Zhuge Liang used when he was in a verbal battle with the ministers of the Wu Kingdom like this.

Above all, since it’s from the Romance and not the official history, the fact that it’s plagiarism won’t be revealed.

‘Surely the Romance of the Three Kingdoms hasn’t been introduced yet.’

My teachers were dumbfounded by my sharp words.

Is it natural for me to call my teacher a rotten scholar without hesitation and dismiss studying the classics as insignificant?

Preceptor Woo trembled as if his parents had been insulted.

“This country is a country of *Seongrihak* [Neo-Confucianism]. As the eldest son of His Majesty, shouldn’t Your Highness diligently study the classics and become the nation’s foremost scholar?”

“Among scholars, there are gentlemen and petty men. In the past, Yang Xiong was highly educated, but he could not avoid falling from the pavilion after helping the traitor Wang Mang, so wasn’t he a truly filthy petty man? Like this, becoming a gentleman has nothing to do with the length of one’s learning.”

This is also a quote from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The exciting Three Kingdoms that heroes unfold Aha!

“But only by learning the words of the sages can one know compassion and love, and fulfill the duties of a human being.”

“Then what did Preceptor Woo do after learning the words of the sages?”

“What do you mean?”

“Even I, at a young age, made *jochong* [matchlock guns] to strengthen the army, made *geojunggi* [lever] to reduce the labor of the people, and now have even prepared a way to survive the cold winter, but what have you done?”

“……”

Preceptor Woo’s mouth was shut tight.

I guess he thinks he hasn’t done anything either.

The other teachers standing behind him were also silent, wondering what they were thinking.

“……Zhu Xi said that the purpose of studying is to become a saint. *Wanghwa* [Royal transformation] comes from the virtue of a saint, so please withdraw such ominous words, Your Highness.”

‘Now you’re going to rely on authority?’

I yawned.

That Confucius, Mencius, and Zhu Xi.

I know they’re great people, but I’m starting to get sick of hearing about them.

I looked straight at Preceptor Woo and asked.

“What is the most important of the works dealing with Zhu Xi’s thoughts?”

“Of course, it is the Zhu Zi Quan Shu. Zhu Xi wrote books and collected biographies, and asked Cai Shen to make a complete book, which can be said to be the entirety of *Seongrihak* [Neo-Confucianism].”

You make it so difficult to say.

“Has Preceptor Woo read the entire Zhu Zi Quan Shu?”

“Yes?”

The reason I asked this question was simple.

– Surprisingly, the first person to completely read the Zhu Zi Quan Shu in Joseon was Yi Hwang.

Because I remembered what Jinhyuk *hyung* [older brother/male friend] told me in modern times.

Was it when we went to Dosan Seowon together?

– The Zhu Zi Quan Shu had been brought in about three times by the time of King Munjong, but even then, it wasn’t published in Joseon. So, it was only 200 years after *Seongrihak* [Neo-Confucianism] was introduced to Joseon that someone appeared who had completely read the Zhu Zi Quan Shu. Compared to the reputation of being a country of *Yuhak* [Confucianism], it was quite late, right?

“I, this humble one.”

“There, has Vice Preceptor read it?”

“This humble one also……”

“Among the Vice Preceptors, Preceptors, and Literary Scholars here, is there no one who has read that important Zhu Zi Quan Shu?”

The teachers turned their heads. It was a clear expression of embarrassment.

I laughed.

‘So why are you trying to teach me when you don’t even know your own major.’

There are many people in modern times who live regardless of their major, but this is a different case, isn’t it?

“Jo, Joseon has not yet received a complete copy.”

“Then why don’t you go to the Ming Dynasty and get it? Didn’t you say that you can become a saint by learning the words of the ancients? It seems that the teachers don’t want to become saints?”

The officials’ faces flushed.

The Ming Dynasty isn’t the name of the dog next door, and it’s not like they didn’t want to get it.

But it was a good excuse for me to wield.

“Heo, I can’t believe that the most learned scholars in the country have never completely read it.”

I decided to drive the wedge in at this opportunity.

“Until you have completely read the Zhu Zi Quan Shu, I cannot learn from you!”

Let’s see, did they say the Zhu Zi Quan Shu has over 100 volumes?

I hope you have a hard time.

Kehehehe.

===

Until the teachers have completely read the Zhu Zi Quan Shu, I cannot learn from them!

The officials of the Office of Royal Lectures were dumbfounded by the tremendous declaration.

The Heir Apparent threw these words as the last and returned.

– I have learned the Four Books a little, so I have at least the minimum level of education. Rather than wasting my life arguing over *jagu* [words and phrases] all day, I will continue to find ways to make the people comfortable!

Looking at the reality, it was a scheme by the Heir Apparent Lee Je to escape from studying, but what people accepted was different.

“It seems that the Heir Apparent has gone greatly astray.”

Preceptor Woo, who was under concentrated fire, muttered.

Where on earth is there a student who openly confronts his teacher?

No matter how much he is the Heir Apparent, it was an intolerable outrage.

Some officials nodded in agreement with Preceptor Woo’s words, but Vice Preceptor Heo Ji was different.

He clenched his fist tightly.

“I think differently.”

“Differently, what do you mean?”

“His Royal Highness has the demeanor of a wise ruler.”

Vice Preceptor Heo Ji declared to his colleagues.

The Heir Apparent’s words still seemed to linger in his ears.

– Rummaging through the classics and reciting plausible passages is what rotten scholars do!

That cry that came out of the Heir Apparent’s mouth pierced his solar plexus.

It wasn’t just Heo Ji.

Luo Guanzhong’s poignant writing, considered the greatest writer in Chinese history, shook the hearts of the people gathered here.

Anyone who had overcome the turbulent times of the late Goryeo Dynasty had a *ungsim* [ambition] in their hearts to make the country peaceful.

Did Taegongmang [Jiang Ziya] or Zhang Liang learn the classics and make the world peaceful?

What those who are starving to death because they have no food and freezing to death because they have no firewood need is not the teachings of the sages, but the stove made by the Heir Apparent.

“His Royal Highness has great ambitions. He is not someone we can dare to measure, so how can we add words?”

Can a sparrow teach a *daebung* [roc]?

The Heir Apparent has stopped reading the classics, but his character is already no less than that of any saint.

“What good is it to accumulate knowledge and show off? Isn’t creating a world where anyone can easily burn firewood the true royal road?”

“Heo! Still, that is not the role of a scholar! Don’t you know why Confucius called Beonji a petty man?”

“When Confucius asked Beonji to learn farming, he replied that he was not as good as an old farmer. And if the superiors like propriety and righteousness, the people will naturally obey and the country will be at peace, but he is only asking about farming methods, so why wouldn’t he be a petty man?

Like this, farming methods and stoves are insignificant compared to the way of governing the country, but isn’t His Royal Highness now indulging in *japgi* [trivial skills]!”

A fierce debate broke out.

The civil officials, divided into left and right, shouted at each other.

“As you said, where are the scholars worthy of being called scholars in this country? Among the rural gentry, it is fortunate if they can avoid being illiterate!”

The country has not been founded for long.

The strengthening of scholars’ cultivation is a matter for later generations, and even a hundred years later, there were many who were not much better off.

Only after overcoming the imminent crisis that seemed like they would grab each other’s collars did both sides calm down.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Since you won’t study until we have completely read the Zhu Zi Quan Shu, we have to get a complete copy! I will volunteer for this *Seongjeolsa* [envoy celebrating the emperor’s birthday] this time.”

Some were stomping their feet with damaged pride,

“There are those who can’t even read, so the Heir Apparent despises scholars so much. I would rather go back to my hometown and cultivate *huhak* [younger scholars].”

Some even tried to resign, thinking that they could not reverse the Heir Apparent’s wrongdoing.

Preceptor Woo looked at the other side and asked.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“We can’t just take *nokbong* [salary] and do nothing. After meeting His Majesty, we will tell him about the situation and help His Royal Highness in other ways.”

Vice Preceptor Heo Ji stepped forward and said.

Is it possible because the regulations are not so strong in the early days of the country?

Joseon’s education curriculum began to branch out in a different direction from the very beginning.

It was a signal flare that the Heir Apparent Lee Je fired without any thought.

===

My ears were itchy.

Are those old men still talking about me?

“I’m finally free from annoying studying.”

As I picked my ear, No-boon narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“…….”

“No-boon, do you have anything to say?”

“It’s nothing.”