There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 133

To be honest, it’s not that strange that the Ming people think of Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] as barbarians.

The Chinese have always been arrogant, and their so-called traditional view of the world was that everyone except them was a barbarian.

So, it’s only natural that this girl, who looks to be about my age or a year or two older, calls us barbarians.

From their point of view, it’s true.

‘But I can’t stand being called a barbarian!’

As I glared, someone shouted before I could say anything.

“Our Joseon is the land where Dangun [mythical founder of Korea] descended with Emperor Yao’s enthronement, and the country where Gija [a sage from the Zhou Dynasty] , the teacher of the Zhou Dynasty, was enfeoffed. Even compared to the Central Plains [ancient China], its virtuous influence is not inferior, so why does the Princess speak such words?”

Do-ga strode, or rather toddled, over here as he spoke.

‘Did he get tired of playing with the Crown Prince and come looking for me?’

“What?”

The Princess faltered and stepped back at her younger brother’s rebuke.

‘Good job!’

He reads books day and night, and his skills are being fully displayed to the Princess.

The Princess, however, raised her voice even louder, perhaps ashamed of having retreated without realizing it.

“I’m calling a barbarian a barbarian, what else should I call them?”

Then my brother stepped forward again.

“The distinction between civilization and barbarism is revealed through learning and edification. People like Choi Chi-won [renowned Korean scholar] and Yi Saek [prominent Korean Neo-Confucian scholar] in our country have spread their literary fame even to China, so we are not inferior to the Ming Dynasty. How can the Princess treat us so contemptuously?”

We have Choi Chi-won’s left arm and Yi Saek’s right arm.

Don’t you ever look down on Joseon again.

I continued.

“Something that our country doesn’t have but China does… I can only think of foot binding?”

In this era, the Ming Dynasty has a custom called foot binding [the practice of tightly binding women’s feet to make them smaller].

From a young age, they tightly bind women’s feet to make them small, which is an evil practice created by the Chinese who pursue the ultimate foot fetish.

Of course, this would break and twist the bones, so the feet would never grow normally, but women in this era unconditionally bind their feet.

Why?

‘To look pretty.’

It’s not just foot binding.

There was a custom that not only modern people like me but also educated and excellent Joseon people considered extremely barbaric.

“Ah, was there one more?”

What shocked the Joseon envoys the most was probably this.

“Something like funerary practices? Hmm, burying women together when their husbands die, the spirit of the continent is truly magnificent.”

Even if they bury a scarecrow, Joseon’s view is that the descendants will be cut off if they perform funerary practices.

However, the revived funerary system was still maintained in the Ming Dynasty.

“Ah, our Joseon can’t dare to follow the majesty of the continent, so we have nothing to say even if we are called barbarians.”

“······!”

I clenched my fist tightly as I looked at the Princess, who had her mouth shut.

‘Got it!’

No matter how much she despises us as barbarians, she can’t possibly defend funerary practices or foot binding.

‘From the start, how can those who do such things despise us as barbarians?’

Even from a cultural relativism perspective, isn’t it against the universal human morality?

‘Now, who is the real barbarian?’

“You… what did you just say…?”

As I watched the Princess’s clenched fist tremble, I expected a lion’s roar to erupt soon.

But the Princess just stared at me for a long time, without saying a word.

Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes.

– Thud

A drop of tear ran down the girl’s cheek and fell to the floor.

‘Huh?’

Is she so upset that she lost to me in words that she’s crying?

Wiping away her tears, she turned around and ran away.

“Those who only sell white porcelain powder!”

“Hwangmae!”

The royal guards hurriedly chased after her.

‘She runs pretty well.’

I thought so as I watched her back.

The kid was quite nimble.

“Hyung, will it be okay?”

Do-ga asked awkwardly.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Even though the Ming Dynasty treats us as docile barbarians, they can’t openly call us that.

Above all, we are guests who came to uphold Emperor Yongle’s prestige.

So, the Ming Dynasty side won’t be able to hold us accountable.

‘However······.’

Even so, was this something to cry about?

I tilted my head in doubt.

===

Princess Baogyeong, Zhu Suhua, wiped away her tears.

Her eyes were swollen, so the court ladies desperately tried not to look up at her.

Regardless, Zhu Suhua swallowed her resentment at the incomprehensible outburst.

‘Why would he say such a thing······.’

Since she was born, she had always heard that the Central Plains were the center of the world, and that barbarians lived in all directions.

She had heard that the barbarians had submitted to her brother and come to pay tribute, and she never expected that her attempt to act knowledgeable would provoke such a fierce reaction.

“Hwangmae, show me your feet.”

At those words, Zhu Suhua hurriedly hid her tearful expression.

Then, with a haughty attitude, she held out her feet.

She was just a child, so she didn’t exactly feel dignified.

Several court ladies clung to her, wrapping her white and small feet with white cloth.

This is foot binding (缠足) [the practice of tightly binding women’s feet to make them smaller].

The senior court lady gently coaxed Zhu Suhua.

“You mustn’t keep unwrapping your foot bindings. Your feet won’t become pretty.”

“What can I do, it’s uncomfortable.”

Zhu Suhua pouted her lips and said.

“Still, if you want to look good to your future husband, your feet must be small.”

The men of this Central Plains continent were thorough about such things.

Empress Ma, the wife of Zhu Yuanzhang [the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming Dynasty], was also ridiculed by the people for having large feet because she did not bind her feet.

For reference, if Empress Ma hadn’t stopped him, Zhu Yuanzhang would have killed them all.

Zhu Suhua sighed deeply as she watched her feet being wrapped tightly.

She knew she had to bind her feet, but she couldn’t help but feel suffocated.

She was planning to take advantage of the times when these guys weren’t following her around to untie them again.

Zhu Suhua, who was silently looking down at her feet disappearing under the cloth, asked.

“You there, you said you were from Joseon?”

“Yes, Hwangmae.”

Crown Prince Yi Je had obtained a few years of grace by offering Seungja Chongtong [a type of cannon] as tribute, but originally, Joseon offered eunuchs and Gongnyeo [Korean women offered as tribute] as tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

So, it was not strange that there were Joseon court ladies among her maids.

“I have something to ask.”

“Please ask.”

“Is it an insult to call a Joseon person a barbarian?”

From her point of view, she was calling a barbarian a barbarian, but she was curious as to why they said she had insulted them.

“······It’s not exactly a pleasant thing to hear from our perspective.”

The court lady who was wrapping her feet with cloth lowered her head and said.

“Oh, really?”

Zhu Suhua felt a sting in her heart at those words, but she quickly shook her head to shake off her apology.

‘That guy was wrong to me too.’

If he knew about her mother and said such things, she couldn’t forgive him.

She drew deep hatred for Yi Je from within.

“One more thing.”

Zhu Suhua asked.

“Barbarians… no, do Joseon people not bind their feet?”

Then the Joseon court lady flinched, but then nodded and said.

“Yes, our small country does not have such customs.”

She wondered if they were blaming her for having large feet because she didn’t bind them, but she didn’t seem to be looking at her that way.

That was actually the case.

“What a strange country.”

Zhu Suhua spat out those words.

“Yes?”

“No, I take it back.”

Zhu Suhua hurriedly shook her head.

There was no way that a country with such a guy as the Crown Prince could be normal.

===

Joseon, as the nation of courtesy in the East, was greatly indignant at the Princess’s words.

None of the envoys who heard the story from the palace were not angry.

How dare she call us barbarians?

“We must lodge a strong protest with the Ming court immediately!”

“No, that’s a bit…”

If the story of me entering the inner palace comes out, it will be troublesome.

However, there were also those who tried to understand this Princess gently.

“Please calm down. It may be because the eldest princess did not learn properly because she lost her parents early.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hwang Hee calmly told the story of the parents of the eldest princess Zhu Suhua, whom he met today.

For reference, the emperor’s daughter is a princess, his sister is the eldest princess, and his aunt is the grand eldest princess.

“The princess lost both her parents at the young age of five, so how could she be careful with her words?”

“Indeed!”

My brother clapped his knees next to me.

“So that’s why she dared to look down on us as barbarians, Hyung!”

Do-ga rolled up his sleeves and shouted in anger.

“Zhuja [Zhu Xi, a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar] said that learning is imitating, but the princess learned her family education independently, so it can’t be helped!”

“No, not all people who lose their parents early are like that······.”

I lost my parents early in my past life, but I still grew up more normally than anyone else.

‘But what happened to her mother?’

Zhu Yuanzhang had his youngest daughter at such a late age, so it wouldn’t be strange if he was already dead.

But her mother is already dead too?

I smacked my forehead in realization.

When a powerful person dies, their concubines are buried with them, which is called funerary practices [the practice of burying concubines alive with the deceased emperor].

Of course, the princess’s mother also went to the grave with Zhu Yuanzhang when he died.

‘Truly barbaric······.’

After listening, it was indeed so.

The princess’s mother, Concubine Jang, begged for her daughter, but she was buried with Zhu Yuanzhang according to the cold-hearted funerary practices.

The problem was not that.

Then let’s summarize what I said earlier······.

‘Is the Ming Dynasty so great that your mother was buried alive?’

Is that what I asked?

Sweat dripped down my back.

“I’m screwed······.”

I muttered blankly.

Without realizing it, I ended up bringing up the princess’s dead mother.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to say something, Kwon Geun immediately entered.

He was on his way back from the mahjong parlor.

“Your Highness! I just got some news from the Minister of Revenue of Ming while playing mahjong!”

Kwon Geun asked, bewildered, not grasping the atmosphere.

“No, but why does your face look like that?”

“It’s nothing. Tell me what you heard from the Minister of Revenue.”

At my words, Kwon Geun said with an uneasy expression.

“It seems that the Ming Dynasty is planning to send troops to attack Annam [ancient Vietnam] soon.”

Annam is Vietnam.

I heard that the prince had defected to Ming because the dynasty had changed in Vietnam, and it seemed that Emperor Yongle was planning to send troops there as well, under the pretext of suppressing the rebels.

“The emperor is already moving the capital to Beijing, sending the Boseondan [a special tribute from Joseon], and conquering Mongolia, and now he’s even pushing for the conquest of Annam.

Even if Ming is a great power, can it handle it?”

At my words, Kwon Geun tilted his head.

“Still, wouldn’t it be possible since Ming is a great power?”

“It’s possible, but······.”

“Well, the Minister of Revenue was worried about the financial drain.”

Kwon Geun told me the information he had overheard.

‘Is there any way to use this?’

I pondered.

No matter how big Ming is, this will inevitably draw less attention to Joseon.

‘I got good information.’

I should discuss it with my grandfather or father when I return.

As I was thinking that, someone was looking for me.

It was a eunuch from the Crown Prince’s palace.

“What’s going on?”

“His Highness the Crown Prince has invited you.”

My face crumpled.

Following King Han, King Jo, and Emperor Yongle, now it’s the Crown Prince.

‘Why do these Zhu family people keep looking for me?’

I’ve drawn a clear line in my own way.

It’s the role of a diplomat to work hard at socializing, but it’s terribly burdensome because there’s a succession competition at stake.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to make an excuse and run away from Ming quickly, regardless of diplomacy?’

At this rate, I won’t die of old age.

I decided.

‘I need to make it clear this time. We have no intention of getting involved in the Ming Dynasty’s succession competition.’

Then the Crown Prince will understand.

End

ⓒ Pitkong