There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 176

The first thing I did when I took over the second regency was dismiss Min Mu-gu and Min Mu-jil from their positions.

“We have been serving in excessive positions for a while, but now we can no longer handle it, so we are going to step down.”

I granted their resignations without even pretending to hold them back out of courtesy.

Others might say I was heartless, but I couldn’t help it.

‘One of the reasons Lee Bang-won entrusted me with the regency must be this.’

I could easily see his intention in having me, rather than himself, dismiss my maternal uncles.

It would look better than the king purging meritorious subjects.

My nephew might get some flak for kicking out his uncles, but Lee Bang-won wouldn’t care about that.

Thinking that way made my stomach churn.

“Your Highness, regarding the matters of the military drill in the Training Command······.”

“Although I have taken on the regency, I cannot touch matters concerning military authority, so report to the King later and do not bring it to me.”

As soon as Jo Young-moo started to speak, I cut him off sharply.

Lee Bang-won had even vacated the throne room for me, showing a cool attitude that he wouldn’t interfere with every little thing, but that didn’t mean I could freely control the military power.

It was a very sensitive issue for the king.

It’s not like I’m trying to snipe at my father who ran away leaving me with work.

“Furthermore, I am not the one to handle diplomatic issues related to the great nation, so keep those pending and tell His Majesty when he returns.”

That’s what I said.

Lee Bang-won will take care of urgent matters, and it’s okay to keep the rest pending for a few days.

I can’t stand the sight of Lee Bang-won having a good time while I’m suffering.

Then Ha Ryun stepped forward and asked.

“Then, what about the case of envoys coming from the Jowa Kingdom, not the great nation? Since guests have come from abroad, we cannot postpone this matter carelessly.”

“Jowa Kingdom?”

Where is that again?

===

The Jowa Kingdom is present-day Java.

Of course, Java is just a geographical name, and the kingdom that ruled there called itself Majapahit in their language.

How do I know this when I had never heard of Majapahit or Mapo Tofu even when I was in the modern era? It was thanks to our officials who participated in Zheng He’s voyages [Zheng He was a Chinese admiral and diplomat who led large naval expeditions in the early 15th century].

Java was also a port of call for Zheng He’s first voyage.

“The person who came as an envoy this time, Jin Eon-sang, also came to pay tribute once when the Grand King was in power.”

Heo Jo, the Vice Minister of Rites and a professional explainer, explained after examining the records.

“They visited even in those days when it had not been long since the founding of the country.”

There were still many foreign envoys visiting Joseon in this era.

Especially Southeast Asian countries bordering the Indian Ocean were targets we should contact even if we had to send ships ourselves.

I hurriedly summoned the envoys from the Jowa Kingdom, but······.

‘Why are these people like this?’

They were supposed to be envoys, but these men looked very pathetic.

They were literally skin and bones, and their official hats and clothes were barely in place.

The envoy, Jin Eon-sang, seemed to notice my reaction and hurriedly explained.

“Please forgive our poor appearance as we were attacked by pirates on the way. Due to the fierce strength of the pirates, items such as agarwood [a fragrant resinous wood] and borneol [another name for Borneo camphor, a valuable aromatic compound] were all looted, and only about 40 people, including the foreign envoys, survived.”

I clicked my tongue after hearing that they ran into pirates off the coast of Jeolla-do and were utterly defeated.

Although Tsushima Island is the main base of the pirates, strictly speaking, it played a greater role as a stopover point for pirates from Kyushu [the southernmost of Japan’s main islands].

So, since the subjugation of Tsushima Island, the number of pirates directly heading to us has greatly decreased, but we have not been able to completely eradicate them.

‘Even though the Tsushima Island route is blocked, pirates coming from the mainland of Kyushu will not disappear.’

In particular, since the implementation of Gamje [a policy restricting trade] in Tsushima Island, the number of pirates invading Gyeongsang-do has decreased, but more pirates have been crossing the distant sea to attack Jeolla-do.

“We are actively suppressing the pirates, but it seems the envoy suffered hardships because their roots have not yet been eradicated.”

I offered my condolences.

But this Jin Eon-sang, this is not the first time he has been robbed by pirates.

“I came to pay tribute to Joseon last time and suffered humiliation from the pirates, but I suffered another incident this time, so the frustration is beyond words.”

Quite a few people in our court remembered that incident.

At that time, Jin Eon-sang was robbed by pirates on his way back home after paying tribute and had to return to Joseon and stay for a while.

“There are bad bandits in Japan called the Shoi clan who make a living by plundering neighboring countries. It is clear that the pirates who attacked the envoy were instigated by them.”

I don’t know if the pirates who robbed Jin Eon-sang were soldiers of the Shoni clan, but let’s just assume so.

After all, weren’t they the ones who had been constantly invading Joseon?

So, I blamed the Shoni clan without any pangs of conscience.

“We cannot stand idly by when guests from afar have suffered an incident! Tell Yeojin-gu to more fiercely suppress the Shoi clan.”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The attacks by the Jurchens were mainly concentrated on the coast of the Shoni clan.

I heard that they would release cavalry as soon as they landed, kidnap people, and set fire to villages, and that their mobility was so great that even if they encountered the suppression forces head-on, they could not be chased.

‘A combination of pirates and cavalry.’

Those who are attacked must be driven crazy.

“And don’t we have slaves bought from the Jurchens this time?”

I asked my vassals.

When the Shoni clan’s army is dispatched like this, they quickly run away to Ouchi’s territory and then launch ships again to plunder 4-5 times.

After plundering people and property to the point where the ship is full, they return to Joseon.

The Jurchens sell the kidnapped people to Joseon in exchange for food and iron and return to their homes, so there were quite a few Japanese slaves accumulated.

“Bring those people here.”

As soon as he saw the Japanese, Jin Eon-sang grabbed the back of his neck and burst into a roar.

“You, you, vile Japs!”

Not only Jin Eon-sang but also all the Javanese envoys in shabby clothes burst into anger as soon as they saw the pirates.

They wanted to catch them and crush them if they could, but

On the other hand, the slaves who were kidnapped and sold to Joseon trembled as they saw the envoys suddenly glaring at them.

“Take these people with you when you return. They are pirates we captured.”

Jin Eon-sang’s eyes widened at my unexpected favor.

“Is that really okay?”

“You must have something to say to your king.”

‘I was going to trade with Joseon, but I met pirates and lost everything before I even arrived,’ how would Jin Eon-sang’s face be?.

He should at least package it as fighting hard and capturing the pirates.

Then Jin Eon-sang said with tears in his eyes.

“I am just grateful that Your Highness said this!”

Of course, it wasn’t free.

Now that we had formed a relationship, I decided to establish friendly relations with Majapahit.

“Since we have received the envoys’ visit, we cannot stand still. We will send a return envoy to reciprocate.

Also, now that we have formed a relationship, I would like to establish a trading post on the Jowa Island to engage in trade.”

What I wanted was to secure a suitable base in Indonesia.

“Since you have bestowed such meticulous grace, how can we not follow Your Highness’s orders? This is what our king also desires.”

I was about to start selling in front of the envoys since there were many things to sell.

However, Jin Eon-sang seemed to be more interested in people than other things.

“Does Joseon capture many pirates?”

“That’s right.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t like we captured those who were acting as pirates, but all the Japanese living on the coast are potential pirates, so that’s that.

“Because those pirates come to our country and occupy the sea and plunder, we cannot trade properly.”

‘Pirates go down to Southeast Asia?’

I was inwardly impressed.

It’s not something I should say, but I respect the frontier spirit of the pirates. Why can’t our pirates do this?

We had a sharp decrease in the frequency of pirate appearances after we took Tsushima Island, but it seemed that our Majapahit friends had suffered even more, and they kept pouring out words.

“Our royal family has valued trade to replenish its finances. But these vile Japs come out to sea and kidnap and kill people from time to time, so not only us but all the countries in the South Seas have resentment in their bones!”

The external image of the pirates was so shattered.

It was fortunate that we had not been interested in the outside world.

‘It would be terrible to think that something like Silla-gu [a historical Korean settlement in Southeast Asia] was causing trouble in Southeast Asia.’

“Does that mean······?”

“The Japanese are cunning, but their fighting skills are well-known. If Your Highness sells the captured Japanese to us, we will correct their wickedness and make them fight for the right path.”

Jin Eon-sang calmly proposed a slave trade.

‘Uh oh.’

It wasn’t unprecedented.

We sent all the remnants of the Shoni clan who invaded Joseon to Ming China.

‘They must be fighting hard with the Annam army in the jungles of Vietnam by now.’

Anyway, it was a tempting offer.

We had been buying Japanese slaves to guarantee the profits of the Jurchens, but our finances also had limits.

Still, we were using them well, such as entrusting them with the great task of pioneering the north or putting the rough ones in gulags [forced labor camps].

“Your Highness, are you going to accept the envoys’ request?”

The vassals looked at me with expressions that they wanted to say something, but I slyly turned my head and avoided their gaze.

It was obvious that they were thinking, ‘Should the state engage in buying and selling people?’

‘You guys have slaves at home anyway.’

If you want to be Lincoln, declare the emancipation of slaves in your own home first.

I suppressed the vassals with that look and gave the Majapahit envoys a business smile.

“Would you like to see other items besides slaves? I’ll give you good things cheap.”

===

“To capture those leech-like pirates and use them like taking things out of a pocket, it’s really amazing.”

“When I visited and met the old king of Joseon (Lee Seong-gye) last time, I saw a warlike spirit, but now it’s even more so.”

Jin Eon-sang nodded in response.

He heard that the Joseon people use the horsemen of the north as subordinates, and they are also very strong.

“I’m glad I came to Joseon.”

When Zheng He’s treasure fleet arrived in Java, the Chinese mainly flaunted their strong military power and promoted the emperor’s majesty.

The Joseon people who came with them also chimed in, but they were a little more practical.

They meticulously recorded what the language and customs of this country were and what local products were produced.

They were almost obsessive recorders.

What those Joseon people were most interested in was saltpeter from India.

“Why are the Joseon people interested in saltpeter? Isn’t it because of gunpowder?”

Since gunpowder was introduced during the Mongol invasion of Java, Majapahit has also been very interested in importing and developing gunpowder weapons.

Especially in times of turmoil like these.

Majapahit was a powerful maritime empire whose territory stretched across modern-day Indonesia and Malaysia, but the days of glory were all gone.

Since the death of King Hayam Wuruk, who brought about the golden age about 20 years ago, Majapahit had been declining and even a civil war broke out between the royal family and the eastern lords, making it chaotic.

In addition, the surrounding Islamic forces were also slowly raising their heads, so Majapahit’s sense of crisis was at its peak.

“If we can buy gunpowder weapons in addition to pirates······.”

Jin Eon-sang muttered.

End

ⓒ Pitkong