There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 184

– Splash!

As Yoo-jung disappeared into the overflowing river, and the bubbling subsided, Wang-ho looked at me and said,

“Your Highness… Is it done now?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

It would be reported that Yoo-jung, who was accompanying me on my trip to Yeouido, was swept away and died.

At my words, Wang-ho said with a troubled face.

“Wouldn’t it be better to handle it with poison in the palace?”

“If we kill her with poison, we have to do an autopsy. If she’s swept away by the river, there’s no way to verify it.”

If the use of poison were to leak out, the palace would be turned upside down, and it might even reach the ears of the Ming Dynasty.

Furthermore, there was another reason.

“Good work.”

I patted Wang-ho on the shoulder.

Originally, he was supposed to be in charge of the Crown Princess’s escort, but it was Wang-ho who brought Yoo-jung along under the pretext of trying to persuade the Princess again on the way to Yeouido.

He had cooperated in getting rid of his superior, so now he couldn’t move.

However, even though Wang-ho’s expression was stiff, there was no sign of regret.

‘Since I found out, there was no other choice anyway.’

Like the quick-witted guy he was, he realized that he had to get rid of Yoo-jung to survive.

“Your Highness, but how did you find out about Dongchang’s [Ming Dynasty secret police] movements?”

Wang-ho asked, biting his lip tightly.

It was thanks to the all-time stalker who even deceived the eyes of the intelligence agency, but there was no reason to answer him frankly.

“That is none of your business. Does our Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] not have that much skill?”

It was a warning to Wang-ho not to take Joseon lightly.

He must have already felt it deeply with Yoo-jung’s death.

“Hmm.”

Wang-ho groaned, deep in thought.

I looked at him and asked.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Wang-ho had a hand in getting rid of Yoo-jung, so he was no different from an accomplice.

I had no intention of sending him to the Ming Dynasty, but he would inevitably be reluctant.

“I will follow whatever the Crown Prince tells me.”

Wang-ho spoke politely, but in the end, it meant he wanted me to suggest what he wanted.

I raised one finger.

“One is to go to the countryside.”

Wang-ho was definitely a spy for Dongchang, so I couldn’t leave him in Hanyang [capital city of Joseon] as he was.

Even if it was Induk Palace where the retired king resided.

The first option was to go to a remote palace estate in the mountains where no news could reach and live by growing vegetables.

And the second was.

‘Conversion.’

“However, it would be a waste of your talent to bury you in the countryside like this. I heard that in your country, there is an organization called Dongchang that collects information from all over. Could you create something similar in this country?”

It was the K-Dongchang development project.

Wang-ho’s eyes widened.

In Joseon, there were organizations that collected intelligence.

First, there was the Uigeumbu [royal police], which was in charge of public security, and the Saheonbu [Office of the Inspector General], which investigated corruption among officials.

The Hanseongbu [Hanyang municipal office] collected intelligence within its jurisdiction on its own.

However, there was practically no intelligence agency in the strict sense.

‘We need a group that collects information and conducts operations more professionally.’

But Wang-ho, a guy from Dongchang, a leading intelligence agency in the Ming Dynasty, had rolled in, so wasn’t he the perfect choice?

“Not only did Your Highness save the life of a lowly servant like me, but you even entrust me with such an important task. I am at a loss for words.

A scholar dies for the one who recognizes him. Now, to repay Your Highness’s trust, I have no choice but to put in bone-deep effort.”

Wang-ho’s lips trembled for a moment, but like a spy, he skillfully managed his expression and spoke.

I had heard that eunuchs had no balls, so their desires were transferred to their lust for power.

Their only reward in life was to wield power while assisting the royal family.

He had survived a life-threatening crisis, and he saw a way to avoid spending the rest of his life in a remote village, so he had no choice but to be loyal.

‘But I can’t just trust this guy blindly.’

I was going to give him only the role of assisting in setting up the framework and appoint a Joseon person as the head.

‘Who would be good?’

Should I use eunuchs like in the Ming Dynasty?

I suddenly had that thought, and then I glanced at No-boon, who was humming and cleaning up next to me.

“This guy?”

But I soon shook my head.

‘Eunuchs won’t do.’

Imagining a guy like No-boon becoming the head eunuch of K-Dongchang and running rampant was quite terrible.

“Your Highness, did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you. Just keep doing your job.”

Who should I appoint?

===

Although there was a bit of a grim incident, the outing to Yeouido went smoothly.

“Wow! There’s an island on the river!”

There must be several islands floating on the Yangtze River near Nanjing, but Joo So-hwa pretended not to know and shouted like that, spinning around the island.

It was being developed as a research complex, so there wasn’t much to see, but it was close to Hanyang, so I chose it because it was good for a light outing, so I’m glad she likes it.

It’s not really a honeymoon, but.

Someone poured cold water on Joo So-hwa’s excited mood.

“To be surprised by just this much. The princess of a great country can’t keep her dignity.”

“Oh, why did you bring this kid?”

Joo So-hwa asked, pouting her lips.

“Kid! I’ll be taller than you soon…”

Do-ga answered, grinding his teeth.

He still seems to have quite a bit of resentment.

“Okay, okay, stop it. People have come out to greet us.”

As soon as I arrived in Yeouido, the eccentrics who had received the call ran out barefoot to escort us.

Then, Do-ga suddenly covered his nose when he saw them.

“Ugh, the smell!”

“Smell?”

Mal-geon, who had run out in the lead, was puzzled and put his nose to his clothes.

“It smells like poop.”

Joo So-hwa also frowned.

Indeed, there was a terrible manure smell coming from their bodies.

It was quite impolite to come out to greet guests, but I knew the reason.

‘It must be because of the compost.’

Until the early Goryeo period [Korean dynasty from 918 to 1392], compost was not well developed. The only way to restore the land’s fertility was to leave it fallow.

Still, around the end of the Goryeo period, various fertilization methods developed, but the level was naturally not very high compared to later generations.

So, along with the expansion of irrigation facilities and rural community organizations, I also started developing efficient compost.

‘If you mix all kinds of excrement with soil, ash, and grass and let it rot thoroughly, you get nutritious compost.’

If you spread raw feces directly on the ground, it will be infested with parasites, but compost doesn’t have that worry.

Of course, this mixing process was entirely done by Mal-geon and the other eccentrics.

Their noses had already adapted to the smell, so they hadn’t noticed it.

Mal-geon looked slightly hurt by Do-ga and Joo So-hwa’s reaction.

“We were so dull that we didn’t even notice…”

When you think about it, I was the one who ordered it, so I feel sorry for him being glared at.

“I like this smell better than the smell of rice.”

When I suddenly said that, Joo So-hwa gave me a puzzled look.

“Th, that’s your taste?”

I ignored the guy who was making strange noises and said.

“There’s a saying that you shouldn’t give someone a bowl of rice but you should give them three baskets of poop.”

“Is there such a saying?”

“Yes.”

Seeing that Mal-geon didn’t know it, it must be a saying that was created later.

“The compost you made will allow countless people to have a bumper crop, so how can it not be better than rice? Don’t worry about the smell and stand tall.”

Only then did Mal-geon’s expression brighten.

‘The eccentrics are doing their part, so there’s no need to dampen their spirits.’

They were the sons of local gentry who were ignored and treated poorly in Hanyang, but when they returned to their hometowns and started promoting the New Village Movement, their reputation soared beyond imagination.

It was because they were doing things that even the local magistrates and Confucian scholars couldn’t do.

“My colleagues who returned to their hometowns have harvested a lot this time.”

Except for a few, the eccentrics returned to their hometowns one by one after completing their term.

And they generously shared the know-how they had acquired in Yeouido with their neighborhoods.

“No matter how much people who have read a few books on agriculture try to teach adults who have been farming for decades, who would follow them?”

Farmers who have been farming all their lives don’t trust those scholars.

But the sons of the local gentry, the eccentrics who were dispatched with a New Village armband, were different.

They were originally members of the area, and they were in a position to exert influence as local leaders.

“Surprisingly, after repairing the wells and washing places, the number of people with stomachaches decreased. After that, whenever the eccentrics started a project, the people would roll up their sleeves and help.”

“If the threshing machine sent by the country is managed by the government office, the people won’t use it because it’s broken, but the eccentrics tell them to use it as much as they want, even if it breaks, as long as they increase the amount of threshing.”

“Our village was always troubled because the bridge over the stream was washed away whenever there was a flood, but after I went down and built a bridge with lime soil, it’s so convenient to go in and out of the village.

The magistrate seems to want to start other construction projects after seeing that, but since I’m in charge of getting the lime soil, he’s slowly watching me, hahaha!”

“But why haven’t you guys gone down and are still in Yeouido?”

At my question, Mal-geon answered proudly.

“There must be someone to teach the new eccentrics who come in. Since it’s close to Hanyang, we have to learn new technologies diligently and send them out.”

‘I can’t believe he used to be a lazy bum.’

Indeed, when you give people work, you need a cause.

Unlike the Hanyang construction project, where he didn’t even know why he had to take on the project, people change with a strong motivation to improve their hometown and a small incentive called a local office.

The eccentrics, who were avoided because they would only suffer if they were dragged away, saw their seniors living in the village with their heads held high, and the application rate exploded.

‘Maybe ordinary people are the same.’

The powerful families of Goryeo were somewhat reorganized through the turbulent times, and the meritorious subjects who occupied large meritorious fields as large landowners all abandoned their land and converted to shareholders of Cheonghaejin.

There may be landlords and gentry in the provinces, but the country can break their heads the moment they cross the line and aggressively scrape together land.

Self-employed farmers were being fostered smoothly, and their wallets were gradually getting thicker through rural improvement projects.

The commerce and industry within Joseon would also gradually grow in line with this.

If that happens, wouldn’t it be worth trying to use currency soon?

===

Currently, most of Joseon’s silver is used for external payments. The main target is the Ming Dynasty.

‘No matter how faithfully I develop products, I can’t help this trade deficit.’

However, that amount can be covered by the domestic silver from Dancheon, Bupyeong, and Geumju.

That also meant that the volume of transactions was small, so it wasn’t a good sign.

For that reason, the silver coming from Iwami was being piled up in the warehouse as it was.

“Oh, this mansion. It’s been a while.”

When I greeted Lee-cheon, who had brought the silver directly on the ship, he suddenly burst into tears.

“It’s been a really, really long time since I’ve seen you.”

‘Why is he like this? How many years has he been in Japan?’

I was embarrassed and thought so.

However, as soon as I checked the silver loaded on the pier, that embarrassment disappeared from my head as if it had been washed away.

‘The Ouchi guys, they’ve really been taken advantage of by us.’

I muttered without realizing it.

It wasn’t silver ore, but pure silver refined from Iwami was loaded on a large ship.

It was a copy of the treasure ship used for Zheng He’s voyages, the largest ship in East Asia.

“Didn’t Lord Ouchi notice?”

If a ship of this size goes in and out and carries silver, he can’t help but know.

“It seems like he noticed, but they seem to be divided on what to do. As Your Highness told me, our relationship is more important to Lord Ouchi.”

I nodded at Lee-cheon’s words.

It’s good to hear this high-level information because Lee-cheon came in person.

He must have come to Joseon for a break under this pretext….

“You came at the right time. I have a research project in mind.”

For a moment, Lee-cheon seemed to have lost his soul, but I guess it’s just my imagination.

End

ⓒ Pitkong