There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 247

I’m a healthy man, so I don’t skip meals.

But pregnancy is a game of chance, so I guess things just aren’t lining up. I was yawning and thinking idly when I suddenly noticed Yi Seong-gye.

‘Huh.’

Has our old man always been this old?

His once broad shoulders had lost muscle and were now drooping. His face was covered in age spots and wrinkles, and he couldn’t even go hunting anymore, which he used to love.

‘Come to think of it, he’s not getting any younger.’

I always teased him as an old-timer, but I never seriously thought about his age.

I just assumed he would keep aging like me and my brothers, year after year.

Until now, he had always bounced back quickly from any illness.

Seeing that, I was always impressed by how different a general was…

“I’ll show you the Crown Prince as soon as possible, so don’t worry.”

I deliberately raised my voice.

“It’s not like we can churn out a child like they churn out rifles at the armory, and rice doesn’t turn into cooked rice just because you rush it. Just wait patiently, wait.”

Yi Seong-gye, who should have been yelling, ‘I’ll wait until my bones turn to dust,’ just nodded.

Like someone who had lost all their energy.

I wasn’t the only one who thought this.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Jo So-hwa peeked out and asked.

“I don’t know either.”

I didn’t know anything, so I just answered that.

‘Damn it.’

My mouth felt bitter.

I don’t know what’s going on, but even if others don’t know, shouldn’t I?

If he has worries, he should share them, or if he’s been feeling weak lately, he should ask for some red ginseng.

Why is he acting like someone wearing clothes that don’t fit?

I scratched my head.

“Hey, No-boon. Don’t you know anything? You hang out with the eunuchs of the Supreme King’s palace a lot, right?”

I need to use the eunuch network in times like these.

I don’t know if they know what’s on the old man’s mind, but they must have seen and heard something while assisting him.

No-boon, who was next to me, said,

“Come to think of it, an urgent message came to the Supreme King’s palace yesterday, and I heard that one of the eunuchs went to Hoeamsa Temple by His Majesty’s order.”

“Huh?”

I frowned.

What’s at Hoeamsa Temple?

Well, it’s the royal family’s main temple, so they often oversee construction projects there…

But there’s no reason for an urgent message to come in because of a scheduled construction project.

In Joseon [Korean dynasty from 1392 to 1897], the royal family’s schedule is the most important.

‘Ah, could it be.’

Is it because of that person who is at Hoeamsa Temple right now?

===

“Sniff… Monk…”

The monks surrounded Muhak, who was lying on the bedding in the monks’ quarters, and burst into tears.

It was clear to anyone that he was seriously ill, and it was easy to guess that Muhak’s nirvana [the ultimate goal of Buddhists, release from the cycle of death and rebirth] was not far off.

Muhak was the royal preceptor of Joseon and the successor to the Dharma lineage of Naong, and he was undoubtedly the great elder of Buddhism at the time, so it was natural that the monks of Hoeamsa Temple would put aside all their work and gather here.

“As Buddhists, do not weep for this person who is facing the death of this fleeting life.

All encounters end, and all relationships fade with time. Rather, the Buddha has mercifully extended my remaining lifespan, only postponing my nirvana until now.”

Muhak guessed with the strange intuition of a religious person that his original lifespan would have been shorter.

In fact, Muhak was leaving seven years later than in the original history.

That may have been because of the last mission given to him.

Muhak muttered to himself.

“The reason why our Buddhist community collapsed at the end of Goryeo [Korean kingdom from 918 to 1392] was because we forgot the teachings of Mahayana [one of the two major traditions of Buddhism]. However, my teacher, Naong, and I were ultimately unable to return Buddhism to its correct teachings with our individual strength.”

The monks at the end of Goryeo openly kept concubines and increased their land and slaves under the protection of powerful figures.

Muhak was also displeased with this, but he didn’t know what to do.

Those who were eating away at Buddhism had the country of Goryeo behind them.

“When I think about it, the reason I helped the Supreme King [referring to Yi Seong-gye] was for that very reason…”

However, the national policy of this newly established Joseon, which had overthrown Goryeo, was different from his wishes.

Promote Confucianism, suppress Buddhism!

The monks who deceived the people and disturbed the world were demoted to the status of commoners, and all the temples were chased into the mountains.

There was no time to distinguish between the good and bad of Buddhism and monks.

Even the correct teachings of Sakyamuni [the historical founder of Buddhism] were treated as a whole as the impurities of Buddhism, and they were branded as absurd and unworthy of learning according to the standards of orthodox studies.

Still, Muhak was the royal preceptor of this country, so he would have been respected until his death even if he had remained silent.

Perhaps the power of Buddhism would have been maintained to some extent until he was alive.

However, Buddhism had been in this land for a thousand years.

If its lineage were to be cut off in the Joseon Dynasty, how could he close his eyes in peace?

“If things continued like this, Buddhism would have slowly been buried in the outskirts of the country and disappeared.

However, with the help of the Crown Prince, we have gained another opportunity to prosper.”

Rather than letting Buddhism perish, those monks who would not give up their vested interests until the end of their lives, or those who did not behave properly, were all exiled to the Gulag or the north.

The method was radical, but it was enough to shock the Buddhist community, which had been doing nothing until then.

The vacant seats left by the vested interests were filled by Muhak’s disciples, and young, enthusiastic monks who strongly felt a sense of crisis.

“We have now returned to the teachings of Mahayana. We support learning, help the country’s affairs, relieve the poor and hungry, and stand together in the face of the people’s difficulties, so how can there be any remaining regrets.”

Was that all?

If there were difficulties in the district, they would report them to the magistrate on their behalf, and those who were ignorant and uneducated and suffered unfair treatment would stand up for them in lawsuits.

‘Is it called the social responsibility of religion…? His Highness was right.’

As the social role of Buddhism grew, its roots spread so firmly that they could not be compared to the past.

The land, slaves, and power that the temples of Goryeo had were all taken away as soon as the country collapsed.

In comparison, the material possessions of the monks of today were truly insignificant, but that is why they would not be easily uprooted.

Even if the dynasty were to be replaced once again after five hundred years, if Buddhism does not forget its current teachings.

“I will keep it in mind, and keep it in mind, Monk…”

“Monk, someone from the Supreme King’s palace has come!”

An urgent voice was heard from outside, and the door burst open.

Hoeamsa Temple was the royal family’s main temple, and Muhak was the Supreme King’s royal preceptor, so it was natural that the news of Muhak’s serious illness was also sent to the Supreme King.

The eunuch who came out of the Supreme King’s palace said.

“The Supreme King sent me to inquire about the royal preceptor’s well-being. If it is really urgent, he will visit Hoeamsa Temple.”

“Since this life is already coming to an end, there is no need to bother your precious body.”

Muhak said, shaking his head.

“But the Supreme King’s respect for the great master is so great that he will be very sad if he lets you go like this.”

As the eunuch stamped his feet and spoke, Muhak opened his mouth calmly.

“The relationship between me and the Supreme King is no ordinary one. I have written down a few words, so if the eunuch takes them and delivers them, the Supreme King’s worries will be lessened.”

Since Muhak had said that much, the eunuch had nothing more to say.

“Human determination can overcome fate, and a strange relationship has caused the waxing and waning fortunes to be avoided.”

After finishing his long monologue, Muhak turned his head and looked at the monks on the left and right.

“Please, monks, do not follow in the footsteps of your foolish seniors.”

“Sniff… Monk!”

Life soon disappeared from Muhak’s eyes after he finished his last words.

The monks wept and called out to him, but Muhak did not answer.

===

“Muhak is dead.”

Yi Bang-won said briefly.

Although he was the royal preceptor of Joseon, as a Confucian scholar, he had no particular feelings for him in the first place.

Muhak had always been by his father’s side and had been active as his close aide, so he didn’t have much goodwill towards him.

If things had continued like this, Yi Bang-won probably would not have paid much attention to him until he died.

Even in the original history, after Muhak’s death, Yi Bang-won only wrote an epitaph out of consideration for Yi Seong-gye’s face and did not give him much treatment.

“But Buddhism is useful.”

Muhak had risen to the ranks of a star with his passionate Buddhist purification movement in his later years.

Since local organizations such as Buddhism also play a significant role in covering parts that the court cannot look after one by one, it would not be bad for the country to show respect for Muhak.

“Muhak is a meritorious subject of the founding of the country, so give him a posthumous title, and since we should have a sense of mourning, have Buddhist services held at the main temples in each region.”

However, Muhak’s usefulness to Yi Bang-won was only that much.

What he needed to pay attention to was not Muhak’s death itself, but Yi Seong-gye’s reaction.

Ha Ryun asked cautiously.

“Has Your Majesty informed the Supreme King?”

“It seems he had already sensed it.”

Yi Seong-gye was depressed and stayed indoors.

Many people had already left his side.

Yi Seong-gye had been depressed for a while when Yi Hwa, the Grand Prince of Uian, who had betrayed him a few years ago, died, but now there are really few people left.

“I heard he has lost a lot of energy.”

“He’s getting old, so there’s nothing we can do.”

At Yi Bang-won’s seemingly detached words, Ha Ryun slyly suggested.

“All urgent state affairs have been taken care of, so Your Majesty should visit His Majesty often.”

“I also want to go to the Supreme King’s palace and show my filial piety, but he said he wants to be alone, so what can I do?

The only person who can come and go to the Supreme King’s palace now is his beloved grandson.”

While thinking that it was fortunate that the only person he confided in was his son, Yi Bang-won felt a faint jealousy rising in one corner of his heart.

Ha Ryun, who saw this, rolled his eyes for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Well, if it’s the Crown Prince, he’s the kind of person who would force his way in even if the Supreme King stopped him. The Supreme King knows this, so he must have given his permission in advance.”

“Hahaha, that’s right. That guy might really do that.”

The corners of Yi Bang-won’s mouth went up.

Imagining his son breaking down the door and entering made him feel a little better.

But that was only for a moment.

After Ha Ryun left.

‘Is there really not much time left?’

Complex emotions swirled in Yi Bang-won’s heart.

Relief, anxiety, jealousy, sadness, hatred, self-loathing, difficulty, fear.

Suppressing all those emotions, Yi Bang-won quietly opened his mouth.

“What is the will that Muhak left for the Supreme King?”

“The eunuch of the Supreme King’s palace went all the way to Yangju to deliver it in person, so I don’t know the contents well.”

Wang Ho said, prostrating himself.

His intelligence network is still mainly spread within Hanyang, especially within the palace.

Of course, that alone is a great thing, but Wang Ho added a word.

“In my opinion, there will be nothing special. It will just be a personal story.”

‘It’s not because I’m incompetent, but because there was no reason to do so.’

Wang Ho made that excuse. Wang Ho was a foreigner who had been on the verge of life and death and was finally employed after defecting, so he had to dispel any misunderstandings.

We could find out by shaking down the returning eunuch, but is there any need to go that far for a will delivered by a dead monk?

However, Yi Bang-won only stared at Wang Ho instead of answering.

“I, I have committed a crime worthy of death!”

“Find out.”

Yi Bang-won said, flashing his eyes.

Now that Muhak is dead, he is the person who can have the greatest influence on the Supreme King.

Considering how the variable of Jo Sa-ui drove Yi Seong-gye and cornered Yi Bang-won, no matter how careful he is, it is not too much.

Even if the Supreme King is old.

We must find out what Muhak’s will says.

End

ⓒ Pitkong