There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 358

359. Envoy (2)

I was speechless at the sight of the barbarian horde lined up before the palace.

Only after seeing the eunuch Jeon Gyun being thoroughly trampled by Roh Boon in a corner did I understand the situation.

‘So that’s why he intervened.’

The Crown Prince had arrived at the palace with a group of barbarians, so they must have thought he was trying to stage a palace invasion.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at Dan, who was wearing a half-barbarian outfit with gold medals dangling around his neck.

“What are all these gold badges?”

“These are what I won at the Nadam festival!”

“And the ones behind you?”

“They said they wanted to serve me and followed me here.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“What about the Crown Princess?”

“She’s following along well behind us.”

What on earth will they think of our family after seeing this?

I gave up on further conversation and whispered to the Crown Prince.

“An envoy has arrived.”

My intention was to tell him not to act rashly and stay still, but Dan replied with an ambiguous expression.

“Yes…? Yes.”

“Never mind. Just keep your mouth shut.”

* * *

I should have welcomed the Crown Prince’s return, but with the envoy here to deliver news of the Emperor’s death, I couldn’t openly celebrate with music.

The envoy waited silently until the father and son had finished their reunion, then spoke.

“Your Majesty, now that the Crown Prince has returned, please decide whether or not to send him to the Imperial Court.”

“I need to consider it carefully, so wait.”

I dismissed the envoy in the official setting, but that night, I secretly summoned him again.

As soon as the envoy, following Wang Ho, entered, I asked.

“What does His Majesty desire?”

I didn’t bother to beat around the bush.

After all, this guy in front of me had eagerly taken the bribes Joseon had spread around when he was in Nanjing. He had to earn his keep.

“Joseon has even moved its troops north to prevent any possible disturbances in the north. Whose merit do you think it is that the Emperor’s enthronement was achieved without incident?”

If there had been anyone probing the borders after the Emperor’s death, the atmosphere would have been ruined regardless of their success.

The envoy was speechless. When the Ming Dynasty boasted overwhelming power over Joseon, they could act shamelessly, but that was no longer the case.

“His Majesty believes that the Celestial Empire [referring to Ming Dynasty China] should act like the Celestial Empire, and the vassal state should act like the vassal state.”

The envoy pleaded.

“If you send the Crown Prince to the Imperial Court, His Majesty will be relieved, knowing that Joseon agrees with his intentions. If you could just yield this once…”

‘Just this once?’ Not likely.

The Emperor’s fundamental worldview is different from mine, but he’s not stupid.

‘He must have judged that now is the only chance to suppress Joseon.’

Just as I predicted.

‘It would be better to overturn the table.’

I subtly signaled to Wang Ho, who was standing behind me, and soon a thumping sound was heard from the side as the door swung open.

“G-Grand Princess, what brings you here…?”

“Although the Crown Prince is young, he is, by lineage, the Emperor’s uncle.

Instead of advising the Emperor, the envoy impertinently demands an audience, so I have come myself!”

The envoy stammered.

“Please calm down. I apologize to the Grand Princess, but this is a matter of state.”

“Are you not demanding an audience because the Crown Prince is a member of the Imperial family?”

Joo So-hwa shouted sharply.

“The late Emperor was my nephew, so if the Imperial family desires condolences, I must go to Nanjing myself!”

At Joo So-hwa’s exclamation, the envoy was startled and tried to stop her.

“P-Please calm down. I will return to the Emperor and explain Joseon’s difficulties!”

An exiled woman who married into Joseon is going to cross the sea to Ming to offer condolences?

If Joo So-hwa were to fly to Nanjing herself, the court would be in chaos from an unexpected situation, and the Emperor would be troubled by his unexpected great-aunt.

And all the blame would fall on the envoy.

The envoy reluctantly wrapped things up, but this situation would not end here.

Thus, my mourning ended with only unpleasantness and unease.

* * *

‘Damn, this is unpleasant.’

I treated them kindly as family, but as soon as the regime changed, they tried to establish dominance.

Even if I obediently sent the Crown Prince to the Imperial Court, would this power struggle end?

It wouldn’t.

Rather, after confirming that we had bowed our heads, they would slowly try to reclaim the rights they had ‘bestowed’ upon Joseon.

Then, what if we refused to be tamed like now?

‘They’ll move on to the next step.’

The new Emperor won’t start a war with Joseon right away. He’s not Yongle [a famously aggressive Ming Emperor].

There’s an order to everything.

Wouldn’t they start by cutting off Joseon’s hands and feet?

I have no intention of sitting back and suffering a predictable future.

Just in time, my son returned from his honeymoon with a seemingly useful card.

I summoned Esen, who had come from the Oirat [a powerful Mongol group].

It’s not uncommon for barbarians to enter Hanyang [the capital of Joseon] to offer tribute.

However, this man’s status was as high as, or even higher than, Jochi of the old Taining Guard, so we couldn’t treat him carelessly.

So, we gave him the Dongpyeonggwan [a state guest house], which Japanese envoys used, and arranged for him to stay comfortably.

Esen came straight away, as if he had been waiting to be called.

“What brings you to this distant Joseon?”

“I have long heard that Joseon is a truly civilized nation. Having witnessed the Crown Prince’s valor, I realized that the rumors were true, so I came to pay my respects and establish friendship.”

I didn’t see what Joseon being a civilized nation had to do with Dan running wild at the Nadam festival, but I didn’t bother to point it out.

The important thing was this guy’s intention to establish ‘friendship.’

“I also want to establish friendship with the Oirat. Although we are now distant, when the world was once united, weren’t we family living under the same roof?”

To be honest, the period of Yuan intervention wasn’t a pleasant time for Goryeo [the previous dynasty of Korea], but that’s none of my business.

Esen understood perfectly when I mentioned the ‘good old days.’

“Does Your Majesty wish for such a great roof to cover the world again?”

“Yes. But how can such a thing be possible with the power of one person?”

Esen seemed greatly excited.

“Since you have established such a great ambition that everyone desires, how could others refuse to serve as your limbs? I, as a foreign subject, will do my best to help.”

He looked as if I had declared the revival of the Yuan Dynasty, but I had never harbored such delusions.

A big tent to keep Ming in check, maybe.

Well, Esen in front of me probably isn’t dreaming of a Yuan Dynasty revival led by Joseon either.

“I have heard that the Tatars and the Oirat have been feuding and shedding useless blood for a long time.”

“That’s right. When the Ming attacked the Tatars, they brought in the Oirat, and when they conquered the Oirat, they brought in the Tatars. Only one place benefited.”

It was a typical strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians.

Unless they were both fools, they knew that Ming was manipulating them for its own benefit.

However, they couldn’t easily reach the conclusion of joining hands against Ming, their master.

But now it’s different.

With the reopening of the Silk Road, we gave them breathing room.

In the Biak Express project, which extends to Central Asia, the steppe forces were gradually turning from competition to cooperation.

Well, that’s case by case.

“If you wish, I will mediate a reconciliation with the Uriankhai [another Mongol group].”

“Reconciliation must involve the exchange of gifts.”

Esen understood perfectly.

This is just a gift exchange between the Uriankhai and the Oirat.

Even if some of the goods we exported to the Uriankhai are included in between, it’s none of our business.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty has the 余裕 [yoyuu, Japanese for ‘leeway’ or ‘room to spare’] to care about us, so they’re doing such useless things.

I need to make sure my in-laws know what happens when they treat Joseon like their lackey.

* * *

Of course, there’s no guarantee that supporting the Oirat will make them listen to me.

If they take everything and stick to Ming, it’ll all be for nothing.

Esen seems to have carefully considered how to reassure us.

“Now that we have confirmed the friendship between our two countries, we must ensure that our relationship does not deteriorate even if the situation changes in the future.

In that sense, I wish to become sworn brothers with the Crown Prince to eliminate any doubt. What does Your Majesty think?”

“Good!”

Dan shouted boldly before I could answer.

He said to me.

“Having watched him since the Nadam festival, the prince of the Oirat is a hero.

I think it would be good to form a brotherhood, so please allow us to catch a white horse and offer its blood.”

‘He’s picked up some things from somewhere.’

Why catch an innocent white horse, and why smear blood full of germs?

It seems like this guy has been too influenced by the barbarians.

‘Sworn brothers, huh.’

I couldn’t retort, “What nonsense is this barbaric barbarian spouting?”

Because Yi Seong-gye himself had become sworn brothers with Yi Ji-ran, a Jurchen [a Tungistic people], and Yi Ji-ran was a meritorious subject who contributed to the founding of the nation.

There’s even a Jurchen quota in the Royal Shrine.

Dissing this would be spitting in my own face.

“If you become sworn brothers, who should be the elder and who should be the younger?”

Esen is six years older than Dan, but of course, I can’t treat him as the elder.

Joseon is the boss.

The age difference between Yi Seong-gye and Yi Ji-ran was about the same (Yi Ji-ran was older), but did Yi Seong-gye ever treat him as the elder?

First of all, I can’t recognize the Prince of Oirat as equal to me.

‘Even among the same royal titles, there’s a hierarchy.’

“Anda (Анда) [Mongolian for ‘sworn brother’] is an equal relationship between peers, so there is no need to divide the ranks of brothers.

Although I am older, it is a minor issue in the face of the Anda oath.”

He subtly pretended to be at a disadvantage, but in the end, he didn’t want to be Dan’s younger brother.

‘Well, I don’t care.’

Becoming sworn brothers is just a formality anyway.

Anda or whatever, when the situation for betrayal arises, it will all be just scraps of paper.

However, the risk of ignoring this is greater for Esen.

Esen will probably go back to his territory and brag that he made an Anda with the Crown Prince of Joseon, so if he betrays Joseon, his credibility will be seriously questioned.

Dan? It doesn’t matter if Dan betrays him.

Would the people of Joseon care about a fraternal oath made with a barbarian?

‘There will be more people saying it was wrong to make such a thing in the first place.’

So, from the beginning, I won’t let my officials say a word about the sworn brotherhood Dan made.

The two of them caught a real white horse in the presence of me and some witnesses from both sides and made the Anda oath.

‘They’re doing all sorts of things.’

It’s a waste, they should have used chicken blood or something.

Esen, who had mostly finished the working-level negotiations with his subordinates, secretly left the capital, avoiding the envoy’s eyes.

“Brother, may you have good health until we meet again.”

“I understand, brother. I pray that you can achieve your goals.”

Dan, who had gone out to see him off, waved his hand.

They seem to like each other quite a bit, but I don’t know how long this friendship will last.