Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 10

Jjangra

Hello, Bomb!

10. Germination… Carcinogenesis? (3)

After the ‘Bidding Briefing on Gold Writing Brush,’ the merchants left the Ministry of Taxation one by one. Before crossing the threshold of the Ministry of Taxation, a wizened old merchant spoke to an official of the Ministry.

“Sir.”

“What is it?”

“How old is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince this year?”

“He is eight.”

“Heh…”

As the merchant couldn’t hide his surprise, the young official of the Ministry of Taxation said with a voice full of pride.

“He is a remarkable person. His Majesty the King is also extraordinary, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so bright; it is a great blessing for our Joseon [Korean dynasty from 1392 to 1897].”

“That’s right.”

The merchant, after paying his respects to the official, stepped out onto the main street and suddenly felt anger boiling inside.

“Whose son is so dignified at the age of eight! That grandson of mine!”

At the same time, in the East Palace.

Hyang, having returned to his room, was face to face with a man. The man was the one who had been chased away by the officials earlier.

“You’ve worked hard, Eunuch Jo.”

“Not at all, Your Highness. But did you really have to do it this way?”

“I had no choice, given my young age.”

Eunuch Jo, considering Hyang’s age, nodded and rose from his seat to pay his respects.

“I will return and change my clothes.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

* * *

As the production of gold writing brushes made by Hyang was privatized, gold writing brushes spread nationwide. As gold writing brushes became an unprecedented hit, strange scenes began to unfold.

In a noble family in Naju, Jeolla Province.

An elderly nobleman, in a large tiled house with at least forty rooms, was waiting for someone on the wooden veranda.

After a while, a peddler carrying a large wooden chest on his back entered the yard. The peddler, setting the carrying frame beside him, bowed deeply in the yard.

“Sir, did you call for me?”

“Yes, I called for you. Did you bring the gold writing brush?”

“I have it this time.”

“Oh, is that so!”

As the nobleman showed delight, the peddler spread a cloth on the yard and carefully took out an ornate mother-of-pearl box from the wooden chest on the carrying frame, placing it on the cloth.

The peddler, having placed the mother-of-pearl box down, bowed deeply to the box and carefully carried it up to the wooden veranda where the nobleman was sitting. As the peddler placed the mother-of-pearl box on the desk, the nobleman exclaimed.

“Oh! This is it!”

As the excited nobleman reached out his hand, the peddler quickly stopped him.

“Sir! You must bow first.”

“Ah!”

At the peddler’s reminder, the nobleman quickly straightened his attire and bowed respectfully in front of the box.

“The grace of His Majesty is so deep that he bestows such precious things upon us; his grace is boundless.”

The nobleman, after expressing his gratitude to the king, carefully opened the box.

Inside the box, lined with soft silk, were a lacquered penholder and ten golden nibs.

The plum blossom pattern was clearly imprinted on the silk lining the box and on the nibs.

“Please insert the gold nib into that penholder…”

Listening to the peddler’s explanation, the nobleman combined the penholder and nib, dipped it in the already well-ground ink, and wrote characters on the paper.

The nobleman, having written down his favorite passage from the scriptures in a single stroke, exclaimed.

“Truly a treasure!”

* * *

As gold writing brushes became a huge hit, the Minister of Taxation’s face was never without a smile.

“The budget, the budget is increasing!”

It wasn’t just the Minister of Taxation whose face was full of smiles. The officials belonging to the Ministry of Taxation also had smiles on their faces.

Since the founding of Joseon, or even from the late Goryeo Dynasty [Korean dynasty from 918 to 1392], the national budget had never been abundant.

Joseon reduced the stipends of the royal family by 1/6 and the officials by 1/4 at the time of its founding, but the budget was still insufficient.

In this situation, the profits from the sale of gold writing brushes were very welcome.

Realistically, it was a meager amount, like ‘urinating on frozen feet’ [a Korean idiom for a temporary and insignificant solution], but it was still welcome because it allowed the court to slightly broaden its scope of action in the process of managing state affairs.

In addition, one positive effect was that the king, Sejong, and his subjects began to take an interest in the positive effects of commerce.

However, negative movements began to stir beneath the surface.

“How did the court become merchants…”

“That’s right. His Majesty and the court officials are showing too much favor to commerce, which is what lowly people do.”

“Among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants are the lowest. They are commoners but base! If this continues, we will repeat the bad habits of the previous dynasty!”

The orthodox Neo-Confucian scholars, dissatisfied with Sejong and his ministers taking an interest in the funds coming into the nation through the sale of gold writing brushes, began to complain. And those malcontents turned the sword of attack towards Crown Prince Hyang.

“From the beginning, this whole affair started with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

“He is still young, but he is already falling into wicked ways… This is the fault of those in charge of His Royal Highness’s education!”

“His Majesty is also a problem. No matter how bright His Royal Highness is, he is still a child, yet he is being allowed to make decisions on important matters of the court; this must be corrected!”

“I think we need to pay more attention to the education of His Royal Highness! He should read and memorize even one more character of the words of the sages, cultivate a heart of admiration for China, and make this Joseon a Little China [referring to emulating Chinese culture and governance], but instead, he is focusing on trivial skills; this will not do!”

“We must write a memorial immediately!”

“That’s right!”

Just as the malcontents were about to rise up, an unexpected event grabbed their ankles.

Taejong had passed away.

Taejong died on May 10th of the 4th year of Sejong’s reign (1422) at the age of 56.

During Taejong’s funeral, the court was suspended for 10 days, and the marketplace was closed for 5 days.

State affairs continued, but because it was the period of Taejong’s funeral, no memorials that would cause discord were submitted.

“Let us wait for the next opportunity.”

“We must.”

Those who intended to submit memorials had to aim for the next time.

* * *

Unaware of such events unfolding beneath the surface, Hyang was engrossed in reading during Taejong’s funeral period.

“Hmm… Can this be translated like this?”

Hyang was meticulously comparing several books that were opened at the same time.

The books Hyang was looking at were books that had entered China from Europe and Chinese translations of them.

Just before the Winter Solstice Envoy departed for China, Hyang called the chief envoy of the Winter Solstice Envoy.

“Your Highness, did you call for me?”

“Yes. I am sorry to call you when you must be busy preparing for the mission.”

“Not at all, Your Highness.”

After a light conversation, Hyang immediately brought up the main point.

“I have a favor to ask of the chief envoy.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. When you go to Beijing this time, please obtain some books for me.”

“Books… What kind of scriptures should I obtain for you?”

“Instead of scriptures, please obtain some miscellaneous books. Miscellaneous books related to medicine and… Ah! Do you know about the Western Barbarians?”

“Western Barbarians… Are you referring to the people with colored eyes?”

“That’s right. If there are any translations or originals of their laws or technologies, please obtain them all.”

“Why do you want the books of the barbarians…”

As the chief envoy made a reluctant expression, Hyang explained the reason.

“It is said that ‘When three men walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher’ [Confucius saying]. There is also the saying, ‘Stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade’ [idiom meaning to learn from others]. If it can help me refine myself and manage the country, why would I not learn even from the barbarians?”

“…”

At Hyang’s words, the chief envoy closed his mouth.

If the person in front of him was an ordinary prince, he would advise him to ‘read the scriptures first,’ but the crown prince sitting in front of him was someone whom all the ministers recognized as a genius more frightening than his royal father.

He had mastered the Four Books and Three Classics before the age of six, and by the age of seven, he had read all of the Thirteen Classics (Analects, Mencius, Book of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Changes, Book of Rites, Erya, Classic of Filial Piety, Spring and Autumn Annals).

Even at that young age, he studied the scriptures fiercely, not sleeping more than 3 *sh辰* [a unit of time, approximately 2 hours] (6 hours) a day, and by the time he was appointed as crown prince, he was even discussing policies with the guests.

Thanks to this, some young officials who liked to speak their minds even said the following.

-If the Crown Prince grows up a little more and learns about the affairs outside the palace, the court will be turned upside down.

Thanks to this, the chief envoy had no choice but to bow his head and answer.

“I will carry out the Crown Prince’s orders with all my heart.”

“I ask for your favor.”

After that, Hyang made similar requests every time an envoy went to Beijing. Of course, after the first time, he even prepared a list and handed it over.

“The books on this list are already here, so please obtain some other books.”

“…I understand, Your Highness.”

Thanks to this, the envoys had to work hard to find books. Europeans and Arabs had entered China since the Yuan Dynasty [Mongol-led dynasty that ruled China from 1271 to 1368], but their books were not common.

* * *

“With this, the reference problem will be roughly solved.”

Looking at the books that filled about 3/4 of the bookshelf he had made on one side of the room, Hyang smiled faintly.

While confirming the industrial technology of Joseon during the Sejong era, Hyang’s usable ideas gradually increased.

“The problem is that if I say that I came up with all of this, there will be many who will look at me with prejudiced eyes from the start. Not to mention the field of medicine. In times like this, it is better to present references.”

Having come to a conclusion, Hyang had obtained not only Chinese books but also European books that had been introduced to China through envoys going to Beijing.

Hyang, who had obtained European books from the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, books from the Middle East, and Chinese translations of those books through envoys, began to read the books meticulously.

“I need to know roughly what content is in which book. Later, even if I spin a yarn, it will sound plausible. There’s a reason why they say, ‘You have to know how to lie to be able to do it.’”

Hyang had this thought because of the hardships he had experienced while presenting the gold writing brush.

“It is a good item, but how did the Crown Prince come up with this idea?”

Hyang immediately answered Sejong’s question.

“I saw something unusual in the process of applying ink to the brush to write.”

“Something unusual?”

“I saw the ink rising through the bristles of the brush. It is said that water flows from top to bottom, but it defies this, so how can it not be strange? This…”

Hyang plausibly fabricated the reason why he created the gold writing brush and told the story.

Sejong, after listening to the explanation, clapped his knees and exclaimed.

“Many people have used brushes until now, but no one has had the same thought as the Crown Prince! This is an example of the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge!”

In this way, the case of the gold writing brush was safely passed, but Hyang knew well that such luck would be difficult to continue.

“Making and presenting the gold writing brush was the groundwork I laid to let people know that I, the Crown Prince, have such talents. I can’t just suddenly present it one day. But ‘it just happened’ only works a few times at first. To make it a little more certain, I need a reference.”

* * *

“Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”

Sejong, who was reviewing state affairs with memorials and reports in the temporary hut that had been set up during Taejong’s funeral, put down the memorial he was reading and replied.

“Let him in.”

Hyang, who entered the hut, paid his respects to Sejong.

“Father, your face does not look well. Have you had your evening meal?”

“The ministers pressured me to eat.”

‘This man!’

Hyang inwardly despaired at Sejong’s answer.

‘A carnivore who can’t live without meat for even one meal! Even though it’s a mourning period, you should at least eat properly, even if you don’t eat meat!’

Hyang, who was cursing inwardly, said earnestly.

“Father, you are the pillar of this country. Although it is a mourning period, you must eat.”

“I will. But what is it you wished to discuss?”

“I have obtained miscellaneous books from the Western Barbarians through the envoys.”

“Yes. I heard about it. Is there anything helpful?”

“I would like Father to make the judgment.”

Sejong, who had been wearing a comfortable smile as if looking at his son acting cute, straightened his posture and put on a solemn expression.

“Speak.”

“Yes. I ask Father to allow the use of the Western Barbarians’ numerals.”

“The Western Barbarians’ numerals?”

“Yes. To be precise, it can be called the Indian numerals. To explain in detail, this number originated in India…”

End

ⓒ Gukbbong