Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 104

Jjangra

Hello, Bomb!

104. Hwang Hee, Crisis Overlapping! (2)

Year 9 of Sejong (1427, Jeongmi Year), May.

An incident occurred where Seo Dal, the son of Minister of Justice Seo Seon, assaulted and seriously injured the glass craftsman, Pietro.

The beginning of the incident was truly absurd.

The reason was that Raphael and Pietro had passed by Seo Dal, who was walking down the street, without showing proper respect.

“Have you ever seen such insolence? Does he even know who I am! Drag those guys over here and interrogate them!”

The *gyeomin* [a type of household servant or butler] attending Seo Dal tried to dissuade him.

“Sir, that person is a foreigner. Haven’t you heard the rumors? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cherishes him!”

“I don’t want to hear it! Even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cherishes him, I cannot simply overlook such rudeness! Bring them here immediately!”

“Sir.”

“Hurry!”

At Seo Dal’s command, the *gyeomin* sighed softly and gestured to the servants following behind.

At the *gyeomin’s* gesture, the servants grabbed clubs and chased after Pietro and Raphael.

“Stop!”

Pietro and Raphael, who were heading towards District 51 [likely a foreign enclave or workshop] without a second thought, began to run as soon as they saw the men with clubs running towards them, without looking around.

While running for their lives, Raphael shouted at Pietro.

“You damn bastard! Which woman are you hitting on this time!”

As he became more accustomed to the Joseon language, Pietro complained that the inside of District 51 was stifling and rented a house outside.

Living outside the base with Raphael, Pietro revealed his Don Juan-like tendencies as an Italian man without reservation.

Thanks to that, he was beaten or chased several times. That’s why he ran away as soon as he saw the men with clubs, and Raphael questioned him.

At Raphael’s words, Pietro replied with an aggrieved expression.

“Not this time! Probably not!”

“Probably? What nonsense!”

* * *

“Got him!”

“I flirted first….”

“What nonsense!”

After the chase, Seo Dal’s servants grabbed Pietro and began to beat him with clubs.

At that moment, soldiers from District 51 rushed in with Raphael, who had escaped earlier.

“You villains! Who do you think you are, assaulting an official wearing a uniform! Seize them all immediately!”

As soon as Hyang received the report that Pietro had been beaten and seriously injured, he sighed.

“Hoo~. Which woman did he flirt with this time?”

“It wasn’t that. He was unilaterally beaten for not showing proper respect.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hyang, who received the report from the commander of District 51, delved into the details of the incident. After learning the whole story, Hyang slammed the desk.

“Is there such a damn bastard! Where is he throwing his weight around now! We’ll answer power-tripping with power-tripping!”

Hyang immediately ran to Sejong.

“Father, have you heard?”

“I have. It’s truly a terrible incident.”

“The criminal Seo Dal must be severely punished. Assaulting an official wearing a uniform in broad daylight is a serious crime! Furthermore, there are continuous accusations that the criminal has been committing all sorts of evil deeds, relying on his father’s power, which is also a serious crime!

We must eliminate the ‘guilty if you have no power, innocent if you have power, guilty if you have no money, innocent if you have money’ mentality from the root before it takes hold!”

“Hmm….”

While Sejong was contemplating Hyang’s words, Seo Seon, his face ashen, approached Sejong with a scroll.

“What is it?”

“It’s a letter of resignation. I deeply regret that this happened because I failed to properly discipline my son, and I wish to resign, taking responsibility for my son’s crime.”

“Father, I would like to refute the Minister of Justice’s words. Please allow me.”

“I allow it.”

As soon as Sejong’s permission was granted, Hyang criticized Seo Seon.

“The Minister of Justice is truly shameless! Does all sin disappear with resignation? Even if you resign and return to your hometown, you will surely live well with your wealth and power. Is that a punishment? Father! I beg you! Punish the criminal with the maximum penalty as prescribed by law!”

At Hyang’s words, Seo Seon immediately prostrated himself on the floor and cried out desperately.

“Your Majesty, the sinner is my only son! Please have mercy!”

In the end, Seo Seon was dismissed from his position, and his meritorious subject certificate and title were revoked. And the criminal Seo Dal, who caused the incident, was sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane, demotion to commoner status, and a three-generation ban from holding office. And Seo Dal’s slaves and servants were all executed for assaulting an official wearing a uniform.

“We are innocent!”

“Shut up! If you wore official robes, you should know that you are a government official. What is unfair about assaulting such a person! It is said to be a tiger’s skin [abusing power]! It has been revealed that you have committed more than one or two evil deeds under the pretext of Seo Dal, so what is unfair! Execute the sentence immediately!”

On the day Seo Dal was caned, Hyang ordered the soldiers who would strike the cane.

“Beat him with all your might!”

“Yes!”

That day, Seo Dal was beaten with 100 strokes of the cane, which were struck with all their might, and became disabled.

Seo Seon, who received his crippled son, returned home with tears of blood.

“Even if my son committed a crime, this is too much! Crown Prince! I will never forget this!”

* * *

Hwang Hee, who heard this fact through a butler who had ridden a horse from Hanseong [the capital, modern-day Seoul], sighed deeply.

“So, what did your wife say?”

“Considering the grievances she has suffered….”

“I understand what you mean.”

Was it due to Hyang’s influence? The changed history was subtly twisted.

Hwang Hee’s daughter, who had married Seo Dal, had not been able to produce an heir.

If Hwang Hee had not been her father, she would have been kicked out without a word, but thanks to Hwang Hee, his daughter was able to keep her position. However, as Seo Dal’s concubine, who was openly brought in, gave birth to a son, she was suffering from the hardships of married life.

In the end, Hwang Hee had to write and send a memorial to Sejong asking for permission to divorce his daughter.

Hwang Hee, who handed over the memorial, sighed deeply.

“Hoo~, the incident has been settled, but why am I so uneasy?”

Unfortunately, an even bigger incident was waiting for Hwang Hee.

It was an incident involving Hwang Hee’s two sons.

* * *

During the summer rainy season of the year when the Seo Dal incident occurred, heavy rain fell. Due to the torrential rain, contaminated water leaked from the Gahaksan Gold Mine and flowed into nearby rice paddies.

“Jangga! Jangga! Hurry to the rice paddies! It’s a disaster! It’s a disaster!”

“Yes?”

Jang Dolswe, who ran to his rice paddies at the neighbor’s cry, collapsed on the spot.

The rice paddies were filled with muddy water with all sorts of foul odors, and the rice plants that had been growing well were turning yellow and withering.

“What is this mess….”

“Dispatch investigators immediately to find out the cause!”

Sejong, who received the report of the incident, immediately dispatched investigators.

For Sejong and the court, the Gahaksan mine was a very precious asset.

* * *

Joseon maintained the utmost secrecy in the process of developing gold and silver mines to avoid interference from Ming [China’s Ming Dynasty, the dominant power at the time].

As a result, most of the gold and silver mines were located in remote areas, including Gangwon Province.

As a result, secrecy could be maintained, but the transportation and storage of gold and silver mined and refined became a problem.

There was a problem that it was difficult to meet the timing when there was a need to mobilize a large amount of funds urgently.

To solve this problem, Sejong ordered the prospectors.

“Focus on investigating places close to Hanseong.”

The silver mine in Bupyeong and the mine in Gahaksan were discovered.

The silver mine in Bupyeong was larger in scale, but for that very reason, Sejong decided to give up on Bupyeong for the time being.

“If Ming finds out that a lot of silver is produced in our Joseon, they will rush in. Cover it up for the time being.”

“That’s an excellent decision!”

That’s how the mine in Gahaksan was chosen. Although the quantity was small, gold, silver, and copper all came out, making it the optimal mine for Sejong to make a suitable excuse to Ming.

“I found a mine, but as you can see, the amount of mining is too small! Ming, don’t worry about it!”

* * *

Hyang, who heard the news of the accident near Gahaksan, immediately knew the cause.

“Probably the wastewater from the mine was the problem.”

Strong concentrations of acids were used in the process of refining gold, silver, and copper, resulting in large amounts of contaminated water with dissolved heavy metals.

In addition, the leachate gushing from the tunnels also contained large amounts of heavy metals.

In that situation, the torrential downpour during the rainy season mixed the contaminated water and the leachate overflowing from the tunnels, covering the nearby rice paddies.

After visiting the site directly to check the situation, Hyang reported the situation to Sejong along with the investigator and suggested a solution.

“We must buy all the rice paddies and fields that have been damaged this time.”

“I heard that the soil is contaminated with poison. Purchase… Wouldn’t it be better to use new soil (*客土*) [imported soil] ?”

“The cost of using new soil is not cheap either. It is better to purchase it and then create a large-scale purification facility. There is no guarantee that this kind of thing will not happen again, is there?”

In the end, Sejong ordered the Ministry of Taxation to purchase the contaminated rice paddies and fields.

* * *

In the process of compensating the farmers and purchasing the contaminated rice paddies and fields by Sejong’s order, Hwang Hee’s sons conspired to carry out the work.

“Brother! Brother! Have you heard the rumors?”

Hwang Bosin, who was looking for his older brother Hwang Chisin, mentioned the rumors and drew Hwang Chisin’s attention.

“What rumors?”

“The rumor that the country is buying rice paddies and fields in the Gahaksan area!”

“It’s not a rumor, it’s true.”

At Hwang Chisin’s answer, Hwang Bosin looked around and quietly brought up the main point.

“Brother. Let’s have some fun.”

“Fun? What fun?”

“Let’s smell some money.”

At Hwang Bosin’s words, Hwang Chisin’s expression became tempted.

“Smell money? Good. But how?”

“The lands that are being compensated this time. The Ministry of Taxation is in charge of that, right?”

“That’s right.”

“You should take the lead in that. The Ministry of Taxation is so busy these days that the sound of crying never stops. How happy would they be if you took the lead?”

“I take the lead… Are you suggesting that we tamper with the land register?”

“You know it well! If you change the lower grade to the upper grade, you can increase it by at least twice, right? Then how much is the compensation?”

At Hwang Bosin’s words, Hwang Chisin nodded.

The land tax in Joseon was based on the *gyeol* (結) [a unit of land measurement] unit. Here, *gyeol* was the area that could produce 300 *mal* [a unit of volume] of grain. Therefore, the area of *gyeol* had to be different depending on the quality of the soil. Roughly, the area of 1 *gyeol* of upper-grade land was 4/9 of the area of 1 *gyeol* of lower-grade land.

What Hwang Bosin was aiming for was this part.

“We’ve lost all our allotted land, and we can’t receive bribes… How long has it been since we smelled money? Even now, my concubine wants me to get her a gold ring, but I can’t do it unless I have money!”

Hwang Chisin, who had been contemplating for a while, soon nodded.

“Okay, let’s do it!”

In the end, Hwang Hee’s two sons joined forces to alter the documents in the land register, changing the lower-grade rice paddies to upper-grade, and then embezzled the difference by receiving the corresponding compensation.

Hwang Hee’s eldest son, who worked in the Ministry of Taxation, forged the documents, and the second son deceived the owners of the rice paddies and created receipts that they had received properly.

* * *

The reason the work was exposed was because of Hyang.

“I’ve taken on work again today… I wonder if I’ll end up with a regency….”

While complaining, Hyang, who was checking the records from the Ministry of Taxation, tilted his head.

“Why is the cost of purchasing contaminated land in Gahaksan like this?”

Gahaksan was the neighboring neighborhood of the neighborhood where Hyang lived in the 21st century. For that reason and because it was an important source of income for the court, Hyang knew quite a lot of information about Gahaksan.

“This is a bit strange… Eunuch!”

Hyang, who called the eunuch, immediately gave an order.

“Go to the Ministry of Taxation immediately and bring the land register of the Gahaksan area. And also the copy kept in the archives.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Hyang cross-verified the land register kept in the Ministry of Taxation, the copy kept in the archives, and the land records that came up during this compensation process, and confirmed that the documents had been forged.

“You damn bastards! I have to tell Father!”

Sejong, who heard from Hyang that the official documents had been forged, was greatly enraged.

“Such an outrageous thing! Hey! Call the Grand Censor immediately!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Sejong, who summoned the Grand Censor, immediately issued a royal order.

“If necessary, investigate all the officials of the Ministry of Taxation to find the culprit!”

“I obey your command!”

At the command of Sejong, the Censorate thoroughly searched the officials of the Ministry of Taxation from top to bottom.

As a result, they found Hwang Hee’s children.

As soon as his two sons were imprisoned at the same time, Hwang Hee’s wife, who had turned pale, sent the butler to Hwang Hee once again.

Hwang Hee, who heard the news from the butler, felt like the sky was falling. Hwang Hee, who was staring blankly at the sky, began to write a letter of resignation.

“This won’t be the end….”

Even in the history before Hyang’s intervention, Hwang Hee’s son had caused a major accident by forging official documents, and this time, Hwang Hee’s sons had caused a major accident.

——

Author’s words.

The case of Seo Dal was adapted based on the actual Sinchang murder case.

The case of Hwang Hee’s son was adapted based on the theft case of Crown Prince’s Palace by Hwang Jungsaeng, an illegitimate son, the dismissal case of Hwang Bosin related to this, and the case of Hwang Chisin, who was caught swapping Hwang Bosin’s allotted land with his own.

The incident in which rice paddies died due to the leakage of contaminated water from the Gahaksan gold mine was based on an actual event in the 1972 flood.