Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 147

Clangra

Hello, Bomb!

147. That Autumn (2)

The local literati, enraged to see their impassioned appeals returned as printed rebuttals, quickly moved on to the next method.

“Who here has relatives serving in the court?”

The second method chosen by the local literati was ‘connections.’

In a tiled-roof house in Bukchon, Seoul. In the *sarangchae* [guest room] of a mid-sized tiled-roof house among many in the Bukchon area, two scholars were conversing.

“Nephew! What I’m saying is, can’t you put in a good word with His Majesty?”

At the old scholar’s words, Kang Cheong-su, the homeowner, replied with a troubled expression.

“Uncle, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Although I am a *Dangha* official [an official of the lower rank who is allowed to attend the King in the throne room], I am but the lowest of the low!”

“Are you just going to stand by and watch the family fall apart? Are you not a member of our clan?”

Kang Cheong-su’s face hardened at the words ‘family crisis.’

No, it wasn’t just his expression. Even his voice and the honorifics he used became rigid.

“A family crisis… Uncle, let me ask you something. How many people have served the court, excluding my late father and my brothers?”

“Well, that’s….”

At Kang Cheong-su’s question, his uncle hesitated, looking a little embarrassed. Kang Cheong-su continued to press him.

“How many passed the *Jinsa* examination [an examination to select candidates for government service] and the *Saengwon* examination [another type of examination for selecting government officials] in my generation and above? I know of more than twenty! But how many of them have actually served in office, besides my late father and my brothers? Huh? No one! No one!”

“That’s….”

At Kang Cheong-su’s pointed remarks, his uncle trailed off, looking embarrassed. Kang Cheong-su continued to press him.

“If you become a literatus and pass the civil service examination, it is only right to serve the court. What did everyone else do? Didn’t they just sit around in their hometowns? What did they do while sitting around? They only knew how high the sky was and how wide the land was, so they only expanded their land!”

“That’s for the sake of the family’s revival….”

“There is a limit to revival! Rumor has it that within a hundred *li* [approximately 40 kilometers] of our family’s location, you can’t take a single step without stepping on our land. Is that honorable?”

“That’s….”

“You abused the special favor granted by His Majesty, who told you to study more and serve the court if your scholarship was lacking after passing the examination, and now you’re talking about a family crisis!”

“That’s a bit harsh….”

Kang Cheong-su exploded at his uncle’s comment that his words were harsh.

“What’s so harsh about it! Do you know how much the court is suffering because the income and expenses don’t match, thanks to you! Those who caused the crisis should be responsible for it! Don’t bother me by coming here like this!”

“Hey, nephew! Aren’t you a member of our Kang clan too!”

“Don’t talk about the family when you only come looking for help when there’s trouble!”

At Kang Cheong-su’s words, his uncle shouted, his face turning red.

“Have I ever seen such an unfilial fellow! How can someone who disregards his roots be a subject of His Majesty! I won’t let you get away with this! I’ll report you to the Office of the Inspector General!”

At those words, Kang Cheong-su also raised his voice and retorted.

“Go ahead and try! Do you think I have nothing to say? Let’s discuss whether it’s right to abuse the benefits granted by His Majesty to amass wealth, even though it is one’s duty to serve the country as a pillar after passing the examination!”

“Tsk! Ptooey!”

At Kang Cheong-su’s words, his uncle immediately stood up, spat on the floor, and turned away.

“I will never speak to you again! No, I will expel you from the clan!”

At his uncle’s words, Kang Cheong-su retorted without backing down.

“Do it! I don’t want to be pointed at as being from the same clan as such immoral people either!”

As his uncle left after shouting, Kang Cheong-su called for his servant.

“Mak-soe! Go to the storage and bring some salt to sprinkle in front of the gate!”

“Yes? Yes!”

The argument that Kang Cheong-su had with his uncle symbolized the division between the literati residing in Hanseong, that is, the literati who formed the bureaucratic society, and the local literati.

* * *

At the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, the rising power of the *Sinjin* literati [newly emerging scholar-officials] split greatly as Joseon was founded. One side was loyal to Goryeo—or rather, wanted to fix the broken parts and maintain the Goryeo system—and the other side supported the coup led by Yi Seong-gye and Jeong Do-jeon.

As the coup succeeded, the *Sinjin* literati who supported Goryeo lived in seclusion in the provinces. And the *Sinjin* literati who helped Yi Seong-gye and Jeong Do-jeon succeed in the coup formed a new power group centered on Hanseong.

This was the first split among the *Sinjin* literati.

As time passed and the Joseon government organization was created, another split began to form. The reason for the new split was that the Joseon government, which advocated for royal rule, was a drastically small government.

“The problem was that this was a symbol of ‘good intentions, but a miserable reality.’”

Hyang had pointed out this problem when preparing for the policy presentation that marked the beginning of the reforms.

From the perspective of ‘royal rule,’ the essence of Neo-Confucianism, or rather Confucianism, a government based on ‘benevolence (仁)’ and ‘virtue (德)’ did not need a large government. Rather, a large government was likely to hinder the rule of the people with benevolence and virtue.

Therefore, the reformers of early Joseon made the Joseon government drastically small.

And, in order to widely find and employ talented people, they implemented the civil service examination system.

So far, so good.

However, the problem arose from the fact that the number of positions in the court was limited, and those who passed the regular and special examinations were produced almost every year.

In order to guarantee the livelihood of those who could not enter the court and to encourage those who aspired to serve to continue to emerge, the court created the tax exemption system.

‘To attract more outstanding talents to the court by allowing them to focus on their studies without being burdened by their livelihood.’

This was the original intention, but it soon became a means of accumulating wealth.

As a result, even those who did not intend to serve in the court at all and took the examination for the purpose of accumulating wealth emerged. These were people who aimed for the tax exemption benefits symbolized by the *Baekpae* [white certificate] and *Hongpae* [red certificate], which were obtained by passing the *Saengwon* and *Jinsa* examinations.

When the tax exemption benefits of these wealthy people were about to expire, their sons passed the examination and received tax exemption benefits, and the land inherited through inheritance became capital to acquire more land.

However, it was not that the central officials were without fault. They also accumulated wealth through various meritorious subject grants and bribes, and inherited power through the *Eumseo* system [privilege of recommending relatives for official positions].

As a result, the central literati began to take the civil service examination in order to pursue the monopoly of power, and the local literati began to take the examination for the purpose of accumulating wealth.

It was not only power and economic issues that divided the local and central governments.

Another reason was that those who lived as officials in the central government and retired to their hometowns were ostracized in their hometowns.

This was a mutual fault.

Those who retired to their hometowns often looked down on the literati of their hometowns—even though they were their relatives—calling them ‘country bumpkins.’ Conversely, the literati of their hometowns belittled those who retired to their hometowns, calling them ‘snobs with high noses.’

As these processes accumulated, a wall was created between the literati centered on Hanseong and the local literati.

“And that was in just over 30 years.”

Hyang had to mutter bitterly as he prepared for the policy presentation.

“Did Samcheopo say that? The reason why Joseon became a mess with the politics of powerful in-laws in the later period was because the power structure was a drastically small pyramid.”

-Regardless of the era and history, the power structure is a pyramid. And the top of that pyramid is all occupied by those who have the same interests as the supreme ruler.

The problem with the politics of powerful in-laws was that the powerful in-laws and those who clung to them ate not only the top of this pyramid but the entire pyramid. The power structure of the Joseon court itself was too small, so that mess happened.

In order to solve this problem, Hyang included in his policy proposal, and Sejong adopted and actively implemented, the quantitative expansion of the central government symbolized by the court. In addition, opening the doors to the Northwest region and the illegitimate children was a measure to block the problem of power monopoly by specific groups.

* * *

Around the time when Hanseong and the south were bustling with conflicts between the central and local governments, the north—more precisely, the northeast region—was also bustling.

The noise here was caused by resolving the various trials and errors that occurred in the process of settling the Joseon people who had moved up through the resettlement policy and the Jurchen people who had surrendered.

Crash! Bang!

“You bastards! I’ll kill you all!”

At almost the same time as the table was overturned with a loud noise, the door of the administrative officer’s office was opened as if it were being torn off.

The one who burst out of the door was Kim Jong-seo.

Kim Jong-seo, who landed in the yard as if he were flying, arrived at the horses in just a few steps and mounted one.

“Stop him! Stop him!”

“Catch him! Catch him!”

As Kim Jong-seo mounted his horse, those around him hurriedly surrounded him.

“Clear the way!”

“Oh, Deputy Commander! What’s wrong this time?”

“These bastards sent the documents in a mess again! I gave up on Unmok a long time ago, and I’ve given up on Yuseopilji now! What are you going to do if even the numbers are wrong! I’ll kill you all!”

Two *Masangchongtong* [arquebuses used on horseback] were hanging on both sides of Kim Jong-seo’s waist, shining menacingly.

At the sight of Kim Jong-seo, who had come out fully armed with a determined look, not only the civil officials but also the soldiers around him rushed to stop him.

“Hey! Calm down! Calm down!”

“Please calm down!”

“Even if you go, leave the *chongtong* [arquebus] behind! Leave the *chongtong* behind! I’ll give you bodyguards!”

The chaotic scene that had unfolded stopped abruptly at a sudden gunshot.

Bang!

At the sudden gunshot, Kim Jong-seo and the people who were trying to stop him stopped and looked at the place where the gunshot came from.

Standing there was Hwang Hee, who had come out of the administrative office.

Hwang Hee looked at Kim Jong-seo with a stiff face.

“Where is it?”

“Nokdundo.”

“I’ll send a dispatch, so you come in.”

“But….”

“Tsk! Come into my room right now!”

“Yes….”

Kim Jong-seo, who had become meek at Hwang Hee’s scolding, obediently got off his horse and entered Hwang Hee’s administrative office.

Seeing that, a soldier spoke to his colleague next to him.

“Even Tiger Kim Jong-seo is meek in front of Lord Hwang?”

“It’s like using a hawk to catch a pheasant. By the way, Dong-soo, you and I are on dispatch duty today, right?”

At his colleague’s words, Dong-soo cursed.

“Damn it! My butt will be on fire if I have to go all the way to Nokdundo!”

* * *

As the ‘Northeast Frontier Development’ progressed, such words began to circulate among the newly migrated Joseon people and the Jurchen people who had surrendered, especially the Jurchen people.

A pack of tigers has come from far away Hanseong.

Among the pack of tigers that came, there are two scariest tigers, one is Kim Jong-seo and the other is Yi Jing-ok.

The Jurchen people’s expression ‘pack of tigers’ included not only the Joseon army but also the civil officials.

The first appearance of the civil officials who came up to the Northeast Frontier with Hwang Hee was that of typical civil officials. However, as time passed, the temperament of these civil officials became very rough.

To be more precise, they had turned into ‘Jurchen people wearing official robes.’

While carrying out administrative work in the Northeast Frontier development area, the equestrian skills of the civil officials belonging to the development team improved rapidly.

In the early days, the civil officials sat quietly in the development team headquarters and the government offices of the new development area and did their work. However, the problem was that the number of people remained the same, but the development area gradually expanded, and the number of Joseon people and Jurchen people in the development area gradually increased.

In the end, the civil officials had to ride horses and go around in all directions to do their work. That was how their equestrian skills improved rapidly.

However, it was not just that their equestrian skills had increased that they were said to have become Jurchenized.

Many Jurchen people surrendered, but there were also Jurchen people who refused to surrender and resisted, and there were also Jurchen people who targeted the residents of the development area from outside the development area.

Thanks to this, situations often arose where civil officials had to participate in battles.

When they heard that they were supposed to receive *Chongtong* training in Hanseong, the civil officials said this.

‘If a civil official is in a situation where he has to use a *Chongtong*, isn’t it over?’

But. In the Northeast Frontier, such situations often occurred, and the civil officials adapted to the situation. They were familiar with using *Gapsikjangchongtong* [a type of arquebus] and *Masangchongtong*, and when the bullets ran out, they caught the Jurchen people with the bows and arrows they had brought just in case.

“Oh my….”

A Jurchen from the Olryanghap tribe, who had surrendered and was in charge of escorting the civil officials with the Joseon soldiers, asked the Joseon soldier next to him.

“Are those gentlemen civil officials? How can they shoot arrows so well?”

The Joseon soldier replied with an indifferent face.

“In Joseon, even women shoot that well.”

One of the basic qualities of scholars was archery, and one of the hobbies of women from wealthy families was archery.

“Oh my….”

The Jurchen who heard the answer could not close his open mouth.

“As expected, the country of the Great Elder!”

It was through such things that the civil officials had become Jurchenized. And among the civil officials who had changed in that way, the fiercest was Kim Jong-seo.

Meanwhile, Hyang, who had checked the contents of the reports sent from the Northeast Frontier, clicked his tongue slightly.

“Wild Wild West, huh….”