Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 26

Jjangra

Hello Bomb

26. The Reformation of the Year Gapjin (4)

Hyang cursed at the larger-than-expected scale, but he had to accept reality.

Recalling the classes and assignments he had in the 21st century, Hyang stared at the papers on which he had written down what he thought was important, and soon nodded his head vigorously.

“Alright! I’ll show them the taste of the people’s paradise… no, capitalism and modern administrative organization!”

The next day, as soon as it dawned, Hyang moved busily. He went to the Bureau of Painting to order the production of a large-scale painting and visited the Military Supplies Bureau to order the production of loudspeakers.

The master craftsman at the Military Supplies Bureau scratched his head at the blueprint Hyang presented.

“It looks just like a funnel.”

“It looks similar. Will it take long to complete?”

“I’ll have it made by evening.”

“I’m counting on you.”

After finishing the physical preparations for the presentation, Hyang diligently searched through scriptures and Western books.

“Reshape the institutions of the 21st century into the forms of the 14th and 15th centuries in the East and West, and launder their origins with Confucian scriptures…”

As Hyang was organizing how to structure things, he circled the term ‘small government.’

“If there’s a Q&A session, this part will be controversial, and if there isn’t, this is the part that will be bombarded with memorials. Frankly speaking…”

Hyang trailed off, leaned back in his chair, and stretched.

“Ughyagya!

“Your Highness! What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Hyang, startled by the strange noise he unconsciously made while stretching, sent the eunuch who had come in back out and muttered in a low voice.

“Damn it! The Crown Prince is great in every other way, but this is the problem. No privacy, no privacy…”

Hyang, grumbling, tapped the circled ‘small government’ with his finger and continued.

“The key is that even the ‘small government’ that was called a classic in the 21st century would look like a ‘damn big government’ to these people.”

Hyang tapped the problematic word with his finger and pondered, then came to a conclusion.

“But there’s no other way. This issue has to be pointed out and addressed. Otherwise, nothing will change, and it will flow back into the messed-up Joseon I knew.”

Having made up his mind, Hyang began to organize the structure.

“Let’s put the issues related to the military aside. If I bring them up all at once now, they’ll definitely get buried…”

Putting the military issues aside, Hyang looked at the map hanging in his study.

“Either way, a very big event will happen next year…”

* * *

Five days later, eunuchs ran to the government offices of the Six Ministries and delivered King Sejong’s order.

“All officials of the rank of Chamsanggwan or higher must attend?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm… barely…”

The Chief State Councilor barely restrained himself from saying ‘a mere nine-year-old’ and nodded.

“I understand. We will do so.”

“And, it seems it will take quite a long time, so His Majesty said that those below the rank of Dangsanggwan should bring their own chairs.”

“Their own chairs?”

“Yes.”

“I understand.”

As the eunuch, having performed the formalities, stepped back, the Chief State Councilor clicked his tongue.

“Tsk! What is the world coming to!”

Although he clicked his tongue, the royal order was a royal order. It was also an understandable order, given the situation that made it necessary. In preparation for lengthy discussions with the King, chairs were provided in the pyunjeon [private hall]. However, the number of chairs was only sufficient for the Dangsanggwan. Therefore, the officials below that rank had to bring their own chairs.

However, the Chief State Councilor clicked his tongue not because of that.

“What on earth is he trying to do by putting a nine-year-old forward… The King should do it himself… Aish!”

The Chief State Councilor stopped speaking. This was because the eunuch delivering King Sejong’s order was moving busily along the corridor of the State Council building. It wouldn’t be good for such words to reach the eunuch’s ears.

* * *

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Geunjeongjeon Hall

Waggle waggle.

Following King Sejong’s summons, officials of the rank of Chamsanggwan or higher gathered in Geunjeongjeon Hall.

“Oh, Brother Cha! Long time no see!”

“Is that you, Brother Park? It’s been a while! When did you come from the countryside?”

Those who had passed the civil service examination in the same year but had infrequent meetings because they worked in different government offices or had been appointed as local magistrates greeted each other with delighted faces and inquired about each other’s well-being.

Meanwhile, those who had been working in the Six Ministries and had built up friendships were quietly sitting in their chairs and talking.

“It’s said to be a presentation of the Crown Prince’s political views, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. What a waste of time…”

“Shh! There are many people listening.”

“Let them listen. Eight or nine out of ten people gathered here feel the same way I do.”

“Shh! Shhh!”

“Ahem! Ahem! Ahem!”

The official who had made the problematic statement continued to clear his throat and express his discomfort as the person sitting next to him kept warning him.

After a while, the Chief Eunuch announced King Sejong’s entrance.

“His Majesty the King is entering!”

At the Chief Eunuch’s cry, the officials sitting in their chairs all stood up and bowed their heads. King Sejong, receiving the officials’ greetings, entered and sat on the royal throne.

“Everyone, please be seated.”

“We obey Your Majesty’s command.”

The officials, seated at King Sejong’s command, all looked at King Sejong.

“The officials are well aware that the Crown Prince has put forward many opinions. They will also be aware of the ingenuity and excellent utility of those opinions. However, these opinions are like branches extending from a single trunk. If the root is not properly understood, proper judgment cannot be made. Therefore, I have ordered the Crown Prince to present his political views today. The reason why I (I, the widowed person) have ordered the officials to attend is because the Crown Prince is still young. The Crown Prince’s excellence is well known, but he is still young and may head down the wrong path. Therefore, I hope that those gathered here will listen carefully and provide guidance so that the Crown Prince does not stray down the wrong path.”

“We obey Your Majesty’s command!”

At King Sejong’s words, the officials all bowed their heads and answered in unison.

After a while, Hyang entered Geunjeongjeon Hall. The eunuchs who were escorting him hung the large-scale painting on a temporary stand and fixed the loudspeaker to a metal rod.

When all the preparations were finished, Hyang, standing on the platform, gave a deep bow to King Sejong, who was sitting on the royal throne.

“I, your son, am truly grateful for the grace of my father, who has given me this opportunity.”

“Yes, do well.”

“Yes.”

Hyang, bowing his head once more at King Sejong’s words, stood up and looked at the officials gathered in Geunjeongjeon Hall.

Taking a light breath, Hyang gave a light nod and put his mouth to the loudspeaker.

“Thanks to His Majesty the King, who has given me a golden opportunity, I have the chance to see so many officials. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“We greet His Highness the Crown Prince!”

After exchanging greetings with the officials, Hyang finally began his presentation.

“First of all, to state the conclusion, my political view is ‘Hongik Ingan (弘益人間, Benefit all mankind)’. Yes. As you all know, it is what Hwanung established as the national policy when he founded Old Joseon. And this ‘Hongik Ingan’ is also connected to the ‘Royal Way Politics (王道政治)’ and ‘Minbon (民本, people-oriented governance)’ advocated by the sages.”

The Chief State Councilor and the officials of the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Censorate nodded with uncomfortable faces at Hyang’s words. There was little to find fault with at the beginning.

However, the smooth start was soon leading to unconventionality.

-In order to realize ‘Hongik Ingan’ and ‘Royal Way Politics,’ the peace of the people must come first. In order for the people to be at peace, the ‘Hangsan (恒産, stable livelihood)’ of the people must be secured first.

-However, the situation in our Joseon is that there is little flat land, the mountains are rugged, and people live excessively crowded in narrow flat lands. Therefore, it is not easy to secure the Hangsan of the people.

-To solve this problem, we must not regard agriculture alone as a means of Hangsan, but also make commerce and industry a means of Hangsan.

-If we make commerce and industry prosperous and obtain what we lack in our Joseon from the outside, we can solve the people’s poverty.

-To this end, the court must greatly change its current system. Instead of a simple Six Ministries system, it should be divided into three main branches: legislative, judicial, and administrative, and establish necessary government offices and positions under them to ensure expertise.

-The system of local officials also needs reform. It is an excessive burden to have one magistrate perform all judicial, administrative, tax, and military affairs, so we must divide these tasks and dispatch officials to manage them.

-The Hyangri (鄕吏, local clerks) system must also be abolished. Hyangri, who work without pay, are bound to become corrupt. Therefore, the Hyangri system must be abolished, and salaried officials must take over their duties.

-The court must actively move to relieve the poor. To this end, the Joyongjo (租庸調, taxation system) system must be reformed.

(Omitted)

-In order to carry out all of the above reforms, the court’s finances must be large and strong. To secure finances, we must not only reform taxes but also develop gold and silver mines and invest them in the finances.

-The first thing to do to reform taxes is to unify the taxes. Looking at the taxes of our Joseon today, there are unnecessarily many miscellaneous taxes in addition to the basic land tax. These miscellaneous taxes are prone to becoming the root of corruption.

-As important as unifying taxes is fair taxation. As a prerequisite for this, the simultaneous reform of the land system and the taxation system is the best policy.

-In reforming the land system, the most basic thing is to keep in mind that the land of this Joseon belongs to the monarch. And we must not forget that ‘the tiller owns the field (耕者有田)’ is the standard. But if this is impossible, reforming the taxation system is the best option.

-The most important thing in reforming the taxation system is the fairness of taxation. Fair taxation means that those who earn a lot pay a lot, and those who earn a little pay a little. Therefore, a progressive tax rate must be applied.

(Omitted.)

-The court must manage the country through an expanded administrative organization and actively engage in poverty relief based on the finances secured through tax reform and industrial promotion. This poverty relief should be carried out in a way that gives the poor hope of escaping poverty, not just simple relief.

-In order for the people to escape poverty, they must have a spirit of self-improvement. To this end, the court must provide all necessary conveniences so that the people can actively engage in it. As the most basic measure of providing these conveniences, the court must educate all the people so that they can have at least a minimum level of education.

-The most important thing in this education process is to ensure that there is no distinction between the four classes (士農工商, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants). Only when there is no distinction between the four classes will the people be able to develop their talents by making the most of their innate gifts, and this will turn into the prosperity of our Joseon.

(Omitted)

* * *

As the presentation grew longer, there was a break of half a sh辰 [a traditional Korean unit of time, approximately one hour] in the middle. During the break, King Sejong had lunch with Hyang.

“It’s truly amazing. How did you think of all those things?”

At King Sejong’s question, Hyang replied with a calm expression.

“I looked through the scriptures of the ancient sages, the historical books, and the books of the Westerners.”

“Is that so? I can truly see your hard work.”

“You flatter me.”

At Hyang’s humility, King Sejong’s praise continued.

“Frankly, there were many things in your political views that I had not even thought of. Since the founding of our Joseon, many systems have been created, but there are even more systems that simply follow what has been passed down from the past. To put it nicely, it can be said to be the preservation of good customs, but to put it badly, it can be seen as laziness.”

“If those systems and laws were all good customs, there would have been no reason for the previous dynasties to fall and new countries to be established.”

At Hyang’s cold reply, King Sejong sighed deeply.

“Haa~. That is true.”

After finishing lunch, Hyang earnestly advised King Sejong.

“Father, it is written in the religious scriptures believed by the Westerners, ‘Put new wine into new bottles (負袋).’ It has been 30 years since the previous dynasty fell and our Joseon was established. It can be seen as a long time if it is long, and a short time if it is short. However, the poverty of the people is no different from the previous dynasty or now, so I think we must proceed with reform. Sambong (三峯) [Jeong Do-jeon, a key figure in the founding of Joseon] wanted to reform, but his reform was only for a minority. Reform for the greatest happiness of the greatest number is needed.”

At Hyang’s words, King Sejong clapped his knees and exclaimed.

“What you say is absolutely right!”

The historian, who was recording next to the two fathers, wrote the following at the end.

-The Crown Prince’s words are radical and progressive. However, I think the words ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’ should never be taken lightly. Is not ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’ the culmination of the Royal Way Politics that the ancient sages advocated and the Sadaebu (士大夫, scholar-officials) have dreamed of?

End

ⓒ Gukbbong