Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 339

339. A Land of Fantasy, A Land of Frustration. (1)

May of Imja Year (1432, the 14th year of King Sejong’s reign).

A celebration for the hundredth day of Hyundong, the first son of Grand Prince Jinpyeong, was held at Myeongryegung, Jinpyeong’s private residence.

Choire (7th day) and Seorae (21st day), numbers traditionally favored by the Korean people, were quietly observed within the Jinpyeong family. However, the hundredth-day celebration was a somewhat grander affair. As Hyang headed to Myeongryegung to offer his congratulations, he murmured softly.

“The word ‘hundred’ itself implies completeness….”

Indeed, in archaic Korean, the word for ‘100’ was ‘on,’ meaning ‘whole’ or ‘complete.’

“But how are these guys so fast? Are their hormones different? Or is there something else at play? Did they secretly take some kind of supplement without me knowing?”

Hyang shook his head, lightly counting on his fingers.

Jinpyeong was thirteen when he had his first son. And Anpyeong, whose hundredth-day celebration was next month, was twelve. Of course, in Korean age [where a person is considered one year old at birth and gains a year every Lunar New Year], they were fifteen and fourteen, respectively, but it was still early.

“Even though early marriage is common in this era….”

Hyang grumbled at the situation he couldn’t easily accept, but there was something he kept forgetting.

His father, Sejong, was fourteen when he had his first child.

* * *

When Hyang arrived in front of Myeongryegung, the gate was crowded with people.

“Make way! His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, is arriving!”

At the cry of the eunuch leading the way, the gathered people parted to the sides and prostrated themselves on the ground.

Hyang got off his horse and approached the people lying prostrate before the gate, asking.

“There are so many people; what’s going on?”

“We’ve come to receive the hundred-day rice cakes.”

“Hundred-day rice cakes? Ah….”

Hyang nodded at the commoner’s answer. Giving out rice cakes to wish for the long and healthy life of a child who had reached one hundred days was a common custom regardless of social class.

“Your Highness! Thank you so much for coming!”

Jinpyeong, who was inside, hurried out to greet Hyang upon hearing the news of his arrival.

“I had to come since it’s your first son’s hundredth day. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Guided by Jinpyeong, who personally led the way, Hyang entered Myeongryegung and widened his eyes as he entered the inner courtyard.

A replica of a steel train, half the size of the real thing, was in place.

“What is this?”

“Yes! I wanted to study it further, so I made one!”

‘What a geek! There’s no hope for a true train enthusiast!’

Hyang clicked his tongue inwardly at Jinpyeong’s answer. Jinpyeong was proving what happens when a geek with money and power indulges in their hobby.

While the eunuch was handing over the congratulatory gifts to the butler, Hyang went up to the main hall and was able to meet the star of the celebration.

“The child is very bright. I have high expectations for the future.”

“Thank you.”

Lady Yun, the Grand Consort of Samhan, Jinpyeong’s wife, bowed her head and expressed her gratitude at Hyang’s blessing.

Looking at the Grand Consort and Jinpyeong, Hyang muttered inwardly.

‘A child and a child met and had a child.’

Hyang made a remark that others would have criticized him for.

At the hundredth-day celebration, Hyang sat in front of a table laden with rice cakes and tea and talked with Jinpyeong.

“The child looks intelligent; I expect great things from his future.”

Jinpyeong grinned widely at Hyang’s blessing and replied.

“Isn’t that right? Isn’t that right? I’m also praying that he grows up quickly! It’s my dream for him to grow up quickly and help me lay railroads throughout Joseon with his siblings.”

“That’s quite a dream….”

Hyang, who was forcibly holding back what he was about to say, glanced at Lady Yun and wore an awkward expression.

Hugging the child and listening to Jinpyeong’s conversation, Yun placed her hand on her forehead and sighed softly.

Looking at her, Hyang asked Jinpyeong.

“It’s only your first child; why are you already talking about siblings?”

“Haha! We have to prepare in advance! It’s my dream to have my name and my children’s names be synonymous with railroads in Joseon, so that when people think of me and my children, railroads immediately come to mind, haha!”

Looking at Jinpyeong’s face as he laughed heartily, Hyang quietly picked up his cup and brought it to his lips.

‘I’m a geek too, but you’re really…. I have no words….’

In any case, the atmosphere remained amicable. Jinpyeong freely expressed his affection for railroads to Hyang and emphasized their importance.

“…Therefore, railroads are absolutely essential for the development of Joseon.”

Hyang replied briefly to Jinpyeong’s statement.

“You son of a bitch, I’m the one who made that steel train and railroad possible.”

“Ah….”

Jinpyeong momentarily closed his mouth, but soon opened it again.

“Your Highness. I heard a story about ‘Dongjin’ [Eastern Advance, a national project]. Isn’t progress too slow?”

“Joseon’s capabilities are not yet strong enough, so it only seems that way. But since even you know about it, there’s probably no one in Hanseong [old name for Seoul] who doesn’t know?”

“Haha! I only found out because I was preparing in advance to lay railroads. But, Father and Your Highness must urge the officials. Joseon’s lacking capabilities can be sufficiently secured by expanding its territory! We must expand our territory and lay railroads as quickly as possible!”

“You son of a bitch! I….”

Hyang barely managed to hold back from shouting, ‘You son of a bitch, get out!’ and screamed inwardly.

‘Take and repay! Take and repay! You crazy bastard!’

‘Take and repay,’ short for ‘Take it now and repay it later,’ refers to a strategy where something is taken now with the promise of repayment later. Japan’s strategy that provided the biggest reason for the United States to enter World War II was the most famous example of ‘take and repay.’

Attending the eventful hundredth-day celebration and returning to the palace, Hyang muttered inwardly.

“I must prevent that guy from getting involved with the military no matter what. Haa~. To do land grabbing to lay railroads….”

* * *

Crash! Bang!

On a night with violent thunder and lightning, middle-aged Jinpyeong walked towards the young king sitting in Gangnyeongjeon [the king’s sleeping quarters].

Looking at Jinpyeong, who placed a blood- and flesh-covered iron hammer down and sat, the young king asked in a trembling voice.

“Uncle, did you have to do this?”

“They were people who deserved to die! They tried to decide the route of the railroad, which is most important for the country’s transportation, for their own selfish desires! This is a crime worthy of death!”

Thwack!

At that moment, thunder struck violently. Whether startled by the thunder or frightened by Jinpyeong’s ferocity, the trembling young king opened his mouth.

“Do, do as you wish, Uncle.”

“Your grace is boundless!”

Jinpyeong, having achieved what he wanted, bowed and stood up abruptly, turning around and walking out.

Along with the figure of Jinpyeong striding out, flinging open the doors of Gangnyeongjeon, a voice familiar from historical dramas flowed out.

-In this way, Jinpyeong was able to do everything related to railroads according to his will. Historians called this event the ‘Gyeyu Iron Rebellion.’

At that time, the Haechi statue [a mythical lion-like creature], made in front of Gwanghwamun [the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace], roared loudly.

“Woof woof woof!”

* * *

“Huh!”

With a short scream, Hyang raised his body, and the Crown Princess, who was sleeping next to him, also woke up in surprise.

“Your Highness! What’s wrong?”

At the Crown Princess’s surprised question, Hyang waved his hand lightly and replied.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just had a bad dream.”

However, the Crown Princess, who was still breathing roughly, became anxious and continued to ask.

“I’ll call the royal physician.”

“It’s okay.”

“Your breathing is rough. Yang Sang-gung! Are you there!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Bring the royal physician immediately!”

“Yes.”

The Crown Princess, having given the order to the court lady, began to wipe the cold sweat from Hyang’s face with the ribbon of her undershirt.

“What to do….”

After a while, the royal physician, who had rushed over, took Hyang’s pulse and prescribed a treatment.

“You seem to be slightly weakened due to overwork these days. I will prescribe a herbal medicine to boost your energy.”

The Crown Princess did not forget to ask the royal physician.

“Please take good care of him.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

* * *

The next day dawned, and Sejong and Queen Soheon, who received the morning greetings from Hyang and his wife, did not forget to mention what had happened at night and expressed their concern.

“I was just a little tired. I apologize for causing concern.”

“How about taking a day off from work today?”

Hyang immediately shook his head at Sejong’s words.

“Even Father is tirelessly managing state affairs, so it would be unfilial for me to rest. I took the medicine prescribed by the royal physician and feel better, so you don’t have to worry.”

Sejong gave a warning again at Hyang’s answer.

“Be careful, very careful. You are the Crown Prince of this country.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

* * *

Sitting alone in the office of the 51st district, Hyang crossed his arms and stared at a blank piece of paper, muttering.

“A dog dream, or a prophetic dream….”

Hyang recalled the dream from last night and muttered, touching his stomach.

“Do I have to implement the ‘live long and prosper project’ not only for Father but also for myself? Haven’t I been neglecting martial arts training lately?”

Hyang took off the long robe he was wearing and hung it on a hanger, looking at the mirror hanging on the wall and subtly striking poses.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Hyang turned his head out the window and grumbled.

“Damn lousy bean sprout [a derogatory term for someone immature or unreliable].”

Hyang was grumbling, thinking of Jinpyeong.

* * *

Joseon, which thoroughly established court etiquette based on Confucianism, did not create the process of educating the Crown Prince, the next-generation monarch, solely around Confucian studies.

Military arts education was as essential as the education of Confucian classics. Therefore, a Crown Prince who had been properly trained was a figure who well deserved the title of being well-versed in both literary and military arts.

“The problem is that teaching martial arts and building physical strength seems to be for the purpose of sowing seeds well and not passing out easily after becoming king….”

Even while grumbling like that, Hyang steadily developed his body by diligently training in martial arts according to his growth stage.

‘I can’t fall behind Jinpyeong! If I fall behind, my child will be screwed!’

For Hyang, there was a critical reason why he had to protect his health.

However, since Jinpyeong had a train accident regarding railroads, his vigilance towards Jinpyeong had become much more relaxed. As his vigilance relaxed and he focused on various hobbies, he had neglected martial arts training for a while.

However, Jinpyeong’s obsession with railroads at the last hundredth-day celebration was something to be sufficiently wary of.

In the end, Hyang sighed and had to readjust his schedule.

“Hoo~. Life is never easy….”

As Hyang was readjusting his schedule, he suddenly became curious about one thing.

“How much has history changed since I intervened? There was a saying that ‘history always has constancy.’ How likely is it that I will return to the history I knew?”

Since Hyang intervened, Joseon’s history has changed to an alarming extent. Among those changes, there were things that Hyang knew about and intervened in, but there were also things that Hyang did not know about.

Among the changes that occurred without Hyang’s knowledge was Jinpyeong’s first son, who was born this time.

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, Jinpyeong, or rather, Suyang’s first son was born 6 years later. If the child born this time does not die before turning one year old, history would change again.

And, the history that Hyang knew and changed was Hyang’s marriage and having a son. If the child born now grows up without any problems, he would have sufficient foundation and capabilities at an age where he could have died early in the history before the intervention.

* * *

Author’s words.

Hello?

This is Gukbbong, writing ‘Black Company Joseon.’

First of all, I apologize for failing to update yesterday.

I’m sorry.

To make excuses, ‘Let’s fix and use broken computers.’

When I went to work in the morning, the desktop that caused the accident last time was working fine. So, I was happily writing on the desktop, and the moment I saved the block for editing the serialized content… the computer went out.

Of course, I had automatic backup settings enabled, but in a panic, I clicked wildly and even deleted the backup file.

Thanks to that, I had to rewrite it from the beginning.

I will have to pay more attention to writing in the future.

Addendum. As I was in a panic, I realized what it means to be out of my mind.

After requesting a notice of absence and regaining my senses, more than an hour had passed.