Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 36

Jjangra

Hello, Bomb!

36. Laughing and Crying Over My Obsession (1)

In Ryu Jeong-hyeon’s case, he was a civil official who lived through the turbulent times of the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods. He was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies and commanded Yi Jong-mu during the conquest of Tsushima Island.

He was evaluated to have laid the foundation for the cultural prosperity during King Sejong’s reign, but unlike the original history, he was branded a traitor and met his end.

It was a bitter example of the butterfly effect created by Hyang, an existence that defied expectations.

However, the most unfortunate one was the Second State Councilor. Jeong Tak, who was the Second State Councilor, died of illness on October 21st of the 5th year of Sejong’s reign, and he was appointed to the position on Ryu Jeong-hyeon’s recommendation. He lost his power and wealth and was exiled only a few months after taking office.

* * *

Having completely seized power through the execution of Ryu Jeong-hyeon and the exile of old officials, Sejong summoned his ministers in March and made a declaration.

“I will implement a reformation (更張) [a renewal or overhaul] for the sake of Joseon!”

With Sejong’s declaration, the Great Reformation, which took 10 years to prepare and 5 years to implement, began. It was the beginning of the Great Reformation, which would later be evaluated as ‘completely changing the constitution of Joseon.’

Historians regard the day of Sejong’s declaration as the beginning and named it ‘Gapjin Reformation (甲辰更張)’ or ‘Gapjin Great Reformation (甲辰大更張).’ [Gapjin refers to the year in the traditional sexagenary cycle.]

* * *

The basis of the reformation that Sejong declared to implement was Hyang’s work.

Long before Sejong’s declaration, it was when he was preparing for smallpox vaccination for the people living in Hanseong [old name for Seoul].

Late at night, Sejong visited Hyang.

“I’ll take the chart (掛圖) you made.”

“Yes? Please do so.”

“Thank you. Head Eunuch, take the chart.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At Sejong’s command, the Head Eunuch took Hyang’s chart.

“Ah, and don’t tell anyone that I took this.”

“Yes? Yes.”

After Sejong took the chart, Hyang realized that he had dug his own grave.

After the morning assembly, Sejong would visit Hyang after some time had passed.

“About this part here…”

“Yes, that is…”

Sejong, who had questions while examining the chart, visited Hyang and asked questions, and Hyang answered the questions.

“Then I’ll be on my way. Thank you for your hard work.”

“You’re welcome.”

Hyang, who had seen Sejong off, buried his head on the table and sighed.

“Haa~. I dug my own grave…”

Before long, Sejong’s visit became a daily routine. That was fine up to that point. The problem was that the depth and sharpness of Sejong’s questions were increasing almost vertically as time went on.

In the end, Hyang’s daily life became a series of overwork. In the morning, he had to attend the royal lecture (經筵) [a lecture given to the king by scholars], in the morning, he had discussions with the guests of the Crown Prince’s Office or attended the morning assembly to observe the administration of state affairs, and in the afternoon, he had to go through the regular course of training in martial arts with the military officers of the Royal Guard. And from the evening, he had to work on laundering the source [preparing and refining information] in preparation for Sejong’s visit.

“Who would believe it if I said, ‘Everything came from my head’? I wouldn’t believe it myself. Or I’d be grinding away from morning till night.”

By the time the source laundering was finished, Sejong would barge in. After a round of questions and answers with Sejong, it was already past 3 a.m. (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.) and heading towards 4 a.m.

And Hyang learned the whole story when Sejong declared the reformation.

Sejong, who had taken Hyang’s chart, began to create a master plan to reform the entire system of Joseon based on it.

“The greatest purpose of the reformation is the realization of ‘royal道 politics’ [politics based on Confucian ideals] and ‘benefit all mankind (弘益人間) [a founding principle of Korea emphasizing service to humanity]’.”

Using the punctuation marks he had learned through Hyang skillfully, Sejong created a plan for the reformation.

From the reform of the administrative organization to the expansion of education, Sejong created a plan by building the framework and adding flesh to it. Whenever he had questions or encountered obstacles, he waited for the right time and visited Hyang every night.

When he had about 80% of the completion through such a process, Sejong tossed the reformation plan to the Jiphyeonjeon (集賢殿) [Hall of Worthies, a royal research institute].

“This is the reformation plan (更張策) that I have created. Examine it in depth and look for areas for improvement or problems.”

“We obey your command!”

“If there are any areas for improvement or problems, submit them to me in writing immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Also, keep silent (緘口) about this until I officially announce it. If anyone divulges it, they will be punished for treason (大逆罪).”

“We will engrave it in our bones (刻骨銘心)!” [We will never forget it!]

The scholars of the Jiphyeonjeon, who received the reformation plan from Sejong, began to analyze it to the best of their ability. However, they faced difficulties from the start. It was because of the punctuation marks that only Sejong and Hyang knew.

“Your Majesty, what are these symbols?”

“Ah, that is…”

The scholars of the Jiphyeonjeon, who learned about punctuation marks from Sejong, began an intensive analysis of the reformation.

And that was when the level of questions Sejong asked Hyang rose to an almost vertical level of difficulty.

When the Jiphyeonjeon found problems and reported them to Sejong, Sejong pondered the answers to those problems. When he continued to ponder and ran out of answers, Sejong visited Hyang to discuss them. When he found a good answer, Sejong tossed the answer to the Jiphyeonjeon, and the Jiphyeonjeon applied the answer and began to analyze it again.

When the reformation was announced, Hyang complained to Sejong after learning this fact.

“Wouldn’t it have been more efficient if you had me work with the scholars of the Jiphyeonjeon?”

Sejong smiled at Hyang’s grumbling and replied.

“You know that there is a big difference between doing something knowingly and doing something unknowingly, don’t you? This is about changing the entire country, and if the king does not understand it properly, the king will only be a being who says, ‘Do it that way,’ and stamps the royal seal.”

“If you listen to the explanation in advance…”

“Which would bring better results, the king getting involved directly and worrying and understanding, or just listening and understanding?”

At Sejong’s words, Hyang bowed his head deeply.

“I cannot help but admire your Majesty’s wisdom (慧眼) [insight].”

This was Hyang’s sincerity.

The basis of the reformation announced by Sejong was Hyang’s, but Hyang’s color had been diluted so much that it was difficult to say it was Hyang’s. That was how deeply Sejong’s thoughts had gone into the reformation.

The reason why Sejong spent 10 years preparing even after announcing the reformation was because Sejong put his heart and soul into it to the point of being obsessive.

* * *

Although Sejong declared the reformation, he did not immediately overhaul everything. Starting with finance, he prepared step by step, and while going through the big and small events that occurred in the middle, he continued to revise the framework of the reformation.

When he thought that he was ready to some extent, Sejong issued an order to the ministers.

“The ministers of the Six Ministries (六曹) shall select personnel.”

Sejong created a reduced model of the newly changed administrative department – to be exact, a reduced model of the central government – with those selected from the Six Ministries and began experimenting. He observed the division of work and the efficiency of operation created through reports and petitions from the provinces and fields in real time with the ministers and began to coordinate (調律) [harmonize and adjust].

As the experiment on the reorganization of the central government progressed somewhat successfully, Sejong began experimenting with local administrative organizations.

“Select 5 counties (縣) in Hwanghae Province, 7 in Gyeonggi Province, and 5 in Gangwon Province.”

The selection process was not random.

-Hwanghae Province is the northwest region of Joseon, Gangwon Province is the northeast region of Joseon, and Gyeonggi Province is chosen to be similar to the environment of the central and southern regions of Joseon.

-It must be an area that is one day away from Hanseong using a postal horse (擺撥馬) [a horse used for delivering official mail], or two days at the longest.

After selecting the counties in that way, a full-scale experiment began. New personnel were assigned according to the local administrative organization created by Sejong, and a large-scale of investigators – scholars from the Jiphyeonjeon, officials from the central government – followed them in, which was a huge experiment.

As the experiment began, postal horses ran from the counties where the experiment was taking place to Hanseong every day, full of reports – reports written by those in charge of administration, reports written by investigators. Watching those reports, Sejong, Hyang, and the ministers continued to coordinate.

Despite such meticulous coordination, when it came to actually implementing it properly, big and small problems popped out from all directions.

In the end, it took 5 years to solve those problems, make adjustments, and establish the system.

But now, it was just the point of putting on the first button following the declaration to start the reformation.

* * *

As Sejong ordered the nationwide implementation of smallpox vaccination, postal horses carrying Sejong’s orders ran to all eight provinces.

In accordance with Sejong’s orders, all local officials across the country began to prepare for smallpox vaccination. Among them, noise began to emerge, and the source (震源) [epicenter] was the local influential figures.

“You’re asking me to pay for the cow?”

“Here is His Majesty’s handwritten order. He is encouraging the influential local gentry to pay for the cow.”

The influential figures who saw the letters presented by the governors or magistrates fell into 고민 [contemplation].

“Since the King wishes it, we must follow his command.”

“It’s to help not only our family but also our neighbors, so we must pay!”

A considerable number of gentry readily donated the cow price without saying much. The officials sent by the governor recorded the fact without exception, and this went straight to the court.

“I can’t pay!”

“Our family members have already had smallpox once, so there’s no need to get vaccinated!”

Of course, there were quite a few who refused because they were reluctant to pay for the cow. The reason they could do that was because Sejong did not force them to do it, but ‘encouraged’ them. Of course, even if the king wrote ‘encourage,’ it was common sense to follow, but there were those who forgot common sense because they were blinded by wealth.

“Hey, Scholar Kwon. Still…”

“I can’t pay!”

The magistrate of the town or other influential figures continued to encourage them, but there were those who stubbornly resisted until the end.

Thanks to that, the frustrated magistrates had to write a memorial asking for a reply (批答) [official response].

“Have you ever seen such insolent people!”

Sejong, who received the memorial, could not hide his anger. Sejong, who was clutching the scroll of the memorial, glared at the empty seats of the Three State Councilors, the Chief Censor, and the Chief Inspector General, before turning his gaze to the Six Ministers.

“Head Eunuch, read this memorial aloud!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Head Eunuch, who received the memorial from Sejong, read the contents of the memorial in a loud voice.

As the reading continued, the heads of the Six Ministers gradually turned to the floor.

When the Head Eunuch finished reading, Sejong opened his mouth.

“Are these really gentry and elders of the village?”

“We deserve to die!”

“Even if you add up the numbers from the memorials that have been submitted so far, it’s over seventy! Seventy! Are these really gentry? Are these the ones who have expressed (表明) [declared] that they will serve (出仕) [enter public service] and illuminate this Joseon?”

“We deserve to die!”

“Really… really…”

Sejong, unable to contain his anger, stammered. Hyang, who was watching the scene from the side, was horrified.

‘He’s going to fall over like that! Dangerous!’

“Your Majesty! Calm down! You will harm your body!”

“Hoo~.”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong began to take a deep breath and suppress his anger. Hyang hurriedly continued.

“They have already proven themselves to be false gentlemen (僞君子) [hypocrites]. How fortunate is this? From now on, we don’t have to treat them as gentlemen! It is rather fortunate that we have been able to distinguish the jade (玉) [virtue] from the stone (石) [worthlessness] through this incident!”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong took a long breath and opened his mouth.

“What the Crown Prince says is right. Through this incident, we have learned how they really think about this country of Joseon and its people. The Minister of Personnel shall prepare a list (名簿) of those who have not paid for the cow until this smallpox vaccination is over. And the people of the villages where those who refused to pay for the cow live shall be helped by the surrounding villages to receive vaccinations so that the number of those who cannot receive vaccinations is minimized. However, the families of those who have not paid for the cow shall be excluded from vaccination. If you have started something, you must also take responsibility.”

“We obey your command.”

“Then let’s take a break for a while. I’m very tired.”

“Yes.”

As the Six Ministers took their leave, Hyang immediately opened his mouth.

“I will call the royal physician right away.”

“It’s something that will be solved with a little rest.”

“You have suffered a lot of mental damage. Joseon will only function properly if Your Majesty is healthy.”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong wore a pleased expression.

“Just listening to your words makes me feel like I’m getting better. Yes, let’s do that. Head Eunuch, call the royal physician.”

* * *

The royal physician, who had rushed in after receiving the Head Eunuch’s call, immediately took Sejong’s pulse.

“Your pulse is beating somewhat rapidly, but it is not something to worry about. I will bring you some herbal medicine, so please drink it and take a rest.”

“I will do so.”

After confirming that Sejong, who had drunk the herbal medicine brought by the royal physician a little later, was resting with a peaceful face, Hyang finally left the main hall.

Returning to his room, Hyang finally sighed.

“Hoo~. That was close. But that willow bark must have been worth its weight in gold.”

While taking the willow bark tea for a long time, Sejong’s pulse remained stable. Sitting in a chair and drinking tea, Hyang muttered softly.

“Even my super-popular sister lived, so you have to live a long and healthy life.”

End

ⓒ Gukbbong