Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 37

Jjangra

Hello, Bomb!

37. Laughing and Crying Over My Obsession (2)

In the original timeline, Princess Jeongso should have died in February. The problem was the cause of death. The records I had skimmed through in the 21st century were unclear about the cause.

Some records mentioned chickenpox, while others indicated smallpox.

“Where else can you find a 50% chance!”

Knowing that Sejong was deeply shocked by Princess Jeongso’s death, Hyang bet everything on that 50% chance and inoculated her with cowpox [a mild disease used to vaccinate against smallpox].

And that 50% chance turned out to be correct.

* * *

As the nationwide implementation of cowpox inoculation neared completion, Sejong moved decisively to finalize matters. He summoned the Minister of Personnel and ordered:

“Has the list of landowners who haven’t paid their cattle tax been completed?”

“Yes, it has been completed.”

“Bring it to me.”

Shortly after, an official from the Ministry of Personnel, following the order, brought the list and submitted it to the minister, who then handed it to the head eunuch. Sejong, examining the list, opened his mouth.

“There are truly many.”

“A total of 143 people.”

The list submitted by the Minister of Personnel contained names, families, residential areas, and the extent of their wealth.

After reviewing the list, Sejong issued an order.

“Remove all those listed from the local gentry rolls. If there are any who have passed the minor civil service exam and are receiving tax benefits, immediately revoke all bestowed favors. Finally, prohibit their descendants from holding office for three generations.”

“Understood!”

This decision caused a significant upheaval among the local gentry.

* * *

As Sejong’s orders were carried out, the local Confucian scholars experienced a sudden storm.

“This is too harsh!”

Those whose names were removed from the local gentry rolls protested vehemently, but few agreed with their claims. Most reactions were like this:

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. They should have been less greedy. How much is that cattle tax anyway?”

“If they are nobles and landowners, they should live up to their names!”

“They should know shame and duty! Get out of here! Who do you think you are to be here if you’re not a noble!”

Those who were expelled shouted towards the closed gates of the Hyangso [local gentry council or community hall, a place for local governance and social gatherings for the gentry].

“How clean are you guys, huh!”

The repercussions of Sejong’s orders did not end there.

“What are all these petitions?”

Sejong looked at the Chief Royal Secretary, overwhelmed by the mountain of petitions suddenly flooding in. The Chief Royal Secretary answered with a troubled expression.

“They are petitions from fathers asking for permission to divorce their daughters.”

“Permission to divorce?”

Sejong unfolded a scroll and read the contents. The petitions were all very similar.

-The son-in-law does not know shame or duty and has lost the qualifications of a noble. After suffering such an event, it is natural to be cautious and reflect, but he claims to be innocent, shows no remorse, and even becomes violent towards my daughter, his wife, while drunk. Therefore, I ask for permission to divorce my daughter and her husband.

Unlike the Goryeo Dynasty, where marriage and divorce were easy, marriage and divorce among the nobles in the Joseon Dynasty were very difficult. For nobles to divorce, they had to submit a petition to the local magistrate and even appeal to the king.

After reviewing all the petitions, Sejong concluded.

“Using violence against one’s wife is not the behavior of a noble. However, we cannot draw conclusions based on one side’s words alone, so order the magistrate of the district where the petitioner resides to confirm the facts. If the contents of the petition are true, grant the divorce and order a fair division of property.”

“Understood.”

As Sejong’s orders were issued, many couples divorced. It wasn’t just divorces that were produced. Breakups, which did not require as complicated a procedure as divorce, were several times more numerous.

* * *

Sejong’s reforms were being prepared gradually over a long period. However, there was one area that was progressing surprisingly quickly: the military.

While discussing state affairs with his ministers, Sejong took a brief break to visit the Crown Prince’s residence.

As the eunuch standing guard in front of Hyang’s residence was about to announce him, Sejong lightly waved his hand.

“Shh, I want to see the Crown Prince’s usual demeanor.”

At Sejong’s words, the eunuch pointed to one side with a troubled expression and replied.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is currently in the restroom.”

“The restroom?”

“The privy, Your Majesty.”

“Ah! The restroom… a very poetic name.”

Nodding, Sejong looked in the direction the eunuch had pointed. A court lady holding a piece of cotton cloth stood guard in front of a room in a corner of the Crown Prince’s residence.

Swaaa~.

As a loud sound of water was heard, the court lady quickly opened the door and went inside. Shortly after, Hyang, with a book tucked under his arm and a refreshed face, saw Sejong and rushed over to bow his head.

“Father, have you arrived? I am deeply sorry for showing such an unsightly appearance!”

“Unsightly? What are you talking about… By the way, do you even read books in the privy?”

“It’s surprisingly easy to read there.”

“Well… I like books too, but…”

At Hyang’s answer, Sejong shook his head with a look of dismay.

* * *

The restroom, or more precisely, the Western-style toilet installed inside, was something Hyang had firmly decided to create since he was a young prince.

For that reason, after being appointed as Crown Prince and gaining some recognition from Sejong for creating the golden stylus, Hyang attempted to manufacture a Western-style toilet.

However, the production of the Western-style toilet faced a major obstacle from the start.

The Western-style toilet that Hyang was familiar with was made of porcelain. However, the problem was the historical context of the Joseon Dynasty.

The place that supplied various porcelain items for the royal family was the Saongbang (Royal Kitchen), and the porcelain supplied here was due to tribute. In the end, he had to find a kiln that produced porcelain directly, but the closest one was Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.

After the Neobeol Island incident, Hyang’s range of activities was limited to Hanseong [old name for Seoul, the capital of Joseon], and Hyang himself did not even think about going to Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.

“In the 21st century, it would be a quick car ride, but this is Joseon, right?”

In the end, Hyang had to find an alternative. After searching his memory for various alternatives, Hyang finally found one.

What Hyang found was a scene from a movie featuring a pure-hearted macho mummy—who kept shouting ‘Anak Su Namun’ until the very end—as the main character.

He remembered the steel Western-style toilet in the bathroom, which was the place where the little boy, a key keyword in the movie, escaped from the train.

As soon as he recalled the memory, Hyang created a conceptual diagram and an abbreviated blueprint, and immediately sought out a master blacksmith from the Military Supplies Department.

That was the beginning. The master blacksmith’s ordeal had begun.

Although Hyang created the blueprint, it was close to organizing the concept. The actual figures had to be experimented with directly by the master blacksmith.

This was the same in the 21st century. When Hyang—Jinho in the 21st century—and his friends were building a steam engine, Hyang was in charge of the concept and overall design, and his friends had to do all the numerical calculations.

“I’m a liberal arts student. Should a liberal arts student even do calculations?”

Anyway, after all sorts of trial and error, the master blacksmith created a steel Western-style toilet.

“You’ve worked hard, you’ve worked hard!”

Hyang greatly praised the master blacksmith who made the completed Western-style toilet. Not only did he praise him with words, but Hyang also gave the master blacksmith a bag of white rice, and the blacksmiths under him received rewards ranging from five to one bag of white rice, depending on their rank. The master blacksmith, who received an unexpected reward, bowed deeply and shouted.

“Please entrust me with anything in the future! I will do my best to make it!”

“I trust and expect it!”

Later, whenever he recalled the events of that time, the master blacksmith would slap his mouth.

“This damn mouth is the enemy!”

Anyway, Sejong, who saw the Western-style toilet and the bathroom where it was installed, wanted to install a Western-style toilet in the Geunjeongjeon Hall [the main hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace] as well. However, Sejong’s intention was thwarted by the opposition of the royal physicians.

“In order to confirm His Majesty’s health, we must check his stool! But in this state, we cannot check it!”

“Is that so? I understand…”

Sejong stepped back due to the opposition of the royal physicians, but Sejong did not give up his intention.

“I will install it someday!”

In the end, a Western-style toilet was not installed in the Geunjeongjeon Hall, but Western-style toilets were installed in quite a few other places besides the Crown Prince’s residence. The places where these Western-style toilets were installed were where the Queen and concubines resided. Squatting in a chamber pot to do one’s business was never a comfortable task. Especially in a situation where one was pregnant and had a swollen belly, the Western-style toilet was the best thing. Of course, it was a chore for the eunuchs and court ladies who had to clean the waste bins in the space installed under the toilet floor and fill the toilet tank with water.

Later, these Western-style toilets began to be released to the public, which caused several problems. And it was inevitable that Hyang would overhaul the public sanitation system to solve these problems.

* * *

Hyang, who came out of the restroom, moved to the study with Sejong. Sejong, facing Hyang across a large table, immediately opened his mouth.

“Crown Prince, I was looking at the diagram you made again and had a question.”

“What is your question?”

“You mentioned several parts, but you didn’t mention the military at all. Surely you didn’t do that without knowing?”

At Sejong’s question, Hyang smiled. At that sight, Sejong shook his head.

“Such a sly fox…”

“If I had mentioned the military, there would have been even more commotion.”

At those words, Sejong nodded.

“That’s true.”

“What do you think, Father?”

At Hyang’s question, Sejong answered firmly.

“The military must also be reformed. I believe that we should place more emphasis on intellectual ability rather than just looking at individual martial prowess as we have done so far.”

At Sejong’s words, Hyang nodded.

In the past, in the fourth year of Sejong’s reign, Sejong had set new standards for the military examination.

“The civil service examination is to select talented people. This is the same for the military examination. From now on, even if a person cannot hit the target with an arrow from 200 paces away, if they are well-versed in the classics, select them.”

Some said that this was favoring civil officials and despising military officials, but Hyang thought differently.

“Even Jedi die from dogpiles. Father’s words are not wrong. From now on, we need smart people.”

‘Who was that again? I can’t remember? Anyway, I’ll use it a bit!’

Muttering in his heart, Hyang immediately opened his mouth.

“I think this way. In a country, civil and military affairs are like the two arms of a person, and like the two wheels of a cart. A person cannot live with only one arm, and a cart cannot move with only one wheel. I believe that civil and military affairs in a country are just like that.”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong nodded strongly.

“Your words are truly correct! That’s why I’m thinking of reform. But…”

Sejong sighed.

“The ministers sitting in that office will immediately argue with those words. National defense costs a thousand gold, no, ten thousand gold, and they will mention the military regime that existed in the previous dynasty.”

“We cannot despise the military. If we do, this Joseon will collapse immediately. Please consider the precedent of the Song Dynasty.”

Hyang, who moistened his throat with tea brought by the eunuch, continued.

“There was an empire called Rome in the West. There was a saying in that country: ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum.’”

“What does that mean?”

“‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’ It means be prepared for anything.”

“Be prepared for anything…”

Tapping the table with his finger, Sejong pondered the words be prepared for anything. At that sight, Hyang added.

“There is no need to go far. Look at the end of the previous dynasty. How many people suffered from the Jurchen and Japanese pirates? It is true that national defense consumes a lot of wealth, but if preparations are not properly made when something happens, it will consume several times more wealth and manpower.”

“You are right. Your words…”

Sejong, nodding his head, concluded.

“Yes. If we need to reform, we must reform!”

As Sejong made up his mind, Hyang clenched his fist under the table.

‘Yes!’

Sejong, having made up his mind, asked Hyang again.

“The reform of the military is not something that can be done overnight, so we must take our time and solve it one by one. If it were you, where would you start? The Northern Army that has to deal with the Jurchen? Or the Southern Army that has to deal with the Japanese pirates? Or the Central Army that has to defend the capital?”

At Sejong’s question, Hyang immediately answered.

“We must divide it into the army and the navy. We must never ignore the navy, no, the ship-riding army.”

End.