Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 824

824. Ming and Japan – Internal Stability and Expansion (3)

The Hidden Dragon Society was the reason Emperor Chenghua ordered the creation of the ‘Intellectual Property Administration.’

In a corner of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, there was a separate palace where the comrades of the Hidden Dragon Society resided.

Uniquely, soldiers sent from the Empire guarded this separate palace.

Courtesans, eunuchs, and ministers all referred to it as the ‘Secretarial Palace.’

* * *

When they first arrived in Nanjing and were deciding on a place for the Hidden Dragon Society to reside, Emperor Chenghua designated one of the many separate palaces in the Nanjing Imperial Palace.

This decision by Emperor Chenghua was met with opposition from both the Ming ministers and the comrades of the Hidden Dragon Society.

“Your Majesty! The Imperial Palace is where Your Majesty resides! It is not right to have outsiders in such a place!”

“Your Majesty! Though we are Your Majesty’s servants, we are outsiders! For us to reside in the Imperial Palace would be a burden to Your Majesty!”

However, Emperor Chenghua dismissed all of their opinions.

“They are my hands and feet, my Zhang Liang [a famous strategist]. Naturally, they must stay near me.”

Although Emperor Chenghua firmly refused, the ministers persistently opposed. Eventually, Emperor Chenghua had to take a step back.

“Very well. I will allow them to reside here temporarily until they find a place to live.”

“Your Imperial Majesty’s grace is boundless. Long live, long live, long, long live!”

However, the comrades of the Hidden Dragon Society still had not left the Imperial Palace.

The most significant reason was the exorbitant real estate prices in Nanjing.

Since Emperor Jingtai established his base in Nanjing, real estate prices had skyrocketed.

Moreover, when it became known that the Hidden Dragon Society was looking for houses, some people deliberately quoted even higher prices.

“Rather than sell a house to Empire bastards…”

“The Empire bastards have a lot of money, right?”

“They’re close to the Emperor, so they must have a lot of money!”

The building owners of Nanjing deliberately quoted higher prices, fueled by animosity towards the Empire people and a desire to overcharge.

As the Hidden Dragon Society comrades continued to stay in the separate palace for this reason, the ministers stepped forward again.

“If ignorant people are quoting exorbitant prices, it is something that can be controlled with an imperial decree.”

At the ministers’ words, Emperor Chenghua’s face turned fierce.

“Are you telling me to become a tyrant? Is it a tyrant, not a wise ruler, that you want me to be!”

At Emperor Chenghua’s angry question, the ministers immediately knelt and bowed their heads.

“We have spoken rashly. Please forgive our indiscretion!”

“Do not do things that need forgiveness before seeking it! I will overlook it this time, but there will be no next time!”

“We will engrave it in our hearts!”

“Your Imperial Majesty’s grace is boundless for bestowing mercy! Long live, long live, long, long live!”

“If you truly want them to be outside the Imperial Palace, then offer up the houses you own!”

“….”

“Why are you silent!”

“….”

“I will allow them to stay in the separate palace until they find a place to live on their own!”

“…As Your Majesty wishes.”

Later, the Hidden Dragon Society comrades, who were with Emperor Chenghua, all expressed their concerns.

“If we stay here, it will tarnish Your Majesty’s reputation.”

At the comrades’ words, Emperor Chenghua spoke his true feelings.

“Frankly, it is for my safety. I am a rolling stone, and they are a boulder. A rolling stone can dislodge a fixed stone, but only if they are of similar size. If they are determined, I will be a dead man at any time. If it is a place where the Imperial army and Empire people are, they will not be able to act carelessly.”

Thus, the comrades of the Hidden Dragon Society continued to stay in the separate palace.

Emperor Chenghua did not leave the Hidden Dragon Society as mere shadows.

He revived the Secretarial Office, which had been a nominal institution since the Hongwu Emperor, and had the Hidden Dragon Society comrades work there.

The Secretarial Office’s job was to summarize and organize all the reports submitted to Emperor Chenghua, making it easier for him to work, and to transmit Emperor Chenghua’s orders to the relevant departments.

As Emperor Chenghua had said, they became his head and limbs.

The head of the Secretarial Office received the same rank as the Six Ministries’ Ministers. In other words, the only person who received a higher rank than the head of the Secretarial Office was the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

The problem was that the duties of the Secretarial Office overlapped with those of the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.

Until now, the duties of the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were to organize the affairs of each department, report to the Emperor, advise on right and wrong, and create drafts of imperial replies. However, as the Secretarial Office took on the task of reporting to the Emperor and transmitting the Emperor’s orders, the duties overlapped.

Recognizing this problem, Emperor Chenghua and the Hidden Dragon Society reorganized it in the Empire style.

Just as the Empire coordinated state affairs through the Prime Minister’s Office and the Royal Secretariat handled secretarial duties, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were tasked with coordinating the operation of state affairs, and the Secretarial Office was tasked with the Emperor’s secretarial duties.

After hearing Emperor Chenghua’s decision, the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet returned to his office and muttered to himself.

“Is this the revival of the Prime Minister system…”

The Senior Grand Secretary, quietly looking out the window, was filled with worry.

“Will it truly be ‘second to none but above everyone else,’ or will it just be for show…”

As time passed, the ministers came to realize where the real center of power was.

It was when the Eastern Depot, led by Wang Chong, began to cooperate closely with the Secretarial Office.

The sight of the Eastern Depot cooperating with the Secretarial Office prompted the Embroidered Uniform Guard to move.

As they were in charge of political and secret police duties, they immediately recognized the flow of power.

With the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard working together, no one dared to ignore the Secretarial Office.

And, as the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet had feared, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet became a nominal ‘second to none but above everyone else.’

* * *

“Although we cooperate with Gyeon Sim, we are still Empire people.”

“That’s right.”

“For the safety of Gyeon Sim and Geum Sun, and for our future, we must develop Ming, but we must avoid doing anything that endangers the Empire.”

“I agree.”

Having gathered their intentions in this way, the Hidden Dragon Society comrades began to delve into the policies that Ming had implemented.

What they found were the promises that Emperor Xuande had made to the artisans in the past.

During King Sejong’s Joseon, when Joseon and Ming were engaged in technological competition, Emperor Xuande summoned renowned artisans to catch up with Joseon and, furthermore, to surpass them.

However, the process was not easy. The artisans were unwilling to reveal their secret techniques.

Upon learning this, Emperor Xuande used both carrots and sticks [rewards and punishments].

The carrot was to acknowledge the value of their secret techniques and pay a fair price, and the stick was to select and execute the artisans who resisted to the end.

Thanks to Emperor Xuande’s carrots and sticks, intellectual property management began to take hold around the large armory built in Beijing.

And, realizing that this was helpful, Emperor Xuande ordered the same rules to be followed by merchants and artisans throughout Ming.

Despite the imperial decree, many merchants and artisans refused, and Emperor Xuande executed them all and confiscated their assets.

Thanks to such extreme measures, the concept of intellectual property began to take hold in Ming.

However, everything was reduced to nothing when the Liaodong War, which transformed Joseon into the Empire, broke out.

* * *

The Wae [Japanese], allied with Joseon, swept through the central regions of Ming, turning everything into ruins, and in that gap, the Ouchi clan took away a large number of Ming artisans.

This alone caused great damage to Ming’s technological capabilities.

In order to revive Ming’s economy, which had been devastated by the Liaodong War and the ensuing civil war, Emperor Jingtai and the Ming people had to work desperately.

And in this process, Emperor Xuande’s imperial decree, which required the recognition of intellectual property rights, became a dead letter.

Those who possessed the intellectual property of important technologies or instruments had either been sacrificed in the past war or taken to Wae.

In this situation, it was not easy to resume the production of instruments while going to find the owners of intellectual property one by one.

Therefore, the young artisans and merchants of Ming chose an easy path.

“Let’s make and sell it first!”

“I need to make a living right now!”

Thanks to this, counterfeit and imitation products began to flood Ming again.

* * *

The Hidden Dragon Society, having grasped the context of ‘intellectual property rights,’ pondered why this had happened and what the solution was.

-Although it was a matter of survival, they had disregarded intellectual property rights from the beginning.

-Although an imperial decree had been issued, there was no official documentation or government office to manage it.

“The conclusion is, after all, the establishment of a government office.”

“I agree.”

“There’s a reason why the Retired Emperor and the Emperor created government offices.”

The Hidden Dragon Society comrades, having found a solution, wrote it down in a document and proposed it to Emperor Chenghua.

“Hmm… Intellectual Property Administration. Will it be effective?”

When Emperor Chenghua hesitated after hearing the proposal, Pil Su, the head of the Hidden Dragon Society and the head of the Secretarial Office, stepped forward to answer.

“It may seem that the effectiveness is low right now, but it is absolutely necessary for the future. If others copy or use the instruments and technologies that have been made with a lifetime of effort without any compensation, artisans will not train themselves. In addition, if they copy instruments or use technologies without knowing them properly, will proper products come out? The ignorant people who buy them may be in danger.”

“That’s true…”

As Emperor Chenghua nodded, Pil Su put more strength into his words.

“It is not only the people of Ming who will suffer losses. Merchants and people from other countries across the sea will also suffer losses. And if this continues, merchants and people from other countries will not want to trade with Ming. If they want to continue trading, they will have to sell goods at a low price. If that happens, merchants and artisans will make lower quality goods to make a profit, and a vicious cycle will continue. And finally, Ming itself will be recognized as a cheap country.”

“That must not happen!”

Emperor Chenghua, who stood up from his seat at Pil Su’s words, ordered the eunuch.

“Gather the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the ministers!”

* * *

In this way, the ‘Intellectual Property Administration’ was created and began to register intellectual property and crack down on unauthorized use.

However, the people of Ming did not change easily.

“We’ve been doing well so far, why make it difficult!”

“I don’t even have money to eat, why should I give it to others!”

Many artisans and merchants began to secretly trade products made in disregard of intellectual property rights.

However, as the crackdown intensified, they responded more cleverly.

They slightly changed the shape of the copied instruments.

“It’s similar, but it’s a completely different product!”

“It just looks similar because the functions are the same!”

While such commotion was taking place outside, the Hidden Dragon Society comrades continued their own conversation.

“It will take some time, but if it takes hold properly, it will be helpful to Ming.”

“And during that time, our Empire will move further ahead.”

“And while continuing reforms with this justification, we must foster reformists. There are still many who think of challenging the Empire.”

“As long as those stupid bastards hold out, our safety is also at risk.”

The Hidden Dragon Society comrades were doing their best to find a way that would benefit both Emperor Chenghua, who had given them the opportunity, and their homeland, the Empire, and to secure their safety.

“By the way, I wonder if they know in Seoul that we are suffering like this?”

“I guarantee that the officials in Seoul will all say this. ‘But you guys don’t work overtime, right?’”

“We do sometimes….”