There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 103

“Isn’t Grand Prince Uian, Yi Hwa, one of the greatest meritorious subjects? I heard he supported Father during the First Strife of Princes…”

“Indeed. Uncle was a great source of strength for me.”

Yi Bang-won nodded readily.

Yi Hwa was enjoying greater wealth and honor than anyone else, thanks to becoming a meritorious subject three times over, through the founding of the nation and the first two Strifes of Princes.

Despite being a son of Yi Seong-gye from a different mother, he was treated as a Grand Prince.

“However, it is not desirable for one meritorious subject to occupy all the land.”

The land owned by Yi Hwa alone was close to two million pyeong [approximately 1,653 acres].

Yi Bang-won certainly did not see this as desirable.

“The meritorious subjects of this nation own as much land as Yi Hwa. And the core of them are the royal relatives. It is by no means a desirable situation.”

Indeed, from what he had heard and seen in later generations, the country began to decline from the time they started handing out meritorious land like this.

It might not be that bad yet, but it seemed dangerous enough to Yi Bang-won.

“So, when you said that to use the abilities of the royal relatives, you must first take away their power, that’s what you meant.”

“It’s dangerous to give them everything.”

Yi Bang-won said.

“Then what are you planning to do?”

I asked.

King Taejong had produced a large number of meritorious subjects in the process of ascending to the throne, but he had constantly strived to reduce the burden.

He abolished the Special Grant Land (Byeolsajeon) [land given as special grants] and distributed it to new officials, and established a tax law to eliminate the tax benefits of meritorious subjects’ land.

‘I’m glad I picked up on things like this while working.’

When constructing Hanyang [old name for Seoul], many of the lands involved belonged to meritorious subjects, so it was an issue I had to be aware of.

“The total area of arable land in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province does not reach 150,000 gyeol [a unit of land measurement], but the land divided among the meritorious subjects exceeds 30,000 gyeol.

Eventually, all of it will have to be reclaimed, but if that happens, the royal relatives will band together and protest, asking, ‘Whose merit is it that the King is on the throne?’”

Yi Bang-won had already consumed quite a bit of political power in the process of confiscating private soldiers.

He looked at me and said,

“Can you use your power to control those royal relatives and push through reforms?”

“How…”

“There may be several ways. But are you planning to ask me?”

“Er.”

‘How can you say such a cheap thing!’

Those words rose to my throat, but I barely managed to hold them back.

Complaining here would only diminish my evaluation.

Yi Bang-won was watching me with very amused eyes.

He shook his head as if he were troubled and said,

“Well, if it’s a difficult problem, you can give up. Even for you, you’re still a child. It seems my expectations were too high.”

Then, something welled up in my chest.

“No.”

I looked straight into Yi Bang-won’s eyes and said,

“I will take the lead in solving it.”

Grand Prince Uian, Yi Hwa.

He’s a huge figure, but I’m the Crown Prince of this country, how can I not do this much?

===

“I don’t think I can do it.”

I muttered, banging my head against the wall of the Underworld Palace, no, the East Palace [residence of the Crown Prince].

I am the Crown Prince of this country, but I am not acting as regent, and at best, I am in charge of the Hanyang Construction Office, which is in a state of suspended operations.

It was obvious that recklessly making a move would not work.

‘But even if I stay like this, there’s no answer.’

I sighed.

There was no way they would listen even if I stormed into Yi Hwa’s house right now and demanded the return of the meritorious land.

So, I was banging my head, hoping for a good idea to come to mind, when I heard voices outside.

My younger brothers had finally moved their residences to the East Palace.

Grand Prince Hyoryeong and Grand Prince Chungnyeong were holding hands, their eyes shining brightly, and my half-brother was being held by his nanny.

‘He’s another problem too.’

For now, I had been forced to take him on by Yi Bang-won’s coercion, but the thought of my mother’s pressure made my head throb.

“Welcome to the Underworld Palace, no, the East Palace.”

When I glared at him, No-bun hurriedly changed his words.

“Go and give them each a pavilion.”

At my command, No-bun hurriedly assigned residences.

“Wait, Do, stay behind.”

‘Why aren’t you losing weight?’

“Didn’t I tell you not to just eat again when I wasn’t paying attention?”

“No, I didn’t!”

My younger brother protested, but I looked down at him with a suspicious expression.

“I don’t know when you’re alone, but now that you’re here in the East Palace, I’ll have to manage you strictly.”

I said that.

“Can’t you cut me some slack?”

“No.”

“It’s really the underworld!”

“Of course, since this place is called the Underworld Palace.”

I said that.

I didn’t like the name, but it’s convenient in times like this.

‘Wait, could this guy possibly know the answer?’

Even though he’s just a child, his essence is that of the great political monarch, Sejong.

“Mak-dong.”

I looked at Do and said,

“There’s a difficult favor I need to ask someone? But it’s a favor that this friend would absolutely hate. If he hears about it, he’s bound to gather friends who have received similar requests and oppose it.”

Do tilted his head.

I tried to make it easy with a metaphor, but was it too difficult?

“If you were in this situation, what would you do?”

“If it were me, um…”

Do was about to answer when he suddenly smiled slyly and said,

“Do you really want to hear the answer?”

“Huh?”

Is this kid making fun of me?

“If you want to hear it, give me one fried chicken.”

This, this cunning fellow….

I was filled with anger, but Do just smiled innocently.

I trembled with my fists clenched, then sighed and raised the white flag.

“Okay. I’ll tell the royal kitchen to prepare it.”

“Yay!”

Do shouted in triumph.

“So, what’s the answer you came up with?”

“If it were me, I would put another friend in that group forward. Then you won’t get blamed, and those friends won’t know who to follow.”

Another friend.

Then, the pieces began to fit together in my head.

“No-bun, we need to go to the Taesang Palace [residence of the retired king]. Prepare quickly!”

I hurriedly called No-bun and gave the order.

Then, Do grabbed my sleeve and asked,

“Hyung-nim, what about the fried chicken?”

“Yeah, you can eat it.”

But my words were not over yet.

I smiled as evilly as possible and said,

“But I’m going to make you exercise twice as much today, so be prepared.”

I said I’d give him chicken, but I didn’t say he wouldn’t have to exercise.

===

When we actually arrived at the Taesang Palace, Yi Seong-gye was not there.

“Where did Grandfather go?”

When I asked the eunuch of the Taesang Palace, he bowed his head and said,

“I heard he went to visit Grand Prince Igan, who is ill.”

“Grand Prince Igan?”

Grand Prince Igan, Yi Bang-ui, was Yi Seong-gye’s third son and Yi Bang-won’s older brother.

He was not naturally weak or ambitious, and he had consistently supported his father politically, so Yi Bang-won was also treating him well.

“Come to think of it, I heard he was very ill.”

I heard that he was not in good health to begin with, and his condition had worsened due to the move to Hanyang.

I was worried that my existence had accelerated the relocation and put this person under unnecessary strain.

As expected, when I took No-bun to Yi Bang-ui’s house, I found Yi Bang-ui lying down and Yi Seong-gye watching over him with a somber expression.

“Has the Crown Prince arrived?”

“Oh, please don’t get up when you’re not feeling well.”

I hurriedly stopped him.

I didn’t have any particular relationship with Yi Bang-ui, but I didn’t feel good seeing him so sick.

“Seok-geun!”

“Yes, Father.”

His son, Yi Seok-geun, quickly answered his father’s call.

This side also had one son, but two daughters and many grandchildren, so the descendants were quite prosperous.

‘Certainly, this family has good stamina.’

It was a mystery why such a family would often have their lineage cut off later on, but that was the case.

“Go and bring some refreshments to serve the Crown Prince.”

“Yes.”

I declined, but Yi Bang-ui insisted on bringing them out.

“······.”

Yi Seong-gye’s face was stiff.

He probably thought I was putting his son forward again.

The eldest son, Yi Bang-woo, had reportedly secluded himself to uphold his loyalty to Goryeo and died, and our father had killed the other two youngest sons.

With even Grand Prince Igan ailing, Yi Seong-gye couldn’t be in a good mood.

After confirming that Yi Seok-geun had left, Yi Bang-ui opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I’m just old and don’t have any great talent, and my son only likes to drink. It worries me, and I can’t close my eyes in peace.”

“Close your eyes?”

Of course, he looked like he was about to die, but I sincerely comforted my uncle.

But Yi Bang-ui shook his head weakly.

“Close royal relatives like us must have discipline to preserve the family in peace…”

‘He’s really worried about a lot.’

Even while dying, he’s worrying about this.

Yi Bang-ui earnestly pleaded, as if he wouldn’t miss the opportunity now that I was here.

“If any problems arise in the family, could Your Highness show the affection of a relative?”

“No, I can’t make any promises on that…”

Who knows what he’ll do.

===

As Grand Prince Igan, Yi Bang-ui, worried, Yi Seok-geun himself lived as a royal relative who just liked to drink, but his sons would later suffer misfortune.

They were impeached and faced death for improperly summoning a royal concubine, a woman of the king, to play with.

In the end, the eldest grandson, Yi In, was stripped of his status and exiled to the north, so Yi Bang-ui’s worries came true one generation later.

Of course, Crown Prince Yi Je had no way of knowing that, and he was just annoyed that he might be taking on unnecessary work.

===

“He originally had little greed and spoke little. He never caused any major accidents, and he’s the kindest of my sons.”

Yi Seong-gye’s voice was tinged with moisture.

“He might shake it off and get up.”

“No. I don’t think it’s possible.”

Yi Seong-gye shook his head as if resigned.

‘I can’t bring up the request for help in this atmosphere.’

I cautiously tested the waters and said,

“You seem very worried about the future of your descendants.”

“He’s naturally a very worried person… and he’s probably thinking about what would happen if his descendants became scoundrels. That’s why he’s asking you, who doesn’t have much contact with him, to look after them.”

“Hmm…”

Now that I hear it, I can understand my third uncle’s feelings.

“So, why did you come to me?”

Yi Seong-gye asked, and I was surprised and asked back,

“Me? Did I?”

“You didn’t come with Bang-won, and you came here alone, so didn’t you come to me?”

“Yes, well, that’s true.”

I was going to postpone it for a while because it didn’t seem like the right atmosphere to bring up the story.

But since Yi Seong-gye had already set the stage, I should say something.

“We need to weaken the power of the royal relatives.”

I said bluntly.

“We need to reclaim the fertile lands held by the royal relatives. His Majesty believes that leaving this as it is will cause future concerns.”

I said that.

“We need someone who can take the lead in bringing this up in my place. Preferably a royal relative with a good reputation.”

I watched Yi Seong-gye’s reaction and asked,

“Is there anyone among the people His Majesty is willing to hand over… like that?”

Yi Seong-gye’s power extended to various areas such as the Northeast Frontier, the Jurchen people, the Buddhist community, and peddlers.

‘And even the royal relatives.’

They had become royalty by clinging to Yi Seong-gye, so their influence must still be significant.

“They all betrayed me and sided with your father.”

Yi Seong-gye turned his head and said.

‘Indeed, Yi Seong-gye’s forces have all been swept away from the central stage.’

At least Jo Jun remained neutral in the court, so he survived and maintained a relationship with the Retired King, but he was not in charge of any real position.

The royal relatives were the same.

They rebelled against Jeong Do-jeon’s policies and largely sided with Yi Bang-won.

Disappointment washed over me at those words, but Yi Seong-gye’s words were not over yet.

“Still, there is one person.”

Yi Seong-gye opened his mouth heavily.

End