There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 108

“How did you know?”

“Pardon?”

Lee Bang-won said with a smile.

“I have never shown such intentions.”

I was flustered and waved my hand.

“No, even Lee Geo-yi, the in-law of the Grand King, was removed, so…”

“Lee Geo-yi is a meritorious subject rather than a relative, so it’s a different matter.”

I closed my mouth.

Indeed, how many people would think that he would eliminate even his own son’s in-laws at this point?

Even though everyone is afraid of Lee Bang-won because of his past actions, they wouldn’t have noticed his extraordinary vigilance against in-laws.

As I remained silent, Lee Bang-won seemed to understand and said,

“You thought about it yourself. As expected of my son.”

I didn’t think about it myself; I saw it all in the future.

It wasn’t my in-laws who were purged, but my younger brother Sejong’s in-laws.

Lee Bang-won saw my stiff face and lightly patted my shoulder.

“Don’t worry. This father will fine-tune it meticulously.”

I hope that ‘fine-tuning’ doesn’t mean killing everyone.

I scratched my cheek with my finger and said,

“I don’t want to see blood as much as possible.”

How much did Sejong and Munjong suffer because the royal family shed so much blood?

In our generation, we tried to get along fraternally and stop killing people, and as a result…

‘Um, that’s why Prince Nosan saw blood.’

Anyway, let’s go peacefully.

I don’t want to comfort a wife who is crying because her family has been torn apart.

“What do you think of this father? I’m not doing purges because I want to. Rest assured.”

Lee Bang-won grabbed my cheek lightly and said.

‘But you don’t avoid it when you have to.’

Regardless, Lee Bang-won said softly,

“I will personally manage your marriage, even if not your younger brothers’.”

Um, saying this much.

Is it an unnecessary worry?

Lee Bang-won stroked his beard repeatedly, pleased that I had keenly caught his inner thoughts.

“Good.”

Lee Bang-won slammed his hands on the desk as if he had made a decision.

“How about you take on the role of Hansung 판윤 [Panyun; Mayor of Hansung, i.e., Seoul] this time?”

“Hansung 판윤?”

I asked back in bewilderment.

Hansung 판윤 is the head of Hansungbu.

So, it means to be the mayor of Seoul in modern terms.

“Is there a law that allows the Crown Prince to hold that position?”

“There is no such law. But this time, Hansung 판윤 Choi Yu-gyeong (崔有慶) is stepping down.”

Lee Bang-won said with a troubled expression.

I had met Choi Yu-gyeong a few times during the construction of Hanyang while coordinating work.

He was a person who had been in office since the reign of King Gongmin and was known as an honest and upright official.

‘But he seemed to be a bit lazy with work because he was old.’

It seemed like he was retiring for good with this position as his last.

“Hansungbu is nominally the capital of this country, Joseon, but because it has been relocated to Gaeseong, there are still many parts where the system and work have not been organized.

Since you are familiar with the land of Hanyang due to the Construction Bureau, take on the role temporarily.”

So, it’s a relief pitcher for the reorganization of Hansungbu.

Is it possible to throw out such a proposal without hesitation because it is the beginning of the nation?

“Just entrust it to me.”

I thumped my chest and said.

Lee Bang-won looked at me with a subtle gaze.

===

“Sangseon, is Sangseon there?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Sangseon Noh Hee-bong, who had been assisting Lee Bang-won, came in at his call.

He was a Sangseon who had discreetly gone outside when the secret talk with the Crown Prince began.

Lee Bang-won liked that carefulness.

“Bring me a glass of cold water.”

Lee Bang-won slowly drank the cold water that Noh Hee-bong brought and suppressed his fluctuating heart.

“About the Crown Prince’s marriage issue.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Noh Hee-bong answered with a start.

“Which family do you think would be good for Sangseon as the in-laws?”

“How dare a lowly person like me add words to the marriage of the nation’s foundation.”

“Still, speak once. It’s an order.”

As Lee Bang-won urged, Noh Hee-bong reluctantly answered.

“…Wouldn’t it be good to bring in a daughter from a family with strong power so that His Highness the Crown Prince can firmly establish his foundation?”

“Is that Sangseon’s thought?”

As Lee Bang-won asked, Noh Hee-bong shrank back.

He guessed that it was a word that went against the king’s will.

“Please kill me.”

But Lee Bang-won’s mood was not bad at all.

Rather, the corners of his mouth rose.

If the Sangseon, who serves him closely, thinks this way, then everyone will think so.

That they will put a strong in-law family to solidify the Crown Prince’s position.

‘But would I leave that child alone so that he needs in-laws?’

Lee Bang-won thought while looking down at Sangseon.

‘He is a child who will inherit legitimacy from his grandfather and power from me. In-laws are not a strong support base, but just ghouls trying to pick up the crumbs of power.

A strong in-law family is just an obstacle.’

Lee Bang-won thought so.

He had never said it out loud, but the Crown Prince had grasped his intentions.

Even if they bring in a daughter from a prestigious family, Lee Bang-won has a strong intention to purge in-laws to the extent that he will not leave that family alone.

‘How did I get such a son?’

He wanted to hug and pinch a son who knows ten things when taught one.

Seeing such intelligence, he was convinced.

He had been somewhat hesitant, but that’s why he entrusted Hanyang to the Crown Prince.

He chuckled and muttered.

“If only there was a daughter from a prestigious family who lost her parents early.”

“…”

A daughter from a family that doesn’t have in-laws to wield power but doesn’t fall behind in status.

It was still a distant story, though.

===

Modern cultured pearls start from picking up and raising oysters.

However, in this era, they do select relatively good ones, but there was no way that such professional farming was possible right away.

So, in the South Sea, they were mostly starting from harvesting adult pearl oysters and inserting nuclei.

An worker who was looking inside the gills and cutting the gonads and inserting round pieces of shell said.

“We are doing it according to the method that Your Highness told us, but will pearls really be produced by doing this?”

They were making a living by catching shellfish, but since it was a method they were hearing for the first time in their lives, they couldn’t help but be suspicious.

Then someone scolded them not to talk nonsense.

“How could the words of a 신인 [shinin; godlike person] like the Crown Prince be wrong?”

“How fierce were those Tsushima Wokou [Japanese pirates] bastards? But after His Highness showed his majesty once, those guys didn’t come out of their lairs!”

“Isn’t it because they saw his enlightened divine power and couldn’t use their strength?”

The people said that and laughed.

“No, this is a different matter…”

What does beating the Wokou well have to do with getting pearls from oysters?

It was truly a logical protest, but unfortunately, the world doesn’t work logically.

While the worker was arguing, someone hesitated and pointed to the sea in the distance.

“What’s wrong?”

When people turned around at that action, they saw something floating in the sea far away.

“Oh my! It’s a Japanese ship!”

Several Japanese ships were coming this way.

“My mouth is the problem!”

The sight of the Japanese ships appearing as soon as they criticized the Crown Prince.
The people who were talking even thought for a moment that the Crown Prince might have brought down divine punishment.

Logically, it was just a coincidence.

The people were greatly surprised and hurriedly ran towards the government office.

The magistrate of Geoje, who heard the report, resolutely drew the sword he was wearing on his waist.

“Do, do not be afraid! This is the sword that His Highness the Crown Prince gave us to fight back if the Wokou invade again! Trust our soldiers!”

He said this, but his legs were trembling.

However, unlike the magistrate, the soldiers gathered at the government office were full of morale.

It was because they had tasted victory in the previous battle.

“These guys didn’t learn their lesson after tasting bitterness last time!”

“Let’s make sure they can’t get anything this time!”

They shouted like that.

The victory at that time was possible because there were Training Command troops.

The magistrate was pushed out by the people and soldiers and shouted towards the Japanese ships.

“What business do you have invading our king’s territory! Do you want to be cut by this sword and die!”

Then, the sound of the Wokou murmuring was heard.

When the magistrate of Geoje’s face turned white, thinking that they were planning to get off the ship and kill them all, someone stuck his head out from the ship’s side and shouted in Korean.

“We are not Wokou! We are envoys of Ōuchi 多々良盛見 [Ōuchi Morimi], the 防長刺史 [Bōchō shishi; Governor of Nagato and Suō Provinces] of Japan!”

“Ōuchi… what?”

The people looked at each other and asked that.

===

After taking charge of Hansungbu, I first gathered the officials who had been temporarily adrift after the 도감 [dogam; construction bureau] was disbanded.

“Hwang Hee, Maeng Sa-seong, Heo Jo!”

Of course, these three were the mainstays.

I was acting as Hansung 판윤, and I assigned Hwang Hee as 좌윤 [Jwayun; Vice Mayor for Political Affairs] and Maeng Sa-seong as 우윤 [Uyun; Vice Mayor for Administrative Affairs] under me.

‘In modern terms, it’s like the vice mayor for political affairs and the vice mayor for administrative affairs.’

The tasks were roughly classified similarly.

Hwang Hee, who is quick with court news, is the vice mayor for political affairs, and Maeng Sa-seong, who is excellent in practical skills, is the vice mayor for administrative affairs.

Heo Jo was given a slightly lower position of 서윤 [Seoyun; Assistant Mayor].

First, we started the work of normalizing the Hansung administration, which had been operated in a rough-and-tumble manner.

“This rice was borrowed from the Ministry of Taxation, but why isn’t it properly recorded in the ledger? Which clerk managed it?”

“Isn’t this under the jurisdiction of 중부 장통방 [Jungbu Jangtongbang; Central District Jangtong neighborhood]? But why is 동부령 [Dongburyeong; East District Official] managing it?”

“Because the Cheonggyecheon River flooded, the boundaries are not clear…”

“Then, based on the current Cheonggyecheon River, the north should belong to 장통방 and the south should belong to 대평방 [Daepyeong neighborhood].”

From ledger organization to administrative district boundaries was 양반 [yangban; a lot of work].

“This is what I’ve been doing from the beginning.”

“I know that, but why is the Ministry of Rites managing the cloth warehouse?”

I had to clarify the division of tasks for the clerks who were passing on the hard work to others and taking the easy work for themselves in order of seniority.

While I was suffering from a headache like this, 좌윤 Hwang Hee, who had attended the court, urgently sought me out.

===

“Ōuchi? So, Mr. Ōuchi?”

I tilted my head.

“Yes. They have come to offer tribute, congratulating you on subjugating the Wokou this time.”

Um, the Wokou leader we subjugated was a pirate, but I heard that he was a 호족 [hojok; local magnate] who used quite a bit of power in Japan?

I heard that he also has ties with the forces that acted as the overlords of Tsushima.

Hwang Hee, who had received crash courses from 평원해 [Pyeongwonhae] of 전의감 [Jeonuigam; Office of Royal Medicine], said.

“Those guys are the Sō clan, and this side is the Ōuchi clan. Both are fighting over Kyushu. So they can come to congratulate us without hesitation.”

“Oh, it’s complicated.”

My eyes were spinning as the stories of lords I didn’t know well came out.

‘Can’t you guys please have some centralization?’

So, the Ōuchi clan and the Shōni clan are in a hostile relationship, and the Tsushima Wokou are 따까리 [ttakkari; underlings] of the Shōni clan, so they came to thank us for taking care of them instead.

“Okay, I understand.”

I said that.

“So they came without going through Tsushima.”

It was customary for envoys from Japan to go through Tsushima and come to Joseon with the envoy of the lord of Tsushima.

However, the Ōuchi family abandoned that and first sent people to Geoje to make direct contact.

The lord of Tsushima had actually betrayed Sō Saemon-tarō, but nominally, he was his overlord, that is, on the same side.

“That’s the superficial excuse.”

“If it’s a superficial excuse?”

“They must have their own informants, so wouldn’t they know that the lord of Tsushima swallowed his subordinate’s land? And that the Sō clan is angry about that?”

“So, are they trying to team up with Tsushima and bring them to their side? No? Then there’s no reason to avoid Tsushima, right? And what does our Joseon have to do with it?”

I asked out of curiosity.

This question could only be answered after I was summoned by Lee Bang-won and went to the court.

End