There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 121

What would be the most famous specialty of this Joseon dynasty?

Najeonchilgi (mother-of-pearl lacquerware)?

Or Hwamunseok (woven sedge mats)?

If we exclude the items created by my changing history, such as Seungja Chongtong [cannons] or white porcelain, the best-selling specialty in the original Joseon history is undoubtedly Goryeo ginseng.

It seems that Goryeo ginseng is still treated as a top-quality product in this era.

‘But there’s a blind spot here.’

After looking into it in various ways, ginseng wasn’t as profitable as I thought it would be.

The reason is simple: unprocessed white ginseng is difficult to store and doesn’t have much added value.

Of course, it was true that ginseng was included in the major tribute items, but it was not yet as significant as its later reputation.

In other words, the scene from the drama I watched as a child, where Im Sang-ok controlled trade with the Qing Dynasty using red ginseng, was only possible with red ginseng.

‘Honestly, I don’t know if red ginseng is that effective.’

But the actual medicinal effect doesn’t matter.

Historically, the Chinese were crazy about red ginseng, so the important thing is that we can sell it to them.

‘I should try making red ginseng, but where do I get it?’

The most important ingredient, ginseng, is readily available in the Jeonui Gam (Royal Pharmacy) because it is used as a medicinal herb.

Of course, even if I am the Crown Prince, if I recklessly touch the Jeonui Gam’s ginseng, it would be embezzlement, but this problem was solved surprisingly easily.

‘When I said I was going to make ginseng tonic to give to my granduncle, even the Jeonui Gam couldn’t say anything.’

Who would dare to object when the Crown Prince of this country wants to show filial piety?

I took the ginseng and started the first step.

“Your Highness, what are you doing?”

As I began to place the neatly washed dried ginseng on the steamer, Physician Yoo Hyo-tong asked. I replied briefly because he would bother me if I didn’t answer.

“I’m trying to make red ginseng.”

“Red ginseng?”

Yoo Hyo-tong tilted his head and asked.

“Ah, do you perhaps mean Suksam (熟蔘, cooked ginseng)?”

“Yes.”

I don’t know what Suksam is, but it must be something similar to red ginseng, right?

Yoo Hyo-tong sighed and began to nag.

“You shouldn’t handle precious ginseng like that! Steaming ginseng will cause it to lose its medicinal properties. Moreover, Suksam is made by steaming it in hot water, not in a steamer. If you had told me from the beginning, I would have made it for you…”

He looked like he thought it was a waste.

Even if you are the king, it is right to follow the opinion of an expert when it comes to medicine, but that doesn’t apply to me.

“I know the existing method. But I am trying to invent a new method and make red ginseng.”

“Your Highness has a new method?”

Yoo Hyo-tong asked with a dubious look, and I nodded.

I smiled at him.

“I guarantee that this method will be more effective.”

===

Whether Yoo Hyo-tong doubted it or not, I put the steamed ginseng in a steamer and placed it on a bamboo rack.

And I had a fire lit underneath to dry it.

Is this the method they used in the old days?

I once went to a factory that made red ginseng in the traditional way in modern times.

It was to pick up red ginseng to give to people our boss knew, and the president, who seemed very proud of the keyword ‘tradition’ at first glance, explained it kindly, or rather, too much.

‘Honestly, I don’t know what’s different from steaming it in an electric herbal medicine maker.’

It wasn’t cheap either, so I suspected that our boss had taken a kickback.

After steaming it for about 90 minutes, I had the ginseng moved to the sunny yard.

It was to dry the ginseng.

About four days later,

“The condition of the dried ginseng…!”

Congratulations! Red ginseng with a clear pink color was made!

Yoo Hyo-tong, who was initially worried about wasting precious ginseng, was speechless when he saw the radiant red ginseng.

…But why is this guy still here?

Does he have nothing to do?

“How is it?”

“Amazing!”

I was surprised.

Yoo Hyo-tong looked at the red ginseng with sparkling eyes, examining it from side to side.

“Usually, Suksam loses its medicinal properties in the water, and white ginseng has a poor shape and color, but this red ginseng is completely different.

A person who takes ginseng for a long time will have their vitality surge, and their skin will become flushed and red. This red ginseng is also red like that, so it must be full of Yang energy. How did Your Highness discover this method?”

Yang Hong-dal asked with a truly admiring expression.

“I devised it myself.”

I couldn’t say it was future knowledge, so I answered appropriately.

Red ginseng made in this way looked very healthy on the outside.

‘I’m just making it roughly with what I have now, but if I use earthenware to make a steaming device, I can do mass steaming…’

But before that, there was a hurdle to overcome.

“We need to verify its effectiveness.”

Red ginseng was a popular product in the late Joseon period, but now it is just a new product that has never existed before.

However, I was confident.

Above all, there was a reliable person who would prove its effectiveness in front of the Jeonui Gam officials.

It was Yi Bang-ui, Grand Prince Ikan, a powerful member of the royal family.

“Nephew has brought red ginseng to give to my granduncle.”

I went to Grand Prince Ikan’s house with the Jeonui Gam officials in tow, and my granduncle greeted me urgently.

I stopped Yi Bang-ui, who was trying to get up and pay his respects, and had the Jeonui Gam officials brew the red ginseng.

– Gulp, gulp.

Yi Bang-ui slowly drank the red ginseng tonic.

Whether it was because he drank the hot tonic or because of the efficacy of the red ginseng, a subtle heat soon enveloped Yi Bang-ui’s face.

“How is it?”

I asked Yi Bang-ui, who was silent after drinking the red ginseng tonic.

Yi Bang-ui hesitated for a moment and then replied.

“I don’t know exactly, but it feels like strength is welling up from near my dantian [energy center].”

He’s not a martial artist, so why is he talking about his dantian?

Are all the Jeonju Yi clan people, descended from the martial artist Yi Seong-gye, practicing martial arts like this?

“His pulse has also calmed down greatly.”

As the doctors who checked Yi Bang-ui’s wrist spoke, the commotion among the people grew.

“Hoo!”

“It seems to have medicinal effects.”

I smiled bitterly inside at that.

‘Red ginseng isn’t a recovery potion, so there’s no way he’d react immediately after drinking it, right?’

However, I was sure that Yi Bang-ui would answer like this.

Even if we exclude the fact that Yi Bang-ui asked me to take care of his son, there was no way he could say that it had no effect when his nephew had brewed red ginseng for him.

‘However, it is true that red ginseng is good for restoring energy.’

It might be effective if taken for a long time.

I handed all the red ginseng I had made this time to my cousin Yi Seok-geun.

“I hope my granduncle will take the red ginseng and boost his energy.”

“I feel like I’m going to burst into tears because Your Highness is doing this for me.”

“It’s nothing.”

I’m more grateful.

===

Today, Yi Bang-won was busy taking care of state affairs.

Now he was always suspicious that his father might be passing work on to him, but Yi Bang-won also had a lot of work to do because of his son.

“Take the heavy equipment used to build Hanyang and distribute it to the provinces.”

“We must not neglect to expand water facilities in various regions. If a drought strikes, there will be no way to help.”

Yi Bang-won was frantically dealing with urgent matters, but the news he heard at the end of the meeting made him feel a little better.

“I heard that Grand Prince Ikan has regained his strength. Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

At Ha Ryun’s words, even the ministers who were slow to hear the news offered their congratulations.

“Grand Prince Ikan?”

“Truly, congratulations, Your Majesty!”

“Thank you. I also received a report a while ago, so isn’t this also Heaven helping our ancestors?”

Yi Bang-won nodded and said.

Ha Ryun looked at Yi Bang-won and said.

“Grand Prince Ikan is Your Majesty’s close brother and a very close member of the royal family. Reward the Jeonui Gam [Royal Pharmacy], who accomplished a difficult task, generously.”

Yi Bang-won agreed.

However, Pyeong Won-hae, the Jeonui Sogam (Vice Director of the Royal Pharmacy) who was seated in the corner, hurriedly waved his hand.

“Your Majesty, we have done nothing.”

Red ginseng wasn’t the elixir of immortality that Qin Shi Huang was looking for, and there was no way that Yi Bang-ui, who was seriously ill, would get up from his seat after eating this.

But thanks to the saponins in red ginseng, or perhaps the placebo effect, it was true that his condition had improved considerably.

So, Pyeong Won-hae’s refusal was something that Yi Bang-won found strange.

“This is a great achievement of the Jeonui Gam. Why are you refusing?”

“It is not our achievement, literally. The Crown Prince stepped forward and personally brewed the ginseng, so it is all His Highness’s achievement.”

“The Crown Prince?”

Yi Bang-won and the ministers were all surprised.

Jeonui Sogam Pyeong Won-hae stepped forward and explained in detail.

“We are nominally doctors, but we could not even imagine the method created by His Highness. So how can we steal His Highness’s achievement?”

Pyeong Won-hae continued.

The steaming method, which first appeared during the reign of King Jungjong in original history, that is, steaming ginseng with steam, was something that could be said to have changed the history of ginseng.

The Suksam method of cooking in boiling water was used in Goryeo, but it was not particularly common in the Joseon Dynasty, and the Baeksam method of peeling the skin and drying it in the sun to preserve the ginseng for a long time had the disadvantage of being easily eaten by insects.

“The reason why ginseng has been so precious until now is because it has been difficult to store properly. Therefore, Suksam was mostly manufactured, but the Crown Prince has created red ginseng more easily, so it is truly a divine object of the world!”

Only then did people admire it even more.

They had further enhanced the efficacy of ginseng and found a way to store it for a long time, so they couldn’t help but praise it.

“Heo…”

Yi Bang-won was speechless and admired.

Ha Ryun seized the opportunity and came forward.

“Your Majesty, ginseng is a precious medicine, so this is a great contribution to the country by the Crown Prince.”

“The Crown Prince felt sorry for Grand Prince Ikan’s illness and created a new medicine, so how can we not say that his filial piety covers the four seas [everything under the heaven]?”

“His Highness, who will succeed the throne, has such a warm heart, so it is a great blessing for the dynasty.”

The ministers were all silent at the last words—meaning that even if you’re trying to flatter, don’t say such ridiculous things—and Yi Bang-won was also silent.

The corners of his tightly closed eyes trembled.

What parent wouldn’t like their eldest son’s talent extending to the precise work of medicine?

But what moved Yi Bang-won was something else.

‘Where else would you find a son like this?’

Yi Bang-won was extremely affectionate towards his family.

‘A son with a loving character and the ability to match it.’

The fact that his son invented red ginseng for his beloved brother warmed a corner of his heart.

‘Did you see that? This is my son!’ The fact that he didn’t shout it out was the last bit of dignity of the iron-blooded monarch Yi Bang-won.

Yi Bang-won barely suppressed the urge to call his son and pinch his cheeks.

It was an idea that Yi Je would have been horrified if he had known.

A child who only does pretty things. He couldn’t bear to be separated from him even for a moment.

He would have to send him to the court soon, but that was Yi Bang-won’s honest feeling.