There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 201

“S, so you’re saying you rounded us up to teach us this…?”

“Why else would the country call you here if not for this?”

Pyongwon-hae said in an annoyed voice.

He had to rush down here to Gyeryongsan [a mountain in central Korea] with the newly completed books like ‘Hygiene Management Guidelines’ and ‘First Aid Education’ at the Crown Prince’s command.

Having to teach shamans out of the blue made him sharp-tongued.

“From now on, skilled instructors will teach you the art of resuscitating the heart and lungs.”

People blinked at his words.

If the heart and lungs died, that meant the person was dead, so how could they revive the dead?

It was impossible with any strange magic they knew, but no one dared to talk back in front of the stern soldiers.

“Now, let’s practice with this doll.”

Soon, CPR, artificial respiration, and even the Heimlich maneuver that saved Yi Bang-gwa were demonstrated, followed by lectures on how to prevent and deal with epidemics.

“Don’t drink water without boiling it. If you can’t boil it, expose it to sunlight for a certain amount of time.”

“Instruct them to spread out blankets and clothes on sunny days.”

“Give people with dysentery water mixed with salt and grain flour to nourish their bodies.”

Pyongwon-hae frowned as he explained.

‘I’m following the Crown Prince’s orders, but…’

Even as a doctor, these were guidelines he couldn’t clearly explain the reason for.

He could confirm their effectiveness based on his accumulated experience, but he couldn’t explain them medically.

‘So even when I entrust prescriptions through the government office, they don’t follow them well. Will this really work?’

The government office was sending down similar guidelines to the people, but few followed them.

It was just one of the official documents that was routinely ignored.

It wasn’t possible to release constables to force every household to comply.

‘What will change even if I pass the work on to these people who aren’t even doctors?’

But soon, Pyongwon-hae realized the difference between himself and the people gathered here.

“The sun gives birth to and nurtures all things, so sunlight containing yang energy helps drive away various pests and bad energy…”

“If we explain that the salt in this liquid chases away ghosts and the pure grain builds up good energy (仙氣) [xianqi, spiritual energy or aura] in the body, it will be good for the body.”

In the first place, shamans would starve if they couldn’t persuade people.

For people who could convince patients to drink ash water from burnt amulets, this was a piece of cake.

Without anyone telling them, they naturally began to fit explanations that people of this era could understand.

It was all as Crown Prince Yi Je intended.

===

‘The people don’t listen to the government, but they follow the shamans’ words religiously.’

I said that after receiving Pyongwon-hae’s report.

Well, even in modern times, there are many cases where people don’t listen to doctors but easily believe information they find on the internet, so I can’t say anything about others.

No matter how much the country talks about hygiene, it’s no match for the shamans’ threat of ‘divine punishment if you don’t follow.’

‘It’s a shame I didn’t think of using these people until now.’

As expected, the officials didn’t comment on this matter.

Perhaps they thought it would be beneath them to mention shamans.

However, only Yi Bang-won accurately understood my intentions.

“The group of shamans is like weeds, and although their words are absurd, the people believe and follow them countless times. If they meet the wrong time, heretical cults that harm the Jongsa (종사) [referring to the royal ancestral shrine and, by extension, the state] will flourish, so it is truly right to organize and recognize them and have them show loyalty to protect the country.”

Yi Bang-won continued.

“It is truly a good thing to organize the association and define its orthodoxy in a direction that does not harm the country. Isn’t that so?”

“Ah, that association…”

I trailed off.

It was definitely what I intended, but things were rolling in a very crazy direction.

“In particular, the ‘Protecting Orthodoxy Movement’ is something that many people can emulate.”

“……”

How did it come to this?

===

Of course, if we only inject them with emergency medical knowledge, there is a high possibility that they will deceive people with their meager skills.

Can we guarantee that there will be no one acting like Jang Gak [leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion], dispensing oral rehydration solutions in rural villages?

“You want us to establish an association (會) [hoe, a formal organization or society] and receive approval from the court?”

The work of turning them into a government-sponsored organization to prevent the proliferation of pseudo-religions was essential.

“The association you establish must distinguish between orthodoxy and heresy, find those who practice shamanism without being members, and those who spread reckless words among the members, and report them to the court without delay.”

The story was about monitoring and reporting those who deviated from the order and deceived the people.

Everyone who heard this explanation couldn’t help but think of one thing.

‘This is completely…’

‘Isn’t this the Five-Household System (五家作統) [O-ga Jak-tong, a system of mutual surveillance and responsibility]?’

East Asia has had a good system called the Five-Household System since ancient times.

As the name suggests, it was a policy of binding five households together to monitor each other, and it was a system that symbolized mutual control and joint responsibility in this era.

‘Does this mean that if we are not properly managed, we will be held responsible and punished…?’

Even if only a shooting star falls, all sorts of false prophecies circulate, and many of them are based on this shamanism.

The sound of seductive monks and shamans inciting the people has never ceased since the Jeonjo era.

If you don’t want to be tied up and beheaded together, you must work hard to crack down on pseudo-religions as soon as they are caught.

But if there is responsibility, there must be a quid pro quo.

“Those who do not belong to the association will be under your jurisdiction, so dispose of them so that they cannot take root arbitrarily.”

In the Joseon Dynasty, there was something called the geumnanjeon authority (禁亂廛權) [a right granted to officially recognized merchants to crack down on unauthorized vendors], which allowed merchants in the market to crack down on street vendors on their own.

What the court was giving now was a right similar to this geumnanjeon authority.

So, if you manage the impure elements on your own, and cooperate according to government guidelines, the country will increase your voice and grant you exclusive rights.

So, who should represent this ‘association’ with seemingly sweet interests?

Naturally, a fierce war of nerves was bound to break out over this.

“Ahem, I am a body that serves the Dragon King of the East Sea! Haven’t you heard of the Ho-guk Daeryong (호국대룡) [Guardian Dragon of the Nation] of Manpasikjeok (만파식적) [legendary flute] ?”

“The Dragon King of the East Sea only has power in the sea, so how can he interfere with the affairs of the land? I, who serve the mountain god…”

“If I may say so, I am a body that serves the Jade Emperor, who governs all things!”

However, since all the people gathered were shamans and Taoists, the argument flowed into ‘The one I serve is stronger,’ which could not be verified.

If the Crown Prince had known, he would have been interested in this stand battle, but soon the argument was settled by someone’s intrusion.

“What childish nonsense are you so-called hermits (仙人) [Seonin, Taoist immortals] uttering?”

Everyone turned their heads to the roar that suddenly came, and the man with many ornaments hanging down pointed his finger at them and shouted.

“We have received the country’s great grace and escaped great disaster, so we must aim to repay the country and His Highness through our association, but are you just spouting childish nonsense?”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“Chief Moon! Chief Moon!”

They were embarrassed by the sound of suddenly shouting loyalty to the country, but the reaction was buried by a group of people who responded in advance.

“What the country has ordered us to do now is to establish orthodoxy and crack down on evil groups, isn’t it? But how can those who serve ghosts that have no effect even if they receive sacrifices try to take charge of the association?”

Only then did the bodhisattvas and Taoists gathered here seem to know who they were.

Aren’t they the madmen who worship the Crown Prince as the incarnation of Chiwoo [a mythical figure in Korean history, associated with war and metalworking]?

Although their power was not very large because their followers were mainly concentrated in specific occupations, their momentum alone was no less than that of the old Yellow Turbans [a Daoist-inspired peasant rebellion in ancient China].

“Our purpose is to defend what is right (衛正) [Wijeong] and repel what is evil (斥邪) [Cheoksa], as His Highness has taught us, and to win this spiritual war!”

Moon Ga-hak shouted, pointing to the Taoists and shamans around him.

“We must appoint as the head of the association someone who will devote all their efforts to driving out evil spirits and 잡신 [japshin, miscellaneous or minor spirits] through fierce sunlight disinfection struggles and hand-washing struggles, not this kind of disgrace in front of high-ranking officials!”

Moon Ga-hak was glancing at this side.

‘He knows that we hold the knife.’

Pyongwon-hae watched the scene with interest.

He didn’t care about the setting fight between shamans, and it was important that he accurately understood the meaning of establishing this tedious organization.

“Chief Moon’s meaning of ‘Protecting Orthodoxy’ is accurate. It seems that the head of the association has been decided.”

At Pyongwon-hae’s words, the people who were supervising from behind nodded.

In any case, they were too tired to put more effort into this.

===

‘Protecting Orthodoxy? Isn’t that what Confucian scholars did at the end of Joseon when they caused a fuss by advocating isolationism?’

It was difficult to understand why they were talking about the ‘Protecting Orthodoxy Movement’ now in the early Joseon period, but I soon gave up thinking.

“Anyway, isn’t it going the way you want? All roads lead to Rome.”

When I went to greet him and told Yi Seong-gye this story, Yi Seong-gye replied.

“That’s right…”

The problem is that it bounced in an unexpected direction.

Yi Seong-gye yawned and said.

“When I was young, I went to see a fortune teller. The fortune teller told me to pick a Chinese character, so I picked the character for ‘ask’ (問).”

“And then?”

“So the fortune teller said that it was 君 (gun, king) to the left and 君 (gun, king) to the right, so I would definitely become a king.”

He’s a great fortune teller.

If he’s still alive, I’d like him to tell me my fortune.

“But at that time, Goryeo was still relatively strong, and I was just a border military officer, so I didn’t believe it at all. So I dressed a beggar in good clothes and had him pick the same character and tell his fortune.”

“So what did the fortune teller say?”

“He said that the shape of a mouth in front of the door meant that he was destined to beg! Do you know what the lesson of this story is?”

“That the fortune teller is quick-witted?”

The fortune teller must have noticed that a guy who looked awkward was picking the same Chinese character while looking around.

“Well, that’s also right. Everything people do is destined. If everything in the world went as planned, who would say that life is difficult?”

Then Yi Seong-gye drank red ginseng extract.

“It’s terribly bitter.”

“What’s good for the body is originally bitter.”

But Yi Seong-gye, who has a child’s taste, still frowned.

“Shall I add some honey?”

“No, cut me an apple.”

As expected, Ju So-hwa was cutting an apple next to him.

“Here, ah.”

Ju So-hwa dipped the apple and put it in my mouth before Yi Seong-gye.

“They say that the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds and Five Relationships that my grandson made is popular in the world, but why doesn’t our granddaughter-in-law know anything about respecting elders?”

At Yi Seong-gye’s grumbling, Ju So-hwa dipped an apple and handed it over, saying.

“This is the affection of a couple.”

It meant that if he felt wronged, the Grand King should ask his wife to cut it for him.

“Damn it, is it sad to live without a wife?”

Seongbi Wonssi would be sad if she heard that.

Yi Seong-gye grumbled.

“I hope the granddaughter-in-law who comes in this time knows etiquette. Of course, she will, given her family.”

“Ah, now that I think about it, the date is coming up.”

I said, appeasing Ju So-hwa, who was pouting as if she was resentful.

The day was already just around the corner.

It was the wedding day of my younger brother, Grand Prince Chungnyeong, Yi Do.

End

ⓒ Pitkong