There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 227

< Rain and You (1) >

‘Looks like when money goes out, it goes all at once.’

Crown Prince Lee Je clicked his tongue. After spending a large sum from his private funds to distribute estates to his younger siblings, a heavy rain had caused significant damage to Hanyang [modern-day Seoul].

Most of the restoration was done with tax revenue, but as the king, he couldn’t avoid contributing some of his private funds.

‘Fortunately, Gwangtong Bridge didn’t wash away despite the flood.’

In the original history, the bridge over Cheonggyecheon [a major stream in Seoul] was washed away by a heavy rain in 1410, forcing Lee Bang-won to reuse the stone from Queen Shindeok’s tomb to rebuild it.

However, the concrete bridge, built with so much effort, remained intact even with the swollen river, bringing tears to the eyes of those in charge, including Eo Byeon-gap.

‘It seems our hard work paid off.’

‘You can say that again. We suffered so much trying to do as that Villa geezer ordered…’

‘Anyone would think they mixed the concrete themselves.’

Lee Je clicked his tongue at his aides’ exaggerations.

However, the nation’s crisis was not over.

After the flood passed, a drought struck Joseon [the name of the Korean kingdom at the time].

Floods and droughts had occurred frequently, but the people’s sentiment was not good as flood and drought came alternately.

The successive disasters seemed to be the fault of the heavens rather than people, but public opinion demanded someone take responsibility, so the old minister Seong Seok-rin expressed his intention to resign.

‘The yin and yang are not in harmony, and the successive floods and droughts are due to the fact that the subject is old and cannot govern properly, hindering the wise and making the country sick. Please allow me to resign.’

Seong Seok-rin elegantly conveyed the saying ‘When you’re old, you should die’ in the style of a renowned writer of early Joseon, but of course, Lee Bang-won would not say, ‘Oh, I see. Go home and watch your grandchildren.’

‘The disasters of flood and drought are truly due to my lack of virtue. However,’

Lee Bang-won continued.

‘Even though the heavens sent disaster, there were no signs of the country being shaken as before, which is also because the various officials have excellently assisted me.’

Lee Bang-won was subtly emphasizing that the damage was less than before during his reign, while pretending to comfort the old minister.

Then Ha Ryun quickly stepped forward to agree.

‘This year’s disaster was unprecedented, but thanks to Your Majesty’s wise teachings, the government and the people were able to overcome it together.’

‘How could that be my merit? It is thanks to the people who have followed the New Community Movement well for many years without complaining.’

However, it was Crown Prince Lee Je who planned the New Community Movement, and King Lee Bang-won who approved it, so it was ultimately gilding his own face.

But the officials had no choice but to agree.

Although it was the work of eccentric people who were little more than government clerks, the weirs and reservoirs they had built by mobilizing the people of the town played their part.

The weirs prevented floods, and the reservoirs supplied water stored during the heavy rain to the drought.

Because the flood came first, there was enough water stored to make it easier to endure the drought.

Moreover, it was not only water that was stored.

‘The people’s burden must be severe due to the successive floods and droughts, so reduce the taxes this year.’

Lee Bang-won could afford to be generous because he trusted the national treasury.

Since the establishment of Cheonghaejin [a naval base], the loss of grain transport had been greatly reduced, and thanks to collecting Daedongmi [tribute rice] during the tribute, a considerable amount of rice had been stored.

Of course, the country had to buy essential goods separately, but the Crown Prince was accelerating the preparation of various resources, so it would work out somehow.

Thanks to Lee Bang-won’s measures, Joseon was quickly recovering from the damage of the disaster.

===

Only after a year of overlapping disasters could my father and I finally relax.

I felt relieved to see the rain drizzling from early spring this year.

Lee Seong-gye, Lee Bang-won, and I sat around, watching the rain and sharing a drink.

‘······.’

Hmm, Grandfather and Father.

They’re not at each other’s throats like in the old days, but when there’s no conversation, I feel uncomfortable in the middle.

‘The rain is pouring down refreshingly. We won’t have to worry about drought this year.’

When you have nothing to say, talking about the weather is the best.

However, Lee Bang-won still opened his mouth with a worried face.

‘It’s raining heavily for spring rain, so I’m worried. I’m worried that the Han River will swell, or that soil will be washed into the rice paddies. I’m worried whether it doesn’t rain or rains too much.’

It must be because the memory of suffering from the flood last year is still vivid.

‘Isn’t that unavoidable?’

When constructing Hanyang, special attention was paid to flood 대비 [prevention] work.

It was done to reduce damage as much as possible, but even in modern times, where much more technology and resources can be invested, problems occur frequently.

‘Unlike modern times, there are no sewers to drain the water.’

Wait. Sewers.

‘Wouldn’t that be possible with the technology of this era?’

To be precise, a huge aqueduct encompassing water and sewage.

I had it in mind when building Hanyang, but it was difficult due to time and budget constraints.

‘But if I could, I could suppress epidemics.’

Epidemics follow disasters as if they were waiting for them.

As expected, an epidemic broke out in the wake of last year’s flood and drought, which was a headache.

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have spread to Hanyang, but it was terrible to imagine what would happen if a severe epidemic started in this largest city in Joseon.

‘Prevention is the best way to deal with epidemics.’

I was about to open my mouth to ask for a budget for this idea that had just come to mind.

‘Huh.’

Lee Bang-won sighed.

‘I wish I could prepare in advance if a flood or drought were to occur.’

‘······.’

I closed my mouth.

Father must have a lot of worries.

‘It would be impossible to ask for money in this situation.’

First of all, I have to deal with Lee Bang-won’s worries.

I said to soothe him.

‘The harvest is usually determined by rainfall, isn’t it? If so, you can easily know.’

‘How do you mean?’

I answered Lee Bang-won’s question.

‘Make a copper cylinder and record the height inside. And if you put it outside when it rains heavily like today, you can measure the amount of rain that falls into the 통 [cylinder], can’t you?’

It’s a rain gauge.

‘Oh!’

Lee Bang-won clapped his knees.

Rain gauge.

I think I’ve heard that it was invented during King Sejong’s reign, but I don’t know who invented it.

Maybe it’s Jang Yeong-sil or Lee Cheon.

As far as I remember, almost all the things invented in this era were made by one of these two.

However, Lee Seong-gye scratched his cheek with a puzzled expression.

‘What’s so great about this?’

‘The tool itself is nothing special.’

Because it’s just making a drum and putting it there.

But the significance of the rain gauge is elsewhere.

‘To estimate the harvest of the year, you have to see how much it rains. Therefore, in our Joseon, the 수령 [local magistrates] are ordered to measure the depth of the rain that permeates the land and report it to the court, but this method has limitations in measuring accurate figures.

However, what if this device you devised is placed in each town, and the time it rains and clears, and the depth of the rainwater in the 통 [cylinder] are carefully recorded and reported to the court? If the court can grasp the amount of rain without error down to the 푼 [a unit of measurement] unit, it will be much easier to prepare for famine and flood.’

It is a standardized rain gauge that has never existed before.

Lee Bang-won, who quickly realized it instead of our hard-headed 영감님 [old man], continued.

‘It’s a very simple thing, but its usefulness is truly enormous. Crown Prince, how did you come up with this idea?’

Half of his expression is regretting why he couldn’t come up with such an easy idea, and half is admiring my idea.

‘Rather, I’m surprised that it hasn’t existed until now.’

That’s what I thought.

Well, simple people like Lee Seong-gye will only focus on the simplicity of this structure, but inventing the concept itself is important.

Of course, making a rain gauge will not solve drought or flood.

It only adds to the precision and convenience of rainfall measurement.

However, if the rain gauge is added to the 대비책 [countermeasures] that has been built up, it will finally shine.

‘He looks happy.’

That’s a relief.

I need to have the confidence that I won’t ruin the farming this year to even talk about the water and sewage plan.

===

Lee Bang-won immediately made a rain gauge in real life and showed it to the officials.

Lee Cheon was relieved that the thing the Crown Prince ordered was not as complicated as before, and brought it in after completing it in a day.

‘This cylinder is a device called a rain gauge. It is 1.5척 [a unit of measurement, about 30cm] in height and 7촌 [a unit of measurement, about 14cm] in inner diameter, and it measures the amount of water that collects when it rains. Using this rain gauge is much less cumbersome and more precise than the existing method of digging the ground to measure the wet depth of the soil.’

‘Oh!’

The officials who came out in front of the Daejeon [main hall of the palace] and listened to Lee Cheon’s explanation all exclaimed.

They are also 능신 [able subjects] who 함께한 [were together during] the stormy founding period.

As soon as they heard it, they could grasp its use.

It was even more so because it was not as complicated as other inventions and had a structure that anyone could understand if they heard it.

‘Why didn’t I think of this before?’

‘That’s what I’m saying.’

However, some inventions are easy enough for anyone to make, but they are delayed because people’s thoughts do not reach them.

In fact, the rain gauge was invented about 30 years later in the original history, and 200 years later in the West.

‘There’s only one person who can make this.’

The officials thought of the face of ‘that person’ who was not in this place.

‘But this doesn’t cost much money and the intention is 정 [pure].’

The things that the Crown Prince made were not entirely pleasing to the officials, but this time it seemed useful to them as well.

Farming is truly the foundation of the world.

Who would dare to object to measuring rainfall to improve farming?

‘How nice would it be if His Highness only made things that were useful for farming and didn’t cost much money like this.’

‘That’s what I’m saying.’

‘Now, even the 대감 [high-ranking officials] don’t say don’t make it.’

Anyway, is the Crown Prince someone who will listen even if they talk?

‘The rain gauge does not require much effort to make, so it can be produced quickly.

Order the 기인 [local artisans] in each region to make rain gauges, and have the 수령 [local magistrates] send the measurement results to the court.’

Lee Bang-won accepted the request of Hwanghee, the Mayor of Hanseong [Seoul], and soon the royal order was issued nationwide.

And it was delivered to Buyeo-hyeon, one side of Chungcheong-do [province].

===

I had been acting as the village inventor since I was in modern times, but there was a clear disadvantage.

If there is something that people need, they all come to me like Jin-gu looking for Doraemon [a popular manga character with helpful gadgets].

‘The blacksmith 아저씨 [middle-aged man] even came to me to make an RPG together.’

I still couldn’t believe it even when I thought about it now.

Thanks to that, I became 친분 [close] with that 아저씨 [middle-aged man] and learned a lot.

Anyway, after falling into Joseon, such troublesome cases rarely occurred because of my position.

That is, except for cases where people who are difficult to refuse a request ask for favors.

‘Your Highness!’

For some reason, Ouchi Mitsuyo, who had black eyes, said while lying flat on the ground.

‘The 수령 [local magistrate] of Buyeo has arbitrarily assaulted the people, so please resolve the injustice!’

< Rain and You (1) > End

ⓒ Pit-Kong