There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 268

< The Fool, the Exam, and (2) >

[A police officer of Uigeumbu [a Joseon Dynasty law enforcement agency] proposes to two thieves brought to the Uigeumbu.

“If one of you confesses your crime, you will be released with merit, and the other will serve 10 years in the *gulak* [prison] for being uncooperative. If you both confess, we will take your circumstances into account and sentence you to 5 years in the *gulak*.”

If neither of you confesses, you will each receive a one-year sentence in the *gulak*.

In this situation, what is the most rational thing for the thieves to do?]

The scroll containing the exam question unfurled with a whoosh, but only silence filled the examination hall.

‘What should the two thieves do?’

The first answer that comes to mind might be, ‘If you don’t confess, we’ll brand you with a hot iron, so spill it,’ but that’s the kind of thought a novice who can’t read the examiner’s intentions would have.

It’s like overturning the game board, slapping your opponent, and then claiming you won.

Likewise, they probably aren’t looking for a moral answer like, ‘Those without a sense of shame are not gentlemen, so they must carry thorny branches and beg for forgiveness (*fu jing qing zui*) [a Chinese idiom meaning to humbly admit one’s mistakes].’

This is a problem that must be solved based purely on the captured thieves’ self-interest.

Jeong In-ji knew this.

The best thing is to confess, regardless of the other person’s response.

However, there’s no guarantee that the other person won’t think the same way.

In that case, can the 5-year sentence in the *gulak* that they would receive if they both confessed really be considered the best outcome?

For an individual, the best response does not guarantee the optimal outcome. Jeong In-ji was momentarily lost in this strange situation.

He had a knack for mathematics, but he lacked the time to calmly organize his thoughts.

‘If I think about it that way, it might be better to remain silent… No, even if I remain silent, there’s no guarantee the other person will do the same.’

A never-ending game of rock-paper-scissors.

Time continued to pass as he anxiously pondered.

Seeing someone submit their paper and leave, Jeong In-ji’s heart grew restless.

A veteran examinee who has taken many exams would likely know that those who submit their answers quickly are often unprepared, but Jeong In-ji, taking the exam for the first time, had no way of knowing.

Sneaking a glance to the side, he saw his brother-in-law, Jeong-bun, diligently writing something.

He would have been better off not noticing this absurdity.

But there was no way he couldn’t notice…!

Because he was excellent…!

Jeong In-ji was excellent…!

‘Is this some kind of trick question?’

Jeong In-ji squeezed his eyes shut.

What were his seniors who passed this and achieved the glory of being the top and runner-up?

The world was truly vast.

===

“Tsk, tsk, there were cries of anguish again this time.”

“That’s mild. I still don’t understand the rice chest problem.”

“Ah, the problem of choosing the one with the gold from three rice chests, right? Depending on whether you change your choice or not…”

As I listened to the people next to me whispering, I turned my gaze to the stacks of exam papers in front of me.

‘As expected, a prince raised on the palace’s food is different.’

While others described it plainly in writing, the guy even drew a table to explain the confession strategy.

‘He’ll probably be the top scorer.’

It’s definitely not because I’m favoring my younger brother.

The examiners who care about the formalities of exhibition answers are almost gone now.

“In the end, it was a question of what is most advantageous. The reason His Majesty used the example of thieves instead of gentlemen is for this reason, and those who wrote answers based on the Four Beginnings [the foundation of Confucian morality] were all given low scores.”

“This will soon become a topic of debate among the Confucian scholars.”

Seeing the exhibition problem I first presented become a hot topic, I realized that there’s nothing like using past exam questions if you want to artificially spark a debate.

Even in South Korea, college entrance exam questions sometimes become a hot topic, so it’s even more so for exhibition problems that all scholars are focused on.

This time, all sorts of academic debates will take place.

‘The guys solving it will probably be tearing their hair out, though.’

But there’s nothing like these kinds of quizzes to verify who has a sharp mind.

Since they’ve already passed the preliminary and final exams and are scheduled to pass, they all have a sufficient understanding of practical affairs and Confucian classics.

To pick out the ‘real’ ones, you have to throw them an unheard-of problem like this.

“Your Majesty, what should we do about the accommodations at the training center?”

“The number of people we’re selecting is the same as before, so why are you asking me?”

Isn’t it the same as always, just cramming them all into bunk beds?

However, Eo Byeon-gap, who was in charge of managing the training center, carefully opened his mouth.

“But this time, Grand Prince Chungnyeong is among them.”

Oh, so you’re sucking up just because a royal blood is newly admitted?

“There’s no need to prepare separate accommodations or provide conveniences just because he’s my brother. Other noble families’ descendants have been educated in the training center in the same way, so why would a grand prince expect special treatment?”

If this kind of practice becomes established, there’s no guarantee that gold spoons [people born into wealth] won’t come out saying, ‘Give me conveniences too.’

We have to nip it in the bud from the start.

‘My brother probably took all of this into account when he tried to take the civil service exam.’

Of course, of course.

Hurry up and finish the training center and come out to help this brother.

Because there had been a large shortage of people to carry out practical work, in addition to the regular triennial civil service exams, special exams were held from time to time, and they were immediately appointed without backlog.

We had to borrow even a cat’s paw [any available help], so we couldn’t just let those who were qualified enough to pass the civil service exam sit idle.

Because of this, the court had become quite bloated, but the administrative structure itself had not kept up.

‘So, we’re starting with structural reform.’

They say the president has the most power in the first year of their term.

The king usually gains power as they accumulate experience, so it’s a bit different, but there’s no better time to show the will to reform than now.

I moved Hwang-hee to the Minister of Personnel to lead this effort.

The key to this process is, after all, the establishment of document administration and the approval line.

I had been trying to establish document administration since I was the crown prince.

With the spread of paper and the establishment of various forms and data organization methods distributed through the training center, it had become quite established, at least in the central government.

‘Originally, documents were processed according to regulations in the East Palace [the residence of the Crown Prince].’

In the East Palace, detailed regulations had already been created for the production, approval, implementation, preservation, management, and provision of documents.

Expanding this to the entire court is one of the goals of this reform.

Whether they will properly follow this is another matter, but we’ll have to conduct audits to shake things up from time to time.

‘I can’t do anything about those who cheat even while avoiding my eyes.’

The other is the establishment of a thorough command system.

In the current situation where people, not positions, are in charge of authority and tasks, the approval line and accountability are ambiguous.

‘And there are quite a few concurrent positions.’

This is one of the reasons that overburdens the work of subordinates.

I would be shameless to talk about work-life balance, but even to use them well, we should consider their major, work experience, and expertise when assigning personnel.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Personnel, all officials in the court are reorganized, and authority and responsibility are limited to establish a proper bureaucracy.

‘Fortunately, all the people who would put up resistance to this have been pushed to the back room.’

Elderly ministers can treat officials as subordinates regardless of their department or rank, just by their existence.

But now that they have retired with Nam Jae, there are no people left who can exert that much influence.

As a result, there was not much opposition.

‘I’d like to build a bureaucratic pyramid like this all the way to the provinces, but….’

However, it is almost impossible to control everything as much as in the central government.

I’ll have to postpone this for now.

As I was thinking about that and looking back, the Minister of Personnel, Hwang-hee, said.

“Your Majesty, it is customary for the top scorer to take on important positions. Are you planning to send Grand Prince Chungnyeong to the Three Offices [the Censorate, the Office of the Inspector General, and the Office of Special Advisors]?”

“Of course not.”

The Three Offices are places that play the role of prosecutors and the press.

If I send my brother there, wouldn’t it be seen as a signal that I’m completely undermining the neutrality of the Three Offices?

‘They already listen to me well anyway.’

What is the reason why even dictatorships have government-controlled opposition parties?

It is to formally show that democracy is still alive in the country.

In my court right now, the Three Offices are playing exactly that role.

They are the devil’s advocates who express ‘concerns’ about the policies I’m pushing.

They haven’t been useful yet, but they can also faithfully serve as hunting dogs who impeach the opposition on my behalf.

Anyway, I can’t let someone who has to be in charge of practical work play around in such a place.

The faces of each minister brightened at the words that I had no intention of sending him to the Three Offices.

“Then, how about the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Finance?”

“In my opinion, the Ministry of Public Works would also be good.”

The ministers said that, competing with each other.

Because he is talented and has a strong backing, Grand Prince Chungnyeong, they are eager to bring him to their department.

Not to mention the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Finance, even the Ministry of Public Works is being treated as a key department in the current situation.

With development projects becoming the national policy, it has long since shed its image as the weakest of the Six Ministries, as it used to be.

‘The Ministry of Public Works wouldn’t be bad to run properly.’

Especially when engineer talents are needed these days.

Isn’t that why Park Seo-saeng, who made waterwheels, was taken from the Three Offices and put in the Ministry of Public Works?

But I had something else in mind.

“It is good to distribute the work of various government offices and stipulate that each should be faithful to its original work, but I think it is necessary to comprehensively organize national policies.”

The era when people live the same as they did a hundred years ago, and the people just pray for good rain and good farming, is over.

An era where today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow is better than today.

That era has already partially arrived.

We needed an institution that would gather experts from each field to study longer-term national policies and advise the court on them.

There was no need for me to think of a name.

The greatest man in Joseon had already created a good name.

“How about establishing such an institution and calling it the Hall of Worthies (*Jipyeonjeon*) [a royal research institute]?”

The plan was to push all the promising guys into here and have them focus on policy research.

Of course, including Grand Prince Chungnyeong.

===

While the Crown Prince faction in the court was being promoted with each of them holding a ministerial position, there was someone who made rapid progress in the palace as well, backed by the ascended King.

‘Who am I?’

The King’s closest aide, the head of the Joseon eunuchs.

Chief Eunuch (*Sangseon*) No-bun.

“I heard he served the King as a close eunuch since he was a prince?”

“Tsk, if I were only the right age, I would have begged to be adopted as Chief Eunuch No’s adopted son.”

Even if they are eunuchs, it is not that they cannot have children.

Of course, they cannot have biological children because they are unable to reproduce, but they continue their lineage by adopting young eunuchs as adopted sons.

Those who wanted to get on his good side were already lining up, so No-bun’s pride was bursting and ascending to the sky.

‘Now, there’s no one in the palace who can follow me.’

The previous eunuchs, of course, should be treated as seniors, but they would soon retire to Sugang Palace to serve the retired King Yi Bang-won.

When the tiger is away, the fox is king.

‘No, is there any law that says I’m not a tiger in the first place?’

It was when No-bun was scanning the eunuchs with strength in his eyes.

– Thwack!

Someone smacked the back of No-bun’s head, who was exuding dignity.

No-bun’s face twisted fiercely, but he couldn’t get angry.

“No-bui.”

It was Crown Prince Yi Dan, who was being carried on the back of the person who hit him.

No-bun quickly put on a smile and answered Yi Dan, who was calling him in a lisping voice.