There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 283

“Hey, Chief State Councilor.”

Yi Bang-won sighed as he looked at Kim Han-ro, who was spilling out every little detail.

“Do you know why I recommended you as Chief State Councilor?”

“Yes, wouldn’t it be because you foresaw something like this happening?”

“Wrong.”

Yi Bang-won cut off Kim Han-ro’s confident reply.

“I know that our disciples worked hard to put me on the throne. Especially you.”

“Your grace is boundless.”

“I appointed you as State Councilor because I thought you might regret me stepping down and leaving with me.”

“…Is that so?”

Kim Han-ro’s expression became subtle at Yi Bang-won’s words.

*Didn’t this sound like he was just giving him the position of State Councilor to appease his peers?*

But before he could feel sorry, Yi Bang-won’s voice grew louder.

“Do you want to hear it more clearly? The reason I put you in the Chief State Councilor’s seat is to warm the seat while receiving the treatment of a State Councilor. Do you understand?”

Kim Han-ro flinched at Yi Bang-won’s roar.

Despite receiving such humiliation as a State Councilor, he could only wait for Yi Bang-won’s anger to subside, unable to be angry.

“But my sons worked together to create letters, and you’re throwing ashes on it?”

“Ashes, what ashes? What kind of decree is that? I just thought it wasn’t something Your Majesty should be concerned about.”

“Why are you concerned about it? Are my sons worse than Seol Chong [a famous scholar of the Silla Dynasty]?”

“No, Your Majesty!”

“Then why do you approve of Seol Chong but oppose what the princes are doing?”

“Please kill me, Your Majesty!”

“You want to die? Is that your wish?”

Kim Han-ro’s eyes widened as Yi Bang-won picked up the inkstone.

*This was real.*

Yi Bang-won was more ruthless than the King, and he would never show mercy.

Until now, he thought he was an exception, but it was a huge miscalculation.

Kim Han-ro quickly bowed his head.

“I misspoke. Please forgive me with your great generosity!”

Kim Han-ro couldn’t come to his senses from Yi Bang-won’s relentless attack.

His mind was paralyzed, and he could only beg for his life.

“If you want to continue being a State Councilor, just support whatever the King does. Don’t come running to me to tattle!”

“I will keep that in mind, I will keep that in mind.”

Only then did Yi Bang-won put down the inkstone he had picked up.

“Hoo.”

Yi Bang-won, looking down at Kim Han-ro, who was trembling, finally relaxed his expression.

“But if you really don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do.”

“If that’s the case…?”

“If you really want to step down from this, leave quietly. I’m the one who put you in that position, so I’ll allow you that much.”

He wouldn’t tolerate him sitting in the Chief State Councilor’s seat and causing trouble, nor would he allow him to resign after advising the King and pretending to be a pro-democracy activist.

He was saying that he would allow him to leave in advance as if he had nothing to do with this matter.

Kim Han-ro was grateful for that much.

“Your grace, your grace is boundless, Your Majesty!”

He regretted the position of State Councilor, but he prevented himself from being used as the King’s bullet shield and being torn to pieces.

He could step down without getting his head smashed by the King Emeritus [Yi Bang-won’s title after abdicating], so wasn’t this fortunate enough?

Kim Han-ro, sweating profusely, repeatedly expressed his gratitude and stepped down.

As soon as Kim Han-ro left completely, Yi Bang-won clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, to think that a State Councilor doesn’t even know who he’s serving.”

Because he wasn’t sure, he was kicking away his own good fortune.

Yi Bang-won shook his head, thinking about his old friend who had thrown away the opportunity to leave his name in history.

It was a project promoted by his son, who had received the mandate of heaven [the divine right to rule]. There was no way it could fail.

Even if he received criticism from ignorant scholars for the time being, those involved in this matter would be praised as meritorious subjects who helped the King’s great achievement for generations to come.

“Well, even the Governor of Pyeongan can quit if he doesn’t like it.”

Yi Bang-won said leisurely.

===

The promulgation of Hangeul was just around the corner, but the Chief State Councilor’s seat was about to become vacant.

Kim Han-ro suddenly claimed to be seriously ill and requested to resign.

He was supposed to be drumming up support as a State Councilor, but he was running away?

It would be polite to hold him back once or twice, but there was no time for that.

I quickly took Kim Han-ro’s position and promoted Jeong Yeok to Chief State Councilor.

Jeong Yeok, like Kim Han-ro, was a former peer of Yi Bang-won.

He was appointed as a replacement to appease the Woo Hyun-bo cartel [a political faction].

Above all, he was the father-in-law of Grand Prince Hyoryeong, so it was an appropriate appointment to show that he was taking care of Hyoryeong as well.

He was connected through Hyoryeong, so I liked that he wouldn’t try to go against my words.

“Your Majesty, with the promulgation just around the corner, I will discuss with Grand Prince Hyoryeong and prepare without any setbacks so that various members of the royal family and officials can jointly offer honorific titles.”

The promulgation date was set for October 9th.

‘Because that’s Hangeul Day.’

I don’t know what the criteria were for setting Hangeul Day, but there must be some profound intention.

It was decided to be on this day because October was not far away after Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving].

‘Strictly speaking, Hangeul Day is October 9th in the solar calendar, and the promulgation date is October 9th in the lunar calendar, but…’

Anyway, isn’t the feeling important?

Actually, it’s too much trouble to convert to the solar calendar.

I prepared one more special event to coincide with the promulgation date.

“Jang Byeolgam [a lower-ranking official]. Has the typewriter development been completed?”

It was to showcase the Hangeul typewriter together.

What could be a more visually overwhelming performance than typists lining up and printing letters on the spot?

‘Was it this big originally?’

Even with the golden hands of Jang Yeong-sil [a famous inventor] and the considerable increase in the skill of the artisans, the precision machining technology was apparently not sufficient yet.

For that reason, the invented typewriter was much heavier and larger than what I had seen in modern times.

‘Whatever. As long as the letters come out well.’

“There were no problems in making it because Your Majesty told me the structure.”

“Then what about actual use?”

“…”

Jang Yeong-sil hesitated for a moment and then said.

“Yes, Your Majesty. There are no problems at all.”

‘What was that silence just now?’

I felt a little uneasy, but I decided to trust him.

Yeong-sil wouldn’t try to deceive me in front of me.

It’ll be alright, right?

===

‘I’m screwed. What should I do?’

Jang Yeong-sil scratched his head while thinking.

Hair fell out every time, but Jang Yeong-sil had no time to pay attention to it.

The first modern typewriter was the Remington No. 1, created in 1873, which had a significant impact on the design of later typewriters.

Naturally, the object created based on Lee Je’s explanation was bound to resemble this to a considerable extent.

Cylinders that return the carriage, escapements that move the carriage to insert spaces, ribbons that print letters, typebars that support the type, and so on.

These could be made somehow, even if they were crude.

However, of course, the parts became larger, and no other factors besides hardness were considered to prevent damage and wear, and other parts to cushion them – which would naturally complicate the structure and increase the cost – did not exist.

As a result.

‘Can I really use this?’

Jang Yeong-sil’s delicate fingers placed on the typewriter’s keyboard trembled.

– Clunk!

The keyboard went down and the letter was printed, but his fingers were already numb.

Instead of moving smoothly as Lee Je had thought, the letters were printed only when strong force was applied and slammed down.

“You seem to have a lot of worries.”

“Brother!”

Tears welled up in Jang Yeong-sil’s eyes when he saw Lee Cheon.

“Is this the typewriter that His Majesty was talking about?”

“Yes. I managed to make it somehow, but… it’s not something that can be used.”

Lee Cheon’s expression also hardened as he pressed the typewriter.

“Can you write letters with this?”

“If you get used to it, it will definitely be faster than writing by hand, but…”

The problem was that you couldn’t press it with normal force.

At this rate, the user’s fatigue would be enormous, even if the speed was good.

Even if you wrote only a few dozen letters, your fingers and wrists would be strained, so could this really be used in government offices across the country?

“Brother, what should we do? His Majesty clearly told us to finish it by the promulgation date.”

Now, they were also given information about the existence of the new letters and that the typewriter would be unveiled on the promulgation date.

It was natural since they had to engrave Hangeul on the keyboard and insert the type before that.

“The ninth day of October. It’s tight.”

That’s why Jang Yeong-sil had no choice but to make a tearful face.

There was no time or ideas to improve this.

‘Make it happen if it doesn’t work’ is His Majesty’s motto, so crying would only reduce his evaluation.

He had to find a breakthrough somehow.

“What should we do, Brother?”

“What do you mean, what should we do?”

Lee Cheon said, folding his arms.

“The King Emeritus used to say this in the old days. If the body is bad, the head suffers.”

“?”

Wasn’t it usually the opposite?

Jang Yeong-sil was puzzled, but Lee Cheon continued.

“If it’s too hard to type on the typewriter, why don’t we entrust it to those who can use the typewriter well?”

‘I, is that so?’

Jang Yeong-sil would have told him not to joke around as usual, but now that he was cornered and his vision was dark, it somehow sounded plausible.

‘Well, isn’t it enough if we can show a proper demonstration on that day anyway?’

“Since it’s a special order from His Majesty, no government office will refuse to cooperate. So…”

Jang Yeong-sil perked up his ears at Lee Cheon’s whisper.

===

Now, today, two days before the full-scale promulgation of Hangeul.

The sound of wind and a bleak rain hit the palace windows.

The eve of the storm.

Despite the build-up, there will be many who will cast a disapproving eye on Hangeul, but I don’t care.

The results will tell whether you guys are weak or we are weak.

Yes.

The results have to tell.

“…Yeong-sil.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Who are these guys?”

I called Jang Yeong-sil to test the typewriter, but he suddenly brought fiercely looking thugs to the palace.

‘What is it? Is it a riot?’

What are the Royal Guards doing to let these guys through?

“They are Gapsa soldiers [elite soldiers] requested from the Three Armies Command.”

No, I know that, but why do you have them with you?

‘Could it be, treason?’

The scene of Jang Yeong-sil shouting, “The boss made me work overtime. The boss is bad!” and drawing their swords and rushing at me all at once vividly came to mind.

‘This bastard, I’ve been so good to him, how dare he betray me.’

Was this how Dong Zhuo [a Han Dynasty warlord] felt when he was assassinated by his beloved son, Lu Bu [a renowned warrior]?

Fortunately, Jang Yeong-sil did not cause such a violent labor movement.

“Yes, Your Majesty. They are the typists I recruited.”

“Typists? These hulks?”

When I asked in bewilderment, the burly Gapsa soldiers shyly covered their faces.

“Yes. They have been dedicated to special training every day for today. Let me show you once.”

When Yeong-sil snapped his fingers, the Gapsa soldiers brought gourds in front of them.

Then, one of the Gapsa soldiers confidently stepped forward.

“Hap!”

The finger slammed down with a shout pierced the gourd.

“…”

That looks pretty solid, how did he do that?

“I have been training the Gapsa soldiers to strengthen their fingers every day for today. What do you think?”

‘No, what?’

To suddenly stab a gourd with a finger in front of the King and ask what I think.

Jang Yeong-sil said confidently.

“Now, all the typists have been trained to the point where they can pierce gourds with their bare fingers. At this rate, there is no fear of them getting tired and falling off even if they type hundreds or thousands of letters with the typewriter.

Your Majesty, congratulations!”

“Yeong-sil…”

I rubbed my forehead.

The order I gave was clearly to train typists, but why are you filming a chronicle of oddballs?

“I didn’t think everyone would achieve this so quickly. As expected of Joseon’s Gapsa soldiers.”

‘I feel like there are fewer and fewer normal people around me.’

I thought as I watched Jang Yeong-sil praising the Gapsa soldiers with a smile.

It’s just my imagination.

End

ⓒ Pitkong