There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 405

406. The Emperor, Yi Jae (1)

After the Seonduk Emperor was ousted by the Empress Dowager’s decree, Ju Mungyu, the second son of the Jianwen Emperor, ascended the vacant throne.

Unlike his father and brother, who disappeared during the Jingnan Rebellion [a civil war in the early Ming Dynasty], he had survived.

However, he had been stripped of his status and imprisoned by the Yongle Emperor until the Empress Dowager reinstated him and enthroned him as Emperor.

Nominally, this was to restore the lineage of Crown Prince Yiwun, the eldest son of the Hongwu Emperor, but everyone knew it was just an excuse.

With the Ming Dynasty, which had lasted for 60 years, on the verge of collapse, what did such justifications matter?

Ju Mungyu was merely a relief pitcher, forcibly drafted to handle the aftermath on behalf of the imperial family.

Therefore, no one questioned the doubts that should have naturally accompanied this measure.

If Ju Mungyu were to inherit the throne, endless political debates could arise about whether the imperial lineage from the Yongle Emperor would be entirely negated, but realistically, no one had the energy to waste on such discussions.

Unsurprisingly, Ju Mungyu, who had barely escaped his status as a commoner to become Emperor, wielded no real power.

Having been confined since he was a baby by the Yongle Emperor, this young man was hardly able to engage in normal activities.

The only thing he could do was stamp the imperial seal on documents submitted in the name of the cabinet and the court.

However, the role of a puppet is fulfilled simply by lending his name.

“It wouldn’t look good to have him doing dirty work from the very beginning of the new era.”

“Shouldn’t everything be settled during His Majesty’s reign?”

Such words were openly circulating.

From the measure of deposing the Seonduk Emperor, bestowing upon him the title of Prince in a remote region, and exiling him to Joseon, to the punishment of ‘treacherous subjects who misled the monarch and plunged the nation into misery,’ all were carried out in Ju Mungyu’s name.

Orders were issued to suppress the few counties and prefectures that had not yet surrendered their seals, and a reshuffle of local officials who had surrendered upon the capture of the Seonduk Emperor but were not fully cooperative was carried out swiftly.

Those who might resist were all replaced in the Emperor’s name.

Of course, the actions carried out in Ju Mungyu’s name were not limited to such bloody purges.

The posthumous title of Heungjong (興宗), which Ju Mungyu’s grandfather, Crown Prince Yiwun Ju Piao, had received, was restored, and the posthumous title of Hyejong (惠宗) was bestowed upon the Jianwen Emperor.

This was ostensibly because they were the Emperor’s grandfather and father, but in reality, it was closer to a measure of granting honorary titles to everyone before the dynasty closed its doors.

Once these measures were completed, the Ming officials realized that the time had come without anyone needing to say it.

Ju Mungyu, as he had done until now, issued a decree to abdicate the throne to Yi Jae, the King of Joseon, ‘accepting the earnest appeals of many who were concerned about the realm.’

Yi Jae humbly declined once, then summoned the officials of the Joseon court to Nanjing.

* * *

The entire Joseon was overflowing with the joy of victory.

Although this term didn’t exist yet, it could be seen as a kind of… high.

“Hooray! Hooray!”

“Long live Joseon! Long live our King!”

The people who were now shouting “Long live” not only didn’t know the strict etiquette of vassal states but wouldn’t have cared much even if they did.

With the tributary relationship already shattered and overturned, anyone who tried to spoil the mood would deserve to be jeered at.

Besides, the King had captured the Emperor and resided in Nanjing, so even putting aside the exhilaration, who would dare to criticize those who cheered for the one who would become the ruler of the world?

“So, will our King become the Emperor?”

“Of course!”

“Then, shouldn’t the capital be moved as well?”

“Hey, you! Hanyang [modern-day Seoul] has already become the capital of the world, so where else would we move it to?”

Even amidst everyone cheering for the victory and the rise of Joseon, there were those who wore bitter expressions.

Although the Joseon army had won overwhelmingly, there was no way to avoid casualties.

Like the nobleman Kim Suseong, there were many who had followed the war and felt disillusioned with the human world.

However, for most people, the pain that is not visible to their eyes is not very important.

The evil forces that invaded Joseon, taking advantage of the national mourning, were crushed to pieces, and His Majesty triumphantly entered the enemy capital like the protagonist of a folktale and became the Emperor.

The people, who took this as their own, felt catharsis.

There were still complicated procedures left in Nanjing, but the people didn’t care.

However, from the perspective of the ruling class, these ‘procedures’ could not be completely ignored.

Representative of this was Heo Jo, who had insisted on proclaiming the imperial title even before Yi Jae had set out.

Although it had been rejected by Yi Jae, who deemed it premature, he had not been punished for it.

He was still in the court, performing the duties of the Ministry of Rites.

It was around that time that he received the order to come to Nanjing and lead the abdication ceremony.

Although there would be advice from Ming officials, this abdication was a matter of Joseon’s pride.

There were not many people in Joseon who had a deep understanding of the imperial enthronement ceremony.

Moreover, from Joseon’s perspective, this was an unprecedented type of abdication ceremony.

The process by which Yi Seonggye [King Taejo of Joseon] received the abdication from King Gongyang… was so full of mistakes that it was hardly a good reference.

Thus, Heo Jo, who arrived in Nanjing with the pride of Joseon’s rites, first proposed a new national title.

* * *

“Change the national title?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Since ancient times, the Son of Heaven’s country has used a one-character national title, so you must create a new national title to show that the mandate of heaven has changed.”

The candidate Heo Jo brought was Han (韓). It was such a familiar name that I was speechless.

An explanation followed that Han was the old Samhan [ancient Korean kingdoms] and so on, but I listened with one ear and let it out the other.

“There is no basis for saying that a two-character country is inferior to a one-character country. In the Yuan Dynasty, a distinction was made between one-character kings and two-character kings, but this is a barbarian custom and not worth emulating. Moreover, Joseon is the national title given by Taejo, and it is the name of the first country in this land, so in terms of origin, there is no name like it.”

It’s not like Heo Jo wouldn’t know this, and it seems to be because of the dark history that Joseon was a national title approved by the Ming Taejo, but is there really a need for that?

‘Han isn’t bad either, though.’

As someone who was once Korean, it’s a name that even evokes memories, but it couldn’t surpass Joseon.

The country that my grandfather founded and named.

Joseon, this land of the morning, was where I would live.

* * *

I’m sorry, but I had to reject one more of Heo Jo’s requests.

Heo Jo suggested that since I was ascending the throne anyway, I should go all the way to Mount Tai to perform the Fengshan ceremony [an ancient Chinese ritual symbolizing imperial legitimacy], but why bother……?

When would I ever go to Shandong again? Too much trouble.

I guarantee there are more emperors who have never even been near Mount Tai, right?

In the end, Heo Jo abandoned all 36 of his ambitiously prepared imperial enthronement plans and compromised by holding a simple ceremony to receive the throne in Nanjing.

At least the Ming signboard was taken down, but Nanjing would still maintain its status as the capital.

I wouldn’t reside there directly, so under the dual capital system (兩京制) [a system with two capital cities], it would serve as Joseon’s control tower for governing the Central Plains.

Shouldn’t that be satisfactory enough?

Following the old customs, I would reject the Emperor’s request for abdication three times, reluctantly accept the decree asking me to take the throne, go to the southern suburbs to perform sacrifices, and pay homage to my father-in-law, the Hongwu Emperor’s tomb.

The ceremony itself was grand, but the fact that there was no need to move around complicatedly appealed to me.

Still, I should take a commemorative photo at this historic moment, so I should call all my family here.

Conversely, there were also some people to send from Ming to Joseon.

* * *

“What do you intend to do with the Emperor?”

At Do’s question, who had flown all the way to Nanjing, I crossed my arms and replied.

“Well… I’ll have to give him a suitable fiefdom and get rid of him.”

There’s no need to keep the puppet former Emperor in check.

Ju Mungyu has (forcibly) lived as a shut-in for so long that he has difficulty with normal social life.

That means he has neither the ability nor the will to plot things on his own.

Still, since he once held the title of Emperor, those who seek to plot will gather around him, but I can just weed them out appropriately.

As for Ju Mungyu himself, I should give him spam and tuna sets every holiday as proof that ‘I am treating the former dynasty well.’

However, Do shook his head and said.

“I am not talking about him, but about the Yongseong King (龍城王).”

“Ah.”

Yongseong King was the title given to the deposed Emperor, Seonduk.

It was as if the Emperor, who had been in the supreme position overnight, had been demoted to a Prince, but even that was just a title given to avoid calling the former Emperor simply a deposed Emperor; his actual position was no different from that of an exile.

Meanwhile, Yongseong, where he was enfeoffed, is Hwaryongseong, the old name of present-day Jo Yanghyeon.

The reason for giving this title, which seems grand at first glance, was quite profound.

It was said that in the past, when King Jangsu [of Goguryeo] gave the title to Feng Hong, the Emperor of Northern Yan who had fled to Goguryeo.

‘It feels like being unnecessarily elaborate and humiliating.’

Heo Jo? Is it Heo Jo?

Heo Jo is probably the only one who would put in such Easter eggs and subtly mock him.

Anyway, it’s not a title I chose. I don’t know anything about it. The one who approved it was Ju Mungyu.

However, Do seemed to think that the name Yongseong King had a profound meaning in another sense.

“In the past, when the previous Yongseong King tried to flee to the Southern Dynasties, King Jangsu sent people to kill him.”

“Oh dear, such a terrible thing.”

I waved my hand.

Although I had a bad relationship with Seonduk, and unlike Ju Mungyu, he was someone who might do something if left alone.

Now that he had been deposed, there was no way I would do such a terrible thing.

“I’m thinking of ending it with exile if possible. If he goes to Joseon and cools his head, his old grudges will fade away…….”

“Really?”

Do looked at me with a suspicious expression.

“That’s an uncharacteristically generous measure for you, Brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you would be very…… angry.”

“Angry? Didn’t you hear our father’s last words together?”

With Yi Bangwon passing away at a good time, I succeeded in drawing out the anger of the Joseon court with the frame of ‘ruthless bastards who started a war taking advantage of the national mourning.’

I also pretended to be angry in front of the officials, but it was only a matter of joining in on the good show that Yi Bangwon had prepared.

The Seonduk Emperor was scheduled to arrive in Joseon, take some time to adjust, and then be exiled to an island again.

The destination was Ulleungdo [an island east of the Korean peninsula], which I had saved from the crisis of the vacant island policy in the past.

I heard that it is thriving as a trading hub on the East Sea, so Seonduk will be able to live well even if he goes there.

However,

“Originally, the sea is something you can’t predict at all, right?”

Even in modern times, maritime risks cannot be completely prevented. Moreover, in this era, shipwrecks are commonplace.

Coincidentally, there were precedents for such unfortunate accidents in both Joseon and Ming.

In Joseon, there were the Wangs [remnants of the Goryeo dynasty], and in Ming, there was So Myeongwang Han Lim-ah, the leader of the Red Turbans [a rebellion against the Yuan dynasty].

It was a very, very coincidental coincidence, but both were remnants of the former dynasty.

The thoughts of the Taejo were all the same. It seems that the relationship between the two was not very good during their lifetime.

“I hope he has a comfortable journey to his place of exile.”

I quietly offered a prayer.