There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 445

446. Side Story – The World After (1)

Even before Yi Je’s body was laid to rest,

Yi Gyeong arrived late at the mortuary and burst into tears.

“Father! Gyeong is here! Please, open your eyes!”

The princess hugged the coffin and wept for a long time, finally relenting only after those around her persuaded her to stop.

Yi Dan narrowed his eyes, watching his sister wipe away her tears with her sleeve.

‘If only you had been this devoted in life…….’

However, there were too many ears around to say such a thing out loud.

So, as her older brother, he had no choice but to silently watch his sister’s belated show of filial piety, feeling as though his body was twisting in discomfort.

“Mother, I feel I have been so neglectful.”

“As a married woman living in another country, it couldn’t be helped. Still, the late Emperor will be pleased that you came, even if it was late.”

Ju So-hwa was even sympathetic to her daughter, seeing her own past self reflected in her.

Yi Gyeong chattered on and on, as if trying to make up for her past neglect and share her recent news.

“Mother, our ship recently reached the southern lands, and we discovered many rare plants and animals.

There’s an animal that looks like a greatly enlarged rabbit, but it walks on two legs and has a large pouch on its belly where it raises its young.”

“Oh, how fascinating.”

“Sister, is there really such a thing?”

“Of course. If you ever come to Ryukyu, I’ll show you… no, I’ll just send one to your house. I hear you’re raising a lot of animals these days?”

“It’s just a small hobby.”

Soon after, Ju So-hwa and Yi Hyeon excused themselves to allow Yi Gyeong to pay her respects.

Thus, only Yi Gyeong and Yi Dan, the chief mourner, remained in the mortuary.

Sitting side by side, they looked up at the portrait and spoke.

“To leave such a photo as your official portrait, I wonder what Father was thinking.”
The photo showed him making a V-sign with his fingers near his eyes.

“Well, isn’t it just like Father? He meant for us to laugh at something like this rather than grieve.”

“The officials must have objected to using such an undignified photo.”

“There was a lot of talk, but I just pushed it through. By the way, didn’t your Western husband come with you?”

“One of us has to stay in our country. He seemed strangely eager to come to Joseon, though…….”

“…….”

Yi Dan guessed the reason but kept his mouth shut for the sake of peace in the Ryukyu royal family.

“So, you managed to find that southern land.”

“Of course. We can’t just stay confined within our narrow territory forever, can we? The eastern New World is all taken by you, Brother, so the small nation must obtain even the barren southern lands.”

They all knew about the existence of the New World that their father had spoken of.

The exploration of the New World began with the flimsy logic that there couldn’t be just sea in that vast space, but after actually discovering America – Miju (美洲) [literally, “Beautiful Continent,” the historical Korean name for the Americas] – that speculation became more certain.

It was only natural that Ryukyu planted its flag there instead of Joseon, which was too busy developing Miju.

“Ryukyu is barely big enough to swallow Soyugu (Taiwan).”

“That’s why we’re short on people. Please send some.”

“Isn’t it enough that you’re scraping together every last person from all over the world?”

“Oh, that’s just to reclaim our people scattered everywhere.”

Yi Gyeong covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed.

Yi Dan shook his head at the sight.

‘……I shouldn’t say anything.’

“If possible, I’d prefer people from Zhili [a historical region encompassing parts of modern-day China and Korea], but they probably wouldn’t want to come all the way to Ryukyu, would they?”

“Probably not.”

Zhili refers to Joseon and Manchuria combined, so people from Zhili are Joseon people and Jurchens who have become Joseonized.

Naturally, it was more advantageous for them to stay put in the ever-developing Zhili, and most of the population that might have left was being drawn into the development of Miju.

If they were to bring hundreds of thousands of people from China and send them to the New World, the population gap could be quickly filled, but with the Ming Dynasty having fallen not long ago, they couldn’t risk sending uncontrollable people to the other side of the world and seeing a Later Ming (後明) [a potential revival of the Ming Dynasty] or something similar revive in Miju.

“Then send people from Wu [a region in China, near the Yangtze River delta]. People from Henan or the Northwest tend to stick together, but the Wu people are quick-witted and at least make an effort to become Ryukyu people.”

“You accept people without discrimination for your nephews, but you talk to me as if I’m at your beck and call.”

“What can I do? Even if the King of Nangnang [an ancient Korean kingdom] sends thousands of people from there, they can’t swallow Ryukyu whole, but it’s a different story with people from China.”

What if an uprising occurs and the servant turns on the master?

He had heard that something similar had happened far away in the Mamluk Dynasty.

The reason why Yi Gyeong married off her son to the daughter of the Shimazu family, the former lord of Satsuma, was for the same reason.

It was a desperate attempt to increase the number of Ryukyuans, even by absorbing Satsuma, which had a similar language and culture.

‘It would be better to increase the size little by little.’

However, since his sister had married into Ryukyu, thinking she could control it, she was hell-bent on increasing its size.

Seeing that he couldn’t stop her, Yi Dan didn’t add anything.

“The Wu people are different, it seems.”

“That’s better. They think of themselves as half Zhili people.”

The coastal areas were becoming increasingly Joseonized as they closely interacted and exchanged with Joseon.

They held economic dominance and had a strong desire to advance to the central government, so they were actively complying with Joseon’s rule.

They couldn’t even take the civil service examination if they didn’t know Joseon language and Hangeul [the Korean alphabet], but if they passed that, they could enter the central government and achieve the dream of all scholars: making a name for themselves.

Moreover, the introduction of advanced technology and economic development from Joseon was taking place first in these coastal areas, so these regions were gradually becoming a political and economic community with Zhili.

Meanwhile, the people of Hebei, who had long been under the rule of foreign tribes and were directly connected to Zhili by land, followed next.

Apart from these core areas, the other regions were living under the indirect rule of the local gentry, as they had always done.

The rule here was based on the Confucian logic of loyalty to the Emperor and the practical reason of guaranteeing local autonomy.

This was like a large-scale version of the dual system that Joseon once had, where direct rule was implemented in Joseon proper through the dispatch of magistrates, and indirect rule was implemented in the Jurchen villages where proper administrative power did not reach.

In fact, even with this system, there were no apparent problems.

Whether it was a Hebei scholar who entered the Joseon court, a local magnate in a remote Huguang village who strutted around at the village assembly, or a Jiangnan merchant who made a fortune through illegal salt trading.

They seemed to be satisfied with Joseon’s rule.

Perhaps they were too satisfied, as some were even trying to go a step further.

There was even talk of establishing village assemblies in each province, with Zhili as a whole, to oversee the administration of those areas, while the central government would only manage major tasks such as military affairs and diplomacy.

This was the result of combining Gil Jae’s theories with the arguments of some gentry who were trying to find a balance between serving in the central government and being a local leader, but Yi Dan was not very keen on the idea.

He didn’t feel that there were any major problems with the current system.

He wanted to crack down on all of them, but his father didn’t seem to see it so negatively, so he was worried.

His father had done all sorts of bizarre things, but he had rarely been wrong.

First, Yi Dan decided to listen to his sister’s request.

“I understand. I will select and send those who want to go. But what about Baekje [an ancient Korean kingdom]? Wouldn’t it be easier to receive people from there?”

As with Satsuma, wouldn’t many people from Kyushu be able to cross over from Baekje?

“The problem is that the court is wary of us exchanging official letters with their royal family independently. I would be grateful if Your Majesty could kindly build a bridge for us.”

“I wondered why you were being so filial, but you came all this way to say this.”

Yi Dan clicked his tongue and said.

“It’s not like that, but I can’t help it. I have to take what I can even at Father’s mortuary. Isn’t that what makes the life of a powerful person so cruel?”

“Words you don’t mean.”

Yi Dan spat out those words, but unconsciously agreed with his sister in his heart.

Even before the grief over his father’s death had fully subsided, envoys from all over the world were rushing in, requesting his decisions.

He brushed off his knees and stood up, saying.

“Sometimes I think Father gave me too heavy a burden.”

“Shall I share half of that burden?”

“Don’t bother. There’s a stone inscription of Father’s last words outside the palace. Why don’t you go and see it? No, go and repeat it verbatim.”

“I’m just joking. Don’t worry. Ryukyu will follow your orders as a loyal vassal state.”

The two siblings who ruled the world smiled bitterly for a moment and parted ways.

Wasn’t this the karma of being born into the royal family?

Although they had chosen it themselves.

* * *

Five months after Yi Je’s death.

His body had been buried in the burial grounds and the state funeral was over, but envoys were still pouring in from all over the world to pay their respects.

From the Vatican, Venice, Russia, Majapahit…….

Most were there to mourn the passing of the great emperor and to further strengthen relations with the powerful nation of Joseon, but some had come to Joseon for more urgent reasons than those pure(?) motives.

“The Ottomans have betrayed their long-standing trust and are aiming for Suez! If Suez falls into their hands, it is clear that all of Joseon’s logistics will be cut off!”

The envoy from the Mamluk Sultanate strongly denounced the Ottomans.

The relationship between the Ottoman Turks and the Mamluk dynasty had not been bad until now.

However, the problem was that the re-emerging Ottomans had begun to meddle with the Mamluk’s subordinate state, the Karamanids, and, decisively, the Mamluks had hit the jackpot with Suez.

Two suns cannot exist in the same sky.

The Ottomans were enjoying their heyday, but the Mamluk’s national power was growing day by day due to the great trade route connecting East and West.

In other words, from the Ottoman point of view, ‘now was the only moment to subdue the Mamluks’.

It didn’t matter if they couldn’t completely destroy the Mamluks.

It was enough to seize or destroy the advantages of Suez that they were enjoying and cripple the Mamluks.

For this reason, when war broke out between the two countries, the Mamluks hastily began to bring in allies.

“We must never let them get away with it. This is not only an attack on our country but also an attack on our entire Triple Alliance!”

Logically, Joseon, which was far away, could not contribute much to the war, but Joseon’s military power was not logical.

The Mamluks, who had been trading with Joseon for a long time, knew this fact.

Just looking at the rumored poison gas alone.

For this reason, they regarded this condolence visit as a great opportunity.

An idiot like the Ottomans could not even attend this state funeral where envoys from all the great powers of the East were gathered.

However, the Mamluks could boast of their long-standing alliance forged during the reign of the late Emperor and request their support.

However, the problem was that this sounded like nonsense to Yi Dan.