There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 5

< The Scoundrel of the Joseon Royal Family (4) >

The confrontation between father and son ended anticlimactically.

Yi Bang-won, who declared his intention to rule, quickly retrieved Yi Seong-gye, who was holed up in a corner of Wonjungpo, and returned to Gaegyeong (present-day Seoul).

That was the end of it.

As soon as the news of the capture of the Taesangwang (King Emeritus, a retired king) spread, Jo Sa-ui’s army collapsed.

‘So, it was Yi Seong-gye’s rebellion from beginning to end.’

A rebellion involving nearly 10,000 men was crushed in an instant as soon as Yi Seong-gye was captured.

It was a clear indication of Yi Seong-gye’s immense influence over the people of the Northeast.

“The rebellion was suppressed very easily. This is all thanks to you.”

Yi Bang-won praised me as he sat me down, and I grinned.

Then, I held out my hand.

Yi Bang-won stared at my hand blankly and asked,

“What does this mean?”

“Shouldn’t there be a reward for someone who has rendered distinguished service?”

“You’re asking for wealth?”

“Yes.”

I am the eldest son of Taejong, the firstborn of this nation, Joseon.

As Joseon is a society with a strict class system, there are only a handful of people in the entire country who are higher than me.

However, there was one problem.

‘I have no money.’

To start development and mass production in earnest, initial capital was needed.

But the reality was that I didn’t have a single penny to my name.

Since I had seized an opportunity, shouldn’t I get some pocket money at this time to move on to the next step?

“I heard that when a rebellion is suppressed, meritorious subjects are given land and wealth. If you used my plan, you should reward me accordingly.”

“Hehe, look at this one.”

Yi Bang-won burst into laughter, amused by my request for pocket money.

“Now I see that you are trying to imitate Wang Jian (a famous Qin Dynasty general known for his strategic acumen and demands for rewards).”

Who is Wang Jian again?

I was tilting my head when Yi Bang-won took my hand and sat me on his lap.

Yi Bang-won’s eyes gleamed as he looked down at me.

“In the past, when Qin was about to have a decisive battle with Chu, Wang Jian asked Qin Shi Huang for wealth and titles to avoid suspicion. Did you read that story?”

“Yes?”

“Power cannot be shared even between father and son. You have learned well that superiors are wary when subordinates become too meritorious. You are indeed my son. Well done.”

Yi Bang-won stroked my head as he said that.

‘What is he talking about since before?’

“You are my son who will inherit everything from me, so you must always keep this in mind. Fortunately, you are bright.”

I nodded, not knowing what he was talking about.

Yi Bang-won called a eunuch and said,

“Didn’t we confiscate the assets of Jo Sa-ui, Kang Hyun, Jo Hong, Hong Soon, Kim Ja-ryang, and others who participated in the revolt? Select good land in Gaegyeong and Hanyang and give it to the Wonja (Crown Prince). Also, bestow 100 rolls of silk from the Naesu Byeoljwa (later Naesusa, a royal treasury department) to the Wonja.”

I heard something I didn’t understand, but.

Everything will be alright, right?

‘Father will be busy with state affairs, and I still have the excuse that I’m sick, so I can focus on research for the time being.’

I rubbed my hands together with a sly expression.

100 rolls of silk.

I don’t know exactly how much it is, but it sounds like a considerable amount of money.

‘First, I need to make a proper toilet.’

Having a court lady wipe my butt after using a chamber pot.

It was an unsanitary and humiliating method of defecation for a modern person.

While I was thinking about that, Yi Bang-won said,

“And since the Taesangwang has returned to Gaegyeong, the Wonja should go and pay his respects in person.”

I was going to see his face sooner or later anyway, but things turned out this way.

I readily accepted the order.

===

The Wonja left the room.

Yi Bang-won couldn’t help but smile.

“Hahaha!”

The eunuch Noh Hee-bong (盧希鳳), who was attending to him, pretended not to notice.

“I have embraced a dragon!”

Yi Bang-won shouted without caring who was listening.

A son who understands his father’s heart and even shows greed on purpose.

The laughter didn’t stop.

‘In the end, I was right.’

My father’s decision to make Bang-seok the Crown Prince was wrong.

Both he and his son were truly rare talents.

Sending the Wonja to greet the Taesangwang was also to show off ‘My son is this great.’

‘I must teach this child in particular. He is truly a politician, a child who knows what a person is. I must properly polish the jade.’

He was so busy with state affairs that he had no time, but wouldn’t he be able to make some time for this?

It was a thought that Wonja Yi Je would have been shocked to hear.

===

The day after Jo Sa-ui and his son were defeated and taken into custody, the old man returned to Gaegyeong dejectedly.

The old man had nothing left.

Neither son, son-in-law, subject, brother,

Nor even revenge.

All the old man could do was lie down in his room with a surprisingly weakened body and do meaningless retrospection.

“Taesangwang Jeonha (Your Majesty, the King Emeritus), the Wonja is here to pay his respects.”

He opened his eyes at the unexpected announcement.

The Wonja is paying his respects?

When he was brought to Gaegyeong, he had heard something repeatedly.

– The Wonja suggested that you serve your father first. Isn’t he a prodigy?

That a mere nine-year-old had offered Bang-won a plan to capture him.

As much as it was hard to believe, anger surged.

“What should we do?”

“Let him in.”

At the short answer, the eunuch opened the door and let the Wonja in.

After receiving the bow from Wonja Yi Je (李禔), the old man, Yi Seong-gye, opened his mouth.

“What brings the Wonja here to see me?”

Yi Seong-gye asked coldly, suppressing the rising anger.

‘A cunning fellow who resembles his father.’

He was someone who had never experienced defeat in his life.

He mustered his strength to raise an army with a heart torn into a thousand pieces, but he was defeated in vain by his grandson, who was not even ten years old, so the words that came out could not be kind.

‘I only knew he was a scoundrel, but who knew he would harbor such wickedness.’

“I, your grandson, am here to pay my respects, fearing that Halba-mama (Grandfather) might harm his health.”

Yi Seong-gye almost screamed at that moment.

The reason he didn’t was not because he exercised self-control, but because he suddenly lost his strength.

‘Now even my young grandson is mocking me.’

“Although I am old, I still have the strength to twist a person.”

He spoke quietly as a warning, but the Wonja only smiled at those words.

“I heard that you came up with the scheme to capture me and end the rebellion? You have hidden your shameless face well. You are just like your father.”

“······.”

“What are you planning to do next? Are you going to exterminate the three clans of Jo Sa-ui? Or are you going to implicate Bang-gan in Suncheon and kill him? Our family has come to this point, so it’s not strange that even a child like you would have such thoughts.”

Yi Seong-gye was furious when the Wonja still wore a relaxed smile.

A ghost-like fellow who doesn’t even bat an eye at his grandfather’s heart-wrenching cries.

“You hideous bastard! Say something!”

Finally, a roar erupted.

===

‘What the hell did I do?’

I came to pay my respects with good intentions, but I was starting to get pissed off.

But I had no choice but to force a smile. This is also a skill I learned while working at a company. A business smile is not only needed when doing business.

Because I came up with the plan, the hatred and criticism that should have been directed at my father in the original history seemed to have shifted to me as the target.

‘Yi Seong-gye also lost two sons in the strife of princes. I have to understand.’

I engraved patience in my heart. No, I was trying to engrave it.

But it seemed like I was steaming too much.

The smile cracked, and a fact bomb inadvertently popped out of my mouth.

“Wasn’t it Halba-mama who brought this family to this point in the first place?”

“Wh, what?”

“Where in the world is there a death that is not unjust? Wouldn’t the Wangs [descendants of the Goryeo royal family] who became wandering spirits be aggrieved? What about Changwang, who died at a young age without knowing anything, or the families of Choi Young?”

“It was unavoidable to establish Joseon!”

“Then accept the affairs of the two uncles in the same way. Abamama (Father) also had no choice but to do it to protect Joseon. Where in the world is there a law that only one’s own children are precious?”

So please stop it, you old man.

I was just going to look at Yi Seong-gye’s face and leave, but harsh words came out.

“You, you······!”

Yi Seong-gye pointed at me.

Seeing Yi Seong-gye’s face turning red and blue, I suddenly came to my senses as if I had been hit by cold water.

Could it be that he’s collapsing from anger?

– Taesangwang dies of anger while receiving greetings from the Wonja! The culprit is his nine-year-old grandson!

A terrifying title was drawn before my eyes.

‘If I get the stigma of being a grandfather slayer, I’ll have to leave Joseon.’

Exile life starting from Ming Dynasty.

It was truly a terrible thing.

– Trickle

At that time, tears suddenly flowed from Yi Seong-gye’s eyes, who had been panting.

Then Yi Seong-gye fell on the blanket.

“I am suffering such humiliation because I lived so long, aigo! Aigo!”

The old man’s cries flowed out.

‘No, what’s wrong with this old man?’

“I~ am being humiliated by my grandson~ Aigooo! Bang-beon, Bang-seok! It’s my fault that I couldn’t follow you back then! I’m paying the price now!”

I thought he was putting on a show, but I realized it was real when the pillow was already getting wet.

So, an old man of nearly seventy was burying his face in the pillow and crying.

I was dumbfounded and watched the grandfather wailing.

‘This is… Joseon’s best general?’

What was Yi Seong-gye that I knew?

“I, I said too much. Please calm down.”

“I~ am being humiliated by my grandson~ Aigooo!”

I belatedly tried to appease him and handed him a towel, but Yi Seong-gye didn’t move.

Yi Seong-gye stopped crying about 10 minutes after sobbing for a long time.

Tears were dripping, but he wasn’t wailing like before.

Yi Seong-gye, who was finally taking a breath, asked me,

“You see me as a failed human being?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“That’s right. I am a failed human being. I have nothing left.”

Yi Seong-gye’s eyes were filled with regret.

“I shouldn’t have made Bang-seok the Crown Prince. I should have appointed Bang-won or at least followed the principle of the eldest son. I was old and didn’t want to admit that I had misjudged, so I coaxed Jo Sa-ui to start a rebellion. How did I, who was praised by the whole country, become like this?”

“······.”

“I’m trash, heuheuk······. Yeobo (wife), Bang-seok. Sambong, Poeun······.”

‘He’s the type with severe self-deprecation.’

I heard that women produce a lot of female hormones when they get old.

Has Yi Seong-gye, a macho man, become emotional as he got older?

But it was also pitiful.

I felt bad because I heard harsh words as soon as I met him, but there was a reason to consider.

His father killed all his sons, sons-in-law, and friends.

From Yi Seong-gye’s point of view, he must have thought that nothing was left.

“No, there is still something left.”

I put my hand on Yi Seong-gye’s shoulder.

The eunuch was surprised by the blasphemous act, but neither of them cared.

I gave Yi Seong-gye a thumbs up and said,

“Isn’t there this Joseon that Halba-mama made?”

“Jo, seon?”

“That’s right. What was the reason why the Taesangwang risked his life with his comrades? Isn’t it to overthrow the rotten Goryeo and establish a country that will be remembered in history?”

The last one was the worst in the history of the Korean Peninsula.

“Halba-mama’s comrades are dead. They are no longer here. But aren’t they still alive, united with this country, this Joseon!”

I think it’s really bullshit.

But wouldn’t these words work well for this emotional old man?

You are not a failure.

You and your comrades founded this country, so as long as Joseon is strong, you will continue to live.

‘Keueueueu, I nailed it.’

It would be good to put a wedge here.

“Abamama (Father) and I will continue to support this Joseon. We will make it a much more prosperous country.”

So let’s forget about the past and move on appropriately.

Yi Seong-gye wiped away his tears.

Then he raised his head and asked.