There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 57

< What is True Education? (4) >

The censors are like old maids suffering from hysteria, like hyenas searching all day for something to criticize.

Of course, they believe themselves to be scholars who risk their lives to protect the voice of Joseon—and to some extent, that’s true—but that’s how I saw them.

It’s already been a year since I came to Joseon.

I thought I had experienced their habits quite thoroughly.

However, it seemed I hadn’t yet peered into the depths of their hearts.

‘Surely they wouldn’t make a fuss over a pencil, would they?’

That thought was shattered as soon as I entered the royal court.

I brought a pencil to show off to Yi Bang-won, and before I knew it, the censors were causing a ruckus.

“Your Majesty, please issue an order to prohibit the use of pencils in the court!”

“The Crown Prince has gone to the trouble of creating such a device, and you want to ban it? What are you saying?”

“The pencil made by His Highness may be useful for writing, but it cannot be said to possess the Way of the Scholar. One should value each character like a thousand gold pieces, and the spirit and demeanor should be revealed even in writing a single character. Using a pencil merely focuses on the meaning, and the profoundness is not felt.”

‘What the hell are they talking about?’

While acknowledging the usefulness of the pencil, they denigrate it with vague words like spirit, demeanor, and profoundness.

At this point, it felt like they were just trying to pick a fight.

‘I thought they’d be quiet after being purged once for leaking the secret of the matchlock to the Ming envoys.’

However, Yi Bang-won uprooted the existing personnel and replaced them with new people, but he didn’t particularly interfere with their activities.

They didn’t reduce their momentum at all, using the justification that they had all been replaced and had no connection to the previous people.

“What nonsense is this!”

Yi Bang-won roared, as if to say, ‘How dare they criticize something my son made?’

It was unlike Yi Bang-won, who was kind to his subjects except for Jeong Do-jeon, his in-laws, and relatives by marriage.

“Your Majesty, please reconsider.”

Yi Bang-won’s face twitched as if he was about to roar even louder, but his gaze turned to me, and he soon calmed his anger.

“Hmm.”

My father is more level-headed than anyone, but when it comes to his children, he gets steamed up easily.

‘So why does he keep people in the court who only oppose for the sake of opposing?’

It was strange because Yi Bang-won was harsher than anyone to those who held a knife to him.

Although, this was closer to them making a fuss while lost in their own thoughts rather than holding a knife.

Yi Bang-won suppressed his anger and whispered to me.

“Those guys are daring to belittle you, and you’re just going to stand there and take it?”

It’s not so much that they want to belittle me, but more like their inherent nature is being displayed.

But if Yi Bang-won directly deals with them, things might get bigger than expected.

Rumors of him being a tyrant might spread.

So I quietly said to Yi Bang-won.

“There’s no need for Father to step in. Is there any need to use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken?”

Once again, a famous quote from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms [a classic Chinese novel] was unleashed.

It was taken from Hwa-woong’s flattery to Lu Bu in the Romance, while also creating a justification for himself to step forward.

In fact, wasn’t Hwa-woong the best general in Dong Zhuo’s army?

As expected, Yi Bang-won liked these words and burst into laughter.

“Haha, you’re right. There’s no need to use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. Truly, you are my son.”

After answering that, Yi Bang-won raised his voice and asked me.

“The censors are saying such things, does the Crown Prince have anything to say in response?”

“Yes, I have a lot to say.”

I answered in a loud voice as well.

So much that it was rising up to my throat.

“First, I ask. You acknowledged that the pencil is convenient for writing, correct?”

“That is so. However, if a scholar only pursues convenience and does not walk the Great Way······.”

“Let’s stop with the empty talk.”

I cleared my throat and said.

“People who are directly using it in the field say that pencils are much more convenient than brushes, increasing efficiency several times over.”

At my words, the officials of the Hanyang Construction Bureau, who were direct beneficiaries of the pencil, nodded diligently.

They had already become so dependent on pencils that they couldn’t live without them.

They didn’t want to go back to the days of being overworked while wrapping bandages around their hands and using brushes.

“The use of pencils is incomparable to brushes in terms of fatigue. No matter how finely you write with a brush, it still requires more effort than writing on paper with a pencil.”

“That’s right, Your Highness. I found it very convenient to use as well.”

Heo Jo agreed.

When Heo Jo, who was second to none in being meticulous, came out in agreement, the censors flinched.

“Hmm.”

“If you’re going to keep babbling about not using pencils and only using brushes, then the censors should come to our office and take on the work themselves. Let’s see if you can still say such things after that.”

“That’s right!”

“The censors’ words are merely empty theories on a desk. How can they say such things without even working eight hours (16 hours) [a traditional workday in Joseon]?”

Whenever I said something, the officials supported me so enthusiastically that the censors’ momentum faltered.

‘They’re really desperate.’

They really don’t want to go back to the old days.

In particular, Hwang Hee’s voice was loud.

But the censors are the censors.

They soon opened their mouths and repeated.

“Nevertheless, if a member of the literati has any pride, this cannot be called a beautiful practice. How can one ruin one’s handwriting and lose beautiful virtue?”

The censors spoke based on the documents from the Hanyang Construction Bureau.

Hmm, it’s true that the handwriting is a bit messy because they’re the first people to use pencils.

‘That’s just bad handwriting. Does handwriting feed you?’

As a modern person, I couldn’t help but think that way.

However, it wasn’t such a simple matter for people of this era.

Why would the saying “Shin-Eon-Seo-Pan” (physical appearance, speech, writing, and judgment) [the four criteria for evaluating a person] have come about?

In this era, they valued appearance, speech, writing style, and judgment.

If these were well-equipped, they were considered proper people, and if not, they were inwardly seen as base, regardless of other factors.

It was a standard that was used to judge people that much.

But I brought pencils and ruined one of them, handwriting, to the point where they were lamenting it, so it wasn’t unreasonable for them to be dismayed.

One of the censors twisted his lips and said.

“Moreover, it is said that His Highness the Crown Prince brought them to allow even the young Grand Princes to use pencils, which is truly a frightening matter.”

“Ah, that’s······.”

Then, murmurs arose even among the officials who had been neutral.

‘His Highness is a master calligrapher, but he’s telling the Grand Princes to learn pencils?’

‘I see. Does he have some ulterior motive this time?’

‘Could it be that he intends for only himself to be good at writing among the princes······?’

‘As expected, his ruthless side resembles His Majesty.’

No, you guys.

I made them to complete the quest my mom gave me, but what kind of slander is this?

“If the Grand Princes, who should diligently learn the old writing style, are led down the wrong path, it cannot be reversed. Please, take this into consideration.”

‘Ah, damn it.’

The face of the elementary school teacher who banned mechanical pencils because they ruin handwriting overlaps with those censors.

At that time, it happened due to the oppression of pencil fundamentalists, but it felt strange that pencils were being treated the same way in this era.

“Hey, learning the writing style is learning the writing style, and if you take notes of the teacher’s words with a pencil and look at them over and over again, you can study properly. Are you guys interfering with my brothers’ studies with ridiculous excuses?”

I shouted that, but the censors didn’t hear it.

“Would what His Highness is doing really be effective?”

To ignore the note-taking study method that the God of Study has already proven.

I couldn’t stand these guys’ impudence.

“Won’t it be clear once we look at the results? The Grand Princes’ coming-of-age ceremony is in a few months, so let’s check the results then!”

It’s a showdown!

I shouted that we should wait and see at the Grand Princes’ coming-of-age ceremony.

“Since you’ve made such a big deal about the harm of pencils, let’s check it out.”

“If the Grand Princes’ writing style is ruined, or if their studies are insufficient, I will abolish pencils. However, if both exceed the standards······.”

“Then we should actively encourage the use of these pencils in the court as well.”

It was Yi Bang-won’s words.

“That’s right. Of course, if that happens, I’d like to thoroughly educate the censors here at the training institute, but will you allow it?”

“Very well!”

Having come this far, there was no turning back.

The censors shouted, making a fuss.

Good.

This is how you guys are going to be until my brothers’ coming-of-age ceremony.

When that time comes, I’ll throw you all into the gulag.

===

“Tell Mother everything that happened today. Tell her that she must thoroughly educate my brothers for the sake of my face as the eldest son.”

I said, seething.

No-boon······ the eunuch who was in charge of my personal affairs bowed his head and departed for the Queen’s Palace.

“Until recently, didn’t you say that the Queen was being too harsh on the kids who are still young enough to play?”

Yi Seong-gye, who was next to me, teased me.

“Now that things have come to this, there’s nothing we can do about it. My brothers have to sacrifice themselves for their brother, right?”

That’s just common sense in this world, right?

I gnashed my teeth again at the thought of the censors.

“If only there were no censors, the world would be so peaceful. I wonder why Father doesn’t just shut them all up.”

“That’s all to teach you the ways of a king, isn’t it?”

“Yes?”

“Both I and Bang-won obtained the country with swords, so we just pretended to listen to what the subjects said and did whatever we wanted, but you have to be different from now on.”

“Where is such a law?”

Why is my right to freely use royal power being cut off in my generation?

Yi Seong-gye suddenly said seriously.

“Then you can build a new country. You can do that if you’re the founding monarch.”

“Ah······.”

“You only run forward without looking back. Bang-won must think that people who grab your collar and hold you back are also necessary.”

Is that bad?

The faster I develop Joseon, the more comfortable I will be, and the more comfortable everyone else will be.

The more I develop Joseon, the more everyone will benefit.

‘I’m going to squeeze all the censors like dried squid at this opportunity.’

I thought so and thrust the wooden sword forward fiercely.

– Whoosh

With the resulting sword wind, a leaf hanging from the tree was cut off.

Even I thought it was quite strong and fierce.

“It seems that your strength has been sufficiently developed. Your basics are also solid.”

How long has it been since I heard Yi Seong-gye’s praise?

I asked with a delighted expression.

“Really?”

“Hey, don’t be too happy. It’s just the basics or the degree of completion.”

Yi Seong-gye looked at me and said.

“What’s next?”

“You just keep repeating what you’ve learned and become more proficient.”

“Yes? Is that all?”

I thought he would pass on some kind of ultimate secret technique.

“There’s no such thing.”

When I said that, Yi Seong-gye smacked me on the head.

Geez, you could just say it.

This old man always uses his hands first.

“People die by tripping over a stone if they’re unlucky. Always having a solid foundation and excellent improvisation determine life and death, there’s no such thing as a special move.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

How boring.

“If I can practice alone, then I don’t have to visit the Retired King’s Palace anymore.”

“You’re going to cut off contact after sucking all the sweetness out of your grandfather? Oh my, there’s no such unfilial grandson.”

I comforted Yi Seong-gye, who was pretending to wipe away tears and acting exaggeratedly.

“Hey, of course, I’m just kidding. I’ll come to greet you every day as before.”

“You’re saying things you don’t mean. And I’m busy now too.”

“What are you busy with when you have nothing to do?”

Did he get interested in a concubine?

Once again, Yi Seong-gye’s knuckle hit my head.

“Ouch!”

“Are you looking down on an old man in the back room?”

That’s true, but I didn’t say it out loud.

Instead, I asked with curiosity.

“Then what’s going on?”

When I asked, Yi Seong-gye crossed his arms and said.

“You made a new weapon the other day, didn’t you?”

“Are you talking about the matchlock?”

“That’s right.”

Yi Seong-gye looked at me and grinned.

“I’m a general, so shouldn’t I find a way to use that thing well?”

< What is True Education? (4) > End

ⓒ Pitkong