There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 67

“Even if Your Highness disregards human life, this is too much!”

‘Disregard human life?’ he says.

Who loves people, flowers, trees, and peace as much as I do?

– Please, protect the nature and animals that I loved…

I’m the kind of person who would leave such a will even in death.

“What’s the problem with dissecting a dead person, not a living one?”

“But desecrating a corpse is…”

“If those criminals, who are worse than beasts, can help the country even in death, they should be grateful, not consider it an insult! Isn’t that right, Crown Prince?”

‘Why is he suddenly going to extremes like that when he was doing so well?’

I might end up with the same reputation if I’m not careful.

I calmed the rapidly escalating Pyeongwonhae for a moment.

“Get consent from the Gulak people [a specific ethnic group or community] for post-mortem dissection in advance, and make sure to compensate the bereaved families generously.”

That’s how I reasoned with him.

Even though the physicians didn’t seem convinced, that’s Pyeongwonhae’s problem to handle.

There shouldn’t be any issues.

Probably.

===

Lee Bang-won didn’t show much resistance to the idea of dissecting the Gulak people, probably because he had already received a report from Pyeongwonhae.

He simply said this.

“The court officials will be noisy again.”

I said with a smile.

“Have you ever run the country while listening to what those guys say?”

“I can, but you shouldn’t.”

What a double standard.

Isn’t the advantage and disadvantage of an absolute monarchy the fact that the king can do whatever he wants?

“I’m worried that I might be teaching you the wrong things.”

Lee Bang-won said, holding his throbbing head.

Hmm, I don’t think it’s because of the problem I just brought up.

‘If there’s anything that’s been bothering Father lately…’

Is the Gyemija project [a national project, possibly related to printing or agriculture], which he’s been enthusiastically promoting, not going well?

I said to Lee Bang-won as if to comfort him.

“Anyway, I’ll take it as permission.”

“Officially, I don’t know anything about this.”

“Just pretend you don’t know for a few days. The investiture ceremony for the Grand Princes is coming up soon, and after that, everyone will shut their mouths.”

Around that time, they won’t be able to pay attention to Pyeongwonhae’s beaming medical development plan.

Because those who lost the bet will have to worry about their own safety first.

Come to think of it, the investiture ceremony is really only a few days away.

‘I hope they’re preparing properly.’

Grand Prince Hyoryeong was reading the Elementary Learning [a Confucian textbook for children].

The decision to teach him was made sooner than me, thanks to my mother’s strong will to educate.

I knew that early education wasn’t particularly useful, but since things had turned out this way, I had no choice but to cooperate.

I reached out to Lee Bang-won.

“By the way…”

“…What do you mean?”

When Lee Bang-won asked with a puzzled expression, I smiled and replied.

“Isn’t there some kind of special reward for saving the life of the former king this time?”

“You should go to the former king for that; why are you asking me?”

“The former king is holed up in the Sangwangjeon [the residence of the retired king] and hasn’t come out.”

After showing such a disgraceful scene in front of his nephew, subordinates, and favorite courtesans, how could he want to leave the house?

My great-uncle is already fifty years old.

When I said that, Lee Bang-won sighed deeply.

“I’ve been pondering over that issue, but the fact that it happened in a courtesan house is a problem.”

“Does that mean I can’t be officially rewarded?”

“That’s right. There will be a lot of talk about how the Crown Prince is already frequenting brothels at such a young age.”

Indeed, saving the life of one’s uncle in a courtesan house.

And that too, by a Crown Prince who hasn’t even fully grown up.

‘I had no choice but to go there because I couldn’t bring the courtesans into the palace.’

My stomach was boiling.

My resentment towards the nagging court officials rose even higher.

“Then, is there no unofficial reward either?”

“Let’s think about it later. I’ll get it from the former king even if I have to grab his topknot.”

‘As expected.’

Lee Bang-won, perhaps influenced by my give-and-take attitude, said that without much objection.

“But not now.”

Lee Bang-won wanted to discuss it after things had calmed down a bit.

Damn it, those court officials!

I kicked a stone.

‘The most urgent thing is Hyoryeong.’

Other than being described as gentle, there weren’t any particularly smart stories about him in later generations, and his investiture ceremony was sooner.

“The Crown Prince is here!”

The eunuchs attending to Grand Prince Hyoryeong were flustered when I visited without notice.

“Hyung-nim [older brother]!”

Grand Prince Hyoryeong greeted me.

Maybe it worked out well that I gave him a Buddhist figurine last time, because he doesn’t run away when he sees me now.

I have to be happy about this.

Just what was the original Yangnyeong like?

Grand Prince Hyoryeong, who was clinging to my waist, suddenly craned his head and looked at my hands.

Seeing that both hands were empty, Grand Prince Hyoryeong asked.

“Don’t you have anything today?”

Did you leave it to me?

Look at that purely greedy expression.

Where did the non-possession that Buddhist monk Beopjeong talked about go?

“If you do well, I’ll bring you another one next time.”

He must have been playing with the wooden statue of Vajrapani [a Buddhist guardian deity], judging by the fact that he was holding it in his hand.

When I said that, Grand Prince Hyoryeong’s expression turned sour.

“Can’t you give it to me now?”

“No, be non-possessive.”

As if reflecting the fact that the descendants of a Buddhist disciple have seen a lot, the Buddhist disciple, who should be practicing frugality more than anyone else, was asking me for a Buddha statue.

I decided to change the subject.

“Are you studying well these days?”

At that, Hyoryeong quietly stepped back and scratched the floor with his foot.

His face was slightly distorted, as if he was about to burst into tears.

“The teachers are bothering me too much, I don’t like it! They keep teaching me things I don’t understand.”

But I sighed.

Hyoryeong’s head could only be described as average, for better or worse.

Of course, the court officials wouldn’t be satisfied with just this.

It meant that the use of pencils didn’t have a positive impact on learning achievement.

But I had a method too.

I stroked my brother’s head with a kind expression and said.

“You don’t need to understand. Just memorize it.”

“Huh?”

‘This is when rote learning shines.’

I shouted.

“What’s the point of figuring out the detailed meaning of the scriptures anyway? You won’t use it when you go out into society. Just write it down and memorize it unconditionally.”

Write it out loud, memorize it, write it out, memorize it.

Since the teachers weren’t asking for a deep level of understanding, this was enough to memorize it.

The goal was to make them repeat and memorize unconditionally.

‘But it’ll be lacking in a short amount of time.’

I had them make something like a notebook and fill it with some sentences.

“What is this?”

“A key note, no, a notebook.”

When Hyoryeong, who was diligently taking notes without knowing why, asked, I replied.

I was going to pick out sentences and ask him, and these were the frequently asked sentences that I had found out by shaking down the civil officials of the Gyeongseong Department [a government department or office].

Since the importance is all determined and the questions are also determined.

Then there was no need to waste time elsewhere.

‘This is real studying.’

If you tried to gradually understand the entire Elementary Learning in the remaining time, it was as good as a certain defeat.

I held out the key notes and said.

“Look at this every time you have free time from now on. Take this with you when you go to the bathroom and memorize it in your spare time.”

One of the guys who used to play in the national league during his school days would study using even the smallest bits of time.

I’ve never done that, but my brother needed that kind of passion now.

“E-Even when I go to the bathroom?”

“Yes. Look at it while lying down to clear your head, and look at it while eating. That’s not difficult, is it?”

“It’s difficult.”

“Hey, I’m not telling you to study at that time, I’m just telling you to read it naturally.”

“I don’t know what’s different.”

Hyoryeong made a tearful face.

“So, are you saying you won’t do it?”

‘I didn’t want to do this, but.’

I pretended to raise my fist, and Hyoryeong quickly flinched.

‘Ugh.’

Unlike before, when his brother had become more affectionate, he automatically became frightened when he came out strongly like the original Yangnyeong.

‘Hmm, this pricks my conscience a bit.’

Stimulating my brother’s trauma.

I unfolded my fist and stroked Hyoryeong’s head.

I should switch to a carrot-instead-of-stick strategy.

“Instead, if you pass this test safely, I’ll give you a new Buddha statue.”

“Buddha statue!”

Hyoryeong’s eyes sparkled.

In my eyes, it was just a statue of Buddha or Bodhisattva, but it was different for Hyoryeong.

‘Come to think of it, he wouldn’t be particularly immersed in Buddhism at this age.’

There’s no way he’s ever read Buddhist scriptures.

‘He must be playing with it like a toy.’

If I think about it that way, there was no need to insist on just Buddha statues.

“Don’t you want something better than Vajrapani?”

“Is there something like that?”

Hyoryeong’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes, yes, if you do well at the lecture, I’ll prepare a statue that’s cooler than Vajrapani.”

“Wow!”

Hyoryeong drooled over the carrot I offered.

He still couldn’t concentrate completely like a child, but every time, he looked at me and turned his head back to the book.

I watched that scene with satisfaction.

‘I’ve solved one problem for now. I don’t think I need to use my strength for the other one, right?’

The problem was calligraphy, but since he was a child, he couldn’t produce satisfactory brushstrokes.

“You rascal, your writing is crooked!”

I scolded my brother and said that.

Thanks to merging with the original, I could produce the masterpiece of Yangnyeong, who wrote the signboard of Sungnyemun [the main gate of Seoul] without any special practice, but Hyoryeong couldn’t.

Hyoryeong had no choice but to diligently imitate my writing style.

“Ugh, I’m going to die.”

My brother was the one who studied, but why am I so exhausted?

Forcing a guy who doesn’t want to sit down is also very mentally draining.

When the studying was over, I let Hyoryeong play with the Buddha statue.

It seemed like he played well on his own then.

I feel like a parent showing YouTube to a baby.

“Hyung-nim.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Hyoryeong, who was bored of playing alone, handed me something made of sorghum stalks.

It was a simple structure, but it was clear that it depicted a creature with multiple arms.

‘His expressiveness is good.’

“What is this?”

“It’s Asura [a demigod or titan in Buddhist cosmology].”

“Who made this for you?”

“Makdong did.”

Then Hyoryeong handed me a sorghum stalk.

“Huh? Are you telling me to play Asura?”

“Yes. And I’m Vajrapani.”

Hmm, this is also a type of toy play.

I used to play with this a lot when I was young too.

Well, there’s not much to play with in this era.

‘That damn soccer too.’

Even if I don’t want to pay attention to it, I can’t help but hear that the heat is rising in Hanyang [old name for Seoul] and Gaeseong [a city in North Korea].

I heard that if you go to a soccer match, you can see a chaotic scene where blood is splattered and people are fighting with the ball, so its popularity is increasing day by day.

At the same time, my notoriety was also increasing.

‘Would it be nice if they played in a more peaceful way like this?’

“Uhaha, die, die!”

I thought that as I watched Hyoryeong bring down the sorghum stalk with the Vajrapani Buddha statue.

‘It would be nice if the kids played with toys and the adults read books, but.’

The only way to get rid of my notoriety, even a little bit, is to invent new entertainment.

The current printing capacity of Joseon [the name of the kingdom] is not enough even to publish scriptures.

But as I felt while teaching Hyoryeong, there were no humans, whether children or adults, who liked studying.

“If you really want to make people read, you have to sell novels.”

No matter how much they talk about unofficial history, people’s attention will inevitably be drawn to the interesting side.

The printing technology development project had been pushed back to the back burner, but it couldn’t be helped in order to quell the ominous rumors about me.

There was someone looking for me.

“Uaaah, Crown Prince!”

My maternal uncle Min Mujil stormed into the East Palace, clutching his head.

End

ⓒ Pitkong