There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 82

“Is there a problem with me developing my private land?”

The officials’ faces were crumpled at the announcement of the Yeouido development plan, which increased their workload, but I didn’t care.

After dealing with the backlog of busy work, I finally had a moment to breathe. Naturally, the remaining time was spent with my family.

Among them, the biggest problem was the chubby little one.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“I told you to call me ‘hyung’ [older brother].”

It had been a while since I visited Prince Chungnyeong, and my youngest brother, Do, came waddling towards me.

I clicked my tongue as I watched him.

‘Tsk! Can he even be called a grandson of Yi Seong-gye [founder and first king of Joseon] like that!’

I resisted the urge to shout that and spoke gently to Do.

“Don’t you think you should exercise a bit?”

It’s not like I’m going to create a muscular Joseon, and I have no intention of making the kid do excessive exercise.

Still, he should at least go outside and walk a bit.

All he does is eat, sleep, and read books all day!

‘At this rate, he’s just a bum.’

No, it’s a bit harsh to say that to a kid.

Still, as his older brother, I couldn’t stand by and watch a predetermined tragedy unfold.

‘It’s not like the scriptures say not to exercise.’

“Confucius was over 9 feet 6 inches tall and specialized in chariot racing. Otherwise, how could he have traveled around the chaotic Spring and Autumn period preaching?”

To preach love, compassion, and benevolence in a time of chaos, you can’t do it without considerable force.

‘Jesus was a stonemason and whip master, and Buddha was an Indian martial artist who took down assassins and mad elephants.’

Compared to that, Confucius the Tank is nothing.

“A sound mind in a sound body. To become a great sage, you also need to train your body.”

I said those words, but Do remained unmoved.

“It is filial piety to cherish the body you were born with.”

“Is that the body you were born with! That’s fat from eating nothing but evening snacks every night! It will only make you sick; how is that filial piety?”

I shouted like that.

However, Do calmly patted his belly and replied.

“In the Analects, Book 7, ‘The gentleman is always composed, while the petty man is always full of worries.’ Also, in Book 15, ‘The gentleman cannot be known in small matters but can be entrusted with great things.’ So, is there a need to obsess over trivial things like gaining and losing weight?”

“Wh-what?!”

It seems like a self-serving interpretation, but I can’t refute it because I didn’t study enough.

To be defeated in a debate by a kid like that.

Damn it.

My pride as an older brother and an adult was trampled on.

‘I’ll keep going until I succeed.’

I resolved.

===

I was determined to make my brother exercise for his health, but others didn’t seem to think so.

“Isn’t it good that he’s eating well and growing quickly even at a young age?”

Noh Bun asked.

Well, I don’t think the eunuchs who serve the Grand Prince up close would think so.

‘It was the sun, not the north wind, that took off the traveler’s coat [a reference to Aesop’s fable, meaning persuasion is more effective than force].’

To persuade him in a more intimate setting, I sat Do down and brought him some snacks.

I can’t make popcorn because there’s no corn, but I can certainly make puffed rice.

Unlike the usual honey cookies, Do’s eyes widened at the crispy texture.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, no, I wish my brother would play with me every day!”

‘Easy to figure out, this one.’

He called me Your Highness the Crown Prince a moment ago, and now he’s calling me brother.

“If you listen to this brother, I’ll give you something even tastier.”

“What’s tastier?”

He asks, his eyes sparkling.

“Before that.”

I held up a finger to stop Do.

“So, why are you cooped up in your room like this? That’s why you look so gloomy.”

Even for someone who is introverted and into linguistics, it’s hard to understand why he’s so inactive at such a young age.

When I was his age in my past life, I used to run 20km.

“Huh? Studying is good, but you have to play well to become a proper adult.”

Do lowered his head at my questioning, then scratched the ground with his foot.

“It’s because there’s nowhere to go.”

“?”

“You’re always busy and going somewhere, and so is Father. Mother only tells me to study.”

Prince Hyoryeong seems to be missing, but he wouldn’t be fun to play with anyway.

I looked at my brother with a pitiful expression.

The life of the royal family is different from ordinary families.

You have to make up your mind to find or call them to see your family.

The only thing he can get praise for and do well is studying, so he must be cooped up in his room reading books.

I’m his brother, but I didn’t know anything about my brother’s feelings.

‘This stuffy palace.’

It feels like that to me, so how must it feel to my brother?

A bird trapped in a cage who can’t go outside the palace.

He won’t know until he becomes an adult and moves out, but until then, this narrow place is his whole world.

I clenched my fist tightly and resolved.

‘It’s still the early days of the kingdom, so the court’s laws and customs aren’t that strict. I must reform even the palace.’

I soon opened my fist and stroked my brother’s head.

I’ve been too indifferent.

“Now that I’m back, shall we go somewhere nearby to play?”

Then Do’s face crumpled.

“Yes? I don’t like it, it’s cold.”

Damn it, this kid.

I’m going to drag him outside no matter what.

===

I can’t win with words, so I had to find someone else.

I can steamroll most adults with status or words, so I need to call someone with high status and who isn’t swayed by such things.

The person I found was my great-uncle Yi Bang-gwa.

I tilted my head when I saw my great-uncle lying in bed covered with blankets in the Sangwang Hall [hall for retired kings], and my great-aunt next to him sighed.

“He was quiet for a while, but he’s acting like this again because the Crown Prince came.”

“Yes?”

What on earth is the cause?

Considering my great-uncle’s personality, there could be 486 reasons to be sulky, but which one is it?

“I also… want to go… home…”

Ah, is that why?

I said to Yi Bang-gwa as if appeasing him.

“The King Emeritus [retired king] only took me; what can I do? And it was clearly an official duty to stabilize the public sentiment in the Northeast, an official duty.”

“I’m… not needed… is that it…”

‘Honestly, that’s true.’

Since it was me, who will inherit the throne, and the eternal idol of the Northeast, the King Emeritus, who went, it was so enthusiastic.

Great-uncle, um……

But I didn’t show it and brought out a new bait.

“This time, the Training Command is researching warriors and decided to compile a book.”

“…?”

“I’m thinking of covering everything from the Three Kingdoms period to the battles at the end of the Former Dynasty, and I need the help of the King Emeritus.”

Yi Bang-gwa’s face brightened.

“Eung… you want to hear… my heroic deeds… that’s what you’re saying…!”

Actually, rather than heroic deeds, it’s about compiling the progress of each battle into a textbook.

“Of course. Shouldn’t future generations learn from and emulate the achievements of the King Emeritus?”

Yi Bang-gwa kicked off the blanket he was covered with and got up.

“You should have… said so sooner…”

‘As expected!’

Yi Bang-gwa likes this kind of opportunity very much because his presence has disappeared for a long time.

“Ahem, back in the days of King Chang, I was in Haeju…”

I gestured to Yi Suk-beon, who I had brought with me, and he began to write it down with a pencil instead.

Once Yi Bang-gwa started talking, there was no end to his story.

I tried to cut him off appropriately to get to the real point, but my great-uncle’s words had already gone through the story of escaping from Choi Young’s grasp during the Wihwado Retreat and reached his love story with my great-aunt.

“So… I went to the Prince of Wolseong and said… Give me your daughter! So…”

‘I thought it was just a simple political marriage, but there’s such a secret story… Huh!’

I, who had been listening with my mind off, finally came to my senses.

‘Why is it so interesting?’

But now is not the time to listen to this story.

‘Why are you writing this down?’

I thought, glaring at Yi Suk-beon.

Yi Suk-beon, who had been writing down with a blank look, quickly lowered his head at my gaze.

“So… when Jeong Mong-ju… tried to kick my father out…”

“Great-uncle!”

I knelt down in front of Yi Bang-gwa and said.

“May I ask my nephew for a very, very, very small favor?”

“Eung? What is it… tell me…”

Fortunately, Yi Bang-gwa didn’t seem to be in a bad mood thanks to his admirable nephew who was asking for heroic tales.

“I’m worried about So-jil and I’m trying to make him exercise, but this guy doesn’t listen to his brother and keeps slacking off. Please scold him greatly as an elder of the family.”

“Of course… I’m the elder of the family…”

Yi Bang-gwa, who was stroking his beard with satisfaction, even took the initiative to get angry.

“The etiquette between brothers… is strict… how outrageous… I called you as ‘the elder of the family’ [using a slightly archaic and formal way of emphasizing his position]…”

Yi Bang-gwa emphasized the word “elder of the family.”

“……”

Do had a shocked expression.

“Hah, but Confucius said…”

“Confucius… is important… and my words… are not important…!”

Yi Bang-gwa shouted like that.

Who would scold his brother so openly?

Yi Bang-gwa’s words were so overwhelming to Do, who had only had logical conversations based on scriptures, that he was speechless.

“The words of the sages are more…”

“Ahem… where are you interfering when an adult is speaking…”

Yi Bang-gwa openly rebuked him.

‘Hehe, that’s not how you counter *kkondaejil* [꼰대질 – a Korean slang term for꼰대, meaning an older person who is condescending or preachy].’

It’s to make the other person angry.

Can the youngest, who has dedicated his short life to logical training, withstand this?

“Waaaaah.”

Do’s face turned bright red, and he finally burst into tears.

“Oh, good boy. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

I quickly hugged and comforted my brother.

It seems a bit harsh, but he won’t listen unless I do this much.

“Did you see? If you keep not listening, I’ll take you to the Sangwang Hall every day!”

I scolded him sternly, and Do hiccuped and nodded.

Yi Bang-gwa crossed his arms with a triumphant expression.

It was the great victory of the elder.

If my great-uncle had a status window, he might have added an achievement like ‘Defeated King Sejong in a debate.’

Hehe, this is how adults win.

===

The ‘If you keep doing that, the King Emeritus will scold you’ strategy was effective.

He even accepted the diet control without complaint.

‘Only one snack a day.’

Only one chicken a week.

Kids are full of energy and should be running around, but they’re cooped up at home, so how can they not gain weight?

I was planning to force him to take a walk.

However, as soon as I saw the narrow Sijwagung [temporary palace], I was breathless.

The Sijwagung was literally a temporary palace in Gaeseong, so it was much smaller than other palaces.

“There’s no place for the kids to run around.”

But if I let them out on my own, there will be a fuss again.

Each of them is being educated in their own room with teachers who are much older, so there’s no way their emotional development will be proper.

“But isn’t that normal?”

“Normal my foot. Does this look normal to you?”

Because they’re like this in their growing infancy, there are kids who feed their brothers persimmons and marinated crabs together or put their sons in rice chests to kill them.

Come to think of it, both are Yeongjo [referring to King Yeongjo of Joseon, known for controversial actions towards his son].

Anyway, I was planning to cultivate some social skills for our royal family members.

“Then, how about having the *baedong* [young servants or attendants] enter the palace?”

“Let’s just make a school.”

I said.

“The teachers of Gyeongseungbu [capital administration] are the best teachers in Joseon, so how wasteful is it to listen to this good class alone? Let’s just set up an educational institution and take care of everything there.”

I said, rolling up my sleeves.

Anyway, there’s a lot of land left in Yeouido.

End

ⓒ Pitkong