There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 98

“A cult?”

Yi Seong-gye’s face hardened at my words.

“Yes. From what I’ve gathered, they’re stirring things up by claiming our victory over the Wokou pirates was thanks to some divine help.”

The names they attached to this so-called deity varied.

Chiwoo, Hwadeok Jin-gun, Dudu, all sorts of gods were mobilized to protect our army.

If you only heard the names, it was a lineup that could have conquered the Ming Dynasty and turned Nanjing into a sea of fire, rather than just defeating Wokou pirates.

‘This is a familiar tune.’

My memory was hazy, but I felt like I’d heard of these strange gods somewhere before.

I looked at Yi Seong-gye and said,

“You should deploy the soldiers here and arrest them immediately. If we leave them alone, more people will be deceived by their empty words.”

Yi Seong-gye nodded at my strong assertion.

“That’s right.”

“Then…”

“But we’re sneaking out right now.”

I was speechless at Yi Seong-gye’s rebuttal.

Now that I think about it, No-bun is probably under the blanket, giving the performance of his life in my place at the palace.

If we cause a commotion here by arresting those spreading the cult, our outing today will surely be exposed.

Still, isn’t this a more important issue than us getting scolded?

I frowned and asked,

“But… aren’t these kinds of people the ones who ruin the country? Like the Yellow Turban rebels of old?”

Yi Seong-gye chuckled.

“Those kinds of guys always appear in any world.

They only overthrow the country because the times are chaotic.

But what can we do? The people are foolish and believe in such people. There must be hundreds of such religions in Joseon. Do you intend to crack down on them all one by one?”

As I was about to argue with Yi Seong-gye, he raised his hand and said,

“It’s right to crack down on them if their power becomes too great or their teachings are heretical.

However, religion may be necessary for people who have nowhere else to turn. Unless they reveal their true colors, it might be good to give them a way to believe.”

I simply thought we should eradicate them, but Yi Seong-gye’s perspective, having lived through chaotic times, was definitely different.

“And what sophisticated doctrines would those guys have? If they don’t, there’s a limit to how much their power can grow.”

Yi Seong-gye stated definitively.

Despite Yi Seong-gye’s explanation, I felt uneasy.

‘It would be foolish to mobilize troops, as Grandpa said.’

So arresting them was out of the question.

However, I needed to confirm something.

If it really was a pseudo-religion [false religion], their madness would be revealed soon enough.

I grabbed one of the people who were enthusiastically listening to the man’s sermon on the rock and asked,

“Excuse me, what is that preacher saying right now?”

“Ah, are you also interested in our party, young master?”

The believer, looking delighted, asked.

“Interested, you could say… What kind of religion do you believe in? What are its doctrines?”

“A great god has newly appeared in our East, so we should serve him and accumulate merit in this life to be reborn in paradise after death.”

I clicked my tongue.

“So that preacher is the incarnation of that great god.”

It was the Joseon version of a pseudo-religion where the leader claims to be the second coming of Jesus.

Then the believer jumped up and waved his hand.

“No. The preacher is just the one who manages the party and shares the teachings. The one who becomes the god is separate.”

Hmm, they’ve thought this through.

They’ve set up a figurehead.

Without much expectation, I asked who it was, and the believer proudly said,

“It is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

‘Me?’

I felt like I’d been hit hard on the back of the head with a hammer.

‘Me?’

Come to think of it, I seemed to have heard something like that before.

They said some kind of worship had sprung up because I made artifacts.

It wasn’t a very important story, so I had forgotten about it.

‘This has spread outside the Military Supplies Department?’

I barely managed to regain my dizzy mind and asked,

“I want to talk to that preacher once.”

How did this happen?

===

Perhaps it was because the young boy, who looked like a nobleman at first glance, showed interest, but it was easy to get connected to the leader, Mun Ga-hak.

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here, kneel down!”

Of course, Mun Ga-hak was forced to kneel as soon as he was brought to the Gaeseong office.

“Your Highness!”

“What does it feel like to see a god in person?”

I thought a con man would be flustered, and someone who truly believed would shed tears of emotion.

However, Mun Ga-hak simply prostrated himself and reported,

“I believe you have great doubts about our party.”

“Of course.”

“When Your Highness was ill, this humble one said that the meteor that appeared was ominous and that an accident would occur, and was dismissed from my position.”

Ibangwon must have been furious at that time. It’s amazing he wasn’t killed.

Mun Ga-hak spoke with a strange, enthusiastic expression.

“But this humble one was wrong. That meteor was not an ominous celestial change, but a signal that a god was descending, riding the meteor like Mungokseong [a star associated with royalty]!”

I felt a chill.

Because I made a wish on a shooting star and merged with Grand Prince Yangnyeong, Mun Ga-hak’s words subtly pierced the core.

But there was no way I could admit that.

I denied Mun Ga-hak’s words and said,

“I am human.”

Mun Ga-hak’s face didn’t crack and harden at the human declaration.

He smiled as if he knew I would say that and said,

“Of course, you are human now. But Your Highness is the incarnation of the Great God, so it is certain that your body is human, but the divine spirit is strong.”

From the cult leader’s point of view, he would naturally say that.

I scratched my head and asked,

“What exactly is this Great God?”

“It refers to the god who gave fire to humans and allowed them to live prosperously. This god had different names, but has appeared in the human world several times since the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to enrich the products of nature.

This is the second time he has been born in this Eastern land since King Talhae [fourth king of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea].”

It smelled a bit like doctrines taken from Buddhism.

Even when I was in modern times, I had seen all kinds of pseudo-religions sickening society.

“Do you deceive people in this way?”

Mun Ga-hak shouted confidently.

“This humble one has simply conveyed the right path to the world, and has never deceived or extorted others.”

“So, you’re saying you’re confident?”

“Unlike other cults, our party does not teach that the way to attain enlightenment is to sell amulets or follow the words of the cult leader. We consider diligently working as a method of cultivation, so we believe that one can obtain it on their own in the process.

Therefore, we call ourselves a party, not a religion.”

Mun Ga-hak continued to explain.

“When the Great God appears, new things will be created in the country, and the products of nature will also greatly prosper. Everyone believes that working hard to contribute to this is the way to enter paradise.”

‘A terribly beneficial doctrine.’

Even I, who had been viewing them negatively from beginning to end, was reconsidering.

“Hmm…”

They are a group of cults that confuse the country, but they are not deceiving people to extort money or create military organizations.

They are definitely bad guys, but they don’t do bad things, so it’s a bit difficult to arrest them all and torture them.

‘It’s a bit unsettling to be worshiped as a god.’

Should I just think of it as being revered as a symbol of industrial development?

Should I just leave them alone, as Yi Seong-gye said?

Still, I felt uneasy about letting them go like this.

“If working itself is cultivation, then there’s no need for compensation, right?”

When I asked tentatively, Mun Ga-hak proudly nodded and replied,

“That’s right. All work is practice, all work is cultivation, so laboring is the same as cultivating the Tao [the Way].

What is more important than money is entering paradise in the future. You must not work for trivial gains.”

“You little… that’s passion pay [exploitation of labor under the guise of passion].”

I kicked Mun Ga-hak in the shin.

I knew it.

I’ve seen more than one or two pseudo-religions that only spout fancy words and end up exploiting the labor of their followers.

You can cultivate your personality through labor, and you can believe that depending on your point of view.

But since this is connected to a pseudo-religion, a labor exploitation problem is bound to occur.

“Still, I like that you value industry.”

To be honest, Confucianism and Buddhism don’t seem to have much interest in this area.

I looked at Mun Ga-hak with a slightly softened expression and said,

“It would be good to maintain only the doctrine that the four classes of people are equal and that even a mere artisan can attain enlightenment, except for that part.”

I commanded.

Then Mun Ga-hak protested in a small voice.

“Changing the doctrines arbitrarily is…”

“I’m a god, aren’t I? You worship me, don’t you? Then you have to do as the god says.”

“Ack, ack!”

Like Moses, who received the Ten Commandments, he should just quietly accept the will of God.

I looked at Yi Seong-gye, who was sitting behind me, and said,

“What do you think, Grandpa? Do these guys really seem like a cult?”

“I don’t know.”

Yi Seong-gye said with an indifferent expression.

“It’s a bit strange that they worship me…”

“Well, isn’t it a characteristic of Joseon people to gather and worship all the famous people they can find? There must be more than one or two shamans worshiping Choi Young [a famous general], who hasn’t even been dead for a few years.”

Come to think of it, Choi Young is also a modern(?) figure by the standards of this era.

Yi Seong-gye looked at me and said,

“Isn’t your attempt to bring in Buddhism also to govern the country smoothly?”

“Well, yes.”

There’s a lot to gain from the Buddhist community, too.

“There’s nothing wrong with Buddhism or those guys as long as their doctrines aren’t too heretical. Can’t you manipulate those guys and get what you want?”

“Yes?”

I frowned.

“Whether it becomes a cult or a normal religion depends on the person’s ability. Does that cult leader seem trustworthy?”

Yi Seong-gye asked.

‘He seems like a con artist.’

I thought with an uneasy face.

But Yi Seong-gye’s words were also correct.

‘Can you really call a pseudo-religion that hasn’t committed any evil acts yet a pseudo-religion?’

I might just have to classify it as a new religion. It’s a really difficult problem.

I sighed.

I looked at Mun Ga-hak and strongly commanded,

“The Taoist arts and magic are empty words. You must not use my name to perform sorcery.”

“Of course.”

Mun Ga-hak answered hastily.

I looked at Yi Seong-gye and said,

“I don’t think it would be bad to leave them alone at this point.”

It is an era where illogical beliefs elicit more response than rational explanations.

If I could use this religion, that wouldn’t be bad either.

“So you’re going to allow it?”

“As long as the court doesn’t make an issue of it?”

If they do something strange and end up in a situation where they’re all about to have their heads cut off, I had no intention of shielding them.

Mun Ga-hak bowed his head as if he was grateful just for that.

I looked at Mun Ga-hak and asked,

“By the way, what’s the name of your party?”

He said it was a party, not a religion, but it was just a difference in name anyway.

However, it seemed like a pretty important issue to Mun Ga-hak, so I humored him.

Now that he had even received my approval, Mun Ga-hak’s face was full of life.

He hurriedly explained the origin of the name, which I hadn’t even asked about.

“We are an organization that takes promoting industry as its path, following the Great God. Therefore, we add the character ‘gong (工),’ which means artisan, and ‘san (産),’ which means to create products…”

“Add…?”

Mun Ga-hak proudly puffed out his chest and said,

“We have named it the Communist Party.”

I’m going crazy.

End