Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 15 — Sprout…. Sprout of Cancer? (8)

King Sejong, who had arrived outside the East Palace by half running, saw the eunuchs from the East Palace who were in a hurry, then called them with his hand gestures. 

“The eunuchs there, come here.”

“We greet Your Majesty the King!”

The eunuchs immediately greeted King Sejong, but King Sejong stopped them and asked. 

“Forget your greetings. Where are you going?”

“I am on my way to the Ministry of Taxation.”

“I am going to the Royal Secretariat.”

“Why are you going to the Ministry of Taxation and Royal Secretariat?”

“We received an order to take a note of all items that has been given to the envoys from Ming since King Taejo reign, and bring—”

Even before the eunuchs could finish their answers, King Sejong suddenly shouted. 

“This kid really! Seems I've been spoiling you too much, huh?!”

Filled with rage, King Sejong flapped his royal robe before running to the East Palace.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Maaajesty!” 

When King Sejong began to run, the eunuchs and soldiers who were following behind him also began to chase him. 

King Sejong and people attending him disappeared just like a wind, and the ones left there were the eunuchs who were on their way to execute Hyang’s order. 

“What should we do now?”

“What do you mean by that? Don't we just need to execute the order we received?” 

“Well, that’s true….”

The eunuch who got an order to go to the Ministry of Taxation stared at the East Palace with a worried expression.

“If this goes wrong, there might be a bloodbath….”

* * *

When the Queen and her attendees, and the high-ranking officials arrived at the East Palace, King Sejong’s roars and Hyang’s rebuttals already leaked out from Hyang’s room.

“This kid! Crown Prince! Why are you being absurd like this?!” 

“I am not being absurd! I am only preparing to do the things I have to do as a crown prince!”

“You rascal! Are you doing this despite knowing your age?!” 

“There is no age limit in doing the right things! It is just an excuse to say someone is too young to act!” 

“There are the high-ranking officials, aren’t there?”

“Isn’t this because they don’t want to move, that I have to do it?” 

“You rascal! You don’t want to give up, huh? Eunuch, get out and bring me a stick and a block!”

When King Sejong shouted his order to bring the stick and the block, Queen Soheon, who was at a loss what to do, cried out.

“Your Majesty!”

“Don’t come inside, My Queen! Eunuch, what are you doing? Hurry and bring me the stick and the fulling block!”

“Ye-Yes, Your Majesty….”

With the scolding from King Sejong, Head Eunuch and eunuchs attending King Sejong opened the door of Hyang’s room and walked out. 

Queen Soheon immediately stepped up after seeing Head Eunuch’s pale face and entered Hyang’s room.

“Your Majesty!”

“Get out, My Queen! Eunuchs, escort the Queen outside!” 

“Your Majesty!”

“What are you doing?!”

After the commotion, Queen Soheon was dragged out by the eunuchs. Queen Soheon, who collapsed in front of the East Palace, screamed her lungs out.

“Your Majesty! He is our child! Please be more merciful!” 

“Head Eunuch, what are you doing?! Bring me the stick and the block!”

At King Sejong’s shout, the Head Eunuch and the other eunuchs went to take the stick and block, then immediately came back. 

“Are you still thinking your absurd action is right?” 

“If Father, the King of this Joseon is the father of this nation's people, then I am their oldest brother! As the oldest, how can I stay still when my siblings wail whenever Ming’s envoy comes! Father, didn't you have already seen the report about the envoys’ evil doings! Every time an envoy comes, they rob property from people in villages on their way back! Then what can those people do? In the end, those powerless people at the bottom of this society only suffer repeatedly from this!” 

“That is a problem for the retainers to solve!”

“Those retainers are the ones who can’t find the solution despite it has been decades since Joseon was established! They are blabbers who only know how to have fun! If they are noblemen—noblemen of this Joseon, if they are the ones who claimed to have learned the sages’ teaching and behave like the sages, they shouldn’t stay still and only watch all of these evil practices happening!”

All the high-ranking officials, who were standing in the yard of the East Palace and hearing the debate between that father and son, lowered their reddened faces out of shame and let out a lamentation that reached the sky. 

“Hooh~.”

“So, are you still insisting that you are right?!”

“I don't think I have done anything wrong!”

“You really! Show me your legs!”

Queen Soheon, who was outside, paled at King Sejong’s shout.

“Your Majesty! The Crown Prince is only an eight-year-old kid!” 

“We must punish him severely when he is still young! Show me your legs and stand on the block!”

Not long after, Hyang’s voice broke out. 

“Eunuch Jo! Why are you standing there?! I'm responsible for what I did! Move away!” 

“Your Royal Highness!”

“I said move!”

“Your Royal Highness….”

Hearing the eunuch’s tearful voice, Queen Soheon cried and called Hyang.

“My son! My Hyang!”

Afterward,

Whack! 

“Your first mistake is being arrogant with your petty knowledge!”

Whack! 

“Your second mistake is you dare to look down on the retainers when you’re only a little kid!”

Whack! 

“Your third mistake is stubborn with your opinion!”

Whack! 

“Your fourth mistake is taking this father’s order lightly!”

Every time a mistake was declared, the stick struck once, and every time that stinging sound transpired, the retainers who were standing in the yard flinched. 

Only when he had struck him around twenty, King Sejong stopped. 

“Reflect thoroughly about today and make sure this kind of absurdity never happens in the future.” 

“I accept the command, Your Majesty.” 

After hearing Hyang’s answer—which said while clenching his teeth, King Sejong left the room.

When he reached the yard, King Sejong turned to the Head Eunuch.

“Call the Royal Physician and make him treat the Crown Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Head Eunuch signaled with his hand, and a eunuch in the back immediately ran to the Royal Physician Office. 

“Huff~.”

After letting out a long sigh, King Sejong glared at the officials who were standing in front of him.

With the lead of Three High Councilors(1), all the high-ranking officials who had seen King Sejong’s angry face kneeled all together. 

“We deserve to die!”

“We deserve to die!”

King Sejong briefly answered their shouts.

“By the evening, decide the envoy leader from the Three High Councilors, and two vice leaders from the Six Ministers. It is by the evening. If you all can’t do this, including the Three High Councilor, I’ll judge you all with high treason.” 

“Understand, Your Majesty!” 

While ignoring their answers, King Sejong walked closer to Queen Soheon. After bringing Queen Soheon, who was sitting helplessly with a face filled with tears, to her feet, King Sejong spoke calmly.

“Please take care of the Crown Prince.”

Thenceforth, King Sejong walked to his chamber with a tired face.

Queen Soheon sent him off while still wet with tears before glaring at the officials with a raging face. 

“I won’t forget what happened today and all your faces until I die!” 

“We deserve to die!”

“Shut up!”

Queen Soheon shouted instead of answering them before running to Hyang’s room. 

“Hyang! Eunuch, what are you doing?! Hurry and call the Royal Physician! Hurry!”

***

While the Royal Physician treated Hyang’s wounds, Queen Soheon cried and looked over his wounds. Of course, she also frequently added a few smashes on Hyang’s back.

“Who is it you take after that you’re this stubborn?!” 

“Why don’t you listen to your father?!”

“Mother, it hurts!”

“I hit you to hurt you!” 

It took five days for Hyang’s wound to heal. In the meantime, even his discussion with the officials from Crown Prince Education Office was suspended, and Hyang spent his time alone.

“A—ah! Ssss~~~.”

Hyang knitted his brows when the pain from his feet crept up while he was sitting on the chair, translating a book from Europe alone. 

It was because of his feet that he swayed unconsciously, bumped into the chair legs, and triggered his pain. Hyang looked into his legs before laughing. 

“No matter in the previous life or now, these legs suffer a lot.” 

Even in his previous life, his legs and back had truly suffered because of his outrageous maniac activity. 

***

Because of the big accident created by Hyang, the situation in the court was like treading on thin ice. The historians recorded the situation at that time like the following. 

July 2nd, Sejong 4th year (1422). 

After the King disciplined the Crown Prince severely, he ordered the Three High Councilors and Six Ministers to appoint the envoys’ leader and vice leaders immediately. Following the king's order to finish it before evening, the Three High Councilors and Six Ministers were locked in a room in Gyeongbok Palace(2), and the king’s guards watched over that room. The King ordered his guards to watch over them and ordered panuigeumbusa(3)

to prepare the interrogation. This was done in preparation in case the retainers couldn't give their answer by evening.

The historian said.

The crown prince’s action is extreme, but he didn’t say anything wrong. However, because his action took a wrong direction, it is right for the King to scold him.

It is also not wrong for the retainers to value the submission. But, it is also the truth that this submission is beyond the limit.

However, it is unjust to corner the retainers in a room and mobilize the royal guards to persecute them. This is an action that took a wrong step from the virtue of politics and a king's path, and at the same time leading to caprice and tyranny that the king must avoid at all costs.

***

Perhaps the pressure had really worked. That day, before the night came, the appointment ended.

“So the leader is Chief State Councilor and the vices are Minister of Taxation and Minister of Public Works…. I approve this appointment.”

“Your grace is immeasurable.”

“Your grace is immeasurable.” 

When King Sejong approved, the retainers prostrated all together and replied. With this matter finished, King Sejong gave his next order.

“The Ministry of Taxation and Royal Secretariat note down the reports asked by the Crown Prince and bring them here.”

With the order from King Sejong, the officials from the Ministry of Taxation and Royal Secretariat had to sort out all the evil doings of Ming’s envoys who visited Joseon since it was founded and documents related to that. 

As everything finally organized through such a long process, the officials who were filling out the document couldn’t help but sigh.

“This is really going too far!”

“How could….”

The young officials who were organizing the documents couldn’t hold their rage that they beat their chests.

King Sejong sighed after looking at the reports brought from the Ministry of Taxation and Royal Secretariat. 

“Huff~. What the Crown Prince said is right, after all.”

According to the report, after Joseon was established, the amount of tribute demanded by the envoy of Ming was increasing overtime every time the new kings were installed. The volume of demanded goods was soaring faster in proportion to the number of visits the envoys had.

The years in which the tributes demanded the most were the first and subsequent years of his accession to the throne.

In order to convince the envoys who were skeptical about himself—the third son—who rose to the throne when the crown prince, who had received the imperial recognition, was ousted; and in order to convince the envoys who doubted if the subjugation of Tsushima was real, the Joseon court had to pay huge amounts of money as bribes. 

“The smallest amount they received was two months of a year's budget, and the biggest was six months…. If we include the goods they have robbed from small villages, four months for smallest and one year for biggest….”

Just like how they were rumored as ‘recording lovers,’ the officials and scholars of Joseon recorded all the villages where the envoys passed by and properties of the most influential families there that they took away without missing anything. Then they sent it as reports. Thanks to that, King Sejong could know the exact value of the property that was stolen by the envoys. 

“Take a look at this!”

Following King Sejong’s command, the Three High Councilors and Six Ministers read the documents in turn.

“Hmm….”

“Hoh….”

The high councilors and high-ranking officials sighed after reading the reports. It was because they finally recognized the seriousness which they had only heard in words by confirming it with numerical values.

“Did you compensate the influential families who lost their wealth to the envoys?”

“….”

“… Because it was for the nation…”

“So you didn’t compensate for them? No wonder, they rake in villagers’ wealth—several times more than what was stolen. Haah~.” 

King Sejong sighed before looking at the high-ranking officials.

“All of you couldn’t even think about this thing when the young crown prince could?”

“Forgive us, Your Majesty.”

The retainers bowed at King Sejong’s rebuke. The words ‘aren't you also the same?’ was already at the tip of their throats, but their duty was only to bow while saying ‘we're honored!’.

“Those who will go as an envoy must definitely solve this problem!”

“Understand, Your Majesty!”

T/N

(1) Chief state councilor, left state councilor, right state councilor. They are the leader of the state council of Joseon, the highest organ of government at that time. ↻

(2) You can check this link for more information.

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(3) Panuigeumbusa (판의금부사/判義禁府事) The highest position in Uigeumbu. ↻