Black Corporation: Joseon

A new arc is here!

In particular, in the case of Ryu Jeong-hyeon, he was a scholar-official who experienced the turbulent period of the end of Goryeo and the beginning of Joseon. He was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Three Naval Provinces and commanded the suppression of the pirates in the Japanese islands under the supervision of Lee Jong-mu.

Although he was highly regarded for laying the foundation of cultural integration during King Sejong’s reign, contrary to his original history, he became a criminal of rebellious delusions and met his end.

It was a bitter example of the butterfly effect created by the unexpected existence of a character named Hyang.

However, the most unfortunate person was the Right State Councilor. The previous year, on October 21st of Sejong’s 5th year, the Right State Councilor, Jeong Tak, died at the age of 61, and Ryu Jeong-hyeon was recommended to take his place. He lost power and property within a few months of taking the position and was eventually exiled.

With the exile of Ryu Jeong-hyeon and his followers, Sejong, who had completely seized power, gathered the ministers in March and declared:

“I will carry out the reform for the sake of Joseon!”

With his declaration, the Great Reform, which took 10 years to prepare and 5 years to execute, began. This was the start of the Great Reform, which was later regarded as having completely changed the constitution of Joseon. Scholars marked the day of Sejong’s declaration as the beginning and called it the ‘Gapjin Reform’ or ‘Gapjin Great Reform.’

The basis of the reform that Sejong declared to implement was Hyang’s work.

A long time before Sejong’s declaration, the people living in Hanyang were being prepared for vaccinations.

Late at night, King Sejong sought out Hyang.

“Bring me the map you’ve made.”

“Yes? Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Right. Attendant, take care of the map.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At King Sejong’s command, the attendant took care of Hyang’s map.

“Oh, and don’t tell anyone that I took this.”

“Yes? Yes.”

After King Sejong took the map, Hyang realized that he had dug his own grave.

After some time had passed since the meeting, King Sejong sought out Hyang again, “About this part here…”

“Yes, that is…”

Sejong, who had questions while examining the map, asked Hyang, and Hyang answered the questions.

“Then, let’s end here. You’ve worked hard.”

“No, not at all.”

After seeing off King Sejong, Hyang hit his head on the table and sighed, “Sigh~ I’ve dug my own grave…”

Later on, King Sejong’s visits soon became part of Hyang’s daily routine. That was fine, but the problem was that the depth and sharpness of King Sejong’s questions increased almost vertically as time passed.

Eventually, Hyang’s daily life became a series of overwork. In the morning, he had to attend the Gyeongyeon (The Reading Hall[1]), in the morning he had to debate with the guests of the Crown Prince’s Lecture Hall or attend the royal council to observe the operation of the government, and in the afternoon, he had to go through the regular process of training in martial arts with the military officers of the palace. And from the evening, he had to do the source laundering work in preparation for King Sejong’s visit.

“Who would believe me if I said, ‘Everything came from my own head’? I can’t believe it myself. Otherwise, I would be exhausted from morning till night.”

By the time he finished the source laundering work, King Sejong arrived. After a round of questions and answers with King Sejong, it was already past 3 gyeong (11 PM to 1 AM) and approaching 4 gyeong.

And it was when King Sejong declared the reform plan that Hyang learned the whole story. Using the calendar Hyang had given him as a base, King Sejong began to create a master plan to reform the overall system of Joseon.

“The main purpose of the reform is to realize ‘royal politics’ and ‘Hongik Ingan’ (benefiting humanity).”

Using punctuation marks he learned through Hyang, King Sejong skillfully created a plan for the reform.

Starting with the reform of the administrative organization to the expansion of education, King Sejong made the plan while building the structure and adding details. When he encountered questions or difficulties, he waited for the night and sought Hyang.

When the plan was about 80% complete, Sejong threw it to the Hall of Worthies’ scholars.

“This is the reform plan created by this Majesty. Look carefully for improvements or problems.”

“We accept the order!”

“If there are improvements or problems, submit them to the minister in writing immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Also, keep silent about this until this Majesty officially announces it. If anyone leaks information, they will be punished for treason.”

“We will engrave it on our bones and remember it!”

The Hall of Worthies’ scholars who received the reform plan from Sejong did their best to analyze it. However, they encountered difficulties from the beginning, due to the punctuation marks that only Sejong and Hyang knew.

“Your Majesty, what are these symbols?”

“Oh, that is…”

The Hall of Worthies’ scholars who learned about the punctuation marks from Sejong began to concentrate on analyzing the reform plan. And that’s when it started. The level of questions King Sejong threw at Hyang increased almost exponentially in difficulty.

When the scholars found problems and reported them to Sejong, he pondered the solution. If he continued to think and couldn’t find an answer, he discussed it with Hyang. Once he found a satisfactory answer, Sejong threw it to the Hall of Worthies, and they applied the solution and resumed their analysis.

Upon the announcement of the reform plan, Hyang complained to Sejong, “Wouldn’t it have been more efficient if you had let me work with the scholars at the Hall of Worthies?”

Sejong replied with a smile, “You rascal. Don’t you know that there is a big difference between doing something knowingly and doing it unknowingly? When changing the entire country, if the king doesn’t understand properly, the king will only become a mere existence that says ‘Do it like this’ and puts a seal on it.”

“If you had listened to the explanation beforehand…”

“Which would bring better results, the king intervening and understanding directly, or just listening and understanding?”

At Sejong’s words, Hyang bowed deeply, “I cannot help but admire Your Majesty’s wisdom.”

This was Hyang’s sincerity.

Although the basis of the reform plan announced by King Sejong was Hyang’s, it was heavily diluted to the point where it was hard to call it Hyang’s. That’s how much King Sejong’s thoughts went into the reform plan.

That’s why it took 10 years of preparation after Sejong announced the reform plan, as he put in tremendous effort, almost obsessively.

Although Sejong declared the reform plan, he didn’t immediately change everything. He started with finances, preparing step by step, dealing with various issues along the way, and refining the framework of the reform plan. When he felt preparations were complete, King Sejong issued an order to the officials.

“Select personnel from the six ministries.”

Sejong formed a scaled-down model of the new administration – more precisely, a scaled-down model of the central government – with the people selected from the six ministries and entered into an experiment. He observed the division and efficiency of tasks created through reports and petitions from the provinces and the field in real time, along with the officials, and entered into adjustments.

As the experiment on the reorganization of the central government proceeded successfully, Sejong entered into an experiment on the local administrative organizations.

“Select 5 counties in Hwanghae Province, 7 in Gyeonggi Province, and 5 in Gangwon Province.”

The selection process was not random. In Hwanghae Province, which is in the northwestern region of Joseon, Gangwon Province in the northeastern region, and Gyeonggi Province in the central and southern regions, similar environments were chosen.

The areas had to be within one- or two-days’ distance from the capital, using relay horses.

After selecting the counties, the large-scale experiment began. Personnel were assigned according to Sejong’s local administrative organization, and a large number of investigators, scholars from the Hall of Worthies, and central government officials followed. It was a huge experiment.

As the experiment began, relay horses carrying reports, written by the officials in charge of administration and the investigators, ran daily from the counties where the experiment was being conducted to the capital. Sejong, Hyang, and the officials continued to make adjustments while reading these reports.

Despite such meticulous adjustments, various problems emerged when it came to actual implementation. Ultimately, it took five years to solve these problems, make adjustments, and establish the system.

However, now was the beginning of the reform plan declaration, and it was just the starting point after buttoning up the first button.

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Upon King Sejong’s command for the nationwide execution of cowpox vaccinations, couriers carrying King Sejong’s orders hurried to all eight provinces.

Following his command, all regional officials began preparing for cowpox vaccinations. Among them, some began to cause a commotion; the source of this disturbance was the regional nobles.

“Are you asking for a contribution?”

“Here is His Majesty’s handwritten order. The local nobles, the aristocrats, are advised to contribute.”

Upon seeing the official letter presented by the inspectors or magistrates, the nobles fell into contemplation.

“Since the King wishes, we must follow the order.”

“It’s not only for our family but also to help our neighbors, so we should contribute!”

A considerable number of aristocrats agreed without much ado and promptly made their contributions. The officials sent by the inspectors recorded these facts without fail, and this information was sent straight to the court.

“I cannot contribute!”

“Our family has already suffered from the illness once, so there is no need for vaccination!”

Of course, there were also those who refused to contribute, feeling that it was a waste. The reason they could refuse was because Sejong did not force them but “advised” them to do so. Of course, even if the king “advised,” it was common sense to follow; however, some people were blinded by wealth and forgot common sense.

“Look, Nobleman Kwon. Even so…”

“I said I can’t!”

Although the village magistrate and other nobles continued to advise, there were those who stubbornly refused until the end.

As a result, the distressed magistrates had to write petitions seeking a response.

◈◈◈

“Have you ever seen such insolent people!”

King Sejong, who received the petition, did not hide his anger. Clenching the scroll of the petition, he glanced at the vacant seats of the Three State Ministers, the Chief State Councilor, and the Chief Royal Secretary, then turned his gaze toward the six ministries.

“Chancellor, read this petition aloud!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Chancellor, who received the petition from King Sejong, read the contents aloud in a loud voice.

As the reading continued, the heads of the six ministries gradually lowered.

Upon the completion of the reading, King Sejong spoke, “Are these really aristocrats and village elders?”

“Your Majesty, it’s outrageous!”

“Even if we combine all the numbers in the petitions received so far, it exceeds a hundred! A hundred! Are these truly nobles? Are these the ones who pledged to serve and enlighten Joseon?”

“Your Majesty, it’s outrageous!”

“Truly… truly…” Unable to contain his anger, King Sejong stammered.

The Crown Prince, who was watching him, became alarmed. ‘He might collapse! It’s dangerous!’

“Your Majesty! Please quell your anger! You will harm your body!”

“Hoo…”

At the Crown Prince’s words, King Sejong took a deep breath and began to suppress his anger.

The Crown Prince urgently continued, “These people have already proven themselves to be hypocrites. How fortunate is this? From now on, we don’t have to treat them as gentlemen! It’s actually a blessing that we can distinguish between the good and the bad through this incident!”

At the Crown Prince’s words, King Sejong took a deep breath and spoke, “You’re right, my son. Through this incident, we have learned how these people really think about this country, Joseon, and its people. Let the Ministry of Personnel compile a list of those who have not paid the vaccination contribution fee until the end of the cowpox vaccination. And ensure that the people of the villages where those who refused to pay the fee receive help from neighboring villages for vaccinations, minimizing the number of those who cannot be vaccinated. However, exclude the households of those who did not pay the fee from the vaccinations. If they caused the problem, they must take responsibility.”

“Your command is received.”

“Let us take a break for now. All of you ministers must be tired.”

“We heed your command.”

As the ministers bowed and stepped back, the Crown Prince immediately spoke, “I will call for the royal physician right away.”

“It’s alright, I just need a little rest.”

“Your Majesty, your health has been greatly affected. For Joseon to function properly, Your Majesty must be healthy.”

At the Crown Prince’s words, Sejong smiled. “Even just hearing your words, I feel better. Alright, let’s do that. Chief Eunuch, call for the royal physician.”

Upon receiving the call of the merchant, the physician rushed over and immediately took King Sejong’s pulse.

“Your pulse is beating somewhat strongly, but it is not worrisome. I will prepare a decoction, so please drink it and take a brief rest.”

“I shall do so.”

A moment later, after King Sejong drank the herbal decoction the doctor brought and was seen resting with a peaceful expression, Hyang finally left the royal chamber.

Returning to his own room, Hyang finally let out a sigh, “Phew, that was a close call. But the bark of that birch tree seems to have paid for the meal.”

The decoction made from birch bark helped maintain the stability of Sejong’s pulse. Sitting in a chair and drinking tea, Hyang muttered quietly, “Our popular sister should live and enjoy longevity without illness.”

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1. A place to discuss Confucianism philosophies.[↩]

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