Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 406: A short story. (3)

As the people scattered and screamed, it was the officials of Onsu-hyeon who became busy.

“You are not a monster, come back!”

The officials of Onsu County raised their voices, but the people did not even listen.

“If that isn’t a monster, then what is?”

“I guess that’s the starfish I’ve only heard about!”

“That’s right! “It’s a starfish, that’s right!”

“Anyway, jump!”

The people quickly disappeared, shouting various nonsense, and the officials of Onsu County looked embarrassed.

“Bull… haa~”

When the thing called ‘Bulgasari (不可殺伊)’, which had been circulating in folk tales since the late Goryeo Dynasty, came up, the officials put their hands on their foreheads and sighed.

“Where on earth did you run away?”

The officials who had been looking around to find the scattered people let out a long sigh again when they saw the people running away all the way to Namsan Mountain.

“Ha~. Before we knew it, we had reached there…”

“Did they learn the Chukji method?… Sigh~”

Sighing, the officials got on their horses and headed towards Namsan, where the people had taken refuge.

* * *

The people who came down the mountain again thanks to the appeasement of the officials and the cavalry put their butts back, hesitated, and gathered at the place where the tow truck was. Seeing that, the officials sighed again.

“Haa~.”

“Oh my~. “If the situation arises, you are ready to run away.”

As the people gathered again, King Sejong appeared from the carriage.

“I come to see His Majesty the Prime Minister!”

“I come to see His Majesty the Prime Minister!”

As the officials chanted and fell to the ground, the people followed suit and fell to the ground in panic.

King Sejong, who got off the carriage, smiled slightly and responded.

“I’m sorry for startling you. “I will be in your care for the time being, so please be kind to me.”

“I don’t dare ask for a favor! “Your Majesty is the master of this country, so if you give orders, you must follow them!”

The mayor of Onsu-hyeon raised his voice, and the other officials and citizens only bowed their heads.

However, Sejong shook his head lightly and accepted the words.

“Listen to the wise man. Your loyalty is truly beautiful, but it is not right. “We should not forget that saying that unjust orders are unjust is true loyalty.”

In response to King Sejong’s mild reprimand, the Hyeonryeong raised his voice once again with a red face.

“I will keep this in mind!”

After all the uproar, King Sejong was welcomed by the people and set off for Onyang Temporary Palace.

“I will prepare a kite.”

Sejong lightly waved his hand at Do Seung-ji’s words.

“That’s it. It’s not far, so it would be better to walk. “The weather is nice at the moment.”

“Haona…”

Do Seung-ji expressed his disapproval, but King Sejong smiled and walked away.

“I’ve been told that walking is good for your health, so isn’t this a good opportunity? ha ha ha!”

* * *

King Sejong, who stayed in the temporary palace, comforted the public sentiment.

It was the third day after arriving.

King Sejong called the people of Onsu-hyeon, held a feast, and distributed a small amount of money.

“Please take good care of Gwain during his stay, even if it may be a bit uncomfortable.”

“oh my! Don’t say things like that! When will little people ever sit in a place like this? “It’s something I’ll be proud of until I die.”

At King Sejong’s words, the people bowed their heads and expressed that it was okay.

However, there was a reason why King Sejong called the people and consoled them.

* * *

Looking at history before the intervention of Hyang, the kings of Joseon chronically suffered from skin diseases. To treat this skin disease, kings regularly visited hot springs.

This was the same for Sejong.

King Sejong enjoyed visiting hot springs in Baecheon, Pyeongsan, Icheon, and Onyang to treat the skin diseases and eye diseases that persistently plagued him.

However, because these areas were far away, King Sejong gave an order to find out if there were hot springs closer by.

At this time, a rumor was heard that there was a hot spring in Bupyeong, and King Sejong ordered the Bupyeong governor to investigate, and the answer he received was absurd.

-The people destroyed the hot springs.

There was a hot spring in Onsu-gol (now Onsu-dong) belonging to Bupyeong Dohobu, but the people who heard the rumor blocked the hot spring.

This was because the hot springs had become a source of sorrow for the people.

In order to enjoy the hot springs, when the king arrived, not only did he have to do various volunteer work, but he also had to walk around under the harsh gaze of the soldiers guarding the king’s residence.

I was able to tolerate this up to this point. Because once the king leaves, it’s over. But the problem was next.

‘There is a hot spring.’ When the rumor spread, people with all kinds of skin diseases and lepers flocked to the place. As these people flock in, security problems arise and life becomes uncomfortable. In addition, if the hot spring water from the hot springs even flowed into the rice paddies or fields, farming would be over.

For that reason, the people cut off the hot spring water with stones and dirt.

In the end, Bupyeong Busa was reprimanded by King Sejong, and Bupyeong Dohobu was demoted to Bupyeong County. (Note 1)

For this reason, King Sejong held a feast and distributed money to the people of Onsu-hyeon.

* * *

While staying in Onsu-hyeon, King Sejong was with the people.

He traveled to nearby villages and farmed with the people, and distributed alcohol and meat to the people who were tired of farming.

“majesty! “People living in Asan County came to us saying they wanted to offer rice cakes to Your Majesty.”

King Sejong smiled at Do Seung-ji’s words and gave an order.

“Ohh! What a man of deep loyalty! “Get out!”

According to King Sejong’s order, a group of people came in, and the person standing in front was an old woman bent over, leaning on a cane.

The old woman staggered in, relying on a cane, supported by men and women who appeared to be family members, and tried to bow when she saw King Sejong.

“A lowly bitch gets to meet the king…” When

the old woman who was about to bow stumbled, the nearby eunuchs as well as Hyang and King Sejong got up and ran.

“It’s okay to bow, so please take a seat. “Bring a chair for the inauguration!”

King Sejong personally held the old woman’s hand and sat her down on the chair, looking at the men and women who came with him with a happy face.

“Is it your son?”

“yes.”

“How old is Jadang?”

“You are ninety-four years old this year.”

“Ninety-four!”

Everyone, including King Sejong, was greatly surprised by the old woman’s age.

“Longevity is the greatest blessing given by heaven, so I truly congratulate you. “You have been greatly blessed.”

The old woman responded to King Sejong’s words by bowing her head.

“In your life so far, you’ve seen a lot of good things and a lot of bad things. Especially in the past, when Japanese pirates were roaming around, I would have rather died, and there were many times I cursed at the sky because my life was so hard. But you don’t know how good it is that things like that have disappeared since the king became the king. So, I made rice cake. Although it was made by a lowly person, please accept it.”

Although these words had nothing to do with etiquette, the old woman’s words were full of sincerity.

Sejong nodded with slightly watery eyes.

“It will be good. Merchant ships should bring rice cake.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The merchant ship brought a basket full of rice cakes and lifted it up to King Sejong. Sejong took out a rice cake from the basket carried by the merchant ship, put it in his mouth, and muttered.

“It’s really delicious. “Thank you.”

After comforting the old woman’s hand, King Sejong returned to his seat with a basket full of rice cakes and gave orders to Do Seung-ji.

“Please reward that old woman with 10 gold coins.”

“I follow your orders!”

After sitting down, Sejong took out the rice cake from the basket and put it back into his mouth. Although it was not as high-quality as the rice cakes I ate at the palace, it tasted even more delicious.

“Would you please give me one too?”

When asked about the fragrance, Sejong smiled and held out the basket.

“It contains the hearts of the people, so let’s share it together.”

“I am devastated.”

(Note 2)

* * *

That evening, King Sejong and Hyang sat together for the first time in a long time.

“Do you remember what the old woman you saw today said?”

“yes.”

“I hope the happy times the old woman spoke of last for a long time.”

“Abamamama will achieve everything.”

“You should try too.”

“I will try my best too.”

“By the way, it is really convenient that currency is widely used and Joseon’s capabilities are growing.”

Hyang nodded at Sejong’s point without realizing it.

Before the stadium, if a large-scale event like this one took place, there would be an uproar. Preparing vehicles and horses to carry royal officials was a task, but preparing clothes and food for rewards, cloth and other items, and even medicine to be used in emergencies was an even bigger task.

Thanks to this, once a move like this was made, a follow-up unit larger than the main base had to be moved.

However, as currency became common and the scale of Joseon’s commerce grew, this burden was greatly reduced.

Of course, clothing and medicine had to be prepared in advance, but food, which was the largest item, was drastically reduced. What we prepared when leaving Hanseong was basic food to eat until we arrived at Haenggung Palace. The rest could be purchased directly using currency at a wholesale shop or market located in a passing village.

It was the same when I arrived at the temporary palace. What was sown to comfort the people was not cloth or grain, but money, and the food consumed during the stay and the alcohol and meat given to the people were all supplied through nearby markets and monopoly stores.

This was beneficial to both sides. The market and the monopoly were happy to see this unexpected big deal, and the royal family was happy to be able to purchase fresh food ingredients right away.

The biggest reason why this was possible was, as mentioned above, the widespread use of currency and the increase in the scale of Joseon’s commerce. In particular, it was noteworthy that food and goods could be supplied to a huge group of people, including almost the entire royal family and about a third of the government, without any problems.

Although he came to the hot springs for treatment, King Sejong, who saw the results of the treatment with his own eyes, looked much more relaxed and strengthened his resolve once again.

“Now that I have seen with my own eyes that what I have done so far is not wrong, I must try harder in the future.”

“Please take care of yourself. “Abama’s health comes first.”

“Thank you…”

Sejong, who was about to respond to Hyang’s remonstrance with a happy face, suddenly stopped talking and glared at Hyang.

“Say it straight. “What do you mean by what you just said?”

“Yes, of course, don’t you wish Abamama a healthy and long life?”

“So, what is the reason for wishing for a long and healthy life? Isn’t this a sign that he will hold out as long as possible and receive a replacement or lieutenant governor as late as possible? And in the meantime, are you planning to just pick and do what you want to do?”

“No way!”

It was a scent I strongly denied, but inside I was breaking into a cold sweat.

‘Did you get caught? Probably not? ‘You must have just pointed it out, right?’

Sejong, who saw Hyang’s expression, growled.

“If I think about it, whether it’s the research institute or Area 51, we should hand it over to the government and have it purged by proxy…”

“Oh my, Abama!”

“We’ll see.”

* * *

‘We’ll see.’

King Sejong put it into action the next day.

“I will order the crown prince. In Joseon, some places already have hot springs and many places are rumored to have hot springs. According to medical records, hot springs are places that are greatly beneficial to human health, but people are hesitant to develop them. Please come up with a solution for this. The deadline is two days before returning to the palace.”

Sejong, who gave orders to Hyang, added.

“The reason this task was given to the crown prince is because the ministers accompanying him are still busy. Fortunately, the crown prince was free from work at the research institute and Area 51, so he thought he was the right person to take on this job. So, I hope the crown prince does his best.”

Hyang bowed her head and responded to King Sejong’s command.

“I follow your orders.”

‘Ah, the back end!’

* * *

Note 1) Oryu-gol’s Guro story.

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Note 2) The writer created it based on the annals that a 94-year-old woman living in Asan County presented rice cakes to King Sejong when he visited Onyang Hot Springs. That’s it.

The Annals of King Sejong, read in one volume. Sejong 15 years. Written by Park Young-gyu. Woongjin Knowledge House.

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