Chapter 111: Poison (2)
While Sejong and Hyang were having their conversation, the ministers were also continuing their discussion.
"By the way, what do you think is the true goal that His Majesty and the Crown Prince sincerely desire?"
At the Minister of Rites' question, Maeng Sa-seong answered calmly.
"I believe it is 'Chingje' (proclaiming oneself Emperor)."
"Chingje?"
"Chingje, you say..."
"I see."
"While I am a bit worried..."
At Maeng Sa-seong's words, the ministers nodded.
To the ministers of Sejong's era, 'Chingje' was not unfamiliar. This was because Goryeo, the immediately preceding dynasty, had taken the form of "outer king, inner emperor" and called themselves "Emperor."
Although the system of "outer king, inner emperor" was abolished during the Yuan intervention period, and the restoration of the system during King Gongmin's reign after Yuan's fall failed due to Ming pressure, internally they had consistently used terms and protocols meant for emperors.
Therefore, to those who had personally experienced the transition between Goryeo and Joseon, the word "Emperor" was not difficult to mention.
"You all take it too lightly."
At the ministers' attitude, Hwang Hui delivered a sharp rebuke. At Hwang Hui's words, all the ministers' gazes focused on him.
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't you heard the news from Annam (Vietnam, Dai Viet)? Annam is already practicing 'outer king, inner emperor.' That Annam, of all places."
At that time, to the educated class of Joseon, Annam was perceived as a backward country. Because of this, Maeng Sa-seong's face turned serious upon hearing Hwang Hui's words.
"Surely! Are you saying His Majesty truly wishes to become Emperor?"
At Maeng Sa-seong's words, Hwang Hui continued.
"I do not know His Majesty's royal mind well, but the Crown Prince certainly has such thoughts."
"Do you have evidence?"
"Astronomy. And this recent contract."
At Hwang Hui's brief answer, all the ministers exclaimed in realization.
"Ah!"
"Come to think of it!"
Originally, observing astronomy was something only an imperial nation could do. However, Hyang had made the excuse of correcting the calendar and actively observed the heavens.
And the same was true of the joint venture contract that had just been made.
While everyone was still in shock, the new Minister of War Hwang Sang spoke up.
"Certainly, simply causing Ming to fall into internal trouble to avoid Ming's interference in the process of expanding our Joseon's territory was somewhat excessive. However, from a military strategy perspective, it is an excellent plan."
"Military strategy?"
When the civil officials tilted their heads, Hwang Sang explained in more detail.
"All military strategy books commonly say one thing. When the enemy's power is stronger than ours, there are two most orthodox methods we can take. One is to diligently build our own strength, and the other is to weaken the enemy. The Crown Prince has now employed both strategies simultaneously."
"Hmm..."
At Hwang Sang's explanation, all the ministers fell into thought, making sounds of contemplation.
Amid the brief silence, Hwang Hui spoke.
"If we look at the history of the Central Plains, the dynasties that unified and ruled the Central Plains fell not due to external invasions but internal strife. Yuan was the only exception."
"Then what about the joint venture contract that was signed?"
"Why do you think the idiom 'killing with a borrowed knife' came up?"
"Huh!"
At Hwang Hui's words, all the ministers wore expressions of disbelief.
Maeng Sa-seong, wearing an expression as if he had been hit on the back of the head several times, muttered.
"The Crown Prince who simply said 'I will contract with the Emperor,' and His Majesty who understood it... are they even human?"
"His Majesty is one thing, but what about the Crown Prince? To have such a poisonous mind at that young age..."
At the ministers' evaluation, the Minister of War interjected.
"According to military strategy books, what a commander must possess is a poisonous mind. The Crown Prince has already mastered military strategy from ancient to modern times, so such a level of poisonous mind is certainly possible."
"Huh..."
While the ministers could not continue speaking at Hyang's poisonous mind, Hwang Hui rose from his seat.
"Well then, I'll leave you to it. You'll have much to do ahead, so take care."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Making this Joseon into an Empire. Will that be a small task?"
Hwang Hui, having turned the question back to the ministers, smiled as he looked at Maeng Sa-seong.
"Lord Maeng, you were worried earlier that matters in the north would increase, weren't you? Surely, it won't be as many as in Hanyang?"
"Good heavens..."
"Hahahaha! Well then, do take care!"
Watching Hwang Hui's back as he walked out laughing heartily, Maeng Sa-seong muttered quietly.
"I should have been the one to go..."
Seeing Hwang Hui's back as he walked away briskly, the other ministers had similar thoughts to Maeng Sa-seong.
'I should have been the one to go...'
'If I had known Lord Hwang's thoughts, I should have moved in advance...'
'That position should have been mine!'
While everyone was thinking such thoughts, Minister of Taxation Kim Jeom rose from his seat.
"I need to prepare some tonic medicine to send to Lord Hwang."
"What is that about?"
"Why would we do that for Lord Hwang?"
At the ministers' questions, Kim Jeom answered with a scoff.
"Have you forgotten? Lord Hwang has to handle government affairs until he dies."
"Ah!"
The ministers, who had exclaimed in realization, all wore smiles with murderous intent flowing from them.
"I see. Then Lord Hwang must live a long, long time."
"We need to finish the Gyeongjang, complete the grand strategy, and achieve the great work, so he must live long. Very long!"
"We must prepare very effective tonic medicine!"
"I have some wild ginseng I've been saving—I should send it! For Lord Hwang who must work for the country until he dies!"
It was a rare sight of the ministers in agreement. Among them were even the Chief Inspector and Chief Censor.
* * *
Meanwhile, with the conversation brought to a temporary close at Sejong's urging, Hyang brought up the next topic.
"Father. Though I am fearful to ask, how is the progress on my marriage proceeding?"
"Your marriage? We are currently evaluating suitable young ladies as potential Crown Princess candidates. Why?"
"Quite some time has passed, yet no conclusion has been reached."
At Hyang's question, Sejong lightly cleared his throat.
"Ahem! Ahem! Since it is for the Crown Princess, we are putting great effort into the selection. It is taking some time. But why?"
Sejong, who had been asking the reason, smiled mischievously.
"Why? Have you been pretending not to care all this time, but actually want to get married quickly?"
"That's not it. The Emperor asked what I thought about taking his daughter as Crown Princess."
"Cough!"
At Hyang's shocking statement, Sejong choked on the tea he was drinking and coughed.
"Cough! Cough! So what did you say?"
As Sejong asked while continuously clearing his throat, Hyang answered calmly.
"I told him that the selection is already complete and only the date needs to be set."
"What did the Emperor say to that?"
"He only expressed regret and moved on. It seems it was just a passing remark, but if my marriage is delayed further, it could become problematic."
At Hyang's answer, Sejong analyzed the situation with a serious face.
"So a passing remark could become a sincere intention?"
"That is correct."
"Hmm..."
"But does the selection really take this long?"
"It just happened that way..."
At Hyang's question, Sejong spoke vaguely.
* * *
Thanks to Geom-gye, who had become connected to Hyang through his tour of gisaeng houses, diligently using his feet, candidates meeting Hyang's desired standards were put forward.
"My, my~ They all have outstanding beauty!"
The beauty of the women who came up as candidates was so exceptional that even Sejong exclaimed upon seeing those who passed the screening.
Moreover, showing how much care Geom-gye had put in, their learning was decent, and their character was not lacking for a Crown Princess.
However, a problem arose there.
"Is this fellow going to be ruined by being bewitched by women?"
At the same time that Sejong harbored doubts, the court ladies in charge of the evaluation all offered negative opinions.
"All candidates have beautiful appearances, and their character and learning are not lacking, but their faces overflow with sensuality. If handled improperly, the monarch could be bewitched by that sensuality and neglect state affairs."
"All candidates possess beautiful figures, but that beauty is the problem. The most important duty of a monarch's woman is bearing many children, but with such figures, it would be difficult to endure the strain of pregnancy and childbirth."
Because the court ladies all offered negative opinions, Sejong selected additional candidates. The newly selected ladies were those fitting traditional standards.
However, upon seeing the newly selected candidates, Sejong fell into worry.
'This isn't right either.'
The newly selected ladies also had decent learning and decent character. However, their appearance was the problem.
They were healthy and dignified, but that was where it ended.
'With that fellow's personality. He will definitely shut himself in Area 51 and not come out!'
Hyang was the one who had toured gisaeng houses as soon as marriage was mentioned and established his own picky standards.
"Hoo~ It is a difficult problem."
Sejong sighed at the difficult problem that seemed hard to find an answer to.
"Come to think of it... I was lucky. And... is that why Yangnyeong's elder brother wandered outside so much?"
The wife of Yangnyeong, Taejong's eldest son, had the appearance of a traditional eldest daughter-in-law. Like the candidates selected in the second round now, everything was good, but her beauty was somewhat lacking.
"At least my sister-in-law had a gentle heart, so she endured my brother's wild ways... If she had been like Mother, there would have been chaos several times over."
Queen Wongyeong of the Min clan, Taejong's lawful wife, was a woman with a personality as formidable as Taejong himself. Because of this, there were frequent conflicts due to Taejong's philandering.
Sejong, recalling past memories, let out a small sigh.
"Was I lucky?"
Thanks to being the third son rather than the eldest, Sejong was able to marry Queen Soheon, a woman who matched his tastes.
"The issue of bearing many children does have some merit to Hyang's argument..."
As Hyang had pointed out, the children born between Sejong and Queen Soheon numbered eight so far. If one simply calculated based on the age difference between the children, Queen Soheon had become pregnant with the next child almost immediately after the pregnancy, birth, and weaning period of one child ended.
If one included the concubines taken after Sejong became king, at least one person among Queen Soheon and the concubines had been pregnant every year until now.
While Sejong was worrying, facing a dilemma where he could neither go one way nor the other in the process of selecting the Crown Princess, the words the Ming Emperor had casually dropped had now thrown a bomb.
* * *
Seeing Sejong speak vaguely, Hyang pointed out the urgency of the situation.
"Father. A quick decision is needed. Neither you nor I can live serving the Crown Princess, can we?"
"That is true. We cannot live serving her."
"Even I think my standards were a bit high, but considering the time that has passed..."
"It is under evaluation! Under evaluation!"
Cutting off Hyang's words, Sejong quickly wrapped up the situation.
"Let's end here for today. I will make a decision on that matter soon!"
"What? Yes..."
After sending Hyang out, Sejong immediately sought out Queen Soheon.
"Hohoho!"
Queen Soheon, who had been caring for Prince Pyeongwon who was born not long ago, burst into laughter covering her mouth at Sejong's complaint.
"This is not a laughing matter. Considering that fellow's personality, this is the most difficult of difficult problems."
At Sejong's words, Queen Soheon nodded with a smile.
"That is true. With Hyang's personality, he is certainly capable of that."
"What should we do?"
At Sejong's question, Queen Soheon answered immediately.
"Let's do as Hyang wishes. With Hyang's personality, he's not a child who would neglect state affairs being bewitched by beauty, is he?"
"He's the type who would rather neglect his family being immersed in work."
Sejong's eyes, having observed Hyang all this time, were unerringly accurate.
"Therefore, there is no need to worry. As for the issue of heirs, the royal physicians can simply work that much harder."
"Hmm..."
After deliberating at Queen Soheon's words, Sejong soon reached a conclusion.
"It would be best to do as the Queen says. It is truly fortunate that I have the Queen by my side."
"I feel the same way."
Though she answered with a smile, a small sadness was hidden in Queen Soheon's eyes.