< Chapter 14: Germination... Carcinogenesis? (7) >
"Second, I must receive a royal decree prohibiting the excessive demands for goods by envoys coming to Joseon."
"Oh?"
"Gasp!"
At Hyang's declaration, Sejong wore an expression of surprise, and the ministers turned pale.
While everyone was frozen, the Minister of Rites raised his voice.
"Crown Prince, Your Highness! The second point is impossible! No, it is absolutely impossible!"
"Why is it impossible?"
At Hyang's question, the Minister of Rites immediately answered.
"Our country Joseon and Ming are in a tributary relationship. It is not proper etiquette for a tributary state to protest against the subjects of a great nation."
"How is that a breach of etiquette? Is it not rather lacking in virtue for subjects of a great nation to oppress a small nation? If you gentlemen are true Confucian scholars, is pointing out such unvirtuous conduct not precisely what you ought to do?"
"Those who come as envoys are eunuchs. They are the closest of the close to His Majesty the Emperor! If they speak ill of our Joseon to the Emperor, our Joseon will fall into crisis!"
"Is our Joseon such a weak country? As I have learned, the 100,000 Ming troops stationed in Liaodong were placed there out of concern that our Joseon might invade the great nation. Is our Joseon, which Ming regards with such wariness, a weak country?"
"That is...."
"And does the Minister view the Emperor of the great nation as such a foolish person? Would he decide on war based solely on the honeyed words of a single eunuch?"
"That is..."
When the Minister of Rites began to lose the debate, the Chief Inspector interjected.
"Since ancient times, it has been the natural order for small nations to serve great nations. For a small nation to act against a great nation is to go against proper principles. If our Joseon takes such an inverse course, Ming and Joseon will inevitably face military confrontation. In that case, we would certainly need to expand our military forces, which would not only be a waste of resources but also place an excessive burden on the people. This is truly a shortcut to national ruin and an abandonment of virtue. Of course, I understand well what Your Highness the Crown Prince intends to say, but you are still young in years and may commit the folly of small gains and great losses..."
"Did you just say small gains and great losses! I have heard that every time a Ming envoy comes and goes, the carts carrying the goods seized by that envoy block a road of five li! The goods loaded on those carts are wealth seized from our Joseon's national treasury and the people's storehouses! Is this a small amount? If so, then from now on, whenever a Ming envoy comes, Chief Inspector, please take responsibility for supplying all those goods! The ancient sages said that what rulers and high officials must do is to ensure the people are at peace and free from hunger! Yet trembling before a mere eunuch while the people are plundered and the national treasury emptied—is this the benevolence and righteousness that Confucian scholars have learned?"
Having spoken at length, Hyang, who was short of breath, steadied his breathing and continued.
"And among the two sages, Confucius and Mencius, which one taught us to practice not service to the great but submission?"
"Your Highness, your words are too severe! It is not submission..."
The Chief Inspector, thinking Hyang had crossed the line, tried to offer a rebuttal, but Hyang immediately cut him off.
"I have not finished speaking! It has been said that a great man dwells in the wide house of the world, stands in the correct position of the world, and walks the great path of the world! Does groveling while offering wealth to a mere eunuch correspond to any of these three? And yet you gentlemen call yourselves great men? In the past, it is said that even when Qi pressured Lu, Confucius boldly stepped forward to point out the injustice and drive them back. Do you think your current conduct is like this?"
At Hyang's criticism, the ministers' faces turned bright red. In a place where the King was present and historians recorded everything, the Crown Prince had openly cursed them, saying 'Hey, you petty men!'
But Hyang's words were not finished. Hyang turned toward Sejong and prostrated himself.
"I beseech Your Majesty! Though ministers who call themselves great are gathered here, there is no one willing to risk their lives for the people's welfare, the foundation of the nation's peace! Instead, they only wish to wear fine silk official robes and lie on brocade pillows to live out their natural days! For this winter solstice mission, I will go! I will go and petition the Emperor to put a stop to this wrongful practice! Please grant me permission!"
"Crown Prince!"
"These ministers gather and speak of nothing but calling Joseon 'Little China' and make no attempt to hide their admiration for China. But when it comes to actually developing our Joseon like that great nation, they make this excuse and that excuse and do nothing! How can this be called anything but being two-faced? Father! That great nation has used coinage since the Song dynasty, and the current Ming not only uses coins made of gold, silver, and copper but is also trending toward paying taxes in gold and silver rather than in kind! But what of our Joseon? Since the time of Great King Taejo, we have tried to create paper currency for the people's convenience, but we continue to fail! Why is this? It is because the national treasury is impoverished! For this reason, I intend to accompany merchants on this mission to fill the national treasury! Only when the national treasury is strong can we relieve the starving people, circulate currency, and make our Joseon even more prosperous! I earnestly beseech you, Father! Let me go as the chief envoy for this winter solstice mission! Though I am but nine years old and small in body, I am confident that my heart is higher than Mount Tai!"
"Crown Prince, the road to Yanjing is long and perilous."
Sejong tried to dissuade him, but Hyang did not stop his advance.
"Looking at the history of the Western barbarians I have read, there was a great empire called Rome. But even this Rome began as a nation the size of a small city. However, one day the earth split open and a sacrifice was demanded for the nation's prosperity. At that time, a young Roman nobleman said that only humans could serve as the sacrifice for the nation's prosperity and threw himself in alone on horseback. Was it only the Western barbarians who did this? Look at the Hwarang who unified the Three Han. Not only Gwanchang but also the young men of prestigious families became Hwarang and were the first to throw themselves into deadly grounds! Our Joseon's current situation is both a crisis and an opportunity! If we navigate this period well, our Joseon will establish a foundation for a thousand years; if we fail, we will decline into a small nation on the border! Father! Please consider this!"
"Return to your quarters."
"Please consider this!"
"I said return! Attendants! The Crown Prince seems too agitated! Take him to his quarters and help him settle down!"
"Father!"
Led away by the attendant, Hyang disappeared, and after that, Sejong glared at the ministers standing outside the grass hut. Sejong's eyes were filled with killing intent as he looked at the ministers.
"You petty men."
"Your Majesty..."
"Are you truly Confucian scholars, are you even true gentlemen! When a child who has barely turned nine is willing to risk his life for this Joseon, what have you been doing! Are you great men! Are you Confucian scholars! Are you gentlemen!"
"Please kill us!"
Starting with Chief State Councillor Ryu Jeong-hyeon, the ministers prostrated themselves on the ground and cried out for death.
"Is that the end when you ask to be killed? Is that the end! What country's subjects are you lot! The words 'damn bastards' that only street riffraff would speak truly suit you well!"
Sejong, who always maintained propriety and spoke according to etiquette, threw etiquette far away and rebuked his subjects in heated tones.
"Do you know how many hours a day the Crown Prince, that child, sleeps? He does not exceed three hours! A child barely turning nine reduces his sleep and worries about how to make this Joseon prosperous and keep the people at peace, yet what have you lot been doing! You rice-wasters! You always looked for reasons why things couldn't be done rather than finding ways to make them possible! What is that if not being rice-wasters! What good is it to have large bodies and white hair! You petty men whose hearts are lesser than even a child!"
"Please kill us!"
"Please kill us!"
"Don't just ask to be killed with words—bring me an answer immediately! If you cannot, I will kill you all as you wish! Get out!"
At Sejong's shout, the ministers quietly withdrew. Meanwhile, the historian who recorded all this added the following:
-Though the Crown Prince's words were harsh, there was not a single error in them. Are the current ministers and the ministers of the Six Ministries subjects of Joseon or subjects of Ming? According to the sages' words, in a situation where they should be forgetting sleep and meals for the nation's peace and people's welfare, the current ministers of the Six Ministries are busy wearing fine silk official robes to attend court and lying on fine silk brocade pillows to seek sleep. In this situation, the Crown Prince's words are thoroughly satisfying, exactly so.
* * *
Meanwhile, after returning to his room and sending away even the attendant, Hyang let out a long breath.
"Huuu. Shit! I lost control."
After watching the ministers' behavior for a long time in the grass hut where Sejong resided, at some point it overlapped with the situation in 21st century Korea. And so Hyang lost control.
"Now I have to prepare to go to Ming... Going to Ming wasn't in the plan..."
Hyang, predicting what situation might unfold due to his loss of control, scratched his head nervously and reached a conclusion.
"It's out of control! Either my calves get broken, or the ministers get broken—one of the two!"
Having made his decision, Hyang shouted toward the outside.
"Attendant!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"I must prepare to go to Ming!"
"Yes?"
"Pack my bags!"
* * *
At the news that 'the Crown Prince is packing his bags,' Sejong shot up from his seat.
"Why is that child packing?"
"Well, that... he says he will go to Ming right now... that if we think of the nation and people, we cannot delay even a moment..."
At Sang-seon's answer, Sejong kicked open the grass hut and went out.
"This child of mine!"
Middle Palace.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! A great crisis has occurred!"
"What is this commotion?"
Queen Soheon, who was reading a novel obtained through a servant, wore a puzzled expression at the court lady's urgent words.
The court lady, who had barely calmed her rough breathing from rushing, spoke.
"They say His Highness the Crown Prince is preparing to go to Ming right now!"
"The Crown Prince to Ming? Why? Ming isn't right next to the capital, why would a mere nine-year-old..."
"They say the Ming envoys are excessively plundering the people and he will stop it... that when the ministers said it was impossible, he decided to go himself..."
Before the court lady's words could even finish, Queen Soheon rose from her seat and ran outside.
Crash!
"Your Majesty!"
"Move!"
Queen Soheon, who opened the door almost like breaking it before the servants could even open it properly, grabbed her skirt hem with both hands and began running through the palace in her socks.
"You girls! What are you doing! Quickly escort Her Majesty! Her Majesty!"
"Yes, yes!"
The court lady who ran out in her socks following Queen Soheon shouted at the servants frozen like posts and began running while calling for the Queen.
* * *
"Huuu, who should I recommend as the chief envoy?"
Minister of Taxation Kim Jeom was worrying about whom to recommend for the winter solstice mission. Normally he could have recommended himself, but this time was absolutely not an option. If things went wrong, he could lose his head to the Yongle Emperor, and conversely, if he failed to accomplish the mission properly and returned, his head would certainly fall.
"Who would be good..."
As he was worrying repeatedly, the Minister of Personnel came running with a pale white face.
"Minister! A great crisis! A great crisis has occurred!"
"What is it that you act so without dignity?"
"Dignity is not the problem right now! A great crisis has occurred!"
"Did the Jurchens move? Or the Wokou?"
"I wish it were the Jurchens or Wokou! The Crown Prince has moved!"
"The Crown Prince?"
"The Crown Prince is packing right now saying he will go to Ming!"
"What!"
Crash!
At the Minister of Personnel's words, Kim Jeom shot up from his seat. In his haste, the chair he had been sitting on rolled far away, but Kim Jeom had no leisure to pick it up and began running toward the palace, escaping the Ministry of Taxation office.
< Chapter 14: Germination... Carcinogenesis? (7) > End
ⓒ Gukbbong