Chapter 146: That Autumn. (1)
Sejong 11th Year (1429, Year of Giyu)
Events were unfolding that would lead future historians to declare, "This year was a period of shock and terror for Joseon's scholar-officials, particularly the local gentry."
With the arrival of spring, the civil service examination was postponed to June. Unlike the delayed examination, the court openly recruited talented individuals who had remained outside officialdom into government service.
By filling the middle and upper ranks of the court with talented individuals selected from outside officialdom, evaluated for their knowledge and capabilities, the court gained leverage to control lower-ranking officials.
However, what delivered shock and terror to the local gentry were the laws announced subsequently.
Starting with the Interest Rate Limitation Law first announced, followed by the Tenant Farming Law, these legislations were devastating the economic foundation of the local gentry.
"We cannot simply let this pass!"
"Indeed! Absolutely not!"
"Jinsa An is skilled at writing—Jinsa An should write the memorial! We shall sign it jointly!"
"Very well!"
Among the local gentry, those renowned for their literary skills took the lead in composing memorials and submitting them to the local magistrate.
* * *
"This seems like a mistake...."
Goyang County Magistrate Han Min-cheol, having received the memorials presented by the gentry, cautiously offered his advice. However, the gentry's response was harsh.
"Hmph! The one making a mistake is His Majesty!"
"Indeed! There are limits to how much one can look down on people!"
"Your Excellency the Magistrate simply needs to accept our memorials!"
At the gentry's fierce and audacious response, Han Min-cheol suppressed his anger and accepted the memorials.
"Very well. You shall bear the consequences yourselves."
"Ahem! Do not worry!"
The gentry, having left the magistrate's office, gathered at the home of Nam Jinsa, the eldest among them, and raised their voices.
"The magistrate is too presumptuous! Bear the consequences ourselves? What kind of intimidation is that!"
"We must argue for the abolition of the law prohibiting lawsuits by subjects! Because we cannot file lawsuits, they've become arrogant and behave so insolently!"
While most of those gathered loudly denounced the magistrate, some did worry about the future.
"However, what we are doing now certainly goes against His Majesty's wishes."
When a young scholar could not hide his concern, a middle-aged scholar sneered.
"Shall we go back and retrieve the memorials then? Shall we say it wasn't me who wrote them, but a dog I raised at home?"
At the middle-aged scholar's sneer, the face of the scholar who had raised the issue turned red. The middle-aged scholar had just compared him to a dog. The young scholar protested with a bright red face.
"That is not what I meant, but...."
However, the young scholar's protest was cut off by Nam Jinsa, who sat in the seat of honor.
"We are not the only ones writing memorials, so do not worry. Such concerns are merely needless worry at this point."
"...Yes. I apologize."
Nam Jinsa, having silenced the young scholar, looked around at the assembly and continued.
"Those writing memorials now are not only us. The situation is such that not only scholars in Honam but also those in Yeongnam are writing memorials. Some, like us, write individually, while others write jointly."
"Oh my!"
"Indeed!"
When Nam Jinsa explained the situation, the scholars gathered there all cheered. Once the commotion in the room settled, Nam Jinsa instructed the scholars.
"Now is the time to act boldly. Worry about the future is merely needless anxiety, and nothing but the behavior of petty people. Ahem!"
The final words were directed at the scholar who had spoken of 'His Majesty's wishes.' The young scholar who had been rebuked lowered his head, his face red with humiliation.
* * *
"Sigh. These dull-witted ones...."
Han Min-cheol sighed as he looked at the memorials piled high before his eyes.
"Writing all this and submitting them—would His Majesty even blink an eye? They don't realize it would be fortunate if these don't end up as firewood for the stoves of Gyeongbok Palace. Tsk!"
Clicking his tongue and grumbling about the scholars' behavior, Han Min-cheol shouted toward the outside.
"Is anyone outside!"
"Yes, my lord!"
When the clerk who had been waiting outside entered, Han Min-cheol pointed to the mountain of memorials.
"Record all the senders of these memorials, then send them to Hanseong."
"Yes, my lord."
At Han Min-cheol's command, the clerk gathered the piled memorials in his arms and went outside.
Having dealt with the memorial issue and picking up his brush to write a report, Han Min-cheol suddenly burst into laughter.
"If His Majesty doesn't ignore these and actually sends down replies, it should be interesting to watch. Perhaps we'll see them drop dead from rage-induced illness?"
Han Min-cheol was someone who had worked at the Ministry of Personnel in Hanseong until recently.
A few years ago, through collective protest by the Chief Councillors and Ministers, the terms of local officials were shortened, and a rotation system between central and local officials was decided.
And as one of the first selected for this, Han Min-cheol had come down as the Goyang County Magistrate.
Having worked as a fourth-rank Senior Secretary at the Ministry of Personnel, Han Min-cheol had many opportunities to observe the royal lectures conducted by Sejong and his ministers.
And he was someone who had witnessed multiple times Sejong, or the Crown Prince, utterly destroying ministers through debate during those lectures.
"These noble lords, who don't know how deadly it is to scratch at someone's insides methodically and logically rather than just shouting, are determined to die."
Recalling the ministers who had been so thoroughly defeated by Sejong that they actively supported reducing the time and frequency of the royal lectures, Han Min-cheol quickly shook his head.
"Oops! Forget it, forget it! If I'm not careful, I'll have nightmares tonight!"
Having come down as Goyang County Magistrate, Han Min-cheol absolutely did not want to lose his peaceful sleep.
* * *
"My, my... this is certainly...."
As Han Min-cheol had predicted, Sejong burst into incredulous laughter looking at the mountain of memorials.
"I expected as much, but how can they not break free from this...."
At Sejong's words, Chief State Councillor Yi Jik responded.
"It is because there are that many interests at stake."
"One would think that learning to let go of what one holds would be proper conduct for educated people.... Tsk!"
Clicking his tongue, Sejong unrolled a scroll and began reading its contents.
After reading several memorials, Sejong threw them down irritably.
"Damn it all! Except for the handwriting, the contents are almost identical! There is no creativity! No creativity!"
Each one started with 'Someone living somewhere is exploiting the people' and continued with the main text 'His Majesty's policies damage tradition and go against the Way of the King....' The passages they quoted were also mostly similar, which was why Sejong had criticized them for having 'no creativity!'
"Read them for yourselves."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The ministers who received the memorials through the court attendant also snickered and showed cynical reactions. Having examined the memorials, Kim Jeom reported to Sejong.
"Looking at these writings, one can see how outstanding the talents specially appointed last time were."
"Indeed."
When the ministers agreed with Kim Jeom's words, Sejong sighed.
"Sigh. I granted 30 years of tax exemption as commendation when they said they wanted to pass even the preliminary exam and study more, but to think this is all they amount to...."
'Dangerous! If I'm not careful, I'll have to listen to another lecture!'
Sensing a danger signal from Sejong's complaint, Maeng Sa-seong quickly interjected.
"That is precisely why the laws prepared this time must be announced as soon as possible."
"That is correct!"
"Please announce them quickly!"
The ministers, having similarly sensed the danger, chimed in unison as soon as Maeng Sa-seong finished speaking.
Having finished government affairs with the ministers in the Pyeonjeon, Sejong sighed as he faced the memorials.
"Sigh."
Looking at the pile of memorials that became suffocating just to look at, Sejong ordered the court attendant.
"Go summon the Crown Prince."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
* * *
"Did you call for me, Father?"
"Yes. I called you because I need the Crown Prince's help."
"What is the matter?"
In response to Hyang's question, Sejong pointed at the memorials with his finger. Seeing the thickly piled memorials, Hyang looked at Sejong.
"What kind of memorials are these?"
"Memorials sent by those dissatisfied with the Interest Rate Limitation Law and the Tenant Farming Law."
"What is it that I should do?"
To Hyang's question, Sejong answered simply.
"Write replies to the memorials."
"Excuse me?"
Hyang's eyes widened roundly for the first time in a while.
Sejong explained in more detail.
"There are many memorials, but they have no value worth reading. However, it is our duty to send down replies to the memorials that have been submitted."
"If you entrust me with such an important matter, won't the Office of Inspector General have something to say?"
"Isn't it something only you and I need to know? No. If you take charge of it, neither the Office of Inspector General nor the Office of Special Advisors will say anything. No, they won't be able to."
"Is that so? The strictness of the censors is..."
As Hyang continued to mention the censors, Sejong replied with an expression indicating it was nothing.
"If given the choice between conducting royal lectures with you morning and evening for a month, or keeping their mouths shut and saying nothing, the censors are the type who would shut their mouths. Haven't they suffered at your hands once or twice?"
"However..."
As Hyang continued trying to find a way out, Sejong's expression turned fierce.
"Choose."
"Excuse me?"
"Will you serve as Prince Regent until I finish writing replies to all the submitted memorials, or will you organize records at the Records Office?"
As soon as Sejong's words fell, Hyang quickly moved closer and asked.
"Which one should I do, Father?"
At Hyang's swift change of attitude, Sejong looked dumbfounded and silently pointed to the pile of memorials stacked to one side.
"My goodness...."
Reading the memorials, Hyang wore an expression of disbelief.
'I understand why Father called me.'
As Sejong had evaluated earlier that day, while the handwriting and sentence structures varied, the contents were largely the same.
'Is this Ctrl+C, Ctrl+v or something? Is the only difference the rhyming? No creativity! No creativity!'
While Hyang and Sejong criticized the 'lack of creativity,' this was unavoidable.
Creating sentences in Chinese characters required following strict rules. Among these rules, the most basic and important was rhyme. Whether in verse or prose, only by properly observing rhyme could a writing be called a masterpiece.
To compose sentences while observing rhyme, rhyme tables were essential items for Chinese literati as well as Joseon literati.
It wasn't just the issue of rhyme; the passages they quoted were also mostly similar.
'This is really... writing individual replies is tedious too. If this were the 21st century, there would be an auto-complete function...'
"Ah!"
An idea suddenly occurring to him, Hyang began sorting the memorials he had read into several groups.
"Crown Prince, what are you doing?"
Seeing Hyang's behavior, Sejong could not contain his curiosity and asked a question.
To Sejong's question, Hyang answered while continuing to sort the memorials.
"After reading the memorials, I found there were quite a few written on roughly similar themes. So I am grouping them together."
"And what will you do with that?"
"I will create replies according to the categories, then print them."
"Hm?"
At Hyang's answer, Sejong moved to sit beside him. Sitting in the seat next to Hyang, he examined closely.
After carefully examining the memorials Hyang had sorted, Sejong nodded his head.
"Indeed, that is so. Though the writings are many, the meaning contained within is one, so there is no need to write individual replies."
Nodding and evaluating it positively, Sejong sighed softly.
"Sigh. The problem would be sincerity. They would say I insincerely replied to memorials submitted by the people."
"If we are to discuss sincerity, have these people ever shown sincerity to you, Father? If they passed the civil service examination, it is proper to enter government service. However, using further study as an excuse, they only sucked out the benefits—is that sincerity?"
"That is true."
Ultimately, most of those who had submitted memorials had to receive printed replies.
"Such insolence!"
"Even if he is the King, treating us this poorly is not right!"
Many shouted in anger, but those who examined the contents wore grave expressions.
'Though it is printed, the content is clear!'
'We have lost the moral high ground!'
Among them, there were a very few scholars who received handwritten replies from Sejong himself. And those few scholars, before long, received a royal command to come to Gyeongbok Palace.