Chapter 154: Elements of Anxiety. (3)
Late at night, Gangnyeong Hall.
"Let us stop here for today. You have all worked hard."
"Please rest well, Your Majesty."
After dismissing the officials, Sejong had just changed into his sleeping clothes when a eunuch standing outside announced.
"Your Majesty. The Commander of the Royal Guard requests audience."
"Let him enter."
After a short while, the Royal Guard Commander who entered Gangnyeong Hall bowed respectfully to Sejong and took his seat.
"So, what is the matter?"
At Sejong's question, the Royal Guard Commander glanced around and spoke quietly.
"An urgent report has come up from Cheonggyecheon."
At the Royal Guard Commander's report, Sejong extended his hand with a hardened face.
"Let me see it."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At Sejong's command, the Royal Guard Commander took out a well-sealed document from his bosom and presented it to Sejong. Tearing open the envelope and taking out the letter inside, Sejong slowly read the contents written in the letter.
After reading the letter's contents for a while, Sejong let out a long sigh and extended the letter.
"Huu~. Read it for yourself."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After respectfully receiving the letter, the Royal Guard Commander slowly read through it.
The Royal Guard Commander's face after finishing the letter was more serious than ever before.
"Have you finished reading?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. You must issue orders to the Left and Right Police Bureaus immediately."
At the Royal Guard Commander's request, Sejong shook his head.
"No, I will not. If I issue orders now, we risk the folly of alerting the enemy. Transmit the following to Cheonggyecheon: Find out who they are meeting and where they are staying, then report. Also, tell them not to make mistakes driven by desire for recognition."
"I will convey it exactly as commanded."
"And, are the Royal Guard and the Imperial Guard trustworthy?"
At Sejong's question, the Royal Guard Commander answered firmly.
"The Royal Guard is loyal only to Your Majesty."
"I will trust only the Royal Guard Commander."
At Sejong's words, the Royal Guard Commander performed a military salute.
"I will ensure I do not betray Your Majesty's trust!"
As the Royal Guard Commander went outside, Sejong examined the letter with a troubled face. Opening the glass cover of the lamp and setting fire to the letter, Sejong muttered while watching the letter burn on the brass tray.
"Brother, I hope it is not you."
* * *
The Geomgye, having received orders through a secret channel, immediately began their work. After conducting surveillance using members skilled in tailing and beggars of Cheonggyecheon, the branch heads began to secure approximate information about the figures in question.
"We found them."
"Really? Where?"
"At former Minister Seo's residence."
At the member's report, the face of the Bukchon Geomgye branch head grew serious.
"Former Minister Seo... Seo Dal's father?"
"Yes."
At the member's report, the branch head clicked his tongue.
"Tch! So they're finally making their move."
At the branch head's words, all the members nodded. There was no one in Hanseong who didn't know about the bad blood created between Sejong, the Crown Prince, former Minister Seo Seon, and his son Seo Dal.
"Will you report immediately?"
At the member's question, the branch head shook his head.
"No. Let's gather more information first. Who among our people is good at climbing walls? It seems we need to play mouse after a long time."
At the Bukchon Geomgye branch head's words, the members began to recommend those skilled in such tasks.
Similar things were happening at the Dadong and Unjongga Geomgye as well.
"The problem is there's a lot of duplication and it's not well organized."
At a gathering of only branch heads, the Dadong Geomgye branch head pointed out the problem. At the Dadong branch head's point, the other branch heads all nodded.
"I think it would be best to join hands and move together this time."
"Let's do that."
According to the branch heads' agreement, a kind of temporary integrated headquarters was created. The members who were relatively intelligent and served as staff gathered in one place to analyze the information brought by each Geomgye's members.
"The guys gathering in Hanseong right now are coming up from the Giho region."
"That's unexpected? I thought they'd be coming from the noisy Samnam region lately."
"The Giho region... I guess it can't be helped. It's too far to come from Samnam."
Each Geomgye's staff gathered the incoming information and began to create one large picture.
As they created this picture, the staff realized they were missing something important.
"This is a bit fishy."
"What is?"
"Can Minister Seo really pull this off alone?"
"There are other nobles too."
"Those nobles are literally just feathers. The problem is that Minister Seo can be the body, but there's no head, no head at all. Do you think they can just withdraw after carrying out something as significant as violating the palace?"
At the point made by the Bukchon Geomgye staff who knew well the nature of nobles, the other staff nodded.
"That's true."
"It doesn't make sense for Minister Seo to ascend to the throne himself either..."
Among the staff trying to find an appropriate answer to the question 'Who exactly is the head?', the Dadong Geomgye staff suddenly sprang up from his seat.
"Gwangju!"
"Gwangju? That Gwangju in Jeolla Province?"
"You idiot! Gwangju in Gyeonggi Province!"
"Ah!"
At the Dadong Geomgye staff's words, all the other staff were startled.
In Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, there was Grand Prince Yangnyeong.
Yangnyeong was more than qualified to be the head. He was originally the deceased king's legitimate eldest son and was the Crown Prince before being pushed aside.
"If it's that noble, then the gathering of those from the Giho region isn't just a matter of distance!"
"Those from Giho are the main force!"
With Yangnyeong placed as the head, the picture began to complete itself rapidly.
* * *
Though pushed aside from the Crown Prince position, Yangnyeong still lived causing trouble.
He continued to cause disturbances with alcohol and women, and traveled everywhere claiming to hunt, creating problems.
Reports frequently came from local magistrates and Ministry of Revenue officials saying they couldn't survive, as Yangnyeong would suddenly appear and conscript local residents as beaters for hunting, and deplete the wealth collected at government offices and monopoly bureaus by holding feasts.
Furthermore, he frequently violated the order not to enter Hanseong and often sought out the palace.
Because of this, memorials from ministers urging Yangnyeong's punishment poured in, but Sejong did not accept them. For Sejong, Yangnyeong was a political Achilles' heel.
* * *
At the staff's report, the branch heads immediately gave orders.
"Send people right now to find out where that noble is!"
"We can't do that!"
At the branch heads' orders, the staff stepped forward in opposition.
"Hanseong is in our hands, but other places are foreign territory to us. We'll be exposed immediately!"
"That's right! It's better to tail him from the moment that noble enters Hanseong!"
"He may already be inside Hanseong! First, report to His Majesty, and searching Hanseong again is the priority!"
At the staff's words, the branch heads sat back down and organized the situation.
After exchanging opinions, the branch heads immediately reached a conclusion.
"First, we report to His Majesty."
* * *
The report written by the Geomgye immediately went up to Sejong.
"Seo Seon..."
"Should we arrest him immediately?"
As Sejong, confirming the name written in the report submitted by the Geomgye, ground his teeth and repeated Seo Seon's name, the Royal Guard Commander asked.
At the Royal Guard Commander's question, Sejong shook his head.
"No, I won't move rashly now. Instead, Royal Guard Commander, quietly prepare the Royal Guard. They will likely move soon. Because such an event will occur."
"I understand."
At Sejong's command, the Royal Guard Commander answered with his head bowed.
Sejong, who was burning the letter in the fire, suddenly remembered something he had forgotten and urgently turned to look at the Royal Guard Commander.
"Royal Guard Commander!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"How much does Seo Seon know about the Royal Guard's armaments?"
At Sejong's question, the Royal Guard Commander searched his memory for a moment and answered.
"He knew up to the deployment of the Gap-sik Jang Chongtong."
"What about the Gap-sik Masang Chongtong?"
When Sejong mentioned the Gap-sik Masang Chongtong, the Royal Guard Commander immediately understood the point of the question.
"At that time, it wasn't deployed yet, but if it's Minister Seo, he would have anticipated even that."
"He would have, wouldn't he? Then prepare the Bigyeok Jincheonryeo as well. However, there must be no rumors."
"I will obey the command."
"There absolutely must be no rumors."
At Sejong's instruction, the Royal Guard Commander immediately gave an answer.
"We can use Sector 51."
"I see. I will speak to the Crown Prince about that matter."
The weapons used by the Royal Guard and the Imperial Guard were regularly maintained at Sector 51. It wasn't just weapon maintenance. Sector 51 was also the place where Royal Guard and Imperial Guard soldiers conducted live-fire training.
After the Royal Guard Commander left. Sejong looked at the letter that had turned to ash. The reason he couldn't show this letter to the Royal Guard Commander was because of one name written in it.
"Brother. Please conduct yourself carefully."
* * *
Though there were unsettling movements in Hanseong, Sejong did not stop his offensive against the local gentry.
The last and most fatal attack against the local gentry was the 'Tax System Reform'.
-From this year, taxes will be collected from all who earn income.
-Tax rates will be determined based on possessed property and income.
The new tax system called 'Property Income Tax' was to collect taxes from everyone from tenant farmers to local gentry.
-Owner-farmers pay taxes from a minimum of 4 pun to 6 pun depending on harvest, houses and fields owned, and number of livestock raised.
-Tenant farmers also have tax rates determined by the same standards, paying from a minimum of 1 pun to a maximum of 1 pun 5 li.
-However, if a tenant farmer's cultivated area is wider than the average of owner-farmers and the harvest is also greater than the owner-farmers' average, the same tax rate as owner-farmers applies.
-Tenant farmers who properly pay taxes will have their rights protected by the state.
Complaints arose about collecting taxes even from tenant farmers, but those complaints soon subsided. The tax rates were low, and because there was a clause stating that the country would protect them if they paid taxes properly.
It was also a decent system for owner-farmers. The tax rate increased somewhat, but because tribute payments disappeared entirely.
However, the local gentry were hit with a tax bomb.
The leading digit of the tax rate changed depending on whether the residence was a thatched house or a tile-roofed house, and the rate varied by how many rooms the house had.
Owned fields also had different tax rates applied according to area and harvest volume.
The biggest problem was slaves. The tax rate changed depending on the number of slaves owned and how many were of prime working age.
And this tax rate was progressive.
As a result, the taxes the local gentry had to pay were different in scale compared to owner-farmers.
The person who paid the least gave 30 percent of this year's harvest, and an average tax rate of 46 percent was applied. Quite a few people even had an enormous tax rate of 58 percent applied.
However, local gentry whose names remained in the Hyang-an received relaxed standards.
-These are people who gave their utmost service of dogs and horses for the country, so they should be treated accordingly.
Another attack was dealt to the local gentry who had to pay unexpectedly high taxes.
-All taxes will only be accepted in currency!
-Currency can only be exchanged at the National Joseon Exchange established this time.
At Sejong's announcement, the local gentry whose minds still worked quickly began to find answers.
"It means to manumit the slaves yourselves."
"Harvest means what remains after paying what is due... I don't know about this year, but from next year, I'll have to hire wage workers."
Those who quickly found answers were those who had worked in the government until recently and retired.
Others, that is, most of the local gentry chose resistance rather than accepting the situation.
"Let us write memorials!"
"Right! Right!"
Once again memorials poured in, and news began to come that local gentry from the provinces would gather in large numbers in the capital to protest.
Receiving the reports, Sejong organized the situation.
"It would be fortunate if it ends with a protest, but there's a possibility foolish people might cause trouble. Then something will happen in Hanseong taking advantage of that gap. Since their side also has limits on the forces they can投入 into the palace, they won't miss this opportunity."
Traditionally, when Jurchens in the north or Japanese pirates in the south caused trouble, the forces guarding the palace moved to the front lines.
Therefore, those attempting to violate the palace would be hoping for the local gentry to rise up.
Knowing this, Sejong had already created a contingency plan using the Royal Guard Commander and a small number of military officers.
Having organized the situation, Sejong let out a long sigh.
"Huu~. I should clean up what needs to be cleaned up at this opportunity..."