# Chapter 155: The Assault on the Palace (1)
The North Village of Hanseong.
It was a wealthy village of Joseon where tile-roofed houses of current and former high officials gathered together.
A tile-roofed house of about 70 rooms situated in the North Village. In the largest room of the outer quarters, an elderly scholar was seated.
With all the windows and doors on all sides thrown wide open, the scholar stood with his hands behind his back in the fully opened room, gazing at the moon in the night sky.
"My Lord, it is dangerous to stay in such an exposed position."
At Nam Jun-seok's words from the front yard of the outer quarters, the scholar answered with a small laugh.
"Heheh. What would anyone gain by targeting the life of this old man with no power? If such a person existed, I would have lost my life long ago."
At the scholar's answer, Nam Jun-seok pleaded once more.
"The Great Work is not far off. At times like this, you must be even more careful."
"With you here, what worry could there be? I trust only you."
"My Lord!"
"Very well, I will be careful."
At Nam Jun-seok's words, the scholar nodded with a defeated expression. When the scholar stepped back, Nam Jun-seok signaled to his subordinates following behind. At Nam Jun-seok's hand signal, the warriors silently went up to the outer quarters and closed the doors.
"Leave the south window open. I still wish to enjoy the moonlight more."
"Yes, My Lord."
Having closed the doors, Nam Jun-seok gave orders to the warriors in a low voice.
"The Great Work is not far off. Pay even more attention to the Lord's guard and vigilance."
"Yes, Commander."
Following Nam Jun-seok's orders, a group of warriors stood guard around the outer quarters, while others continued patrolling along the walls.
The scholar, who had been resting his arm on the windowsill and gazing at the moonlight, murmured quietly.
"The Great Work... Revenge would be more fitting."
The scholar was Seo Seon, who had returned from his hometown.
* * *
Seo Dal had to be imprisoned in the Uigeumbu prison for the reason that he 'ordered an assault on an official wearing government attire.'
To block Seo Dal's punishment, Seo Seon submitted his resignation, but due to Crown Prince Hyang's strong insistence, Seo Dal had to receive 100 strokes of the heavy bamboo.
Furthermore, as reports poured in that Seo Dal had committed all sorts of atrocities relying on Seo Seon's power, the censors requested that Seo Seon also be punished.
Due to the censors' demands, Seo Seon had his merit documents and military titles revoked, and he was driven out from his position as Minister of Justice.
"Your Majesty! I will gladly accept my punishment, so please show mercy to my child!"
Seo Seon pleaded for mercy for his only son Seo Dal, but Sejong ordered the execution of the punishment. What made it even worse was Crown Prince Hyang.
"Absolutely do not go easy on him!"
At the command of the Crown Prince, the next person in power, the soldiers carrying out the punishment struck with all their might for all 100 strokes.
The heavy bamboo was a punishment where people died after just ten strokes. Therefore, even the soldiers administering the punishment did not strike so severely unless the criminal truly deserved death. Not only that, there were many cases where they received bribes from the criminal's family and struck more moderately.
However, this time the situation was very bad. This was because Crown Prince Hyang stood watching at the execution site to ensure it was carried out properly.
Thanks to this, Seo Dal's pelvic bone was completely shattered to powder.
"It seems he will never walk on two legs again until he dies."
At the physician's answer who was called for treatment, Seo Seon asked urgently.
"H-how is his lower region? Can he continue the family line?"
At Seo Seon's question, the physician silently shook his head.
"Please! This child is the only son of our family! I will give you as much wealth as you ask, so please cure him!"
At Seo Seon's words, the physician sighed.
"For now, I can only say it is difficult. First, the wounds must heal, so he must rest in a comfortable place."
"Ah, I understand!"
At the physician's words, Seo Seon took his family and immediately went down to Icheon, their family seat.
However, Seo Dal did not recover. The skin and muscles that were beaten with the heavy bamboo became necrotic, causing various complications. Eventually, without surviving 100 days, Seo Dal died.
Seo Dal's death brought tragedy to Seo Seon's family. Unable to overcome the shock that her precious only son died from being beaten, Seo Seon's wife followed him in death.
After holding his son's funeral and then his wife's funeral, Seo Seon shed tears of blood and cried out.
"Your Majesty! I will surely repay this grudge! And I will take revenge on all those bastards who worked with me for decades but said nothing!"
Having vowed bloody revenge, Seo Seon began to formulate a plan for vengeance.
"Revenge alone is impossible. I need people to join me. To gather people, I need a just cause. A just cause..."
While pondering to find a just cause, an unexpected person approached Seo Seon.
"My Lord, a guest has arrived."
"A guest? Who would visit an old man in the back room with no power... Who did they say it was?"
At Seo Seon's question, the servant answered cautiously.
"They said if I mention Yangnyeong, you would know..."
Thud!
At the servant's answer, Seo Seon pushed aside his desk and rose from his seat.
"Prince Yangnyeong! This means Heaven has heard my prayers! Oh Heaven, I thank you!"
Rushing out to the yard as if flying in his stockings, Seo Seon saw Yangnyeong wearing a magnificent robe enter his view. Seeing Yangnyeong and the warriors surrounding him, Seo Seon ran and prostrated himself at once.
"I greet the Great Prince!"
"I came quickly hearing you suffered a tragic event, but it seems I am late. I am sorry."
"Not at all! Please come inside quickly!"
It was a meeting of two men who bore hatred toward Sejong.
* * *
Although he wore a foolishly smiling face in front of Sejong, Prince Yangnyeong's hatred was absolutely impossible to quell.
'That position was mine!'
Yangnyeong forcibly suppressed the boiling rage every time he saw Sejong sitting in Gyeongjeong Hall looking down.
Yangnyeong was a capable person in his own right, but he was someone whose capability was overshadowed by all sorts of incidents and accidents.
Behind such incidents and accidents caused by Yangnyeong lay his extreme self-love.
Behind this extreme self-love of Yangnyeong were Taejong and Queen Wonkyeong.
On record, Prince Yangnyeong was Taejong's eldest legitimate son. However, in reality, there were three sons above Yangnyeong. But those three sons died very young, too young to even be recorded in the genealogy.
Born in such a situation and surviving the crisis, the affection the two had for Yangnyeong was incomparable.
Of course, they also loved Hyoryeong and Chungnyeong—Sejong—who were born afterward, but the one who received the most love was undoubtedly Yangnyeong.
Receiving such excessive affection from his parents, Yangnyeong became a self-centered person.
Due to such powerful self-love, Yangnyeong became an extreme egoist. And this caused major problems after he became Crown Prince.
Before considering the weight of the position of Crown Prince, Yangnyeong, drunk on the power the position brought, caused all sorts of incidents.
Among the incidents Yangnyeong caused, problems related to women were plentiful.
On top of that, raising hawks arbitrarily under the pretext of hunting also gave Taejong headaches.
Whenever such things happened, the ministers caused an uproar, and Taejong had to summon Yangnyeong and scold him.
However, even when scolded, Yangnyeong only behaved at that moment. No, later he reached the point of rebelling on the spot.
"What should be done..."
As he looked for a solution for the increasingly wayward Yangnyeong, Taejong's eyes fell on Chungnyeong.
At the time, Chungnyeong's outstanding scholarship and proper conduct were widely rumored.
"That's right! Seeing Chungnyeong, the Crown Prince will surely come to his senses!"
It was Taejong who chose Chungnyeong as a stimulus for Yangnyeong.
However, this soon produced an unexpected result. A competition between the Crown Prince and Chungnyeong began.
Eventually, unable to overcome the competition with Chungnyeong and the aftermath of the purges created by Taejong's frequent 'Abdication Disturbances,' it ended with Yangnyeong stabbing himself.
Finally, when Taejong decided to replace the Crown Prince, Queen Wonkyeong stepped forward to oppose it.
"Expelling an older brother and setting up a younger brother is the root of upheaval. It must not be done!" (Note 1)
Since Queen Wonkyeong's opposition also had merit, Taejong had considered making the Grand Prince the Crown Prince. However, at that time, the Grand Prince was only 5 years old.
For Taejong, whose health was increasingly deteriorating due to a stroke, he could not make a choice that would cause instability in royal authority.
Thus, on the day the replacement of the Crown Prince was decided, the Crown Prince, now Prince Yangnyeong, shouted at Chungnyeong, who became Crown Prince in his place:
"All of this is because you reported my every action to Father!" (Note 1)
* * *
Thus pushed from the seat of power, Yangnyeong had by no means given up.
"The throne of Gyeongjeong Hall should have originally been mine!"
Every time he heard people praising Sejong from the streets, Yangnyeong had to grit his teeth.
'I could have done at least that much!'
Burning with rage in his private residence built in Gwangju, Yangnyeong made his resolve firm.
"I will surely reclaim it! They say one must endure the humiliation of crawling between legs! I will thoroughly lower myself!"
Reciting the story of Han Xin crawling between the legs of ruffians, Yangnyeong resolved to endure humiliation and plan for vengeance.
Dreaming of a comeback, Prince Yangnyeong began preparations step by step.
Using the excuse of 'going hunting,' he traveled throughout Joseon and gathered those with outstanding martial prowess, and saying he was 'making arrows for hunting,' he raided local government storehouses and scraped together iron.
Of course, since raiding large amounts at once would cause problems, he gathered little by little from here and there.
Then, saying he would 'hold a feast,' he raided local government storehouses and gathered wealth to use as military funds.
Meanwhile, whenever Sejong did something, he appropriately chimed in with agreement.
When it was said that the fields given to royal family members would be reduced and given in kind for the progress of the Gyeongjang, he appropriately protested while raising his hand in agreement, and for other policies, he appropriately criticized while following along.
It was a way of conducting himself that put Sejong at ease while not losing the hearts of other royal family members.
* * *
Preparing step by step like this, there was still something greatly lacking for Yangnyeong.
"I need someone in the court to lend me strength."
If he were to ascend to the throne, a large-scale purge would be necessary, so he needed people to fill those positions.
It went without saying that if he filled them with people from outside the government, things would not run properly.
He needed someone in the court to move the ministers in his stead.
"Who would be a suitable person..."
As he pondered to find someone suitable for the position, news reached Yangnyeong's ears that the dismissed Seo Seon had returned to Icheon.
"Heaven's divine aid!"
Yangnyeong burst out of his seat.
* * *
Since they were facing a common enemy, Prince Yangnyeong and Seo Seon joined hands immediately.
With Yangnyeong's support, Seo Seon moved quickly and quietly.
"The soldiers guarding Gyeongbok Palace are armed with chongtong. We also need chongtong."
"Can you obtain them?"
"We cannot obtain the chongtong the Crown Prince made, but we can find craftsmen who can make I-chongtong from before. The problem is saltpeter..."
Seo Seon sought out retired saltpeter craftsmen.
Having found such retired people, Seo Seon took their families hostage and began producing saltpeter.
Sulfur, the most important raw material, was surprisingly easy to obtain, as there was a considerable amount of sulfur among the medicinal materials gathered to treat Seo Dal.
Thus, in February of the 11th year of Sejong's reign, when preparations were somewhat complete, Seo Seon reported to Yangnyeong.
"Now is the time to enter Hanseong. This year, a great event will occur in Joseon."
"According to this Gyeongjang, they say they will reform the tax system this year—are you planning to use that?"
"That is correct. Given his personality, he will surely follow the schedule, and the local hyangban will not sit idly by."
Since he was one of the central figures advancing the Gyeongjang, Seo Seon was able to choose the appropriate timing.
At Seo Seon's proposal, Prince Yangnyeong immediately reached a conclusion.
"Good. Let us move."
* * *
Note 1) Reading the Annals of King Sejong in One Volume. Park Young-gyu. Woongjin Knowledge House.