Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 154
Episode 154: Anxiety factor. (3)
Gangnyeongjeon late at night.
“Let’s leave it here for today. “Thank you for your hard work.”
“Please rest in peace.”
King Sejong, who had dismissed the officers, had just changed into his acupuncture gown when an eunuch standing outside announced.
“majesty. “I’m taking the entrance exam with disguise.”
“Please stop by.”
After a while, Naegeumwijang entered Gangnyeongjeon, bowed politely to King Sejong, and sat down.
“So what’s going on?”
In response to King Sejong’s question, Naegeumwijang looked around and spoke quietly.
“An urgent report has come from Cheonggyecheon.”
Upon hearing Naegeumwijang’s report, King Sejong held out his hand with a hard face.
“Give it to me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
At King Sejong’s command, Naegeumwijang took out a well-sealed seal from his pocket and presented it to King Sejong. Sejong opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, opened it, and carefully read what was written on the letter.
King Sejong, who read the contents of the letter for a long time, let out a long sigh and held out the letter.
“Whoa~. “Read it.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Wife Naegeum, who politely received the letter, read it carefully.
Naegeumwiwi’s face, after reading the entire letter, was more serious than ever.
“Have you read everything?”
“Yes, Your Highness. “You must immediately issue an order to the left and right positions.”
King Sejong shook his head at Naegeumwijang’s request.
“No, I won’t get off. If you give an order now, you may commit the evil of Tacho Gyeongsa (打艸驚巳). Please convey the following to Cheonggyecheon. Find out who they meet and where they stay and report back. In addition, do not make mistakes by being obsessed with publicness.”
“I’ll tell you it as it is.”
“And can Nae Geum-wi and Geum-gun be trusted?”
Naegeumwijang answered King Sejong’s question firmly.
“Naegumwi is only loyal to His Majesty.”
“I’ll just trust my disguise.”
At King Sejong’s words, Commander Naegeum gave a military salute.
“I will make sure that your trust is not violated!”
As Naegeumwijang went out, King Sejong looked at the police station with a distraught look on his face. King Sejong opened the glass cover of the lamp, lit the book, and muttered as he looked at the book burning on the copper tray.
“I hope it’s not you, brother.”
* * *
Geomgye, who received the order through secret service, immediately went to work. After using members of the group who were good at tailing and beggars in Cheonggyecheon, the members of the group began to secure general information about the people in question.
“I found it.”
“okay? where are you?”
“This is Captain Jeon Hyeong-pan’s house.”
The face of the Bukchon Geomgye relay became serious after the report of the member.
“If you are Captain Jeon Hyeong-pan…. Seodal’s father?”
“yes.”
Gye-won’s report whetted Gye-ju’s appetite.
“Tsk! “He’s determined to get things done.”
The relay members all nodded at the relay’s words. This was because there was no one in Hanseong who did not know about the bad relationship between King Sejong, the Crown Prince, his former brother Seo Seon, and his son Seo Dal.
“Are you going to report it right away?”
In response to Gyewon’s question, Gyeju shook his head.
“no. Gather a little more information. Which of our children is good at climbing fences? “I guess I’ll have to play mouse for the first time in a while.”
At the end of the Bukchon Geomgye Relay, the members began to select those who were good at such things.
Similar things took place in the sword world of Dadong and Unjongga.
“The problem is that there is a lot of duplication and it is not organized well.”
At a gathering where only the relay racers gathered, the relay racer of the Da-dong sword system pointed out the problem. The other relays all nodded to the multi-action relay’s point.
“I think it would be better if we hold hands and move together this time.”
“Let’s do that.”
According to the agreement of the relays, a kind of temporary integrated headquarters was created. The members who were smart enough to act as advisors gathered together and analyzed the information asked by members of each branch.
“The people who are gathering in Hanseong now are from the Kiho region.”
“Surprising? “I thought they were coming from the noisy third generation these days?”
“It’s my favorite region… I guess it can’t be helped. “It’s too far to come up from those three sons.”
The staff of each sword world began to gather the information they received and create a big picture.
As the picture was being created like this, the staff realized that something important was being missed.
“Does this make you feel uncomfortable?”
“what?”
“Can Captain Seo really do this alone?”
“There are other noblemen too.”
“Those gentlemen are literally feathers, and the problem is that although Captain Seo may have a body, he has no head. “Can you literally go through the dialogue of ‘invading the Beomgul’ (犯闕 palace) and then just step down?”
The other staff members nodded to the point made by Bukchon Geomgye staff, who knew the physiology of noblemen well.
“That’s right.”
“It would make no sense for Grand Master Seo to ascend to the throne himself…”
‘Who is the head?’ Among the staff members who were looking for an appropriate answer to the question, Chief of Staff Dadong Geomgye suddenly stood up from his seat.
“It’s Gwangju!”
“gwangju? “Gwangju, Jeolla-do?”
“You idiot! Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do!”
“ah!”
The other staff members were all shocked at the words of Chief of Staff Dadong Geomgye.
In Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, there was Prince Yangnyeong.
Yangnyeong was not lacking in being the head. He was originally the previous king’s legitimate eldest son and crown prince, but was pushed out.
“If you’re that type of guy, the fact that local guys flock to you isn’t just a matter of distance!”
“The guys from Kiho are the main force!”
Once Yangnyeong was placed as the head, the picture began to be completed quickly.
* * *
Although Yangnyeong was pushed out as crown prince, he still lived causing turmoil.
He continued to cause trouble due to his drinking and problems with women, and in order to hunt, he wandered around and caused trouble.
There were frequent appeals from local leaders and Hojo government officials who said that Yangnyeong, who suddenly appeared, was needed for hunting, conscripted village residents as herders and held a feast, squandering the wealth they had saved in the government office and monopoly office.
In addition, he often visited the palace, blatantly violating the order not to enter Hanseong.
Therefore, appeals from ministers to punish Yangnyeong poured in, but King Sejong did not accept them. This was because Yangnyeong was a political Achilles heel for King Sejong.
* * *
Upon receiving the reports from the staff, the relay crews immediately gave orders.
“Send someone to find out where that guy is right now!”
“It’s not possible!”
The staff opposed the relay’s orders.
“Hansung is in our hands, but everywhere else we are outsiders. “You will be found out right away!”
“you’re right! “It would be better to chase after that gentleman from the moment he enters Hanseong!”
“Maybe they are already inside Hanseong! “The priority is to report to the superior and then search Hanseong again!”
After hearing the words of the staff, the relay racers sat down again and settled the situation.
After exchanging their opinions, the relay runners immediately came to a conclusion.
“First, I will report to the superior.”
* * *
The report written by Geomgye was immediately sent to King Sejong.
“It’s Seoseon….”
“Shall we arrest them right away?”
King Sejong, who checked the name written in the report posted by Geomgye, gritted his teeth and repeated Seo Seon’s name, and Naegeumwiwi asked.
King Sejong shook his head in response to Naegeumwijang’s question.
“No, I won’t make any hasty moves now. Instead, let Naegeumwi quietly prepare Naegeumwi. Maybe it will move soon. Because that’s what’s going to happen.”
“All right.”
Commander Naegeum responded to King Sejong’s command by bowing his head.
King Sejong, who was burning the calligraphy, suddenly remembered something he had forgotten and quickly looked back at Naegeumwijang.
“My gold disguise!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“How much does Seo-seon know about Naegeumwi’s armed forces?”
In response to King Sejong’s question, Naegeumwijang took a moment to remember and then answered.
“I even knew about the arrangement of President Gap-sik-jang.”
“What about Gap-sik Masang-chong?”
When King Sejong mentioned President Gap-sik Masang, Naegeumwijang immediately realized the gist of the question.
“At the time, it had not been deployed yet, but the captain would have expected that.”
“I guess so? If so, be sure to prepare Bigyeokjincheonroe as well. “But you can’t let rumors spread.”
“I follow your orders.”
“Rumors should never be spread.”
Director Naegeum immediately responded to King Sejong’s request.
“You can use Area 51.”
“Right. “I will tell the matter to the crown prince.”
The weapons used by the Naegumwi and the Jingun were regularly maintained at Area 51. It wasn’t just the maintenance of weapons. Area 51 was the place where Naegumwi and Geumgun soldiers practiced live shooting.
After Naegumwiwi returned. King Sejong looked at the writings that had turned into ashes. The reason I couldn’t show this letter to Chief Naegeum was because of one name written on it.
“older brother. Please be considerate.”
* * *
There was a disturbing movement in Hanseong, but King Sejong did not stop his offensive against the locals.
The last and most fatal attack on the locals was ‘tax reform’.
-Starting this year, we will collect taxes from everyone who earns income.
-Tax rates are determined based on assets and income.
The new tax system, called ‘property income tax’, was to collect taxes from everyone from tenant farmers to local residents.
-Owner farmers pay a minimum tax of 4 to 6 pence depending on their produce and the number of houses, fields, and livestock they raise.
-Pennant farmers also set their tax rates based on the same standards, but pay taxes ranging from a minimum of 1 penny to a maximum of 1 penny and 5 li.
-However, if the area of the field farmed by the tenant farmer is larger than the average area of the independent farmer and the output is also higher than the average of the independent farmer, the same tax rate as that of the independent farmer is applied.
-The rights of peasants who pay taxes properly are protected by the state.
There were complaints that even tenant farmers were receiving taxes, but those complaints soon subsided. The tax rate was low and there was a provision that said if you paid your taxes properly, you would be protected by the government.
It was a fairly good system even for independent farmers. Although the tax rate was slightly higher, tax contributions disappeared altogether.
However, local bands were hit with a tax bomb.
The first digit of the tax rate changed depending on whether the house one lived in was thatched or tile-roofed, and the tax rate changed depending on how many square feet the house was.
Different tax rates were applied depending on the area and production volume of the fields.
The biggest problem was the slaves. The tax rate changed depending on the number of slaves you had and how many of them were of prime working age.
And this tax rate was a progressive tax rate.
As a result, the scale of taxes paid by local families was different from that of independent farmers.
The person who paid the least was 30% of this year’s income, and the average tax rate of 40% was applied. There were quite a few people who were subject to the exorbitant tax rate of .508.
However, the Hyangban whose names remained in the Hyangan were subject to more relaxed standards.
-These people have done their best to ride horses and horses for the country, so they should be treated with respect.
Another attack was made on local families who had to pay an unexpectedly high amount of taxes.
-All taxes will be paid in currency only!
-Currency can only be exchanged at the newly established National Joseon Battleground.
Those who were able to turn their heads to Sejong’s announcement quickly began to look for answers.
“I’m telling you to get rid of the slaves on your own.”
“Production is what is left after subtracting what needs to be paid… I don’t know this year, but starting next year, I will have to hire a hired hand.”
Those who quickly found the answer were those who had recently retired from government work.
Others, most of the local community, chose to protest rather than accept the situation.
“Let’s write an appeal!”
“That’s right! “That’s right!”
Once again, appeals began to pour in, and news began to come in that local local groups would come to Seoul in large numbers to protest.
After receiving the report, Sejong organized the situation.
“It will be fortunate if the protests end, but there is a possibility that stupid people will do something. Then, taking advantage of that opportunity, something will happen in Hanseong. “There is also a limit to the power that can be put into the palace, so we will not miss this moment.”
Traditionally, when the Jurchen tribe in the north or the Japanese pirates in the south caused a disturbance, the troops guarding the palace moved to the front lines.
Therefore, those attempting to invade Beomgwol would have been hoping that local groups would rise up.
Because King Sejong knew this, he even created a camouflage plan by mobilizing Naegeum and a small number of military officers.
After sorting out the situation, Sejong let out a long sigh.
“Whew~ I guess I’ll take this opportunity to sort things out…”