Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 155

Episode 155 Beomgwol (1)

Bukchon in Hanseong.

It was a wealthy village in Joseon, filled with tile-roofed houses where former and current dignitaries lived.

A 70-room tile-roofed house located in Bukchon. An old scholar was sitting in the largest room of the sarangchae.

In an open room with the windows and doors on all sides wide open, the scholar stood with his back to me, looking at the moon in the night sky.

“Sir, it’s dangerous to be in a place like that with all directions open.”

The scholar smiled slightly and responded to Nam Jun-seok’s words coming from the front yard of Sarangchae.

“haha. What are you going to do with the life of this old man who has no power? “If there was someone like that, he would have died a long time ago.”

In response to the scholar’s answer, Nam Jun-seok pleaded once again.

“The great work is not far away. “In times like these, you have to be even more careful.”

“What do you have to worry about when you’re here? “I only trust you.”

“Great!”

“Okay, I’ll be careful.”

At Nam Jun-seok’s words, the scholar nodded with a defeated look on his face. As the scholar took a step back, Nam Jun-seok gestured to his subordinates following him. At Nam Jun-seok’s hand signal, the warriors silently went up to the sarangchae and closed the door.

“Leave the south window open. “I still want to enjoy the moonlight more.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Nam Jun-seok closed the door and gave orders to the warriors in a low voice.

“The big project is just around the corner. “Pay more attention to the commander’s security and vigilance.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Following Nam Jun-seok’s orders, a group of warriors stood guard around the sarangchae, while others continued patrolling along the fence.

The scholar, who was looking at the moonlight with his arm on the window frame, muttered softly.

“It’s a great cause… revenge would be more appropriate.”

The scholar was Seo-seon, who returned from his hometown.

* * *

‘An assault on a government official wearing official uniform was ordered.’ For this reason, Seodal had to be imprisoned in Uigeumbu.

In order to prevent Seo-dal from being punished, Seo-seon submitted his resignation, but due to Hyang’s strong insistence, Seo-dal had to be beaten 100 times with a stick.

In addition, as reports came in one after another that Seodal had committed all kinds of evil acts while relying solely on Seoseon’s power, the officials requested that Seoseon be punished as well.

At the insistence of the officials, Seo Seon should have had his official title and military name taken back, and he should have been kicked out of his position as a sentencing judge.

“majesty! “I will accept the punishment of Sosin, so please be tolerant of Sosin’s child!”

Seo Seon pleaded for mercy for his only son Seo Dal, but King Sejong ordered the execution of the sentence. What was even worse was the scent.

“Never look at me!”

At the order of the next powerful person, the Crown Prince, the soldiers executing the sentence struck him 100 times with all their might.

The punishment was that a person would die even after reaching the age of 10. Therefore, the soldiers who punished people did not beat them that harshly unless they were criminals who truly deserved to die. In addition, there were many cases where bribes were offered by the criminal’s family and the punishment was even more moderate.

But this time things were so bad. This was because Hyang was standing at the place where the sentence was being executed, watching to see if it was carried out properly.

Thanks to this, Seodal’s pelvic bones were completely shattered into dust.

“I don’t think I’ll ever walk on my own two feet until I die.”

Seo-seon urgently asked in response to the answer from the doctor who had been called in for treatment.

“What about Hahacho (下焦)? Can it be passed down from generation to generation?”

In response to Seo-seon’s question, the congressman shook his head silently.

“Look! This child is the only son of our family! “If it were my wealth, I would give it whatever you asked for, so please just help me get better!”

The lawmaker sighed at Seo-seon’s words.

“All I can say right now is that it is difficult. “First of all, your wounds need to heal, so you need to recuperate in a comfortable place.”

“Oh, I see!”

At the words of the lawmaker, Seo-seon led her family and went straight down to the main building, Icheon.

But Seodal did not recover. The skin and muscles that were damaged by the club died, causing various complications. In the end, Seodal died before 100 days had passed.

Seo Dal’s death brought tragedy to Seo Seon’s family. Unable to overcome the shock of seeing her precious only son beaten to death, Seo Seon’s wife died along with him.

Seo-seon, who had held the funeral of his wife as well as his son, cried out in bloody tears.

“Jusang! I will definitely repay you for this! And I will take revenge on all those who worked together for decades and never said anything!”

Seo-seon, who vowed to seek bloody revenge, began to formulate a plan for revenge.

“Revenge is far from possible on my own. I need people to join me. To bring people together, you need a cause. “Justice…”

An unexpected person approached Seo-seon, who was struggling to find justification.

“Captain. “A guest has arrived.”

“customer? Who came to visit the old man in the back room who had no authority? Who did he say he was?”

The servant carefully answered Seo Seon’s question.

“If you say Yangnyeong, you will know….”

Woodangtang!

In response to the servant’s answer, Seo-seon pushed Seo-tak away and stood up.

“There was Prince Yangnyeong! This means heaven has heard my prayer! Thank heavens!”

Yangnyeong, dressed in a colorful coat, came into the sight of Seo-seon, who ran out into the yard as if flying on socks. Seo Seon, who saw Yangnyeong and the warriors surrounding him, rushed to Han Dal-eum and prostrated himself.

“See you, Captain!”

“I came here quickly because something sad happened, but it seems I was late. “I’m sorry.”

“No! “Come on, eat inside!”

It was a meeting between two people who had a grudge against King Sejong.

* * *

Although he was smiling innocently in front of King Sejong, Grand Prince Yangnyeong’s resentment could never be alleviated.

‘That seat was mine!’

It was Yangnyeong who suppressed the anger that boiled up every time she saw King Sejong sitting in Geunjeongjeon and looking down at him.

Yangnyeong was a capable person in his own way, but all sorts of incidents and accidents obscured his competence.

The background of Yangnyeong causing such incidents and accidents was Yangnyeong’s extreme self-love.

In the background of Yangnyeong’s extreme self-love, there were King Taejong and Queen Wongyeong.

According to records, Grand Prince Yangnyeong was King Taejong’s legitimate eldest son. However, in reality, Yangnyeong had three sons. However, those three sons died too young to be included in the genealogy.

Yangnyeong was born in such a situation and overcame the crisis, so the affection the two people had for Yangnyeong was incomparable.

Of course, he also loved Hyoryeong and Chungnyeong-Sejong, who were born after him, but no matter what anyone says, it was Yangnyeong who received the most love.

As Yangnyeong received excessive affection from her parents, she became a self-centered person.

Due to such strong self-love, Yangnyeong became an extreme egoist. And this caused a big problem after he became crown prince.

Yangnyeong, who was intoxicated with the power that the position of Crown Prince gave him, before even thinking about the weight of his position, caused all kinds of incidents.

Among the incidents caused by Yangnyeong, there were many problems related to women.

In addition, he recklessly caught and raised falcons for hunting, which caused King Taejong a headache.

Every time something like this happened, the subjects went into an uproar and King Taejong had to call Yangnyeong and scold him.

But that was the only time Yangnyeong got angry. No, it was to the point where I protested on the spot.

“What should I do with this?…”

Chungnyeong caught the eye of King Taejong, who was looking for a solution to Yangnyeong’s continued misalignment.

At that time, Chungnyeong’s outstanding academics and neat lifestyle were well-known.

“okay! “The crown prince will come to his senses when he sees Chungnyeong!”

It was King Taejong who chose Chungnyeong as a stimulus to Yangnyeong.

But this soon led to unexpected results. There was a competition between the crown prince and Chungnyeong.

In the end, it ended with Yangnyeong being scuttled, unable to overcome the aftermath of the purge caused by the competition with Chungnyeong and King Taejong’s frequent ‘seonwi disturbances’.

In the end, when Taejong decided to replace the crown prince, Queen Wongyeong came forward and opposed it.

“Kicking out the older brother and installing the younger brother is the root of upheaval. “No!” (Note 1)

Since Queen Wongyeong’s opposition was reasonable, King Taejong also considered making his descendant the crown prince. However, Seson was only 5 years old at the time.

King Taejong, whose health was gradually deteriorating due to a stroke, could not make a choice that would jeopardize the throne.

So, on the day when the replacement of crown prince was decided, the crown prince, now Yangnyeong Grand Prince, shouted to Chungnyeong Grand Prince, who had become crown prince in his stead.

“All of this is because you told everything about me to your father!” (Note 1)

* * *

Although Yangnyeong was thus pushed out of power, he never gave up.

“The throne of Geunjeongjeon was originally supposed to be mine!”

Every time he heard people praising King Sejong on the street, Yangnyeong had to grit his teeth.

‘I could do that too!’

Yangnyeong, who was burning with anger at the private residence built in Gwangju, made up his mind.

“I will definitely get it back! It was called excessive bathing (the guy who crawled between the crotch)! “I will be completely humbled!”

It was Yangnyeong who recited the old story that Hanshin crawled between the crotches of scoundrels and decided to consult with the gods.

In this way, Prince Yangnyeong began to prepare step by step, dreaming of the restoration of land.

‘I go hunting.’ Under the pretext of traveling all over Joseon, he gathered people who were skilled in martial arts and ‘made hunting arrows.’ He robbed the warehouse of the local government office and collected iron.

Of course, it would be problematic to collect a large amount at once, so I collected it little by little from here and there.

Next, ‘I will have a feast.’ He robbed the warehouses of local government offices and collected wealth to be used as military funds.

In the meantime, whenever King Sejong did something, he gave a proper compliment.

Even when it was said that the amount of land given to the royal family would be reduced and given in kind for the construction of the palace, he raised his hand with moderate resistance and followed other policies while also criticizing them moderately.

At the same time as reassuring King Sejong, he also behaved in a way that did not lose favor with other royals.

* * *

Despite preparing step by step like this, there was something greatly lacking in Yangnyeong.

“I need someone to empower me in mediation.”

Since there would be a large-scale purge when he came to power, he needed people to fill that position.

It goes without saying that if you fill it with people from outside the ruling party, things will not work properly.

The government needed someone to move their subjects on their behalf.

“Who is the right person?…”

While struggling to find someone suitable for the position, Yangnyeong heard the news that Seo Seon, who had been dismissed, had returned to Icheon.

“It’s a blessing from heaven!”

Yangnyeong left the place.

* * *

Because they were dealing with a common enemy, Grand Prince Yangnyeong and Seoseon immediately joined hands.

While gaining Yangnyeong’s support, Seosun moved quickly and quietly.

“The soldiers guarding Gyeongbokgung Palace are armed with guns. “We also need a Fuhrer.”

“Can you save it?”

“We may not be able to find the gun barrel made by the crown prince, but we can arrange for artisans who can make at least the gun barrel made by the crown prince. The problem is the salt vinegar….”

Seoseon inquired about retired salt plant craftsmen.

After finding these retired people, Seo Seon held the artisans’ families hostage and began making salt candles.

Sulfur, the most important raw material, was surprisingly easy to obtain, because the medicinal ingredients collected to treat Seodal contained a significant amount of sulfur.

In this way, it was February 11th year of King Sejong’s reign, when preparations were completed to some extent. Seoseon reported to Yangnyeong.

“Now it’s time to enter Hanseong. “Big things will happen in Joseon this year.”

“According to the police officer, they said they were going to reform the tax system this year. Are you saying you want to take advantage of that?”

“That’s right. “If it is his personality, he will definitely stick to the schedule and local locals will not sit still.”

Since Seo Seon was one of the central figures in charge of conducting the funeral, he was able to choose the right time.

Grand Prince Yangnyeong immediately came to a conclusion on Seoseon’s proposal.

“Okay. “Let’s get moving.”

* * *

Note 1) The Annals of King Sejong, read in one volume. Park Young-gyu. Woongjin Knowledge House.