Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 26

[ Episode 26 Gapjin Kyungjang (4) ]

Episode 26 Gapjin Kyungjang (4)

It was a scent that made me swear at the scale being bigger than expected, but I had to accept the reality.

Hyang, who was glaring at the papers on which she wrote down things she thought were important, recalling her memories of the classes and assignments she had received in the 21st century, soon nodded her head.

“good! “It showed the people’s rock… no, it showed the taste of capitalism and modern administrative organization!”

As soon as the sun dawned the next day, Hyang became busy. He went to the Dohwawon (圖畫院) and ordered the production of a line drawing, and went to the military ensign to order the production of a loudspeaker.

The late Yajang (冶匠) scratched his head when he saw the drawing shown by the incense.

“It looks just like a funnel.”

“They look similar. “Will it take a long time to complete?”

“I’ll make it until dinner.”

“Please.”

After completing the physical preparations for the presentation, Hyang diligently searched through scriptures and Western books.

“The institutions of the 21st century are molded into the 14th and 15th century East and West, and the sources are washed with Confucian scriptures….” While organizing

roughly how to structure the system, Hyang came across the word ‘small government.’ circled.

“If there is a question-and-answer period, controversy will arise in this area, and if there is no question-and-answer period, this is the area where appeals will be filed. To be honest…”

Hyang trailed off, leaning back against the back of the chair and stretching.

“Gyaggyaggya!”

“Lowering! “What’s going on?”

“It is nothing.”

Hyang, who was startled by the scream she had made without realizing it while stretching, sent the inner coffin back out and muttered with her voice muttered.

“shit! Everything the Crown Prince has done is good, but this is the problem. “There is no privacy, there is no privacy…”

Hyang, who had been complaining, continued speaking while tapping the circled “small government” with her finger.

“In the 21st century, the ‘small government’, which was called a classic, may be viewed as a ‘terribly large government’ at its core.”

Hyang, who had been pondering while tapping the word in question with his finger, came to a conclusion.

“Still, I can’t help it. This problem needs to be pointed out and moved on. “Otherwise, nothing will change and we will just drift back to the old Joseon I used to know.”

Having made up her mind, Hyang began to organize the composition.

“Let’s leave military-related issues behind. “If I talk about it all at once, I’m sure it will get buried…”

While leaving the military issue behind, Hyang looked at the map hanging in the study.

“Anyway, a very big event will take place next year…”

* * *

Five days later, internal officials rushed to the government office of the Six Dynasties and delivered King Sejong’s orders.

“Everyone above the rank of senior sergeant must participate?”

“That’s right.”

“Huh~. Barely…”

Yeongui-jeong, who could barely hold back the words ‘only a nine-year-old’, nodded.

“I understand. “Let’s do it.”

“Well, since it looks like it will take quite a long time, I asked everyone, except the superior, to bring their own chairs and come.”

“Each person’s own chair?”

“yes.”

“I understand.”

As the eunuch, who had bowed, withdrew, Yeonguijeong clicked his tongue.

“Tsk! “What has become of the world!”

I clicked my tongue, but it was a fate. It was an order that was understandable in a situation where there was no choice but to issue such an order. Chairs were provided in the parlor in case the discussion with the king was prolonged. However, the quantity was limited to the number of party officials. Because of this, the officials had to take their chairs.

But that wasn’t why Yeonguijeong clicked his tongue.

“What on earth are we going to do with a nine-year-old… Don’t make the child do it, Joo-sang himself… Hey!”

Yeonguijeong, who was clicking his tongue, stopped talking. This was because the envoy delivering King Sejong’s orders was moving busily along the corridors of Uijeongbu Government Complex. This was because there was nothing good to hear from the eunuchs.

* * *

The Geunjeongjeon Hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace

is buzzing.

According to King Sejong’s summons, officials above the rank of Vice Minister gathered at Geunjeongjeon.

“Oh~ Cha-hyung! “It’s been a while!”

“Isn’t this Park Hyung? It’s been a while since this happened! “When did you come from abroad?”

The people who passed the state examination at the same time but rarely met each other because they worked in different government offices or because they were appointed as regional leaders asked each other how they were doing with happy faces.

Meanwhile, the people who had become close friends while working at the Sixth Column quietly sat on chairs and talked.

“You said it was an announcement of the Crown Prince’s political views, right?”

“That’s right. What a waste of time this is…”

“Shh! “There are many people listening.”

“Listen. “Of the people gathered here, eighty-nine percent probably feel the same way as I do.”

“Shh! Shhh!”

“greatness! Huh! Come!”

As the person sitting next to him continued to warn, the official who made the remarks in question continued to clear his throat and expressed his discomfort.

After a while, a merchant ship announced King Sejong’s entrance.

“Your Majesty the Lord~. Come on~.”

At the merchant ship’s shout, all the officials sitting on their chairs stood up and bowed their heads. After receiving bows from the officials, King Sejong entered the Tang family and sat down on the throne.

“Everyone please take your seats.”

“I follow your orders.”

At King Sejong’s order, all the officials sitting on the chairs looked at him.

“The officials are well aware that the Crown Prince has expressed many opinions. You also know the ingenuity and outstanding utility of those opinions. However, these opinions are like branches extending from a single trunk. It goes without saying that you cannot make a sound judgment if you do not know the fundamentals properly. So Gwain told the crown prince to announce his political views today. The reason why the royal family ordered the attendance of the royal officials is because the crown prince is still young. The crown prince’s excellence is well known, but he is still young and could go down the wrong path. Therefore, I hope that those gathered here will listen carefully and teach the crown prince so that he does not fall into the wrong path.”

“I follow your orders!”

To King Sejong’s remarks, all of his subjects bowed their heads and responded with one voice.

After a while, Hyang entered Geunjeongjeon. The courtesans who served the monks hung the royal prayers on hangings made on a temporary platform and fixed them by attaching loudspeakers to metal poles.

After all preparations were completed, Hyang ascended the altar and bowed deeply to King Sejong, who was seated on the throne.

“I am truly humbled that I have been given this opportunity thanks to the grace of Soja Abama.”

“Oh, do your best.”

“yes.”

Hyang bowed her head again at King Sejong’s words, then got up and looked at the subjects gathered in Geunjeongjeon.

After taking a deep breath, Hyang bowed lightly and put his mouth to the loudspeaker.

“Thanks to His Majesty the Lord for giving me this golden opportunity, I got to meet many of his ministers. Nice to meet you.”

“See you, Crown Prince!”

After exchanging greetings with his subjects, Hyang finally began his presentation.

“First of all, to conclude, my political opinion is ‘Hongik Ingan (弘益人間).’ yes. As many of you here know, Hwanung made it a national emblem when he founded the old Joseon Dynasty. And this ‘Hongik Ingan’ is also in touch with the ‘kingdom politics’ and ‘people’s foundation’ advocated by the sages.”

At Hyang’s words, the officials of Saganwon and Saheonbu, including the Yeonguijeong, nodded with uncomfortable faces. In the beginning, there wasn’t much to complain about.

However, what started out well was soon leading to a disaster.

-In order to implement ‘Hongik Ingan’ and ‘royal politics’, the peace of the people must be achieved first. In order for the people to be at peace, the people’s ‘sustainability’ must first be secured.

-However, the situation in our Joseon Dynasty is that there is little flat land, the mountains are rough, and people live in excessive concentration on narrow flat areas. Therefore, it is not easy to secure the people’s ports.

-In order to solve this problem, we must not consider only agriculture as a tool for port industry, but also make things such as commerce and industry become tools for port industry.

-If we prosper commerce and industry and obtain from outside what is lacking in Joseon, the people’s poverty can be solved.

-For this purpose, the government must significantly change the current system. Rather than a simple six-tier system, it should be broadly divided into three parts: legislation, judiciary and administration, and necessary government offices and positions should be placed under them to secure expertise.

-The local government system also needs reform. As is the case now, having one leader carry out both judicial and administrative tax duties places an excessive burden, so officials should be dispatched to do so.

-The hometown system must also be abolished. This is because local officials who work without pay inevitably become corrupt. Therefore, the local village system must be abolished and salaried officials must take charge of the work.

-The government must move actively to provide relief to the poor people. To achieve this, the provisional system must be reformed.

(omitted)

– In order to carry out all the above reforms, the government’s finances must be large and strong. In order to secure finances, not only must taxes be reformed, but gold and silver mines must be developed and invested in finances.

-The first thing to do to reform taxes is to unify taxes. If you look at the taxes in Joseon these days, in addition to the basic land tax, there are unnecessarily many miscellaneous taxes. These miscellaneous taxes can easily become the root of corruption.

-Just as important as unifying taxes is fair tax collection. A prerequisite for this is the simultaneous reform of the land system and tax collection system.

-The most basic thing in reforming the land system is to keep in mind that the land of Joseon belongs to the monarch. And we must not forget that ‘Gyeongyujeon (耕者有田)’ is a standard stone. However, if this is not possible, reforming the tax collection system is best.

-The most important thing to consider when reforming the tax collection system is the fairness of tax collection. Fair tax collection means that those who earned a lot should pay more, and those who earned little should pay less. Therefore, the tax rate must be progressive.

(Omitted.)

-The government must manage the country through an expanded administrative organization and actively work on providing relief to the poor based on finances secured through tax collection reform and industrial promotion. This kind of relief for the poor should not be done simply as relief, but should be done in a way that gives the poor hope to escape poverty.

-In order for people to escape poverty, they must have a desire for improvement. To achieve this, the government must provide all kinds of convenience so that the people can participate actively. As the most basic measure to provide such convenience, the government must educate all citizens so that they have a minimum level of knowledge.

-The most important thing in this kind of educational process is to ensure that there is no difference between farmers, artisans, and merchants. Only when there are no nobles among the people, farmers, and merchants, the people will make use of their natural talents and their talents will blossom, and this will lead to the prosperity of our Joseon Dynasty.

(abbreviated)

* * *

As the presentation became longer, there was a half hourly break (about 1 hour) in the middle. During the break, King Sejong ate lunch with incense.

“It’s truly amazing. “How did you think of all that?”

Hyang answered Sejong’s question with a calm expression.

“I searched the scriptures and historical books of ancient sages and the books of scholars.”

“Is that so? “It seems like your hard work is truly visible.”

“That’s too much praise.”

King Sejong continued to praise Hyang’s humility.

“Honestly, there were a lot of things about your political views that I hadn’t even considered. Since the founding of Joseon, many systems have been created, but there are many more that simply follow what has been handed down since ancient times. “In a good way, it can be said to be a preservation of good taste and morals, but in a bad way, it can be seen as laziness.”

“I think that if the systems and laws had all been good and moral, there would have been no reason for the previous dynasties to have fallen and new countries to have been established.”

Sejong let out a long sigh at Hyang’s cold answer.

“Ha~. “Yes, that is true.”

After finishing the day, Hyang spoke seriously to King Sejong.

“Abama. It is written in the religious scriptures that the West believes in, ‘Put new wine in a new wineskin.’ He said. If it has been 30 years since the fall of the Joseon Dynasty and the establishment of our Joseon Dynasty, it can be considered a long time, and if it is short, it can be considered a short time. However, I believe that reform must be carried out because the people’s plight is the same as before. Sambong (三峯) tried to reform, but his reforms were only for the benefit of a few. “Reforms are needed for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.”

Sejong slapped his knee and admired Hyang’s words.

“What you say is absolutely correct!”

The officer who was recording next to the two father and son wrote the following at the end.

-The crown prince’s words are extreme and radical. However, I think that the phrase ‘greatest happiness for the greatest number’ should never be taken lightly. Isn’t ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’ truly the crystallization of royal politics advocated by ancient sages and dreamed of by noblemen?

[Episode 26: Gapjin Gyeongjang (4)] End

ⓒ Gukbbong

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