Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 364

Episode 364: Things that increase when divided, work and swearing (6)

The joint work of the two fathers and sons was completed when they even decided on the names of the letters.

The work, which started with about 40 volumes and expanded to 70, ended with 5 slightly thick books. Of the five volumes, three were intended for professionals related to foreign language pronunciation and recording – translators and upper-level interpreters – and only two were aimed at the general public, including the rules regarding letters – notation and pronunciation – The length of the book was a little over half a volume. The rest were records of examples of how to use them.

Sejong looked at the pile of books on one side and the five books in front of him, then looked back.

“How did it happen that even Haeryebon was completed?”

“It just so happened to be like that.”

Seeing Hyang answering with a grin, Sejong asked briefly.

“Are you aiming for it?”

“No way? “How can Soja!”

“You were aiming for it.”

Sejong, who was even more convinced by Hyang’s straight face, continued speaking.

“I look forward to hearing from you. “It’ll take about five days, right?”

“… yes.”

Sejong, who had set a deadline, looked at the books on the table again.

“Will it really be put to good use?”

Hyang immediately responded to Sejong’s slightly pessimistic words.

“It will be put to good use. “It is a script created for the Joseon language.”

“That’s where those who will protest will come out. There will be people who will object to having to use the same letters as the idiots. “They said it was of low rank.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if more came out?”

“huh?”

When Sejong expressed doubts about the unexpected remark, Hyang smiled and continued.

“It takes a lot of people to reorganize the records in the archives.”

“That’s right.”

“Abamama created Hunminjeongeum for the purpose of loving the people, but wasn’t it also to escape from the shadow of the Ming Dynasty?”

Sejong, who paused for a moment at Hyang’s point, soon responded with a slight smile.

“Anyway, what you have is… Yes, that’s right. The shadow of the central plains is large and dark, but Joseon cannot grow if it cannot escape from that shadow. And these days, I’m just as greedy for the yellow dragon robe as you are.”

“So, those who oppose must be put in the record office and made to work. Only by forcefully driving Hunminjeongeum into one’s bones will the old thinking be broken. These are people whose skills are weaker than the blade of an ax anyway. “You have to improve your constitution and use it at least that way.”

When Hyang mentioned the incident at the branch appeal last time, Sejong also nodded.

“That’s right. “They have such dull skills, but they can be put to use in the Records Office.”

“That’s right.”

Sejong and Hyang smiled and continued their conversation. But the smiles on the two people’s faces looked more evil than anyone else’s smiles.

Although he seemed certain of success, King Sejong’s feelings were half worry and half anticipation.

“I hope this letter survives well.”

“You will survive.”

‘History proves it!’

Hyang, who declared with a face full of confidence, fulfilled her wish.

“My only hope is that these words will not change and will be used for a long time. “When people’s lives become difficult, the first thing they do is to become hardened.”

* * *

When Hyang lived as Jinho in the 21st century, the Korean language teacher who taught the evolution of Hangul explained this part.

“As the consonants and vowels of the old Hangul disappeared, the words we used became stronger and stiffer. Then why did it disappear? The most reasonable argument is that it is because it has become difficult for the people to live. The old Hangul began to disappear in the late Joseon Dynasty, when the country went through two wars and suffered from famine. “Right now, survival is the issue, so my personality has become sharper, and as my personality has become sharper, my words have become sharper.”

The students nodded to the teacher’s explanation. Similar information was recorded in the reference book.

The teacher paused his explanation for a moment and continued.

“And we actually experienced that change. when? The closest period would be that damn ‘IMF’ period. Until then, rockers said ‘sarang’ instead of ‘sarang’, but after the IMF ended, even ballad singers sang ‘sarang’. And another example is the second person pronoun ‘yes’. Obviously, the subtitles say ‘neega’, but I started saying ‘niga’, and before I knew it, I ended up writing ‘niga’ in the subtitles as well.”

* * *

The scent that briefly brought back memories of the 21st century was repeated again.

“I just hope that Joseon’s words will not harden for a long time to come.”

“It certainly is.”

Sejong, who nodded his head in strong agreement with Hyang’s words, immediately stood up.

“ruler! “Now that it’s finished, let’s get up.”

“yes.”

Sejong, who got up from his seat and slightly relaxed his stiff back, looked towards the scent.

“Five days. “Don’t forget.”

“… yes.”

* * *

A week later, King Sejong made a shocking announcement at a gathering of ministers.

“I have something to tell you today to the ministers.”

In response to King Sejong’s remarks, the ministers showed expressions that the thing had finally come.

I knew that Sejong and Hyang had been busy going back and forth for several months, planning something in secret.

‘What on earth are you trying to do?’

The officials, who were curious about what had been going on in secret for several months, approached internal officials with whom they had built up close relationships and asked them surreptitious questions.

However, the internal officers who were questioned all remained ignorant.

The ministers were even more curious about the reactions of the internal officials.

“What on earth are you trying to do?…”

There were all kinds of speculations, but no one had the resources to ask King Sejong directly.

“It might have been possible if it was Captain Hwang Hee.”

And today, King Sejong himself revealed the secret.

* * *

Not only the ministers, but also the officers and governors were concentrating on Sejong, and Sejong spoke slowly.

“Here’s something I’ve been researching on my own over the past few years. And I would like to present the results to the teachers today.”

“gulp!”

At King Sejong’s words, the ministers swallowed their saliva and only looked at King Sejong’s mouth.

“Tell the crown prince to come.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After a while, the eunuchs entered Geunjeongjeon accompanied by incense. As Hyang stood on the podium to pay his respects to King Sejong, the eunuch followed behind and hung large royal paintings on hangings.

When the incense was ready, King Sejong opened his mouth again.

“What I would like to present to the officers today is our Joseon unique script.”

The ministers’ eyes widened as they heard King Sejong’s words.

“Crown, please explain.”

“Yes Abama.”

In response to King Sejong’s command, Hyang opened his mouth by passing the markings on the chart with his pointing stick.

“From now on, I will explain ‘Hunminjeongeum’.”

* * *

The ministers, who had come to their senses to some extent from the initial shock, soon focused on the explanation of the scent.

Hyang explained to the ministers, starting with how to combine the pronunciation of consonants and vowels, and even giving simple examples.

“That is all.”

After the explanation of the scent was finished, King Sejong asked the ministers.

“What do you think?”

King Sejong asked, but none of the ministers answered immediately. Eventually, Lee Jik came forward and reported it to Sejong.

“I think I need to think a little more.”

“But isn’t there such a thing as a first impression?”

Maeng Sa-seong responded to Sejong’s question.

“It seems easy to write and read at first glance, but I think it is difficult to give a definite answer until you actually write it.”

King Sejong immediately responded to Maeng Sa-seong’s answer.

“So Jinpyeong and Anpyeong started work yesterday. You’ll probably see some results soon. For reference, it took about 1 sijin (about 2 hours) for Jinpyeong and Anpyeong to learn the Hunminjeongeum.”

The ministers thought about the meaning of the ‘1 city march’ mentioned by King Sejong.

‘Are you proud of your child? No… I’m saying it’s that easy.’

‘Did you emphasize that it is easy to understand and use?’

* * *

While the ministers were struggling to find the hidden meaning in their words, the merchant ship informed King Sejong that Anpyeong had come.

“Please stop by.”

“yes.”

After a while, Anpyeong entered Geunjeongjeon and paid homage to King Sejong.

“So what happened?”

“I carried out what Abamama ordered yesterday, and first of all, I recorded and brought 5 short songs.”

“Give it to me.”

King Sejong received the papers via a merchant ship and carefully examined their contents. The lyrics were written in Chinese characters at the top of the paper and in Hunminjeongeum at the bottom.

“Hmm…”

Sejong, who was comparing the lyrics written on the paper, put down the paper and asked Anpyeong.

“So, how was it?”

“Hunminjeongeum was overwhelmingly useful for writing lyrics. Since you can just write it down the way it sounds, it greatly saves you the trouble of finding the right Chinese character for the word. Also, because the sounds were written exactly as they were written, there was less risk of mistakes.”

“Is that so? “I see. Please read the sutras as well.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The ministers read the lyrics brought by Anpyeong. The ministers, who were unfamiliar with the Hunminjeongeum because they had just seen it, took turns looking at the hexagram and paper hanging to understand the sentences.

“A… go… go… thorn… thorn….”

However, since they were Moon Jae (文才), they were never pushed aside anywhere, so I soon got used to it and started reading the sentences.

“Gosiri, gosiri….”

“Nim-ah, nim-ah…”

After confirming that the ministers had read everything, King Sejong asked again.

“What do you think?”

Ijik was the first to open his mouth in response to Sejong’s question.

“Honestly, I could understand the meaning just as I read it. “It seemed useful in some way, but I think it would be better to make a decision after further verification.”

Sejong’s expression got worse at Lee Jik’s answer. Lee Jik’s heart sank at that expression, but he couldn’t accept it right away.

‘It may sound like Vice Admiral Ryu Jeong-hyun, but it’s a text message! message! ‘You need to think more carefully and listen!’

Lee Jik continued to speak while bowing his head.

“Is the only way to use text to write down lyrics? “I think it is right to verify it from more sources before making a decision.”

“If the results of the Hunminjeongeum report prepared by Jinpyeong are good, will the Lord agree?”

Lee Jik became very nervous at Sejong’s question.

‘This is the final warning!’

Feeling that his life was in danger, Lee Jik did the math as quickly as possible.

‘What Prince Jinpyeong is in charge of is official documents! ‘If there are no problems with the official documents…’

After doing the math, Lee Jik made a decision.

“Then God will yield.”

“Then let’s talk about it again. Let’s end today’s inquiry here. “I’m tired. I need to get some rest.”

* * *

When King Sejong declared the suspension of the session, all the ministers who came out of Geunjeongjeon flocked to Prime Minister’s House (formerly Uijeongbu).

The ministers gathered in the Prime Minister’s Office conference room began discussing the topic of Hunminjeongeum.

“It seems like His Majesty the Lord has made up his mind, so I should follow suit, right?”

“That’s true, but out of nowhere, it’s a Joseon-only script…”

“Still, it looks quite useful, but what do you think?”

While various words were exchanged, Kim Jeom showed a very positive response.

“I think it would be very useful. Isn’t it easy to transcribe our thoughts into someone else’s letters? If we do well, don’t you think we’ll be able to find hidden talents as well?”

Hearing Kim Jeom’s words, Maeng Sa-seong let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~. Why don’t you know that? “The problem is that there is a bigger problem than that.”

“What problem?”

“It’s a historical problem.”

Kim Jeom, who thought for a moment about Maeng Sa-seong’s words, nodded and looked at Lee Maeng-gyun.

“The captain is going to be busy.”

At Kim Jeom’s words, most of the ministers except Lee Maeng-gyun nodded, and Lee Maeng-gyun grumbled with a deeply troubled face.

“no way! “History is truly a thing!”

It may be a guess to say that it is a guess, but among the countries surrounding the Central Plains, there were not many countries with their own script that were on good terms with the Central Plains countries.

The Liao Dynasty (Khitan script) was like that, the Jin Dynasty (Jurchen script) was like that, and the Yuan Dynasty (Mongolian script) was like that.

If Joseon were to create and use its own script, there was a high possibility that the Ming would react nervously.