Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 374

Episode 374: Stagnation – Jeongjungdong (8)

While King Sejong and the ministers were in the middle of a meeting at Geunjeongjeon, a group of internal officials and officials entered Geunjeongjeon.

“What’s going on?”

In response to King Sejong’s question, the merchant ship approached the eunuch. After receiving the report in a whisper, the merchant ship approached King Sejong and carefully conveyed the situation.

“Right now, Choi Man-ri is in plaster outside Gwanghwamun, filing charges? for what reason?”

“They say it is because of the Hunminjeongeum that was created this time.”

King Sejong’s face turned fierce for a moment after receiving the report from the merchant ship. But soon cynicism took its place.

“Foot! Choi Man-ri…. His insight and clarity are worthy of recognition. “Nothing like cancer.”

Sejong stood up after saying something that was unclear whether it was a compliment or a sarcasm.

“I guess I should go out and see. Let’s go together too. “Shouldn’t you listen to what he’s babbling about?”

The ministers momentarily paused and looked at King Sejong when he spoke loudly.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Your Majesty, what you just said is not befitting of His Majesty….”

As Lee Jik trailed off, Sejong asked back with a look of incomprehension.

“Someone with high insight said it was a wal (曰), so what’s the problem?”

“Ah… it’s nothing! it’s nothing!”

At King Sejong’s words, the ministers quickly stood up from their seats. Sejong clicked his tongue at that sight.

“What on earth were you thinking… Tsk!”

The officer who recorded all of this got up and added hastily.

– says the officer.

I don’t think so…

* * *

“Your Highness! Please reach out! “The promulgation of Hunminjeongeum will never happen!”

As we reached Gwanghwamun, we heard Choi Man-ri’s cry. Sejong, who heard the shout, chuckled and muttered.

“You really have a good voice.”

“insect!”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

King Sejong crossed the threshold while receiving the courtesy of the soldiers guarding Gwanghwamun and looked at the scene unfolding in front of Gwanghwamun.

Choi Man-ri, who was prostrate on a mat, continued to raise his voice, and the residents of Hanseong were crowded around him.

A lot of people gathered at the last branch appeal, but there were even more people gathered now.

The reason for this difference was the value of Choi Man-ri’s name.

-Former Jiphyeonjeon Daejehak and famous Cheongbaekri.

People had gathered because someone of a completely different level from the last time was making an appeal.

“majesty! Shin Jeon Jiphyeonjeon Daejehak Choi Man-ri is risking his life to tell your majesty! The promulgation of Hunminjeongeum will never happen! “Please inform me!”

Choi Man-ri, seeing King Sejong’s appearance, raised his voice even more.

Sejong saw that and took a quick look around.

Not only did he see the ministers who followed him, but he also saw Hyang running from Area 51.

Sejong, who saw Hyang’s slightly worried look, muttered softly.

“I can’t show my ugly side as a father when my child is watching.”

After taking a deep breath, King Sejong gave an order to the merchant ship.

“Go get a table and a stool.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After a while, the eunuchs brought a desk and a chair, and King Sejong pointed in front of Choi Man-ri with his finger.

“Put it there.”

When the eunuchs left the desk and stool and retreated, King Sejong sat down on the chair. King Sejong, resting his elbows on the desk and resting his chin lightly on his clasped hands, asked Choi Man-ri.

“Why can’t we use Hunminjeongeum? “It can’t be that ugly, right?”

Choi Man-ri answered King Sejong’s question right away.

“No. Hunminjeongeum, created by Your Majesty, contains an extremely mysterious principle. Therefore, anyone who can think and act like a human being will be able to easily learn and use it skillfully.”

“But why did you say not to use it?”

“That is precisely why it should not be used. “If you want to know the reason…”

“Wait a minute.”

After cutting off Choi Man-ri’s words, King Sejong gave orders to his ministers.

“I think it’s going to be quite a long story. Since you are old, please bring a chair and sit down.”

“I am devastated.”

“The Crown Prince does the same.”

“I am devastated. “Abama.”

“If people are having a hard time, they can sit comfortably on the floor or leave their seats.”

“I am devastated!”

The residents of Hanseong, who were lying flat on the ground in accordance with etiquette and national law, responded loudly to King Sejong’s command.

After sorting out the situation, Sejong looked back at Choi Man-ri.

“How much did we talk about?”

“That’s… big! “Keuhum!”

Choi Man-ri, who had been sitting blankly, soon came to his senses, cleared his throat, and continued speaking.

Seeing that sight, all the ministers muttered to themselves.

‘You’re already mastered at dealing with people!’

Choi Man-ri explained to King Sejong why he should not use Hunminjeongeum. It was an extremely long story, but in summary it was roughly as follows.

-Hunminjeongeum, created by King Sejong, is a very easy script to learn and use.

However, this causes many big problems, so it is better not to use it.

-After the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, it treated the Ming Dynasty well and followed the Chinese system. However, although the form of the newly created character is taken from the old Jeon script, the sound and writing method are different, so it can be problematic in the Ming.

-Since ancient times, the only people who created their own language instead of Chinese characters were foreign barbarians. It is said that our Joseon Dynasty’s culture and rites and music can be compared to those of China, so how can we go down the path of barbarians?

– Although Idu, created by Seolchong of Silla, is a dirty language, it must be written using Chinese characters, so you must learn Chinese characters. Since the new characters do not require Chinese characters at all, learning academics will be problematic. If the person in charge masters Hunminjeongeum without Chinese characters, the descendants will abandon Chinese characters, thinking that Hunminjeongeum alone is enough to achieve success and fame. There will be no one who can learn the science of sage.

-It is said that the unfairness of criminal cases can be resolved by using Hunminjeongeum, but this is not a problem of letters. This is a separate issue as fairness is determined depending on what the prisoner is.

-If you look at the case of Hunminjeongeum, it is not right because it was suddenly decided to use it without any discussion with the ministers. Although the trend these days is to make decisions quickly and see results quickly, it is absolutely unacceptable to do so when it comes to such an important issue as letters.

-If you look at the creation process of Hunminjeongeum, you can see that even the crown prince participated. Who is the Crown Prince? This is the talent that will continue the Joseon Dynasty. He has been exceptionally bright since he was young, but now he is in a sad situation because he is so absorbed in trivia that he is not diligent in mathematics. In such a situation, it is not right to continue to entrust the Crown Prince with tasks related to Hunminjeongeum.

-If you use Hunminjeongeum, people can easily learn and write sentences. Being able to read and write sentences easily and deepening your knowledge are two separate issues.

If a person with a malicious mind uses insensitive words and sentences, it will cause even greater trouble than if only Chinese characters were used.

“…This is why the promulgation and use of Hunminjeongeum is absolutely prohibited! “Please inform me!”

Choi Man-ri’s explanation ended, but King Sejong did not open his mouth right away.

“Hmm…”

Sejong, who was gathering his thoughts with a small hum, soon opened his mouth.

“It seems right at first glance, but it is not right.”

King Sejong refuted Choi Man-ri’s opinion point by point.

-Being kind to people is not a courtesy that must be followed, but a diplomatic choice. Doing as you say is not obedience to the four virtues, but submission. This is to obscure the meaning of the four generations that have continued since King Taejo the Great.

-As you said, the culture and rites and music of our Joseon Dynasty can be compared to those of China. What does the word compare mean? It is about judging the severity of the two different things. In other words, since Joseon’s culture and rites and music are different from those of China, isn’t it rather natural that the characters are also different? Isn’t that actually why biceps came out? The language and culture are different, but didn’t they use Idu because there was no proper writing system?

-You are not wrong in saying that the unfairness and fairness of a prison sentence depends on the prisoner. But wouldn’t it be easier to avoid injustice if the law was written in plain language and people could easily read and understand it?

-There was no discussion with the ministers, but in evaluations after its creation, all ministers gave positive evaluations. It was also evaluated as easy to use for writing official documents. Also, have you forgotten the existence of speakers? Do you think they would have stayed silent when I did something wrong?

-Also, the Crown Prince was mentioned, but the Crown Prince’s participation is almost over. Even if we point out what has already happened, isn’t it possible to look back on it? Isn’t this a point for the sake of pointing out? And it is said that the crown prince only cares about trivia and neglects mathematics, but the crown prince was the one who had already established a family long ago. And many people are enjoying the results the crown prince has achieved through trivia. What is your arrogance that makes you look down on this?

“…And it is said that by abandoning Chinese characters, we will neglect the teachings of the previous Confucian scholars, and we will be harmed by the wrongdoing, so let me ask you this.”

Choi Man-ri, who had been disputed point by point by King Sejong, answered in a tired voice.

“Please ask.”

“Is it only Chinese characters that can contain the utmost meaning of Seonyu? “Is what you value now the meaning of Seonyu, or is it the Chinese character that is merely a vessel containing the meaning of Seonyu?”

“That is….”

“What is the problem in changing the bowl so that more people can easily understand the meaning of Seonyu? And what about the poor people? If you look back at past history, there have always been people who were reckless and caused trouble. “Is it because the people didn’t use Chinese characters back then?”

“That’s not true…”

King Sejo persistently bit Choi Man-ri.

“Yes, fifty paces, a hundred paces… I guess it’s the same for those who are completely uneducated or have only a shallow understanding of things. But still. Do you think that those who have realized the joy of learning through easy texts will remain satisfied with shallow knowledge?”

“But the people are lazy to learn…”

King Sejong shouted at Choi Man-ri’s words.

“Are your eyes those of a blind man? Are you saying that even when you see the children flocking to the social democratic school right now? “Among the children who discover the joy of learning at Social Ministries, 90% are Sangmin!”

Choi Man-ri’s head fell to the floor due to Sejong’s criticism.

Sejong’s criticism continued through Choi Man-ri’s ears.

“Isn’t the greatest task of the noblemen to educate the people? If there were difficulties in educating the people due to the lack of letters, it was natural to devise all kinds of methods to solve the problem! But when a solution to that problem has been found, what a fool’s errand it is to block it!”

In the end, Choi Man-ri had to raise the white flag.

“God’s thoughts were short. “God forgive me for my sins.”

The ministers breathed a sigh of relief at Choi Man-ri’s answer.

‘Choi Man-ri, I’m glad that little man waved the white flag.’

‘It was close. If I had gone a little further, Sang would have cut off my head.’

King Sejong stared at Choi Man-ri in silence for a long time, perhaps knowing what the ministers were thinking.

“What should I do with a foolish person like you?”

Choi Man-ri gritted his teeth at the word ‘adun’. But now, I was in a situation where I had nothing to say even if I was evaluated like that.

King Sejong, who had been looking at Choi Man-ri for a long time, turned his head.

“Prime Minister”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I think I’ll have to reverse a decision I made in the past. Is that okay?”

“It depends on the case, but Your Majesty’s heart comes first.”

“exactly? Hmm… Choi Man-ri, listen.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Soon, Jeongeumcheong will be built. You will serve as the Commissioner and be in charge of translating the country’s law code into Hunminjeongeum. It should not be simply transcribed; it should be explained and translated so that anyone can easily understand its meaning! If you realized the advantages of Hunminjeongeum in just a few days, it would be possible, right?”

“The ability of the faith is low….”

Choi Man-ri was frightened and tried to withdraw his foot, but King Sejong did not miss it.

“You have no right to veto. And…”

Sejong, who paused for a moment, approached Man-ri Choi and whispered so that only he could understand.

“Thank you. Thanks to the value of your name, many people in Joseon will become more interested in Hunminjeongeum.”