Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 601

Episode 601: Opening of Heaven – Controversy over the First Law (4)

As the system passed through many difficult stages, the First Law became more and more solid.

In this process, King Sejong and his ministers often spent the night arguing. However, through such fierce war of words, the system of first-hand laws was refined.

Meanwhile, the person who was most shocked was Hyang.

‘really! ‘What era am I living in now?’

Hyang was truly experiencing culture shock.

The parts that clearly seemed like they would lead to big arguments were easily overlooked, and there were frequent cases where King Sejong and the ministers got into a fight of words with blood in their throats over parts that were thought to be inconsequential.

And as the war of words dragged on, King Sejong and the ministers all looked at each other.

“What does the Crown Prince think?”

“What do you think, Crown Prince?”

Every time I was asked a question like that, Hyang had to break into a cold sweat.

This was because there were more unexpected things than expected.

Thanks to this, Hyang had to desperately think about it every time he was asked this question.

“What Abamama said makes sense, and your opinions also make sense. So, let me think about it a little more.”

Hyang, who had avoided the crisis by answering like that, had to desperately think about it.

‘Roll over, you head! If you make a mistake, the image you have built up until now will be destroyed in one fell swoop!’

The image created by Hyang’s achievements so far was ‘non-knowledge.’ Because there was such an image, proxy cleaning was easy.

Even if Sejong was holding on to his back, he was absent. Therefore, if the ministers decided to set up a fishing ground, it was possible. But the reason that didn’t happen was because of the track record the fragrance had built up.

In any case, thanks to such desperate efforts and the knowledge and practical experience gained in the 21st century, the township was able to come up with a good intervention plan.

And King Sejong and the ministers who accepted the arbitration plan all gave favorable reviews.

“As expected, it’s Cesaro!”

“It is indeed so. “You are so outstanding, it is truly a blessing!”

Whenever King Sejong and his ministers praised him, Hyang lightly bowed his head and spoke words of humility.

“That’s too much praise.”

‘Haa~! ‘I barely got over the hurdle!’

Every time we passed a critical juncture, Hyang analyzed the cause.

“Why on earth did this happen? We must find out the cause! Otherwise, the future will be difficult!”

After a desperate analysis, Hyang was able to figure out the cause.

“Was the conclusion ‘the road not taken’? Isn’t it a ‘third way’?”

* * *

It is difficult to find a precedent for the political system currently expressed by the first law created by King Sejong.

It was neither a constitutional monarch nor a despot. But it wasn’t even a republic.

“If I were to think about it, it would be closer to a constitutional monarchy…”

Hyang whetted his appetite after seeing the analysis results in front of him. It was clearly a constitutional monarchy based on the law.

However, considering the famous proposition ‘reign but do not rule’, it could not be said to be correct. This was because the emperor was given great powers, including the right to veto.

However, it was difficult to view it as a despotic monarchy. Although the emperor had enormous authority, the institutional mechanism that prevented him from exercising that authority at will was specified in the first law. In addition, provisions regarding various rights, including human rights of the people, were clearly stipulated.

The ideology of the ruling party at this time also played a role.

One of the reasons for the revolution that changed Goryeo to Joseon was ‘saving the people who have fallen into ruin.’ For this reason, policies that placed considerable emphasis on the people were created.

Also, one of the fundamental ideologies of Neo-Confucianism was ‘royal politics.’ Therefore, while acknowledging the monarch’s despotic power, they did not forget to keep it in check.

And as always, the police officer played a big part. As the focus of the economy changed from agriculture to commerce and industry through the Gyeongjang, a large number of problems arose that were difficult to solve with the existing Neo-Confucian way of thinking. In order to solve this problem, a new idea had to be created, and King Sejong set out ‘Hongik Ingan’ as the reference point.

The ‘Hongik Ingan’ advocated by King Sejong was both good as a political justification and good as a practical solution, so it was accepted without burden not only by the ruling class but also by the general public.

of course. Among them, there was some deterioration.

There were people who changed the saying, ‘It broadly benefits people,’ to ‘If it’s good for you and good for me, that’s enough.’

Thanks to this, organizations were created to inspect them, legal provisions were established, and manpower was steadily supplied to the records office and mines.

And the reason this change in thinking was possible was because the current ruling class was not dogmatized.

* * *

Just before the incident, Ryu Jeong-hyeon and the senior ministers who supported him were criticized for their actions, calling it a ‘Confucian Taliban’.

However, this was a situation where it would be more appropriate to view them as using Neo-Confucianism as a tool of political struggle rather than seeing them as dogmatized.

Elderly ministers who escaped Taejong’s reign of terror used Neo-Confucianism as a weapon to suppress the young King Sejong, who had just taken power, and to create a system of ‘military power and strength.’

However, as the senior ministers were purged on a large scale due to King Sejong’s counteroffensive, the possibility of dogmatization was greatly reduced.

In addition, the downfall of local noblemen due to the Giyu Rebellion that took place in the middle of Gyeongjang also played a role in nipping the bud of dogmatism.

In the history before the intervention of the Hyang, the new noble class, which had been the core of power and the center of ideology since the mid-Joseon Dynasty, had collapsed.

Thanks to this, a contradictory political structure was born, symbolized by a new law that smells of Neo-Confucianism but is ambiguous to conclude that it is Neo-Confucianism.

* * *

“But it is a bit difficult to call it completely a ‘third way.’ “It doesn’t feel familiar somehow…”

Thanks to that, Hyang, who had been diligently searching through his memories, was able to find the closest answer.

“Is it a modern constitutional monarchy? It feels a bit lacking, but I think this is the most correct answer.”

The reason why Hyang said ‘there is a feeling of inadequacy’ was because of the existence of slaves and the guilt-by-association system.

The first law clearly stated that Joseon’s status system was ‘Yangcheonje (良賤制)’.

Here, the low class was limited to slaves, and people such as entertainers who had previously been recognized as low class people had all become low class people.

And this slave part was clearly different from the history before Hyang intervened.

If we look at the situation during the Sejong period in history before the intervention of Hyang, it was a time when the number of servants increased and the number of government servants gradually decreased. As the number of people who hoped that Myeoncheon would become an easy government service increased, the number of government services needed was greatly reduced. In addition, it was a time when the number of sanobi increased significantly by prohibiting Yangcheon inter-marriage and applying Ilcheonjeokcheon (Ilcheonjeokcheon) and Jongmobeop (從母法).

However, the situation turned around as King Sejong wielded all power due to Hyang’s intervention.

As a tax was levied on Sanobi in order to break the power of local noblemen, the ratio of Sanobi decreased sharply and, conversely, the ratio of government slaves increased tremendously.

This was due to the Giyu Rebellion and the guilt-by-association system.

Similar to the decrease in labor costs, government servant fees also decreased. Jobs that had previously been handled by government officials, such as courtesans and doctors, were opened to yang-in, and most of those who did those jobs were exempted and became yang-in.

The reason why the number of government slaves increased rapidly in this situation was because all those implicated in the Giyu Rebellion were reduced to the status of slaves and forced to work in mines or rough terrain.

Even though King Sejong had firmly consolidated his power, he could not give up the system of slaves (more precisely, government slaves) and the guilt-by-association system in order to prevent dangerous situations that might arise in future generations.

“Wouldn’t a hard labor sentence look a little better?”

Accordingly, Hyang suggested changing it to a labor sentence, but King Sejong immediately rejected it.

“The sentence of hard labor can be for a fixed period or can be pardoned. So it doesn’t work.”

“…yes.”

Hyang bowed her head at Sejong’s firm answer.

‘Is this really the limit? But I guess there is no answer other than this. It is very likely that it is still too early.’

* * *

As a side note, the existence of this law has become a matter of dispute among historians.

‘The standard that separates the Middle Ages from the modern era is the first law. And Joseon’s Chobeop is the best example.’

There were many scholars who held that the standard for dividing the Middle Ages and modern times was the early law and cited Joseon’s early law as the best example, but there were also a significant number of scholars who opposed it.

‘When it comes to modern times, the most important thing is whether human rights are guaranteed! However, Joseon’s first law has a slave system and a guilt-by-association system, so it doesn’t fit!’

In history before the intervention of Hyang, the place of ‘Constitution’ was occupied by ‘First Law’, and historians began to debate whether Joseon’s First Law was the modern First Law.

* * * The war of words between

King Sejong and the ministers over the first law in the 31st year of King Sejong’s reign (1449, Gisa Year)

ended in March. After a war of words that took place for nearly half a year, the first law was able to greatly improve its perfection.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

King Sejong, who accepted the revised version of the first law, praised the ministers.

“Thanks to your hard work, we were able to build a solid foundation for the empire.”

“No. “This was possible because Your Majesty had already paved the way well.”

Under King Sejong’s reign, the ministers, including Hwang Hui, all bowed their heads and spoke words of humility.

“Now then, let’s print these draft laws and distribute them to government offices across the country. “And let’s set up a room to look at this first law and discuss the problems.”

“yes? yes.”

Hwang Hui and the ministers were all surprised at King Sejong’s command, but soon resigned and responded obediently.

‘yes! ‘What kind of person is the chief minister!’

‘It would be strange if these words didn’t come out…’

The ministers who were so resigned soon came up with their own positive ideas.

‘Just… if I do well, I might be able to catch a big fish for the first time in a long time?’

* * *

According to King Sejong’s orders, the first law was distributed and rooms were attached to government offices throughout Joseon – from the northeastern region where Joseonization had already been completed to Daeseoldo and Jongjangdo.

“Examine the first law and discuss the problems?”

People who inspected the contents of the room entered the government office and raised their voices.

“I have come to examine the law!”

The tired officials responded by raising their hands and pointing at the Han people.

“Go over there and stand in line.”

“yes?”

There was a long line of people in the direction the official pointed.

* * *

The people’s reaction to the first law was quite enthusiastic. Because the number of people who wanted to read the law was so large compared to the number of legal codes distributed, documents from all over Joseon flocked to Hanseong requesting additional distribution.

“I didn’t know that the people would be so interested in the law.”

Hwang Hee immediately responded to Lee Sa-cheol’s words.

“The law is that which affects the people most and most quickly.”

Lee Sa-cheol nodded at Hwang Hee’s point.

“Ah…”

“But it is true that the response was hotter than expected. “I think writing in Jeongeum played a big role.”

All the ministers nodded at Kim Jeom’s words.

Meanwhile, King Sejong looked pleased after receiving the report.

“This is truly a good thing. “Isn’t it a good thing that all the people study the law so diligently and learn about it?”

“That’s right.”

While answering that question, Hyang was thinking of something else.

‘These people are accustomed to saying that they should follow the law, but now they will fight with trillions and thousands of clauses.’