Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 67
Episode 67: Panseo Hojo’s Melancholy
“Ha~.”
Panseo Hojo sighed in front of the mountain of scrolls and books.
The name of Panseo Hojo, who sighs like the earth is falling, is Kim Jeom. If the original history is true, it is the early part of King Sejong’s reign. He would have served as Hojo Panseo, moved to Hyeongjo, and then served as governor of Pyeongan Province.
However, in this history, his fate changed. It was customary for regular personnel in the government – ministers in the government to change positions regularly once a year. – There were a few times, but Kim Jeom continued to remain as Hojo Judge.
“I don’t know if this is luck or misfortune.”
Kim Jeom, the person involved, was wondering whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for him to continue to be Hojo Judge, but his wife actually said, He liked it.
“Isn’t it a good thing that you are staying in Hanseong instead of going far away? ”
However, there was a real reason why Kim Jeom’s wife liked it. If Kim Jeom went abroad, the most likely place for him to be appointed was the governor of Pyeongan Province. And the place where the governor of Pyeongan Province stayed was Pyongyang, famous for its ‘colorful hometown.’
In any case, the position of Hojo Panseo was Kim Jeom’s daily life, which had been just watching Hojo’s work since he was left in office, was completely turned upside down when Hyang was installed as crown prince. It
was quite meaningful for Won-jae to be installed as crown prince. If you become crown prince, no matter how young you are, you will have a certain degree of influence. It was because it gave him the right to speak.
In that sense, the installation of Crown Prince of Hyang was the beginning of a nightmare for the ministers.
Staring at the gold pen in his hand, Kim Jeom muttered,
“It all started because of this guy.”
While entrusting the production of gold pencils to the private sector, This was because the amount and intensity of work to be undertaken at Hojo began to increase rapidly.
“Ha~. “It was good at first.”
Kim felt good when he heard that it would be entrusted to the private sector. In his opinion, the gold pen was truly an item with many uses. It
was easier to maintain than a brush pen and had a reasonable lifespan. Above all, it was only a grade 2 silver pen. Even so, the price was cheaper than an ordinary brush. Thanks to that, competition would be fierce to become a company that produces this golden brush, and he was sure to receive a handsome gift. “I didn’t know that the
Crown Prince was truly so fucking smart.”
The crown prince, who requested the authority to produce gold pens by begging the chief minister, created a truly absurd system. It was called
‘open bidding.’
According to the crown prince’s order, the specifications of the gold pens were delivered to the merchants who submitted bids.
According to this system, The merchants wrote down the price of how much they could produce and had to judge it publicly under the Crown Prince’s observation. This was the moment when the gift that Kim Jeom had expected flew away. The Crown Prince handed out a
piece of paper to Panseo Hojo and Champan Chamui, who were in charge of the judging. “ Please
remove all items listed below this price.”
“What is this price? ”
“This is the production cost that Gungigam’s craftsmen used to produce gold pens. This is an average amount that includes not only material costs but also the wages of public officials. Therefore, be sure to exclude the tops that are cheaper than this amount.”
Kim Jeom raised a question about Hyang’s words.
“Isn’t it good if it’s cheaper? ”
The words of Panseo Hojo filled my tongue.
“Because the materials for the gold pens made by Gungigam were all purchased through public donations, it is difficult to come up with a unit price lower than that. But is it made at a cheaper price than that? Do you think that is possible? ”
“… There will definitely be a problem.”
“Furthermore, the gold pen at the top of the selection will be stamped with a peach blossom pattern (季花文樣) to signify that the country has recognized its quality. But is there a problem with the quality of such items? Do you think the people will trust their country? ”
“Hwang-gong.”
At Hyang’s command, Kim Jeom had to bow his head. Hyang’s grumbles entered Kim Jeom’s ears as he lowered his head.
“How on earth is a nobleman called Hopan of a country so short-thinking… Tsk! ”
That’s how Kim Jeom’s hardships began, starting with Geumpil. In a way, among the ministers, it was Hopan who first began to be harassed by King Sejong and Hyang. * *
*
Hopan’s hardships became more intense with the nationwide implementation of cowpox vaccination. .
In the process of executing cowpox vaccination, the family registers of the eight provinces of Joseon were reorganized. And the first batch of the reorganized family registers was sent to King Sejong. And when King Sejong saw the numbers, he issued an order to the ministers.
“Finally, the family registers It was organized only two years ago, but the population has increased so much in just two years? Ministers can believe this! ”
“Here comes the Emperor! ”
“I told you not to do anything embarrassing! ”
Sejong shouted loudly, but the ministers had nothing to say.
Joseon compiled family registers every three years. The compiled family registers were made into three copies, one to each county and county, another to each county, and the last one to each region. He was sent to Gamyeong.
However, looking at the household registration number recorded in this family register, the population of Joseon was only about 300,000 when Joseon was just opened (1392).
Afterwards, they continued to settle refugees and vigorously conducted household surveys. The population of Joseon began to grow rapidly. And according to a household survey conducted two years ago, the population of Joseon was about 1.9 million.
However, the population of Joseon confirmed through the recent cowpox vaccination was about 4.3 million.
“Tell me! Listen! For the past two years, have the people of Joseon not worked and only given birth to children? Is it possible for the population to increase by over 2 million in just two years? “
“Here comes the Emperor!”
“I told you not to do anything that would embarrass the emperor!”
In response to King Sejong’s roar, the ministers could only continue to bow their heads.
However, both King Sejong and the ministers knew why this happened. This was because both local administrative organizations and the people benefited greatly from avoiding the burden of taxes, especially public contributions.
This is because the people were relieved of the burden of paying tribute, and local administrators were able to properly fill their pockets.
King Sejong could not hold back his anger and scolded his ministers with a red face.
“When Joseon was founded, taxes were reduced because the people were small and the nobles were devastated by exploitation. It was natural to spend less because there was less income, so compared to the previous dynasty, the bonuses of the royal family and ministers were greatly reduced!
But look! The actual population is so large, but the population recorded in the family register is less than half of the population! The country is receiving low taxes, but the people are still unable to escape poverty, so where has all the wealth gone? “ ”
….“
“ Why are you silent? Isn’t it obvious? If not the noblemen, then who else is there? These are the noblemen whom the magistrates protect so much! ”
“Your Majesty,”
King Sejong gritted his teeth.
“The country is in such shambles right now, but the noblemen are not guilty? You damn bastards! ”
Sejong’s arrows were aimed at the purged ministers. The ministers who heard King Sejong’s roar clicked their tongues.
‘It will be difficult for them to be released from exile for a while.’
‘Considering his age, it seems likely that he will be released from exile before he dies.’
“Whoa~.”
King Sejong took a long deep breath to calm his anger and gave orders to his ministers.
“Make an accurate family register and land register right away!”
“I follow your orders!”
“The governor took into consideration the hard work of the officers and included the realization of the nokbong in the book of royal records! However, it would be nice to do things this way. Do you think it is necessary?”
“Your Majesty!”
“I will handle it with all my might!”
King Sejong showed a cold response to the ministers’ answers.
“Let’s
see
! ”
“We need to increase all land registers. Let everyone do their best.”
“Captain Panseo. But even now, the work is too much!”
When one of the officials under his command protested, Kim Jeom screamed.
“Then use Sajikso! I know someone is doing this because they like it! They are doing it because they like it!”
At Kim Jeom’s scolding, all of the Hojo officials became quiet and only watched Kim Jeom’s thoughts.
“If you have any complaints, screw the local officials who did a terrible job! First, find out where the population has increased the most compared to two years ago and report it! ….”
Fifteen days later, Kim Jeom submitted a scroll to King Sejong.
“What is it?”
“While organizing the family register, I came across a list of towns with strangely increased populations.”
“Is there one or two towns like that?”
“Yes, but this is a particularly severe one.”
In response to Kim Jeom’s answer, King Sejong opened the scroll and read its contents. Sejong, who read the contents carefully, frowned.
“This is a bit harsh…”
There were a total of 12 towns in the scroll and the population had increased from a minimum of 5 times to a maximum of 8 times. King Sejong, who had been looking at the list with a frown on his face, looked back at the merchant ship.
“Sing the Great Saheon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Under King Sejong’s order, the doctors and generals of the Saheonbu headed to 12 towns. The officials who arrived in the town robbed local officials, officials, and immediate superiors. As a result, 26 current and former local officials and 40 officials were dismissed and exiled.
Kim Jeom and other Hojo officials took their anger out on their anger, but it wasn’t long before they were rewarded for it.
“Here we come again!”
”Again? ”
Hearing the subordinate official’s report, Kim Jeom grabbed the back of his neck, which was getting stiff.
“Where is it this time? ”
“It’s Gwangju-mok,
Jeolla-do.” “Damn it…”
Kim Jeom swore. As
local officials were put on trial due to the issue of corruption in the family register, other local officials desperately came up with countermeasures to avoid the sword of the situation. They wrote a ‘statement of reasons’ by thoroughly compiling the records left by their predecessors, including
the number of refugees who succeeded in settling down, the children of those refugees, and, in rare cases, the slaves who were exempted and became citizens. The basis for population growth was created by checking the number of people, etc., and books that meticulously recorded the size of the increased land and the current owners by reclaiming the land without owners and the current owners were poured in every day. From the Hojo’s
point of view, it was a refreshing way to vent his anger . After doing this, the work increased several times.
“Hehehe…”
“Ha! haha! under! ”
Looking at the books piling up like that, Kim Jeom and Hojo’s officials couldn’t help but let out empty smiles with lost expressions.
* * *
While the work was piling up like this, Hojo was given another task.
“Monopoly of candy and salt. ‘Establishment of a national organization to take charge’
“We’ll have to file a real resignation!”
“If we keep doing this, we’ll all die! ”
“You die this way, you die that way! ”
When all of Hojo’s officials, starting with Kim Jeom, were making a solemn decision, Hwang Hee suggested to King Sejong on their behalf ‘reinforcement of manpower through the past’. In response to Hwang Hee’s
suggestion, Hyang said, ‘It is a matter of time and cost’, and ‘the life of Sungkyunkwan They submitted a plan to hire ‘people’ and King Sejong accepted it.
Upon hearing the news that ‘Hojo’s personnel will be increased with Sungkyunkwan students’, all of Hojo’s officials cheered.
“Your Majesty the Lord, live forever! ”
“A thousand years old! “
* * *
“Come on! Then, why don’t you suffer a little more?”
“Yes, Captain.”
After Kim Jeom consoled himself, Hojo’s officials once again gained energy and went to work. However, some officials were too energetic.
“What! Myeonsinrye! ”
Kim Jeom, who was processing the mountain of reports, was scared. He got up from his seat and asked the Hojo judge.
“Who on earth? where? when? ”
“Three days ago…”
“Bring those damn bastards in right away! “
After a while, the officials who had performed the funeral ceremony were brought to the front of the Kim branch in a row.
“How many people are there? ”
“There are 23 people.”
“There are too many…”
Kim Jeom shouted at the officials standing in front of him.
“You either have your mind or you don’t! Myeonsinrye! Why is it Myeonsinrye? ”
“I apologize. But since Myeonsinrye is a tradition….”
“You damned servants! Everything that everyone has forbidden for generations is Myeonsinrye! In particular, it was only a year ago that the chief minister of Danggeum punished Myeon Shin-rye! What the hell~? It sounds like tradition! ”
”I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“How are we going to resolve this? The Saheonbu’s miscellaneous people are already excitedly writing appeals. Oh! How are we going to resolve it?” “I’m sorry
!” “If you’re going to
apologize, you shouldn’t have done what you need to apologize for! Right now. “Go home and get disciplined!”
“Yeah…”
At Kim Jeom’s shouting, the officials in question began to hesitate and leave Kim Jeom’s room.
Kim Jeom, whose clothes were ripped off, screamed at the sight.
“You’ve got shackles on your feet! Get out of here right away!”
“Yes olde!”
Just as Kim Jeom had worried, King Sejong became furious after receiving the report.
Hyang made a suggestion to King Sejong, who looked as if he would be sentenced to death at any moment. At Hyang’s suggestion, King Sejong immediately executed the sentence.
It was a ‘document organization type’.
Even if half of the Hojo officials were involved, the punishment was to complete the family register and land register within one year, which would have taken five years.
If it was not completed within one year, an additional punishment of exile awaited.
Thanks to this, the officials in question could not even enter the house and had to find lodging and food in the newly built library next to the Hojo government office.
Although the number of personnel was increased, the workload that Hojo had to handle increased several times, so everyone from the Kim branch to the lowest officials were always overworked.
In the end, King Sejong, who could not bear to see this, ordered Suragan to eat fish. To be precise, it was a banquet disguised as fish food. King Sejong, who prepared a banquet for the Hojo officials, encouraged the officials in attendance.
“I know very well that the work of the officers is hard. However, in order for the life of this Joseon to run properly, there must be good support, so I have no choice but to hope that the officers will put in a little more effort. When the life of this Joseon improves, more personnel will be added, so the officers will just have to work a little harder. “I hope you will endure more and give me strength.”
“I am devastated!”
All the officials bowed and expressed their gratitude at King Sejong’s words of encouragement.
In this process, a new proverb emerged.
‘The day I receive a good fish meal. ‘. It was a proverb that compared treating someone well before asking them to do difficult work.
Meanwhile, King Sejong handed a bag of medicine to Kim Jeom through a merchant ship.
“I ordered the doctor to prepare a medicine that is good for your body. Please take good care of it.”
“I am devastated!”
“I added a lot of precious medicinal ingredients, so it will be of great help to you.”
“I am devastated!”
He continued to say thank you, but Kim Jeom heard King Sejong’s words like this. ‘I have to pay for the medicine, right?’