Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 824
Episode 824 Ming and Japan – Internal stability and expansion (3)
The Jamryonghoe was behind Emperor Seonghwa’s order to create the ‘Intellectual Property Management Office’.
One side of the imperial palace in Nanjing. There was a villa here where the comrades of the Jamryonghoe lived.
This villa was unusually guarded by soldiers sent from the empire.
It was a place that all the court ladies, eunuchs, and ministers called by the nickname ‘Secretary Palace.’
* * *
When they first arrived in Nanjing and were deciding where to live for the Jamyonghoe, Seonghwaje designated one of the many villas in the Imperial Palace in Nanjing.
Not only the ministers of the Ming Dynasty but also the comrades of the Jamnyonghoe rose up and expressed their opposition to this decision of the Seonghwaje.
“your majesty! The Imperial Palace is where Your Majesty resides! “You can’t have outsiders in a place like this!”
“your majesty! Although the minor gods are Your Majesty’s subjects, they are outsiders! “For minor gods to reside in the imperial palace, it is a burden to Your Majesty!”
However, Seong Hwa-je ignored all of their opinions.
“These are my limbs and my eldest son. Of course, you have to stay close to Jim.”
Emperor Seonghwa firmly refused, but the ministers persistently opposed it. In the end, Seonghwaje had to take a step back.
“good night. “We will house them temporarily until they find a place to live.”
“Hwang Eun is devastated. “Long live, long live, long live!”
However, the comrades of the Sleeping Dragon Society had still not left the imperial palace.
The most representative reason was Nanjing’s exorbitant real estate prices.
After Emperor Gyeongtae settled in Nanjing, real estate prices in Nanjing soared.
When Jamnyonghoe members said they were looking for a house to live in, there were people who deliberately asked for a higher price.
“I should sell my house to the imperialists….”
“The imperialists have a lot of money, right?”
“You must have a lot of money because you are a close associate of the emperor!”
Building owners in Nanjing deliberately charged higher prices due to their hostility toward imperialists and their greed to rip off people.
For this reason, the comrades of the Jamryonghoe continued to stay in the villa, and the ministers came out again.
“If foolish people ask for high prices, you can control it with the royal command.”
Seonghwaje’s face became fierce at the words of the ministers.
“Are the police telling me to become a tyrant? “Is it what the Lords want, to be a tyrant rather than a saint?”
In response to Seonghwaje’s angry question, the ministers immediately knelt down and bowed their heads.
“The gods stumbled. “Please forgive the gods for their slip of the tongue!”
“Don’t do something you deserve to be forgiven for before you ask for it! “I’ll pass this time, but there is no next time!”
“I will keep this in mind!”
“Hwang Eun is devastated for your mercy! “Long live, long live, long live!”
“If you really want them to stay outside the palace, give them the houses they own!”
“….”
“Why aren’t you saying anything!”
“….”
“I will let them stay in the villa until they find their own place!”
“…Your Majesty’s will be done.”
Later, the Jamryonghoe comrades who sat down with Seonghwaje all expressed their concerns.
“If the gods are here, Your Majesty’s honor will be tarnished.”
In response to the words of his comrades, Seong Hwa-je spoke his true feelings.
“To be honest, it’s for my safety. I am the rolled stone and they are the megaliths. It is said that the stone stuck in the rolled stone is pulled out, but it must be of similar size. If they decide to do so, I will become a dead person at any time. “If there are imperial troops and imperial people, they won’t be able to use their hands carelessly.”
In this way, the comrades of the Jamryonghoe continued to stay in the villa.
Seonghwaje did not just leave the Jamryonghoe as a shadow.
After the Hongwu Emperor, the Secretariat, which had been a famous and ineffective institution, was revived and Jamryonghoe comrades were made to work there.
The secretariat’s job was to summarize all reports submitted to Seonghwaje to make Seonghwaje’s work easier, and to convey Seonghwaje’s orders to the relevant departments.
As the Seonghwaje said, it became the head and limbs of the Seonghwaje.
In the case of the Secretary General, he received the same rank as the 6th Department Award. In other words, the only person who received a higher rank than the Chief Secretary was the Cabinet Secretary.
The problem was that the work of the Secretariat overlapped with that of the Cabinet Office.
Until now, the job of the Cabinet Minister was to organize the work of each department, report it to the emperor, decide what was right and wrong, and draft a bido. However, the duties of reporting to the emperor and delivering the emperor’s orders overlapped as the secretariat took over.
Recognizing this problem, Seonghwaje and Jamryonghoe organized it in an imperial style.
Just as the Empire coordinated state affairs through the Prime Minister’s Office and the Minister of State was in charge of secretarial work, the Cabinet Secretary was in charge of coordinating the operation of state affairs, and the Secretariat was in charge of the emperor’s secretarial work.
After hearing the Emperor’s decision, Subo, the Cabinet Secretary, returned to his office and muttered to himself,
“Is this the resurrection of the Emperor of the Emperor?…”
Subo, who was quietly looking out the window, was full of worry.
“Whether it will truly become a ‘world of all people’ or just a façade…” As
time passed, ministers learned where the real center of power was.
This was because Dongchang, led by Wang Chong, was working closely with the Secretariat.
The Geumui Committee moved to see the alumni cooperating with the secretariat.
This was because they were in charge of the work of political police and secret police, so they were immediately aware of the flow of power.
With alumni and the Gold Council meeting together, there are no longer anyone who ignores the Secretariat.
And like the concerns of the Cabinet Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary came to exist as a mere ‘one-person and all-powerful person.’
* * *
“We said we were cooperating with Gyeonsim, but we are also imperial people.”
“that’s right.”
“For the safety of Gyeonsim and Geumsuni, we must develop Ming for our future, but we must avoid doing anything that would endanger the empire.”
“sympathy.”
The comrades of the Jamryonghoe, who came together in this way, began to look into the policies that the Ming Dynasty had implemented so far.
What I found was the promises that Emperor Seondeok had made to craftsmen in the past.
When there was a technological competition with Joseon during King Sejong’s Joseon Dynasty, Emperor Seondeok gathered famous craftsmen and attempted to catch up with Joseon and further surpass it.
But the process was not easy. This was because the artisans were not willing to reveal their secret techniques.
When Emperor Seondeok learned of this, he used carrots and sticks at the same time.
The carrot was to recognize the value of their secret skills and pay a certain price, and the whip was to select and execute craftsmen who resisted until the end.
Thanks to Emperor Seondeok’s carrots and sticks, intellectual property rights management began to take root around the large armory built in Beijing.
And Emperor Seondeok, who realized that this was helpful, ordered merchants and craftsmen throughout the Ming region to follow the same rules.
Even though it was the imperial order, many merchants and craftsmen refused to do so, and Emperor Seondeok executed them all and confiscated their family assets.
Thanks to these extreme measures, the concept of intellectual property took root in the Ming Dynasty.
However, everything returned to nothing as the Liaodong War broke out, which transformed Joseon into an empire.
* * *
The Japanese allied with Joseon swept through the central Ming region, leaving everything in ruins, and the Ouchi family took advantage of the opportunity to take away a large number of Ming craftsmen.
This alone caused great damage to Myung’s technical skills.
Emperor Gyeongtae and the Ming people had to make desperate efforts to revive the Ming economy, which had been ruined by the Liaodong War and the subsequent civil war.
And in this process, the imperial command that intellectual property rights issued by Emperor Seondeok should be recognized was forgotten.
People with important technology or intellectual property were either sacrificed in the last war or taken to the Japanese government.
In this situation, it was not easy to resume production of the product while individually searching for the owner of the intellectual property rights.
Because of this, several young artisans and merchants chose the easy path.
“Let’s make it and sell it first!”
“I have to make a living first, right now!”
Thanks to this, counterfeit products and imitations began to abound again in the Ming Dynasty.
* * *
Jamryonghoe, which understood the context related to ‘intellectual property rights’, wondered why this happened and what the answer was.
-Although survival was at stake, intellectual property rights were initially downplayed.
-It was said that the Imperial Order had been issued, but there was no official office to formally document and manage it.
“The conclusion is, of course, the establishment of a new government office.”
“sympathy.”
“Otherwise, Taesang and Sangtaeng did not create the government office.”
The comrades of the Jamryonghoe who found an alternative wrote it down and proposed it to Seonghwaje.
“Hmm… It’s the Intellectual Property Management Office. “Is it useful?”
When Seonghwaje showed hesitation after hearing the proposal, Pil-pil, the head of the Jamryonghoe and the secretary-general, stepped forward and answered.
“It may seem less useful right now, but it is absolutely necessary for the future. Craftsmen would not discipline themselves if others copied or used the objects and techniques that they put in all their effort into creating their masterpieces without paying anything in return. If you model something or use technology without knowing it properly, will you get something that works? “The people who bought it without knowing it could be in danger.”
“That’s right….”
Seong Hwa-je nodded and Pil-il put a little more emphasis on his words.
“It’s not just the people of Ming that suffer. Merchants and people from other countries across the sea will also suffer losses. And if this continues, merchants and people from other countries will not want to trade with the Ming. If we want to continue trading, we will have to sell goods at low prices. Then, merchants and artisans will make lower quality goods to make a profit, and a vicious cycle will follow. And finally, the Ming Dynasty itself will be recognized as a cheap country.”
“That’s not going to happen!”
Seonghwaje stood up from his seat at the words of the must and ordered the eunuch.
“Gather the cabinet assistants and ministers!”
* * *
In this way, the ‘Intellectual Property Management Office’ was created and began to crack down on the registration and unauthorized use of intellectual property.
However, the people of Ming Dynasty did not change easily.
“I’ve done well so far, why are you having such a hard time?”
“I don’t even have money to eat, so why should I give it to someone else!”
Many artisans and merchants began secretly trading products made in defiance of intellectual property rights.
However, as crackdowns intensified, they responded more cleverly.
The shape of the copied object was slightly changed.
“It’s similar, but it’s a completely different product!”
“They just look similar because they have the same function!”
While the commotion was going on outside, the comrades of the Jamryonghoe continued their own conversation.
“It may take some time, but if it is established properly, it will be helpful to people as well.”
“And during that time, our empire will move further ahead.”
“And we need to grow reformists by continuing reform under this justification. “There are still many people who want to attack the Empire.”
“As long as those idiots hold out, our safety is at risk.”
They were comrades of the Jamryonghoe who did their best to find a way to benefit both the Seonghwaje, who gave them the opportunity, and the empire, their homeland, and a way to ensure their own safety.
“Anyway, does Seoul know that we are going through such a hard time?”
“I guarantee you that all the officials in Seoul will say this. ‘But you guys don’t work overtime, do you?’”
“We do it sometimes too…”