Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 83

Episode 83: White-robed servant (2)

‘Document organizing punishment’ was a punishment that made all officials tremble with fear as soon as it was created.

Joseon’s noblemen were so passionate about recording that in the 21st century, when talking about Joseon on the Internet, jokes were made about them being ‘record lovers.’

Therefore, the records on the administration of state affairs after the founding of Joseon boasted an enormous volume, even though it had only been over 30 years.

Hyang’s evaluation of this amount was scathing.

“You idiot who risks his life by taking notes!”

‘If you take good notes, you can become an honor student.’ Hyang’s evaluation was that it was like a test taker’s notes written with colorful ballpoint pens and memory pens, believing only the words.

“The problem was how to organize and digest it later…”

Among the records recorded so meticulously, the Annals were the only ones that went through an organizing process.

Therefore, the first suggestion made by Hyang, who had solidified his position through the investiture of the Crown Prince, was to organize records by each ministry.

In fact, the problem was that it was recorded to the point of ignorance, but it could not be said that it had no value.

However, this work involved drying human blood.

The amount of documents was enormous, and the work that needed to be done immediately was constantly being pushed back.

The amount of appeals, complaints, and other reports coming to the government every day was enormous, and the amount of non-answers regarding them was also enormous.

It was literally a repetition of the situation where ‘when one cartload of documents is organized, two cartloads of work are pushed in’.

In this situation, the ‘document organization punishment’, which was created to punish the officials of the Hojo who failed to understand the situation and refused to pay respect, was the best alternative.

‘If the results are not provided within the set time, the period of exile is determined by calculating the remaining time and quantity.’ The officials who were punished due to the worst punishment, literally had to deal with their work by being ‘stupid in some library’.

“What will you do if you organize this data poorly?”

To Sejong’s question, he answered with an expression that the scent was nothing special.

“The system of guilt by association should be applied.”

“Guilty by association?”

“You just need to bring in high-ranking people from the family and the monks. A person who is being punished for a crime uses tricks to mess things up? “We need to call out the chiefs of the family and the monks.”

Sejong hit his knee at Hyang’s words.

“aha!”

* * *

With all their family assets lost, Jo Mal-saeng and his wife had to rely on their eldest son, Cho Seon, to take care of their family.

“Father, welcome.”

“welcome.”

When Joseon and Princess Jeongjeong welcomed them, Jo Mal-saeng and his wife had to bow deeply and ask for forgiveness.

“I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused your Majesty Jaga.”

“I apologize.”

“no. “Please eat it.”

In this way, Jo Mal-saeng and his wife had to set up their home in a separate building in their house in Joseon.

On the day that Jo Mal-saeng and his wife were entrusted to Joseon’s house, King Sejong had Do Seung-ji deliver a letter to Jo Mal-saeng.

The content of the letter was simple.

-Be disciplined and disciplined again. Don’t forget whose blood you inherited.

It was a short but powerful warning.

* * *

The punishment official was carefully reading a scroll down to Jo Mal-saeng, who had come out to undergo the document summary sentence that he had only heard about.

“’… So the criminal must do his best in organizing the documents!’. That’s it for now. Do you understand?”

Jo Mal-saeng nodded his head weakly at the cautious words of the Hyeongjo official.

“I understand. And since you are a sinner, please speak comfortably.”

“In that case… will you be okay?”

“I am a criminal.”

“Then I’ll take it easy… big. “Follow me.”

“yes.”

Jo Mal-saeng walked along with the official of Hyeongjo, who still looked uncomfortable, and looked at the sky.

“What a damn clear sky.”

The April sky was truly dazzlingly clear.

* * *

The place where Jo Mal-saeng headed was the newly built buildings behind Yukjo Street next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

In the 21st century, the area around Junghak-dong and Susong-dong was purchased by the government, and huge buildings were built on large vacant lots where all the private houses were demolished.

At the entrance to the main gate, which was surrounded by a high wall, was a plaque written in King Sejong’s handwriting.

It was the name engraved on the plaque at

the ‘Joseon National Archives’ .

‘The red color of the pillars of the Record Center is stained with the bloody tears and nosebleeds of the officials and criminals who worked at the Record Center.’ It was a place where a terrifying legend was engraved.

“Huh…”

Jo Mal-saeng opened his mouth involuntarily when he saw the grand scale of the Record Center, which he had only heard about.

As an editor, seeing something in real life that I could not realize based on the scale and budget I had heard about in the previous edition gave me a special feeling.

“let’s go.”

“That’s right…”

Jo Mal-saeng, who had been standing blankly looking at the buildings, had to take a quick step forward after hearing the official’s words.

The official of Hyeongjo clicked his tongue as he saw Jo Mal-saeng approaching quickly.

“Great… if you think about other things that much… you will most likely be found guilty by association.”

“Oh, I understand!”

Jo Mal-saeng, whose face turned white at the words of the police inspector, shook his head.

* * *

“From now on, this is where sinners have to do their work.”

“yes.”

Jo Mal-saeng arrived at one of the several buildings erected at the Record Center. The signboard on the pillar of the main entrance to the building had the words ‘Army Armed Forces’ written on it.

Entering the building, Malsaeng Jo sighed involuntarily.

“Haa~.”

In the large room in the center of the building, nine long desks were arranged in three rows, and officials with black eyes were leafing through scrolls and writing down in books.

Jo Mal-saeng was confused when he saw the officials drenched in fatigue.

‘Am I going to end up like that now?’

“I will now explain the work process.”

“… yes.”

I don’t know if it was because he told him to put the horse at ease or because he recognized that Jo Mal-saeng was no more than a criminal, but the sentence official’s words had become blunter than at first.

“First, you can assign the amount of work to the supervisor sitting in front of you and then process it. “You must be used to it since you are a soldier, right?”

“… yes.”

The words were polite, but there was a bit of thorn hidden in the content.

The official, who was looking at Jo Mal-saeng with a mixture of pity and criticism, continued speaking.

“Since it is a military unit, it will probably start with generals from each region. “I check the date the report was uploaded, find the corresponding date in the Seungjeongwon diary, and record what was said. If a bidap was sent, I check the date the bidap was sent, find a copy, and record the exact details.”

“Then…do we have to go all the way to the Seungjeongwon?”

“Follow me.”

The official walked to the entrance with Jo Mal-saeng. The official standing in front of the entrance pointed to the two large buildings located in the center of the records center.

“Looking from here, the left side is where the Seungjeongwon diary is kept, and the right side is where the copies of Bidap are kept. “It’s sorted by year, month, and day, so if you find it right, it’ll be easy.”

“Yes…”

Jo Mal-saeng, who saw the two large buildings, answered in a tired voice.

The official’s explanation was already nearing its end.

“… When the bell rings once, you are given a break of 15 minutes. During that time, you can go to the side area, do some errands, and move your back for a moment to loosen up your stiff body. And when the bell rings twice, go through the entrance and eat at the restaurant on the left. Meals will be provided once a day. Finally, leave when the bell rings three times. Do you understand?”

“yes.”

“Then get to work.”

“… yes.”

Feeling the eyes of the punishment officer standing behind him, Jo Mal-Saeng walked towards the supervisor.

“For sinners, let’s start with these 10 first.”

The supervisor took out ten scrolls from the scrolls piled on the bookshelf behind his back and handed them to Jo Mal-saeng.

Jo Mal-saeng, who was handed the scrolls, read the date written on the top scroll without realizing it.

“The 26th year of Hongwu (1393, the 2nd year of King Taejo’s reign)… Wow!”

Horrified, Jo Mal-saeng looked at the supervisor with startled eyes. The supervisor read Jo Mal-saeng’s expression and nodded.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? There are very few people in the military unit who have committed crimes. Or maybe it’s just dark… The goal is to proceed until the 6th year of King Taejong’s reign within this year.”

It was a total of 14 years of records.

The supervisor, who saw Jo Mal-saeng frozen with a devastated expression on his face, urged him.

“Get to work! Don’t forget that if work is delayed or an error occurs, you will be compensated by association! “Especially in the case of criminals, do not forget that delusion of military delusion is a serious crime of the first degree, so if you make even one mistake, you will be immediately guilty by association!”

“Yes yes!”

At the urging of the supervisor, Jo Mal-saeng hurriedly found an empty seat and sat down, unfolding the scroll.

“Paper, pencil, and ink… heh heh….”

Jo Mal-saeng, who was looking for the paper, pen, and ink, looked helpless. In the center of the long desk were several pencil cases filled with gold pens, an ink container full of ink, and white paper piled up.

I was literally at a loss and had to write a document.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Joseon’s house, Jo Mal-saeng’s wife, Ms. Shin, was complaining to Princess Jeongjeong.

“Oongju Jaja. “How can you not use your strength?”

Despite Shin’s pleas, the princess shook her head with an embarrassed expression.

“It’s too much even with my strength. “The chief minister of Danggeum is a very knowledgeable person in this matter.”

“Ha~. What should I do with this?…”

In response to the princess’s response, Mr. Shin pounded his heart and felt sad.

Before the government intervened, Jo Mal-saeng, who was found guilty of bribery, had to go into exile. Not long after his exile, he became a new official, and after two years, Jo Mal-saeng was able to return to central politics.

But it ended there.

Jo Mal-saeng could not sit in the position of prime minister that King Taejong had promised until his death. At the time of Jo Mal-saeng’s death, the evaluation written in the Annals was as follows.

-He had a good personality and was capable, but the ‘jade stain’ blocked his path.

For King Sejong, who had a strong greed for talent, Jo Mal-saeng was a good talent, but he was not at the same level as Hwang Hee.

To put it simply, I wrote it because I needed a talented person, but Jo Mal-saeng was not the type of talent I was immediately drawn to.

However, as the government intervened, the scope of change gradually increased and a great processing method called ‘document organization type’ was created, and Jo Mal-saeng’s return to politics became uncertain.

* * *

Meanwhile, a huge amount of wealth poured into the national treasury during the one-month deadline set by King Sejong.

“Land documents, slaves, gold, silver, horse meat, and horse gear. Coral, jade, jade… there is all the wealth that can be found in Joseon.”

The ministers had no choice but to bow their heads at Sejong’s words. Sejong, who was glaring at the ministers who lowered their heads, continued speaking.

“I can’t help but be amazed by the talents of the gentlemen… “A truly miraculous feat.”

At King Sejong’s thorn-filled words, all the ministers fell to the ground and shouted.

“Please kill me!”

“I would like to do as the scriptures say or have all of my documents filed away, but since I have promised, I will just let it pass this time. But if something like this happens again, then don’t expect any mercy from me.”

“I will keep this in mind!”

“Then let’s get to the point.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

In this way, the bribery problem was resolved and state affairs began to move on track again.

While people were busy rebuilding the palace outside and carrying out state affairs inside, a quiet stir arose among the officials.

It was because of King Sejong’s instructions to the government officials (female servants who served at government offices).

“Let’s make it a rule to give 100 days of leave to government officials in the central and local regions when they give birth.”

“I follow your orders.”

King Sejong’s order had some validity, as there were many cases where the government officials who had given birth were unable to take care of themselves properly and fell ill while working, or their babies died.

But this order caused a stir for another reason.

“no! Government fees also provide maternity leave, so what are we doing?”

The officials, exhausted from their hard work, began to complain.

The officials’ complaints also reached the ears of King Sejong and Hyang through the eunuchs. Hyang heard the complaints and snorted.

“joy! If you feel unfair, tell them to write a resignation letter! How much benefit is given? Complaining, complaining! “Do you think power is so easy to obtain?”

Sejong went one step further.

“I heard there are a lot of complaints about giving maternity leave to government officials?”

As soon as King Sejong spoke, Hwang Hee began work on extinguishing the fire.

“Isn’t there always a lot of dissatisfaction everywhere?”

“I think it would be nice to just grab everything and have them organize the documents for about 100 days.”

“Please have mercy, monarch.”

“Tsk! Let’s do it! But I am so angry. “It’s not like he didn’t give me a day off!”

“Here comes the Emperor!”

At that time, Joseon also had holidays. Holidays such as Lunar New Year, Daeboreum, Dano, and Chuseok, the 24 solar terms, the king’s birthday, and the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 23rd of every month were official holidays.

In addition to these official holidays, each institution had its own days off in rotation according to its internal regulations, just as the local government allowed one day off every 10 days.

Therefore, when the official holidays of seasons and holidays overlap with the holidays according to internal regulations, there were cases where people had to rest for 4 to 5 days in a row, and every year, when the calendar was distributed by the Gwansanggam, officials flocked to check the holidays.

Because of this, when the officials complained, King Sejong took action. After sending out the ministers, King Sejong looked at Do Seung-ji and grumbled.

“What do you think it would be like to find everything and organize the documents for 100 days at a time?”

To Sejong’s question, Do Seung-ji closed his eyes tightly and answered sincerely.

“Please save me, Your Majesty!”