Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 99

Episode 99: Grand Strategy Dongjin (3)

King Sejong and the ministers continued to hold meetings on the topic of increasing the budget and manpower requested by the military.

“Budget and people… it is too much for Joseon’s capabilities to immediately increase both.”

Choi Yun-deok immediately responded to Judge Hojo’s words.

“I know very well. The first thing the military kept in mind while planning the strategy was that this strategy would proceed in step with the progress of the military. Therefore, the necessary budget was confirmed accordingly.”

After answering, Choi Yun-deok gestured to the military officers standing behind him.

At Choi Yun-deok’s gesture, military officers distributed thick booklets to merchant marines and ministers. King Sejong, who received the book through a merchant ship, looked at its title first.

– Budget plan required for armor plan.

“Armor plan?”

“The Gapho Plan is a secret word used in place of ‘Dongjin.’”

“Hmm…”

While listening to Choi Yun-deok’s explanation, King Sejong opened the book.

“Hmm…”

Sejong made a small snort and looked at the contents of the book.

The book clearly outlined how to grow the military over a 30-year period and increase the budget accordingly.

‘This is fine.’

As Sejong was giving a passing grade, a sigh came out from somewhere.

“Whoa~.”

Sejong raised his head at the sigh that came out of nowhere.

“Who is it? “Who sighed?”

Crash!

At Sejong’s question, the chair rolled over noisily. The owner of the chair, Judge Hojo, suddenly bowed down and said.

“Please God forgive me for my sins!”

“I know very well why you did that. “It’s okay, please take a seat again.”

“I am devastated!”

Hearing King Sejong’s words, Judge Hojo expressed his gratitude and sat down on the chair that the eunuch had set up again.

‘It’s worth sighing.’

The budget requested by the military to implement the grand strategy was calculated based on fairly reasonable grounds.

The budget, which was created based on the population increase rate determined through annual cowpox vaccinations, the increase rate of taxes coming in due to favorable conditions, and the amount of gold and silver secretly stockpiled, was adjusted so as not to cause a significant burden on the government if implemented as planned.

However, the absolute amount of the budget was an enormous amount.

Naturally, the governor in charge of the budget had no choice but to sigh.

“I think it is reasonable in your opinion. “It seems like the hard work of the generals at the Chiefs of Staff is visible.”

“I am devastated!”

“I am devastated!”

In response to King Sejong’s praise, Choi Yun-deok and the military officers bowed in gratitude. Choi Yun-deok straightened his back and added.

“His Majesty the Crown Prince did the greatest job in drafting the budget.”

“is it?”

King Sejong and the ministers asked, ‘Is it you again?’ I looked at the incense with that expression.

As eyes focused on her, Hyang slightly lowered her head and answered.

“The young son was merely a spoonful of food prepared by the military attachés of the General Staff Headquarters.”

Lee Jing-ok, who had stepped back at Hyang’s words, muttered quietly without realizing it.

“It wasn’t a spoon, it was a shovel…”

“Shh!”

“Sigh!”

When a colleague standing next to him gave a small warning, Lee Jing-ok immediately shut his mouth and looked around at the people around him.

* * *

As soon as the Chief of Staff established the plan for the ‘Eastward Advance’, Hyang quickly intervened.

“I will not be involved in the operation of the military. But let’s talk about the budget for military expenses.”

‘Military-first politics is a mission!’

In the 21st century, in the style of a civil servant who had worked on finances, Hyang gave advice on the budget draft prepared by military attachés at the Chief of Staff.

And for military officers, a hell of numbers unfolded.

If there was even the slightest greed in allocating the budget, everyone from Choi Yun-deok at the top to the officers who had just joined the Chief of Staff were punished mercilessly.

“Does the general dream of the revival of the military regime?”

“Do you know the term evangelism?”

“Sing it again! ‘Budgets are blood!’”

This wasn’t the only thing.

“Is this what you call calculation? Isn’t a military officer supposed to be strong in numbers? You will be asked a question yourself, so calculate it! We have now discovered the enemy’s parade! The enemy’s line is four columns long, spanning one ri! So, what is the total number of enemies approaching now?”

Thanks to Hyang’s clean-up, the military attachés at the Chief of Staff became as capable of calculating as the officials of the Research Institute, Area 51, and Hojo, and were able to use mountain branches more skillfully than anyone else.

Like Sungkyunkwan, which was later repurposed as an educational institution to produce high-ranking civil servants, the most important teaching in the ‘National Defense Taehak (國防太學)’, which was created to produce high-ranking military officers, was industry and academia.

‘If you cannot excel in industry or academia, even Xiangyu will not be able to succeed.’ This was the opportunity for the proverb to be created.

* * *

“I think it would be best to stick to this plan as long as there are no major budget variables. What do you think about it?”

Although the question was addressed to the ministers, King Sejong’s eyes were fixed on Hopan.

“If Joseon’s governance ability grows as it is now, I think we can handle it.”

When Judge Hojo gave a positive answer, King Sejong moved on.

“The budget has been resolved, but the people problem… is it talent?”

“That’s right.”

In response to Choi Woon-deok’s answer, King Sejong stroked his beard and asked a question.

“Hmm… National Defense University is preparing to establish and Muhakdang is also preparing to establish. Are there any other problems?”

“As both organizations are preparing to be established, there is an immediate problem in supplying the necessary talent. Also, even if we establish a martial arts school, it will be difficult to attract many talented people in the current situation of Sungmun Cheonmu (崇文賤武).”

“That’s a problem too…”

The government officials’ disdain for military officials had been going on since the Goryeo Dynasty. Of course, the military government was born due to the uprising of military officials who could not endure such discrimination, but with the invasion of Yuan and the Confucian scholars in the late Goryeo Dynasty, military officials again had to be treated worse than civil servants.

Of course, according to national law, civil servants and military officials were treated equally, and the lowest level of local leaders, the county magistrate, was a military officer. However, although they were military officers in name and in name, in reality, almost all of them who received direct orders were tattoos.

In this situation, those applying to the military department were mainly people with low qualifications.

This was exactly what Choi Yun-deok pointed out with concern.

* * *

Choi Yun-deok explained in more detail.

“As you have implemented military reform, Your Highness has broken the practice of assigning positions that should have been held by rank-and-file officers, but were held by rank-and-file officers.”

“It did.”

Sejong nodded at Choi Yun-deok’s words.

As can be seen in the case of Hyeonryeong, there were many cases where people who had entered civil service as civil servants were appointed even though they belonged to the military class.

In particular, those who entered the path of martial arts through military service suffered all kinds of hardships on the front line, and it was not uncommon for high-ranking positions to be occupied by civil servants.

When first preparing for military reform, King Sejong took this part lightly. However, Hyang insisted on a clear separation between Munban and Muban.

A long debate took place over this issue, and the final winner was Hyang, who argued for separation, citing the example of the Song Dynasty in China.

As the separation of professional and non-professional classes progressed, many officers in the non-professional classes were pushed out of promotions due to their ‘illiteracy’ and ‘industrial-academia’ status.

The military officers who were pushed out began studying writing, looking for the next opportunity, but Chinese characters were not easy.

“Shit! “Who is the guy who created these Chinese characters?”

Was it because of this experience? Later, those who most welcomed King Sejong’s creation of Hunminjeongeum were the military.

* * *

“… Therefore, I dare to ask Your Majesty to solve the problem of talent shortage. Please release the safe of those from the northwest and Seo-eol.”

At Choi Yun-deok’s request, large and small officials began to murmur.

“Please unlock the safe of the person from the northwest and Seo-eol? Hmm… I understand that part has already been included in the sutra?”

Choi Yun-deok immediately answered King Sejong’s question.

“That’s right. However, looking at the timetable included in the book of Gyeongjang, it has been 8 years since the Gyeongjang was completed and the ban on Seo-eol from going to work has been lifted for 10 years. Please speed up the timing.”

“The ban on going to work in the northwest region is a law established by King Taejong after the death of King Taejo. That is why the lifting of the ban was delayed.”

“But it is also true that many talented people are missing out because of that.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing Choi Yun-deok’s words, King Sejong stroked his beard and began to ponder.

In this situation, the major and minor officials were silent. As the war progressed, the ministers of the Six Dynasties were acutely aware of the lack of talent. Therefore, I initially agreed that discrimination in the northwest region should be abolished and the Seo-eol lock-up should be lifted.

But there were two reasons why they kept quiet.

The first was that these two policies were decided by King Taejo, the founding father of the nation, after his death, and the other by King Taejong, the previous king.

From the perspective of Confucianism, which regards keeping the policies and laws made by previous kings as filial piety, this could be considered disloyal by encouraging disloyalty and could become a pretext for impeachment.

Of course, there was a clause in King Sejong’s policy to prohibit discrimination between the North and the North and to abolish the Seo-eolgeumgo, but if he suggested accelerating the timing, he could have been impeached as a proponent of unfilial piety.

The second was the issue of competition. The number of high-ranking officials has always been small. This was the same even as the administrative organization was subdivided as the reform progressed. It doesn’t matter to those who are currently in the positions of minister or governor, but for those seeking opportunities in positions below them, the increase in competition is definitely not welcome.

In the end, it was King Sejong who made the decision.

The conclusion King Sejong reached was a kind of compromise.

“I know very well that there is a lack of talent in the military. However, that does not mean that the priorities of the police officers can be changed carelessly. If you make a mistake, the entire structure of the sutra will be out of alignment. So I hope Gwain chooses the middle ground. In the 6th year of Gyeongjang’s progress, we will check the situation again, lift the North-West discrimination, and lift the West-Eol safe. If the surgery is done properly, you will be able to sufficiently withstand the shock. “The military should keep this situation in mind and exercise a little more self-denial.”

“I follow your orders!”

Choi Yun-deok immediately responded to King Sejong’s command. When making his first statement, Choi Yun-deok was prepared to lose his head. However, Sejong’s decision to extend the period by two years was the best answer for Choi Yun-deok.

In this way, the East Jin began to progress step by step.

* * *

As the Sanggang River approached, a large number of people were moving from Hamgil Island towards Hanseong.

These people, whose clothing was very different from that of the Joseon people, were the chieftains of the Jurchen tribe who headed to Hanseong at the invitation of King Sejong.

However, the mood of the chiefs heading to Hanseong was not one of enjoying the trip. No, the closer they got to Hanseong, the more nervous they became.

“The King of Joseon called us?”

The chiefs of the Ollyanghap tribe covered their heads in response to the command brought by the Joseon messenger.

When they couldn’t find an answer even after thinking about it on their own, the chiefs sought out the chiefs of tribes they were familiar with and shared their opinions.

“What shall we do, brother?”

“Shouldn’t we go, brother?”

“I’m a little nervous about calling you out all of a sudden.”

“But you can’t not go, right? “Don’t you know what happened to the idiots in the Geonju area?”

“That’s why I’m worried.”

After Ming declared the Jurchen region as its territory and Yi Seong-gye died, the relationship between the Jurchen people and the Joseon royal family gradually grew distant.

Of course, Joseon also gave government positions and engaged in trade to maintain relations with the Jurchen, but the closeness that existed during the days of Yi Seong-gye had largely disappeared.

However, refusing Joseon’s invitation made me worry about the bloodshed that would come to the Jurchen people in the Jianju region.

The first to make a decision in a situation where they could not do anything was the old tribal leaders.

“I have to go and see the person who inherited my great-grandfather’s blood!”

In tribes where there was a generational change with younger tribal leaders as the senior tribal leaders who still had memories of Lee Seong-gye moved on, the older people stepped forward and persuaded the tribal leaders.

“one. If you are a descendant of a great elder, you better be careful. “If you are a person who inherited the blood of a great elder, it is certain that you will also inherit his nature. Think of the misdeeds suffered by Geonju’s assholes.”

In the end, the Jurchen people in the Dumen River area and the tribal chiefs in the Ollyanghap area had to move toward Joseon.