Chapter 146
In the 11th year of King Sejong’s reign (1429, a Gyu year according to the Chinese zodiac), events unfolded that later historians would describe as a period of shock and terror for the Joseon aristocracy, especially the local influential families.
As spring arrived, the state examination was postponed to June. Unlike the delayed examination, the court openly recruited talented individuals from the laypeople (Ja-ya), placing them in middle and upper echelons of the government, allowing greater control over lower-level officials.
However, what truly shocked and terrified the local aristocrats were the laws announced subsequently.
Starting with the Interest Limitation Law and followed by the Sharecropping Law, these legislations devastated the economic foundations of the aristocrats.
“We cannot just let this pass!”
“Exactly!”
“Since scholar Ahn is good at writing, let him draft the petition! We will all sign it together!”
“Agreed!”
Influential figures known for their literary skills among the local aristocrats took the lead in drafting petitions and presented them to the local officials.
* * *
“I think this is a mistake…”
Goyang County Magistrate Han Min-cheol cautiously advised as he received the petitions from the aristocrats, but their response was harsh.
“Hmph! The mistake is being made by His Majesty!”
“Indeed! There’s a limit to underestimating people!”
“The magistrate just needs to accept our petition, that’s all!”
Faced with the aggressive and arrogant responses of the aristocrats, Han Min-cheol, suppressing his anger, accepted the petitions.
“Very well. But you are responsible for the consequences.”
“Hmph! Don’t worry about it!”
Leaving the magistrate’s office, the aristocrats gathered at the house of the eldest, scholar Nam, raising their voices in discontent.
“The magistrate is too presumptuous! ‘Handle the consequences yourselves’? Is this some kind of threat?”
“We must demand the repeal of the ‘No Petition by Commoners Law’! It’s because they can’t be sued that they dare to be so insolent!”
While most of those gathered loudly criticized the magistrate, there were some who worried about the future.
“But what we are doing now is surely going against His Majesty’s wishes.”
A young scholar expressed his concerns, only to be scoffed at by a middle-aged scholar.
“So, should we go back and retrieve the petitions? Claiming it wasn’t us but our pet dogs who wrote them?”
The young scholar’s face reddened at the middle-aged scholar’s sarcastic comment, who implied that he was behaving like a dog. The young scholar retorted, his face flushed.
“That’s not what I meant, but…”
His objection was cut off by scholar Nam, the most senior among them.
“We are not the only ones writing petitions, so don’t worry. Such concerns are unfounded.”
“…I apologize.”
After silencing the young scholar, scholar Nam looked around the room and continued.
“It’s not just us writing petitions. Aristocrats from Honam and even Yeongnam are doing the same. Some are writing individually, and others collectively.”
“Oh!”
“Exactly!”
Upon hearing scholar Nam’s explanation, the gathered aristocrats cheered. As the noise subsided, scholar Nam advised the scholars.
“Now is the time to act boldly. Worrying about the future is just a needless concern (Ki-woo), and a behavior of cowards. Cough!”
The last remark was directed at the scholar who had spoken about the king’s displeasure. The young scholar, feeling humiliated, bowed his head in shame.
* * *
“Sigh… Such foolish people…”
Han Min-cheol sighed as he looked at the pile of petitions in front of him.
“Writing so many of these, I wonder if His Majesty will even blink an eye. It would be fortunate if these don’t end up as fuel in Gyeongbokgung Palace’s furnace. Tsk!”
Shaking his head at the scholars’ behavior, Han Min-cheol called out to someone outside.
“Is anyone out there?”
“Yes, my lord!”
When a subordinate entered, Han Min-cheol pointed at the mountain of petitions.
“Record the names of the petitioners and send this to Hanyang.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Following Han Min-cheol’s order, the subordinate gathered the petitions and left.
As Han Min-cheol picked up his writing brush to draft a report, he suddenly burst into a sly laugh.
“It would be interesting if His Majesty doesn’t retaliate but instead responds. Maybe we’ll see some of them suffer a stroke from rage?”
Han Min-cheol was previously an official in the Ministry of Personnel in Hanyang.
A few years ago, after a collective protest by the ministers and senior secretaries, the tenure of local officials was shortened, and a rotation system between central and local officials was established.
Han Min-cheol, who was part of the first group selected in this rotation, came down to serve as the Goyang County Magistrate.
Having worked in the Ministry of Personnel as a fourth-rank official, Han Min-cheol had witnessed many debates where King Sejong or Hyang utterly defeated the ministers with sharp rhetoric.
“These nobles don’t understand how logically and gently scraping at someone’s insides is more lethal than blunt force. They’re practically begging for their demise.”
Remembering the ministers who, after being harshly rebuked by King Sejong, actively supported reducing the frequency and duration of the debates, Han Min-cheol quickly shook his head.
“Yikes! Forget it, forget it! I might have nightmares tonight if I keep thinking about it!”
As the magistrate of Goyang, Han Min-cheol certainly did not want to lose his peaceful sleep.
* * *
“Haha… this is really something…”
Just as Han Min-cheol predicted, King Sejong burst into laughter upon seeing the pile of petitions.
“I expected this, but how can they be so blind to the reality…”
Chief State Councilor Lee Jik responded to King Sejong’s remarks.
“It’s because they have so much vested interest at stake.”
“It’s the duty of the educated to know when to let go… Tsk!”
After clicking his tongue, King Sejong began reading through the scrolls.
Reading a few petitions, King Sejong irritably tossed one aside.
“Damn it! They’re almost all the same except for the handwriting! No creativity! No creativity at all!”
Each petition started with “So-and-so from such place cultivates money trees” and continued with “The policies implemented by His Majesty are against tradition and violate the Way of the King….” The quotations used were also mostly similar, prompting Sejong’s critique of their lack of creativity.
“Read them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The ministers, receiving the petitions through the royal messenger, also scoffed cynically. Kim Jeom reported to Sejong after examining the petitions.
“Seeing these writings, it becomes evident how outstanding the recently specially recruited talents are.”
“Indeed.”
As the ministers agreed with Kim Jeom’s remark, King Sejong sighed.
“Sigh… Even those who barely pass the lower-level examinations and express desire to study more, I granted them tax exemptions for 30 years, and this is all they can produce…”
‘Danger! If we’re not careful, we might end up receiving another sermon!’
Sensing Sejong’s displeasure as a warning sign, Maeng Sa-seong quickly interjected.
“That’s why the legislation we prepared should be announced as soon as possible.”
“Exactly!”
“Please announce it quickly, Your Majesty!”
Sensing the same danger, the ministers promptly echoed Maeng Sa-seong’s suggestion in unison.
After finishing state affairs with the ministers in the royal study, King Sejong sighed again, looking at the petitions.
“Sigh…”
Sejong, feeling stifled just by looking at the pile of petitions, commanded the royal messenger.
“Go and summon the Crown Prince.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
* * *
“Did you summon me, Father?”
“Yes. I need the Crown Prince’s assistance.”
“What is the matter?”
At Hyang’s question, Sejong pointed to the pile of petitions. Hyang, seeing the stack, looked at Sejong.
“What are these petitions about?”
“They are from those dissatisfied with the Interest Limitation Law and the Sharecropping Law.”
“What would you have me do?”
To this, Sejong simply replied.
“Write responses to these petitions.”
“Excuse me?”
Hyang’s eyes widened in surprise, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
Sejong explained more clearly.
“There are many petitions, but none worth reading. However, we are obliged to respond to the petitions that have been submitted.”
“Wouldn’t the Office of Censors and the Office of Inspector-General have something to say about entrusting such an important task to me?”
“As long as you and I know, it’s fine. No, if you handle it, neither the Office of Censors nor the Office of Inspector-General will say, or rather, can say anything.”
“Really? The tenacity of the inspectors is…”
As Hyang continued to bring up the inspectors, Sejong responded with a dismissive expression.
“Choose. Either debate with me every morning and evening for a month, or stay silent. Those inspectors would choose to stay silent. Haven’t they already been bested by you several times?”
“Still…”
As Hyang attempted to evade the task, Sejong’s expression turned stern.
“Make a choice.” 𝐟re𝚎𝘄𝚎𝐛𝚗o𝚟el.c𝐨𝚖
“Excuse me?”
“Decide whether you will govern in my place until I write responses to all these petitions, or if you will organize records in the archives.”
Immediately after Sejong finished speaking, Hyang quickly approached and asked.
“Which would you prefer I do?”
Sejong, bemused by Hyang’s quick change of attitude, silently pointed to a pile of petitions.
“Oh dear…”
As Hyang read through the petitions, an expression of disbelief crossed his face.
‘I see why Father called me.’
Just as Sejong had observed earlier in the day, the handwriting and structure of the sentences varied, but the content was essentially the same.
‘It’s not like Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V. The only difference is the rhyme at the end? No creativity! No creativity!’
Although Hyang and Sejong criticized the lack of creativity, this was inevitable.
Creating sentences in Chinese characters required strict adherence to rules, with rhyme (Yun) being the most basic and important. Whether in poetry or prose, maintaining this rhyme was essential for a work to be considered distinguished.
To maintain rhyme while composing sentences, a rhyme dictionary (Yunmu) – a list of characters allowed for rhyming – was essential for Chinese and Korean scholars.
The problem was not just with the rhyme, but also the quotations used were mostly similar.
‘This is really something… Writing responses to each one would be tedious. If it were the 21st century, there’d be an auto-complete feature…’
“Ah!”
Struck by a sudden idea, Hyang began categorizing the petitions he had read into several groups.
“What are you doing, Crown Prince?”
Watching Hyang’s actions, Sejong’s curiosity got the better of him, and he asked.
To Sejong’s question, Hyang continued sorting the petitions and replied.
“I noticed that many petitions are about similar topics, so I’m grouping them together.”
“And what will you do after that?”
“After sorting them by type, I’ll draft responses and then print them.”
“Huh?”
Upon hearing Hyang’s response, Sejong moved to sit beside him. Sitting next to Hyang, Sejong closely examined the categorized petitions.
After thoroughly reviewing the sorted petitions, Sejong nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. Though there are many petitions, the intent behind them is singular, so there’s no need to respond to each individually.”
Nodding his head and giving a favorable evaluation, Sejong then let out a small sigh.
“Sigh… The issue then becomes one of sincerity. It would be said that we responded insincerely to the petitions raised by the people.”
“If we’re to discuss sincerity, have they ever shown any to Your Majesty? After passing the examinations, they are supposed to serve in government. However, they’ve been exploiting their studies as an excuse, just enjoying the benefits without contributing. That is hardly sincere, is it?”
“That’s true.”
Eventually, most of those who submitted petitions ended up receiving printed responses.
“What impertinence!”
“Even if he is the king, such disregard for us is not right!”
Many were outraged, but those who examined the content of the responses became solemn.
‘Although printed, the content is clear and compelling!’
‘We have been outargued on the grounds of principle!’
Meanwhile, a very small number of scholars who received handwritten responses from Sejong himself were also there. Not long after, these few scholars received a royal command to come to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
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