Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 147

In response to the heartfelt petition returned as a mere formality by the authorities, the local gentry immediately implemented their next strategy.

“Who among us has a relative serving in the court?”

The second method chosen by the local gentry was to leverage their ‘connections’.

In a tiled house in Hanyang’s Bukchon area, among many of similar stature, two scholars were engaged in conversation within a moderately sized dwelling.

“Look here, nephew! So, you’re saying you want to speak directly to the king on our behalf, right?”

The elderly scholar’s words were met with a troubled response from the homeowner, Kang Cheong-soo.

“Uncle, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Although I am a junior official attending the court, I am at the very lowest rank!”

“And you would just stand by during our family’s crisis? Are you not a part of our family?”

At the mention of ‘family crisis’, Kang Cheong-soo’s expression hardened.

It wasn’t just his expression; even his voice and the honorifics he used became rigid.

“Family crisis… Uncle, may I ask something? Apart from my late father and us brothers, how many in our family have taken up official posts?”

“Uh, well, you see…”

Confounded by Kang Cheong-soo’s question, the uncle faltered. Kang Cheong-soo pressed on relentlessly.

“How many passed the civil service exams in my generation or above, and how many in the student exams? I know of more than twenty! But how many have taken up official posts, excluding my father and us brothers? None! Absolutely none!”

“That’s because…”

Kang Cheong-soo’s pointed remarks left the uncle struggling for words. Kang Cheong-soo continued his relentless interrogation.

“Becoming a scholar-official and passing the exams should naturally lead to serving the government. What have they all been doing? Just sitting back in our hometown? And doing what? Only expanding their land holdings without any regard for the broader world?”

“That was for the family’s prosperity…”

“There are limits to what is acceptable in the name of prosperity! I’ve heard rumors that within a hundred miles of our family’s land, one can’t take a single step without treading on our property. Is that something to be proud of?”

“Well, you see…”

“Even those who passed the exams yet lacked scholarly depth were granted the privilege by His Majesty to study further before taking office. And now you speak of a family crisis?”

“That’s a bit harsh…”

Kang Cheong-soo exploded at his uncle’s claim of harshness.

“Harsh? How so? Thanks to this, do you know how much the court is struggling to balance income and expenditure? Those who caused the crisis should be the ones to resolve it! Don’t bother me with such nonsense!”

“Look here, nephew! Aren’t you also a member of our Kang family?”

“Only coming to me when there’s trouble and then talking about family ties!”

Kang Cheong-soo’s words made the uncle’s face turn beet red as he shouted back.

“How dare you! Disrespecting your own roots and yet serving as an official to His Majesty! I will not let this go! I will report you to the Office of Censorship!”

To this, Kang Cheong-soo retorted loudly.

“Go ahead, try it! Do you think I have nothing to say? Let’s see if exploiting the benefits granted by His Majesty for personal gain after passing the exams is justifiable!”

“Ey, tsk!”

The uncle spat on the ground, stood up, and turned away in response to Kang Cheong-soo’s words.

“I will never speak to you again! In fact, I will see to it that you are expelled from the family!”

Undeterred, Kang Cheong-soo replied.

“Please do! I have no desire to be associated with such unscrupulous people!”

With that, as the uncle left amidst the shouting, Kang Cheong-soo called for his servant.

“Maksoi! Go to the barn and bring some salt. Sprinkle it in front of the gate!”

“Yes? Yes!”

The argument between Kang Cheong-soo and his uncle symbolized the division between the gentry residing in Hanyang, that is, the bureaucratic gentry, and the local gentry.

* * *

At the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, the newly emerged scholar-officials, the Sinjin Sadaebu, became sharply divided with the founding of Joseon. One group remained loyal to Goryeo – not so much loyal, but rather keen on repairing and maintaining the Goryeo system. The other supported the coup led by Yi Seong-gye and Jeong Do-jeon.

With the success of the coup, the Sinjin Sadaebu who supported Goryeo went into seclusion in the provinces. Meanwhile, those who aided Yi Seong-gye and Jeong Do-jeon in the coup established a new power group centered around Hanyang.

This was the first major split among the Sinjin Sadaebu.

[TL/N: Sinjin Sadaebu is the elite Neo-Confucionist gentries]

As time passed and the Joseon government structure was established, another rift began to form. The cause of this new split was the excessively small scale of the Joseon government, which had been founded on the principles of ‘kingly way’ politics.

“This is the problem of ‘good intentions but a disastrous reality,'” Hyang pointed out while preparing for the declaration of policies at the start of economic reforms.

From the perspective of Neo-Confucianism, or rather the essence of Confucianism, ‘kingly way’ politics based on ‘benevolence’ and ‘virtue’ did not require a large government. A large government could easily hinder the governance of the people through benevolence and virtue.

Therefore, the early reformers of Joseon made its government exceedingly small.

They also implemented the civil service examination system to widely recruit and appoint talented individuals.

Up to this point, everything was well.

However, the issue arose from the limited positions in the court and the continuous production of successful exam candidates through the annual and special civil service exams.

The tax exemption system was created by the court to ensure the livelihood of those who couldn’t enter the court and to encourage a steady flow of individuals aspiring for public service.

‘To study without the pressure of livelihood and thus introduce more exceptional talents into the court.’

This was the original intention, but it soon became a means of personal enrichment.

Consequently, some pursued the exams not for public service but for personal gain, aiming for the tax benefits symbolized by the white and red tablets awarded for passing the student and scholarly exams.

As these individuals’ tax exemptions neared their end, their sons would pass the exams to continue the benefits, and the inherited lands through family division became capital for acquiring more land.

The central bureaucrats were not blameless either. They too enriched themselves through various meritorious service records and bribes and perpetuated their power through the unofficial appointment system.

Thus, central scholar-officials started taking the exams to monopolize power, while local scholar-officials did so for wealth.

The divide between central and local was not just about power and economics.

Another reason was the ostracism faced by bureaucrats who returned to their hometowns after serving in the central government.

This was a mutual fault.

Those who returned to their hometowns often dismissed the local scholar-officials – even their own relatives – as ‘country bumpkins.’ Conversely, the local scholar-officials scorned the returnees as ‘arrogant opportunists.’

This accumulation of attitudes eventually created a divide between the scholar-officials centered around Hanyang and those in the provinces.

“All this happened in just over 30 years.”

As Hyang prepared for the policy presentation, he couldn’t help but mutter bitterly with a sardonic smile.

“Didn’t Teacher Sampeoncho say so? The reason Joseon became a mess with factional politics in its later years was due to its power structure being a terribly small pyramid.”

– Regardless of the era or history, the power structure is always a pyramid. And the very top of that pyramid is always occupied by those who share the highest authority’s interests.

The problem with factional politics was not just that the factions and their hangers-on occupied the top of the pyramid; they consumed the entire structure. The power mechanism of Joseon’s court was too small, and that led to its downfall.

To solve this problem, Hyang included in his policy proposal, which Sejong adopted and actively implemented, the quantitative expansion of the central government symbolized by the court. Moreover, opening the gates to people from the northwestern regions and the serf class was a strategy to block the monopoly of power by certain groups.

* * *

While central and local areas, particularly in the south of Hanyang, were abuzz with clashes, the north—specifically the northeastern regions—was equally tumultuous.

The noise here stemmed from the various trials and errors encountered in the process of settling Joseon people who had risen through the Sa-min policy and the noble Jurchen.

[TL/N: Sa-min policy is the policy that induced Joseon citizens to migrate to Hwang-hae and Pyeong-an province in the north.]

Crash! Bang!

“These fools! I’ll kill them all!”

With a loud crashing noise, as a table was overturned, the door of the administrative deputy’s office burst open.

The one who kicked the door open was Kim Jong-seo.

Swiftly descending to the yard, Kim Jong-seo reached the horses in just a few strides and mounted one.

“Block him! Block him!”

“Catch him! Catch him!”

As Kim Jong-seo mounted his horse, those nearby hurriedly surrounded him.

“Make way!”

“Ah! Deputy Chief! What’s happened now?”

“These fools messed up the documents again! I already gave up on Woon-mok, and now I’ve given up on writing my will too! But if they even get the numbers wrong, what’s the point! I’ll kill them all!”

Kim Jong-seo’s sides were adorned with two viciously glittering horseback archery bows.

Seeing Kim Jong-seo armed and determined, not just the civil officials but even the surrounding soldiers rushed to stop him.

“Hey! Calm down! Calm down!”

“Please, restrain yourself!”

“Even if you go, leave the bows behind! Leave the bows and go! I’ll assign some guards to you!”

The ensuing chaos was abruptly halted by an unexpected gunshot.

Bang!

Startled by the sudden gunshot, Kim Jong-seo and those trying to restrain him froze and looked towards the source of the sound.

There stood Hwang Hui, who had just exited the administrative office, with a stern face.

“Where is it?”

“Noktundo Island.”

“I’ll send a dispatch. You come inside with me.”

“But…”

“Shh! Come into my room right now!”

“Yes…”

At Hwang Hui’s stern command, Kim Jong-seo, who had been brought to heel, dismounted his horse and entered Hwang Hui’s administrative office.

A soldier, observing this, spoke to a colleague standing beside him.

“Even the ‘Tiger’ Kim Jong-seo is tame in front of Magistrate Hwang, huh?”

“The hawk catches the pheasant. By the way, today’s dispatch duty falls on Dong-su, you and me, right?”

At his colleague’s words, Dong-su cursed.

“Damn it! Going all the way to Noktundo Island will burn our butts!”

* * *

As the ‘Northeastern Frontier Development’ progressed, a rumor started circulating among the newly relocated Koreans and the nobly surrendered Jurchen people, especially among the Jurchen.

A pack of tigers had come from faraway Hanyang.

Among these tigers, the most fearsome were two: Kim Jong-seo and Lee Jing-ok.

The group the Jurchen referred to as ‘a pack of tigers’ included not just the Joseon military but also civil officials.

The initial appearance of the civil officials who came to the northeastern frontier with Hwang Hui was that of typical bureaucrats. However, as time passed, these officials became much rougher in their demeanor.

More precisely, they had transformed into ‘Jurchen dressed in official robes.’

As they carried out administrative work in the frontier development zone, the horsemanship skills of the officials affiliated with the development team improved dramatically.

Initially, the officials stayed quietly in the development team headquarters and the new administrative offices, attending to their duties. But as the development areas expanded and the number of Joseon people and Jurchen within them grew, this became problematic.

Eventually, the officials had to ride horses to various locations to carry out their duties, hence their remarkable improvement in horsemanship.

But it wasn’t just their horsemanship skills that made them akin to the Jurchen.

Many Jurchen had surrendered, but there were also those who refused and resisted, as well as those outside the development areas who preyed on the settlers.

Consequently, the officials often had to participate in combat.

When they were told in Hanyang to train with bows, the officials had said:

“If a civil official needs to use a bow, isn’t that the end of it?”

However, such situations frequently occurred in the Northeastern Frontier, and the civil officials adapted. They became adept at using both the carbine and horseback bows, and when they ran out of bullets, they resorted to bows and arrows they had carried just in case, effectively taking down the Jurchen.

“Good heavens…”

A Jurchen from the Orangkhai tribe, who had surrendered and was assigned to guard the Joseon civil officials along with Joseon soldiers, asked a Joseon soldier nearby.

“Are those noblemen really civil officials? How can they shoot arrows so well?”

The Joseon soldier replied nonchalantly.

“In Joseon, even women can shoot that well.”

Archery was one of the basic skills of scholars, and among women from affluent families, archery was a popular hobby.

“Good heavens…”

The Jurchen, hearing this response, couldn’t close his gaping mouth.

“Truly, it’s the land of the great elders!”

Experiencing such events, the civil officials had essentially become Jurchenized, and among them, the most fearsome had become Kim Jong-seo.

Meanwhile, Hyang, reviewing the reports sent from the Northeastern Frontier, clicked his tongue softly.

“Is this the Wild Wild West or what…”

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