Cancer? (8)

Sejong, who was almost running towards the East Palace, saw the inner court officials rushing out and waved at them.

"You there, inner court officials, come here!"

"We greet Your Majesty!" As soon as they saw Sejong, the inner court officials bowed, but Sejong stopped them with a wave of his hand and immediately asked, "Enough with the greetings. Where are you headed?"

"I am on my way to the Ministry of Personnel."

"I am on my way to the Office of State Affairs."

"Why to the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of State Affairs?"

"Since the time of King Taejo, we have been ordered to record and bring back every item of tribute given by the Chinese envoys..."

Before the inner court officials could finish their answer, Sejong's shout erupted.

"You fools! I have been too lenient with you all this time!"

Sejong, filled with anger, began to dash towards the East Palace, his royal robe fluttering behind him.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Highness!"

As Sejong started running, the inner court officials and guards following him also began to run.

Sejong and his followers vanished like the wind, leaving behind the inner court officials who had come out at Hyang's command.

"What should we do now?"

"What do you mean? We just need to follow the orders we received, right?"

"That is true, but..."

The inner court official ordered to go to the Ministry of Personnel looked back at the East Palace with a worried expression.

"If we make a mistake, it will be a bloodbath..."

When the Queen and the ministers arrived at the East Palace, Sejong's furious voice and Hyang's protests were already echoing from the Crown Prince's chamber.

"You brat! Crown Prince! What kind of reckless behavior is this!"

"This is not recklessness! I am merely preparing to do what is expected of me as the Crown Prince!"

"You little rascal! Do you even understand your age when you speak like this?"

"What does age have to do with doing the right thing? Saying that a young person cannot act is just an excuse!"

"Are there not ministers present?"

"The ministers are not willing to act, so even a young one like me must take action!"

"You brat! Until the end! Go outside and bring me a rod and a whetstone!"

As Sejong shouted for the rod and whetstone, the Queen, who had been anxiously pacing outside, screamed.

"Your Majesty!"

"Do not let the Queen in! What are the inner court officials doing? Hurry and bring the rod and whetstone!"

"Yes, yes..."

At Sejong's shout, the door to the Crown Prince's chamber opened, and the attendants and inner court officials who were serving Sejong came out.

Seeing the pale faces of the attendants, the Queen hurriedly stepped up the stairs and entered Hyang's room.

"Your Majesty!"

"Queen, please leave! Inner court officials, escort the Queen outside!"

"Your Majesty!"

"What are the inner court officials doing!"

After a commotion, the Queen was dragged outside by the inner court officials.

Sitting on the ground in front of the East Palace, the Queen shouted as if she would vomit blood.

"Your Majesty! It is the Crown Prince! Please show mercy!"

"What are the attendants doing? Bring in the rod and whetstone!"

At Sejong's shout, the attendants and inner court officials brought in the rod and whetstone.

"Do you still think your reckless behavior is justified?"

"I believe that if my father, the King of Joseon, is the father of the people of Joseon, then I, as the eldest brother of the Joseon people, cannot remain idle while my brothers weep every time the envoys come! Did not my father also see the documents regarding the harm caused by the envoys? Every time the envoys come and go, the wealth of the local landlords is plundered! What will happen to those landlords? In the end, only the powerless common people suffer multiple times over!"

"That is a matter for the ministers to resolve!"

"It has been decades since the founding of Joseon, and those ministers still have not found a solution! Those ministers are merely enjoying their privileges! If they are truly the scholars of Joseon, if they are those who learn, practice, and speak of the teachings of the sages, they cannot just stand by and watch!"

Standing in front of the East Palace, the ministers listening to the father-son argument lowered their heads in shame or looked up at the sky with sighs.

"Ah..."

"Are you insisting until the end that you are right?"

"I believe I have done nothing wrong!"

"You brat! Roll up your sleeves!"

At Sejong's shout, the Queen outside turned pale.

"Your Majesty! The Crown Prince is only nine years old!"

"The younger he is, the more strictly he must be punished! Roll up your sleeves and stand on the whetstone!"

A moment later, Hyang's voice burst out.

"Inner court official! Why should I go up? I take responsibility for what I have done! Step aside!"

"Your Highness!"

"Step aside, I said!"

"Your Highness..."

At the inner court official's trembling voice, the Queen shed tears and called out to Hyang.

"Crown Prince! Hyang!"

A moment later, slap!

"Your first crime is your arrogance based on your meager knowledge!"

Slap!

"Your second crime is looking down on the ministers despite your young age!"

Slap!

"Your third crime is insisting only on your own words!"

Slap!

"Your fourth crime is treating your father's orders lightly!"

With each crime announced, the rod swung down once, and with each sharp sound, the bodies of the ministers standing in the East Palace courtyard flinched.

After nearly twenty strikes, Sejong's punishment finally stopped.

"Reflect thoroughly on today's events and ensure that such reckless behavior does not happen again."

"I will obey Your Majesty's command."

Hyang's response, as if gritting his teeth, was heard, and then Sejong left the room.

As Sejong emerged into the courtyard of the East Palace, he looked back at the attendants.

"Call the royal physician to check on the Crown Prince."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

At the attendant's gesture, one of the inner court officials hurriedly ran towards the inner medical room.

"Hoo~."

Sejong let out a long sigh and glared at the ministers standing before him.

Seeing Sejong's angry expression, the ministers, starting with the Prime Minister, all knelt down.

"Please kill me!"

At the ministers' cries, Sejong replied shortly.

"By evening, select one of the three prime ministers as the chief envoy and two of the six ministers as deputy envoys. You have until evening. If you fail to do this, I will judge all the ministers, starting with the prime minister, for treason."

"I will obey!"

Leaving the ministers' responses behind, Sejong approached the Queen, who was sitting on the ground, her face stained with tears.

He gently lifted her up and said calmly, "Please take care of the Crown Prince."

After finishing his words, Sejong walked towards his humble abode with a weary face.

The Queen, tear-streaked as she bowed to Sejong, glared at the ministers with a face full of anger.

"I will never forget today's events and your faces until the day I die!"

"Please kill me!"

"Shut up!"

The Queen answered with a command to silence them and hurried into Hyang's room.

"Hyang! What are the inner court officials doing? Hurry and call the royal physician! Quickly!"

While the royal physician rushed in to examine the injuries, the Queen, tear-streaked, checked Hyang's wounds.

Of course, she also took the opportunity to smack Hyang's back from time to time.

"Whom do you resemble to be so stubborn!"

"Why don't you listen!"

"Mother, it hurts!"

"I'm hitting you so you'll feel the pain!"

It took five days for Hyang's wounds to heal completely.

During that time, Hyang stopped discussions with guests and spent time alone.

"Ouch! Oww~~~."

Sitting alone in a chair, translating a European book, Hyang frowned at the pain shooting up from his leg.

His leg, which had been shaking unconsciously, had bumped against the chair leg, causing the pain to flare up.

Looking at his aching leg, Hyang couldn't help but chuckle.

"This leg and back have suffered in both past and present lives."

In his past life, his calves and back had also suffered due to his extraordinary dedication.

Thanks to the incident caused by Hyang, the court was treading on thin ice.

The court historian recorded the situation as follows.

In the fourth year of Sejong's reign (1422), on July 2, after the King sternly admonished the Crown Prince, he immediately ordered the selection of the chief envoy and deputy envoys among the three prime ministers and ministers.

Following the King's command, the three prime ministers and ministers were confined to a hall within Gyeongbokgung Palace, guarded by the royal army.

The King, having ordered the royal army to monitor the hall, commanded the head of the Office of Justice to prepare for interrogation.

This was a precaution in case the ministers failed to provide answers by evening.

The historian states: The Crown Prince's actions were indeed extreme, but he spoke no falsehood.

However, that extremity strayed from the righteous path, so it was only natural for the King to admonish him sternly.

It is not wrong for the ministers to prioritize the four virtues, but it is also true that their adherence to them has exceeded reasonable bounds.

However, forcing the ministers into a corner and using the royal army to oppress them is unjust.

This strays from the path of virtue and royal governance and leads to the path of tyranny and despotism, which the King must avoid.

Whether the show of force was effective or not, by that evening, the selection of the envoy group was completed.

"The chief envoy will be the Prime Minister, and the deputy envoys will be the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Justice... I approve the selection."

"Your grace is boundless."

As Sejong approved the selection, the ministers all bowed in unison and responded.

After the selection of the envoy group was completed, Sejong issued his next command.

"The Ministry of Personnel and the Office of State Affairs, bring the documents that the Crown Prince mentioned!"

At Sejong's command, the officials from the Office of State Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel had to organize all documents related to the harm caused by the Ming envoys who had visited Joseon since its founding.

Through that organizing process, everything was quantified, and the officials preparing the documents let out sighs.

"This is too much!"

"How could it be this..."

The young officials organizing the documents could not contain their rising anger and pounded their chests.

After reviewing the reports from the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of State Affairs, Sejong let out a long sigh.

"Hoo~. The Crown Prince was not wrong."

According to the reports, since the founding of Joseon, as kings changed and time passed, the amount of tribute demanded by the Ming envoys had been increasing steadily.

The rate of increase in the amount of tribute was soaring in proportion to the frequency of the envoys' visits.

The year when the most tribute was taken was the year he ascended to the throne and the following year.

To persuade the Ming envoys who doubted the motives behind the Crown Prince's removal and the elevation of the third son to the throne, the Joseon court had to use enormous wealth as bribes to convince the envoys who were skeptical about the invasion of Tsushima.

"Receiving a small amount was equivalent to two months of the court's annual budget, while receiving a large amount was six months... Including the wealth plundered from the local landlords along the way, it amounts to at least four months and at most a year's budget..."

As expected from the bureaucrats and scholars of Joseon, known as 'record enthusiasts,' the local magistrates of the counties the envoys passed through meticulously recorded the wealth plundered from the landlords and sent reports, allowing Sejong to know the exact amounts of wealth taken by the envoys.

"Check it for yourselves."

At the King's command, the three prime ministers and six ministers took turns reading the reports.

"Hmm..."

"Ah..."

As the prime ministers and ministers read the reports, they groaned.

They confirmed the seriousness of the situation as they saw the numbers that had only been spoken of before.

"Did you compensate the landlords who were robbed of their wealth by the envoys?"

"..."

"Since it is for the country..."

"So you did not compensate them? Then the landlords must have naturally protested. And that protest must have been for several times the amount they lost. Hah~."

With a sigh, Sejong glared at the ministers.

"Could it be that even the young Crown Prince thought of this while you did not?"

"We are deeply sorry."

At Sejong's reprimand, the ministers bowed their heads.

The words 'That goes for you too, doesn't it?' rose to their lips, but all they could do was bow their heads and say, "We are deeply sorry!"

"Those going as envoys must resolve this issue decisively!"

"I will obey!"

< Chapter 15: Sprouting...

Cancer? (8) > End