Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 528

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 528
In that moment, the air finally broke.
Like thunder crying before a downpour, a sound struck all around.
It was the cry of survivors and the wail of liberation.
“Waaaaaaah!”
“Baek-ui Sinryong!”
“Seo Baek-ryong!”
“The White-Eyed Divine Doctor!”
The child startled awake.
The child cried as it awakened, and the grandmother embraced her grandchild and began to weep bitterly.
“We lived. Aga… we survived.”
The guard spoke, sensing the Magistrate’s gaze.
“Because of Hyeon-seung, both the son and daughter-in-law were sold to the salt fields. The grandmother alone has been raising her grandchild, and one day the villagers stopped her as she tried to hang herself from the main beam.”
“I see.”
“She lives only for her grandchild’s sake—can you imagine how heavy the sorrow in her heart must be?”
How wonderful it would be if justice were realized and evil punished.
Yet the grandmother knew that in all her years, this had never come to pass.
So she would search for rope, or sometimes stare blankly at the main beam, or so they said.
‘Hmm, I suppose this isn’t a bad start?’
The guard spoke.
“Magistrate, you seem taken aback by the people’s cheers.”
“Yes, I’m merely a doctor. I never expected to be involved in such matters.”
The guard nodded at those words.
“It’s because Hyeon-seung wielded his power so viciously. Both the previous Magistrate and Hyeon-seung were so corrupt that I suspect they both bought their positions with bribes…”
Well, this isn’t an age with a National Petition Box, so people could only suffer whatever was inflicted upon them.
The guards themselves had no choice but to obey orders from above, unless they wanted to face execution.
Such is life, I suppose.
“I see. Then I must normalize things as quickly as possible.”
If there are commoners sold into slavery, I must find them and return them to their families. Those whose wealth was stolen must have their property restored.
Punishing the wicked doesn’t end the matter.
A ruler must also work to restore and aid the people who were wronged.
There was so much to do.
“We trust only in you, Magistrate.”
My Master had his reasons for entrusting this to me.
‘This is truly a bothersome task.’
The residents praised their new Magistrate.
“The White-Eyed Divine Doctor!”
“백선광의—!”
Everyone was so pleased—what could I do about it?
* * *
One month.
It took me a month to fully grasp the magistrate’s duties.
“Truly, you are of the Jegallim Family. To comprehend so much within a single month!”
The officials gazed at me in admiration, but from a modern person’s perspective, the workload wasn’t particularly overwhelming.
Especially considering how sloppy things were—I could’ve demanded a hearing asking, “Is it really acceptable to do things this carelessly?”—and the whole operation felt ad hoc and improvised.
‘How is it that the magistrate’s office is even more haphazard than the Medical Guild?’
I wanted to tell those Gold and Silver kings that I was disappointed, but what could I do?
Without electricity, telephones, automobiles, or Excel in this era, this level of competence was actually respectable. Besides, I was still cleaning up the mess left behind by previous emperors.
‘But people’s lives won’t wait for us. You people need to understand that.’
‘Ah, do you not know? This is a mirror.’ Or ‘This is penicillin.’ But what spreads most of all is actually this.
“This is a chart. A graph, if you will. We draw bars with ink to express information clearly and intuitively.”
“But the commoners won’t even see this. Why bother with such things?”
“To reduce administrative time! To increase efficiency!”
Time is money, my friend.
Not just for goblins—time is money for the human race too.
Especially for Koreans, who cannot tolerate slow bureaucracy.
When I briefly went abroad years ago, they kept asking me to bring documents, and instead of sending them by computer email, they wanted them sent by mail. I thought my hair would fall out from the stress.
“Listen, everyone. I am the acting magistrate. I possess tremendous authority.”
*Gulp.*
When I asserted myself so forcefully, even the lower-ranking officials working in the magistrate’s office swallowed hard and tensed up.
Indeed, our bureaucrats have an instinctive weakness for power.
“We will level the mountain.”
“Pardon?”
Why are you surprised? This person has a magic wand—no, the magistrate’s magic wand.
Watch what happens when I, the acting magistrate, wave this thing over the map now.
Come now, mountain! Disappear! Hup!
“We must level it. Or won’t we? We need to improve logistics distribution by creating roads.”
“I… see.”
“Those of you who have mastered the contour lines and charts I mentioned earlier will conduct population surveys and tax assessments while the mountain is being leveled. And those who haven’t mastered them…”
“If we haven’t mastered them…?”
“You will help level the mountain as well.”
“…!!”
Yes, they’re all staring at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
They must be wondering if this is really what they became officials for.
Even as mere lower-ranking provincial officials, these men had to pass an exam with odds of one in tens of thousands after learning basic characters since childhood in their villages, just to earn a salary.
Naturally, they’d been hunched over desks since age five, reciting Confucius and Mencius.
Using such high-caliber personnel for construction work—I know it’s insane. But…
“My adjutant here will verify whether you’ve mastered the charts.”
Crawl forth from the depths of hell, executor of darkness!
“…I am Muyue. I look forward to working with you all.”
Muyue gazed back and forth between the Magistrate and the lower-ranking officials in a haggard daze.
It seemed he was experiencing some regret, wondering if this was really what he’d signed up for.
He probably hadn’t realized it himself.
That a former performer from Hao-mun who’d rolled around in every gutter imaginable—who’d mastered the Thousand Character Classic at five, the Four Books and Five Classics by six, and memorized everything from ritual propriety to legalist philosophy—would now be inspecting whether the so-called geniuses of the village had even learned their characters properly.
It’s fine, Muyue.
I have the omnipotent Magistrate’s staff.
With this, I’ll move mountains with a flourish.
Muyue, you just need to decide who to bring along.
I shot this message with my eyes, and Muyue looked back at me with an expression that screamed, “Have you lost your mind, benefactor?”
Yes. I’m very familiar with that look.
The lower-ranking officials who just received this order have it too.
‘So Ilgwang really is Ilgwang.’
‘Is he seriously using me to move a mountain?’
‘This is ridiculous. Me, who’s mastered the highest ritual propriety of the Hwa Empire, the Four Books and Five Classics, and the Three Bonds and Five Relationships?’
‘Ilgwang does what he says he’ll do.’
Somehow, we were all sharing these glances.
Not a single person in this room thinks I’m in my right mind. Kehehehehe.
Who cares. Once I move this mountain, I’ll fix the waterways too.
With the omnipotent Magistrate’s staff.
* * *
Working my mind to full capacity, I verified the tax ledgers, checked the available manpower, and calculated the consumption costs.
I finished the related work in just a few days.
And I’d already set a rough direction for the civil engineering project.
After that, I even sent some letters to Gaebang.
Then, after some time had passed.
I never expected Seolgyeon to visit in person.
“My, Seolgyeon, you’re the Bangju now. How could you come yourself…?”
“That damned Elder kicked my rear and told me to go pay my respects. Blast it.”
She grumbled and handed me some liquor.
From the Gaebang Bangju? A beggar never receives without giving in return—that’s not how it works.
When I looked at her suspiciously, Seolgyeon spoke up.
“That damned Elder sent this liquor. He said to ask how you’ve been doing.”
It must be precious liquor.
My eyes suddenly shifted to the worn bundle behind her, and Seolgyeon burst out.
“Blast it, this is a gift I’m giving to that old codger!”
Ah, so while visiting, she’d also packed something for the previous Bangju. From the medicinal herb scent, it seemed she and the Gaebang beggars had gathered it themselves from the mountains and fields.
The Kangso Province wilderness has plenty of decent medicinal herbs.
Despite her rough speech, she’s diligently preparing tonics—she truly serves her Shifu with devotion.
“So you really did become a Magistrate?”
“Ah, well… yes. Acting Magistrate, though. I’m glad to hear you’ve been doing well.”
“You… according to the intelligence I’ve gathered, you survived a blood battle fierce enough that dying ten times over wouldn’t be a waste, it seems.”
“Ah… hahaha.”
“I’ve also heard of the tremendous martial prowess you displayed there. Is it Hwagyeong? You possess a strength that transcends the common sense of warriors.”
This is rather embarrassing.
“Even after returning, you’re still committing mad acts. I suspect that until the day you die, the character ‘madness’ will never leave your epithet.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
Hadn’t I already resolved not to care about people’s gazes? What’s the point now?
“So the request I made…?”
“Right. After background investigations and even character assessments… I’ve selected only twenty-two scholars. They’re on their way here.”
That was it.
I had asked her to recruit talented scholars.
This would be impossible for Hao-mun, which is both a heterodox sect and a dark path, and equally difficult for Baekrin Medical Guild.
Baekrin Medical Guild could manage finding competent doctors or warriors, but scholars fall outside their domain.
Rather, Gaebang was more suitable, being an orthodox faction with extensive connections.
The examination system in this world works roughly like this.
Scholars who have cultivated their learning are called younger brothers, and they must pass all three examinations—provincial, departmental, and imperial—to earn the title of Talented Scholar.
Only upon reaching this rank can one be assigned a position as a lower-ranking official in the empire.
Becoming an official means obtaining an official post.
For reference, those of the rank of guard are called officials rather than officers, and in terms of hierarchy, they occupy an entirely different tier from true officials.
In a sense, officers are like workers belonging to the administration, much like the clerks serving under the magistrate and his deputy in the prefecture.
They don’t hold official posts but work as officers.
Of course, obtaining qualifications and actual appointment are separate matters—even if I become a Talented Scholar, I won’t get hired if the administration doesn’t call me.
Then what is a top-ranked graduate?
If you pass the provincial examination while holding the rank of Talented Scholar, and then pass the imperial examination after the provincial one, you become a top-ranked graduate.
Your first official post begins at rank six.
In modern terms, it’s like starting as a grade-five civil servant immediately after passing the civil service exam.
Of course, the difficulty of becoming a top-ranked graduate in this era is incomparable to modern civil service or judicial exams.
People in this age have no computers or phones, so they memorize everything.
Because literacy is rare in this era, everyone’s memory is at the level of storing entire books in their minds.
Anyway, what was requested here were talents of the Talented Scholar rank.
Specifically, those among those who failed to obtain official posts but possessed upright and honest character—investigated and recruited with Gaebang’s assistance.
Though they’ve earned the title of Talented Scholar, the reason they can’t find employment is actually simple…
The corrupt officials must be thoroughly rotten.
You can’t get hired without paying bribes.
So unemployed Talented Scholars fall into one of two categories.
Either they have unbending integrity, or they’re poor.
Some could be both poor and unbendingly honest.
This is supposedly the improved state under the current King, but I can’t even imagine how terrible it was under the Previous Emperor.
That’s why I asked not just for investigation but also for a simple examination.
I left the details to Seolgyeon and the former Bangju’s discretion.
Thanks to that, talented scholars filled my ranks in an instant.
Twenty-two carefully selected talents vouched for by Gaebang were arriving.
‘Hmm… if these kids can’t master the forms, I suppose I’ll have to show them my magic wand.’
Still, seeing the senior ahead of me being conscripted for civil engineering work might spark a bit of motivation to learn, wouldn’t it?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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