He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 109

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Great Fire of Hanyang (8)

When a major problem erupts, solving just that problem alone doesn’t end everything.

You must completely handle the losses and aftermath caused by the problem, and take all follow-up measures to ensure that the same problem or similar accidents never happen again – only then is it truly finished.

While a single accident might be an unavoidable mistake, a second time is no longer a mistake but a disaster that could have been prevented but wasn’t.

“To solve this problem, we’ll ultimately need to eliminate the Butcher class itself.”

If you’re born a Butcher in Joseon, a normal life is completely impossible.

The Royal Court cracks down on them, telling them not to slaughter cattle or horses at all.

They also persecute them for living nomadically and raising livestock, saying it’s absolutely forbidden.

Since their entire livelihood is prohibited, Butchers must be incorporated into Rural Villages communities… but those places won’t accept them.

If they were born as Slaves instead, they could at least be accepted as bottom-tier members of village communities and somehow manage to survive…

But Butchers are commonly regarded as bad people who roam around committing various crimes, and avoided as dirty people who slaughter cattle.

Because of this, even when they want to settle down and live in Rural Villages, the farmers all despise and avoid them, so they usually can’t settle and get driven away.

They say even a Scholar armed with Confucian spirit will climb over walls for his Wives and Children if he starves for three days – so what can Butchers do when they have no way to make a living?

They inevitably fall into the temptation of crime.

“However, living in harsh circumstances should not become a reason for committing crimes.”

This is what criminals in the world commonly say.

I had no choice but to turn to crime because I’ve lived in miserable and poor circumstances since birth.

Would I have committed crimes if I had been born into a wealthy and harmonious household?

However, these words are completely wrong and not worth listening to.

There are countless poor people in this world, but among them, only an extremely small number commit crimes.

Do the rest not commit crimes because they lack arms and legs, or because they have inferior intellectual abilities?

Of course not.

Rather, it’s the ones who commit crimes that have problems with their intelligence and mentality.

For poor people who don’t commit crimes, there are no problems at all.

“But as a politician, I can’t just leave this problem alone. So I need to examine why they had to commit crimes in the first place…”

They say to hate the sin, but not hate the person who committed the sin.

However, I am an extremely ordinary person, and quite a selfish person, so I cannot follow that teaching.

However, I think we should at least hate the environment that makes people who haven’t committed crimes end up committing them.

That way, we can at least find a clue to solve the problem.

“The biggest reason is that the people of Joseon don’t accept the butchers as one of their own, so how can we make the people accept them?”

Lee Seong-gye, Lee Bang-won, and King Sejong tried to embrace the butchers through Confucian teachings of benevolence.

However, while that method may be right from a Confucian perspective, it’s absolutely unacceptable policy from a bureaucratic standpoint.

It would be one thing if they were war veterans who fought for Joseon for several years on the front lines like Hamgyeong Province and Pyeongan Province, but giving land, houses, and even wives just because they’re butchers – how does that make sense as policy?

“It’s like giving each gangster an apartment in Seoul and getting them jobs as regular employees at major corporations or as civil servants to socialize them.”

If such a policy were implemented in Korea, the Blue House servers would probably crash and even the building would burn down.

Joseon was a pre-modern state, so there were no servers to crash and no one to set fire to Gyeongbok Palace or government offices.

“We need to instill in the people the perception that ‘those guys have suffered enough hardship too.’ In the end, is that the only way?”

Among Koreans, there are hardly any who like workers who came from Southeast Asia or China.

But suppose they voluntarily enlisted in the Korean military, which they didn’t need to do, and completed their service with an ‘honorable discharge as Army Sergeant.’

Korean men would probably welcome them with open arms, saying that person is sufficiently qualified to be Korean.

Why? Because they think they’ve suffered the same hardships as themselves, so they’re fully qualified to live in Korea.

“For Joseon’s development, we need to spread rice farming, and for that we need large-scale water management construction… so I can work those guys hard for about 3-5 years.”

If we show the villagers directly how hard they’re working, and agricultural water supply becomes smooth because of them… they’ll probably accept them as fellow tenant farmers.

They would have earned their ‘citizenship’ by suffering several times more hardship than others, just because they were born as butchers.

“Now let’s start drafting a policy proposal…”

I started grinding ink stick in the sarangbang to write a policy report when I heard Gyeoul-i calling me from outside the door.

“Are you still not sleeping, my lord?”

“I have work to do, so I can’t go to bed right now. I’ll sleep once I finish this, so don’t worry too much.”

Despite what I said, Gyeoul-i opened the sarangbang door and came in.

Seeing me grinding ink stick, she sighed first.

“Aren’t you overworking yourself? Ever since the great fire broke out, for the past ten days you’ve been home, you haven’t even slept two hours a day…I’m so worried about you being so absorbed in work like this.”

“Once I finish this work, I’ll be able to sleep well like before.”

I forced a smile, but Gyeoul-i placed both hands on my shoulders and turned my body toward her.

“When exactly will this work be finished?”

“At the earliest, a month, or maybe two weeks will do.”

“Then you’ll continue to overwork yourself like this for at least the next two weeks.”

Anger appeared on the face of Gyeoul-i, who had never once gotten angry since marrying me.

Even when I was severely injured while fighting the fire and returned after receiving treatment at the Royal Palace, she didn’t say much and just quietly nursed me.

“I’m worried that you might collapse from overworking yourself like this.”

“It’s okay, I’m still young so I won’t collapse from this much overwork.”

“People who collapse or get seriously ill from overworking always say things like that.”

“That’s true too, but I’m fine. I’m really not tired.”

In truth, since the great fire incident, the guilt that I could have saved more people but didn’t has been continuously weighing down on my shoulders.

It’s hard to fall asleep, and even when I manage to fall asleep with difficulty, I wake up easily.

So I immerse myself in work until I feel like I can’t endure any longer from sleepiness, then collapse and sleep for about 2-3 hours before going to deungcheong, repeating this lifestyle.

“A person can’t possibly not be tired after sleeping so little for more than ten days…”

Tears welled up in Gyeoul-i’s pretty eyes and began falling drop by drop.

“On the day of the great fire, when you stepped forward to fight the fire even though no one ordered you to, I didn’t stop you. I actually thought several times that I wished you would evacuate safely to Noryangjin with me, but what could I do? The man I love is someone who throws away all personal interests and just throws himself into danger for the sake of the common people. So I suppressed my heart-wrenching pain and worry deep inside and just hoped you would return safely.”

If Gyeoul-i said she was going to do something dangerous too…no, that’s not it.

When she’s about to give birth, I think it would be hard to stay sane.

I’ll use every method available to maintain hygiene and do everything in my power to ensure a safe delivery.

The problem is that even if I improve hygiene like crazy, the mortality rate during childbirth will still exceed 1%…

In modern society where the rate of mothers dying during childbirth is only 0.001%, husbands still pace back and forth worrying… but 1%…

‘I definitely won’t be able to stay sane.’

Well, in Joseon right now, the mortality rate during childbirth is at least 7%, averaging over 10%. There’s a reason people offer water and pray earnestly when giving birth.

But what about Winter?

Her heart must have been torn apart watching her husband throw himself into blazing flames.

“After the fire was completely extinguished, a Royal Messenger from the Royal Palace came looking for me and told me this. He said your Official Robes had sparks flying on them, were covered in mud, and torn in places until they became rags. And that you had burns all over your body and were in critical condition, so the Royal Physician was personally attending to you…”

Winter rushed into my arms and began hitting my chest with her fists.

She wasn’t hitting lightly with taps, but striking firmly as if putting down a burden that had been weighing on her heart.

It hurt a lot.

But compared to the pain she must have felt, this was nothing.

“I went to the Temple that Prince Hyoryeong introduced and offered Buddhist Prayer Rituals every day until you woke up. I prayed that if Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva truly exists, please, please save my husband who tried to give his life for the Common People.”

… Even with ten mouths, I have nothing to say.

“I had been praying like that for several days when news came from the Royal Palace. They said there was nothing wrong with your physical condition and that you had regained consciousness. At that moment, I was happy to receive word that you were safe, but I also thought that when I met you at Home, I would interrogate you and get angry. I wanted to ask why you did such dangerous work that risked your life, whether it wasn’t too reckless…”

Winter buried her head in my chest and began sobbing aloud.

“But when you came Home, seeing you with such a guilt-ridden expression, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I felt like if I blamed you too, something really terrible would happen. I couldn’t add more burden to you who was already carrying such a heavy load… So I forced myself to smile. I forced myself to smile and told you that you did well. That you did good, that I was proud of you. It didn’t matter anymore that I had worried and suffered. It was enough that you came back alive and unharmed.”

“I’m sorry, from now on…”

Winter stopped my words.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I think I’m being quite selfish when I think about it, but if you hadn’t followed me to care for the Common People, I probably would have been disappointed in you. Because I think the person I love is someone who would willingly throw himself into danger anytime for the Common People. But, but you know. From now on, please truly cherish your body too. If you pass away, how would I live the rest of my life?”

After hearing her words, I thought about it too.

About when Winter would die.

I really didn’t want to imagine it – just thinking about it made me feel like the sky was falling and the earth was caving in.

“And when I was offering Buddhist Prayer Rituals at the Temple, there were quite a few Fire Victims being sheltered there. When they found out I was your wife, they all came to see me. And they thanked me. When I was doing three thousand prostrations, some of them would do three thousand prostrations beside me, praying for your safety. When I asked why, they said that although they lost one son in this fire, thanks to you they saved their other children and wife’s lives, so they were so grateful. All the Fire Victims were grateful to you… So now, please don’t suffer too much over what’s past, sleep peacefully. And take heart.”

“Really? Those people didn’t resent me or anything for not being able to save all of their family members?”

“The ones who set the fire are the bad ones. What fault could you have, my lord? Rather, they all praised you in unison, calling you a wonderful person who took the lead in saving their homes and lives. But if you actually collapse from focusing only on work with such intensity that you’re burning through your own life… how sorry would they feel and how much would their hearts ache?”

“That’s true…”

Now my heart finally feels a bit lighter.

Then immediately, physical fatigue came rushing in like a tide.

I gave up on writing the report and went to my room to lie down on the bed.

I couldn’t resist the rushing fatigue for even a single second and fell asleep as if collapsing.

Before falling asleep, I think I heard these words as the last thing in my ears.

“Though we weren’t born on the same day and hour, when it’s time to die, let’s go together. Because Gyeoul-i can’t live without you, my lord.”

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