He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 112

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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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Resocialization of Butchers (3)

Joseon is a country for the people of Joseon.

The people and citizens of Joseon should rightfully respect and follow Joseon’s laws and order.

But these bastards called butchers are those who rejected Joseon’s laws and systems because they were prevented from pursuing their livelihood.

They’re throwing tantrums with their whole bodies, saying they don’t want to become citizens of such a Joseon that doesn’t guarantee their interests.

However, the reason things have come to this point is that the butcher civilization policy itself is nonsensical, so I think it’s sufficient grounds for consideration.

So everything needs to be completely overhauled.

With the resolve to tear down everything except my wife and children.

“Aren’t they clearly people living in Joseon? Yet you say they are not citizens of Joseon – I don’t quite understand the reason for this.”

“Chief Minister, the people of Joseon should be those who respect and uphold Joseon’s laws and systems. But those who violate this and commit treason, set fires to steal, kill people, and rape women are those who have violated Joseon’s laws and systems and at the same time defied His Majesty’s solemn royal command.”

If what I’m saying now wasn’t about butcher-related policy, I would have received harsh criticism asking what nonsense I was spouting.

However, butchers are a group that, while being a minority when viewed across all of Joseon, commits an enormous number of serious crimes.

They even recently set fire to Hanyang and nearly burned down Jongmyo and Changgyeonggung.

Since these bastards don’t follow the country’s laws and live as they please, causing great harm to the nation and its people, even if I say they lack the qualifications to be citizens of Joseon, no one would step forward to oppose it.

“That’s true. Nevertheless, His Majesty said that the way of a gentleman is to embrace even ignorant people who haven’t learned with a parent’s heart and make them live like human beings, and he decided to embrace them once more. The official abolition of the cattle slaughter prohibition and allowing them to operate butcher shops was also to make the new butchers into citizens of Joseon.”

King Sejong’s decision to partially permit cattle slaughter to butchers and allow them to live as slaughterhouse operators was truly an enormous resolution.

Because in Joseon, the cattle slaughter prohibition was officially maintained until the very fall of the nation, and policies regarding butchers continued in this wretched state until King Jungjong’s time.

No, compared to King Sejong’s time, that bastard King Sejo made things even worse, so saying it that way would be unfair to King Sejong.

In any case, Joseon’s butcher assimilation policy later contributed greatly to creating the heinous criminal Im Kkeok-jeong and his violent crime group.

They strangled the butchers with bizarre policies that took away all their livelihoods and only exploited them with all kinds of taxes.

But this time everything has changed completely, so it’s an enormous transformation.

“He also decided to provide them with even more support than before.”

The moment I heard those words, I felt like my vision went white.

The moment I heard those words, I felt like everything went white before my eyes.

The current situation is already so dire that even cutting all possible support wouldn’t be enough, yet here they want to provide even more support – that’s practically the same as killing those people.

“Previously, we gave half a gyeol of wasteland or abandoned fields, but now we’ll give a full gyeol. Furthermore, we’ll provide food for them to survive on while they clear the fields, and for the Common People who teach them farming, we plan to reduce their annual taxes by half. This is how we’ll support those who farm, and for those who want to raise livestock, we’ll generously provide old grain to feed their animals, and for those who want to open butcher shops, we’ll help them find suitable locations.”

This is absolutely insane talk that makes my head spin just hearing it.

If those guys were war veterans or war heroes injured in battle, the Common People would understand and help them.

Though Joseon has almost no concept of veterans’ affairs or military honor…

There were people who died during military service or while hunting tigers, so if these were privileges for doing great things for the country, everyone would understand and accept it.

But they’re lavishly giving all this to lowly creatures who’ve spent their lives slaughtering Cattle, while doing nothing for themselves. The Common People will surely be delighted when they learn this fact.

“Sir, you absolutely must not do that.”

“What is the biggest reason Butchers couldn’t adapt and live in Joseon? Wasn’t it because they couldn’t sustain their livelihoods? So if we establish a foundation for them to sustain their livelihoods, wouldn’t this problem be solved? His Majesty has made a great resolution this time.”

These Butchers are like a private who transferred in after causing tremendous trouble in another company, if we compare them to the Military.

And every soldier in the company knows this fact.

But imagine the company commander decides to give privileges to the transferred soldier to help him get along with his comrades.

Since training would be hard for the private transfer, he makes the squad leader and other squad members share his gear during marches, and since frequent leave would be good for his mental health, he collects leave from squad members and gives it all to him.

On top of that, he gives only this soldier three times a sergeant’s salary.

Doing this would certainly reduce the probability of that transfer soldier causing problems, since his military life became comfortable.

Also, if there’s no chance of this becoming public or making the news, other soldiers would be furious but would endure it thinking of their parents.

They’d think it’s better to endure for at most 2 years than to mess with that troublemaker and end up in the brig or face disadvantages.

But this isn’t the Military.

This is Joseon, where failing to belong to a farming community literally puts your life in danger, and where not only injustice but even beatings aren’t considered problems.

‘They can’t beat up Butchers since they’re the ones who handle knives, but they’ll subject them to all kinds of ostracism.’

In the end, they won’t be able to survive in Rural Villages and will become bandits or other criminals.

King Sejong, Hwang Hee, and other Joseon Government Officials failing to anticipate this situation isn’t because they’re incompetent or anything like that.

Unlike Joseon, which is a class-based society, even 21st-century democratic country legislators who once lived as commoners get all kinds of criticism for not knowing how much it costs to ride a bus once.

‘That’s why they say congressmen these days memorize bus fares.’

Just like that, being born into privilege and living in Joseon, I’ve become unable to understand the feelings that the Common People experience.

As someone who knows this, I have no choice but to foam at the mouth trying to stop it.

“Chief Minister, absolutely not. That method is absolutely not acceptable.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What His Majesty intends to do is no different from placing someone who passed the civil service exam through hereditary appointment in the Office of Inspector General, always giving them the highest performance ratings, promoting them faster than others, and showing favoritism.”

Hwang Hee’s brow furrowed.

But I had no choice.

To make Hwang Hee, who doesn’t understand the lives of the Common People, understand this problem, this was the best approach.

“Have you seen someone who passed the exam through hereditary appointment being treated with respect in government offices?”

“… Almost never.”

Those who passed through hereditary appointment and rose to high ministerial positions are almost impossible to find in Joseon history.

It says everything that even Kim Jwa-geun, who was the head of the Andong Kim clan, received a 6th rank Official Position through hereditary appointment but didn’t dare enter government service.

He could only enter government service after passing what was essentially a rigged exam.

Thinking about it this way, even though his Father is the Chief State Councilor, Hwang Su-sin, who entered through hereditary appointment, received proper treatment, and is now building his career as a Deputy Envoy at the Jeongui-hyeon Japanese Embassy with the rank of junior 8th grade, is truly an exceptional person.

In terms of practical ability alone, he’s probably far more capable than Kim Jong-seo, who spends his days reading Hwang Hee’s mood from that corner.

If that weren’t the case, no matter how much his Father is Hwang Hee, he wouldn’t receive proper treatment.

“Those who passed through hereditary appointment can hardly even qualify for Myeonsillye.”

“You’re not trying to talk about my son…”

“Although Deputy Envoy Hwang did pass through hereditary appointment, he risked his life and made great contributions to the country, so he’s naturally an exception. That’s why His Majesty entrusted him with the important position of deputy envoy at the Japanese Trading Post. Now, let me continue the discussion. Just as those who passed through hereditary appointment aren’t treated as human beings, if the new Butcher receive land and food without having made any contributions, will the Common People view them favorably?”

“… Thinking about it that way, I would also be quite displeased. If the new Butcher are living with such preferential treatment while I still live without even a piece of land…”

Putting it this way, the Magistrate making the Butcher perform all kinds of illegal corvée labor and extorting money like crazy almost seems like good policy.

The newly arrived Butcher in the Village were receiving massive support from the country despite doing nothing, so the Common People were bursting with rage…

When the righteous apostles, My Lord Local Clerks and My Lord Magistrate, hit them with tax bombs (illegal) and cleanly took away what the Butcher hadn’t earned through effort, wouldn’t that have somewhat cooled the anger that had been building?

‘If that hadn’t been the case, the Common People might have drawn their swords against the new butchers.’

“However, if we mobilize them for very hard labor for several years and show that sight to the Common People, the story will be quite different.”

“What is the reason for that?”

“If they see the new butchers sweating and working hard to build embankments in villages and construct castle walls, the Common People will come to feel sympathy for them. And when benefits flow to the Common People through their efforts, the hearts of the Common People toward the new butchers will surely become more generous.”

The way for a foreigner to be truly recognized as a Korean is to serve in the military.

If they get discharged after rolling around like a dog for 2 years, their previous nationality won’t matter at all.

Whether they can speak Korean or not, that person is Korean.

Because they were treated like dogs just the same as oneself.

But if those Butcher bastards went through hardships that brought economic benefits to them, the effect would be multiplied several times.

“And we give Rice to the Common People who teach farming methods, and reduce their taxes too. Then they’ll naturally assimilate.”

“The Civilization of the Butchers is the Right State Councilor’s responsibility.”

Hwang Hee clarified that Right State Councilor Jo Mal-saeng was in charge of this matter and ordered me to do whatever I wanted.

A few days later, I gathered all the Butchers living near Hanyang and spoke to them.

“You have two choices.”

I really hate complicated things.

“Either become citizens of Joseon, or die here and now.”

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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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