He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 124

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

Breaking the Cartel (9)

Jo Mal-saeng, one of Joseon’s most renowned ministers, had the Kim Do-ryeon incident follow him like a tag throughout his life.

Even when Jo Mal-saeng’s son legitimately passed the civil service examination, the Ministry of Rites said, “That bastard’s father is a corrupt official who took bribes, so this won’t do,” and delayed his appointment for two years. The same thing happened when he was appointed as an inspector at the Office of Inspector General.

At the time, Jo Mal-saeng had tremendous standing as a defense expert, even though he wasn’t in key positions, so he petitioned King Sejong claiming his innocence in the Kim Do-ryeon incident and requested a reinvestigation.

King Sejong consistently gave no response and while he did restore Jo Mal-saeng, whom he had protected throughout his life as King Taejong’s close associate, he never overlooked his corruption in the end.

And after Jo Mal-saeng’s death, King Sejong bestowed upon him the posthumous title of Mungang, meaning “a minister who committed great sins but covered them with merit,” permanently preserving his misdeeds.

By Joseon standards where posthumous honor was more important than anything, it was honestly quite a cruel punishment…

But that wasn’t entirely true either, because King Sejong’s judgment was quite merciful.

According to Joseon law, he was someone who deserved immediate execution, yet he was given the opportunity to work until death to restore his honor.

But now Lee Bang-won is living quite happily, claiming to be a retired old man in the back room, even bringing in three more concubines to enjoy a harem life…

His power remains unchanged from before, and no one knows when he might draw his iron mace and swing it again.

In other words, Jo Mal-saeng’s life has become like Crown Prince Sado, who was used as a lab rat for quantum mechanics experiments in a rice chest.

“Minister Jo Mal-saeng.”

“… How are you threatening me?”

“Why would I threaten you, Minister? I simply know everything, so I’m offering this suggestion out of my sincere hope that you will find enlightenment. Just as the wealthy Market Guild merchants did.”

In fact, the truth of the Kim Do-ryeon incident is still unknown to both King Sejong and Lee Bang-won.

However, if the truth were to be revealed, it would expose that the one who served as Minister of Justice at the time and received bribes was ‘Jo Mal-saeng,’ and then the problem would become very serious.

In the Republic of Korea’s criminal law, those who confess can have their sentences reduced by up to half at the judge’s discretion.

In other words, someone who should serve 5 years in prison might get a sentence of 2 years and 6 months plus probation if they come forward and confess.

Joseon isn’t much different in this regard.

The Market Guild merchants were able to preserve their lives and family businesses through the mercy of Lee Bang-won and King Sejong because they followed my lead when I induced their confessions.

If the timing had been slightly off and they had been arrested and detained before confessing, they would have inevitably become headless ghosts.

“Because Minister Jo Mal-saeng trusted this incompetent subordinate, even the ruffians who were previously called Hwacheok will be able to find refuge in Joseon’s embrace, though it will take time. The same goes for being able to mass-produce gunpowder when I was at the Ministry of War, and I was able to begin manufacturing matchlock guns, which others opposed saying ‘what use could such things have.'”

Even if Jo Mal-saeng hadn’t supported me, I would have somehow achieved what I set out to accomplish.

It was all necessary work for Joseon.

The results that everyone can see now prove that my words were right, so there’s no need to say more.

However, without his approval and support, it would have taken much longer to achieve all of that.

“When the Kim Do-ryeon incident occurred, Your Excellency was in the position of Minister of Justice.”

Cold sweat dripped down Jo Mal-saeng’s face.

“Your Excellency, as Minister of Justice, received as many as 36 slaves from Kim Do-ryeon. In exchange for making the trial favorable to Kim Do-ryeon.”

“Scribe Kim, how on earth do you know that?”

“There are ways to know everything.”

“Are you trying to play word games with me now?”

“If you find out, you’ll regret it. Can you handle the consequences?”

At my words, Jo Mal-saeng collapsed as if all the strength had left his body.

He probably thinks that Lee Bang-won or King Sejong knows all of this and is trying to cut off his head, but is pressuring him to confess to give him a special chance to live…

That’s absolutely not the case.

Those two don’t know yet who took bribes in the Kim Do-ryeon case.

Honestly, if I were doing this under Lee Bang-won’s orders, I would have started by saying “Lee Bang-won ordered me to do this.” Why would I beat around the bush like this?

It’s not like I’m trying to twist pretzels.

“The other bastards who took bribes in that case are honestly people I don’t care what happens to from my position. But what kind of relationship do Your Excellency and I have?”

Jo Mal-saeng gripped my hand very tightly.

“Like the relationship between Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei.”

… Zhuge Liang was so incorruptible that even in the Records of Shu Kingdom they were shocked, asking “Why does this man have so little wealth?” and even subtly criticized him for it.

You, on the other hand, ended up in this mess by greedily accepting bribes like a dog that seemed safe to take.

But I’m not the kind of tactless fool who would counter with facts even in this situation.

Only those with ruined social skills would blurt out what they think is always right without reading the situation, killing the mood completely.

“That’s why I’m trying to offer Your Excellency a way to live. Go confess right now on this path. Then it will end with just giving up some of the slaves and wealth you received as bribes.”

“Thank you, yes… that’s right. As Scribe Kim said, I’ll just go down this path to turn myself in and find enlightenment.”

Jo Mal-saeng bowed his head to me in gratitude and immediately set off on the path to voluntarily surrender himself to the Uigeumbu.

Watching his retreating figure, I thought to myself.

“I must never end up in a situation where I’m forced into lifelong service because someone has dirt on me.”

People should only work until retirement age.

Why do you think retirement age exists?

Because it’s better in many ways to only work until that age.

How difficult would it be to work with an aging mind that doesn’t function well, commuting while leaning on a walking stick?

The Royal Palace of Joseon has no elevators and countless stairs – just thinking about climbing those stairs daily with a walking stick makes me break out in cold sweat.

“I will live virtuously. So no matter what, I’ll only work until I’m sixty at most!”

**

Jo Mal-saeng confessed to the Uigeumbu that he was a criminal and revealed the names of everyone who had received bribes from Kim Do-ryeon.

After all, those bastards weren’t close to him anyway, nor were they particularly important people.

Having thoroughly backstabbed his fellow bribe-taking criminals, Jo Mal-saeng’s body was in prison but his mind was completely at ease.

“If it weren’t for Scribe Kim, I would have been struck by an iron mace and met my ancestors very quickly.”

Criminal cases like Kim Do-ryeon’s incident aren’t important enough to deal with the security of the Royal Ancestral Shrine and State.

So normally, Uigeumbu guards or low-ranking military officers (the Uigeumbu also performed the role of police in this era) would move to arrest and investigate…

But upon hearing Jo Mal-saeng’s confession, the Chief Justice of State Tribunal immediately summoned all the investigators to arrest the criminals.

If he had been late in confessing to this incident, Jo Mal-saeng might have experienced the full course of Uigeumbu torture.

“I avoided the iron mace.”

The slaves and money could be recovered by continuing his official career, so they weren’t a major concern.

Just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, Jo Mal-saeng heard a very familiar voice.

“Yes, you are truly fortunate. If you had confessed even a little later, in the best case you would have been exiled to Samsu Gapsan, and in the worst case you would have been beheaded for bribery.”

“Your, Your Majesty the Retired King.”

When Jo Mal-saeng actually faced Lee Bang-won in prison, he was terrified and frightened.

“A Minister of Justice handling nearly 1,000 slave lawsuits, receiving as many as 36 slaves under the pretext of providing convenience. Did I seem that ridiculous to you?”

“No, Your Majesty, how could I dare to look down upon Your Majesty the Retired King?”

“If that’s not the case, then how did you receive 36 slaves? Fine, I understand. Perhaps this old man in the back room seemed ridiculous… just like that Goryeo specter Ryu Jeong-hyeon.”

Ryu Jeong-hyeon was actually a human iron mace wielded by Lee Bang-won.

Therefore, calling him a Goryeo specter didn’t really fit, but in the current situation, that wasn’t what mattered.

“Please kill me.”

“Since you have repented and confessed your crimes, I will show special mercy. From now until you die, you will never be able to resign.”

Lifelong service was incomparably better than being exiled to Samsu Gapsan and imprisoned until death, or becoming a headless ghost.

Therefore, lifelong service was His Majesty the Retired King’s warm mercy.

“Your grace is boundless.”

“I will conclude your punishment with the return of the 36 slaves you received.”

“To show my repentant heart, I wish to offer 4,000 seom of white rice to the Royal Court. Please grant my request.”

“Do so. And that white rice will be used to feed the soldiers shivering in the cold up north.”

All 4,000 seom of white rice going to the Northern Region…

This meant only one thing.

‘Jurchen subjugation.’

“The Right State Councilor is excellent at managing armies, so do your best in dealing with the Jurchen to wash away your sins.”

“Your grace is boundless, Your Majesty.”

“You will be released tomorrow.”

With these words, Lee Bang-won left the Uigeumbu, his black gonryongpo robes fluttering.

As he returned to the palace, he clicked his tongue.

“Jo Mal-saeng and Hwang Hee have weaknesses I can exploit to reject their resignations, but what kind of man is Kim Dae-bung that he has no weaknesses at all… such a disloyal fellow.”

A retainer like Kim Dae-bung should serve the Royal Ancestral Shrine and State until the end of his life…

According to recent news brought by the government slaves and court eunuchs, Kim Dae-bung disloyally said he would resign before reaching his ‘sixtieth birthday.’

It was truly an ominous statement.

It was extremely irritating and unpleasant for Lee Bang-won to hear.

“When a scholar takes the civil service examination, isn’t he swearing to devote himself to the Royal Ancestral Shrine and State until death? Isn’t that right, Kim Sang-on?”

“I am not a yangban aristocrat, so I don’t know well.”

“Ha, truly a regrettable matter.”

“Still, didn’t you bestow upon him the special grace of elevating his concubine to the status of legitimate wife?”

Lee Bang-won sighed upon hearing those words.

Because he couldn’t feel at ease with just that much.

“I suppose I’ll have to go mountain climbing with Do (King Sejong’s birth name) and discuss this matter today.”

That day, for some reason, Lee Bang-won didn’t appear on time, so King Sejong’s hopes were crushed as he had been happy thinking he wouldn’t have to go mountain climbing today.

And during the mountain climbing, upon hearing the utterly devastating news that Kim Dae-bung dreamed of mandatory retirement, King Sejong was deeply hurt.

The next day, according to the law of downward pressure, piles of work inevitably poured down upon his subjects.

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