He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 13

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

Great Cleanup (2)

For quite some time now, Kim Dae-bung had been a subject of interest and observation for Lee Bang-won.

Though Kim Dae-bung himself wouldn’t know it, Lee Bang-won had even issued a secret order to a magistrate under the Gyeongsang Province governor (effectively a deputy governor) to secretly investigate and report on how Jinhae County was being managed.

The official report sent to him by the one who received the secret order was filled from beginning to end with content that couldn’t be understood by ‘Joseon’s common sense,’ leaving him very bewildered.

It was said that on his first day taking office in the county, Kim Dae-bung thoroughly checked all the official documents in the government office, then destroyed the temple, claiming that the corrupt monks handling tribute tax had greatly embezzled taxes.

Then he said he would return the excessively collected taxes to the people and distributed them evenly among everyone.

What was even more surprising was that he offered tribute goods to the Royal Court that were more than 2.5 times the amount previously paid.

“When I received the report that the tribute goods offered by Jin County had increased by 2.5 times compared to before, I was truly dumbfounded.”

Despite increasing the tribute goods by 2.5 times, it was said that the people’s burden had decreased and they were very happy…

Even corrupt officials or greedy magistrates desperate to flatter the king couldn’t fabricate an official report like that.

So he ordered the governor to secretly send a magistrate to verify it.

If it was a lie, then it would be daring to deceive the king, and he intended to punish the crime very severely to restore discipline.

“The official report submitted by Magistrate Kim Myeong-hoe stated that the people voluntarily held a feast in gratitude for the royal grace of sending them a good county magistrate, and that the people’s lives had clearly improved compared to before.”

When Lee Bang-won read Kim Myeong-hoe’s official report, he was so shocked that he became confused about whether this was a dream or reality and pinched his own thigh.

The tribute tax he knew… in Joseon… no, even from the time of former Goryeo, tribute tax was a tax that tormented the people but was forcibly collected to run the country…

To think that by more than doubling that tax while eliminating the corrupt intermediaries, one could give hope to the people – this was something completely beyond his common sense.

So when he pinched his thigh, it hurt quite sharply, confirming it was definitely reality.

Afterward, he was so overjoyed that he laughed continuously for more than one gak (15 minutes) without stopping.

To think that an official named Kim Dae-bung had appeared in Joseon… thinking of the future where his son would lead such outstanding talent to make Joseon an even better country to live in, his laughter wouldn’t stop from joy.

“And now it’s a market, a market.”

In Lee Bang-won’s hands was an official report that Kim Dae-bung had personally written and submitted.

Lee Bang-won had read this official report together with King Sejong, and had read it several times when he was alone as well.

Finding the part that Lee Bang-won had read with the most impression, he read it aloud.

“Before the market was established, a widow who lost her husband was in despair because even working day and night, she couldn’t even put food in her children’s mouths, and her heart was torn apart. However, after the market opened every five days, in addition to farming day and night, she used her specialty skill of gathering wild vegetables well to sell the wild vegetables she gathered from the mountain at the market. Since then, she has been able to properly feed each of her children a bowl of barley rice at every meal, and she is overjoyed by this fact. Looking at this, for this widow, now is a world worth living in, isn’t now a time of great peace and prosperity?”

It was such beautiful words. More beautiful words than what Confucius and Mencius had said.

The ideal that Lee Bang-won had always pursued since the founding of Joseon, his desire to give the common people a better today than yesterday, had been realized in perfect form.

“Those words are truly right, right.”

A smile appeared on Lee Bang-won’s face.

However, with each step closer to Geunjeongjeon Hall, his expression grew darker.

Those who devour the common people, the ghosts that should have died along with Former Goryeo who exploit the people for their own wealth and glory

because their voices could be heard from within.

“Your Majesty, although what Saheonbu Inspector Kim Min-ho said was somewhat harsh, it does not greatly deviate from reason. Opening markets privately is indeed strictly forbidden by national law, and the ancient sage Guanzi (Guan Zhong) sternly warned that if the common people only engage in easy work like commerce, they will neglect their main occupation (farming).”

Of course, Lee Bang-won’s son Lee Do was not swayed by such nonsense.

“That Guanzi said this. He said that the common people must have enough to eat and enough to wear to know propriety. To educate the common people, first their livelihood must become comfortable. If not, and the common people starve, what happens? They will become bandits, they will become vagrants. But look at Kim Dae-bung. He opened a market and paved the way for the common people to make their own living. He will now be able to lead the common people righteously without even holding a birch rod.”

Lee Bang-won was very proud of his son. A child who was only 25 years old was not falling behind at all in presenting logic against the ministers of the Royal Court.

That child will become a wise king in the future and illuminate Joseon even brighter than himself.

“… Still, I am needed for now.”

Kim Dae-bung, who opened a market to feed the common people and gave them hope.

The intention of opposing what he did is not simply being wary of the increase in ‘merchants.’

His son knows this too, but probably doesn’t mention it to shed less blood.

However, Lee Bang-won’s thinking was different. What is rotten must be cut away.

“The Retired King arrives!”

Lee Bang-won walked with large strides to near the Dragon Throne where King Sejong was. Then he raised the iron mace in his right hand to show it.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes, His Majesty.”

“Right now I can see the ghosts of Former Goryeo alive and moving.”

In private settings, King Sejong and Lee Bang-won converse casually. However, in official settings like Pyeonjeon Hall, they maintain formal protocol in their conversations.

Because that was the necessary behavior to protect the power and authority that Lee Bang-won had sought to maintain throughout his lifetime.

The ministers’ shoulders hunched, their faces turned pale, and they could only bow their heads deeply while swallowing dry saliva in vain under the murderous aura of Lee Bang-won, who had appeared wearing a black gonryongpo and carrying an iron mace. Cold sweat streamed down the ministers’ backs.

But the words that came from his mouth were ‘Former Goryeo’…

Whenever the words ‘Former Goryeo’ were mentioned, bloody winds always blew through Joseon.

Those who had enjoyed power and success until yesterday would often change overnight, becoming wretches who cried ‘Please kill me’ after enduring all kinds of torture.

“Your Majesty, I lived through the era of Former Goryeo. Do you know what the common people were like in those days?”

“I’m not sure.”

“They were very lazy.”

King Sejong was puzzled by Lee Bang-won’s words. If life was difficult, shouldn’t they have lived more earnestly and diligently?

But why was he saying they were lazy?

“They would wake up in the morning to sow seeds and weed, but they did it very carelessly. They farmed very halfheartedly.”

“The common people of Former Goryeo and the common people of Joseon are all the same people who farm for a living, so why was that?”

“Because the common people of Former Goryeo had no hope.”

Lee Bang-won recalled the terrible Goryeo era. It was very miserable and tragic.

“In Former Goryeo, land consolidation ran rampant, the military was rotten, and officials were only eager to exploit. So what they collected here and there amounted to 90% of the harvest. No matter how hard they farmed, it was nearly impossible to survive on the grain they could keep in their hands.”

“…Was it so?”

“In contrast, Joseon pursues yeomindongrak (politics of rejoicing together with the people) and has strived to reduce the excessive taxes imposed on the common people. As a result, as long as there’s no crop failure, Joseon’s common people have no major difficulty farming to feed their families. That’s why Joseon’s farmers work hard with sweat.”

Lee Bang-won truly believed this. And his words were correct.

Unlike Goryeo, Joseon is safe from foreign invasions, and although they pay high taxes, farmers don’t starve to death even if they can’t eat their fill. So by the standards of this era, there’s no country where common people live better than Joseon.

That’s why the common people worked hard. Because it was a country where working hard allowed them to enjoy the simple happiness of feeding their wives and children daily.

“I want Joseon to be a country that can give hope to its common people. I truly wish for that.”

At Lee Bang-won’s words, King Sejong’s eyes reddened.

At that moment, Lee Bang-won looked around at the ministers and shouted sternly.

“Joseon must be a country that gives hope to its common people! It must enable them to dream of tomorrow. That is the path Joseon must take. So why are you saying that Kim Dae-bung, the magistrate of Jinhae County, who gave the people of Jinhae County dreams for tomorrow and brought hope to widows whom the Royal Court’s insufficient capabilities failed to care for, did wrong by privately opening a market?”

Lee Bang-won ground his teeth. That sound made the ministers tremble even more in fear.

“Kim Dae-bung opened a market for widows who couldn’t feed their children despite working day and night, finally enabling them to put barley rice in their children’s mouths. He alleviated the hunger of common people who had to live hungry unless it was a year of good harvest.”

When Lee Bang-won first learned of Kim Dae-bung’s name, he actually disliked him.

Because that shaggy-haired scholar Kim Dae-bung had denied the tax system of Joseon that he and his like-minded allies had created throughout their lifetimes, sacrificing their lives.

But not now.

“Joseon must be a country that cares for its people.”

Lee Bang-won took a step forward.

Each time, his iron mace moved up and down.

“County Magistrate of Jinhae, Kim Dae-bung, did just that.”

If Kim Dae-bung had been present here, he would have despaired while muttering to himself, ‘It’s true that I cared for the people, but it’s also true that I caused a commotion in the Royal Court, so I’d like to resign from this position and retire to the countryside.’

But unfortunately, Kim Dae-bung couldn’t even be included in this place.

However, in Lee Bang-won’s eyes, Kim Dae-bung appeared like this.

Zhuge Liang, who ate little because he found mealtime precious, and worked tirelessly without knowing his own body was being worn away.

In short, a loyal subject who wanted to work eternally for the country, a candidate for lifelong prime minister.

“They tried to slander the work of caring for the people by attaching reasons like bandit groups increasing or people becoming lazy. But ultimately, isn’t the memorial submitted by Saheonbu Inspector Kim Jang-ho worried that if the people become wealthy through trade, heads of households who cannot feed their families with relief grain alone will no longer need to borrow additional grain from noble families at high interest rates?”

Upon hearing those words, Prime Minister Ryu Jeong-hyeon trembled violently.

Although usury is legal in Joseon, it’s not viewed favorably.

He had built enormous wealth through it, but he was alive because he hadn’t crossed the line.

He knew that if Lee Bang-won with that iron mace struck him just once, he could be killed immediately.

“Ah, there are still many ghosts of Former Goryeo in Joseon. The corrupt monks of Buddhism suck the people’s lifeblood through tribute taxes, and rural scholars worry that the people might become wealthy and no longer borrow grain from them. How is this any different from Former Goryeo?”

Lee Bang-won sighed thus and rendered his judgment.

“Saheonbu Inspector Kim Jang-ho, who submitted such a trashy memorial, shall be stripped of his official position. Furthermore, he shall never be employed again.”

Every minister in Joseon experiences dismissal from office at least once. Therefore, dismissal from office is not a very severe punishment.

However, when the words ‘never to be reinstated’ are attached, reinstatement becomes nearly impossible.

This punishment means he becomes a worthless fool with no connections.

“The Chief Censor shall find the person who told Kim Jang-ho about Jinhae County’s affairs and escort that person to Hanyang… No. To maintain order in Jinhae County, have him specially executed by beheading in Jinhae County. Furthermore, make all members of that Goryeo remnant’s family into slaves.”

Nobles are rarely sentenced to death under normal circumstances.

But to be sentenced to beheading rather than hanging? And to make even his family into slaves… Lee Bang-won was treating this incident as something equivalent to treason.

The wise ministers of Joseon did not oppose Lee Bang-won’s judgment.

“And the Minister of Taxation shall study the policies that Kim Dae-bung is implementing in Jinhae County.”

With those words, Lee Bang-won left Pyeonjeon Hall.

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