He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 140

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

Matchlock Guns and Northern Expedition (4)

The news that the Jurchen subjugation had been confirmed was surprising, but the news about me that came with it was even more shocking.

They say it’s the way of the world to pile work on those who do their jobs well, but…

Honestly, isn’t this really going too far?

I’m certain I lived virtuously in my previous life, but to receive such a position in a situation like this…

“Right State Councilor, is what’s written in the royal decree I received really correct? Wasn’t there perhaps some error when the Office of Royal Decrees drafted it?”

“Hehe, are you pleased because a new opportunity to devote yourself to the Royal Ancestral Shrine and State has arisen? His Majesty felt there was no suitable position for our Colonel Kim in the Ministry of War, so he temporarily appointed you as Colonel of the Five Guards, didn’t he? His Majesty greatly trusts Colonel Kim and has put you in charge of managing all the Ministry of War’s affairs, so his grace is truly immense.”

“Entrusting all the practical affairs of the Ministry of War to a mere 4th rank official? Aren’t there the Vice Minister, the Deputy Minister, and Old Man Chamji in the Ministry of War?”

“The position of Chamji in the Ministry of War is vacant. Well, just knowing that much is enough, Colonel Kim.”

Jo Mal-saeng isn’t even listening to what I’m saying and is just spouting nonsense.

Assigning work that a high-ranking official should do to a mere 4th rank nobody.

This is like the General Staff deciding that since a regiment commander does good work, they’ll leave the division commander position vacant and have the regiment commander manage the entire division.

So I lodged a legitimate protest, but Jo Mal-saeng responded with sophistry equivalent to saying if I don’t like the rank insignia on my head, he’ll change it to two stars.

Good heavens, this is all a conspiracy by King Sejong, the great demon lord of work assignments.

Sima Yi, who was outmaneuvered by Zhuge Liang, probably felt his insides burning in frustration just like this.

“Are you telling me to handle the duties of the Ministry of War’s Chamji right now?”

Jo Mal-saeng smiled slyly as he watched the slaves finish organizing all the belongings that had been on his desk.

“If our Colonel Kim wishes it, I’ll specially submit a petition. And since I’ve also been assigned to concurrently serve as Minister of War this time, Colonel Kim and I will be working together at the Ministry of War as well. Isn’t this also His Majesty’s grace as vast as the ocean?”

Mobilizing 25,000 troops to wage war against the Jurchen is definitely not a common occurrence.

So having Jo Mal-saeng, who is the Right State Councilor, concurrently take on the role of ‘Minister of War’ to manage the Ministry of War is entirely reasonable.

After all, when war breaks out, the work of all departments including the Six Ministries inevitably revolves around the ‘Ministry of War’.

Therefore, it’s better for Jo Mal-saeng, who ranks much higher than the ministers of the Six Ministries, to step forward and serve as Minister of War.

But there’s one problem here too – seeing how our Right State Councilor specifically pointed out that he and frail me would be working together at the Ministry of War.

He’s revealed his intention to dump even the work he should be doing onto me.

“Chief State Councilor, that’s how things turned out.”

Hwang Hee said angrily.

“Since the Minister of Finance is your younger brother, he’s taking very good care of his older brother, isn’t he? I’m buried in paperwork to the point of death, while the Right State Councilor seems to be living somewhat more comfortably.”

Jo Mal-saeng, perhaps feeling sorry for Hwang Hee, placed a box containing truly precious medicinal herbs on Hwang Hee’s desk, then chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

“This is all His Majesty’s will, so there’s nothing I can do about it. And this is specially prepared good medicinal herbs for the Chief State Councilor, so please think of it as my heart and accept it.”

Then he took me and left for the Ministry of War.

“The fact that I’ve become someone who cannot receive permission to resign is solely because of the sins I committed, but the Chief State Councilor is also not such a clean person.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that too.”

The Seo Dal incident hasn’t erupted yet, but when it does, there’s a high probability that Maeng Sa-seong and Hwang Hee will also get ‘Jo Mal-saeng’d.’

“Such a person keeps telling me until my ears are numb that I’ve become someone who can never resign for life but should work diligently. I too gave precious medicinal herbs with the meaning that the Chief State Councilor should stay healthy for a long, long time. He’ll surely be pleased.”

This isn’t a gift, it’s basically giving him taffy.

‘You’re also not such a clean person, so someday you’ll have to repay your sins with lifelong service, so live long and prosper.’

That’s what he’s saying.

But regardless of the bad intention, it’s quite satisfying.

Because of Hwang Hee, I got dumped with more than five times the workload of others in the State Council.

Five times the paperwork that the ministers handle, which by general official standards would be at least 6-8 times the heavy workload.

They reduced the workload according to the ranks of those people there, and made me do all of it.

They reduced the workload according to the ranks of the people there, and made me do all of it.

Thanks to that, the State Council became a government office where lunch breaks could last up to one and a half time periods (3 hours) when they were long.

As a result, the State Council became a government office where lunch breaks could last up to 1.5 hours (3 hours) when they were long.

But he’s mocking the ringleader of that work-dumping group with ‘You’re also lifelong!’ – why would I oppose that?

But why would I object to mocking the ringleader of that work-shirking group by saying “You get life imprisonment too!”?

“The Chief State Councilor may be advanced in years, but since his body is so healthy, he’ll be able to serve the Royal Ancestral Shrine and State for a long time to come.”

“While the Chief State Councilor is indeed advanced in years, he remains so vigorous in health that he will surely be able to serve the royal ancestral shrine and the state for many years to come.”

Go ahead and be Chief State Councilor until you’re 90.

Fine, go ahead and be Prime Minister until you’re 90.

**

When I arrived at the Ministry of War, what greeted me was a huge mountain of documents.

When I arrived at the Ministry of War, what greeted me was a massive mountain of paperwork.

What kind of official reports are stacked over 60cm high? Is this what they call administrative theater?

What kind of reports are stacked over 60cm high? Is this what they call administrative theater?

And next to the hill of official reports, reference books and documents that I would need to organize into book form in the future were piled up high as well.

“Is this hell?”

Upon hearing the word hell, the Ministry of War Jeongrang and Jwarang all nodded in unison.

But what could I do about it.

If I did my work carelessly or made mistakes, only the innocent soldiers who would soon have to fight against the Jurchen would die.

On my shoulders rested the lives of 25,000 family heads who were forcibly conscripted due to military service and had to fight the Jurchen.

I absolutely could not be lazy or make mistakes.

“Let me see, what’s this? Why are the military rations given to soldiers only this much? Are they in their right mind?”

Adult men in the Joseon Period eat at least 7 hop of rice per day.

On top of that, they should have side dishes and things like soybean paste as well.

In special situations like war, they have to move their bodies much more and become psychologically tense, so energy consumption increases…

It would be right to give them more than twice the usual amount of food.

But they’re only giving 7 hop (1,050g) of rice per day?

Joseon’s circumstances aren’t difficult right now, and there’s no war going on, yet 7 hop… Considering the losses (embezzlement) that occur intermittently by local clerks and public slaves who don’t receive their salaries, about 4.5 to 5 hop would actually be distributed.

In the War Diary of Yi Sun-sin, it says that navy soldiers received 5 hop of rice daily as rations, and this was making soldiers fight while starving them.

‘The soldiers would try to desert just because they hate starving.’

“When I was Ministry of War Jeongrang, I couldn’t touch the war plans, and could only efficiently change the system for supplying food to soldiers… but looking at the transport plans, this is quite a sight.”

So this is why Jo Mal-saeng told me that if I became Ministry of War Vice Minister, everything would be solved.

Indeed, even though that gentleman has the bad habit of dumping a ton of work on me, he handles his own assigned work very responsibly and well.

Well, if he weren’t such a person, when he became heavily involved in the Kim Do-ryeon incident, instead of being sentenced to lifelong service, he would have gotten ‘Then die.’

“Who is in charge of transportation?”

When I looked for the transportation officer, the atmosphere instantly became tense.

I don’t really want to do this either, but what on earth has this guy been doing?

When he discovered problems with the war plans while handling his duties, he should have spoken up about how the logistics supply routes he was responsible for were a complete mess and needed fixing.

“Yes, Colonel My Lord.”

“Sigh, Kim Jeongnang.”

A sigh escaped me naturally.

“On land, there are post stations along the roads at regular intervals, so it’s possible to keep records of where you’ve passed through. But doesn’t Joseon now transport all logistics using the sea?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Since we transport by sea, shouldn’t we just send directly from the departure harbor to the destination? If we’re sending 500 seom of white rice from Jinhae, we should just send it straight from Jinhae to Incheon.”

“Yes, Colonel My Lord. But traditionally during wartime, we follow the grain transport system and stop at various harbors along the way to keep records, don’t we?”

If this were peacetime, I would have listened to his words and gently persuaded him: ‘The old customs were like that, so you’re right. However, there can be losses of time and cargo along the way (Local Clerks and sailors embezzle some each time they dock), so change it from now on.’

But now we’re in wartime.

With 25,000 soldiers who consume over 200 seom of rice daily just by breathing, and where even one day of hunger due to supply problems would drastically reduce combat effectiveness – this is an emergency situation.

In such times, to waste time with that kind of supply method and allow material losses to occur?

‘Soldiers will die, they’ll really die.’

“Do you know that since the Bangwon Method was implemented, ocean navigation began, and now it’s possible to go from Pyeongan Province to Hamgyeong Province by sailing around Joseon without docking even once along the way? Since navigation skills have changed, naturally the system should also be changed accordingly. In this case, just changing the system could reduce time by several times, and save up to 30% of the food lost during transport.”

Even after implementing the Daedong Law, Joseon transported rice with all sorts of strange regulations attached.

For example, even though you could take a ship from Busan to Incheon in one go, and travel safely using ocean navigation…

Government-operated vessels had to stop at numerous cities beyond Busan – Geoje, Yeosu, Mokpo, Seosan, and so on – writing reports each time they docked.

Thanks to this, a journey that would take 3 days by ocean navigation had to take nearly half a month going around.

Oh, naturally embezzlement constantly occurred at each stop by local officials, Local Clerks, and public slaves. They would always steal grain under the excuse that some rice got wet.

‘I want to modernize salaries. I want the Yangnyeom System.’

There are records in the Annals that King Jeongjo also knew this inefficient administrative system (government ships stopping at numerous harbors) wasn’t being properly maintained and flew into rages about it.

“Immediately redraw the food transport plans. Also calculate how much military provisions loss would be reduced by following the changed routes, and above all, increase the rice supplied to soldiers to 9 hop daily.”

“My Lord, if we do that, the Ministry of Taxation will…”

…Right, the Ministry of Taxation would raise hell.

But if you’re an official working for the country, you can’t let soldiers who were dragged into military service and might die in war go hungry.

You crazy bastard who deserves to get shot in the head.

“Hey.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

I whispered in his ear.

“You say soldiers are starving to death? If news reaches His Majesty that during wartime, soldiers are dying of starvation unrelated to combat and discontent is rising… do you think His Majesty will leave Kim Jeongnang alone?”

At my words, Kim Jeongnang’s face turned white as a sheet of paper.

“Cao Cao beheaded Wang Hou, an official in charge of Military Rations, to appease the discontent of starving soldiers at Shouchun Castle. Just keep that in mind.”

“I understand. I will somehow find a solution as quickly as possible. However, the food supply…”

“Ah, there are ways to handle that.”

I can’t tell Merchants to voluntarily enlist…

But I can encourage voluntary donations.

Ah, it’s been a while since I needed to borrow my Father-in-law’s help.

I’ll also take out some of the Rice stored at our House and contribute it to the Northern Expedition.

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