He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 145

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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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Matchlock Guns and Northern Expedition (9)

Corruption actually has the characteristic that it can be eliminated to a certain extent if the higher-ups take proper interest and respond correctly.

The famous German army under the Nazis is said to have received tremendous attention from above, with constant emphasis that engaging in corruption was behavior unbecoming of superior Germans.

As a result, the Nazi German Wehrmacht is said to have become an army with considerably less military camp corruption.

If those Nazi bastards led by that bald octopus could do it, there’s no reason Joseon people can’t.

‘I can’t eliminate it completely, but I need to reduce it as much as possible.’

“What would be the reason for causing corruption within the military and tormenting subordinates? It’s just done for entertainment because those above turn a blind eye to it.”

Joseon’s culture is significantly different from 21st century Korea where human rights ideology has taken root.

If someone clearly did something wrong, it’s considered perfectly normal for the Birch Rod to come flying first.

When scholars in one county divided into factions and fought each other, the county magistrate personally took up a Birch Rod and beat them to solve the problem… and that story remains as a ‘heartwarming tale.’

So a culture of trying to solve things through harsh treatment even for minor wrongdoings became widespread.

“When I went to Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong as a military officer, the U-ryeong’s ho-gun (commander of roughly a two-company-sized unit) beat officers for no particular reason, reprimanded them, and openly demanded bribes. So the military officers assigned to U-ryeong had no choice but to offer bribes in order to avoid being reprimanded by their superiors and somehow continue their official careers.”

“Originally, the military was like that in my time too…”

“My lord.”

Lee Sun-mong firmly shook his head when I called him.

“I meant that such evil practices existed in my time too, and back then I thought it was natural. But now it’s obviously different. How can a military officer beat soldiers, cavalry, and officers under his command for no reason and force them to offer bribes? It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

This is what’s scary about evil practices.

When I came in as a new recruit and suffered such treatment, I thought it was very unfair and frustrating, but humans are creatures of adaptation, so as time passes, they gradually become tainted.

When the time comes for them to become corporals, they become people who lead the charge in evil practices, copying exactly what their seniors did to them before.

School violence also has a very high rate of school violence victims becoming perpetrators, and in the case of domestic violence, it’s often that domestic violence victims become domestic violence perpetrators.

It’s so frightening how it seeps into your body without you knowing and makes you think it’s natural.

“And when you think about it, I’m also a victim. When I first started as a military officer through hereditary appointment, my seniors demanded bribes quite unreasonably. So shamefully, I seriously considered whether I should get my hands on military supplies like weapons or Gunpowder to prepare bribes.”

“If even you, my lord, who has Father as a founding contributor, suffered so much, how terrible is this?”

“When you look at those who get caught tampering with military rations and are executed, it often started with trying to somehow follow the custom of offering bribes.”

Records about Myeonsillye generally describe it like this.

After performing Myeonsillye once, the household’s wealth is usually ruined, and to make up for those losses, they end up resorting to corruption.

Lee Sun-mong started confessing on his own before I could even say ‘Tell me everything you did wrong in the past.’

There’s no reason for me to keep listening to that.

“Well then, if Your Excellency were to discover this situation while deeply inspecting your subordinate units and take proper measures… how pleased would His Majesty be to hear this news?”

Our country’s military has the bad custom of first removing the clothes of high-ranking officials when irregularities or incidents occur within units.

While this may look good on the surface, in reality this custom has the effect of causing all kinds of incidents to be covered up.

Frankly speaking, from a commander’s perspective, there’s a high probability they have no emotional attachment to Sergeant Kim or Lieutenant Lee under their command.

But suppose those subordinates were beaten to death by seniors in the unit, or were on the verge of death from training injuries.

If I get dismissed whether I report this accurately and take measures, or if I try to cover it up somehow and still get dismissed the same way…

Most people would think it’s better to just cover it up.

Officers below lieutenant colonel rank don’t receive much pension if they retire without achieving lieutenant colonel promotion, so they can’t maintain their livelihood after retirement.

Therefore, they can be driven into situations where they must cover things up for their ‘family’s’ sake.

As a result, reports are delayed and people who could have been saved die.

Soldiers who died from irregularities are administratively processed as having gone on leave the day before their death, creating the lie that they died while in a state of desertion.

I’m not saying those who cover things up this way did well – they are indeed bad people, but there are serious problems with the system that drives them to do this.

“I’ll personally handle the Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong military officers who caused problems this time.”

“I happen to be feeling unwell, so I’m thinking of taking about seven more days of sick leave.”

Lee Sun-mong nodded after hearing my words.

“Seven days should be enough for me to root out all the irregularities with my own power. Sit here and wait for a moment. I’ll have some good medicinal herbs brought to help restore your injured body.”

“Yes, thank you. And I have one more request – could you use a soldier from Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong named Kim Mak-gae as an orderly under the general?”

“That’s not difficult at all. Ah, I’ll go get the medicinal herbs, so wait here for a moment.”

Before long, Lee Sun-mong returned and handed me a large box filled with various medicinal herbs.

“Get well quickly. And tell both Their Majesties that from now on, I, Lee Sun-mong, will become a new person.”

“Isn’t Your Excellency already a brilliant general of Joseon? If you become even more excellent, it would be quite a disaster for the Jurchen tribes.”

This is why Lee Sun-mong survived despite causing all sorts of problems.

He was a killing machine that slaughtered Jurchen tribes.

**

As soon as Kim Dae-bung left, Lee Sun-mong immediately rode his horse straight to the Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong.

It was to personally deal with the colonel and officials in charge of the Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong.

According to Kim Dae-bung’s standards, the Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong was equivalent to a lieutenant colonel to colonel, while Lee Sun-mong, as commander-in-chief, was a very high-ranking person equivalent to a four-star general…

The Chung-jwa-wi was filled with confusion and terror when the commander-in-chief suddenly arrived.

“Hey, you crazy bastards! Do you know I almost died because of you? Don’t you!”

Usually, Lee Sun-mong spoke politely befitting his rank as a second-grade commander-in-chief and made various efforts to maintain dignity…

But now he didn’t have the luxury to worry about such things.

The very Kim Dae-bung who wrote memorials had come to inspect irregularities within the unit under His Majesty’s orders, and had said to him, “Shall I submit a written memorial?”

Those words were a terrifying warning that if his handling method didn’t satisfy him, a written memorial would be submitted immediately.

‘Either you die, or I die.’

In this case, there was a 99.99% probability that Lee Sun-mong’s head would fly.

Even if he didn’t die, he would have to be buried in Samsu Gapsan for quite a long time covered in all sorts of disgrace before returning.

“I heard there’s a military officer named Officer Kim in this unit. Where is that bastard now?”

At his sharp words, Officer Kim crawled out trembling.

As soon as Lee Sun-mong saw him, he kicked his stomach with a flying kick.

The colonel of the unit was shocked to see such beating by a military officer, especially one above the second grade, in Joseon.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Officer Kim Mal-seong, I’m sorry!”

“Does being sorry solve everything? You bastard, you still don’t know who visited your unit, do you? That was Kim Dae-bung who writes memorials. That crazy bastard who submitted a petition saying he’d stop currency issuance with an axe. You really screwed up in front of that Kim Dae-bung who writes memorials.”

Although Kim Dae-bung himself never intended it, “Written Memorial Kim Dae-bung” was already being used like a title.

Even ministers like Hwang Hee, Maeng Sa-seong, and Jo Mal-saeng, when calling Kim Dae-bung, didn’t attach his official rank like “Colonel Kim” but commonly said “that written memorial guy” instead.

Among the common people, he was called “Written Memorial Kim Dae-bung.”

Naturally, Lieutenant Kim Mal-seong was also a Joseon military officer, and moreover an officer of the Central Army, so he was well aware of the name Written Memorial Kim Dae-bung.

An eccentric who continued to remain at the 4th junior rank even when Chief State Councilor Hwang Hee grabbed him and made a fuss about becoming a senior official.

A tremendous administrative talent who everyone would accept if he became a minister right now, and so on…

“…”

“His Majesty once said there should be no private beating, striking, or abuse among soldiers and military officers. But you bastard directly did that to him…? And our Colonel Jang was also quite a sight to behold.”

Lee Sun-mong had no intention of letting these bastards off easy.

“Lieutenant Kim Mal-seong shall receive 50 strokes of the beating stick according to military law, Colonel Jang Ji-seong 40 strokes, Squad Leader Lee Jong-gae 40 strokes…”

Beating sentences were handed down to roughly over 20 people.

And a very special event even took place.

“I will personally execute the beatings of Lieutenant Kim Mal-seong and Colonel Jang Ji-seong. Originally, the principle is not to beat yangban with beating sticks, but today I will make an exception and follow the rules regardless of social status.”

Originally, yangban could pay fines instead of the 100 strokes of the beating stick that always accompanied exile.

The same applied to other crimes.

Conversely, being directly beaten with beating sticks meant being branded as having committed a serious crime that couldn’t be resolved with mere exile.

“Die!”

That day, at the Chung-jwa-wi U-ryeong, those who had led the corruption and been beaten with beating sticks moaned throughout the night.

And Lee Sun-mong, who had personally wielded the beating stick, worked through the night writing improvement measures for the issue and submitted his report the next day.

Lee Sun-mong received a reward for handling the matter well.

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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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