He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 157

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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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Hiding One’s Strength and Biding One’s Time (2)

Emperor Xuande was far wiser than Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang.

He strived not to suspect people without basis as Zhu Yuanzhang had done, and tried his best to avoid purging ministers and chancellors without reason.

This prudence was not directed only toward his subjects, but was also being exercised toward foreign countries including Joseon.

“What does the Minister of War think? Do you believe Joseon will betray us?”

Yang Shiqi, one of the three great ministers that Emperor Xuande would later appoint, fell into deep thought upon hearing these words.

The Jurchen tribes controlling parts of the Liaodong region, and those mentally ill barbarian Japanese who call themselves emperors of some land of the rising sun – these didn’t require much concern.

No matter how much those bastards rampaged, they couldn’t deal a fatal blow to the Ming Dynasty.

However, Joseon was a nation that inherited the legacy of Goguryeo, and the Gabyeolcho led by Lee Seong-gye was an elite force that had easily subjugated tens of thousands of Red Turbans, the same group Zhu Yuanzhang had once belonged to.

At least the Gabyeolcho would never be reformed again since Lee Seong-gye died and Joseon lost its influence over the Jurchen tribes…

If they targeted the Ming Dynasty, the nation would be greatly shaken.

‘We must be wary of Joseon’s power alone.’

“Joseon is a nation that inherited Goguryeo, so we must not treat them carelessly. Moreover, though they are called barbarians, they are people who deeply follow and seek to learn Zhonghua culture. Therefore, we should not view them the same as other barbarians.”

“Is the Minister of War now defending Joseon before me?”

“It is said that knowing the enemy and knowing oneself allows one to avoid dangerous situations even in a hundred battles. Furthermore, Great Ming currently faces enemies to the north with barbarians and Yuan Dynasty remnants, and to the south with Japanese Pirates and Vietnam. There would be little benefit in unnecessarily increasing our enemies here.”

“Those words are correct.”

Vietnam had at least fought Emperor Yongle to the death before voluntarily submitting, saying ‘We will absolutely never fight the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, we will not harm Ming’s worldview and will pay tribute.’

However, they couldn’t lower their guard against them, and above all, the greatest threat was the Northern Yuan.

If they set their minds to it, they could lead tens of thousands of elite cavalry and completely scatter the Ming Dynasty.

If Joseon was added as an enemy to create chaos, the Ming Dynasty could be shaken to its very foundations.

“Moreover, though they dared to strike Lee Man-ju, the Jianzhou Left Guard commander, without sending a memorial to Great Ming, isn’t the commander position we granted him just a meaningless ceremonial post? It was merely to establish hierarchy and order among the barbarians, and if he wanted even minimal treatment befitting that position, he shouldn’t have plundered Joseon.”

“Though Joseon struck Lee Man-ju, whom I appointed as commander, you’re saying there’s no fault to find?”

“That is correct. However, I absolutely do not think Joseon is a nation of loyal subjects. Though they may accept Zhonghua culture and act civilized, they are people born in barbarian lands who speak barbarian languages… How could their nature and origins change?”

There is a concept that applies anywhere in the world.

That people absolutely never change.

Of course, there are a very few exceptions, but such people are so rare that even if you search with your eyes wide open, they’re hard to find.

Yang Shiqi was looking at Joseon from that perspective.

“Those words are correct.”

“Therefore, when the New Year envoys come, insult them, rebuke them, and treat them harshly. When treated well, even traitors full of betrayal will wag their tails looking at His Majesty’s imperial grace, but when dealt with sternly, the traitors cannot endure it and will reveal their true nature.”

“Indeed, the Minister of War is truly wise.”

“Your imperial grace is overwhelming.”

Minister of Rites Yang Pu supported the Minister of War’s words.

“It happens that Joseon has requested whether it would be good to change the ceremonial hat worn by the Crown Prince and the ceremonial hat worn by the minister coming as Deputy Envoy, as having them be the same would likely be uncomfortable for His Imperial Majesty to see.”

“Is there anything in their request that we can find fault with?”

If there were words about misunderstanding protocol during the previous emperor’s time, they could use that as an excuse to rebuke and tame Joseon’s young Crown Prince.

However, Kim Dae-bung was not so easy to deal with.

“There is nothing. Not a single content or character can be faulted, and everything they mentioned is all reasonable. Furthermore, they said they will not bring even a single merchant on this diplomatic journey, and will even bring back Ming Dynasty Common People who were captured by the Jurchen Territory.”

“Joseon is truly thorough.”

They had planned to catch even one flaw and greatly exaggerate it to rebuke the New Year envoys, trying to tame Joseon with the whip…

That strategy seemed to have failed from the very beginning.

“From the moment Joseon’s Crown Prince enters Liaodong, I would have sternly rebuked them as a barbaric country that knows no protocol if they had simply entered wearing the ceremonial hat that violated protocol despite being bestowed by the previous emperor. If they had arbitrarily brought a ceremonial hat that conforms to protocol, I would have also rebuked this as an act insulting the previous emperor.”

Furthermore, regarding bringing merchants to Datong, which is normally never an issue, they had planned to tame them by saying they didn’t like seeing them bring merchants as if they were trying to make profits from trade…

“It cannot be helped. Instead, tell the Crown Prince to wear the Ceremonial Dress bestowed by Ming Dynasty exactly as it is from Joseon.”

That alone should be able to give great humiliation to Joseon.

Emperor Xuande decided to be satisfied with this for now.

**

Time flew by in an instant and before we knew it, the diplomatic mission was about to depart.

Going as a diplomatic mission is absolutely not an easy task, and this time it involves escorting Crown Prince Munjong, so the atmosphere was bound to be heavy…

But right now, even considering all that, everyone was in too gloomy a state.

“I say, Secretary.”

“Deputy Envoy.”

Choi Yun-deok looked at me and let out a sigh.

“Thanks to you and Jijungchubusa Heo (Heo Ju) who came despite his ailing body afflicted with stroke, we somehow managed to prevent being criticized for protocol violations. If not for that, we would have had to depart while desperately pleading with the Liaodong Commissioner, offering bribes to deliver our memorial.”

“That would have been the case. All official documents sent from Joseon must go through the Liaodong Commissioner before reaching the Ministry of Rites.”

“Though we somehow prevented such a disaster, the fact that His Highness the Crown Prince wears the same ceremonial hat as me is truly… heartbreaking.”

“This is all the Ming Dynasty bastards’ scheme.”

The Ming Dynasty is essentially playing sophisticated bully games right now.

Hey, Joseon, are you going to hit me? Are you going to tell on me to mommy? But what are you going to do when there’s no mommy to tell? If you don’t like it, go ahead and bow your heads properly.

Since they can’t say such things directly at diplomatic venues, they’re taming us through protocol.

Joseon people, especially the yangban, would rather die than fail to observe proper protocol – and I’m only slightly exaggerating…

A mere servant official wearing the same ceremonial hat as the Crown Prince?

This is truly an enormous disgrace and humiliation.

In corporate terms, it’s like when we’re being entertained by another company, and they seat our company’s executive director and chairman in the same position.

The message contained within would be: your company’s chairman has nothing to do, so isn’t he the same rank as the executive director?

“We adults can somehow endure such humiliation. But His Highness the Crown Prince is still young – how must he feel suffering such disgrace?”

“He must be burning with rage. But as the Crown Prince of a nation, he’s simply enduring that pain.”

Crown Prince Munjong had been exceptionally brilliant since childhood.

Befitting King Sejong’s eldest son, he had mastered the Analects by age 10, learned Mencius by 11, and was objectively in the realm of ‘genius’ by anyone’s standards in Joseon.

That’s why in his spare time he could work Jang Yeong-sil hard to create things like rain gauges.

Even with such an outstanding mind, Crown Prince Munjong is ultimately still a child who just turned 13…

‘He must be burning inside.’

“I don’t know if I’ll be of much help, but I’ll go offer him some comfort.”

“I’m counting on you.”

At Choi Yun-deok’s request, I approached Crown Prince Munjong directly.

The way he’s biting his lips tightly shows just how frustrated he must be.

“Crown Prince.”

“I’m fine.”

Among people who say they’re fine in situations like this, not a single one is actually fine.

“Do you know that King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty made King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty’s eldest son into soup and fed it to him?”

“I know. King Wen harbored great ambitions, so he endured that humiliation and disgrace and ate all the soup made from his own son.”

“The humiliation Your Highness is enduring is the same. To save the people of Joseon, Your Highness is suffering tremendous hardship.”

“I know that too. I know how weighty the task I’ve been given is.”

For someone enduring such hardship, it’s comforting to tell them how valuable that hardship is.

If it were worthless work, it would be even more upsetting, but if it’s valuable work, at least the sense of injustice diminishes somewhat.

“Even if the Ming Emperor oppresses Your Highness, never bend and remain dignified. Your Highness has done nothing wrong. No, rather, standing tall is the only way to truly defeat them.”

“The way to defeat them…”

“If they see Your Highness looking troubled, they will mock and ridicule you. But if Your Highness proceeds with dignity, they will be flustered by events unfolding differently than expected.”

Ming would really be flustered if Joseon’s Crown Prince showed no signs of distress whatsoever.

It would be a disaster different from what they expected.

“If you endure momentary shame and proceed with dignity, even the Ming Emperor will not be able to disregard Your Highness. And this episode will remain as shame and disgrace for them, while in Joseon it will be remembered for generations as an episode showing Your Highness’s spirit.”

This is really true.

If Ming inflicted such humiliation but Crown Prince Munjong faced it with dignity, countless memes mocking Emperor Xuande would be created in 21st Century Community.

“And when Your Highness completes your schedule…”

From what I heard, Crown Prince Munjong looks at Lee Bang-won shooting matchlock guns with great envy.

But they wouldn’t let him shoot, saying he was too young.

“I will petition Retired King to allow Your Highness to try shooting matchlock guns. And let’s see how powerful the weapons newly made in Joseon will be. No, actually, let’s try making a weapon that Your Highness envisions. I will help you.”

Crown Prince Munjong is a terrible firepower enthusiast.

As if to demonstrate this, his eyes began to sparkle brightly.

“Is that really true?”

“Since General Jang happens to be in Hanyang, if Your Highness and I work together to draw the blueprint, we can ask him to make it. If this proves useful, it will be supplied to the entire Joseon Military. Just thinking about it is exciting, isn’t it? And I’ll serve as your conversation partner on the journey.”

“… Alright, let’s do that.”

And so I stayed by Crown Prince Munjong’s side all the way to Beijing.

On the way, I talked about economics and other subjects, and as they say, blood doesn’t lie—he understood it all.

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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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