He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 43

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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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Chief State Councilor Slayer (2)

Freedom wasn’t as sweet as I had imagined.

How should I put it?

When you’re planning before a trip, your heart pounds with excitement thinking about doing this and that.

But when it’s actually time to leave for the trip, it doesn’t feel quite real – something like that.

But this too will hit me with reality once I leave Hanyang and arrive at my hometown to see my parents’ faces.

Don’t they say you usually start feeling like you’re really on a trip after you arrive at the airport?

“Lord Suchan.”

“Just call me Lord. I’m no longer a Jiphyeonjeon Suchan.”

In Korea, submitting a resignation letter doesn’t immediately process your departure, and in most cases you need to hand over your duties, so there’s usually some time before the resignation is processed.

But Joseon is different.

If you’re someone at the level of a high-ranking official, the king must personally grant permission for resignation, but I’m just a mere 6th rank junior official, so once I submit a resignation memorial, it has no choice but to be approved.

So from now that I’ve written and submitted my resignation memorial in proper format, I can prepare to move and get ready to go down to my hometown.

Oh, right… and from now on, I need to seriously meet with Winter with marriage in mind, so I shouldn’t use such formal speech.

Joseon doesn’t have the concept of dating, but we two are already practically in a relationship.

“W-Winter.”

I don’t know why just calling her name is so embarrassing. The atmosphere seems to have gotten unnecessarily heavy too.

No, feeling like the atmosphere got heavy is probably just my imagination. It’s probably not actually like that.

I just can’t call a woman’s name comfortably because I have no dating experience.

In Korea, you have many opportunities to call women’s names even if you’re not close, but in Joseon, both men and women rarely call each other by their real names.

My calling her “Winter” right now is actually similar to calling someone “honey, dear, sweetheart.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Silence continued between us for a while. Winter looked into my eyes briefly, then turned her head away. Her face flushed red like an apple as she slightly lowered her head.

I too couldn’t bring myself to look at her face directly.

So when I turned my gaze elsewhere, this time Gyeoul-i’s chest came into view. I was extremely perplexed about where to direct my eyes.

It was a perplexing and difficult situation, but this was also nice. I’m going crazy. If I were to even hold her hand at this rate…

My head was filled with all sorts of random thoughts, and just when I felt like I was about to lose my mind, Gyeoul-i carefully opened her mouth.

“This humble girl is worried that my lord’s heart might be greatly wounded.”

“Why would my heart be wounded? Being impeached while serving in office in Joseon is an everyday occurrence, so what of it.”

Even General Yi Sun-sin, who was so upright and principled that modern historians suspect he must have lacked social skills, was impeached countless times.

The reasons were absurd.

When appointed as a military officer to any garrison, it was common sense in Joseon to send ‘gifts’ to superiors and also send gifts to civil and military officials in Hanyang… but General Yi Sun-sin didn’t follow this practice.

By 21st-century standards, even if not praised as an incorruptible official, he would at least be respected.

To put it in terms we can easily understand, it would be like refusing to use company money for personal purposes and buying meals with your own salary, even when the company provides meal expenses up to 100,000 won per meal.

So even General Yi Sun-sin had his position changed several times, so how could someone less capable than him like me avoid it?

“This humble girl doesn’t know much about politics, but my lord has always looked after only the people’s circumstances since serving as County Magistrate of Jinhae County, staying away from corruption and graft. And when Retired King tried to implement currency, didn’t you risk your life to offer loyal counsel for the people’s sake without expecting any reward?”

“That’s what any person should naturally do. It’s not like I did anything remarkable.”

“Father said that thanks to my lord doing what should be natural, the lives saved number in the thousands and tens of thousands. No matter how heartless the world may be, how can they be so cruel to my lord who thinks only of the Royal Ancestral Shrine and State and the Common People day and night…”

Tears fell drop by drop from Gyeoul-i’s eyes.

Though I spoke like that, it’s not as if I don’t feel wronged at all. Someone might think of me as a work-obsessed monster or an emotionless workaholic, but do they think I’m not human?

When unfairly criticized, naturally my anger flares up, and when impeached, my insides twist with frustration.

“Didn’t my lord simply act for the people? Yet because of me and my father, you’re so cruelly impeached and must return to your hometown without fully realizing your lofty dreams… My heart feels like it’s being torn apart.”

Actually, being impeached was indeed infuriating… but since it was obviously an impeachment instigated by Ryu Jeong-hyeon and his faction, I was also extremely pleased on one hand.

High-ranking officials might be different, but for a mere junior official like me, if I write a resignation memorial after being impeached, it’s legal to return home without the king’s permission.

But considering the image I’ve shown so far, there’s definitely room for misunderstanding me as a loyal subject who wants to serve as Chief State Councilor for life for the country’s sake… I should clear up this misunderstanding a bit.

“I’m fine with it.”

“My lord.”

“Born as a son of a noble yangban household, I’ve laid the foundation for the Bangwon Method that will bring prosperity to Joseon for a hundred years, no, even over a thousand years. When the Bangwon Method brings widespread benefit to the people, naturally my name will spread widely too.”

After I die, the ‘Bangwon Method’ will be written about in detail in history textbooks. And there will be stories about the Bangwon Method and the written memorial, and the story of Kim Dae-bung who laid the foundation for the Bangwon Method.

And there will be plenty of papers analyzing the reasons why Kim Dae-bung returned to his hometown. The masters, doctors, and professors of this world will probably think it very strange as they research my actions.

It’s not like I’m some yangban who’s desperate to become a recognized named poster in some gallery, so why would I force myself to do things I don’t have to do. The more I work myself to death, the more I’ll just end up being overshadowed by ‘Hwang Hee’, ‘Jo Mal-saeng’, ‘Maeng Sa-seong’, and ‘Jang Yeong-sil’.

I reached out and took Gyeoul-i’s hand.

The incredibly soft touch I had never experienced in my life almost made me lose my mind for a moment, but fortunately I managed to hold onto my senses.

Gyeoul-i didn’t seem to dislike my touch either, as she didn’t put on a stern face or pull her hand away.

As if telling me to do as I wished, she simply lowered her head to hide her face that had turned bright red.

Well, I won’t do anything other than hold hands…

It seems like I could do more, but my courage doesn’t extend that far.

“When we return to my hometown Yanggu County, let’s greet my parents first.”

Gyeoul-i tilted her head curiously.

They say that in the Joseon era, no wedding ceremony was held when taking a concubine, but that’s not entirely accurate.

When taking a slave woman as a concubine, there were cases where no wedding ceremony was held, but unless you were taking your own household’s slave as a concubine, they would hold at least a very simple ceremony.

But Gyeoul-i is clearly a commoner, meaning I’m taking a seocheop (a commoner concubine, not a lowborn one), so a wedding ceremony must naturally be held. Well, we’ll skip the ridiculously complicated process like weddings between yangban families.

No matter how much I expand the scale, it would end up being something like a village feast that’s finished quickly like modern wedding ceremonies.

“… My lord.”

“I’ll have to take a proper wife separately, but I don’t want you to be nagged or mistreated by the main wife, Gyeoul-i. So I’m thinking of taking a woman from as humble a family as possible as my wife. So she won’t dare treat you carelessly.”

No matter how much of a yangban she is, if her family is poor, she won’t be able to randomly abuse a concubine brought in from a wealthy merchant family. If she did, I’m even prepared to divorce her.

“After we hold the wedding ceremony…”

Romance in Joseon wasn’t actually something that happened before marriage, but rather most couples would cultivate love for each other after getting married.

It’s funny to get married first and then fall in love… but what’s wrong with dating after marriage.

“Let’s go boating on Wolmyeong Lake, climb mountains to see the autumn leaves, go to the sea and try delicious fish dishes made from freshly caught fish. Then when we have children between us, we’ll take the children along too. That would be even better.”

The time period I’ve been reborn into is the ‘Early Joseon Period,’ so this is acceptable. People might point fingers at me calling me a strange person, but it won’t be that big of a flaw.

“… Yes, please take me with you.”

Gyeoul-i gently placed her hand over mine. As if she wouldn’t let go of the hand she had grasped.

And shortly after, Gyeoul-i quietly left my room.

After confirming she had left, I immediately began preparing to write a petition.

Resigning and stepping down from office is one thing, but getting revenge on the bastard who screwed me over is another story entirely.

“Let’s see, what were the insults against Ryu Jeong-hyeon that remained in history…?”

That bastard is famous for being good at loan sharking.

He was a bastard who went around recklessly offering jangri loans (50% interest rate) and gapri loans (over 100% interest rate).

In 21st century modern nations, such loan contracts would be void, but in Joseon, all of this is legal.

King Sejong will somehow regulate this to lower interest rates, but for now it’s not a problem at all… so I’ll set this aside…

“Ah, come to think of it, didn’t this garbage bastard give government positions to people who were brutally good at collecting money while doing loan sharking?”

I was going to just stay quiet until he came out opposing the Daedong Law… but he impeached me when I was staying quiet…?

I guess this time won’t work.

You die.

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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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