He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 55

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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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Secret Royal Inspector Kim Dae-bung (6)

 

In movies and dramas, it’s portrayed as natural for a Secret Inspector to immediately declare ‘sealing and dismissal’ upon revealing their Horse Token.

 

Sealing warehouses and confiscating all account books and documents from the moment they declare the start of investigation is indeed within a Secret Inspector’s authority, but…

 

Dismissal means removing officials who became Joseon bureaucrats through civil examinations, which falls under abuse of authority beyond a Secret Inspector’s jurisdiction.

 

In other words, it’s the perfect way to get beaten to death with an iron mace.

 

Therefore, ‘sealing and dismissal’ would not exist in reality.

 

The moment a Secret Inspector reveals themselves at a Government Office, they gain the authority to literally destroy everyone except the Magistrate.

 

As long as they don’t beat someone to death, whether they give dozens of beatings with a stick or confiscate property without the provincial governor’s permission, it doesn’t matter.

 

They can completely turn the entire county upside down.

 

“Inspector My Lord, we are truly wronged.”

 

“What exactly are you wronged about?”

 

“We merely did as the Magistrate My Lord commanded us. So please show us mercy.”

 

“Whether to show mercy or not will be decided after reviewing the county’s Tax Records. If it’s revealed that you were truly threatened by the former Anseong County Magistrate and forced to exploit the Common People, I’ll give you full consideration, so don’t worry.”

 

Ibang’s face turned deathly pale. And he made an expression as if everything was over.

 

He must have understood very well what my words meant.

 

Right, I don’t enjoy killing people either, so if it was done under duress or was a minor crime at the level of petty offense, I’m thinking of letting it slide.

 

In the case of Government Slaves, soldiers, and low-level Clerks, as long as they cooperate enthusiastically with future work, I’ll generally give them a stern warning and let them off.

 

But guys like Ibang and Tax Clerk who are heads of the Six Departments (local departments) are equivalent to municipal bureau chiefs in Korea. Could the crimes these friends committed really be at a minor level?

 

I smiled brightly at the other heads of the six department officials tied up with Ibang – the military clerk, Tax Clerk, and ritual clerk.

 

The guys who saw my million-dollar smile completely froze.

 

Among them, the Anseong County Tax Clerk, perhaps driven mad by the terror I was giving off, started spouting nonsense as if possessed by Goryeo ghosts.

 

“Inspector My Lord, you must not have recovered from the fatigue of your long journey. How about resting a bit before executing your official duties?”

 

That bastard’s scheme is so obvious. He’s probably planning to serve me all kinds of delicacies and make me drink strong alcohol until I’m completely drunk.

 

And he’ll probably attach pretty courtesans to serve me through the night.

 

In Joseon, this wouldn’t particularly be considered a flaw, so these bastards can’t threaten me using entertainment as leverage. But during the time I’m being entertained, these friends will struggle desperately to destroy evidence.

 

If I were someone who pursued personal gain and was crazy about accumulating wealth, I might have let it slide appropriately…

 

‘Not a chance.’

 

I immediately stood up from my seat and pointed at the Tax Clerk.

 

“You have truly lost your mind. What are you all doing? Quickly tie that bastard to the punishment frame!”

 

The Tax Clerk was immediately tied to the punishment frame.

 

“Give that bastard 10 strokes! He dared to try to bribe This Magistrate who came as a Secret Inspector, so even if he dies, he’ll have nothing to say.”

 

“Please spare me, Secret Inspector My Lord! I was just worried that Secret Inspector My Lord’s body might be weary…”

 

“It’s not even worth listening to anymore. Tie that bastard to the punishment frame and beat him!”

 

The tax official tied to the punishment frame received 10 strokes of the beating stick from those I had brought with me when I came here.

 

“One stroke!”

 

With a firm shout, the beating stick came down.

 

The Tax Clerk’s groans echoed through the Government Office.

 

“Ugh!”

 

“Two strokes!”

 

After a total of 10 strokes like this, the Tax Clerk fainted.

 

“That bastard dared to try to bribe and buy off a Secret Inspector, so his crime is very grave. Even after the inspection is finished, he will be punished very severely.”

 

The other Local Clerks trembled as they watched the Tax Clerk get beaten to a pulp.

 

At the same time, they must have realized.

 

That I, Kim Dae-bung, am a crazy bastard who doesn’t accept even a single penny in bribes, unlike other officials.

 

In modern society, it’s natural for civil servants not to accept bribes, but to those accustomed to Joseon’s common sense, I must look like a merciless demon.

 

“Let’s see here, what I roughly found just from the account books… You really did it big. Out of 19,432 seom of white rice, the money that actually went into buying Tribute Goods to be presented to His Majesty was 3,122 seom. So that means you pocketed 16,310 seom.”

 

Ibang and the other Local Clerks now started hiccupping in unison.

 

“Considering that the measuring cups used here are 5 percent larger than the measuring cups in Hanyang, you pocketed close to 17,000 seom. Amazing, truly amazing.”

 

Since Joseon has no concept of local taxes, nearly 7,000 seom of this would have been used for the county. So if he had only embezzled around 12,000 seom, I would have considered it self-procured salary and just issued a stern warning.

 

Joseon pays officials such meager salaries that honestly, it’s impossible to serve in government without taking a single bribe.

 

Moreover, the clerks receive no salary at all…

 

Still, isn’t this going a bit too far?

 

“Furthermore, according to the Bangwon Method, all tribute goods must be traded directly with merchants. But you bastards violated this and conducted trades through Buddhist temples. Impressive, truly impressive.”

 

I truly felt a sense of respect for these bastards.

 

The biggest core principle of the Bangwon Method is collecting 18 du of white rice per 1 gyeol of farmland. These bastards followed this rule.

 

Looking at what they did, since it had the name ‘Bangwon’ attached to it, they seemed to feel a sense of crisis that they might die if they collected more than 18 du, so they properly followed just that rule.

 

If the law had been called the Daedong Method instead, these bastards would have taken the law’s weight more lightly and desperately tried to find any loophole to collect more taxes.

 

They would have generously skimmed off 2 doe for wastage to cover losses from rats and birds eating the grain during transport and storage, plus transportation costs and storage fees.

 

But because it had the name Bangwon attached, they couldn’t bring themselves to collect more.

 

To do more, they couldn’t break their long-standing collusion with the Buddhist temples, so they also distributed money to the corrupt monks.

 

“Ibang.”

 

“Yes, Secret Inspector My Lord…”

 

“When this Secret Inspector finishes investigating Anseong County and my official report reaches Hanyang, what kind of results do you think will occur?”

 

“I don’t know, My Lord.”

 

Seeing him trembling, he seems to already know well, yet he’s pretending not to know.

 

Then I’ll have to make him realize it directly.

 

“Anseong County Magistrate Lee Seok-do will find it difficult to avoid execution.”

 

Unlike Ryu Jeong-hyeon, Lee Seok-do won’t be labeled as a traitor.

 

Because this bastard kept his own boundaries and didn’t violate the rule of collecting only 18 du per gyeol. He merely traded with Buddhist temples and pursued private profits…

 

Even Lee Bang-won, no matter how much he wants to make an example of someone, won’t be able to apply treason charges.

 

So he’ll be punished only for not faithfully carrying out royal orders and embezzling massive public funds.

 

In this case, yangban officials would normally receive ‘poison’ and die somewhat honorably, but since this is a time when an example needs to be made, their heads will be cut off and displayed in Hanyang.

 

This is almost a certainty.

 

That’s why I’m casually calling the County Magistrate by name even though he’s 6 ranks higher than me. Since his head is definitely going to be cut off, there’s no need to respect his honor.

 

“Now, what do you think will happen to you bastards?”

 

“Are you saying that we too will have difficulty avoiding execution if things continue like this?”

 

I burst out laughing when I heard that.

 

“Ibang is so clever, so how did you join hands with the Anseong County Magistrate and do such foolish things?”

 

“I apologize, My Lord…”

 

“You don’t need to apologize. This Secret Inspector just needs to thoroughly investigate your crimes and submit an official report to His Majesty. Then Ibang and all the Six Departments will probably get to see the State Tribunal. You’ll have a very enjoyable time.”

 

Even in Local Government Offices, they often secretly use branding irons, apply juri torture, or beat with beating sticks on serious criminals.

 

Originally they shouldn’t do it, but if used secretly, everyone pretends not to know while knowing about it.

 

It only becomes a problem if they use it too much and someone dies.

 

But the State Tribunal is different from Local Government Offices. Since it’s legal for people dragged there to die under torture, they torture suspects with clear evidence as naturally as breathing.

 

“I’ll give you a choice.”

 

I held up two fingers.

 

Then I folded one down.

 

“One is to obediently admit your crimes right now. In that case, if you’re lucky, you might not have to see the State Tribunal. Of course, you won’t be able to avoid dying together with the Anseong County Magistrate.”

 

Given Lee Bang-won’s personality, no wait, even the merciful King Sejong wouldn’t let those bastards live.

 

So the moment those bastards go to Hanyang, they become walking corpses with confirmed death sentences.

 

I folded down the last finger.

 

“The other option is to fully cooperate with my land surveying using the Land Survey Method. If you support the detection of hidden land, this Secret Inspector might be able to feel your sincerity. What will you do?”

 

“… Are you telling us to prepare to antagonize all the yangban in the county?”

 

The most hated person in this world is the tattletale.

 

Even at school, kids who are good at tattling almost always become outcasts, and at companies, whistleblowers are routinely excluded from work or ostracized.

 

What’s more, ordering the Local Clerks who live based on the local community to do such things?

 

It’s essentially ordering them to destroy the foundation they’ve built themselves if they want to live.

 

“Wouldn’t that be better than dying?”

 

At my words, Ibang bowed his head.

 

“Please just spare our lives.”

 

Now then, from this point forward, it’s time for the real ‘Land Surveying’—no, Tax Investigation.

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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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