He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 64

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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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Even Japanese Pirates Can Be Useful (2)

 

In the Ming Dynasty, there’s a saying called “Northern barbarians, southern Japanese.”

 

In the north, the Northern Yuan, descendants of the Mongols, and the Jurchen Tribes cause chaos, while in the south, Japanese Pirates (including many Chinese) engage in piracy.

 

Joseon’s situation is not much different from Ming’s.

 

In the north, there are the Jurchen Tribes, and in the south, Japanese Pirates cause headaches on a daily basis.

 

“We really need to do something about those Japanese bastards. But what should we do?”

 

The core of the Bangwon Method is water transport.

 

Among these, transporting rice and various Special Products collected through the Bangwon Method by sea is extremely important.

 

If Joseon fails to secure maritime control, the Royal Court’s tax revenue could decrease by as much as 30%.

 

Furthermore, given Joseon’s characteristics of being surrounded by mountains making overland transport very difficult, commercial development would be severely slowed.

 

This would interfere with my goal of pursuing a comfortable life for all the Common People of Joseon.

 

By any means necessary, I must find a solution and somehow eradicate the Japanese Pirates.

 

“Ideally, it would be nice to conduct another expedition to Tsushima Island… No, actually, there wouldn’t be much point in waging war.”

 

Right after its founding, Joseon conducted two major expeditions to Tsushima Island with the intention of preventing Japanese Pirates from even approaching Joseon.

 

In the process, they secured the unconditional surrender of the Lord of Tsushima and successfully informed the Ashikaga Shogunate of how formidable a nation Joseon was.

 

However, unlike the Tokugawa Shogun, the Ashikaga Shogun lacked the power to control local forces.

 

If you went there right now, you would see massive clans like Shoni, Isshiki Clan, Hosokawa Clan, and Yamana Clan constantly waging war against each other.

 

They’ve been in this state even before the Onin War broke out – Japan of this era is definitely insane.

 

Since the entire country is in a state where civil war could break out at any moment, actual control over whether Japanese Pirates appear or not is impossible.

 

Moreover, Tsushima Island is just one of the Japanese Pirates’ strongholds, and during this period, the Lord of Tsushima was like a hereditary representative of the Tsushima Island clans, so he had no power to stop his subordinate clans from engaging in piracy.

 

Rather, since they were bringing rice and various precious goods to impoverished Tsushima Island, he would probably encourage them, telling them just not to get caught or captured.

 

So there’s no point in pouring effort into expeditions to Tsushima Island just for a momentary sense of satisfaction.

 

Conducting another expedition to Tsushima Island just to temporarily reassure the hearts of Joseon’s Common People would be of little use.

 

It’s important to find a more fundamental solution.

 

“What should I do?”

 

While I was pondering for a long time without finding a clear answer, Minister of War Jo Mal-saeng approached me.

 

“Kim Jeongnang, what do you think would be the best way to deal with these Japanese pirates? Speak freely.”

 

After my activities as a secret inspector, my rank had risen to junior 5th grade.

 

If those Japanese hadn’t caused such chaos, I would be working at the Ministry of Taxation as a taxation secretary by now…

 

Just before the Office of Censors’ approval for my government position was completed, the Japanese invaded…

 

Because of this, the Office of Censors decided it would be better to send me to the Ministry of War, so I became a war secretary.

 

“With my humble and limited abilities, it’s difficult to find a clear answer to solve this.”

 

Jo Mal-saeng let out deep sighs.

 

“Well, even though you have brilliant wisdom and deep insight, these are the Japanese who have been tormenting us since Former Goryeo. It would indeed be difficult to come up with a solution for how to deal with them.”

 

“I apologize, Your Excellency.”

 

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. Since you’re the one who laid the foundation for the Bangwon Method, I was curious whether you might already have a solution for how to deal with these Japanese.”

 

“I will diligently search for solutions while handling Ministry of War affairs and even after leaving the office.”

 

“I’m counting only on Kim Jeongnang. If you handle this matter well.”

 

A wicked smile appeared on Jo Mal-saeng’s face.

 

The kind of smile he might make just before receiving a bribe worth a million bul.

 

What on earth is this man trying to say to me with that kind of smile?

 

“I’ll use my influence to pull you up to a high-ranking position within 15 years, no, within 10 years. So you should work with me – if I go to the Ministry of Taxation, you go to the Ministry of Taxation; if I go to the Ministry of Personnel, you go to the Ministry of Personnel.”

 

Jo Mal-saeng’s wicked scheme is obvious.

 

For his own advancement, he’ll volunteer to take on all sorts of difficult tasks, but he’s planning to dump all the actual grunt work on me, his subordinate.

 

How cruel and selfish this thinking is.

 

He’s going to pass all the work he should do to his subordinate and just pick up the scraps for himself.

 

Indeed, unlike Hwang Hee, this is the wicked thinking of someone who nearly faced execution for corruption alone.

 

“If you help me, I will unconditionally support whatever policy you wish to pursue, no matter what it is.”

 

But the interesting fact is that while this man’s proposal is absurd, it’s not actually a bad proposal for me.

 

He doesn’t seem to have any intention of stealing my achievements, and just wants compensation for backing me up.

 

“Ahem, it’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but Kim Jeongnang, you are so upright and honest that you’re not skilled at scheming. I’ll fill that gap for you. I can show you right away. Isn’t there someone at the Office of Censors laying out a mat and submitting a petition saying it’s improper for your concubine’s father to receive an official position? I can dismiss that bastard immediately.”

 

For reference, the official submitting the petition at the Office of Censors is merely a 6th rank junior grade nobody.

 

From what I’ve heard, even the Chief Censor, who heads the Office of Censors, scolded this guy asking what he’d do if his antics brought disgrace to the Office of Censors.

 

In other words, Jo Mal-saeng is trying to do something as easy as eating cold porridge for him while making a huge show of favor to me.

 

The moment I thought of that, a very good plan that I hadn’t realized until now came to mind.

 

‘Isn’t this such a serious problem because the Japanese are tormenting Joseon?’

 

“I’m grateful for Your Excellency’s sincere and warm words, but since His Majesty decides my next position, it would be difficult to give you a definite answer.”

 

“… That’s unfortunate.”

 

“However, I think I could create an opportunity for Your Excellency to achieve great merit.”

 

The reason why Tsushima, or rather the Japanese Pirates, plundered Joseon was extremely simple.

 

They really had no way to make a living.

 

How desperate must they have been that in 1432, about 6 years from now, there are records of the Lord of Tsushima and the Head of Shoni Clan, who was the Lord of Tsushima’s overlord, living as subsistence-level Japanese Pirates to survive.

 

“That’s just like you, Kim Jeongnang. So, what is this solution?”

 

I whispered only a very small part of my plan to Jo Mal-saeng in a low voice.

 

I left out things that Joseon people of this era would never know, like the relationship between the Shoni Clan and the So Clan of Tsushima, the complex political conflicts of Tsushima, and the pathetically weak internal control of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

 

I simply shared the small wisdom that even a hateful child won’t harm someone who gives them rice cakes and meals.

 

Jo Mal-saeng, who was listening, laughed at first, but his face turned pale as I continued.

 

What I told him was borrowed from the wisdom of a certain country that insisted opium was a cure-all and sold it as such, so it must have been a bit overwhelming for an official of the Confucian state of Joseon.

 

Nevertheless, Jo Mal-saeng didn’t tell me that such atrocities were wrong and should never be done.

 

Instead, he pushed me forward.

 

“Since you insist on personally interrogating these evil Japanese enemies, I have no choice. Normally this wouldn’t be allowed, but I’ll make a special exception using my authority.”

 

“Thank you, My Lord.”

 

**

 

The captured Japanese Pirates were still quite spirited, probably because they hadn’t been tortured yet.

 

And another curious thing was that the Japanese they spoke was perfectly clear to my ears.

 

Though I had studied Japanese quite deeply in Korea, I thought it would be completely different from medieval Japanese of this period and expected no communication would be possible. How strange indeed.

 

“Though we may be mere pirates, did you think we’d be afraid of you Joseon scholars?”

 

“Go ahead and kill us if you want to!”

 

Those bastards were shouting boldly, but judging by their trembling voices, they seemed terribly afraid of what torture awaited them.

 

Well, what could they do when they were tied up hand and foot in chairs? If tortured, they’d have no choice but to endure it.

 

“Kim Hun-do.”

 

“Yes, Secretary My Lord.”

 

“From now on, no matter what I say, don’t be surprised and interpret everything exactly as is. Think of yourself as my brush. Just calmly convey whatever I say.”

 

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, officials often serve as interpreters at international events.

 

And I once had the chance to speak with someone who had done Protocol Interpretation at such events, and that person told me this:

 

An interpreter is nothing more than a microphone.

 

You must convey what you hear exactly as it is.

 

Even if the other party uses unspeakable harsh words, you must absolutely convey them as they are.

 

Even if our government official makes a terrible slip of the tongue, and it’s obvious that slip will severely harm national interests and cause a diplomatic disaster.

 

However, I understand that in Joseon, such interpretation isn’t demanded of interpreters, so ‘information transmission’ often fails to work properly.

 

So I first gave the interpreter a warning before speaking my first words.

 

“If you want to live, honestly tell us why you plundered Joseon.”

 

If I could get the information I wanted from their mouths and use these bastards based on that?

 

Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone.

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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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