He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 73

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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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Gunpowder and Hygiene (2)

 

After King Sejong was dragged away by Lee Bang-won to climb Bukaksan Mountain every day, all officials in Joseon were given a life with evenings.

 

On holidays, they naturally rest, and even on weekdays, unless there’s urgent business, they absolutely leave work on time.

 

Moreover, working hours were adjusted so that in spring and summer, they had to work 12 hours a day based on regular closing time… but now an average of 8-9 hours of work has been established.

 

“I’m back.”

 

Gyeoul-i came out to greet me as I entered the house.

 

“Welcome back, My Lord.”

 

“Yes. I’m back safely. Was there anything unusual at home?”

 

“In the afternoon, we received 20 dried abalone, 5 geun of soy sauce marinated crab, and 1 seom of dried persimmons sent by the people of Jinhae County.”

 

“The people of Jinhae really won’t listen. I’ve told them repeatedly that they don’t need to send anything…”

 

There’s a joke that when a minister’s dog dies, people come to pay their respects, but when the minister dies, no one comes to pay their respects.

 

But if you think about it carefully, this saying isn’t entirely wrong.

 

When the minister is alive, he holds tremendous power, so if the minister’s dog’s funeral is held, people must eagerly participate and make a good impression…

 

But once the minister himself dies, he no longer has any influence, so there’s no real need to attend even his funeral.

 

Similarly, from the moment I quit being Jinhae County Magistrate, the people of Jinhae County had absolutely no need to try to curry favor with me by offering such gifts…

 

Far from anyone ordering them to, I’ve continuously expressed my intention to decline, yet they keep sending these precious things.

 

“There isn’t a single person among the people of Jinhae County who hasn’t received My Lord’s grace, is there? So they revere My Lord who bestowed grace upon them, just as they would revere their parents.”

 

This is truly troublesome beyond measure.

 

I’m someone who desperately wants to resign at the right time and return to my hometown to live comfortably…

 

But when there are people who convey such sincere gratitude like this, I gradually start thinking that I should work just a little more for their sake.

 

“Let’s share some of the abalone and soy sauce marinated crab with father-in-law too. He often says that working at the Ministry of Taxation is difficult these days, so we should take care of him for his health.”

 

“Father often comes to see me and says that if he had known it would be like this, he wouldn’t have entered government service.”

 

“Really? From what I heard, on the day he first went to the Ministry of Taxation wearing his official robes, he stood in front of the government office and cried profusely from joy.”

 

“Where did you hear that story?”

 

Market Administration Office Deputy Choi Ja-myeong (Choi Man-ri) told me that.”

 

He cried so much that Choi Man-ri had to comfort Kim Mandeok and help him wash his face before he could properly go to work.

 

Father-in-law probably never thought this story would go round and round until it reached Gyeoul-i, did he?

 

“Father sent word yesterday evening that he received His Majesty’s grace and was specially promoted from Junior 9th Rank to Junior 8th Rank. He said he would visit tomorrow to catch up with My Lord. What do you think will happen if I tell him this story I just heard then?”

 

“That would be interesting.”

 

“Ever since he became a government official, he only acts stern in front of me, but I never thought such a thing happened on his first day in office.”

 

Father-in-law was so happy about entering government service, but at some point he started complaining that work was hard and he shouldn’t have taken office.

 

I didn’t tell Gyeoul-i the detailed circumstances.

 

In fact, Kim Man-deok is being bombarded with an enormous amount of work from Minister of Finance Min Gye-saeng and other Ministry of Taxation officials.

 

Fortunately, it’s not the kind of thing where they dump menial tasks on him just because he’s not yangban but got lucky and entered government service…

 

Since Kim Man-deok, being from a merchant background, knows well and can handle various tasks in that field, they’re working him to death by assigning him all sorts of related work.

 

When he came to the Ministry of War last time, he even asked me to save him.

 

Of course, since voluntary enlistment—no, voluntary entry into government service—was Father-in-law’s choice, I only provided minimal help.

 

But hearing that his rank suddenly rose from Junior 9th Rank to Junior 8th Rank…

 

“… Prepare some tonic medicine for Father-in-law.”

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“Since he’s getting on in years, we need to prepare tonic medicine in advance for him to maintain his health. It’s nothing special.”

 

I heard that several officials will be dispatched in a month regarding the matter of building a Japanese trading post in Jeongui County.

 

It seems like one of them is probably our Father-in-law.

 

Otherwise, there’s no way they would raise his rank so rapidly.

 

“Oh, and… well…”

 

Gyeoul-i stammered and her face turned as red as a ripe apple.

 

Could she be pregnant?

 

Well, we’ve been working so hard at it, so it would make sense for there to be good news soon…

 

Does this mean it’s time for me to become a father?

 

“It’s been over a year since we got married but I haven’t conceived, so I was worried and went to the temple. The Head Monk said it would be good to get a talisman… so I bought a talisman.”

 

“What use are talismans and such things? It’s something that can be done slowly.”

 

“It may not look good in My Lord’s eyes to rely on supernatural things like Buddha, but I want to have My Lord’s child quickly…”

 

I too must take a proper wife someday.

 

Until now I’ve been putting it off with all sorts of excuses, but even this has its limits.

 

If I keep this up, King Sejong might lament seeing me without a proper wife and arrange a marriage for me.

 

‘For Gyeoul-i’s sake, I want to have at least one son before taking a wife.’

 

Come to think of it, I don’t seem to have that much time to spare.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“My Lord need not apologize. Not being able to have a child is my fault.”

 

“We’re both young and healthy, so we’ll have a child soon. You don’t need to think so urgently about it.”

 

The atmosphere was gradually building toward that kind of moment, but there was one thing bothering me.

 

Dolsoe, our household servant number one, was nowhere to be seen.

 

It’s not like that guy took leave to go out and play somewhere, so why can’t I see him?

 

“But why can’t I see Dolsoe?”

 

“Dolsoe drank water from the well near our house yesterday without boiling it and got an upset stomach. So he’s resting in his room now. Jangdol Abeom said it’s not life-threatening so we don’t need to worry, but… I’m still concerned.”

 

In the 21st century, almost no one dies from diarrheal diseases, but in the Joseon era, if you caught the wrong kind of diarrheal illness, people would drop dead left and right.

 

When something like cholera swept through Hanyang once, it wouldn’t be surprising if thousands died.

 

Come to think of it, even if Winter and I had a child, if they caught an infectious disease by mistake…

 

‘They would die young.’

 

Children can somehow overcome and survive losing their parents, but parents who lose their children must live their entire lives carrying that resentment in their hearts.

 

However, in Joseon, parents sending off their children first was so common that you could say they had developed some immunity to such tragedies, but…

 

“Is Gapseok there?”

 

“Yes, My Lord.”

 

“Call a nearby physician right now to examine Dolsoe’s condition, and no matter how much the medicine costs, have him prepare good medicine for Dolsoe to take.”

 

Treating our household servants and slaves well is directly protecting my property and safety.

 

Slaves aren’t my family, but they’re lifetime employees I have to see every day for the rest of my life, so this much is only natural.

 

“You must be hungry, so let’s eat first.”

 

The night is long. To endure a long night well, stamina is essential.

 

**

 

Last night’s conversation with Gyeoul-i gave me a lot to think about.

 

Having lived in Joseon for over 20 years now, I’ve become quite insensitive to the concept of hygiene.

 

I recommend daily bathing to my household members and those close to me, and emphasize whenever I get the chance that water should be boiled before drinking if possible…

 

But when I go to court and see dog feces rolling around the streets of Hanyang, I don’t feel any sense of problem and just accept it as natural.

 

Also, when I see well water that isn’t clear and has some impurities mixed in, I only tell people ‘The water isn’t clean, so don’t drink it as is and make sure to boil it first.’ It’s been a long time since I lost that kind of awareness that I should investigate why the well water became contaminated.

 

Living in Joseon has dulled my sense of hygiene.

 

To put it very nicely, it means I’ve become that accustomed to Joseon, and objectively speaking, it means I’ve come to accept wrong things as natural.

 

“The streets are really dirty.”

 

Gapseok tilted his head upon hearing my muttering.

 

To Gapseok’s eyes, having lived only in Joseon until now, everything is natural, so he wouldn’t understand what I mean by dirty.

 

In early modern Europe, when people became dirty from sweating, they would only change their sweat-soaked clothes, without any concept that they should bathe to wash their dirty bodies.

 

Those fools even firmly believed that bathing would actually weaken the body and cause illness.

 

“How does it look to you? Answer honestly.”

 

Gapseok hesitated for a moment, then answered.

 

“Wouldn’t this be considered quite clean?”

 

“Do you really think this street is clean?”

 

“I’ve been to places like Yangju and Gwacheon, which are a bit away from Hanyang, and the streets there were much dirtier than Hanyang’s streets. So I’m saying this is clean in comparison.”

 

“I see.”

 

I spoke calmly, but inside I was furious.

 

As soon as I arrived at court, I went straight to find one of my direct superiors, the Ministry of War Counselor.

 

“Sir Counselor, I’d like to take a look around the Saltpeter Production Site. Would it be alright if I went for a short while?”

 

The Ministry of War Counselor listened to my words and tilted his head.

 

“The saltpeter production site has an extremely toxic and nauseating smell. Are you saying you want to go there on purpose?”

 

“Didn’t the Minister of War say that Joseon needs a lot of gunpowder? So I want to see firsthand what the saltpeter production process is like and what level the technology is at, to find new solutions.”

 

“… I know well that your abilities are outstanding, but…”

 

The Ministry of War Counselor cut off his words and sighed.

 

“Well, even capable people like you sometimes don’t want to work and want to go see other places. It’s fine to go there and stop by other places too, but don’t stay out too late.”

 

Since the smell of the Gunpowder Production Site is so toxic, he seems to think I’m using the excuse of touring that terrible place because I want to go somewhere else… which isn’t unreasonable.

 

But I’m going because I want to carefully observe the gunpowder manufacturing methods.

 

And in that process, I will truly coincidentally come to understand how to make ‘Saltpeter Fields’.

 

“Thank you, sir.”

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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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