Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 99

In the military headquarters, King Sejong and the ministers continued their discussions on the increased budget and personnel reinforcements that had been requested.

“Budget and manpower… Increasing both immediately is beyond the capabilities of our current Joseon Dynasty,” said Minister of Taxation.

Choi Yoon-deok immediately responded, “We’re aware. While planning this strategy, the army’s foremost consideration was synchronizing its execution with the progress in our frontier territories. Therefore, the required budget was also determined accordingly.”

Upon saying this, Choi Yoon-deok signaled the officers standing behind him.

In response, the officers handed out thick booklets to the ministers and King Sejong. After receiving the booklet via the ministers, King Sejong glanced at the title.

– Required Budget for Gap-ho Plan.

“The Gap-ho Plan?”

“Gap-ho Plan is a code name used as a substitute for ‘advancing’,” explained Choi Yoon-deok.

“Hmm…”

As King Sejong flipped through the booklet, he softly muttered, “Hmm…”

The booklet detailed how the military was to be grown over a period of 30 years and included an organized summary of the increased budget needed.

‘This seems acceptable,’ King Sejong thought. Just then, a sigh resounded from somewhere.

“Phew~”

Startled by the unexpected sigh, King Sejong looked up.

“Who was that? Who just sighed?”

Crash!

Upon King Sejong’s question, a chair was noisily tipped over. The Minister of Taxation, the owner of the chair, immediately fell to his knees.

“Please forgive this humble servant’s sins!”

“I understand why you did that. It’s okay, take your seat.”

“Your grace is boundless!”

Relieved by King Sejong’s words, the Minister of Taxation gratefully took his seat, which had been set upright again by an internal officer.

‘Sighing is understandable,’ thought King Sejong. The budget the army needed for the execution of this grand strategy had been calculated on quite a reasonable basis. Taking into account the yearly growth of the population through vaccinations, the increase in tax revenue, and secretly stockpiled gold and silver, the budget wouldn’t pose a huge strain on national finances, if everything went as planned.

However, the sheer amount of the budget was astronomical.

Understandably, as the person responsible for the budget, the Minister of Taxation had no choice but to sigh.

“I find the proposal reasonable,” King Sejong said, “The hard work of the staff officers at the Army Headquarters is quite evident.”

“Your grace is boundless!” Choi Yoon-deok and the officers bent their waists in gratitude.

Choi Yoon-deok then added, “The Crown Prince has also made a significant contribution to the creation of this budget.”

“Is that so?” King Sejong and the ministers looked at the Crown Prince, as if to say, ‘You again?’

Noticing the focused gaze, the Crown Prince modestly bowed his head and replied, “I merely added a spoonful to what the staff officers at the Army Headquarters had already prepared.”

Hearing this, Lee Jing-ok, who was standing in the back, muttered under his breath, “Not a spoon, but a shovel…”

“Shush!”

“Hmph!” Startled by the soft warning from a colleague standing next to him, Lee Jing-ok quickly shut his mouth and looked around cautiously.

***

As soon as the General Staff Office began planning for the “Advance,” Hyang quickly intervened.

“I won’t interfere with the military’s operations. However, let’s discuss the budget related to military preparedness.”

‘Civilian politics is for diplomats!’

In the 21st century, leveraging his experience as a civil servant involved in financial matters, Hyang offered advice on the budget proposal drafted by the military officers at the General Staff Office.

And then, the officers found themselves in a “hell of numbers.”

In setting the budget, anyone who showed even a slight bit of greed was mercilessly reprimanded by Hyang, from General Choi Yoon-deok at the top down to the newly joined clerks at the General Staff Office.

“Is the General dreaming of reviving a military regime?”

“Do you know what it means to ‘lose sight of the original intention’?”

“Pay attention! ‘Budget is blood!'”

It didn’t end there.

“Is this what you call a calculation? Shouldn’t an officer be strong in numbers? I’ll pose a problem for you. We’ve discovered the enemy’s formation! The enemy’s lines are spread over four columns for one mile. Then, what is the total number of approaching enemies?”

Thanks to Hyang’s stringent scrutiny, the officers at the General Staff Office became as adept in calculation as researchers at Area 51 or top-level managers at Minister of Taxation, mastering arithmetic more skillfully than anyone else.

Afterwards, just like how Sungkyunkwan, originally an institution for fostering high-ranking civil officers, shifted its purpose to produce high-ranking military officers, the most crucial subject taught at “National Military Academy” became arithmetic.

It led to the maxim, “If you can’t do arithmetic, you can’t advance in rank even if you’re an exceptional soldier.”

***

“Unless a major variable arises, it seems best to go ahead with this plan. What do you ministers think?”

Although the question was directed towards the ministers, King Sejong’s eyes were fixed on Minister of Taxation. 

“If the economic capabilities of our Joseon continue to grow as they are now, I believe it will be manageable,” the Minister of Taxation replied positively.

Satisfied with the response, King Sejong moved on. “So the budget is settled, what about the issue with people… is it talent?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Choi Yoon-deok answered.

Stroking his beard, King Sejong posed another question. 

“Hmm… preparations for the establishment of the National Military Academy are underway, as is the establishment of the Hall of National Merits¹. Are there any other issues?”

“Both institutions are in the preparation stage, so there’s a problem with the immediate supply of necessary talent. Also, considering the current atmosphere of emphasizing literature over martial arts, it will be difficult to gather a lot of talents,” Choi Yoon-deok answered.

“That’s also an issue…” 

***

The discrimination against military officers by scholars had been continuing since the Goryeo period. Of course, unable to withstand such discrimination, a military regime was established, but with the invasion of the Mongols and the end of Goryeo, scholars gained power, relegating military officers to inferior status.

According to national laws, both scholars and military officers should receive the same treatment. The lowest rank of local governors, the county magistrate, was also a military position. However, those who were actually appointed were almost always scholars.

Therefore, those who applied for military examinations were mostly those who lacked academic skills, which was a point of concern raised by Choi Yoon-deok.

***

Choi Yoon-deok explained further.

“When Your Majesty executed the military reforms, you broke the custom where positions that should have been occupied by the military were held by scholars.”

“Yes,” King Sejong nodded.

As was evident in the case of the county magistrates, positions that belonged to the military were often appointed to scholars.

Especially, those who entered the military path through the military examinations faced all sorts of hardships in the field, while high-ranking positions were often occupied by scholars.

At first, when preparing for military reforms, King Sejong took this matter lightly. However, Hyang insisted on a clear separation between the military and scholarly ranks.

A lengthy debate ensued, and the final winner was Hyang, who argued for separation citing examples from China’s Song Dynasty.

As the separation between the military and scholarly ranks progressed, many military officers were pushed out due to their ‘illiteracy’ and ‘lack of scholarly achievements.’

The pushed-out military officers began to study writing, but Classical Chinese was not easy.

“Damn it! Who created these Chinese characters!”

Could it have been because of this experience? Later, those who welcomed King Sejong’s creation of Hangul² the most were the military.

***

“…Therefore, I humbly request your Majesty to solve the issue of talent shortage. Please lift the ban on individuals from the Northwest and annul the ‘Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act’ (Seo-eolgeumgo Act).”

[TL/N: Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act is an act in which even the descendants of noblemen during the Joseon Dynasty could not advance to government positions if they were descended from a concubine.]

Upon hearing Choi Yoon-deok’s request, the high-ranking officials began to murmur.

“Lift the ban on the Northwest natives and annul the ‘Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act’? Hmmm… I thought those matters were already included in the reform?”

To King Sejong’s question, Choi Yoon-deok immediately responded.

“Indeed, they are, your Majesty. However, according to the reform’s timeline, the ban on Northwest natives would be lifted in the 8th year of the reform process, and the Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act annulment would be effective in the 10th year. I request that these timelines be expedited.”

“The ban on the Northwest region was an edict of King Taejo, and the Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act was enacted by King Taejong. That’s why we have delayed the lifting of the bans.”

“However, it is also true that we are missing out on a lot of talent because of these bans.”

“Hmmm….”

King Sejong began to stroke his beard in deep thought upon hearing Choi Yoon-deok’s words.

All the high-ranking officials were tight-lipped. Everyone knew that there was a talent shortage, especially as the reform progressed. They generally agreed that the Northwest discrimination and Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act should be lifted.

However, they remained silent for two main reasons.

Firstly, these two policies were enacted by Kings Taejo and Taejong. From the Confucian perspective, altering laws set by previous kings could be seen as an act of disloyalty and could become grounds for impeachment.

Secondly, there was the issue of competition. High-ranking positions were always scarce. Even with the reorganization due to the reform, the competition would only get tougher for those who were eyeing these positions.

In the end, it was King Sejong who made the decision, offering a compromise.

“I understand that we are short of talent in the army. However, we can’t simply change the priorities of the reform. A slight mistake could derail the entire process. Therefore, I propose a middle ground. Let’s reassess the situation in the 6th year of the reform and then decide to lift the bans on the Northwest region and the Concubine Lineage Exclusion Act. If the reform is progressing well, we should be able to absorb the shock. Keep this in mind and continue to make extreme efforts.”

“I accept your command!”

Choi Yoon-deok immediately responded to King Sejong’s decision. When he first spoke, he was prepared to risk it all. However, King Sejong’s decision to expedite the process by two years was the best answer he could have hoped for.

Thus, the reforms continued to progress steadily.

* * *

As the day of the royal audience drew near, a large number of people were moving from Hamgil Island to Hanseong.

Those dressed differently from the Joseon people were the chieftains of the Jurchen tribes, heading to Hanseong at the invitation of King Sejong.

However, the atmosphere among the chieftains en route to Hanseong was not one of enjoyment. No, the closer they got to Hanseong, the tenser they became.

“Did the king of Joseon call for us?”

The chieftains of the Orangkhai tribe were puzzled by the orders brought by the Joseon envoy.

Unable to find an answer even after deep thought, the chieftains sought the opinions of other chieftains they were on good terms with.

“What should we do, brother?”

“We should go, brother.”

“I am a little uneasy about the sudden summons.”

“Can we afford not to go? You’ve heard what happened to the warriors in the Guanzhou region, haven’t you?”

“That’s what worries me.”

Since the time of Myeongjong, who declared the Jurchen region under his rule, and after Lee Seong-gye’s death, the relationship between the Jurchen tribes and the Joseon royal family had been gradually distancing.

Of course, Joseon tried to maintain relations with the Jurchens by offering official positions and trading, but the intimacy from the era of Lee Seong-gye had largely disappeared.

Refusing Joseon’s invitation also meant worrying about the bloodshed that had befallen the Jurchens in the Guanzhou region.

In a situation where they could neither go one way nor the other, it was the older chieftains who first made up their minds.

“We have to go if the person who carries the blood of our great elder wants to see us!”

The elderly chieftains, who still had memories of Lee Seong-gye, stepped forward to persuade the younger chieftains in tribes that had gone through a generational shift.

“Be cautious. Even if he is a descendant of our great elder, it’s certain he has inherited even his temperament. Remember what happened to the warriors in Guanzhou.”

In the end, the chieftains of the Jurchen tribes in the Tumen River area and the Orangkhai region had to move toward Joseon.

1. Same like Hall of Worthies, but for military officers instead of scholars[↩]
2. Korean Alphabets[↩]