Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Hanyang Great Fire (2)
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Good premonitions often miss the mark, but for some reason, bad ones always hit the nail on the head.
A fire broke out in Hanyang.
Right near our house, no less.
"Who the hell set fire to Hanyang? That bastard deserves to be torn limb from limb."
I said that, but I'm human too.
A fire nearby means our house could easily get swept up in the flames, and in the worst case, Gyeol and I could burn to death.
The terror of possibly dying... this was the first time in my life... no.
Once when I got hit by that truck in my previous life.
And once more when I submitted that life-risking memorial to Yi Bang-won, so this makes the third time I've faced death...
The first time, I died without even realizing what hit me. The second time, it was out of a sense of responsibility as someone who knew the future, for the sake of Joseon's people, so I was prepared to die. But this situation is completely different from those two.
Right now, I have no preparations or resolve whatsoever, and there's Gyeol to protect now, along with the child in her belly.
Thinking that far, fear came crashing over me.
My hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, and the horror of what might happen to me and my family right now froze my entire body.
"Fuck, for real."
A curse slipped out of my mouth, one I wouldn't normally say.
But spewing that curse like this, I could feel my body, which had been locked up in panic, start to loosen bit by bit.
I gathered all the servants around me.
"Mak-rye and Chil-sun, take Gyeol and head to Noryangjin as fast as you can. The farther from central Hanyang, the safer it'll be."
"But couldn't that area be more dangerous?"
"I can't know the exact situation right now, but if it was an accident from someone's mistake, we'd hear the homeowner wailing in despair. There's no such sound anywhere around, and given that the fires are breaking out in multiple places, it's certain someone set them deliberately."
I'd heard that the first thing to do in a fire is to keep your wits about you.
If you stay sharp, you can survive somehow, but if you panic, you die even in situations where you could live.
So, to save Gyeol and the child, I had to make sure she and our household servants kept their heads.
To do that, as the head of the house, I needed to show calm resolve—even if it was bluffing that this fire was no big deal—to give them the conviction that 'if you just follow me, you'll live.'
"Arsonists like this might be roaming in groups, like bandits."
"Yes, Master."
"They could have set fires all over Hanyang where people cluster, then use the chaos to loot. And if you run into those arsonists, you could get kidnapped in the confusion and suffer something unspeakable."
In Joseon, the top household asset was real estate, second was cows and horses, and third was people.
Among people, a beauty like Gyeol was worth at least ten rooftop-tiled houses in Hanyang.
That's thousands of seom in white rice equivalent.
But would arsonists, who face execution if caught in Joseon, hesitate to kidnap Gyeol if they ran into her?
'Why wouldn't they snatch a beauty that makes money?'
Once kidnapped, the odds of even I finding her would be extremely low.
"Our house might burn too, so Gap-seok, dig a pit about a cubit deep and bury the asset ledger, land registry, and precious jewels."
"Yes, Master."
"And bring out my official robes."
"Why official robes all of a sudden?"
Even outside our house, people were screaming and running around in total chaos.
And with the acrid smoke smell carried on the wind, I could tell the fire had spread pretty close.
Going through this mad party, one term naturally popped into my head.
'Hanyang Great Fire.'
The worst one that burned about 15% of Hanyang.
According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, 32 people died in it.
But in reality, it could have been several times that—maybe even dozens of times more.
Because that 32 was just the confirmed intact corpses that looked human.
Not that 15% of Hanyang burning meant 15% of residents burned to death, but the Meireki Great Fire in Edo, which burned half the city, killed at least 100,000...
So the Hanyang Great Fire could have claimed thousands too.
"Even if everyone combined their strength, it'd be barely enough to put out the fire, yet they're all scattering and flailing about. At this rate, we won't contain it—it'll just spread more. So I need to go calm the people and guide them to focus on fighting the fire together."
During the Imjin War, at the Battle of Yongin, Wakizaka Yasuharu beat 50,000 Joseon troops with just 1,500 Japanese soldiers.
The reason was simple.
The Japanese fought with a resolve to die, scaring the underprepared Joseon militias and officials, and with command structure in shambles, they failed to organize.
This situation is similar.
If I don't want the damage to grow... I have to somehow gather the scattered people into one force.
What I need for that is the authority I have, and the most dramatic way to show it is official robes.
'In Joseon, even virgin ghosts seek out the magistrate to resolve their grudges.'
I took the official robes from Gyeol and changed quickly.
"My lord..."
"I'll definitely come back alive, so don't worry too much. You're not alone anymore—above all, take care of yourself. No overdoing it."
Right now, King Sejong and Yi Bang-won were away from Hanyang briefly to observe the Grand Military Exercise.
So, just like in original history, the heavily pregnant Queen Soheon would step up to command the fire suppression in Hanyang.
Queen Soheon pulling that off in her near-term state was truly amazing and worthy of respect...
'But there's no reason or need to make Gyeol do something that extreme.'
Gyeol tried to hold me back, but I brushed past and dashed outside.
The situation was even worse than I'd imagined.
"Save the people! Fire! Fire!"
"Get out of the way! Move, or it's you die, me live! Got it? Unless you wanna die, move it!"
Looking at the clothes of that frantic mob over there—mostly hanbok made of cotton cloth.
That meant they weren't from well-off families.
My house was where the Chief State Councillor had lived, like Hannam-dong or Seongbuk-dong in modern Korea, and not a single person around here wore cotton clothes.
Slaves wore patched or low-quality stuff, while yangban like me wore silk.
So those in cotton weren't locals, and them swarming here meant...
'The fire's spread pretty far.'
This wasn't just serious—it was dire.
"Get a grip!"
I bellowed, and everyone rampaging in the area turned to look at me at once.
Like, who the hell is this guy? Ready to swing.
But seeing my official robes, they dropped the idea of throwing punches.
The situation was urgent, but seeing someone way higher status than them cured their rage issues.
"I am Kim Dae-bung, Inspector of the Inspectorate Bureau. The very Kim Dae-bung who staked his life on a memorial to His Highness the Supreme King."
In situations like this, nothing works better than authority.
"You think running away will save you? Even running hard, you'll just burn from fires spread elsewhere."
Truth be told, I didn't know where the fires started or were burning.
From the signs, arson was hitting Hanyang in multiple spots simultaneously, but I couldn't even guess exactly where.
"All men here aged 15 and up, follow my orders. Then we can put out the fire and you survive."
One familiar yangban spoke up at my words.
It was Kim Saengwon.
"No matter how hard you try, Inspector, you can't put out that massive blaze. And even if we combine our strength here, will it really help?"
"Kim Saengwon has a point. But if we leave the fire and flee now, your house and mine both burn. Isn't that right?"
That Kim Saengwon lucked out with a good grandfather and father; he only passed the prelims, but lives large as a rich bum in a whale-backed mansion.
From what I'd heard, besides his main wife, he had two pretty concubines and even fooled around with a slave.
Yeah, he had it all—a total goldfish in a pond.
No work, just play.
Anyway, no time now to nitpick his private life.
"Lend me your house slaves for a bit, Saengwon."
"Of course."
"Good. From now on, all men here 15 and up, follow my orders. Those who help stop the fire spread will get rice from my personal stores."
"For real?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
If I were Hanseong Governor or a Hanyang military official like from Chungmuwi, I'd draw my sword and threaten with military law.
In this situation, armed threats backed by public authority would work way better than promising rice.
'Risk death for money?' is weaker than 'Put out the fire or die now.'
Even Confucius said, in a fire, threatening to kill those who don't help beats promising rewards.
"All who join in putting out the fire here, I'll reward you handsomely with rice—no distinction between slaves or commoners. Follow my orders."
Forget Queen Soheon commanding firefighting for now; first, I had to douse the fire on my own doorstep.
Then rush to the court and advise on catching the culprits.
Can't let those fire-starting bastards get away... I'll catch them for sure.