Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Commercial City Hanyang (10)
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Sejong was a king who loved his people more than anyone else.
Because he was such a king, until Kim Dae-bung had gotten Yi Bang-won moving and exercising, he had lived like a man obsessed with work, toiling away endlessly.
He believed that if he endured just a little more hardship himself, the lives of the people would improve even by a small margin.
And that noble conviction of his had led him to create Hunminjeongeum even when his eyesight had nearly failed him...
Even now, as always, his thoughts were entirely consumed with the people.
"If only we gave the common folk a chance to learn, they too could rise to the ranks of the prime ministers, just like the yangban scholars."
Those words Kim Dae-bung had spoken kept circling in Sejong's mind.
The other ministers, unable to outright deny the Master, would mouth the words that even the lowly could become gentlemen through learning...
But not a single one of them truly believed it would become natural for commoners who had studied to work alongside them at the same level.
Sejong himself had thought the same way.
That is, until Kim Dae-bung had declared that even the child of someone serving in the navy—one of the lowest occupations—could become a prime minister if given the opportunity to learn.
"To use the Namsadang troupe to guide the people toward the righteous path. What a brilliant idea no one else in Joseon could have conceived."
No minister in the court directly opposed the proposals Kim Dae-bung submitted.
Every policy he put forward exceeded even the wildest expectations of good results, from first to last.
The tiny fishing village of Jinhae County had long since grown into a major city rivaling Dongnae.
The Bangwon Law had lightened the people's actual tax burden while filling the national treasury to overflowing.
Who could dare oppose the policies proposed by the man who had achieved remarkable feats in fields ranging from ironworking and gunpowder to medicine and diplomacy?
Yet there had been considerable opposition to his latest proposal of using the Namsadang troupe to morally educate the people.
"To wield a headache we wanted to eradicate from Joseon but couldn't—a truly bold move."
Thanks to the Namsadang troupe's satirical mask dance mocking Hanyang restaurants that sold spoiled food, such establishments had vanished from the city.
The poor at home had no choice but to eat what little they had.
But if a restaurant served spoiled food, customers whose standards had changed would rise up and wreck the place.
And if they caused a ruckus for that reason without harming anyone, the constables and patrol officers of the Hanseong Magistracy turned a blind eye.
"The relief clinic reports no more patients suffering from diarrhea these days."
Judging by this alone, the troublesome Namsadang troupe had greatly benefited the nation.
And now that he knew even something like a mask dance could enlighten the people, if dances centered on loyalty and filial piety spread across all eight provinces...
It could give the people a chance to harbor more righteous thoughts, and his expectations soared.
"I should order the Director of the Office of Music to have the state manage the Namsadang troupes from now on, and have the most talented among them perform mask dances on themes required by the court."
This time, the script for the Namsadang troupe's mask dance had been roughly penned by Kim Dae-bung since it was their first, but he was a minister with far too much on his plate.
He had to resolve diplomatic issues with Ming, slap a collar on Tsushima's lord and work him like an ox, boost Joseon's agricultural output, and solve all the problems plaguing the soldiers.
Making him handle something like writing mask dance scripts—work plenty of others could do—was a waste of his time.
Everything has its proper place and time.
Then a sudden curiosity struck Sejong.
If Kim Dae-bung could turn the roguish Namsadang troupes, who stirred up trouble everywhere in Joseon, into tools for enlightening the people...
"I must summon Kim Dae-bung to this audience."
He had even transformed those utter delinquents, the Namsadang performers, into fine oxen—no, exemplary citizens—for the good of the nation...
What other thoughts might be brewing in his mind?
Sejong was immensely curious to find out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Joseon officials' occasions to meet and converse with the king weren't limited to the formal morning assembly, attended only by senior officials of rank four or higher, or the scriptural lectures that served as pretexts for policy debates.
Those were official events with many high-ranking participants, making them cumbersome to hold daily...
Thus, there existed the sangcham, a simplified morning assembly that omitted most ceremonies and minimized attendees.
And in the sangcham, civil and military officials alike, from rank six upward and specifically designated by the king or chief ministers, could attend.
"What's this sudden audience about...?"
As I sighed upon being abruptly summoned, the other officials stared at me like I was some freak.
When I turned my gaze toward them, some even openly averted their eyes.
I understood why they were acting that way.
Because the topic of this sangcham was none other than using the Namsadang troupe for the moral education of the people.
Thanks to me, they had spent days analyzing and investigating a subject they had never even considered before.
No way they'd look kindly on the guy who dropped a workload bomb on them.
"His Majesty arrives!"
In formal assemblies or lectures, musicians would play celebratory tunes like "Yeomin Dongrak" the moment the announcement was made.
But the sangcham was a light discussion on policy, with the king accompanied only by a minimal ceremonial guard and escorts—no musicians even.
Sejong, seated, gazed at me with warm eyes.
If I were a woman, I might have blurted out, "Is this a green light?" They were that affectionate.
I nearly broke out in goosebumps.
Sejong, who had been sending me that look, now smiled faintly at me.
"Is Kim Dae-bung present?"
He had recognized me from the moment he directed that gaze my way.
This sangcham was meant for a one-on-one since a private audience would be difficult; by including extras, it avoided strange misunderstandings from the historians.
The summoned ones would find it absurd yet fortunate.
Absurd because they had hoped to impress the king here and grab a lifeline for promotion, only for it to come to nothing.
Fortunate because they wouldn't face the question barrage from the Curiosity King, endless seeker of knowledge, His Majesty King Sejong.
It's even said in jest that Sejong established royal authority through debates.
To be precise, ministers avoided opposing policies because they dreaded endless debates with him...
Jeongjo, who claimed to teach all his officials himself, felt like he was suppressing them with kingly authority, but Sejong could pull it off effortlessly.
A minister raises viewpoint A, and Sejong counters with B through F, then demands a full treatise on it.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"When you first submitted your memorial proposing to use the Namsadang troupe to enlighten the people, the court ministers and I found the idea commendable yet worried it might be dangerous. However, since none of your bold past proposals had ever failed, I used my royal discretion to test this one."
"This unworthy servant is deeply grateful for Your Majesty's faith in me."
"Haha, who in the court could look down on you for your youth? Though young in years, the ambitions in your heart rival the phoenix itself. And this time too, you succeeded not just in words but in actually using the Namsadang troupe to morally educate the people."
The elders used to say:
If someone suddenly praises you, they're laying the groundwork for a tough request.
His Majesty King Sejong wouldn't ask me to co-sign a loan or something ridiculous like that...
But seeing him butter me up like this, it seemed he was gearing up for one of those head-scratching questions.
"If the Namsadang troupe can contribute to the good of the people depending on how it's used, what about the monks who revere Buddha?"
Faces darkened across the sangcham hall at Sejong's question.
Nothing was as tricky to handle as Buddhism, and being asked to respond on it put me in an awkward spot too...
"Topics like the six realms of reincarnation are the stuff of superstition and the uncanny—impossible to truly know, so one shouldn't get lost in them. In the previous dynasty of Goryeo, monks fell into greed, making the king and noble families above, and the people and slaves below, fixate solely on afterlife matters like reincarnation, which ruined the nation."
"Are you saying they can't be reformed and reused at all?"
"Monks are like rhubarb: properly used, they can be medicine; mishandled, they rot the state. If the people believe in reincarnation and focus only on the afterlife, scorning their present lives, it becomes a grave problem..."
When we think of Catholicism or Protestantism, bad images often come to mind first...
But the pre-modern Europeans' obsession with the afterlife wasn't all negative.
The masses endured society's contradictions with the belief they'd go to heaven after death, striving to live righteously.
Couldn't Buddhism be used similarly if handled right?
"If they preach of the afterlife, saying one must accumulate good karma to be reborn in paradise, it could excellently guide the people to pursue virtue and punishment of vice on their own, living righteous lives."