Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Commercial City Hanyang (12)
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Building bathhouses all over Hanyang—or more precisely, along the Han River—wasn't all that difficult.
It didn't require any groundbreaking or special techniques, and the necessary labor came from the riffraff who'd started squatting on the outskirts of Hanyang of their own accord.
And most importantly, the bathhouse usage rate among Hanyang's citizens was...
"Deputy Commander Heo, are the people of Hanyang frequenting the bathhouses these days?"
Deputy Commander Heo let out a deep sigh at my question.
Then, with an expression like he was on the verge of death, he replied with a hint of complaint.
"Didn't that talchum performance from Gonggil's troupe tell the tale of a dirty woman from their gang who couldn't even consummate her wedding night and lived as a grieving widow, only to discover the bathhouse, wash herself clean, and win back her husband's love for a happy life? Ever since that add-on dance became a huge hit, men and women alike are dragging themselves to the bathhouses at least once a week, vowing to bathe."
"So you're saying it was the effect of that talchum."
"Yes, it seems that way. To be honest, I have no idea why the people have taken to bathing so enthusiastically. I just suspect it's thanks to the talchum. With the bathhouses booming, my workload has only gotten heavier. Regulating restaurants and inns, overseeing Hanyang's hygiene, and now with more and more people flocking to the bathhouses, I'm submitting reports requesting bigger budgets to build even more... There's so much work, I feel like I'm dying..."
It might be hell for Deputy Commander Heo, but for Joseon as a whole, it was a good thing.
The people were going to the bathhouses and washing themselves regularly without the state forcing them to.
"Think positively about it."
"With so much work piling up that I'm this exhausted, I can't quite grasp what there is to think positively about."
"If the people had shunned the bathhouses, you'd have had to step up personally to educate them into bathing. I might have racked my brains with you to come up with ways, but carrying them out would have all fallen on your shoulders."
I had mountains of work myself.
With the bathhouses running smoothly, it made sense to set up restaurants or food stalls nearby while we were at it.
We should also create spaces for wholesome entertainment, and revise the laws on makgeolli and soju production.
With so much to do, I couldn't get involved in the actual execution beyond planning.
Someone might counter like this:
'Then what was all that about you personally inspecting restaurant hygiene? Were you just overflowing with free time back then?'
That was because I had no choice but to step in to align Joseon-era common sense with 21st-century standards and set hygiene rules to prevent 'food poisoning' among the people.
What could I do if no one else would do it properly?
"...I suppose so."
"And I think I know why the people have accepted bathing so readily."
"What reason could that be?"
"Once people wash their bodies clean, they no longer smell bad themselves. But then, when they go near their husbands or children in that state, they suddenly notice the unpleasant body odors they hadn't smelled before."
The human sense of smell adapts to its environment incredibly quickly.
The clearest proof of this is a pit toilet.
If you squat there for about ten minutes doing your business amid a toilet full of shit, that initially overpowering ammonia stench will fade until you can't smell it anymore.
That's because the human nose blocks signals from olfactory cells after prolonged exposure to any strong or weak odor alike, to prevent fatigue.
By the same principle, since everyone—from commoners to yangban—hadn't been washing properly until now, they all emitted a certain level of stench and were oblivious to it...
But once they washed and got clean, they'd definitely notice the smells coming from their family members' bodies.
"Realizing their family's bodies stink will have the women nagging their husbands and kids into going to the bathhouses to wash up."
"Certainly, even those who washed 'frequently' before only did so once a month, and the infrequent ones maybe twice a year. That makes sense."
"But you."
"Yes, my lord."
There's one common misconception people have.
We work hard to eat well and live well...
But some get so absorbed in work that they don't realize their own bodies are breaking down.
Deputy Commander Heo looked exactly like that right now.
"Are you perhaps taking work home because there's too much to do? Your face looks utterly exhausted."
"It's because I'm incompetent and can't finish my duties on time. My apologies, my lord."
"'Cultivate yourself, regulate your family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world.' Only those who manage their own health can properly handle their household, the nation, and ultimately the world. But overtime? Didn't His Highness say that any overtime outside of dire emergencies is both disloyal and unfilial?"
From what I'd heard, King Sejong had indeed said that.
But the real reason behind calling overtime unfilial and disloyal—excluding true emergencies—is absurdly ridiculous once you know it.
King Sejong gladly worked overtime for the people's sake, but King Taejong Lee Bang-won, aiming to keep Sejong healthy, ordered him to 'exercise' after regular hours...
Preventing him from working overtime...
He wanted to work overtime but couldn't...
Resenting that his own retainers were doing what he himself couldn't, he made that remark.
Whatever the intent, after that statement, all officials were guaranteed punctual arrivals and departures.
Thus, the quality of life for officials greatly improved.
"Looking at your complexion now, it seems you'll collapse soon."
"With punctual departures guaranteed, I at least get enough sleep."
"Can a person preserve their strength with just enough sleep?"
I'd passed the exam at 18, so my body was still in the mid-20s.
Youth let me pull all-nighters now and then without much issue.
But the average age of exam passers was mid-to-late 30s, and Deputy Commander Heo was in his early 40s.
Constantly buried under massive workloads in his early 40s, always exhausted?
It wouldn't be surprising if he dropped dead from overwork or fell gravely ill anytime.
"If you collapse from illness, from the Hanyang Magistrate on down, we'll all get a severe scolding from His Highness."
Even in 21st-century companies, if the department head pulls overtime while subordinates clock out on time, those subordinates get treated like they've left their common sense on the back mountain.
How much more so in Confucian Joseon, where high officials like the Hanyang Magistrate must observe prescribed rituals every time they arrive or depart?
Even if Deputy Commander Heo looked on the verge of collapse, letting him leave while others were still working would draw dirty looks from someone.
That's why they invoked the royal decree, which no one could dare contradict or resent.
"You still have about three and a half si (seven hours) of duty left, but given your condition, you shouldn't work any more. Go home right now, hit the bathhouse first. Wash up, soak in warm water to relieve your fatigue, then go home and sleep soundly. Come back tomorrow full of vigor."
Forcing a tired person to work yields nothing good.
Efficiency drops, and exhaustion breeds endless mistakes.
Fixing those mistakes just multiplies the work several times over...
'This is when a superior should order them to clock out.'
"Thank you, Lord Seo Yun."
"See you tomorrow."
And so I sent Deputy Commander Heo home.
When he left, the other Hanseong officials watched him go with somewhat bitter expressions.
They weren't overworking like him, but they had to stay and work while that guy clocked out early to rest...
And now they'd have to shoulder his share too, so naturally they felt sour.
"I'll handle everything Deputy Commander Heo had for today, so don't worry about that. Now, let's talk about new tasks. Once weekly bathing becomes the norm, after washing, people will seek out nearby food or gambling and games, won't they?"
A pleasure district, when you get down to it, isn't anything special.
Places where people gather in droves become tourist spots, entertainment hubs, and commercial districts.
"So, centering on areas with many bathhouses, we should create small permanent markets and spaces for various games. Restaurants selling food will keep multiplying too, so we'll need laws to manage them."
This era's Hanyang had endless potential for development.
That's why I was stepping up to guide it in the right direction.
'If we leave such ripe potential unchecked without pointing it the right way, it could twist into something weird.'
"Let's see, inns and restaurants mostly use private homebrewed liquor. We should tax that too. What would be a good liquor tax rate..."
With that, I generously distributed new workloads to Deputy Commander Heo and the rest of the Hanseong officials.
And three days (a week) later, we completed the full plan for developing new commercial districts around the bathhouses and submitted it to the State Council.