Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Hall of Worthies GPT (3)
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The eyes of the Hall of Worthies' Deputy Chief Scholar, gazing at me, were practically dripping with honey.
Anyone who didn't know better might mistake him for a boy smitten with his first love. A bright smile like the sun lit up his face, and his footsteps were exceedingly light.
A newbie might think, upon receiving such a warm welcome, "I'm so wanted here—I really need to work hard." But I'm not that green.
A closer look revealed dark circles firmly etched under the Deputy Chief Scholar's eyes, and his skin was dry and sallow from exhaustion. It was proof that the Hall of Worthies suffered from overtime just as much as the Ministry of Finance. Even on holidays when officials rested, he probably hadn't gone to the pleasure quarters or enjoyed outings—he'd just slept.
Now that I'd shown up, it seemed he could finally escape those late nights, which explained the enthusiastic greeting.
"Ah, I am Jeong In-ji, Deputy Chief Scholar of the Hall of Worthies. Since the Chief Scholar position is concurrently held by the Minister of Rites, you could say I'm effectively in charge here."
"I'm at a loss for words with such a warm welcome from someone of your stature, Deputy Chief Scholar."
"Haha, it's only natural for me to personally look after a talent like our Kim Su-chan. Even His Highness the Grand King and His Highness the King have taken a great interest in you. The Chief State Councillor seems a bit displeased with you, but the Left and Right State Councillors, not to mention all the ministers of the Six Ministries, have very high expectations."
"Is that so?"
"As you know, when a new official arrives, regardless of rank, they're treated as a 'newbie ghost' until they complete the initiation rite, and even the clerks look down on them."
The initiation rite—in a word, it's the ceremony for a newbie ghost to be recognized as human. Complicated term, but simply put, it's like hazing privates.
When a private first transfers to a unit, the last-year sergeant does a private cosplay, asks if there's any senior they dislike, sends them to the PX for machine guns, tells them to eat all the frozen treats they want until they're on the verge of puking—it's that insane culture to instill discipline.
In Joseon, all new civil service exam passers and officials transferring departments—even high ministers occasionally—must go through this initiation rite.
It costs at least 100 to 200 seom of rice in lavish feasts per round, and they have to endure all sorts of bizarre demands from seniors. Catching fish in muddy water, making public slaves mock them by calling their names, and so on.
I'd come prepared for it myself, but it sounded like the old Deputy Chief Scholar was saying he'd treat me as a full person right away, sparing me the nonsense...
"But the Hall of Worthies isn't so senseless as to treat a capable official like you as a mere newbie ghost. That's something the Office of Special Counsels might do, the ones who submit memorials while drinking on the job."
The Hall of Worthies, Office of Special Counsels, and Office of Inspectors are all the Three Offices of Censors, so they must have fierce rivalry. He was randomly dissing the Office of Special Counsels out of nowhere.
"Anyway, that's your seat."
The seating was odd. The other Hall of Worthies scholars had desks crammed together like in a company office... so why was mine so isolated?
There were even two chairs, and the desk was quite large. It clearly wasn't for one person... I felt deeply uneasy.
Just looking at that spot made me hear a hallucinated voice from a university professor named Yido: "You can't resign. Not ever, until you die." Should I brew some tonic?
"Aren't you pointing to the wrong spot, Deputy Chief Scholar?"
"No, that's definitely your seat, Kim Su-chan."
"Understood. So what will my duties be? Should I study the Book of Documents and Book of Poetry like the other scholars, or prepare for royal lectures...?"
Jeong In-ji looked at me and burst into laughter.
"That's the typical work for Hall of Worthies scholars. Preparing royal lectures, researching agriculture and technology—that's our job. But you're the exception, Kim Su-chan."
The moment he said "Kim Su-chan is the exception," the Hall of Worthies doors opened. In walked a very high-ranking official in the crimson robes signifying a senior first-rank position, heading straight for me. How many documents had he brought?
A quick glance at his face showed dark circles tattooed under his eyes, his complexion ashen like dirt. He must have been worked to the bone with overtime even on holidays.
"...Kim Su-chan!"
I turned to see Jeong In-ji had already vanished toward the other scholars. Ah, so I'd been assigned as the handler for all the ministers and whoever else coming to request "policy research."
That explained why I wasn't assigned to prepare for royal lectures or give any presentations there, unlike the other officials.
It all clicked perfectly. Even if I didn't want to understand it that way.
The man in crimson senior robes was Hwang Hui from the Ministry of Finance. He gestured for me to sit.
His eyes on me were filled with venom. One wrong word, and he'd kill me on the spot.
That must be why the previous county magistrate warned me never to act "humbly" in the Ministry of Finance. If I told Hwang Hui I was lacking and that's why I could only do this much, he'd probably actually kill me.
"Kim Su-chan, thanks to you, the Ministry of Finance is overflowing with work."
"My apologies."
"No need to apologize. You've proven to His Highness the Grand King that heavy tribute goods can benefit the people if collected properly. And thanks to that, His Highness the Grand King—who'd been in poor health—has suddenly recovered."
Social workers, nurses, and doctors all say the same thing: one reason elders develop dementia or pass away is a weakened 'will to live.'
So when dutiful grandchildren stop frail grandparents from doing minor household chores out of concern, it looks good... but in reality, it makes them feel useless, breaking their will to live and hastening dementia or depression.
They often say encouraging and praising them from the side is the way to keep elders healthy and living long. King Taejong Lee Bang-won had been letting go, seeing Sejong govern well...
But seeing the positive change from my tribute reforms, had he revived his obsession with currency introduction (which was doomed to fail)?
"So you must prioritize helping the Ministry of Finance."
"Of course."
"And while we're at it, let me apologize. When you said at the audience exam that Joseon's tax system was rotten, I dismissed it as youthful impudence. I thought you were insulting the best result we ministers had achieved through bone-grinding effort."
"My lord..."
Hwang Hui lowered his head to me. Not out of disappointment in me, but to admit he was wrong.
"You were right. Joseon's tax system must change. Commerce may be lowly, but blindly suppressing merchants with 'no profit without capital' is wrong. It only torments the people."
"Thank you for acknowledging it."
"His Highness the Grand King is probably urging us Ministry officials out of a desire to fix this. He wants markets in every town and tribute reforms that save the people rather than kill them."
King Taejong Lee Bang-won was incredibly warm to everyone except those challenging his power.
Once, an official let a friend tour the palace and secretly stay overnight—a capital offense punishable by death. But judging no malice, he released him innocent.
Another time, a commoner wandered into the palace by mistake, and he let him go immediately.
Any other king—or even in a 21st-century nation—would've given them at least probation, fines, or years in prison.
Then there was some lunatic who paid kids near the palace three balls each, wrote the names Yangnyeong, Hyoryeong, and Chungnyeong on them, and let them play. One kid dropped the Hyoryeong ball and shouted, "Hyoryeong's gone!"—getting caught. By Joseon standards, this was sorcery (a curse), a treasonous crime warranting execution of the kids and their families.
Under any other king, they'd have endured full Joseon torture before quartering. It could've escalated to a 'purge of ministers' course...
But Lee Bang-won covered it up to avoid innocent deaths. Even though it was a prime chance to strengthen royal power, he discarded it himself.
His currency scam wasn't from lacking compassion for the people—it was his stubborn belief that his views were always right.
That compassion seems to have passed down to King Sejong.
If I proposed market expansion here, he'd likely bring up 'currency' with high probability... but I'd stake my life to stop that.
Even without me, King Sejong would do it soon anyway.
Stopping him would erase one of King Sejong's major blunders.
"Now, tell me. How should we expand the markets?"
...I'm the guy who can just submit a resignation memorial and head home if things go south.
So I can propose novel fiscal policies no one in Joseon could imagine.
"We must first assign dedicated market officials to every town nationwide. Otherwise, it won't be manageable."
A guy proposing to benefit the people by increasing expenditures? That's a first, right?