Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Even Pirates Have Their Uses (4)
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King Sejong was unfolding and reading the secret memorial that Jo Mal-saeng had submitted in confidence.
Strictly speaking, the one who had submitted it was Minister of War Jo Mal-saeng, but every single part of the contents inside had been penned by Kim Dae-bung.
Jo Mal-saeng had reported this fact to Sejong exactly as it was.
Because Jo Mal-saeng, for all his love of graft and corruption as an official, was a man who knew that stealing credit from his subordinates was tantamount to gnawing away at his own flesh.
[Your subject, Minister of War Jo Mal-saeng, reports.]
Sejong chuckled at this line.
It was because he recalled how Kim Dae-bung's low rank had made it awkward for him to submit a secret memorial directly to the king himself, so he had borrowed Jo Mal-saeng's name instead.
[Some foolish yangban and scholars say that great sages like Confucius, Mencius, and Zhu Xi are Chinese, and that their culture is exceedingly beautiful, so Joseon must serve and learn from them with utmost loyalty. They cite Mencius, claiming that for a small country to serve a great one is the proper course because one fears Heaven.]
Just 20 or 30 years prior, diplomatic tensions between Joseon and Ming had evoked the chill of a cold war.
Ming had demanded that Jeong Do-jeon, who was scheming the conquest of Liaodong, come to Beijing in person to explain his crime of using strange wording in the table of contents of his tributary document. Naturally, Jeong Do-jeon had not gone to Ming.
Because Joseon knew full well that if Jeong Do-jeon actually went to Beijing to make his explanations, Ming planned to execute him under their "beautiful" penal code.
And Ming had unleashed all manner of power plays to test just how deeply the Joseon dogs would smash their heads into the dirt.
Demanding gold from a land with no gold or silver mines and throwing tantrums about it; extorting tribute from every county along the route of Ming's envoy processions; refusing to provide gold and silver, then demanding 10,000 military horses every year instead to rip out Joseon's spine; forcing the tribute of princesses, and so on.
Sejong and Yi Bang-won had never forgotten that humiliation and shame, not even for a single moment.
[However, Mencius also said this: For a great nation to serve a small one is to delight in the way of Heaven, and only the benevolent can lead a great nation to serve a small one. Yet Ming demands that Joseon serve it while only oppressing and exploiting us in return... How can this be called delighting in the way of Heaven, or deemed benevolent?]
Calling them not benevolent was simply putting it politely—it was saying "this bastard isn't human; he's a beast."
In the memorial he had written, Kim Dae-bung had thoroughly demeaned Ming as a petty, small-minded nation.
To Sejong, it was perfect.
As he read the petition, he resolved that Kim Dae-bung should dedicate himself to the court for exactly 100 years—no more, no less.
It had nothing to do with Kim Dae-bung's suggestion to Yi Bang-won that had resulted in him being forced to climb mountains every day and go hunting frequently.
Rather, he simply thought there could be nothing more heartbreaking than a capable minister offering to labor like a horse or dog for the ancestral temple and state altar, only for his plea to go unheeded.
[In my subject's view, Ming is not so different from the Yuan dynasty of the previous Goryeo era. Therefore, Joseon must recognize them as potential enemies and prepare accordingly.]
Sejong frowned at the call to prepare for war with Ming.
Yet just as no one knew when the Japanese pirates might come raiding, no one knew when Ming might march on Joseon or tighten the noose with some new penalty...
'We must prepare.'
[To that end, my subject believes we should set the Japanese and Ming against each other until they exhaust themselves fighting. Of course, manipulating the pirates into battling Ming is no easy task. But if we simply grant them a taste of what they desire, they will eagerly turn on Ming of their own accord.]
Reading this passage, Sejong suddenly felt goosebumps prickle across his entire body.
Joseon itself employed a policy of pitting Jurchen tribes against one another to keep them in check.
Ming called it the "Yi-mi policy."
So the concept itself was hardly unfamiliar.
'Barbarians should fight barbarians.'
Even so, the chilling shock came from the proposal to solve the problem of Japanese pirates invading Joseon by unleashing them on Ming.
He was astonished, but he didn't dislike the idea.
Joseon would be safe, and Ming's head would rot from dealing with the pirates!
[Upon interrogating the pirates, my subject learned they serve the vassal clans under the lord of Tsushima. When asked why they turned to piracy, they claimed that Joseon and Ming had completely banned trade with them, leaving them no means to survive. They further said that if Joseon would only permit trade, they would never raid Joseon again.]
Sejong tilted his head.
Ming barbarians and Japanese alike were faithless wretches who never kept their word.
Yet here was Kim Dae-bung lending an ear to the Japanese...
[My subject does not take their words at face value, but if trade with them could bring us pepper, sulfur, water buffalo horns, sugar, and the like, it would greatly benefit Joseon. Moreover, we could allow trade while attaching this condition to the Japanese daimyo: fail to properly rein in the pirates, and we cut off trade entirely. They would hardly dare send raiders to Joseon then. Even the Japanese know full well that steady trade yields far greater profit than sporadic raids for meager hauls of rarities.]
From a strict Confucian perspective, the notion of managing the Japanese through commerce felt objectionable.
Yet if it meant acquiring precious Japanese goods that were hard to obtain in Joseon—and even sulfur for gunpowder production—it would ultimately bring great gains to Joseon.
The Japanese were vile, yes, but they prized profit above all else in the world.
Even their daimyo would recognize that ongoing trade served their interests.
'Thoroughly pragmatic.'
[If Your Majesty opens a market in Jeongui County where Japanese can trade freely to their heart's content, they will have no reason to send pirates to Joseon. What's more, they will plunder all manner of Ming rarities and sell them in Jeongui—truly a grave headache for Ming.]
And toward the end, it noted that since the captured pirates were skilled navigators, rather than simply executing them, Joseon should wring them dry to advance its own maritime skills.
The pirates would profit by fencing their Ming plunder in Joseon; Joseon would gain a more abundant supply of Ming goods than what came from mere smuggling and official trade.
And it would inflict damage on Ming to boot... A truly brilliant scheme.
One of the thorniest issues under the Bangwon Laws—deep-sea navigation—could even be partially resolved by exploiting these Japanese.
"An excellent plan in every respect."
A smile spread across Sejong's face.
It might be wicked deeds unfit for a gentleman, but it would greatly serve Joseon's national interests.
Joseon could sit idly by while Ming and Japan tore into each other... The mere thought was intoxicating.
"Today—no, at least until the day after tomorrow—I can pull an all-nighter using Kim Dae-bung's memorial as an excuse."
An all-nighter meant no climbing Bukaksan.
How wonderful.
It would also give the court's officials a chance to work more diligently for the ancestral temple and state altar—was this not the epitome of royal grace?
And since Kim Dae-bung despised overtime, it was a perfectly legal chance for revenge against the man forcing him to exercise daily.
"You there—go to Father at once and tell him I have urgent state business to attend to, so I won't be able to climb Bukaksan with him for the time being."
One of the eunuchs hurried off to relay the message to Yi Bang-won.
And about half a sichin later, Yi Bang-won came directly to where Sejong was.
"Son."
"Yes, Father."
"I know the matters in that memorial Kim Dae-bung submitted under the Minister of War's name are important. But are they truly so urgent?"
"Not strictly urgent, but immensely beneficial to the nation. We should implement them at once..."
Sejong couldn't bring himself to lie to his father.
"You're right. Still, it seems to me that caring for your health as king takes precedence. Aren't you still far too frail? Even I, past the biblical threescore and ten, reach Bukaksan's peak without strain, yet you can't even make the midpoint... You must prioritize your body first."
Sejong's face clouded over. He'd thought overtime gave him an escape from mountain climbing today.
"Yes, Father."
"This is purely for your sake—to build your stamina and hone your martial prowess."
"Word on the street is you're just creating excuses to drag me hunting more often..."
Yi Bang-won whipped his head away. He'd been caught red-handed.
Under the guise of tending to Sejong's health, first whip him into shape—then how delightful it would be to haul him off hunting regularly.
If Sejong even grew to enjoy the hunt itself, trips every ten days instead of fortnightly wouldn't be a pipe dream.
"It's all for your own good, son."
Yi Bang-won dragged Sejong off on the climb regardless.
And midway through the "enjoyable" ascent, Sejong and Yi Bang-won reached one accord.
Send Kim Dae-bung to Tsushima to persuade its lord, who monopolized Joseon-Japan diplomacy.
In this, there was just a touch of petty vengeance—not entirely absent—from Sejong, forced into unwanted daily exercise because of Kim Dae-bung.