Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Gunpowder and Hygiene (2)
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Ever since King Sejong the Great started getting dragged along by King Taejong to climb Bukaksan Mountain every day, all the officials in Joseon were granted lives with evenings free.
On holidays, they naturally rested, and even on weekdays, unless there was urgent business, they were strictly dismissed on time.
Work hours had been adjusted too. In spring and summer, they used to work twelve hours based on the fixed dismissal time, but now an average of eight to nine hours had become the norm.
"I'm home."
Kim Gyeol came out to greet me as I entered the house.
"Welcome home, my lord."
"Yeah, made it back safe. Anything happen at home?"
"This afternoon, we received twenty dried abalones, five geun of soy-marinated crab, and one seom of dried persimmons from the people of Jinhae County."
"The folks in Jinhae really can't be stopped. I've told them over and over they don't need to send anything..."
There's a joke that says when an official's dog dies, people flock to offer condolences, but when the official himself dies, no one shows up.
But if you think about it, it's not entirely wrong.
While the official is alive, he wields immense power, so you'd eagerly attend even his dog's funeral to stay in his good graces...
But once he's dead, he has no influence left, so why bother going to his funeral?
Likewise, the moment I stepped down as Jinhae County Magistrate, the people there had no reason to keep sending me gifts to curry favor...
No one told them to, and despite my repeated refusals, they kept sending these precious items.
"Isn't there anyone in Jinhae County who hasn't benefited from your grace, my lord? So they're showing you respect like one honors their parents for the kindness you've bestowed."
What a headache.
I'm the type who wants to resign at the right moment, retire to the countryside, and live comfortably...
But when people like this express their genuine gratitude, I start thinking maybe I should stick it out a little longer for their sake.
"Let's share some of the abalone and crab with Father. He's been complaining lately about how tough things are at the Ministry of Finance, so we should make sure he takes care of his health."
"Father often visits me and says that knowing what he knows now, he regrets ever entering government service."
"Really? I heard that on his first day reporting to the ministry in his official robes, he stood in front of the office crying so hard with joy that even after Choi Man-ri from the Office of Supplies patted him and wiped his face, he could finally get to work."
"Where did you hear that story?"
"Choi Ja-myeong, the superintendent of the Office of Supplies—Choi Man-ri—told me."
He bawled so uncontrollably that Choi Man-ri had to console him and clean his face before he could properly start.
Father-in-law probably never imagined the story would make its way to Gyeol.
"Father sent word last night that by His Highness's special grace, he's been promoted from junior 9th rank to junior 8th rank. He's coming tomorrow to catch up with you, my lord. What do you think he'll say if I tell him what I just heard?"
"That'll be fun."
"Ever since becoming an official, he's always acted so stern in front of me. I never imagined something like that happened on his first day."
The father-in-law who had been so thrilled about entering service now whined about how tough the work was and that he never should have done it.
I hadn't told Gyeol the full details.
The truth was, Kim Man-deok was getting buried under a massive workload dumped on him by Minister of Finance Min Gye-saeng and the other officials at the ministry.
The silver lining was that they weren't just offloading busywork on him because he was a lucky commoner-turned-official...
They were piling on every task in the areas he knew well as a former merchant, and he was working himself to death on them.
Last time he visited the Ministry of Defense, he even begged me to save him.
Of course, he'd chosen to enter service voluntarily, and I'd only provided minimal help.
But hearing about this sudden promotion from junior 9th to junior 8th rank...
"......Let's prepare some tonic for Father to take."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He's not getting any younger, so we need to make sure he stays healthy with supplements in advance. No deeper meaning."
I'd heard that in a month, some officials were being dispatched to Jeongui County for the saltworks issue.
Father-in-law was probably one of them.
Otherwise, they wouldn't promote him so abruptly like this.
"Oh, and... um..."
Gyeol stammered, her face flushing red as an apple.
Could she be pregnant?
We'd been trying so hard, so it was about time for good news...
Maybe it was my time to become a father.
"It's been over a year since our wedding, and I'm worried about not conceiving, so I went to the temple. The head monk suggested trying a talisman... so I bought one."
"Talismans are useless. We can take our time with this."
"It might look foolish to you, relying on Buddhas and spirits, but I just want to have your child soon..."
I'd have to take a principal wife eventually.
I'd put it off with all sorts of excuses so far, but there's a limit to that.
If I kept stalling, King Sejong might lament my lack of a proper wife and arrange one for me.
'I want to give Gyeol at least one son first.'
But thinking it over, that might not be feasible.
"I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize, my lord. It's my fault for not conceiving."
"We're both young and healthy, so it'll happen soon. No need to rush."
The mood was building toward that intimate moment, but something caught my eye.
Our house servant number one, Dol-soe, was nowhere to be seen.
He wasn't on vacation somewhere, so why was he missing?
"Where's Dol-soe, anyway?"
"Dol-soe drank unboiled water from the well near the house yesterday and got a stomachache. He's resting in his room now. Jang-dol Uncle said it's not life-threatening, so no need to worry... but I'm still concerned."
In the 21st century, almost no one dies from diarrhea, but in Joseon times, catching it could kill you quick.
If cholera hit Hanyang, thousands dying wouldn't be surprising.
Thinking about it, if Gyeol and I had a child and it caught some epidemic...
'It'd die young.'
Children can somehow survive losing parents, but parents carry the grief of losing a child forever.
In Joseon, parents burying children was so common that people had some immunity to the tragedy...
"Is Gap-seok here?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Call the nearest physician right now to check on Dol-soe. Get the best medicine no matter the cost and make him drink it."
Treating our house servants and slaves well is the same as protecting my property and safety.
They're not family, but lifelong employees you see every day—this much is only natural.
"I'm hungry. Let's eat first."
The night is long. To endure it well, stamina is essential.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Conversing with Gyeol last night brought many thoughts to mind.
Having lived in Joseon for over twenty years, I'd grown numb to hygiene.
I urged family and close ones to bathe daily and boil water before drinking whenever I got the chance...
But seeing dog poop rolling in the streets on my way to work barely fazed me anymore—I just accepted it as normal.
When well water looked cloudy with impurities, I'd say, 'The water's not clean, so boil it before drinking,' but the drive to investigate why the well was contaminated had faded long ago.
I'd become desensitized to hygiene while living in Joseon.
Put nicely, I'd adapted fully; objectively, I'd started accepting wrong things as normal.
"The streets are filthy."
Gap-seok tilted his head at my mutter.
Having lived only in Joseon, everything seemed normal to him—he couldn't grasp what I meant by "filthy."
In early modern Europe, people who sweated would just change sweat-soaked clothes without bathing, lacking the concept of washing their dirty bodies.
Those fools even firmly believed bathing weakened the body and caused illness.
"What do you think? Answer honestly."
Gap-seok hesitated, then replied.
"Isn't this pretty clean?"
"You really think these streets are clean?"
"I've been to places like Yangju or Gwacheon, a bit outside Hanyang, and their streets were far dirtier than here. So that's why I say this is clean."
"I see."
I spoke calmly, but inside I was seething.
First thing at work, I went straight to one of my direct superiors, the Assistant Minister of Defense.
"Assistant Minister, sir, I'd like to inspect the saltpeter production site. May I go for a bit?"
The assistant minister tilted his head at my words.
"The saltpeter works reek of something foul and poisonous. You're really set on going there?"
"Didn't the Minister of Defense say Joseon needs more gunpowder? I want to see the production process firsthand and check the technical level to find improvements."
"......I know you're talented, but..."
The assistant minister trailed off with a sigh.
"Fine. Even someone as capable as you wants a break sometimes, see other places. It's okay to detour elsewhere on the way, just don't linger too late."
He seemed to think I was using the hellish, stinking gunpowder site as an excuse to slack off and visit somewhere else... which wasn't unreasonable.
But I genuinely wanted to examine the gunpowder-making process closely.
And in doing so, I'd accidentally figure out how to make a 'niter bed.'
"Thank you, sir."