The Record of the Golden Water Meeting (2)
They say that Pyongyang’s spring is so magnificent that it is called “Miltae Sangchun,” but now all life is bidding farewell to the blessings of the past year and entering hibernation in the autumn.
Here, like snowflakes drifting in the wind, I stand beneath Eulmildae on a snow-white horse draped in a red robe, with a common hat of the common people perched on my head. It is as if I have stepped into one of those paintings.
“The scenery is magnificent.”
The spring, where the breath of life warmly stirs, was a place I had never visited, and it was deeply regrettable. But for me and the Alliance Association members, we were able to witness for a moment the vibrant scene of Pyongyang with its completely different character.
“Master, look over there...!”
The vanguard member, who first spotted something hanging on Eulmildae in the distance, opened his mouth wide and pointed with his finger, chattering.
When I turned my gaze to the tip of his finger, there
“The people of Pyongyang sincerely welcome the visit of Mr. U-nam!”
It was a banner. An extremely large and magnificent banner.
Starting with the enormous banner crafted from finely woven jade-like beads, as we passed the representative scenery of Pyongyang, Eulmildae, countless crowds gathered densely along both sides of the streets, cheering our entry.
“Mr. U-nam!”
“Long live! Long live! Long live!”
“Alliance Association! Alliance Association!”
People. Full of people. The world.
“Whoa...!”
“In the world.”
In the fervent welcome of the Pyongyang citizens, none of us Alliance Association members dared to remove our lips.
“Uhm!”
“Long live the Three Principles of the People!”
Overwhelmed by the most intense and passionate welcome ceremony we had never received in any previous city, we were unable to speak for a while. Choe Ik-hyun, who was running alongside me at the front, his wrinkled eyes even seemed to have tears glistening.
Choe Ik-hyun muttered.
“Since I have seen such a sight in my lifetime, what is there left for this old body to regret...?”
“Please follow slowly. I will go ahead.”
Considering the old man’s wiping of dust from his sleeve, I kicked the horse’s belly and entered Pyongyang’s North Gate.
I removed the hat on my head with one hand and greeted the Pyongyang citizens.
“Citizens of Pyongyang!”
A hot feeling surged in my chest, echoing from beneath Eulmildae.
I unleashed all the emotions existing within me with all my might.
“It is a pleasure to meet you! I am Lee Seung-man, a boy!”
When I greeted them, the citizens who occupied the left and right sides of the street poured into the Alliance Association formation with cheers.
“Welcome! Welcome!”
Some grabbed my sleeve, others came to see the Vanguard members in their red armbands, the symbol of the Alliance Association.
Nevertheless, the majority of citizens, respecting the formed line, did their best not to completely block our path.
At that moment, Kim Gae-nam shouted.
“Everyone, focus! Prioritize the safety of the President!”
The Vanguard members, whose shoulders puffed up along with the Pyongyang citizens cheering around them, pretending to be solemn, like soldiers, scolded their subordinates harshly to maintain military discipline.
Was this sight even more captivating to the eyes of the Pyongyang citizens? The representatives of various industrialists, merchants, and influential figures, including the Pyongyang prefectural officials and Song Sang, came all the way from far away, and our Alliance Association was trapped in the welcoming crowd, unable to move an inch.
“Make way! Make way! I am Lim Chan-seong, the prefectural official of Pyongyang... You bastards, get out of the way...!”
Finally, the Pyongyang prefectural official, who had burst out with a good day and good atmosphere, barely pushed through the crowd and came in front of me, introducing himself politely.
“...Hoo! I am Lim Chan-seong, the prefectural official of Pyongyang. Hey! There, there in front! Yes! Open the way right away! The highest celebrity has come, what kind of strange sight is this! Are you Pyongyang’s military guards or what!”
Adjusting his twisted official hat and robe in the crowd, he bowed deeply and sternly ordered the Pyongyang military soldiers to open the way immediately.
I stopped him in front of the people and greeted him.
“I am fine, sir. I am Lee Seung-man of U-nam. I am sincerely grateful for the grand welcome of the Pyongyang Prefecture.”
When I said I was fine, Lim Chan-seong and the Pyongyang prefectural officials felt awkward and replied.
“Hmph, we are the ones who truly appreciate that such a great celebrity like yourself has visited Pyongyang. The gratitude is from the prefecture. Will you come with us?”
“Can I pass through Pyongyang, the greatest city in Joseon? Ah, could you wait for a moment before that?”
“Uhn?”
With that, I left the Pyongyang prefectural officials who were making expressions of “why?” behind and leaped onto the snow-white horse I was riding.
“Whoa!”
With almost acrobatic athleticism, I stood upright on the horse with both legs, spreading my arms wide, embracing the welcoming crowds with my whole body, and shouted in a serious voice.
“Citizens of Pyongyang!”
The sound of my voice echoed, and instantly the center of Pyongyang, beneath Eulmildae, fell silent. They had probably heard my voice that likes to speak on the spot from far away.
In the center of Pyongyang where not a single breath could be heard, I pondered deeply in my heart. What words should I say to these people? What words would they listen to and welcome me with?
“What is the value of Pyongyang in this era?”
Pyongyang is different from other cities in Joseon. This city is a prosperous trading city. Yes, their pride. It would be good if they had pride.
“Respected Confucian scholars of Pyongyang! And the entrepreneurs who have devoted their lives to building the wealth of Joseon! And the industrial backbone supporting them!”
Pyongyang was the most unique city in Joseon. Another world.
In the traditional system of Joseon that relatively undervalues commerce, due to numerous debates, political conflicts, and geographical peculiarities, commerce developed in a balanced manner for a long time, creating a magical city where even those born and raised here are made to engage in trade.
Then, in this city of Pyongyang, would only the middle class engaged in commerce and the wealthy yangban families who acted as hosts in Jeonju exist?
The answer is no.
“Workers. There would be plenty of workers, the backbone of the city.”
I focused on these people.
But, that does not mean I am trying to instill the spirit of class struggle in them.
It is to plant a common enemy that they must confront in tandem with class harmony. We had nothing to fight among ourselves.
What would we take from fighting among the poor on the land of the poor?
“Workers! And entrepreneurs! Someone said. Wealth flows along the inherited curse, and to realize the blessings of this life, one must not have committed sins in the previous life and accumulated virtues! If not, it is your fault for being unfortunate! How dare such words be justified!”
When I shouted, the people listened attentively.
From the pedantic scholars to the merchants fluent in literature, to the illiterate day laborers. All ears of the city focused on my voice.
“Do not listen! Do not trust! It is the sinister scheme of some scammers who steal your just wealth with evil lies! The deception of false claimants who want to silently steal your precious property built from the sweat and blood of painful labor, the property you nurtured to protect your family! It is the trick of liars who want to steal without a sound!”
When I vented my anger, the Pyongyang citizens murmured and gradually began to agree.
This city was wealthy, but it did not sufficiently provide for its own wealth. What kind of contradiction is this?
“Of course. Generally, when a city with a lot of money is called Seonggyeong, it has long since fallen into the status of a purse that fills the empty granaries of Hanseong.”
Yes. The treatment of Pyongyang, the greatest city in Joseon, has always been like this. If they worked hard to build their wealth, the bastards from Hanseong would take it away with various excuses. The repetition of this history is roughly five hundred years. When Taejo proclaimed the founding of the nation and the establishment of the royal road on this land, their just property, the sacred right of private property, was not respected — it was an atrocity in itself.
I started pouring firewood on them, venting my full anger.
“You have a common enemy! Scholars diligently studying to make the world more peaceful! The merchants selling ginseng far to the north! Even the itinerant peddlers wandering the country! Anyone working as a servant! Even the butchers scraping leather! You have enemies! You have enemies!”
For the people of Pyongyang, the discrimination against the northwest is just a topic that hurts the mouth to talk about.
Until the time when relatively equal and just Daewonwi Hapha came, the discrimination against the northwest was nothing more than a trivial common sense known even to three-year-old children in the neighborhood, without needing explanation.
From the property stolen at any time and public discrimination, this city has endured unfair treatment for a long time.
“Your enemy! Do you know who that is!”
And that enemy was the pro-Qing traitors who relied on their own consciousness to the Qing Dynasty, the nationalists who betrayed the nation, the corrupt officials, and the greedy bureaucrats, which the people did not know.
The Vanguard members wearing red armbands gradually gathered around me. These sturdy-looking ones had a similar spirit that shone even in the worsening atmosphere.
The eyes of the red storm began to gather inside Pyongyang Castle.
“National traitors! Pro-Qing traitors who sold the five hundred years of this country’s service! We must unite! We must combine our strength! If your enemies want to steal your family and property, shouldn’t you join your neighbors with your clubs to drive them out!”
“From yangban, illegitimate children, butchers, merchants, middle class, farmers, servants to...! Turn your head and look at the face of your kind neighbor. And recall the greedy Manchus lurking in that fortress and the dogs burrowing in their butts causing mischief! We must confront each other! Until when? Until death takes our rest!”
With my voice raised to the point that my whole body trembled, I leaned on the back of the horse at the end and raised my head, extending my right hand to the sky as if piercing it and shouted.
“You cursed ones of the earth, confront boldly! Confront your neighbors bravely!”
After I had exhausted myself and collapsed on the horse, various emotions of people’s tears, joy, and anger were transmitted to me along with the cheers that came shortly after.
Leaving those Pyongyang citizens behind, I was heading to Pyongyang’s prefectural office, nestled in the arms of the Vanguard members, and muttered to myself.
“Confront boldly. Do not kneel on your knees. Boldly.”
I believed.
The sturdy-spirited Pyongyang citizens would definitely do so.
Descendants of Goguryeo who had been running on the Manchu plains slept here.
Those who had gathered the most diverse human figures would be the future of the Korean people of this country.
*****
Having given an intense speech on the spot did not completely exhaust me, nor did it cause the tragedy of delaying that day’s schedule.
Having departed from Namwon, passing through Jeonju, Naju, Gongju, Boeun and other major towns, I, who had trained myself, had long since boasted of steel-like durability.
After taking a breath, and having roughly greeted the Pyongyang governor and the managers of the prefectural office in the meantime, I faced the next guests, the representatives of the Pyeong’an Province landlords and industrialists, one by one.
“The revision of the Qing trade regulations and the damage from northward voyages is at a level that cannot be explained in words.”
“Our products and goods are generally inferior in quality compared to those of China, and among them, those that can become money are restricted in quantity by the country or monopolized entirely with superior goods!”
“And while Pyongyang has been a place of loyalty and righteousness since ancient times, they demand that we bear the hardship of the country’s affairs without any compensation.”
Many of the industrialists and merchants in the Daedong River area who engaged in trade or acted as innkeepers complained to me about the Qing merchants and overseas Chinese gradually entering the interior and becoming competitors, slowly eroding the market.
“The trade regulations are the most decisive failure that has caused harm to the people of this country’s government. If you join the Alliance Association and are with this person, I will boldly promise. There will be no more unfair damage and atrocity that the industrialists of this country bear!”
And I actively encouraged these people to join the and . If they actively support me like the , they can take the just compensation they want, I promised while saying.
“The Pyongyang citizens are deeply immersed in strange religions. From Donghak to the Christians, not to mention Buddhism and shamanism, many people are immersed in the heretical teachings that deceive the ignorant, not even knowing their own children and parents.”
“Do not worry. We, the Alliance Association, will handle such evils and superstitions the best. We will thoroughly crush them so that they cannot come out into the open anymore, uprooting them from the roots.”
When the country was in crisis, the wealthy and influential people of Pyongyang, who could not sleep because of the rampant various sinister religious groups including Donghak, joined the Alliance Association with a sigh of relief on my promise.
Moreover, the Alliance Association was gradually expanding its base beyond just a meeting place, to the purpose of building communities or connections between regions, and was also playing a role in pulling out the scholars of Pyongyang who were trapped in the northwest out into the world.
Next were the butchers.
“I have no special emotion about the world that disregards people like me, lowly butchers. However, if there is one lifelong wish, even if I have money, it is really difficult to buy a book for my child and teach them to read even one line. The heart of a parent is to let my child live in a slightly better world, and how can there be no way for such lowly butchers?”
A middle-aged man who came in front of me, hiding his own son behind him among the landlords and influential figures of Pyongyang and famous merchants, knelt and wailed, and some managers from Pyongyang’s prefectural office looked bewildered.
Before someone among them gestured to bring those guys out, I stood up from my seat, took the hand of the butcher, and said loudly.
“Where is there a shame in learning and where is there nobility! Your struggling to teach your child academics is truly the manifestation of virtue! The meaning of loyalty and filial piety is not in the mere classics, and since you practice it yourself, this speaker is really ashamed!”
Having shouted that, I looked up at Choe Ik-hyun who was on the floor. Then, the greatest figure of the Confucian literati nodded his head and supported me.
“Mr. U-nam’s words are a hundred times right. Where is there a butchers and yangban in learning and practice? The words of the sages are all students before the classics that have been copied.”
Then, everyone in the prefectural office was surprised. Those who were not surprised were only the Alliance Association members who had been with us, traveling around the country.
To these people, I solemnly declared.
“Before I leave Pyongyang, I would be truly happy if the highest families and honored figures of Pyongyang built an academy for these people. It is important to memorize the classics, but it is also important to practice the words of the sages, is it not?”
One of the representatives of Song Sang bowed deeply and promised.
“...We will do so.”
“We will also select a teacher for the academy.”
“Thank you.”
After making the promises with the literati, the father of the butcher shed tears of joy and disappeared with his child in his arms.
Thus, the first day in Pyongyang passed.