Germination and Growth (9)
King Yi Yeon returned to Gyeongbokgung Palace with two pieces of news. One was a joyous report that his elder brother had returned to Joseon, and the other was the shocking news that Unseonggun Yi Su-cheol had killed the people.
Yi Yeon immediately summoned Minister of Justice Kim Gae to the Myuncheonjeon Hall.
“What in the world happened?” he asked.
“That… it’s…”
Kim Gae stumbled over his words. Yi Yeon let out a silent chuckle to himself.
‘Damn it!’
He sensed that this was no ordinary matter. Otherwise, the minister would not be hesitating like this.
Yi Yeon repeated his careful question. “Whether you know what’s going on or not, tell me everything exactly as it happened. That way I can make an accurate judgment.”
“I obey, Your Majesty.”
Yi Yeon listened, then finally could not hold back and shouted.
“What kind of crazy bastard is this?!”
The king’s curse made Kim Gae flinch and quickly lower his head. But then another curse came.
“Fuck! What’s lacking that he did such a thing!”
Yi Yeon was boiling with anger. He had spent a night at the creek on Ganghwado, checking the development of weapons to protect Joseon’s future. His elder brother had spent countless nights on the road searching for a plague beast to save the people of Joseon. Yet a royal relative who did nothing but play around had killed innocent people. He had beaten to death the father of the child he was trying to rape.
In King Seonjo’s memory, Unseonggun Yi Su-cheol had been a famous figure. When he was the governor of Uiju, he had reported to the court that he caught Gang Won-jeong and Han On. It turned out they were soldiers Yoon Hui-jeong and Yoon Se-gong from Haeju. The blind-eyed Yi Su-cheol had tortured them, bribed them, and forced false confessions.
‘To punish this kind of bastard with only dismissal… I can’t understand it.’
Yi Yeon could not believe it. The crime of deceiving the king should have been punished more severely, but the penalty was too light.
‘That’s why he keeps doing this. Since he’s a royal relative, I suppose that’s why he did it. But if I think about the future, I must punish him harshly this time. So that the word “kingdom of rape” will never appear again.’
“Where is he now?”
“I heard he is staying at his residence reflecting on his sins.”
“What? He killed someone and is staying home?”
“Unseonggun could not kill him himself, so he had no choice but to order others to do it.”
“Arrest him immediately.”
“What?”
“Ordering someone to be killed is a greater crime than killing him yourself. Therefore, arrest Unseonggun and everyone who received his order—those who beat and killed innocent people.”
“I obey, Your Majesty.”
Kim Gae led the officers of the Uigeumbu and rushed straight to Yi Su-cheol’s residence. Even though he was a distant relative, as a royal prince holding the title of gun he could not lay a hand on him. But that reason was gone now. The strict royal decree had been issued.
After Kim Gae left, Yi Yeon tried to suppress the rising fury by gulping down water from a large dish.
“Fuck!”
The anger still had not cooled. The fact that a worthless noble had killed an innocent child and yet was locked up at his own house was disgusting.
Yi Yeon took out the letter his elder brother had sent and read it. It was scorching hot outside as summer was about to begin, so he had intended to read it at the cool Gyeonghui Pavilion, but he gave up. It was not the right time now.
He nodded as he read. Then he clenched his fist.
“Done!”
Heo Jun had successfully cultured the brain abscess bacteria in eggs.
‘That’s why it arrived so late. He was afraid the cultured egg might get contaminated, so he replaced the egg every five days.’
There was another piece of news.
‘Orates? What kind of Orates?’
Yi Yeon had heard the name Orates before. He did not recall which tribe it was, but he remembered that they lived at the western end of the Silk Road.
‘And they were brought here to Joseon?’
Now it made sense. That was why Heo Jun had been able to find a plague beast infected with the brain abscess bacteria.
‘It might have come from the West.’
Yi Yeon thought he had gotten lucky. He had given up on finding one in the Great Ming, but then he had met a nomad from the Western Regions. He immediately summoned Kim Yang-bo.
“Yang-bo?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Immediately inspect the medical storage.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Thoroughly check for any contamination. If you find any, clean it with vinegar and replace it with new ice. Understood?”
“I shall remember, Your Majesty.”
The inner ice storage held only palace ice. The outer ice storage held only ice for the ancestral shrine. But the second storage, the external ice storage, was for ice to be shared with patients and prisoners—and it was the largest. That was why a special medical ice storage had been built beside it. It was where the eggs cultured with the brain abscess bacteria would be kept.
Yi Yeon had studied biochemistry, so he knew the brain abscess virus was relatively resistant to environmental changes and could survive for a long time. Still, he could not be fully at ease.
‘I had them vaccinated against smallpox, but I don’t want them catching other diseases.’
He decided to store the cultured bacteria in the cool medical ice storage and administer the smallpox vaccination. But time had passed and the weather had heated up, so he needed to check the storage again.
* * *
Yi Su-cheol, now a prisoner of the Uigeumbu, was lazily sitting on the trial frame. Even though the Uigeumbu was for interrogating those who committed heinous crimes against the royal family, he showed no sign of tension. He still had hope that he was a royal relative.
That was why the subordinates and servants he had brought along were chatting and laughing together.
“His Majesty the King has arrived!”
With the announcement of the chief eunuch, Yi Yeon appeared.
‘So this is the bastard.’
Yi Su-cheol looked at him with desperate eyes, as if begging to be released. Yi Yeon sat down and tapped the armrest with his finger while carefully watching each one.
‘They brought a lot.’
Seventeen men in total.
‘With a bunch like that leading them, there’s nothing to be afraid of in this world.’
Among them were agile thugs who looked like killers, and burly men who looked like wrestlers. When Yi Yeon raised his hand, Kim Gae came forward and bowed.
“Have you interrogated them for their crimes?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“What?”
“There is no need to interrogate them. The crime happened in broad daylight, so there are many witnesses.”
“Still, we should confirm….”
Yi Yeon stared at Yi Su-cheol.
“You bastard! Your crime is something you yourself reported!”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I made a huge mistake.”
“Hmph! How can I call you my subject? Don’t even think of saying that nonsense!”
“What?”
Yi Su-cheol’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected turn of events. If he said no, he could be beaten even though he was a royal relative, so he confessed to his mistake.
Then he should have nodded and said the punishment would be lenient. But that was not what happened.
“It seems you don’t even know your own crime?”
“No, Your Majesty. I know.”
“You know it’s a crime worthy of death?”
“T-that… that’s not it. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Did I not order you to kill him?”
Yi Su-cheol shook his head vigorously in fear. He had tried to admit the crime lightly and say “Since I committed a crime worthy of death, please execute me.” But he knew it was for real.
“There was no such thing.”
“Then who killed him?”
“The men behind me.”
“The men behind you?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Then who are they?”
“I don’t know them.”
“What?”
“Ah, no. They are guests and servants who live in my house.”
“Yet those men did not take your orders and still killed innocent people?”
“Y-yes. That is correct.”
“You ordered them to kill him, right?”
“N-no…”
“You did not order it.”
“No, I…”
Yi Yeon kept questioning without pause. Yi Su-cheol had no coherent answer.
On the way, Yi Yeon had decided not to torture anyone.
‘If they die, I won’t be able to interrogate them.’
“Minister, listen!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Tell me exactly what the bastard and his subordinates did.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kim Gae read out the details from the report.
Yi Su-cheol licked his dry lips. The subordinates and servants were at a loss and only looked at their master. When Kim Gae finished, Yi Yeon stood up and walked while speaking.
“The royal secretary will listen carefully, summarize the content, and distribute it throughout the eight provinces.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The royal secretary, who was in charge of the left side of the hall, hurriedly pulled out paper and a brush. Unlike the court historians, he had already broken his brush tip while writing. He was panicking. The court historian took out a new pencil from his sleeve and handed it to the secretary. Now even the historians used pencils. With a pencil you could write faster and erase mistakes.
Yi Yeon continued walking.
“The correlation system means only those who are related to the crime will be punished. But it also means that if there is any relation, punishment must follow. Therefore, no one involved in this case will be shown mercy.”
Yi Yeon stopped in front of the man who had beaten people to death.
“This man killed innocent people until the very end. Execute him the same way.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“This man and that man held innocent people down and suppressed them with force. Send them deep into the mines to live in lifelong suppression and repent for their crimes.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And all the others will be sent to the mines. Although they followed their master’s orders, from what I hear they did this many times. Therefore, they will work until they truly repent.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
While the subordinates and servants shouted to be spared, Yi Yeon moved in front of Yi Su-cheol.
“And this man….”
“Your Majesty, please spare me!”
“For ordering the killing of people and trying to rape a child, I will castrate you so you will never do such things again.”
“A-actually, I didn’t rape anyone!”
Yi Yeon smirked.
“Then cut off half. After that, send him to the mines.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Sobs filled the entire place as Yi Yeon returned to his seat.
“Listen!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Kim Gae and the Uigeumbu officers knelt on one knee and shouted loudly.
“Although it was an attempt, the victim was a young girl, so the crime is unforgivable. From his property, seize sixty bushels of rice to compensate the child so he can live.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Also, compensate the child’s mother who lost her husband with the same amount.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yi Yeon had applied the principle of “an eye for an eye.” And he added punitive confiscation.
“Finally, I will say this: if such a crime happens again, punish exactly as now. If anyone tries to misuse this to frame others, punish them even more severely. Understood?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yi Yeon left the Uigeumbu right away, having decided that false accusation was even worse. He did not want to hear begging for mercy.
‘I didn’t torture anyone and spared everyone except one. What am I supposed to do about it?’
* * *
The news spread quickly throughout the eight provinces. The strict royal decree meant the secretaries did not delay. They summarized everything, printed it on official paper, and sent it out immediately. Although it was still incomplete, the roads were long and the couriers were ready, so within three days the notices could reach every office in the provinces.
People crowded in front of the offices, read the notices, and started talking.
“Hey, what does this mean?”
“It means that from now on, if you rape, you’ll be castrated no matter your status.”
“What?”
“Look at this.”
“Oh my!”
“If you don’t want to be castrated, guard women well.”
“Is it true?”
“It’s true.”
“Amazing.”
“Why? Are you scared?”
“What would I be scared of? My only wife is hard enough to guard.”
“But why are you so surprised?”
“It’s instinct, being a man.”
The people who learned the news cheered loudly. There was no house without a woman, so men as well as women supported the young king’s judgment.
“This king is truly great.”
“A sage king.”
“Right. He first removed the millet shortage, and now he’s wiped out all the bastards in heat.”
“Now our good girls can finally relax. I was always worried they were too pretty.”
But there were also those who did not cheer. The scoundrels.
“What are you worried about?”
“I don’t know how to live in the future.”
“Why?”
“There’s no way out.”
“Just go to the brothel.”
“I don’t have money for the brothel.”
“Then earn some.”
“How?”
“I heard the upper class is recruiting many people.”
“To do business?”
“They said they need money.”
“Still, I can’t do that kind of thing.”
“Then join the Hwaryeokgun.”
“I was already thinking of that.”
When Yi Yeon attached the notice, he also included one about recruiting for the Hwaryeokgun. Gold was being mined at Unsan, and the amount was beyond imagination, and there might be problems at the borders.