The Gongdan and the Hwaryeok Military Academy (1)
After the Daejeon Conference ended, the cry of "One Thousand Years" rang out across Hanyang and the entire country.
It was because the officials and soldiers received salaries three times higher than before. The people assumed they would no longer be plundered. Those who had survived by piecework were now flooded with work. Yet the cotton merchants looked grim. The finest silk exceeding ten thousand rolls had flooded the markets in one sudden release, causing cotton prices to plummet. But the farmers who grew cotton had suffered no loss. The price of cotton had risen without end and then fallen, yet the price they sold their cotton for had not changed at all. In their place, the faces of the women in poor homes, who had thought ragged clothes and silk garments were beyond reach, twisted with envy. The husbands could only die of frustration.
“Father, please make me one set of clothes too. It’s fine if the belly button shows, but I was laughed at for it.”
“Husband, come here. I have something to say.”
The family, finally able to eat and survive, made demands for clothes like everyone else with the new cotton and silk. The husbands had to find additional work. Fortunately, it had once meant being dragged to the government office for free labor, but the king’s decree that “work must be paid” had brought in extra income. Thanks to this, the pockets of the porters traveling between the government offices and the provinces grew fuller by the day.
Yi Yeon asked his older brother on the way to Changdeokgung, “Hyung, why didn’t you bring them?”
“I told him to settle in and report formally, so he did as I said.”
“Well done. But are you satisfied?”
“Yes. The water and pasture are abundant there, and the horses and cows love the beans and barley. It suits him very much.”
Yi Yeon ordered his older brother’s Oirat koid tribe sent to Yangdeok in Pyeongando. It was a crossroads between Hamgyeongdo and Hwanghaedo, and a place long known for livestock. The nomads would be comfortable there.
“However, there is one worry,” he added.
“Is it the tiger?”
“You know about it?”
“I hear them howling from Inwangsan every night lately. So I’m preparing to sweep them all away.”
“Did something really happen?”
Yi Yeon smiled quietly and nodded instead of answering. He recalled his ancestor’s mother saying that a tiger could never reach the sleeping older brother. But he had no desire to tease him about it. He did not know if the sensitive temperament might have been hurt.
Upon arriving at Changdeokgung, Yi Yeon saw the thickest ham better than a forearm and took out the silver hilt dagger inlaid with gold thread on black lacquer, sliced off a piece, and tasted it. His older brother cried out in shock.
“Your Highness! That’s what beasts eat!”
“I know. It’s sweet. Hyung, would you like a taste too?”
His older brother pressed his lips shut and shook his head. He had already tasted Heo Jun’s gift and regretted it for the bitterness. Yi Yeon sliced another piece and ate.
“From now on you will eat this often.”
“No way?”
“Do you know what Sin-gan-chae is?”
His older brother shook his head that he did not.
“Then what about Danggwi?”
“Is that a medicinal herb?”
“Exactly. The leaf of Danggwi is Sin-gan-chae. This is a similar Gan-chae called Sattanmu.”
“Eh?”
His older brother looked back and forth between the Sattanmu and Yi Yeon in disbelief. In truth, Yi Yeon himself found it hard to believe. He had heard that the settled nomads were cultivating Sattanmu for animal feed, but he had only ordered it fetched out of hope, not certainty. Yet Heo Jun had brought it. When he saw the Oirats slicing the huge root for horse and cow feed, Yi Yeon suspected it might not be the Sattanmu the king had spoken of, but tasting it himself he was certain. The Sattanmu brought was enormous and released both bitterness and sweetness.
“Hyung, I know how to make candy from this Sattanmu. Will you operate this too?”
“Truly?”
“Of course. I brought fat chickens and pigs. We must reward them.”
“Your virtue is boundless, Your Highness.”
His older brother prostrated himself flat. He knew candy was priceless.
Yi Yeon shook his head and lifted his brother’s shoulder. “No more of this from now on. And I am the more grateful. How much hardship did you suffer to fetch this?”
“No. Not much.”
His older brother smiled brightly, as if nothing had happened. But his eyes were wet. The journey to the Ming envoy had been his greatest trial in life. Hence the sorrow that welled up now. Yi Yeon sighed inwardly and vowed never to send him out again. His older brother’s body and heart were far too fragile.
Yi Yeon turned his head to find Kim Yang-bo. The eunuch was watching them from a distance. Seeing the king and the great army in such a warm conversation eased his own heart. Yi Yeon called him.
“Yang-bo?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Contact the military academy and tell them to plant these Sattanmu on a massive scale in the north, and send these chickens and pigs to Inghwado to breed and then distribute them.”
“As you command, Your Highness.”
“You will see for yourself that these chickens and pigs will become precious food for the people of this land. Raise them carefully and do not make mistakes.”
“I will remember, Your Highness.”
Yi Yeon looked up at the clear autumn sky and spread his chest wide. “At last, I will not have to worry about food…” The pigs brought from the Ming were several times larger than Joseon pigs, and the chickens were incomparably gigantic. “Then let’s clean up Hanyang first.” Everyone expected a bumper harvest this year too. The humid, hot, and sultry weather had promoted growth of all crops, not just rice. And with the abolition of unpaid corvée, the people would surely plan to play hard after the harvest. “That won’t do.” They were only just beginning to settle and grow. They must not develop a taste for eating, drinking, and playing. Yi Yeon resolved to push forward the preparations he had made. “What a good name?” Hanyang, the capital of Joseon, was divided into five administrative districts centered on Gyeongbokgung: central, eastern, western, southern, and northern. Outside the central district where the main offices stood, narrow alleys wound between thatched houses. To Yi Yeon they looked like slums. So he planned to clear everything and renew it. But first he must prepare a place for the current residents to move to. “Otherwise great confusion would arise.” Therefore he decided to build a commercial square on the outskirts of Hanyang with commercial focus, round zones around it, and relocate the people there. Then, after moving the people, renovating inside the walls would cause no trouble. It could not be called East-yoram or West-yoram like the knowledge warehouse being built around Yeonhui Palace. “Yoram” meant “swinging basket,” after all. “Naming is never easy.” With the king’s memories, almost no unknown characters existed, yet creating new names from them was difficult. “Town” would not do either. It would not convey meaning easily to the people. That was why he was teaching the alphabet and English words to the military academy. Even if technical documents leaked, no one could understand them, let alone their meaning.
Yi Yeon stopped in his tracks as he prepared to leave Changdeokgung. He noticed the hill to the south. Beyond the hill, along the gentle hills, lay Jongmyo, and below it was remembered as Jongmyo Square Park. “After watching the movie, I rested there and went to eat chicken noodle soup.” An distant memory, but the first date he had ever had left a vivid impression. “Then the ‘Gong’ in Gongwon meant equality.” Stephen’s words also came to mind. “For coastal towns, ships are fine, but what about inland towns?” “What’s so hard? Just build towns and connect them with railways.” “For efficient management of vast regions, establish hub towns and connect the towns with railways.” “Towns…”
“Gongdan?” Yi Yeon muttered after thinking it through. His older brother asked, “Your Highness, what does gongdan mean?”
“I plan to build clusters where all people can live equally.” Yi Yeon answered hurriedly. His older brother asked again in surprise. “What about the government offices and provincial offices?” “Aren’t those commercial facilities?” “Ah, I understand. Not just commercial, but places where the people can live.” “Exactly.” Yi Yeon smiled. He was grateful for the older brother’s quick interpretation. “I will build such places first outside Hanyang, move the people inside the walls, then renovate inside.” “Your Highness is truly a wise king. Always thinking of the people first, just like King Sejong who is called the Great King among kings.” His older brother laughed heartily, though he did not know what pleased him. Then he asked, “Your Highness, which place will you build the gongdan first?” “The closest, of course. Then the people of Hanyang and the merchants coming and going will have easy access. Do you have any thoughts?” “Um… if it’s near Hanyang, it must be within the city ten li. So among the areas with gold markers, the flat ones would be best. The areas with gold markers are uninhabited forests, so we can cut the trees there to build the gongdan.” The current population of Hanyang was about 150,000. Of those, about 140,000 lived inside the city walls. The city ten li from the city walls was called the city ten li, and two commanderies managed it, yet only about 10,000 people lived outside. The reason was that useless stones and tree roots were not dug up because gold markers had been placed everywhere, supposedly to avoid harming the capital’s scenery. But another reason existed. The gold-marker areas had been hunting and leisure grounds for the royal family and nobles, blocking commoners’ access. That was why Yi Yeon had asked his older brother instead of speaking his own thoughts. “Is it okay?” “Your Highness is doing it for the people. Who would dare oppose? These days even the princes and officials say they do not hunt there, so it can be done.” In the ten li areas, raising chickens had produced tigers that were not as terrifying as real ones, but leopards, smaller wild beasts, appeared often. So no one went there anymore, and Yi Yeon had planned to clear the wild beasts. No one had lost their life to a wild beast yet, but news that they had been chased and injured came often. “Then Hyung, please tell the princes. I will persuade the officials.” “As you command, Your Highness. If you entrust it to me, even the officials will follow, not just the princes.” Yi Yeon asked his active older brother, different from before, out of curiosity. “What happened in the Ming?” “Nothing happened. No such thing. Only many things were felt on the way there and back. We were frogs in a well.” “Ah…” Yi Yeon nodded. He himself had widened his worldview by traveling the world. “Hyung has grown a lot.” The ministers were also acting actively, different from before. It was not just because salaries were doubled or high-quality silk gifts given. “Hope was born that it could be done.” He had heard the king’s proud demeanor in trading with the Ming envoy and their words of regret. Also, rumors that anyone could become an expert in a few days circulated. That was why the ministers acted boldly, without fear. “No need to worry about sinocracy.” One of the things he had worried about most, but it seemed unnecessary. The ministers walked briskly in their clean, glossy silk robes.
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Note) This map was created based on a free map to assist understanding of Hanyang-bu and the city ten li.