Taesan-dang and Bosan-dang
I hadn't sent a Gatong message to King Munjong for six days regarding Bosan-dang. Preventing maternal and infant deaths. I feared just how massive the butterfly effect of maternal and child health would be. Watching King Munjong crumble once more. The butterfly effect of his death terrified me even more. The latter scared me the most.
Maternal and child health is different from smallpox. This means transplanting a modern system straight into Joseon. The cost of that must be made prohibitively high. Spread only the bare essentials throughout Joseon, and turn the rest into a luxury reserved solely for the royal family.
I fired up my laptop and opened the World Health Organization's delivery guidelines. Designed for implementation even in the world's poorest countries, most of it was feasible in Joseon. I divided it into three main categories and organized the details: clean delivery, postpartum care, and infant management.
First came the delivery location. Joseon already had sanil rooms, but their purpose was different—considerations of feng shui and the five elements, isolation from impurities and foul qi. They protected mother and child from unclean spiritual energies but offered no shield against filthy pathogens.
If I just talk about delivery rooms, it could spread to the common folk.
I scaled it up. I named it Taesan-dang. A place equivalent to a modern maternity ward where mothers would give birth. The Taesan-yorok, a childbirth medical text, had already been published in King Sejong's time, so the name wouldn't feel alien to the people of Joseon. About 150 years later, King Seonjo would even establish the Sanil-cheong for the queen and crown princess consort.
With a secure site for clean deliveries in place, next was the health of the mother and newborn. I named it Bosan-dang. Like a modern postpartum care center, where mother and infant could recover. It would support maternal health, the mother's recuperation, and newborn care.
Princess Gyeonghye would deliver at Taesan-dang and then move to Bosan-dang for postpartum recovery.
Jujeongyeom. Something akin to modern ethanol disinfectant. Everyone entering Taesan-dang and Bosan-dang, along with all utensils and tools, would be disinfected with it. Joseon already distilled soju for small-batch liquor, so they could collect the clearest, strongest first-run distillate, redistill it, or age it long enough to remove off-flavors. Given the proof of soju, it could be used undiluted.
I also created the Sanmo-bosin-chejo. Pelvic mobility recovery with Mokhaeng, warm compresses to ease abdominal tension in Hwahaeng, core activation for the mother in Tohaeang, Kegel exercises as Geumhaeng, and low-load aquatic exercises for edema relief in Suhahaeng. My secret weapon was Suhahaeng. Fill a tub to shoulder height with lukewarm water up to the waist, and have the mother slowly walk forward and back three or four steps underwater.
Six days later, I sent a Gatong to King Munjong.
Your Highness, there are two major complications in childbirth. One is bleeding that won't stop, and the other is fever after delivery.
King Munjong fell silent. He was surely thinking of Queen Hyeondeok.
The birthing place must be immaculately clean. The mother must recover properly after birth, and the newborn's breathing must be closely monitored.
I spent nearly two hours explaining everything I'd organized. His questions extended the time.
"We'll establish Taesan-dang and Bosan-dang in Yangdeok-bang, where Princess Gyeonghye's residence is. I'll relay your instructions exactly to the court ladies."
Princess Gyeonghye's home was in the northern village of Yangdeok-bang. There had been a minor uproar when she moved out after marriage—demolishing houses to build it. When King Munjong sent men to check, they said only five households would be affected and proceeded anyway, but ultimately forty were razed.
Sahonbu Inspector Mun Yeoryang petitioned: "The day before, His Majesty inquired, 'I heard only a few houses in Yangdeok-bang would be demolished, so why do you say so many?' We ordered the ward officials to report the number: nineteen already torn down, fourteen more to go. The hardship of relocation is severe; the old houses should simply be repaired, and we cannot raze many more by claiming new land."
His Majesty replied, "Are there good or bad house sites in the capital? The fortunes of yin and yang cannot be fully trusted. But when building a house, one must choose clean land far from prisons and markets—how much more so when expending the nation's wealth? Do you think we should dwell without regard for good or ill?" [Abridged]
I was about to set down my phone when King Munjong added one more line. It meant they'd narrowed down candidates for the consort of the current 12-year-old Crown Prince Yi Hong-wi. The vast age difference for marriage from modern times left me at a loss for words.
Your Highness, may you find a fine daughter-in-law.
His Majesty personally selected maidens aged 8 to 15 in the inner hall, intending them as the Eastern Palace's consort.
Even after the Gatong with Doyun ended, King Munjong continued writing for a long while. Only at dawn did he set down his brush.
The Inner Medical Bureau would lead, with plans drawn up so that Hye-min-seo's court ladies understood how Taesan-dang and Bosan-dang would operate. The Office of Royal Provisions would produce the jujeongyeom and manage Bosan-dang's menu.
This is far more systematic than the Taesan-yorok that Father commissioned from No Jung-rye. Just what sort of man is Doyun?
King Munjong recalled the empty houses near Princess Gyeonghye's residence from last year.
Princess Gyeonghye is not my only child. The myriad people are my children.
He resolved to make Taesan-dang and Bosan-dang permanent institutions after Princess Gyeonghye delivered safely there. That was the moment Doyun's strategy to minimize the butterfly effect through high costs failed against King Munjong's executive power.
The next day, Yangdeok-bang buzzed with activity. Physicians from the Inner Medical Bureau and court ladies from Hye-min-seo came and went from the vacant houses. Officials from the Office of Royal Provisions appeared frequently. Northern villagers assumed a medical ward was being set up. But passersby caught whiffs of soju, which was odd.
A week later, Princess Gyeonghye gave birth to a daughter at Taesan-dang. Both mother and newborn were healthy. Three days after that, word came from Bosan-dang that the princess and baby showed no health issues.
The joy Doyun spoke of must also be shared outward.
From his chambers, King Munjong laughed aloud for the first time in ages and sent a Gatong to Doyun.
It was the tenth day since physiognomist Kim Nae-gyeong set up his stand in the Six Ministries district. Suddenly, he packed up and left.
That night, in a dark alley near Seochon, Kim Nae-gyeong met Kwon Ram.
"Among those coming and going to Gyeongbok Palace, two stood out. Two men who don't belong in Joseon."
Kwon Ram tensed. The Grand Prince's suspicions were right. There were intruders. Two of them.
"I tailed them without being spotted and noted their homes."
Kim Nae-gyeong led the way. It was a house in the same Seochon.
"This man doesn't fit Joseon. His body reeks of an aura unknown to this land."
Kwon Ram recognized the house. Jeon Sun-ui, the invisible one.
This time, Kim Nae-gyeong guided Kwon Ram to the northern village.
"This one doesn't suit Joseon soil either. There's but one king, yet a king's countenance resides here."
The blood drained from Kwon Ram's face. The place where Kwon Ram now stood was right in front of Prince Suyang's residence.