Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: As the Gods Desire (1)
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After Shin Chiun shouted about salted fermented shrimp from the heart of the Royal Guard Bureau and was dragged away again, the air in the capital felt free of any rebellious vibes. The common folk were still whispering among themselves, but no more seditious posters appeared.
'Time to get back to my own business.'
The current situation wasn't easy.
The fourth mandatory goal was to acquire at least ten Akama Gaeshi inkstones. And so far, I'd gotten just one.
Just in case, I'd pulled strings with the government troops raiding Yi Ha-jing's house to snag any inkstones they found, but it was all for nothing.
The Japanese route wasn't looking good either.
Park Sang-sun, the NTR interpreter handling my business on Ulleungdo and Uljin, came rushing up in a panic.
"The Matsuura clan says they've driven out all the Haarlem folk from Nagasaki as punishment for invading Joseon's borders. Because of that, oversight on goods for export has gotten really strict, so for the time being, we can't even set sail, let alone get any inkstones."
"Why would the Japanese chase them out? Aren't these sly bastards just lying to jack up the prices?"
Since when did Japan care about Joseon's feelings? Every time the communication envoys visited, they paraded them as Joseon's tribute bearers.
Park Sang-sun gave me a dead-eyed stare for a moment (seemed like he was blaming me for his sins, but whatever) and shook his head.
"Doesn't seem like it. The small-time smugglers trading quietly in Gyeongsang Province are all moping too, saying the Japanese ships just stopped coming."
These pathetic losers—what do smugglers do when they're scared of government crackdowns? Starve?
This was putting a wrench even in my side goals. They'd be clamping down hard on foreign ships now.
Anyway, those damn Hyungcham Party bastards were ruining everything.
The Jangdong Kim clan ledgers were starting to look ugly too.
We had costs to maintain the Ulleungdo base without the illicit trade income, plus a hefty sum spent evacuating my wife's family. And toys hadn't sold well amid the wartime chaos.
I needed to pioneer new ventures.
As a father of two, and as the head responsible for countless employees.
First, I picked out a few low-level rebel grunts from those nabbed in the uprising whom the higher-ups wouldn't care about.
Then, through Samhwadang's Chunsik Express still operating in Chungcheong Province, I sent registered mail.
'Hello, this is the Joseon Prosecutor's Office. Your warehouse was used in high treason, so please safely transfer everything to the national account we'll provide...'
Most of the provincial rebels had been rounded up by the Training Command. Slipping away minor criminals like these was no big deal.
In exchange for sparing them brutal torture, I took all their assets.
The problem was they were literal grunts with barely any wealth.
Redistributing wealth means taking from the rich, after all.
I plugged the urgent holes with what I got and moved to Phase 2.
The captured Dutch prisoners from Gustav Willem's ship hadn't died yet.
Officially, it was because moral Joseon couldn't casually execute foreigners from afar. In reality, they needed men to extract ship structures and operations knowledge, just like with the previous De Vries incident.
But from Joseon's view, plenty of them were useless brute laborers.
In a grain-scarce land like Joseon, the idea (Kim Unhaeng's) of chopping heads quick to cut food costs gained traction.
And distinguishing rice-wasters from the rest fell to Joseon's sole Dutch expert, Kim Unhaeng.
Kim Unhaeng gathered the Dutch prisoners with bound arms before a sword.
He'd originally called Judge of the Royal Guard Bureau Hong Sang-han to observe, but Hong suddenly left with a few Chunsik armors to re-interrogate Shin Chiun, so Kim Unhaeng proceeded alone with the soldiers.
Kim Unhaeng drew a line in the dirt with gold dust.
"Navigators, gunners, and higher officers over here. The rest, there."
Sailors hoping for ransom release if they seemed officers rushed that way.
But Kim Unhaeng unfailingly picked out nearly 100% of the worthless peons with his uncanny skill. All officials and officers marveled at Kim Chunsik's ultimate status discernment, judging high and low by faces alone.
Afterward, he spared a few technicians for slave labor in the SIT or those with special skills.
After several rounds of this OX quiz, only the truly useless remained.
"These will be reported up for public execution soon. Lock them up separately."
Kim Unhaeng didn't need the hassle or heartbreak of re-declaring death sentences in Dutch. Communication methods abound without words.
The dragged-off rejects despaired seeing Joseon men stick out tongues and mime throat-slits before them.
But like most OX quizzes, even they got a loser's revival round.
Kim Unhaeng arrived with interpreter Park Sang-sun and spoke low in Dutch.
"You can't escape execution for piracy, but there's one way to live. In the upcoming interrogations, just say a Joseon official aboard your ship said this."
He prepared a deposition making it sound like Shin Chiun had boasted ties to certain Noron officials.
Ones from the Noron Namdang faction not too close to him, but loaded. He skipped grand ministers to minimize risk.
Of course, Kim Unhaeng couldn't convene interrogations at will. He just planned to show them this 'deposition' and squeeze money.
Weakening future rivals in Namdang while making bank—this was his Dutch voice phishing scheme.
Park Sang-sun happily cooperated since Kim Tae-yang Kimchi-ryang, whom he wanted to devour, and his father Kim Chwi were in that faction.
With Park Sang-sun's double Japanese interpretation ensuring 'objectivity' for the 'deposition,' no one could slander Kim Unhaeng for scamming with Jangdong Kim clan Dutch knowledge.
Kim Unhaeng swelled with pride at advancing Joseon's modernization. Following Mokcheon magistrate days' 'fiscal performance fees' and 'lawsuit cost (caning) claims,' he'd now personally enacted another modern civil service Western knowledge: 'judicial bargaining.'
However, interrogations of the Dutch sailors never began.
Not because of Kim Unhaeng's scam.
Because days later, he was absurdly arrested by the Royal Guard Bureau.
Shin Chiun's claim that Kim Unhaeng was his Hyungcham Party insider lacked credibility even to Judge Hong Sang-han.
At first, he got beaten hard with Chunsik armors. But as voltage rose, Shin Chiun doubled down harder. The health-boosting rumor seemed true.
Hong Sang-han consulted his clan younger brother and fellow Noron Cheokdang member, Hong Bong-han.
Hong Bong-han was up wrapping overall results as Commander-in-Chief, having left remnant cleanup to the Training Command.
He pondered his cousin's words.
Hong Bong-han was the king's son-in-law and the crown prince's father-in-law.
Until now, he'd focused on the former role.
But after mid-tier Noron Lee Ik-bo got nabbed in an obvious targeted probe, he couldn't stay complacent.
Now came this absurd smear on rising Noron star Kim Unhaeng.
This wasn't the king reining in Noron attacking Soron as before.
The king's moves targeted Noron outright, all factions even.
'Planning to fight all yangban at once?'
Even Sukjong, addicted to purges, backed one side to annihilate the other, not antagonize all. He wasn't personally blending poison drafts for ministers.
With the king's age suggesting imminent crown prince ascension, Hong Bong-han questioned staying loyal.
So he made a small decision.
"Brother, arrest Kim Unhaeng first. Ignoring testimony makes you guilty. But to avoid future grudges, tightly control the soldiers—no harming family or looting property."
In an era where investigations meant pillage by default, families got wrecked in arrests.
This was like politely inviting a suspect sans cuffs or patrol car in modern terms.
Hong Sang-han nodded.
"Will do. And you?"
"I'll see the crown prince. Stall the deposition a few days with a show trial, and things will shift."
In original history, Hong Bong-han kept distance from the prince, avoiding even private talks. His only advice pre-death: 'Be filial.'
Thus, he escaped backlash when the prince was locked in the wooden rice chest and voted unburdened.
But now, Hong Bong-han first wielded his father-in-law status politically.
Kim Unhaeng needed elaborate official pretexts for private crown prince meets, but incomparable magnate and father-in-law Hong Bong-han didn't.
So face-to-face with his father-in-law, the prince could yell freely, ignoring eyes.
"They dragged Kim Chunsik off unjustly!"
Hong Bong-han glanced around—the Dutch cutlasses lining the prince's room irked him—and lowered his voice.
"Can't say if it's unjust. Yi Ha-jing visiting Kim Yong-gyeom's house is confirmed."
"A man called Jangdong's Meng Shangjun for his vast connections—what's meeting an old scholar once? Plus, Yi Ha-jing served decades as Naju governor—half the court ministers should be jailed too!"
Saying 'calm down' here would backfire.
Hong Bong-han bet on the prince's growth. A dagger hint pierced his ear.
"Exactly, Your Highness. Half the court ministers should be jailed."
The prince didn't disappoint. He froze.
Kim Unhaeng had unprecedented ties for his age: Soron, Southerners, military, even lowborns and thugs—Meng Shangjun-wide.
Yet he was staunch Noron, leader of prince-faction Chundang.
With Lee Ik-bo and now Kim Unhaeng, the king's target was clear: 'half the court ministers,' i.e., Noron.
"If Your Highness stays composed, I'll submit the deposition to the Guard Bureau. His Majesty will likely dismiss a traitor's ravings."
If just Shin Chiun's ghost ploy, it'd end there.
If the king puppeteered him, Noron central countermeasures needed—but no need to risk more now.
Hong Bong-han asked regent prince for Noron backup fire, urging firmer Training Command grip (hopefully unused), buying days.
But the prince saw it as urgent warning, not precaution.
Being seen as blindly favoritizing Kim Unhaeng spelled trouble (for prince consort too).
The prince had intuitive basis over Hong Bong-han.
He knew his father: Yi Geum could puppet rebels to behead loyalists if needed.
Thus, the prince erred ignoring father-in-law advice.
When Hong Sang-han reported Kim Unhaeng's arrest, Yi Geum naturally saw through Shin Chiun's ghost ploy.
Originally, he'd planned to flaunt wise insight, beat Kim Unhaeng lightly, release generously, then control prince faction via him.
Stepping on Noron came first. Prince purge, the 'juiciest dish,' later.
For that, better use Noron-deep coastal Lee clan like Lee Ik-bo and Lee Cheon-bo over baseless Shin Chiun word.
Yi Geum was rational sans son issues. Things ran normally otherwise.
But the prince's defense petition changed his mind.
Again: Yi Geum was rational.
Except when son involved.
Second royal inquisition in seven years of office life. No getting used to it.
Sageuk dramas often set night inquisitions with flaming torches for mood, but that's just atmosphere.
Actually administrative, so daytime common. In poor Joseon, torch fuel wasn't negligible.
Now, bright sun at mid-morning, around 9-11 AM.
Anyone reading love letters by night then morning knows sun's mystic power: rationality.
Thus somewhat calm, I surveyed surroundings.
Then forgot all rational analysis.
Glowing branding iron on charcoal, massive granite slab likely for knees, tongs, message stick (torture club), water bucket for fainting.
Joseon's full info-extraction toolkit assembled. No electric chair, maybe health concerns.
I considered pulling E-grade or D-grade rice chest from remaining mage energy, but noped.
This gacha rate'd tie to status window too—these shady corps wouldn't rig for me. If they would, they'd summon Cthulhu over Hanyang now.
Instead, I thought of what always aided me: 'propriety' and 'ritual.'
This was informal inquisition, not formal inner robes one.
Signifying Yeongjo wanted extralegal means here.
Indeed, besides torture tools, several irregularities.
Noron 'internal slander' op from Lee Ik-bo success led to many senior Noron sacked or exiled, emptying minister seats.
But most shocking: crown prince attending inquisition.
Prince's face pale, lips quivering thin. Sturdy frame seemed half-size.
Like pre-Moon incident prince.
Yeongjo beckoned him. Prince approached like eunuch.
They say even on gallows, men eye rolling gold. Curiosity uncontained, I focused on king amid this.
To bowed prince's occiput, Yi Geum spoke low not as king, but father.
"Your private protection of Kim Unhaeng made release impossible. Understand? All your fault."
Prince's back twitched. Yi Geum liked that.
"Insolents often foist hard reports on you via regency excuse. Accepting your input again? How avoid suspicion of falling for cunning? My heart aches reining ministers, eyes teary from your immaturity."
This was kingly gaslighting.
In Imo Incident, Yeongjo merely 'strictly confined' Sado per records. Death? Weak prince's fault.
A realm's heir should synthesize water-nutrients in chest, no? Can't? Why devour Taoist tomes then?
While I pondered gruesome death if yelling 'don't bullshit,' oblivious Yi Geum gently said:
"Eyes front, watch clearly. Grasp kingly duty. No leaving. Flee, and I behead Kim Unhaeng instantly."
Prince's eyes turned Park Sang-sun-like for a flash.
"Per law, first 30 lashes on criminal Kim Unhaeng."
Yi Geum ordered like appetizers, but contrary to intent, it ruined appetite over whetted.
Kim Unhaeng endured 30 blows unflinchingly.
Overseeing Judge Hong Sang-han shuddered.
He recalled Kim Unhaeng's words in VIP cell.
Then, Kim Unhaeng spoke oddly.
'Captured Hong Mo-jeok said Westerners judge criminals by needle pricks, coal walks, drownings.'
'Really? Judgments need forethought, hearings—not such vanities.'
18th-century Europeans'd sue for defamation, but Kim Unhaeng figured pre-modern = medieval. Who'd check?
'If innocent, spirits spare pain. Some monk amid flames calmly said "Flip now, done roasting."'
'Heavens, true barbarians.'
'Agreed. Strip superstitious claims, worth learning. Three Scholar-Sages endured torture via lofty integrity, unmoved even Jurchen emperor. Likely Western tales too, sans classics ignorant of duty, so invented.'
Hong Sang-han then dismissed as tension chat.
But now Kim Unhaeng demonstrated it.
Joseon's first Confucian rational divine judgment [Trial by Ordeal] began.
Author's Note
1. In real history, ministers often pushed Yeongjo-blocked matters onto Sado via regency excuse. Mostly exiles lifts or resignations.
Sado mostly repeated father's will, but handled minor ones under pressure or otherwise—naturally all noted in Yeongjo's Death Note.
2. Informal inquisitions often outside regs. Yeongjo favored these, Jeongjo Guard Camp (these kings did most). Usually safe spots.