Trapping the Old Tiger
Creak. The heavy doors of Sajeongjeon swung open, and along with a draft of cold night air, the sound of footsteps seeped into the hall.
The man who stood beneath only one but above all others in Joseon—Chief State Councillor Hwang Hui.
Though he must have rushed to court with his official robes hastily thrown on, there was not a single hint of disarray in the veteran statesman's stride. The overwhelming aura unique to an old tiger who had survived countless battles weighed heavily on the air inside Sajeongjeon.
Walking into the center of the hall, Hwang Hui's gaze fell upon me as I lay prostrated, covered in dust. However, his sunken eyes flashed sharply for only a fraction of a second before he looked away without uttering a single word. It was an act of absolute dismissal.
He walked straight toward King Sejong, who sat at the head of the hall, and slowly knelt.
"Your Majesty. For what reason have you summoned this humble subject at such a late hour?"
Instead of answering, King Sejong flicked his finger, sliding a thick ledger across the table. It slid to a halt right in front of Hwang Hui.
"Read it, Chief State Councillor."
Hwang Hui did not ask why. He quietly picked up the ledger and turned to the first page.
Rustle, rustle. Only the heavy sound of pages turning echoed in the silent Sajeongjeon.
Incoming assets, outgoing expenses, and tens of thousands of catties of copper and silver ingots channeled through the Daedong Merchant Group into the underground storehouses of the Yang family. And at the final destination of all these financial flows, the name of his eldest son, Hwang Chisin, was clearly written. Turning just a few pages would have been more than enough for him to grasp the entire situation.
Closing the ledger, Hwang Hui slowly prostrated himself on the floor. Any ordinary official would have turned pale and pleaded their innocence, but the words that came out of Hwang Hui's mouth were highly refined, politically calculated.
"This is the doing of my wife's family. I failed to intervene in time."
Wow, look at this old man. I clicked my tongue inwardly as I lay prostrated.
He didn't resort to the amateurish tactic of claiming ignorance. Instead, by using the subtle phrasing "failed to intervene," he acknowledged the crime while drawing a clear line to show he was not a co-conspirator.
Yet, even after hearing that cunning response, King Sejong merely stared at Hwang Hui for a long moment without offering any reproach. Eventually, the King's gaze shifted to me.
"Jinseong."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"How much did you say would remain of the copper you recovered, even after casting the Gabinja and manufacturing cannons?"
A sudden shift in topic. Intuitively sensing that King Sejong was laying a trap, I answered clearly and precisely.
"Tens of thousands of catties, Your Majesty. It is enough to meet the demands of the Gungigam and the Type Casting Office for several years."
"Tens of thousands of catties." King Sejong slowly rose from his throne. The rustle of his royal robes cut sharply through the quiet air.
"Chief State Councillor. What your kin stole was no mere wealth. It was the very blood and flesh of this nation, meant to cast the cannons that repel the northern barbarians and forge the metal type that enlightens our people."
King Sejong's voice pressed down heavily upon Sajeongjeon. "This is a clear act of high treason, one that has eaten away at Joseon's national defense and blinded its people."
In that instant, Hwang Hui's shoulders stiffened imperceptibly. King Sejong had instantly elevated a mere embezzlement case into high treason on par with subverting the state.
"The tens of thousands of catties of confiscated copper shall naturally be sent to the Gungigam and the Type Casting Office to be used for their original purposes."
"...Your command is most just, Your Majesty."
Having said that, King Sejong suddenly turned away from his throne and thundered toward the firmly shut doors of Sajeongjeon.
"Hear me, Royal Secretary on duty outside!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" At this late hour, the urgent voice of the secretary waiting outside the doors rang out.
"Dispatch the officers of the Uigeumbu immediately to raid the Daedong Merchant Group! Arrest and imprison all the merchant chiefs and the Chief State Councillor's brother-in-law, Yang, and confiscate all their ledgers and assets! If even a single soul escapes the capital, the Commander of the Royal Investigation Bureau shall answer for it!"
"I—I shall execute your royal command!" The hurried, retreating footsteps of the secretary cut through the cold night air.
Hwang Hui remained completely motionless, his forehead pressed against the floor. King Sejong looked down coldly at the bent back of the veteran statesman and drove the final nail in.
"And Chief State Councillor. Since your wife's family held a monopoly over this nation's copper distribution network, you shall personally oversee the complete dismantling of the remaining remnants and their network as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow."
King Sejong had handed Hwang Hui the very axe to sever his own rotten limbs. This was not merely punishing a crime; it was imposing an inescapable debt.
"...I shall obey your command, Your Majesty," Hwang Hui replied.
But King Sejong did not stop there.
"Also, at tomorrow morning's royal audience." King Sejong enunciated each word, hammering them home. "My long-cherished tax reform bill, the Gongbeop."
The Gongbeop? I held my breath, staring at the hem of King Sejong's royal robes. This was a condition I hadn't been warned about beforehand.
In that instant, my mind began to calculate the true intent behind the massive board His Majesty had set up. Uncovering the corruption of the Chief State Councillor's eldest son and the copper embezzlement was merely a ticket to get to the negotiating table.
King Sejong's true target was to completely subjugate Hwang Hui, the leader of the conservative Gwanhak Faction, and overhaul the entire tax system of Joseon's eight provinces—a system that had been adrift for over a decade due to opposition from the ruling elite.
This wasn't just about recovering a one-time sum of a hundred thousand nyang in silver. This was a massive deal on a scale truly worthy of King Sejong the Great—one that would instantly establish a permanent pipeline to exponentially increase national tax revenue for decades to come.
Wow, this man... He thought that far ahead in the meantime? While I was clicking my tongue inwardly, shivering at his terrifying calculations, King Sejong's voice continued.
"As the head of the Gwanhak faction, you shall personally withdraw your opposition and declare your support in front of all the civil and military officials. That... is the price for my covering up the high treason committed by your family."
Silence. The air inside Sajeongjeon froze.
Supporting the Gongbeop. It was practically a death sentence, demanding that he completely betray his own base of support—the landowning elite—and throw away his political life.
How would Hwang Hui react? Would he hold out, claiming he couldn't abandon his principles, or would he try to push back by proposing a compromise?
But my expectations were completely off the mark.
"I shall gladly obey your command, Your Majesty."
Not a single beat. There was truly not even a moment's hesitation or pause. Without any of the predictable hesitation—like letting out a deep sigh or closing his eyes tightly—Hwang Hui prostrated himself the very instant King Sejong finished speaking, declaring his absolute surrender.
This veteran politician had already finished all his profit-and-loss calculations from the very moment he laid eyes on the ledger. Because he had perfectly calculated the maximum loss he was willing to incur to save his son's neck, he could accept it immediately without shaking, even when King Sejong threw down the unreasonable demand of supporting the Gongbeop.
King Sejong made it look like he was offering a choice when, in reality, he left no room for refusal, and Hwang Hui willingly complied.
I had seen plenty of muddy brawls back during my days at the National Tax Service while shaking down tax evaders worth tens of billions of won, but I had never seen a board played this elegantly.
A political game where two tigers holding the absolute peak of power in Joseon traded flesh for bone without spilling a single drop of blood. Standing right in the middle of this quiet yet savage arena, I clicked my tongue in sheer fascination.
I might have set the stage, but the old men playing up there are truly something else.
King Sejong turned back to me with an immensely satisfied smile.
"Jinseong. Today, you have completely cleaned out the family of the Chief State Councillor and severed his limbs. How do you plan to look him in the eye in the executive chamber from now on? Are you not afraid of walking the streets at night?"
It sounded like a light joke, but I immediately caught the sharp edge hidden within. Having dealt an indelible humiliation to the most powerful man in the nation, covert surveillance and retaliation would surely follow. By asking me this mischievous question, King Sejong was issuing a warning to Hwang Hui not to touch me, while simultaneously casting a shield over me.
Only then did Hwang Hui's heavy gaze shift toward me—he who hadn't looked at me properly once since entering Sajeongjeon. The old tiger, who had consistently ignored me, finally recognized me as a troublesome hunting dog under the King's protection.
I raised my head, looked back and forth between the two giants, and smirked.
"...I am fine, Your Majesty. Why would the Chief State Councillor, who governs the entire nation, harbor a personal grudge against a petty official like me? Holding a grudge over a transaction where the math is already settled is something only street thugs would do, is it not?"
At my pointed, brazen reply, a fleeting, bitter smile brushed past Hwang Hui's lips. King Sejong finally burst into the hearty laughter he had been holding back.
"Hahaha! Indeed, indeed! There is no way our Chief State Councillor would do such a thing!"
As the laughter subsided, Hwang Hui slowly rose to his feet.
"This subject shall take his leave now."
Hwang Hui bowed politely and turned around. The back of the veteran statesman as he left Sajeongjeon looked slightly heavier than when he had entered, but it was by no means pathetic. Surviving by instantly reading the board without letting emotions sway him, even when faced with a fatal checkmate—he truly possessed the dignity of Joseon's greatest politician.
Creak, thud. The doors closed, leaving only King Sejong and me in the room.
King Sejong, who had remained silent, slammed his hand down on the armrest of his throne the moment the sound of Hwang Hui's footsteps stepping off the stone stairs faded completely.
"Did you see that, Assistant Minister! Did you see that clearly?!"
King Sejong paced back and forth inside the hall in excitement, his royal robes fluttering behind him.
"Ten years, Jinseong! Ten years! My long-cherished wish, which I wrestled with for over ten years—even asking the opinion of the common people, yet unable to take a single step forward due to the ministers' opposition—has been achieved in just a few days through the mouth of that old prime minister!"
While the King rejoiced, drunk on the sweet victory of achieving his life's work, I quietly smiled as I lay prostrated on the floor.
In the original history, the Gongbeop would have drifted for several more years, barely passing after a bloody struggle with the ruling elite.
But the blackmail card I had put forward had completed one of King Sejong's greatest achievements years ahead of actual history.
Since I've accelerated history by this much, I need to make sure I collect my consulting fee.
Letting out a breath I had been holding, I finally brought up my true purpose for riding like a madman to Hanyang tonight.
"Your Majesty, I humbly congratulate you on achieving your grand design. However... now that I have secured the Chief State Councillor's complete surrender, please approve what you promised me."
"...Promised?" King Sejong stopped pacing and turned to look at me.
"Did you not agree to give me exactly one percent (1%) of the confiscated goods as a commission if I uncovered the hidden assets of the yangban?"
Now That the Commission Has Been Settled