Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 5 — Who is My Father? (3)

“History won’t change, right?”

Hyang looked out of the East Palace. He was still massaging his numb legs. There were remorse and lamentation in the eyes looking at the outside scenery.

The summary of the battle for the Crown Prince's position between the defender Yangnyeong and the attacker Choongnyeong, was flowing as the history recorded, with Choongnyeong as the winner.

Yangnyeong was not an incompetent person. Although it wasn't recorded, he was a man with ambition, like the one he had shown at Hyang's first birthday party.

However, like what had been recorded in the Annals, rather than learning academics, he enjoyed hunting in the mountains and fields. Yangnyeong was a ‘free soul’ who liked booze and women.

Because he was such a person, he could not overcome the enormous stress caused by the competition.

Eventually, in order to relieve that stress, he fell more into hunting and nightlife. It even led to an extreme incident in which he committed a taboo, which was adultery.

In the end, Yangnyeong's defeat in the battle for the crown prince position was because Choongnyeong’s talent was better than his. Also, the biggest cause of his defeat was he couldn’t overcome stress and sank his own ship.

* * *Although Grand Prince Choongnyeong was the winner of the crown prince's decision, he was also severely wounded in the process. All of his wife's family had been killed. 

When Choongnyeong was installed as the crown prince, Shim On emerged as the most influential figure among the influential figures. However, King Taejong was not someone who would leave such Shim On.

The day Hyang came to the palace after Choongnyeong installment and saw King Taejong for the first time, he was reminded with a memory from his previous life. 

When Jinho—Hyang in his previous life—was in high school, his Korean History teacher, Samcheonpo—a nickname given because he often got sidetracked in class, judged King Taejong like the following:

“If Catholic priests who assert the divine right of kings arrived in Joseon during the reign of King Taejong, he would certainly make Catholicism the national religion. Of course, after that—except for the minority who were obedient—he would behead the others.”

Teacher Samcheonpo said it was ‘IF’. But Hyang, who had entered the palace with Grand Prince Choongnyeong, couldn’t help but agree with his teacher’s words the moment he saw King Taejong for the first time.

‘Samcheonpo was right!’

Despite the old age and fatigue that filled his face, the glint in King Taejong’s eyes made people feel intimidated.

“Welcome.”

King Taejong, who had received the greeting from Choongnyeong couple who just became the crown prince, had an unexpectedly soft voice.

“Many things have happened, but from now on, you are the Crown Prince. Prepare to rule this nation after me and strengthen your ties with your brothers.”

"I will engrave Father's precious words in my mind."

When Choongnyeong's answer was over, Queen Min, who was sitting next to King Taejong, began to speak.

“Crown princess. In the future, the inner palace will be in your rule. You'll have to work hard to make sure there's no clamor to happen.”

“I will engrave Mother's words in mind.”

The gaze of King Taejong and Queen Min, who was giving advice, eventually fell upon Hyang.

“He looks very bright.”

Choongnyeong smiled and responded to King Taejong's words.

“He's already learning elementary learning.”

“He is? This child, isn't he only 4 years old now?”

“This October he will be 4 years old.”

“That's so fast!”

“I could see that he is more talented than me.”

King Taejong seemed satisfied with Choongnyeong's answer.

“This is a blessing for our Joseon and the royal family!”

Hyang, who was observing King Taejong and Queen Min, quickly straightened his posture when King Taejong and Queen Min's eyes gathered on him. When the Taejong couple showed satisfaction with Choongnyeong's praise, Hyang grumbled inside.

‘How much effort have I poured out!’

While the competition between Yangnyeong and Choongnyeong was getting fierce, Hyang continued to agonize over what was best for him.

“Why isn't he eating all of a sudden? Nanny, call the doctor!”

“Yes, Milady.”

Hyang, who was agonizing to the point his mother, Lady Shim, called a doctor, finally made up his mind.

‘I’ll upgrade my level! At worst, I need to have at least an intellectual and physical basis! No, even though the physical basis is impossible due to time problems, at least, I need to have an intellectual basis!’

Hyang, who was filled with determination, began to learn the Thousand-Character Classic as soon as he could speak out after passing his second birthday.

“I think this child is a prodigy.”

“Yeah, I do think so!”

The Choongnyeong couple was pleased to see Hyang memorizing the Thousand-Character Classic, despite his voice was still being that of a baby voice. Regardless of whether Hyang knew his parents' feelings, he worked hard to learn the Thousand-character Classic.

‘Fortunately, the hardware is good! Is it because this body is Munjong?’

Maybe it was because his body was the body of the real Munjong from history, but thanks to the excellent hardware such as memory and comprehension, Hyang had already passed the Thousand-Character classic and moved to Tong-Gam-Jeol-Yo(1) at an earlier age than the others. And when Choongnyeong was confirmed as the crown prince, he was already on the Elementary Learning.

“It's pleasing to see his eyes shining brightly!”

While bowing to King Taejong's praise, Hyang scrutinized the atmosphere between the Taejong couple.

‘As expected, there is an odd atmosphere between them.’

“There is a saying, ‘past life’s enemy becomes this life’s spouse’, right? If you look at the Taejong couple, this proverb fits. A love-hate couple?”

Hyang was reminded of Samcheonpo’s story before he came back to reality, right when King Taejong talked to his mother.

“I heard your father has been busy lately.”

“My knowledge regarding that matter is lacking because I only spend my time in my room.”

“Is that so?”

A smile was erased from King Taejong's face as he asked back.

“I'd like it if you tell your father to live a relaxed life and consider his age. Even though he is in good times, wouldn't everything end up in vain if he lost his health?”

The crown princess was perspiring cold sweat as she bowed her head to the suggestive word of King Taejong.

“Yes. I will make sure to tell him.”

It was King Taejong's warning.

* * *But the history was flowing as what was recorded.

On September 9th, four months after Grand Prince Choongnyeong was installed as the crown prince, King Taejong handed over the throne to him. In the message announcing the transfer of the throne, King Taejong declared:

[Until the king is completely ready to lead, I will personally judge the military, and I will order the State Council and Six Ministries to carry out the nation's hard-to-decide matters, respectively, but I will also take part in the discussion.]

It was an adamant expression to assist his son, who no matter how smart he was, would certainly be pushed by his cunning retainers, and to strengthen the foundation of the nation that is not yet firm. It indicated not only his cynicism but also expressing that he kept holding the military authority by having the office of military command.

In spite of King Taejong's firm expression of his power in the military rights, rumors still broke out. 

The start of this case was Minister of War, Kang Sangin. Despite King Taejong being the one who had the military authority, Kang Sangin only reported directly to King Sejong. Not only that, he illegally installed his brother Kang Sangrye as a senior fifth rank in the military.

As a result of this event, King Taejong interrogated Kang Sangin. A series of appeals were filed to sentence Kang Sangin to a heavy sentence, but King Taejong who was taking into account his contribution as a meritorious subject had only forced him to return home and confiscate his meritorious retainer title along with his letter of appointment as a government official. This was the first stage of the ‘Prisoner Kang Sangin’ incident, which lasted from August to September.

However, the reason this incident was related to the fall of Shim On was, the chief state counselor—Shim On—had to leave as an envoy to get Ming Dynasty's approval over passing the throne.

King Taejong felt a sense of danger when he got a report about his subjects and many high-ranking officials flocked to see Shim On off, who was leaving as an envoy.

[Father-in-law of the crown prince—the next throne owner, and the chief state counselor. Not only that, his brother Shim Jeung held a key position in the Central Post of Uihuengsamgunbu(2)!]

As King Taejong's suspicion grew deeper, an event that made the said suspicion as certitude happened.

On November 26th, a junior eleventh rank officer named Ahn Heonoh reported to King Taejong.

“Kang Sangin, Shim Jeung, and Park Heung had a private meeting the other day.”

“And so?”

“On that spot, they said ‘Recently, the orders came from two places, but it didn’t seem like they came from one place(3).’”

King Taejong smashed the armrest as he shouted after listening to Ahn Heonoh’s report.

“What!”

The ‘Prisoner Kang Sangin’ once again rose to the surface and blazed even bigger than before.

* * *As the ‘Prisoner Kang Sangin’ was ignited once again, Hyang’s maternal house was struck by a bolt out of blue.

Kang Sangin was sentenced to goyeolhyeong(4) while Park Seub and Shim Jeung were beheaded. Shim On, who had just returned from his duty as an envoy to Ming, was harshly investigated then sentenced to death by poison, and all of his family members became slaves.

While these things were going on, a storm was raged on inside the palace.

“Is it not enough with my family that you also did this to your daughter-in-law's family?”

Queen Wongyeong, who saw a tragedy that had happened to herself was repeated once again, raised her voice, but King Taejong busied himself with the cleanup work.

While all those chaoses happened, Hyang fell into agony.

‘It sucks that my body is still a child!’

If this was a normal 4-years-old child, they wouldn’t have been able to grasp the situation. However, for Hyang, who had the memories and personality from his mid-30s, it was a tough time to bear.

‘If there is a suitable maternal relative, they could be a strong protective wall. If I could meddle in and reduce the anger on my mother’s family, wouldn’t it be a great help for me in the future days?’

Hyang was determining what to do while thinking about the future, and the fact that King Taejong had been very fond of him since he entered the palace. Nevertheless, he decided to not meddle in.

‘No. I think it’s better for me to stay still. That's what happened in the actual history. There is a possibility I'll be successful if I do a ‘bawling show', but there is also a possibility this problem will only get bigger if this is seen as taking advantage of a 4-year-old kid. And the most important is this father of mine….’

Even though his in-laws’ family was falling apart, King Sejong didn't show any response. No matter how powerful his father, King Taejong's authority was, his unresponsiveness was beyond the limit.

Hyang decided on his move in response to his father's reaction.

‘King Taejong and King Sejong are in a tacit agreement! Then it is best not to move!’

As a result, Hyang had to watch his mother shed blood tears for days and nights.

King Sejong's in-laws’ family had been shattered because of ‘Prisoner Kang Sangin', but the storm didn't subside easily.

“It's inappropriate for the traitor's daughter to hold the queen consort position. We must depose her!”

The officials from the Office of the Inspector-General and Office of Censors had been petitioning the deposing agenda, but King Sejong put his throne in line and showed utmost opposition.

In the end, King Taejong ended the dispute of the deposing agenda with the following word.

“There is no need to speculate. It was unreasonable to depose someone who has borne three sons of the king.”

With King Sejong's opposition and King Taejong's decision, Queen Soheon(5) was able to keep her position.

Hyang nodded his head when he saw the deposing dispute ended.

“I'm glad I didn't meddle in.”

Hyang praised himself. Then, after praising himself for a while, Hyang looked at the place where the King and his vassals do their work.

“As expected, is it really impossible to fool your blood?”

[Perhaps because they were born from military blood, King Taejong as well King Sejong were cold when deciding on a matter.]

“My thought was right that the ultimate goal was strengthening the throne.”

Hyang, who had seen the situation in real-time, shook his head when he saw what was the real goal of King Taejong and King Sejong.

“It's not easy to be a king….”

T/N:

(1) Tong-Gam-Jeol-Yo: A summarized version of Zizhi Tongjian by Sima Guang that was distributed in Joseon.↻

(2) Uihuengsamgunbu: A military office in Joseon period that was divided into three posts, center, left, and right. Later disbanded on King Sejong 14th year reign. ↻

(3) Refer to even though the government was held by two kings, it should be the same because King Taejong only assisted King Sejong in military affairs.↻

(4) Goyeolhyeong: A death sentence by having the arms, legs, and head tied with ropes to oxen moving in opposing directions.↻

(5) Lady Shim, Hyang’s mother.↻