Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 988: Clear-Eyed Madman (13)

In the end, this issue reached Hyun.

“Seeing as it has been brought up to the Prime Minister, it is certainly an urgent matter, hmm…”

Hyun, who was checking the report that was submitted jointly by the Ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Finance, Ministry of Finance, and Education, spoke while resting his chin and tapping his fingers on the armrests of his throne. It was cloudy.

‘There’s something bothering me, what is it? ‘What was it?’

I don’t know what it is, but Hyeon felt something like a bitter feeling that was constantly clinging to his heart, and he thought about it again and again.

‘I can’t remember what it is… Should I just pay?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find the answer and was about to give up. Hyang’s words suddenly appeared in Hyeon’s mind.

-An emperor must think twice at the last moment.

Hyang’s advice came to mind and Hyeon once again thought about finding an answer.

‘What is it? ‘What is it?’

After thinking for a while, Hyeon turned his head and looked at the officials in Daejeon. Hyun’s eyes, which were staring blankly at the officials, began to shine.

‘This is it!’

After finding the answer, Hyun organized his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“I acknowledge that the Archives needs to select someone to handle the records, but I think there are issues that need to be resolved first.”

Han Myeong-hoe responded to Hyeon’s words by bowing his head.

“If you tell me what is sacred, I will find the answer.”

“It is the eyes of the people.”

“yes?”

“Isn’t something similar happening in the mines? Even if we give them more money, they don’t want to go down to the bottom.”

“ah!”

Han Myeong-hoe and the officials all exclaimed in exclamation at Hyeon’s point.

* * *

When the Navy was a naval force, the most avoided position among the naval forces was that of oarsman.

The perception of oarsmen was so poor that there was even a saying, ‘Shinryang Yeokcheon (身良役賤)’.

Afterwards, oarsmen rarely appeared in the navy except on tugboats, and the term ‘Sinryang Yeokcheon’ disappeared. However, there were still many cases in society that were treated as ‘Sinryang Yeokcheon’.

The most representative of them was ‘Makjang’. The word referring to the very end of the deepest tunnel in a coal mine was ‘makjang’. The problem was that this makjang was used in a very negative sense. And Hyang and King Sejong were involved in its origin. Starting with the suppression of the Giyu Rebellion, King Sejong applied the crime of treason to the noblemen who challenged the throne, made all the noblemen and their relatives into government servants and officials, and sent them to the mines.

And the place where most of these government workers were deployed was the makjang. It was pushed into a place where there was the greatest loss of life. As time passed, the number of noblemen who committed treason or other serious crimes and became government slaves decreased. Sejong and Hyang sent those who committed serious crimes into coal mines. However, unlike the nobility who became government servants and had to dig mines until their deaths, these men only worked for a certain period of time. The problem is that if you are a prisoner who has to go to prison, the default is life imprisonment.

The prisoners working in the mines were not only felons. Among those sentenced to fines, those who could not afford to pay the fines were forced to work in the mines. In this case, the period of work at the mine was determined by dividing the fine by the minimum wage investigated and announced by the Ministry of General Affairs every year. However, in general, it was common to work at least 2 to 3 years longer than that period.

Safety equipment, pickaxes and shovels were provided free of charge. However, I had to purchase the work clothes, gloves, and overshoes I had to wear while working at my own expense, and I also had to pay for food. On the other hand, those who chose a normal job were all provided free of charge.

-You cannot spend the taxes paid by a good neighbor on someone who harms that good neighbor!

It was a regulation applied according to the decision made by Sejong and Hyang. Therefore, only the amount of the above expenses deducted from the salary settled each month would offset the fine and result in working for 2 to 3 more years. Of course, not all prisoners working in the mines were felons or those who came to pay fines. Among miscellaneous criminals with low sentences, those who had difficulty making a living after being released from prison volunteered to work in mines.

Since he was a leftist, only the minimum wage was applied. However, since he could keep the rest in his own pocket, if he worked hard during his sentence, he could earn a lump sum of money. And there was a trick. If people who came in with a fine or miscellaneous criminals went down to the last level, they were given hazard pay.

Many of those who completed their sentences in the mines returned to work in the mines. This was because those who chose it as a job rather than a punishment received wages that were higher than average. Additionally, the salaries received by those with some experience were at a fairly high level.

Even if you worked as a prisoner, if you wanted to get a job, this period was recognized as experience. However, there was a penalty. It was calculated as half of the career accumulated by normal people. This was also the intervention of King Sejong and Hyang.

-It is a good thing to choose to live an honest life without breaking the law.

-But we cannot treat them the same way as those who did not commit such a crime in the first place.

-Recognizing only half of your career means reflecting on the sins you have committed. However, after this, you will be treated the same as those who have not committed a crime, so from now on, do not commit sins and do your best to lead an honest life!

However, as time passed and Hyang ascended to the position of emperor, a problem arose.

The perception that ‘miners are sinners’ had spread throughout the world. In particular, the place where one could receive the highest wages was the makjang, but as the perception that they were ‘makjangs and government-nosed felons’ spread, it became an industry to be avoided. Therefore, the township had to come up with measures to address this.

First, we distinguished the colors of the work clothes worn by miners. The work clothes worn by government workers and criminals were dyed ocher, and normal miners were given work clothes dyed blue. Additionally, medals were awarded to miners with long experience and those who played a significant role in solving mine shaft accidents.

This packaging was not simple. Those who put it on their ID card or wrapped it on their clothes were treated politely every time they entered a government office and received a discount when purchasing goods at a reseller. Despite all the efforts, it took quite a long time for the perception of miners to improve again.

To be more precise, full-fledged improvement became possible only after most of those who had become government slaves died due to events such as the Giyu Rebellion. Therefore, when Hyeon said ‘Makjang’, Han Myeong-hoe and the officials all understood. The recorder’s most famous nickname was ‘Makjang’. To be more precise, it was ‘the worst of those who misused what they learned’ and then settled down as ‘the worst’.

* * *

Han Myeong-hoe urgently bowed his head and asked Hyeon for forgiveness.

“The minor gods were short-thinking and allowed Your Majesty to use Seongryeo, so they have truly committed a grave sin! Please forgive the minor gods for their sins!”

“Forgive me!”

“I forgive you. Now! So what do you want me to do?”

In response to the prefecture’s question, Han Myeong-hoe and officials racked their brains to find a plausible solution. And after a while, Han Myeong-hoe found the answer.

“It would be best to provide official uniforms.”

“Official uniform? Are you talking about beatification? Since the recorder is also a part of the government, isn’t it natural to provide beatification?”

Han Myeong-hoe bowed his head again at Hyeon’s point.

“Sosin spoke too hastily. I would like to explain in more detail. It is natural that beatifications worn at rites and other events should be provided. What Sosin is talking about is mourning clothes. To be precise, the idea is to create regulations related to mourning clothes. ”

There were two main types of uniforms worn by imperial officials. One was the beatification attire worn at various official events, and the other was the mourning attire worn in daily work. The beatification wears a breastplate with a different pattern depending on the rank and rank, and the color of the robe and type of belt worn around the waist are different depending on the rank.

The mourning clothes did not have a breastplate and were ‘variegated’, so a variety of colors could be used. However, as the county modified the uniforms of the imperial army, Muban came to wear the imperial army uniform, and only civil servants and civil servants belonging to the Ministry of Defense wore mourning uniforms and beatification uniforms.

Han Myeong-hoe explained the ‘special regulations’ he had in mind.

“The recorders currently working at the records office are those who are paying for their sins by being ‘white-robed servants.’ Therefore, they are not allowed to wear official uniforms. However, those who are selected and assigned to record work are not criminals, so they are not criminals. “They can wear it. Therefore, we are having them attach an embroidered emblem with the letter ‘Ki’ to the danryeong they wear as mourning clothes.”

As Han Myeong-hoe explained, Hyeon stroked his chin and imagined what it would be like.

“You can tell that he is an official just by his Danryeong, but it will be even clearer if he wears the reporter emblem.”

While Hyun was reacting positively, Lim Soon-wook intervened.

“Your Majesty, there are still quite a few officials working at the Archives. And they all wear Danryeong. However, even those who wear Danryeong are embarrassed to work at the Records Institute, so they enter and leave the hospital through the back door. It is still like that now. “If you put the ‘Ki’ emblem on it, it will be even more embarrassing.”

“I guess that’s true too. Prime Minister, do you have a job for this?”

Han Myeong-hoe, who thought about Hyeon’s question for a while, came up with an answer.

“There is. Your Majesty can hand out the emblems directly to the officials in charge of the records office.”

“Jim himself?”

“That’s right. It’s an honor to give them.”

“Hmm…”

Hyeon, who had been looking at the profit and loss for a moment at Han Myeong-hoe’s words, smiled and looked at Han Myeong-hoe.

“I think the Prime Minister learned a lot from Tae Sang-hang.”

“That’s too much praise.”

‘Big effect with little effort.’

It was one of the words Hyang always said.

* * *

As these major accidents were resolved one by one, the empire was running relatively smoothly. Artists from Europe, painters, masons, carpenters, and even scholars gathered in Gyeongju and were constantly producing results.

And in Seoul, other painters, painters, and scholars were working together on various works, including encyclopedias. In the meantime, Da Vinci found incense.

“What is the reason for visiting while you are busy?”

In response to Hyang’s question, Da Vinci bowed his head politely and brought up his business.

“I’d like to take a break from work for a while.”

“Do you want to take a break from work? Are you asking for a vacation?”

“That’s right.”

“What’s bad about it?”

“No. There is something I want to make.”

At Da Vinci’s words, Hyang’s eyes began to shine.

‘at las!’

“There is something I want to make…..what is it?”

“It’s some kind of flying machine. Here’s a sketch of it.”

“Let’s see.”

After checking the sketch submitted by Da Vinci, Hyang’s eyes began to glow menacingly.

‘It’s a helicopter!’