Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 996 Meanwhile, elsewhere….. (1) In

the empire, Seoul and Shinji, and not just the entire empire, were bustling with activity. It was a time called the ‘era of leaps’ or ‘the era of the madmen.’ What was interesting was this title.

* * *

Among historians of the empire and historians who were favorable to the empire, it was described as a ‘period of leap forward’ or ‘period of progress.’ However, historians who were negative about the empire or revisionist historians described this period as the ‘Age of Madness’ or ‘The Age of Madmen.’ Papers published by historians with such negative views have always been ‘hot potatoes’.

This was because it was a thesis full of content criticizing ‘a period that could safely be called a myth rather than history’ and King Sejong and Hyang, who represented that period. Naturally, it often caused controversy not only about the limits of the empire but also among the general public. Naturally, the controversy grew beyond the debate among scholars and included the general public, leading to the intervention of the imperial family.

Whenever a press conference related to this was held, the Imperial Household Spokesperson responded as follows:

“The historian’s view of history is a personal view, so it is beyond my authority to say anything. But it is true that I feel bad. And… there are many people among the imperial family who are knowledgeable about history. Don’t forget the point.”

The spokesperson who spoke up to this point continued with a wry smile.

“And according to their conclusion, it appears that the scholar who published the paper in question had some shortcomings in his data research. The doors of the Imperial Archives are always open, so I recommend that you conduct your research again.”

When a spokesperson said something like this, most of the scholars who published the papers in question ended there. The largest archives of the empire, or indeed the world, was the Imperial Archives.

In the beginning, it was simply a place to store administrative records of the empire, but over time, it turned into a huge archive storage that stored all books, newspapers, and various video and audio materials from the empire. Most of the records related to the empire existing in the archives of other countries were copies taken from the imperial archives.

In particular, the Imperial Archives was the place with the highest authority regarding various recorded materials related to the history of the empire. The records of the Imperial Archives were notable not only for their quality and quantity, but also for their reference value.

This was because there were complete records of when the records were compiled, who inspected them, and who was in charge of final confirmation. Therefore, scholars who were told to ‘do the data review again’ had to re-examine the vast data and write supplementary papers, whether they liked it or not. If you ignore the spokesperson’s words, you will be dismissed from the academic community with the evaluation that you are ‘disloyal as a scholar.’

Of course, there were some who persisted by ignoring the level of scholars from the ‘imperial family’, but they were directly ignored.

“Do you not know the nature of the blood that flows through the imperial family?”

Since incense, it has been a characteristic of royal family members to literally ‘see the end’ when they become obsessed with something. Of course, not everyone was focused on the positive aspects.

There were people like Yi Yong – Yeonsangun in the history before Hyang’s intervention – who were ousted for the first time in the history of the imperial family due to a ‘sex scandal’, and these people were mercilessly ousted from the imperial family – deleted from the imperial genealogy and cut off from economic support. As such personalities were combined with the imperial family’s financial power, the imperial family members grew into recognized figures in the fields they entered.

* * *

In any case, while the empire was constantly changing, other countries were also constantly changing. And the empire continued to pay attention to these changes. And the country that this empire paid the most attention to was the Ming Dynasty. After fighting two major wars and one civil war, the Ming Dynasty was literally devastated.

The national power that had grown through ‘Seondeokjichi (宣德之治)’ was greatly damaged and the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty were in shambles. The situation of these people was not always good even in the empire. As during the two wars, the Ming, ruled by a competent but hostile monarch, was also a problem, but the Ming, which was in disarray, was also a troublesome neighbor both militarily and economically.

The border was in disarray due to rampant bandits, and the influx of refugees was causing headaches. This was because there was a problem of a decrease in the number of wealthy people who would purchase the expensive products sold by the empire. This difficult situation began to change with the ascension of the Seonghwa Emperor.

Emperor Seong Hwa, who had grown up in the empire, began to implement active reform policies as soon as he ascended to the throne. To summarize this reform policy simply, it was ‘weeding out vested interests.’

-It is impossible to eliminate all vested interests. However, only by thinning out as many as possible can the regime remain stable.

Emperor Seonghwa and his royal family members from the empire who followed him carried out purges whenever they found the slightest excuse to survive and seize power. And the vacancies created through these purges became excellent bait.

-Do you want power? Then be loyal to me.

Not only officials but also eunuchs made every effort to take this bait. And the easiest way was to ‘eradicate corruption’.

Regardless of whether it was central or local, whenever corruption was discovered, a report was made about it at some point. What was unusual was that these reports did not come only from the alumni or the Geumui Committee, but often came from both places at the same time. In this case, the purge was carried out immediately because the comparative verification was carried out immediately.

And those who had made a contribution or wanted to make a contribution were placed in the positions vacated through the purge. However, Emperor Seonghwa and his royal family were not satisfied with this.

“I’m still anxious.”

This was because neither Emperor Seonghwa, who had grown up in the empire, nor the royal family, who were all imperial citizens, had a foundation. Although they were now loyal to the bait offered by Seonghwaje, they could not guarantee when the situation would change.

To overcome this, Emperor Seonghwa and his royal family used various methods.

One was to build a protective wall made up of imperial troops around the Seonghwa Emperor and his royal family. Although adopted, Emperor Seonghwa’s empress was a member of the imperial family. Therefore, the imperial family dispatched court ladies and troops to attend and protect the empress.

The imperial army stationed in the Forbidden City served as an excellent defense. This was because if the imperial army was attacked to harm the empress, the empire would immediately intervene militarily. Ming, who suffered fatal defeats from the imperial army twice, suffered strong trauma from the imperial army.

Next was marriage policy.

Among the royal forces that followed Seonghwaje, a considerable number were unmarried. Emperor Shanghua promoted marriages between them and those with vested interests. Being tied to the royal family, which had newly emerged as the center of power, through marriage meant guaranteeing power and security, so the vested interests also actively promoted marriage. It was so bad that it was enough to push their own daughter into it.

“Is it fortune or misfortune?…”

“Now I really want to sleep alone.”

In response to the complaints of the royal family, who were their friends and loyal subjects, Seong Hwa-je smiled and said,

“It must be women’s clothing. There are a lot of them in this hallway.”

“There are a lot of corridors? Geumsun. No, I will inform the Empress.”

“You’re trying to break the peace of the family, and you’re a loyalist!”

Uniquely, Emperor Seonghwa did not take any concubines other than the empress. According to Ming imperial rules, the emperor refused to take in concubines even though it was a law that said. ‘The

relationship between the emperor and the empress was so good’ was a popular story, but he was a royal official. Everyone who knew, including those in power, knew that

“the emperor lives in captivity with the empress.”

However, since the empress never overstepped her power, no one raised this as an issue and made it public. In fact, when they tried to make it public, they were purged under the pretext of this.

* * *

If the imperial army and marriage policy were carried out at the core of power, work was also carried out on the periphery of power.

“No matter what measures are used, it does not change the fact that we are the minority and they are the majority.”

“Through marriage, they join hands with us.” The number of people caught has increased, but they are still outnumbered. It will get better over time, but it will still be best to have the power of the people.” ”

Then what should we, or I, do to ensure that we have the upper hand?”

“We have to get the people on our side.”

In this way, we will build a castle . Emperor He and his royal family implemented a new reform policy. The first thing they did was to create a new law code.

Emperor Seong Hwa and his royal family created a new legal code by referring to the first laws of the empire. Deleted provisions on punishment that were too harsh from the existing law. And the parts related to the three administrations were also greatly modified. In addition, various legal support was specified to solve the difficulties of the people, thereby securing the full support of the people. What was implemented to secure the support of the people was the

compilation of the law. That was not all. The existing administrative and military structures also began to be modified. At the same time as preventing too much authority from being given to local officials, the command authority and chain of command of the military were also clearly modified.

– Divide what needs to be shared, take what needs to be taken, and ensure security. This is guaranteed.

The administrative and military structures were changed according to these standards. Without missing the opportunity of the vested interests to focus on changes in the local administrative structure and military system, Emperor Shenghua and his royal family also modified the core power structure of the Forbidden City. .

The most representative one was the legislation of the emperor’s personal inspection of the emperor. Until then, it was customary for the emperor to personally see only important things and have the eunuchs approve the rest. But this is where a problem arose. -The

matter was serious. Who decides what is light?

Eunuchs can get away with as much corruption as they want, so the law stipulates that the expiration date be corrected.

“Hundreds of official letters and appeals come in every day! It will put a strain on your body!”

“Please believe in the loyalty of the minor gods!”

There were many objections like this, but Seonghwaje immediately asked a question.

“Isn’t the emperor of the empire already doing his best? The monks said, ‘The most polarized people in the world are the imperial people.’ It is said that such polarized people file hundreds of appeals a day. And yet, you are saying that you are calling for an expiration date. Do you think that I am inferior to the emperor of the empire?”

The ministers and magistrates had no choice but to bow their heads in unison and reply to these meaningful words.

“I will follow Your Majesty’s holy land! Please do as you wish!”

As this type of reform policy was pursued, the people of the Ming Dynasty began to increasingly support Emperor Seonghwa. And the control of the local noblemen, the gentlemen, began to weaken little by little. Just as Emperor Seonghwa and his royal family had intended. * * *

However

, the vested interests could not just back down. To be more precise, they were local gentlemen.

– The Emperor of Joseon.

– The half-emperor

was the word they used to call the Seonghwaje. The Emperor of Joseon has been familiar with it since ancient times. It was a word that was used, but Banhwang was a new title.

– Although he was born with the blood of the emperor, he did not grow up in the central plains, so he was half.

This was the hidden meaning. And those who used this word began to search in secret.

– Look for those who are whole, not half. Let’s bring it to the throne!