King of Commerce, Yeonsan-gun ch.5
Guards and Protests
Before the rooster crowed at dawn, the gates of Hanyang Fortress were firmly shut. Two soldiers, Kim Mak-dong and Lee Gae-eul, found themselves on yet another grueling shift, their turns repeatedly dumped on them by other conscripted soldiers due to their poverty.
They were patrolling lackadaisically, typical of Joseon guards on night duty. However, something unusual caught their attention—a man in white clothing (though everyone wore white during the national mourning period) approached the gate alone, seemingly intending to leave the city. It was rare for someone to attempt leaving at this hour, even though it was common to prevent people from entering.
"Who goes there? It’s not yet time for the bell. Are you defying the curfew?" one of the guards challenged.
The man, however, calmly replied,
"I must leave urgently. I am in mourning for my father."
As he spoke, he revealed something white and shimmering from his sleeve.
Oh! Mourning for one's father was indeed a justified reason. This was Joseon, the Land of Courtesy. The guards, though illiterate, had a vague understanding that certain situations warranted exceptions to the curfew (as their frequent use of the word "vague" suggests, their knowledge was indeed very sketchy).
Recognizing the man’s evident respect for filial piety and propriety, the gate opened for him almost automatically.
As the man passed, the guards, satisfied with their decision, felt they had made a wise choice. After all, sending off a dutiful son was surely the right thing to do, even if their understanding of the laws was tenuous at best.
Just before dawn, the palace was thrown into chaos.
"The king is missing!!!"
"What were the chief eunuchs doing? How could they let this happen?"
"But we saw him retire for the night. When we came for the morning greetings, he was gone..."
"Mobilize the soldiers! Lock down the city and search every corner!"
"Shall we call back the soldiers sent to work on the royal tomb construction?"
"Of course!"
"Has anyone questioned the guards at the gates?"
"Yes, a man claiming to be in mourning for his father slipped out during the curfew."
The officials zeroed in on this lead. It had to be him!
"Where did he go? Was there anything suspicious? Investigate thoroughly!"
The guards, who had thought they were simply sending off a filial son, were now subjected to severe interrogation.
"He headed south... alone, carrying nothing unusual," they stammered.
"Alone?"
It didn't take long for the officials to find the king. News came from the Royal Tomb Construction Office.
His Majesty was at the royal tomb site, building a hut and personally watching over the construction as a sign of filial piety.
In a way, it was also a form of protest.
"How can my rule compare to that of the late king? As per our nation's customs, I will watch over the royal tomb for three years, fulfill my filial duties, and only then will I be fit to govern."
What? Who will run the country in the meantime? The ministers were on the verge of panic.
The news soon reached the Dowager Queen.
"The king has always been frail and often sickly. How could he endure three years of mourning?! I warned against staying near the royal shrine! What were the ministers doing? Why did they not prevent this?!"
Already on the verge of tears, the ministers were now openly weeping. They rushed to the royal tomb, falling to their knees and pleading with the king.
"Your Majesty! The filial duties of a king are different from those of ordinary people! For the sake of the kingdom, please reconsider!"
"The Office of Inspector-General sincerely advised me that the famine in Gyeonggi is due to my lack of self-cultivation. Therefore, I intend to listen to their counsel and fulfill my filial duties to improve my self-cultivation," the king retorted.
Technically, the king was using the situation to assert his authority over the officials. When a group is subjected to such a test, the blame often shifts from the enforcer to those being criticized. The ministers’ anger turned toward the Office of Inspector-General.
'The inspectors have been too dominant since the late King Seongjong’s time!'
'How could they so lightly advise our newly ascended king!'
However, in politics, stubbornness from one's allies is seen as integrity. The officials of the Office of Inspector-General continued their "principled" stance.
"Your Majesty, self-cultivation does not mean staying by the royal tomb. You must rid the court of the treacherous No Sa-shin and Yoon Pil-sang..."
'Damn these oblivious fools!'
The ministers, constrained by royal presence, couldn’t physically beat the inspectors, so they restrained themselves as the king interrupted the inspectors.
"Enough. As I am a sinner of filial neglect, how can I blame my ministers? While I am absent, the regents will govern the country."
With that, he picked up a shovel and walked toward the construction site, where he began digging the grave himself.
"Your Majesty! If you do this yourself, we will be doomed!" the workers cried, rushing to stop him.
"It is not wrong for a son to dig his father's grave, is it?" the king argued.
The ministers, too, screamed in despair.
"Your Majesty, punish us instead!"
"You call yourselves ministers, yet you dare to defy my orders and touch my body? Do not interfere."
Thus, the court was thrown into disarray for an entire day.
Days of "Come back, Your Majesty!" versus "Oh, but the inspectors told me to improve my self-cultivation, so I must stay" ensued in a tense standoff.
The elderly ministers, increasingly resentful of the inspectors, found themselves making daily trips to the royal tomb—a task more of a symbolic burden than a physical one, since they traveled by palanquin. On one such journey, they witnessed an unusual scene.
Because everyone wore white during the national mourning, it was difficult to identify individuals from a distance. However, it was clear these were women, and one, followed by many others, seemed to be of high status. It was curious to see such a person leaving the city at this hour.
Even more strangely, their path seemed to overlap with that of the ministers. As they approached the royal tomb, they realized who they were seeing and hearing.
"It's fine. Isn't honoring one's parents-in-law part of being a virtuous woman?" one voice said.
"Oh, please, Your Majesty! We will be in serious trouble!" others pleaded.
The ministers couldn't believe their ears. "Your Majesty? Which Majesty?"
Realizing what was happening, they leapt out of their palanquins and prostrated themselves in front of the queen, blocking her path.
"We have heard that His Majesty is staying in a hut at the royal tomb. As his wife and servant, shouldn’t I also watch over him?"
The ministers, already feeling faint, were now truly panicking. And then, adding insult to injury, the king himself appeared.
"Your Majesty? Why are you here?" the ministers wanted to ask, though they held their tongues. After all, the tomb was now just a short distance away.
"As I mentioned earlier, seeing His Majesty’s sorrow over being unable to fulfill his filial duties breaks my heart. As a wife should follow her husband, I will stay with him at the royal tomb," the queen declared.
Although Kyung-sik was internally astounded at how their previous conversation had come full circle, he feigned a deeply moved expression.
"Oh, my queen! With such virtue, how can I stray from my duties? I am truly the luckiest man in Joseon."
The ministers, understanding this to mean that the king had no intention of returning, began crying even louder, begging him to come back.
But the king merely looked off into the distance and said,
"Hmm, listening to the ministers makes me reconsider whether the inspectors' theory of celestial retribution is true or not."
Understood the hint? Now, start criticizing the theory of celestial retribution and those damn inspectors.
The three top officials gathered in the council room to discuss the situation.
"This is all the inspectors’ fault," No Sa-shin, the Left State Councilor, summarized.
"It’s clear that His Majesty intends to dismiss the inspectors, but on what grounds? They even prosecuted Im Sa-hong during King Seongjong’s reign," Yeonguijeong (Chief State Councilor) Lee Geuk-bae expressed his concern.
"If His Majesty’s mind is set on punishing the inspectors, what more is there to debate? His Majesty has decreed a discussion on the validity of the celestial retribution theory. We should focus on criticizing that," argued Shin Seung-seon, the Right State Councilor, who was as adamant as No Sa-shin. Part of his fervor came from the fact that Queen Shin, now staying with the king, was his daughter.
Despite his reservations, Lee Geuk-bae didn’t oppose the agreement between the Left and Right State Councilors. They summoned the senior officials, excluding the Office of Inspector-General.
"The situation is dire. We must quickly gather arguments to critique the celestial retribution theory as His Majesty has instructed," they announced.
Debates critiquing the celestial retribution theory were quickly compiled into a document.
"Dong Zhongshu's theory of Heaven and Earth’s mutual responsiveness is mixed with the absurdities of yin-yang philosophy."
"Eclipses were once considered signs of celestial retribution, but since the teachings of Zhu Xi, they have been explained through the principles of li (order) and qi (energy). Many other phenomena can be understood similarly."
"How can celestial retribution be solely the fault of the king or his ministers? From the commoners to the officials, everyone must engage in self-cultivation. Claiming misfortune is solely due to others' faults is a sign of one's own lack of self-cultivation."
The ministers, already discontent with the inspectors, quickly completed the task as the three state councilors had pre-determined the conclusions.
However, they were still scholars bound by their era, and celestial retribution was a convenient tool for checking royal power. As King Kyung-sik had previously scolded, they couldn’t entirely dismiss phenomena as merely natural occurrences without any moral implications. Ultimately, their conclusion was, "We can’t always be sure who is at fault for misfortunes, so let’s stop using it as a pretext."
"Are we truly submitting this report as is?"
Huh? The officials turned to Lee Eui, the Grand Inspector, who had raised an objection.
"How can we label celestial retribution as mere heretical nonsense? Isn’t this just flattery towards the king?" he continued, standing his ground. With a name like "Eui" (meaning "objection"), it was as if he was destined to rise through the ranks by constantly objecting.
'What is he talking about?' the other officials thought.
'Is he defending the inspectors just because they belong to the same office?'
"Celestial retribution has been discussed since Dong Zhongshu’s time. How can we, mere officials, dismiss it as heresy? His Majesty may have ordered this debate, but wasn’t he also not particularly known for his grasp of principles as the crown prince..."
"You dare!"
No Sa-shin’s thunderous rebuke cut through the air (the record keepers later noted this as "No Sa-shin shouted loudly").
The council chamber immediately turned into a scene of condemnation against the Office of Inspector-General.
"The inspectors still do not grasp the king’s intentions!"
"Historically, to lose one's loyalty is to face death..."
The inspectors were promptly expelled from the council chamber. The Hall of Worthies, though not particularly resistant, was also dismissed. Without a high-ranking official to support them (the Chief State Councilor also served as the head of the Hall of Worthies), their involvement in the council was soon seen as a mistake.
"Now that we’ve dealt with those causing discord, let’s finalize our petition!" the ministers concluded.
Kyung-sik received the council’s report while at the royal tomb.
The conclusion was that celestial retribution could not be carelessly used to criticize and impeach officials as the inspectors had done. Those who had made such unfounded criticisms were to be punished—a result Kyung-sik had eagerly anticipated.
‘It seems they couldn’t entirely dismiss the theory of celestial retribution…’
He had pondered if he could use future scientific knowledge to refute the theory completely, but he realized that without advanced tools like satellites and supercomputers, his own understanding, being from the liberal arts, wouldn’t allow for conclusive proof. Even claiming and proving the Earth’s sphericity or heliocentric model seemed beyond his current ability.
Still, this would provide enough justification to return to the palace. Living in a makeshift hut next to a grave wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Plus, he was worried about his wife, Queen Shin.
"After hearing your arguments, I realize that my actions were hasty. For the sake of the kingdom, I will return to the palace. Let us continue our discussions on celestial retribution there."
With this, King Kyung-sik returned to the palace.
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