Chapter 133
The world is vast, and there are many lunatics in it.
I do not know who first said this, but I think it is a saying on the level of, “A nation that forgets its history has no future.”
There are truly many people in this world who commit atrocities I could not even have imagined.
There are men like Gwon Je, who are extremely high-ranking members of society but engage in drunken violence once they return home, as well as a bastard who, during the reign of some Joseon king or other, impregnated a seven-year-old girl—a man worse than a dog or pig.
Ordinary people who live ordinary lives are sometimes appalled and sometimes deeply shocked by the deeds of such heinous criminals.
“Kim Sain, in all my years, I have never seen a memorial this insane. Just reading it gives me a headache. Is this not a memorial every bit as savage as that of the former Goryeo dynasty?”
That bastard Gwon Je had submitted a memorial containing things beyond even my imagination.
He claimed that, from the very beginning of their marriage, his wife had contradicted everything he said, and that because she nagged him over every little thing, he could never find a moment’s peace at home.
He also wrote that when he took a concubine, his wife had displayed such vicious jealousy that he became afraid to enter his own house and had to flee to a gisaeng house after finishing work on time...
He wrote that, in the process of correcting his wife’s jealousy and arrogance, he had no choice but to raise his hand and use violence, and that this had been the loving discipline he, as the head of the household, had been forced to administer to correct her faults.
'What a fucking lunatic.'
“How can a sadaebu who has learned the teachings of Confucius and Mencius write something so vicious? It is so horrifying that words cannot describe it.”
Whenever you visit internet community sites, there are people who scatter all kinds of disgusting photographs.
Would it be too much to describe every tiny detail of such photographs in writing?
No. It was far more disgusting than those things—so much so that they could not even be compared.
“This memorial was discussed in the king’s private audience chamber as well. His Majesty said that allowing a divorce for such ridiculous reasons would bring down Joseon’s laws and customs, and used some harsh language that was difficult to repeat. He spoke so severely that the court historians softened his words themselves.”
I was somewhat surprised that King Sejong had not allowed the divorce, but I could fully understand why he had refused.
In a modern country, even if a woman gets divorced, she can somehow make a living on her own. But Joseon was a country that lived and died by propriety and honor.
If a yangban family’s daughter were “divorced” in Joseon, a lifetime criminal record equivalent to being labeled a “murderer” in Korea would follow her everywhere.
Gwon Je’s wife’s family was reasonably well-off, so the divorced woman would not go so far as to starve to death...
But she would probably spend the rest of her life suffering every kind of condemnation and contempt.
Moreover, if this case were accepted and the divorce went through, it would become a precedent of sorts. His Majesty was probably also worried that the number of bastards who would abuse it would increase.
Even in modern countries, there are countless cases where a matter that was acquitted only yesterday is found guilty by the Supreme Court today, after which similar cases suddenly begin receiving guilty verdicts one after another.
Why should Joseon be any different?
Being abused was already unjust, but if she were also divorced and socially buried, it would be like rubbing salt into an open wound.
“So that was His Majesty’s judgment.”
“His Majesty said that he would personally issue a severe bimanggi (a letter of reprimand). Usually, such letters are written by the Office of Diplomatic Correspondence, but he said that this time he would write the admonitory royal note in his own hand.”
“His Majesty must be very angry. However, I see things differently. I believe that in this case, the divorce must be permitted.”
“Really? I am very curious to know what reason our Jibu Sangso, Kim Sain, has for saying such a thing this time. Tell me quickly. What audacity, to immediately point out that His Majesty was wrong about a decision he made personally at the morning audience. Even Jeong Mong-ju of the former Goryeo dynasty could not hold a candle to you.”
Jeong Mong-ju was an extraordinary loyal subject, regarded as the only “non-atrocious person” in the former Goryeo dynasty.
Being compared to someone like that was a great burden.
But had I ever lived my life as an official while worrying about things like that? I had simply lived according to my convictions.
If everything went wrong, I could submit a memorial of resignation, return to my hometown, and live a leisurely life. That was all.
Moreover, given that the Chief State Councillor had given me the nickname Jibu Sangso, he seemed rather displeased that I had immediately raised a counterargument.
“The man named Gwon Je is an extremely violent bastard.”
When I called Gwon Je, who had held a senior second-rank office, by his “real name,” Hwang Hui’s eyes widened.
In Joseon, there was a taboo against calling a yangban by his real name unless he was the king, one’s father, or one’s teacher.
Breaking this taboo was equivalent, in twenty-first-century Korea, to saying “Your mother is a whore” straight to the other person’s face.
If a murder occurred among the yangban because someone had called another person by his real name without any particular reason, it would probably be considered an enormous mitigating circumstance.
A sentence that should have resulted in decapitation might instead be reduced to exile or flogging.
Since I had committed such an outrage, Hwang Hui could not help being astonished.
“The boy Ram and his sister, whom I have accepted as my disciples, once ran out of their house in the middle of the night to escape their father’s violence. I happened to see them, felt sorry for them, and brought them into my home to protect them. The next day, when he came to my house, he flew into a rage and asked why I was interfering in his family affairs. If he were a father who loved his children, could he possibly act this way?”
“...... What a piece of human garbage.”
“This man somehow found the courage to submit a memorial asking for a divorce from his wife. What do you think will happen if that request is rejected and he even receives a handwritten admonitory note from His Majesty? All his resentment will turn toward his wife and children, and he will drink to vent his explosive anger. After drinking like a whale, he will subject his wife and children to merciless violence, just as he always has. If that happens, a truly irreversible disaster may occur.”
Gwon Je was the kind of man who beat his daughter, who tried to stop him from hitting his wife, nearly to death.
King Sejong had let this atrocity pass because it was difficult to punish under Joseon’s criminal law, but I would crush this bastard even if I had to create a law that did not exist.
“I understand what you are saying. But if we permit the divorce as things stand, what will become of his wife? She will be burdened with every kind of dishonor and stigma.”
“From what I heard of the family’s circumstances from Ram, all the blame lies with Gwon Je. Therefore, we should hold Gwon Je alone accountable.”
“Are you thinking of overhauling the law entirely?”
“If a child strikes a parent, he is beheaded for committing a crime against the bonds of human relations, regardless of the circumstances. Yet in Joseon, parents can strike and abuse their wives and children without reason and face no punishment. Is that truly right? The system itself is fundamentally flawed.”
Even in modern countries, it is not difficult to find people who think that a parent beating a child while drunk is merely a mistake.
The courts are often lenient in such cases as well.
But if a parent beat a child nearly to death for no reason, and the child, unable to endure it any longer, raised a hand against the parent in resistance, opinions would be divided.
Some people would say, “How dare a child strike a parent?” while others would say, “The parent acted in a way no parent should, so resisting was justified.”
To make matters worse, in Joseon, people taught only that when a parent hit a child, “running away was the best option.”
Because of this way of thinking, how many children and women must have died without receiving even the slightest protection from abuse by their parents and husbands?
“A child must never dare to accuse his father, but if a father takes up a sword and tries to kill his child, it must never happen that the child is killed simply because he could not even report it. Therefore, we must use this case as an opportunity to partially revise Joseon’s laws, so that wives and children who are abused through no fault of their own can receive protection from the local authorities.”
“It is a very difficult matter.”
Hwang Hui sighed as he said that it was difficult.
However, he did not strongly oppose the idea.
“Yes, I think something like that would be acceptable. We must at least create a loophole like this so that no one is unjustly beaten to death by a brutal father.”
“I have already written a memorial.”
“Aren’t you going to submit a Jibu Sangso? I thought you would, Kim Sain.”
“I intended to if Your Excellency absolutely refused.”
“What will you do if you end up like the Right State Councillor over there? Because he committed a grave offense, that fellow is fated never to be allowed to resign until the day he dies.”
Jo Mal-saeng stared fixedly at Hwang Hui and me when he heard that.
I could tell from his gaze alone.
'Do you think you will escape lifelong service just because you are you?'
Well, I was safe, at least. I could not say the same for Chief State Councillor Hwang.
There was nothing they could nitpick, so how could they reject a legitimate resignation request until I died?
“Next time, go through the Royal Secretariat. If you continue ignoring procedure like this, Minister of Rites Heo Jo will open those hawk eyes of his and come running all the way to the State Council to reprimand Kim Sain.”
“Surely he would not go that far?”
If that goshawk Heo Jo was involved, it really was plausible.
Even when they were selecting Munjong’s wife, when King Sejong said that he would choose a pretty woman...
'You are trying to choose the crown princess based on her looks? Have you lost your mind? Her character is what matters; her appearance is not even worth a sparrow’s toenail... Oh, no, I can hear the sound of Joseon’s laws and customs collapsing, and tears are streaming down my face.'
He had said things like that openly in the king’s private audience chamber.
He was the sort of man who would speak that way even though choosing a crown princess was a matter involving the royal ancestral shrines and the state.
At this point, I even felt that it was almost comparable to Park Mun-su telling King Yeongjo, “Shouldn’t you do what a human being ought to do, so that Heaven will be moved and grant you a son?”
“I will follow the proper procedures from now on.”
“Do so. Do you know how much more work I have to do whenever you fail to follow procedure?”
“Chief State Councillor, then how about sending me to the Hall of Worthies...”
Hwang Hui waved his hands frantically when he heard that.
“Send you to the Hall of Worthies? Do not ever casually let such words pass your lips! Anywhere else might be acceptable, but absolutely not the Hall of Worthies! If you are going, then only after I resign...”
This time, Jo Mal-saeng protested to Hwang Hui.
“Does that mean that after the Chief State Councillor resigns, this subordinate is supposed to handle alone the mountain of work Kim Sain will pour out at the Hall of Worthies?”
“The Right State Councillor is still young, is he not? Wait until you grow old like me. I do not even have the strength to hold a brush anymore. And if I resign, the Minister of Personnel over there will rise to the State Council in my place, so what is there to worry about?”
When Hwang Hui unleashed his ultimate technique of combining his position as Chief State Councillor with his age, Jo Mal-saeng’s argument sank without a trace.
Not long after I submitted the memorial, a royal reply was issued.
“But why are you coming to the State Council in person?”
“I, too, thought that the decision His Majesty handed down made sense, but there was a part of it that troubled me... Kim Sain, you have pointed that part out with remarkable clarity.”