Chapter 157
The Xuande Emperor was far wiser than the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
Unlike Zhu Yuanzhang, he tried not to suspect people without cause, and he also avoided purging ministers and chief councillors without reason as much as possible.
That caution was not directed solely at his officials; he behaved the same way when dealing with foreign countries, including Joseon.
“What does the Minister of War think? Is Joseon likely to betray us?”
Later generations said that three brilliant chief councillors served under the Xuande Emperor.
One of them, Yang Shiqi, did not answer the emperor's question immediately. Instead, he fell into thought for a moment.
If they were Jurchens who controlled part of Liaodong, or those mad Japanese barbarians who called themselves the emperor (tennō) of some sun-rising country, he would not have needed to worry too much.
No matter how wildly those people behaved, they could not inflict a fatal blow on the Ming dynasty.
But Joseon was different.
Not only was it a nation that had inherited Goguryeo, but the Gaebyeolcho led by Yi Seong-gye was an elite army that had easily wiped out tens of thousands of Red Turban rebels—the very rebels Zhu Yuanzhang had once joined.
The Gaebyeolcho would probably never be formed again, since Joseon had lost its influence over the Jurchens after Yi Seong-gye's death...
Even so, if they happened to betray Ming, the Ming dynasty would be shaken to its foundations.
‘We must be wary of Joseon's strength.’
“Since Joseon is a nation that inherited Goguryeo, we must not underestimate it recklessly. Furthermore, although they are barbarians, they are also people who deeply follow and seek to learn the culture of the Central Plains, so we must not regard them in the same way as other barbarians.”
“Is the Minister of War defending Joseon before me?”
“It has been said that one must know the enemy and know oneself to avoid falling into danger even after fighting a hundred battles. At present, the Great Ming is facing enemies to the north—the barbarians and remnants of Yuan—and to the south, the wokou and Yue (Vietnam). If we deliberately antagonize Joseon as well and increase the number of our enemies, that would hardly benefit the Great Ming.”
“You are right.”
Vietnam had at least bowed of its own accord after fighting Yongle to the death, saying, ‘We will never fight Ming again. We will not harm Ming's view of the world, either, and we will pay tribute.’
But that did not mean Ming could lower its guard against them.
Moreover, the greatest threat of all was Northern Yuan.
If they truly wished to, they could lead tens of thousands of elite cavalry south at any time and scatter the Ming dynasty to the winds.
If Joseon were added to the list of enemies and the chaos grew even worse, Ming could be shaken to its very foundations.
“Although they dared strike Imanju, the Assistant Commander of the Jianzhou Guard, without submitting a memorial to the Great Ming, the Assistant Commander post bestowed upon him was merely an empty title without any real significance, was it not? It was granted only to establish a hierarchy and order among the barbarians. If he valued that office and wanted even the minimum treatment appropriate to it, he should never have plundered Joseon.”
“You are saying that although Joseon struck Imanju, whom I appointed Assistant Commander, it is not something for which they should be punished?”
“That is correct. However, I absolutely do not consider Joseon a country of loyal subjects. Though they have accepted the culture of the Central Plains and pretend to be civilized, they were born in barbarian lands and speak a barbarian tongue... How could their nature and roots have changed?”
There is one concept that holds true everywhere in the world.
It is that people never change.
Of course, there may be a tiny handful of exceptions, but even if you scrubbed your eyes and searched carefully, they would be difficult to find.
Yang Shiqi viewed Joseon from precisely that perspective.
“You are right.”
“Therefore, when the Seongjeolsa mission arrives, insult them to their faces, rebuke them, and treat them harshly. Even traitors filled with thoughts of betrayal will wag their tails for the imperial favor Your Majesty bestows when treated well, but when treated sternly, traitors cannot endure it and reveal their true nature.”
“As expected, the Minister of War is truly wise.”
“I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty's grace.”
Following the Minister of War's words, Minister of Rites Yang Fu stepped forward to lend his support.
“As it happens, Joseon has requested a change, saying that the hat worn by the Crown Prince and the hat worn by the minister serving as deputy envoy are identical, which would be most uncomfortable in His Imperial Majesty's eyes.”
“Was there anything in their request that we could seize upon?”
If there were some incident like ‘We misunderstood ritual propriety during the previous emperor's reign,’ they could use it as an excuse to rebuke and tame Joseon's young Crown Prince.
But Kim Daebung was not an easy man to deal with.
“There was nothing. Not a single detail or even a single character offered any grounds for criticism. Everything they said was reasonable. Moreover, they informed us in advance that they would not bring even one merchant on this mission, and said they would even bring back Ming subjects who had been held captive by the Jurchens.”
“Joseon is truly vicious.”
They had intended to tame Joseon by seizing upon a single flaw, blowing it up out of all proportion, and harshly rebuking the Seongjeolsa mission...
That strategy seemed to have already failed.
“If Joseon's Crown Prince showed no objection upon entering Liaodong while wearing the hat the previous emperor had bestowed upon him, despite its violation of proper etiquette, I intended to sternly rebuke Joseon as a barbarian country ignorant of ritual. Conversely, if they had brought and worn a hat that conformed to proper etiquette of their own accord, I intended to rebuke them harshly for insulting the previous emperor.”
As for the matter of bringing merchants along, which had never been treated as a problem before, he had also intended to seize upon it and rebuke them, saying that since they had brought merchants, they must be conducting business merely to pocket a profit...
“But Joseon has skillfully avoided every possible point of attack, so it cannot be helped. Instead, order Joseon's young Crown Prince to wear the ceremonial robes bestowed by Ming all the way from Joseon.”
That alone should be enough to inflict a great humiliation on Joseon.
The Xuande Emperor decided to be satisfied with that for the time being.
**
Time passed, and at last the day came for the diplomatic mission to depart.
Serving as an envoy was never easy, and this time they had to escort Munjong himself, so the atmosphere was bound to be heavy...
Even taking all that into consideration, everyone was far too gloomy.
“Hey, Chief Secretary.”
“Yes, My Lord Deputy Envoy.”
Choe Yun-deok looked at me and sighed.
“Thanks to you and Vice Commissioner Huh Ju, who, despite suffering from a stroke, dragged his ailing body out to help us, we somehow managed to prevent Ming from finding fault with our ritual protocol. If not, we would be setting out after bribing the Liaodong Military Commander and begging him to deliver our memorial.”
“I suppose we would. All official documents sent from Joseon have to pass through the Liaodong Military Commander, after all.”
“Though we somehow prevented that catastrophe, it really leaves a bad taste that the hat worn by His Highness the Crown Prince and mine are identical.”
“This is all because of those Ming bastards' dirty tricks.”
Ming was playing a high-class school-bully game right now.
Hey, Joseon, are you going to hit me? Or are you going to run crying to your mommy? But what can you do? This is a diplomatic gathering where neither of us has a mommy. Got a problem? If you don't like it, go ahead and smash your head into the ground.
They could not say something like that directly at a diplomatic gathering, so they were trying to tame us by finding fault with ritual etiquette.
Joseon people, especially yangban, were the sort of people who, with only a slight exaggeration, would rather die than fail to observe proper etiquette...
A mere official and the Crown Prince wearing the same hat?
This was an enormous shame and humiliation.
To put it in corporate terms, it was like receiving hospitality from a rival company, only for them to seat our executive director and chairman as equals.
The message contained within was that our chairman did no real work and held no real power, so surely he was no different from an executive director.
“We are adults, so even if we suffer humiliation, we can somehow endure it. But His Highness is still young and tender-hearted. How wretched must he feel while enduring such humiliation...”
“He must be furious. But as the Crown Prince of a country, he can only endure the pain.”
Munjong had been exceptionally bright since childhood.
As King Sejong's eldest son, he had mastered the Analects at the age of ten and the Mencius at eleven. Among all the kings in Joseon's history, he was objectively a monarch who belonged in the realm of genius.
That was why he had been able to put Jang Yeong-sil through his paces in his spare time and have him create things like the rain gauge.
Brilliant as he was, Munjong had only just turned thirteen, so he was still a child...
‘It must be eating him up inside.’
“I do not know how much help I can be, but I will go offer him some comfort.”
“Please do.”
At Choe Yun-deok's request, I approached Munjong.
He was biting his lip tightly, so he must have been absolutely furious.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“I'm fine.”
I had never seen a single person who was genuinely fine when they said they were fine in a situation like this.
“Your Highness, do you know how the Shang king Zhou had his eldest son made into soup and fed it to King Wen of Zhou?”
“I know. King Wen had great ambitions, so he endured that shame and humiliation and ate all the soup made from his own son.”
“The humiliation Your Highness is enduring now is the same. For the sake of Joseon's people, Your Highness is suffering a great ordeal.”
“I know. I know how weighty the duty I have taken on is.”
For someone enduring such hardship, it was comforting to hear how worthwhile that hardship was.
If the task were meaningless, it would only make them feel more bitter, but if it were worthwhile, their sense of injustice would at least ease somewhat.
“Even if the Ming emperor persecutes Your Highness, do not ever bend, and proceed with your head held high. Your Highness has done nothing wrong. In moments like this, conducting yourself with dignity and a clear conscience is the true way to defeat them.”
“A way to defeat them...”
“If they see Your Highness looking flustered, they will laugh and mock you. But if Your Highness proceeds with dignity, they will be taken aback precisely because it is different from what they expected.”
If Joseon's Crown Prince showed no sign of fluster when he came to Ming and stood before them, they would truly be thrown into confusion.
It would be something entirely different from what they had expected.
“If Your Highness endures a moment of shame and proceeds with dignity, even the Ming emperor will be unable to disregard you. And that episode will remain an embarrassment and humiliation to them, while in Joseon it will be remembered as an example of Your Highness's spirit and passed down for generations.”
That was absolutely true.
If people said that the wise Crown Prince Munjong had stood firm and faced the Ming emperor with dignity despite Ming inflicting tremendous humiliation upon him...
Twenty-first-century online communities would produce countless memes praising the cool Munjong and mocking the foolish Xuande Emperor.
“And once Your Highness has completed your schedule...”
I had heard that Munjong always watched Yi Bang-won fire a matchlock with a deeply envious expression.
Apparently, they had not allowed him to fire one because he was too young.
“I will ask His Highness the Grand King Emeritus for permission to let Your Highness fire a matchlock yourself. And if there is a weapon Your Highness has been envisioning, how about trying to make one? I will help.”
Munjong was an extreme firepower fanatic.
Perhaps he wanted to show off his fanaticism, because his eyes began to sparkle.
“Is that really true?”
“As it happens, Jang Hogun is in Hanyang. Your Highness and I can join forces to draw up a weapon design, give it to him, and ask him to build it. If it is judged useful, it might even be issued to the entire Joseon army. Isn't it exciting just to think about? And I will keep Your Highness company on the journey so you will not be bored.”
“...... Yes, do that.”
And so I stayed by Munjong's side all the way to Beijing.
On the journey, I told him things such as economics, and, as they say, blood will tell—he understood every bit of it.