Chapter 178
Hwang Hui, Joseon's Chief State Councillor, stood second only to the king and above all others.
As a Joseon yangban, he had accomplished nearly everything a man of his class could hope to achieve.
Although he was not a founding meritorious subject, he had an unshakable position comparable to one, accumulated enough wealth to make it difficult to spend it all even over a lifetime, and had even led the way in sweeping aside rotten Goryeo and developing Joseon.
Even now, a passion called patriotic devotion burned within him, but his frail sixty-four-year-old body found it difficult to bear that passion.
Thus, in keeping with the sign that he had reached the age when he should look back on his achievements, enjoy the clear breeze and bright moon, and live in comfort, he decided to retire.
"With outstanding talents such as Kim Daebung behind me, it would be better in many ways for an old man like me, already past sixty, to retire as soon as possible."
Of course, even if he retired, Kim Daebung would not become Chief State Councillor right away.
But within ten years at the earliest, or twenty at the latest, he would become Chief State Councillor and take on the central role of leading Joseon's development...
He thought that an old man like himself clinging to the post of Chief State Councillor merely because he had entered government service earlier would be the sort of power-obsessed old fossil who belonged alongside Ryu Jeong-hyeon, whose head had been cut off after becoming possessed by the ghost of Goryeo.
This was absolutely not a thought he had arrived at because, having watched Kim Daebung work lately, he feared Kim would throw a mountain of work at him the moment he became a senior official.
How could a Joseon scholar ever refuse to work for his country?
"Right State Councillor."
"You seem to be wearing an exceptionally bright smile. Has something good happened?"
"Well, it is nothing particularly grand. Looking back on everything from before the former dynasty fell to the present, I realized that even an insignificant man like me has contributed to the dynasty and state in many ways as a subject. It made me feel proud of myself."
"Indeed, if Your Excellency the Chief State Councillor had not been here, it would have been extremely difficult to put right the turmoil that followed the founding of the country."
Before Kim Daebung appeared, Hwang Hui had traveled through all manner of difficult places, synthesized the opinions of the various ministers at court, and worked to correct the country's wrongs by offering timely and necessary remonstrances in all sorts of situations.
Of course, he had received rather a lot of gifts—bribes—but jealous remonstrating officials had impeached him for it, and he had been dismissed several times...
He had also spent a fairly long time in exile after Taejong banished him for trying to protect Grand Prince Yangnyeong to the very end in accordance with the principle of succession by the eldest legitimate son...
'I have no regrets whatsoever.'
"But now I have grown too old. The passion in my heart is still the same as when I was twenty, yet my body, now past sixty, keeps sending me signals that it can no longer endure. Therefore, I have decided that it is time to retire, and I intend to submit my resignation memorial today."
Hwang Hui's eyes grew slightly red.
It was because all sorts of regrets came rushing over him at the thought of leaving the court where he had spent so many years.
"To put it bluntly, why did a man like me enter government service and rise all the way to Chief State Councillor? Because His Majesty King Taejo, faced with a shortage of talent in the newly founded country, had no choice but to appoint even those who lacked ability... That is why he gave office even to an incompetent man like me. But now there are young and capable talents such as Seoyun Kim Daebung, along with several formidable ministers I can trust, including you. Would it not be right for a mediocre, foolish old man like me to retire? If only to stop causing trouble for the court."
Hearing Hwang Hui's decision to retire after a lifetime in government service, Jo Mal-saeng thought:
That man was saying all this because he did not want to be tormented by Kim Daebung anymore.
"Chief State Councillor."
"I am sorry to say this, but I will leave what comes after me in your hands. And as I resign, I will earnestly ask His Majesty to make Kim Daebung a senior court official..."
Jo Mal-saeng cut Hwang Hui off.
"Chief State Councillor, I am Jo Mal-saeng, the Right State Councillor. Why are you speaking so insincerely to me? Let us be frank and talk about what you truly think. Honestly, have you not decided to resign because of the mountain of work Kim Daebung has created?"
"No, I have not. Right State Councillor, what sort of person do you take me for?"
"I cannot resign in any case. Even now, I could ask His Majesty to send Kim Daebung to the Hall of Worthies and have Your Excellency take sole charge as its chief director..."
"...... Do not even say such a thing. Just imagining it..."
As long as he remained Chief State Councillor at the State Council, there was no danger of being bombarded with work by Kim Daebung.
All he had to do was review the documents Kim prepared, correct the occasional error, and mediate among the various ministers and government offices when their interests clashed.
But if he became the Hall of Worthies' chief director, would he have to take part in the endlessly repeating policy debates between Kim Daebung and Sejong, sort it all out, and turn it into policy research?
Even thinking about it for a moment made a cold sweat break out.
'Absolutely not.'
"All right, I will be honest. I want to resign because, now that I am over sixty and my body is struggling, I would like to rest and live comfortably for a while. I have already risen to the position below one and above ten thousand, so why should I make this old body suffer by remaining in office? I want to stay home, watch my adorable grandsons and granddaughters amuse themselves, float a boat on the river, drink some wine, and enjoy a life of leisure."
"How nice it is to hear you speak so honestly."
"In any case, I am going to submit my resignation memorial. This time, I will definitely resign. Yes, I certainly will."
In twenty-first-century Korea, when a civil servant submits a resignation letter, it can be accepted immediately, allowing the person to become free at once.
And unless there are exceptional circumstances, the person becomes completely free and begins retirement.
But serving as an official in Joseon meant that one could return to office even after being dismissed as a disciplinary measure or serving multiple terms of exile, some of them close to life imprisonment...
Among those who held senior court rank or higher, it was rare to find anyone who had never suffered dismissal or had their office and rank stripped away.
In a country like that, people often submitted resignation memorials whenever they found themselves being criticized for one reason or another or felt uncomfortable remaining in a high position for too long.
In such cases, the memorial was submitted to secure the king's justification for allowing them to remain in office, so it was common for the king to reject it immediately, citing all sorts of reasons.
Hwang Hui had submitted several such resignation memorials by then.
"It is a shame, Chief State Councillor Hwang. Still, you have worked hard."
"The Right State Councillor will have to suffer a little longer."
After finishing his conversation with Right State Councillor Jo Mal-saeng, Hwang Hui submitted his resignation memorial to the Royal Secretariat.
And with that, he thought he would finally be able to retire in peace.
**
Hwang Hui's resignation memorial reached Sejong.
Sejong's brow furrowed as he read it.
"It is never easy for Joseon to gain an outstanding minister like Hwang Hui... Why does he humble himself so much and wish to retire gracefully?"
To borrow Kim Daebung's expression, King Sejong did not even think in the same way ordinary people did.
He said that he merely sought out necessary tasks and did them, whereas King Sejong enjoyed the work itself.
The sage king enjoyed his work so much that he was obsessed with working overtime, and even when Taejong hid his books, he somehow found books to read and read them again and again.
If one had to find a comparable type of person...
Master's and PhD students fear and worry when faced with a difficult paper, but Sejong, like an eccentric genius professor, felt pure delight and joy upon seeing a new discovery.
He had a tendency to abduct fresh-faced university students to graduate school so that he could share that joy with them.
Since Joseon had no graduate programs, he instead sent them into government service, assigned them all sorts of difficult tasks, and gave them the joy of devoting themselves to the dynasty and state.
"I become so happy simply by devoting myself to the country and hearing that the lives of the people are gradually improving... Why would anyone want to give up such joy? I truly cannot understand it."
Nevertheless, abandoning government office and leaving was each person's own choice, so he could not criticize them for it.
There were all sorts of different kinds of people in this world, after all.
Just as Queen Wongyeong had once clung to Grand Prince Hyoryeong's trouser leg and only barely managed to stop him from entering the Buddhist priesthood.
"Even someone as capable as Hwang Hui can grow tired. But I cannot grant his resignation."
If a man as capable as Hwang Hui had voluntarily entered government service, then it was only right that he devote himself to the country until the day he died.
If he devoted himself in that way, bringing honor to his family and name while gaining wealth and glory, what greater pleasure could there be...?
How could he put the word resignation so woefully into his memorial when he could work just a little more, watch the people grow happier, and witness the country prosper with his own eyes?
Sejong sighed, picked up a piece of yakgwa from the small tray, and put it in his mouth.
Yakgwa was a precious delicacy, but as commerce had developed lately, both flour and grain syrup had become relatively easy to obtain, so even Sejong could eat it from time to time.
"But unlike Kim Daebung, there is a way to stop Hwang Hui from resigning."
Unlike Kim Daebung, Hwang Hui had plenty of weaknesses.
In other words, blocking his resignation memorial would be extremely easy.
"Immediately issue a secret order to Censor Choe Man-ri to impeach Chief State Councillor Hwang Hui for the corruption he committed last year."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When someone has many weaknesses, all one has to do is expose their corruption and have an impeachment memorial submitted.
Then he will have no choice but to refrain from resigning.
After all, it would be better to keep working a little longer without resigning than to resign and be punished.
Having blocked Hwang Hui's resignation, Sejong chewed the yakgwa in his mouth and thought.
"Yakgwa used to be extremely rare, but it has become relatively common now thanks to the growth of commerce... Kim Daebung would put it this way: the price fell because increased supply resulting from commercial development made it easier to meet demand."
As Sejong reflected on that principle, an inspiration came to him.
"We could create a new geographical gazetteer. If we compiled a booklet listing the country's local specialties and encouraged merchants to devote themselves to producing them... the price of this currently expensive wheat flour would fall a little further. If we grew a great deal of wheat in places suited to cultivating it, supply would increase."
As soon as he had the idea, Sejong personally drafted a royal edict and sent it to the Seungmunwon, the Office of Diplomatic Correspondence.
Its contents were very simple.
It ordered that Kim Daebung be appointed Eung-gyo at the Hall of Worthies.