Chapter 68
In fact, Joseon knows nothing about Tsushima.
That's why even Shin Jang-do, who serves as the Assistant Minister of Justice, Senior Third Rank, mistakes that bastard for a force to be reckoned with in Japan when the lord of Tsushima gives him fifty nyang in silver.
In Joseon, even if I'm a poor nobody with not a scrap of land, once I pass the civil service exam and rise to the rank of prime minister... even local magnates with ten thousand seok or a hundred thousand seok are beneath me.
Seeing that the lord of Tsushima has money to burn and handles diplomacy with Joseon as well, you'd think he's a pretty powerful player within the shogunate.
Even so, that bastard is nothing more than a senior retainer of a daimyo under the shogun.
“...... What are you talking about? Our Tsushima has never deceived Joseon.”
“Then I can send a personal letter to the shogun and ask who Tsushimanokami (Tsushima governor)—no, who the Tsushima shugo and shugodai are. If the lord of Tsushima is truly a senior retainer under the shogun, he should at least hold the office called Tsushimanokami.”
With the rise of the samurai regime, the Japanese post called Tsushimanokami lost almost all of its meaning.
In the old days, Tsushimanokami really did act as the governor of Tsushima...
But with the Minamoto shogunate and the Muromachi shogunate, the post was treated as nothing more than an honorary title.
That's all it really amounts to: the shogunate showing me respect.
But if you become a true senior retainer of the shogun's family, they grant you the title for the territory you actually govern.
For example, if there were a town called Izumi in the area I rule, they'd give me the title of 'Izumino-kami.'
If you're a prestigious house of slightly lower rank but still able to exercise governing authority, they grant 'Izumi shugo' or 'Izumi shugodai (deputy).'.
You can live just fine without knowing the Japanese office hierarchy, but from a diplomatic standpoint, it's really important.
Because it's a tool for figuring out the other side's real status.
“Should we check with the shogunate?”
Cold sweat streamed down the lord of Tsushima's face.
For a moment, he seemed to be wondering whether he should cut me down and kill me...
You think a guy like you dares kill me? Not a chance.
When I let your bluster pass, I might even call you above a Joseon high-ranking official, but in truth you're nothing more than the boss of Tsushima's pirate faction. What on earth could you use to kill me?
“Ah, it'd be best if you didn't even think about killing me.”
“Even if I'm not a Joseon official, some lowly junior official...”
“I may look like this, but I've submitted memorials before and had a sitting chief state councillor branded a traitor, wiping out his entire clan. I don't mind dying here, but if I do, Tsushima will be swept by a bloodbath.”
Mentioning a bloodbath seems to have brought the lord of Tsushima back to the memory of the subjugation of Tsushima.
If Joseon gets dragged into a war like the Imjin War, all its fields and paddies would be ruined and its population would shrink, dealing a huge blow to national power...
But Tsushima is so barren that farming is impossible there, and since its main industry is piracy, it doesn't take much of a hit even if people die.
And that guy can just run off to Kyushu with his subordinate samurai and their families, and that's that.
So the lord of Tsushima probably isn't all that afraid of war.
“Ah, Joseon isn't going to use methods like war anymore. We'll just replace the lord of Tsushima, that's all.”
The lord of Tsushima shouted at me.
“You damn bastard, have you truly gone mad? The more I hear you, the more absurd you become! Our Tsushima samurai may not be as learned as Joseon's scholars, but we are descendants of brave samurai who fought the Yuan to the very end.”
Ah, I almost burst out laughing.
At the time, the regent was indeed a man named Hōjō Tokimune, and Japan did succeed in protecting its country from the Mongol invasion.
That's something to praise, certainly, but the truth is that Japan was able to defend itself not because they were particularly impressive or good at fighting.
It was because a typhoon they called 'shinpū' sank every Mongol ship anchored near Hakata, cutting off their 'supplies' and their way home.
Nothing else.
And I heard the way those guys fought back then was ridiculously funny.
The Mongols were fighting a real, physical war—shooting arrows and even using primitive gunpowder weapons.
But the Japanese were said to have to perform nanori to advance, and before the fighting, samurai at roughly major- and lieutenant-colonel level would stand there giving 'self-introductions' and get shot dead by the truckload.
‘I am the eighth-generation descendant of Tanaka Hanataro, who possessed peerless martial valor under Lord Minamoto no Yoshiie... and the seventh-generation descendant of Tanaka Shichisaburo, the samurai who conquered the Nagato region...’
I heard a great many of them really died stupid deaths after babbling like that and getting shot by arrows.
Surprisingly enough, this is a true story.
It was so absurd I almost laughed, but I managed to hold it in.
“The Tsushima samurai wouldn't even hesitate to die for me.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Through all kinds of media, we've come to know samurai as beings who will risk their lives for their lord at any time...
That kind of samurai only became common in the Edo period—more precisely, from the middle of the Edo shogunate onward, after Confucianism had spread widely through Japan.
Before that, even samurai would often betray their lord when things got messy, and many switched lords for better treatment.
“Joseon doesn't care at all who becomes lord of Tsushima. Ah, but if I say it like that, the lord of Tsushima might have trouble understanding.”
Even if our boss is a wonderfully decent man and someone we've served for decades...
The moment he can't pay my salary, he's only a benefactor from the past, and once wage arrears go beyond two months, he becomes a bad boss.
That's just how cruel the human world is.
“In fact, if His Majesty so desired, he could lift up the lowliest man in Tsushima and make him lord of Tsushima.”
“You think that's possible? The Tsushima samurai would never accept it!”
“They would all serve him with loyalty, because while that lowly fellow holds the lordship of Tsushima, free trade with Joseon will be permitted.”
Just as even a good boss becomes a bad boss the moment he can't pay your salary...
Conversely, even if a boss is rotten to the core, if he pays me 500 or 600 every month, he's an angelic boss.
Thanks to him, I can take vacation time, travel overseas, treat my parents to good food, brag to my friends, and live without feeling small in front of my partner...
If the Tsushima samurai's real income doubled or tripled in exchange for serving a lowborn man as lord of Tsushima, what would they care?
Even a lowborn man would have to be respectfully treated as lord of Tsushima.
“Lord of Tsushima, Joseon no longer intends to coax and placate Tsushima into agreeing. We've realized there's no need to.”
Until now, diplomacy with Tsushima had been carried out in a way that Joseon and Tsushima made up for each other's shortcomings.
And so Joseon has kept the relationship going by soothing and appeasing them.
But from now on, it will be completely different.
The lord of Tsushima must be absolutely loyal to Joseon in order to protect his own life and power.
Otherwise, Sejong will hand the right to trade with Joseon over to someone else.
“So from now on, you'll need to follow the order Joseon leads. Otherwise, Joseon will have no choice but to replace the lord of Tsushima.”
The lord of Tsushima's hands were shaking violently. Cold sweat poured down his face like rain.
"...I will do so."
"Good."
How nice that the conversation is going so smoothly.
But those Japanese are as sly as can be, so to hammer the point home I need to show him clearly just how powerful Joseon is. How should I do it?
After a moment's thought, I came up with a very good idea.
"Ah, and since I gave you such good information, you should naturally pay me, shouldn't you?"
"Of course."
Even though I came here as the vice envoy, I'm just an ordinary fifth-rank official.
The experience of having some bastard openly threaten to kill you if you don't hand over a bribe, and you can't even resist.
This should be enough for them to realize Joseon's greatness.
"Please give me 600 nyang in silver."
"...... That seems like a bit too much..."
"Do you think Joseon doesn't know that Tsushima produces a lot of silver?"
In Japanese history, one of Japan's earliest silver mines was the 'Tsushima Silver Mine.'
So these guys have quite a lot of silver.
"I'm offended. You'll have to give me 1,000 nyang."
"......"
I don't know whether our lord of Tsushima has anger-management issues or simply no sense, but he really cannot seem to grasp the situation.
The one who should be saying he'll hand it over right this instant isn't saying a word.
“It may be a bolt from the blue from your point of view, Lord, but if you knew how much I've looked out for you, you wouldn't be acting like this. His Majesty was desperate to replace the lord of Tsushima immediately, and I barely talked him down. Honestly, if I hadn't stepped in to stop him, you'd have had trouble keeping your current position.”
The lord of Tsushima trembled all over. Then he clenched his teeth and nodded.
"The 1,000 nyang in silver will be given the day after tomorrow."
"Thank you. I'll be going to bed now. And there's no need to send a geisha to my room. I don't need any woman other than my concubine in Hanyang."
With that, I withdrew.
If that guy gives me a thousand nyang in silver, I'll just secretly report it to Sejong and hand it over.
Even if I pocketed it, I could probably make it work if I laundered the cash hard enough, but if I donate a thousand nyang in silver to the Joseon court, it can ease the burden on countless commoners.
After Kim Daebung withdrew, the lord of Tsushima vented his anger by hurling the things in the room around at random, then barked out an order.
“Find out exactly what kind of man this Kim Daebung is from the people who came from Joseon! Is he some no-good bastard who learned nothing but filthy tricks and runs wild, or some lowlife? I'm telling you to find out exactly what he is!!”