Chapter 441

Episode 441: Pavement Stone (3)

Returning to the study of Donggungjeon, Hyang placed the paper in front of him and entered the closet.

After thinking for a while, Hyang soon scratched his head and muttered.

“No matter how much you think about it, the most efficient, stable, and long-lasting system is the federal system...”

Hyang, who thought about the optimal national system in his view, moved on to the next point.

“First of all, you have to come up with a good title for the next part to work out well. In other words, the name of the country is important.”

Hyang wrote the names of the countries he came up with on a piece of paper and began erasing them and repeating them.

“Joseon Federation? “Something is out of place...”

After crossing out the word ‘Joseon Federation,’ Hyang wrote the word ‘Goryeo Federation’ next.

“Is it because of Korea? It’s the most familiar, but if you write this in Korean, the problem becomes bigger. The taste of red is also the taste of red, but they are using Goryeo, which Joseon overthrew, as the name of the country...”

It was less than 50 years since Goryeo collapsed and the name of the country was changed to Joseon. But putting Goryeo in the name of the country? It was obvious what would happen.

The scent that erased the word ‘Koryo Federation’ wrote a different name.

“The next thing that comes to mind is the Korean Empire... This also feels a bit uneasy when I think of its makjang...” After mulling

over several names, Hyang finally decided on the one that seemed the best.

“This might be best.”

‘Federal Empire of Korea’

was the name chosen by the township.

Hyang rolled up his sleeves and wrote ‘Federal Empire of Korea’ in large letters on the cover of the plan to be submitted to King Sejong.

“ruler! “I wrote down the title... shall we get started?”

* * *

Meanwhile, in the conference room of the Prime Minister’s residence, Hwang Hui and the ministers were gathered and talking.

“After all, we can’t give up on the lordless land in the East that we discovered this time, right?”

“Your Majesty will never give up.”

The ministers who heard the story between Kim Jeom and Hwang Hee all nodded. Although King Sejong used the excuse

of being ‘a landless person with infinite possibilities,’

the ministers also had no intention of giving up on this.

Of course, the officials in charge of the budget will feel like death.

“If we think about the problem of managing landless settlements, it will ultimately be a question of abdication or proxy administration.”

When Jo Gye-saeng, who was listening to the story, raised the choice of ‘abdication or government by proxy,’ the ministers frowned and expressed their opinions.

“Perhaps Daejeongjeong would look better?”

“It’s definitely nice to see Daecheongjeong.”

“I’m abdicating.... Aw~. “Just thinking about it makes me want to gag.”

The ministers who uttered the word ‘abdication’ trembled all over and quickly rinsed their mouths with tea water.

For ministers, the word ‘abdication’ was a word that brought back bad memories.

*

...

Each time, Yangnyeong had to commit the grave sin of plaster, with her hair bald and wearing only a jacket and pants.

He didn’t just make a declaration, he actually sent the royal seal to the crown prince through the royal palace. Yangnyeong, who accepted this, immediately returned the royal seal to King Taejong, and the ministers gathered in the front yard of the palace and had to shout at the top of their voices, ‘No!’

The problem was that this abdication commotion by King Taejong was a political conspiracy.

Through three abdication disturbances, Taejong identified the ministers who had favored Yangnyeong and found an excuse to purge Yangnyeong’s maternal relatives, the Min brothers.

Thus, King Taejong purged the Min family and his subjects who rebelled against him, accusing them of the crime of ‘hyeop-yu-ri-gwon (挾幼執權)’ – trying to seize power with the young crown prince at his side.

Therefore, whenever they heard the word ‘abdication’, the ministers shuddered.

* * *

The ministers who were predicting future events looked at Jo Mal-saeng and asked questions.

“If His Majesty the Lord takes over (the king’s residence is moved), when do you think it will be?”

“When you say Daehan, does it mean that it inherited the legacy of the unification of the three Koreas?”

“yes.”

“The word ‘federation’ is a bit unfamiliar, but to explain it, it means that countries are connected, and it is called an empire...” After

pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts, King Sejong asked Hyang again.

“Has the feudal system of the old state been revived?”

“It’s similar, but very different.”

Hyang continued to explain as he flipped through the paper.

-As Joseon’s territory becomes wider, direct rule becomes increasingly difficult.

-This brought about great difficulties in governing the area newly incorporated into the Joseon Dynasty.

-If you do not know the situation of the remote area well, you can force policies that do not fit the situation of the region, and in that case, the people of the remote area will be dissatisfied.

-This will lead to rebellion among the people who were incorporated with difficulty, and integration will be a distant task.

-Therefore, Wonji creates an administrative body composed of residents of the region and promotes policies suited to the local situation.

-The center secures national defense and diplomatic rights in return for granting local autonomy.

“This is where the difference from the state’s feudal system arises. “The force of the administrative body that runs the area is limited to what is possible to maintain security.”

“Hmm...”

King Sejong nodded at Hyang’s explanation, and the ministers also nodded with friendly faces.

“I think it’s pretty good...”

After that, the explanation of the fragrance continued at length.

“...That is all.”

After finishing the explanation, Hyang looked at Sejong.

“How do you feel?”

“I think it’s pretty good, but...”

Sejong, who was slowly mulling over the contents, asked Hyang.

“Are you planning to separate the Jurchen region, Daeseoldo Island, and Jongjangdo Island?”

“It is not the Jurchen and Dongbing Port areas, but I think it is better to separate the Daeseoldo and Jongjangdo areas.”

“Is this because the Jurchen area and Dongbing Port are connected by land, but Daeseol Island and Jongjang Island are separated by the sea?”

“That’s right.”

Sejong nodded at Hyang’s answer and fell into thought again.

When Sejong stopped asking questions, Hwang Hee asked a question this time.

“Daeseoldo Island and Jongjangdo Island do not cause much concern, considering the vastness of the land and Hangsan Mountain. But the problem is ignorance. Considering the size of Muju and the potential that has yet to be fully confirmed, wouldn’t it be dangerous? If you do something wrong, the positions of the suzerain and dependent countries can change. Please think about the relationship between omens and fares.”

Diplomatic relations were established between Goryeo and Gyogu, calling them ‘brother countries.’ However, before we knew it, the positions of the older and younger brothers were reversed, and later Goryeo’s position fell to a quick position.

Hwang Hee pointed out this very point.

The size of the land we had just discovered was so large that it could be called a continent. With its size, it was natural that it would surpass Joseon’s national power over time.

In that case, there could be no guarantee that the tragedy of Goryeo would not happen again to Joseon.

Hyang nodded and responded to Hwang Hee’s point.

“That part could be problematic. So the answer to Mujuji, in my opinion, is not ‘one land, one country,’ but a federal system of ‘one land, many countries.’”

‘United States! Of course, the next one will be Korea, not America.’

“Iljidakuk?”

For a moment, Hwanghee seemed to not understand properly, so Hyang explained with an example.

“Just as Zhou divided the central plain into princely states, Muju is also divided into several pieces. And Joseon is about mediating and monitoring between those pieces.”

“What if those pieces join forces and rebel?”

In response to Hwang Hee’s question, Hyang actually asked back.

“Have you ever seen that the neighboring Jurchen tribes get along well with each other?”

“ah!”

It was only then that Hwang Hee understood Hyang’s question and let out an exclamation.