Black Corporation: Joseon
Chapter 183

The tribute of horses and various other tribute items by the Jurchen tribes sparked a nationwide competition amongst people in displaying loyalty. Precious fruits, seafood, herbs, and more from across Joseon were presented, and in regions lacking such offerings, steles praising King Sejong’s virtues were erected. As more and more of these steles were established, the competition even spread to the northern frontiers.

The intensity of this competition was such that King Sejong had to issue an urgent decree.

“Since the farming season has begun, let the people focus on their livelihoods!”

Hyang, witnessing this entire spectacle, muttered with a look of disbelief.

“There was a reason why that ruler in 21st-century Pyongyang was called a tyrant“

He grumbled about the phenomenon, which seemed not just enthusiastic but almost ‘fanatical’, and then a question popped into his mind.

“But did the Jurchen tribes also erect steles?”

Curiosity piqued, Hyang diligently gathered related information.

After marking the gathered information on a map, Hyang whistled lightly.

“Whew~ Looks like it covers the Donggan region, right? It’s uncertain how much Joseon’s territory will expand through Dongjin and Seojin, and how long it can be maintained, but at least up to the Gando region, there will be solid physical evidence.”

***

Meanwhile, despite the commotion, the court officials remained diligently focused on their tasks.

Or rather, they had no choice.

“If we don’t meet the deadline, it’s overtime! Do you want to come to the office even on holidays?”

“No, sir!”

Driven by the goal of ‘protecting their holiday off days’, the court officials were ablaze with motivation.

With the arrival of the Gyeongsul year, the list of officials suffering from overwork expanded to include those affiliated with the Ministry of Rites.

The cause of the busy schedule for the officials of the Ministry of Rites was the ‘Academy for Commoners’.

***

The Academy for Commoners was the embodiment of the ‘expansion of education’ clause written in the reform plan. Initially, only boys were allowed to enter the academy. However, after the suppression of the Giyu Rebellion, King Sejong added a command.

“Our Joseon lacks talent! It’s a disgrace that such incidents occur when there are restrictions on learning! Therefore, allow girls to also enroll in the Academy for Commoners, which is responsible for the most basic education!”

Despite King Sejong’s firm command, the Minister of Rites found it difficult to accept.

“Is there a need for girls to learn as well?”

In response to his minister’s question, King Sejong retorted briefly.

“So, are the daughters of your household illiterate?”

“…I shall heed Your Majesty’s command.”

Faced with King Sejong’s question, the Minister of Rites had no choice but to bow his head immediately. For the children of noble families, even girls were expected to have a basic scholarly foundation, starting with learning the Thousand Character Classic.

King Sejong, looking at the Minister of Rites with a look of disappointment, turned to the other ministers.

“It is said that children follow in their parents’ footsteps. How can a mother, who spends the most time with her child until adulthood, be a good role model if she is ignorant?”

At King Sejong’s remark, all the ministers had to bow their heads in agreement.

“Your Majesty’s words are most wise!”

***

Having received King Sejong’s decree, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were troubled.

“It’s good that His Majesty, in his generosity, has allowed even girls to attend. But will the parents actually send them? Given the current situation, there are many who wouldn’t even send their boys….”

The ordinary citizens they had observed would put their children to work as soon as they were old enough. If the children were too weak to help with farming, they would at least be sent to herd cattle as part of their daily routine.

Having seen such practices, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were skeptical about King Sejong’s command.

This was a misconception among the officials, or rather the scholar-officials.

The middle and lower-ranking officials who were in charge of the practical work had seen the citizens back in their days before passing the civil service exam – during the late reign of Taejong and early Sejong – when Joseon was going through a series of severe famines. Back then, the priority for Joseon’s peasants was survival over their children’s education.

However, whenever there was even a slight bit of leeway, the common folk were keen on their children’s education.

Their emphasis on education was also for survival.

“It’s important to know what’s written on the government’s public notices to avoid being taken advantage of.”

“Indeed, and it’s not just about understanding the public notices from the government. When it comes to sharecropping, do you know the kind of tricks landlords can pull with the contracts?”

“Have you heard? Go and learn!”

In such circumstances, most farmers knew at least half of the Thousand Character Classic.

Even in these tough times, if their child showed any talent, these ordinary Joseon citizens, whom the officials tended to overlook, would go through all sorts of hardships to provide them with education.

This was evident from the fact that a significant number of those who passed the civil service examinations each year were not from the noble class but from the commoner class, something that the nobility unconsciously disregarded.

***

Regardless, a royal command was a solemn matter, so the officials of the Ministry of Rites had to diligently seek solutions.

In a meeting room established within the Ministry of Rites, junior and senior officials were brainstorming and sharing their opinions.

“Let’s start by tackling the easier tasks first.”

“The easier tasks?”

“Let’s start with choosing the locations for the schools.”

“Weren’t we going to use the Confucian schools for that?”

When the term ‘Confucian schools’ was mentioned, one of the clerks looked puzzled and raised a question.

***

After the suppression of the Giyu Rebellion, King Sejong issued a decree to dismantle all Confucian schools across Joseon.

“These buildings were made for the nobility to gather, offer rites to the sages, and build connections! Gathering in groups to form corrupt factions is better off abolished!”

Following King Sejong’s command, all Confucian schools nationwide had to close their doors. The ancestral tablets of the sages that were housed in the Confucian schools were all moved to the Sungkyunkwan in Hanyang, and the rites for the sages were to be conducted only at Sungkyunkwan.

It was the Ministry of Rites that intervened to prevent the demolition of the now-closed Confucian schools.

At that time, the Minister of Rites risked his own position to plead with King Sejong.

“It would be wasteful to demolish the carefully constructed Confucian schools! They should be repurposed for a good cause!”

“What good use do you have in mind?” King Sejong inquired.

The Minister of Rites presented an idea he and the officials of the Ministry had conceived.

“They should be utilized as academies for commoners! Establishing schools requires buildings. It is more sensible to repurpose the Confucian schools than to expend resources on constructing new ones!”

“Hmm?”

The proposal from the Ministry of Rites piqued King Sejong’s interest. He sought the opinions of other ministers, and Kim Jeom, the Minister of Taxation, among others, responded positively.

With the ministers in agreement, King Sejong approved the request from the Ministry of Rites.

Thanks to this, most of the Confucian school buildings were spared, except for a few that had already been demolished.

***

“I am well aware that we decided to use the Confucian schools. However, did not a new royal decree come down to educate girls as well? Therefore, we need to look for new locations. It’s problematic enough that there’s no distinction between the classes; if we remove the distinction between genders, it could lead to significant issues.”

The officials became serious at the explanation given by the official who initially raised the concern.

When King Sejong ordered the establishment of the academies for commoners, he emphasized something in particular.

“Think carefully about why I named it ‘Academy for Commoners.'”

After pondering King Sejong’s words, the officials of the Ministry of Rites soon grasped his intentions. ‘Commoners’ referred not only to the four classes of society—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—but also to all the people.

Ultimately, what King Sejong desired was for everyone, regardless of class, to learn and compete together in one place.

Given the decree to open education to girls as well, the concerns of the Ministry of Rites officials were not unfounded.

Amidst the deep contemplation for a viable solution, one of the senior officials in the room spoke up.

“I think we can continue to make use of the Confucian schools.”

“Really?”

“Confucian schools aren’t small buildings, right? If we divide them appropriately, we can create separate spaces for teaching boys and girls.”

“Hmm…”

The officials began to recall the Confucian schools in their hometowns, assessing the feasibility of the suggestion.

“Indeed…”

No matter how impoverished a village was, it didn’t have single-room Confucian schools. The officials, having done their mental calculations, all nodded in agreement.

“That seems reasonable.”

“The issue is with villages that don’t have Confucian schools nearby; we’ll need to construct buildings there. While we could ask boys to travel even if it’s a bit far, it’s risky for girls due to potential dangers.”

“That’s a valid point.”

“Then, let’s settle this matter as such. Any objections? None, right?”

With no one raising their hands to the presiding official’s query, the proposal was accepted without dispute. It was a plan with no significant flaws, and no one wanted to waste time nitpicking only to end up working overtime.

With that hurdle crossed, the meeting began to pick up pace.

The next major challenge arose when discussing ‘how to ensure children attend the academies’.

As soon as the topic was introduced, one of the officials raised a concern.

“The biggest issue is the farming season. Except for very young children, others are expected to help with farm work.”

“And if they’re young enough to not be of much help on the farm, traveling to and from the academy would be difficult for them. In principle, children as young as five can attend, but realistically, isn’t that impractical?”

“That’s true.”

“Therefore, the educational schedule should avoid the farming season. Only then can we ensure high attendance rates.”

“That makes sense. So, we should definitely avoid summer, right?”

“Yes. Apart from being the farming season, the heat is also a problem. Remember how much we struggled with our studies in the heat?”

The mention of ‘studying and the heat’ had all the officials nodding in agreement, recalling the hardships of studying during the peak summer heat. The discomfort of sweat-soaked seats was just the beginning, as the heat often led to decreased concentration, resulting in reprimands from their teachers.

“Yet, eliminating summer would disrupt the continuity, wouldn’t it?” remarked the presiding official, prompting another official to raise his hand.

“That’s why I propose starting the classes after the harvest season ends and concluding them before the planting season begins. How about that?”

“Hmm?”

Upon hearing this suggestion, the officials took a moment to consider and then nodded in agreement.

“That’s a good idea!”

***

After many meetings, the finalized plan was submitted to the Minister of Rites.

Having reviewed the comprehensive plan from start to finish, the Minister nodded in approval.

“This looks good. I’ll report this to His Majesty. Well done.”

“Thank you.”

“If there’s nothing else, it seems you can leave on time today.”

A broad smile appeared on the face of the official who had submitted the report at the Minister’s words.

“Thank you!”

***

“Hmm…”

King Sejong, reviewing the plan submitted by the Minister of Rites, nodded in approval.

“This appears to be a sound plan. It’s proper to educate boys and girls separately, and setting the class period from after the harvest until before the planting season is wise. I can see the effort put in by the officials of the Ministry of Rites. Well done.”

“Your Majesty is too kind.”

The Minister bowed deeply, letting out a small sigh of relief at King Sejong’s praise.

‘We’ve overcome a major hurdle!’

“But… about this part here, ‘providing meals for those who attend to increase attendance rates.’ I think this needs some explanation.”

‘Within expectations!’

The Minister felt a sense of relief at King Sejong’s predictable inquiry and immediately began to explain.

“Yes. Even after the harvest, families often face food shortages through the winter. Although the hardships of the spring famine have lessened, it remains a burden for many. Therefore, providing even a single meal can encourage parents to send their children to the academy.”

“That’s a sound suggestion, but preparing food supplies for the children attending the academy won’t be an easy task, will it?”

“That’s why the meals provided at the academy will be based on the dry rations supplied to the military.”

“Dry rations?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

King Sejong pondered for a moment. The dry rations developed by Hyang and popular within the military were quite decent. They were not just dried grains ground into powder; they also included sufficient dried meat, making them suitable for a meal.

“If each academy has a skilled cook, the meals should be quite edible.”

After contemplating, King Sejong made his decision.

“Proceed as planned.”

“Your command shall be obeyed!”

‘Yes! I can leave on time today!’

The minister responded joyfully, pleased with the outcome.