As Prophet - Chapter 45



Only Krnovel

Episode 45. Yangju Government Office

“So you told me to arrest him? The magistrate wouldn’t have told me to do that. Finding out what happened is the priority, but the magistrate told me to arrest him first… … Even if I go and question him, he won’t say anything else. Are you saying that the magistrate clearly told you to arrest him first and then beat him up?”

“Whew. How can you not just let this go?”

“If it were you, would you arrest me and then get arrested? When is the trial date? Wouldn’t it be right to tell them to come then?”

“Oh, you know very well. Report to the government office by 4 o’clock tomorrow morning.”

But Dalcheon didn’t stop there. He needed to punish the chief who threatened him with a loud voice.

“But I need to know why you wanted to take me away in the first place.”

Dalcheon slowly turned around, blocking the way for the guys to return.

“I told you to just let him go if he doesn’t seem to be communicating with you.”

The problem is the people who say that if they are in a difficult situation, they are doing it because someone told them to. I don’t think I have made a single mistake in this world.

“Oh, it was Byungbang who overstepped his authority. Instead, you should tell me exactly. You should tell me that Byungbang did it.”

“Child, why are you doing this again? People like us have something to gain.”

“It’s like a leopard, wandering around, wondering if there’s anything to eat.”

Dalcheon blocked the two men’s escape and had them write down the above content and sign it. We know what it is, so we will never sign it. We asked them to go and prove that Byungbang exceeded his authority during the lawsuit, but we said that we absolutely could not do that.

Dalcheon’s body flashed. He grabbed each person’s hand, smeared it with ink, and then forcibly made a hand seal.

“Thank you. Go back and I’ll see you tomorrow at the funeral.”

“Do you know what will happen if you don’t come?”

That might have been the last act of rebellion he could do.

* * *

The next day, I left before I started studying. It wasn’t a short distance to Daedongchon (present-day Gwangjin-gu), where the Yangju government office was located. But I got there quickly by horseback.

When I told him at the entrance that I was here today for a lawsuit, the military officer under the sign that said “Pojeongmun” lit up his eyes. He was trying to figure out if this guy was the plaintiff or the defendant, but he was so young and cheerful that it was hard to tell.

“What’s going on?”

“A school was built nearby. When a student moved from the village school, the head teacher submitted a petition.”

“Aha, I heard the story. Judging from the fact that they say they lost one of their students, it seems like it was a pretty difficult school.”

“I didn’t look into whether the circumstances were difficult or whether the people were difficult.”

The speech was different from that of ordinary people. The officer immediately changed his posture. It was not something to be considered young just because he was young. And the aura he gave off was unusual. It was hard to pinpoint exactly. He had a noble, strong, young, healthy feeling, and a scent similar to that of a scholar with great learning. He asked for his name and where he lived, and had his subordinates pass a message inside.

“Did you ask me to come today?”

“Yes. I hurried early in the morning because it was the last day of the week.”

“Please come in.”

“Isn’t there a place where I can tie up my horse?”

Without realizing it, your gaze drifts towards the place where the bridle is. This is because there is always a place to hang the reins in front of it.

“I will take care of it.”

“thank you.”

As Dalcheon was about to enter, a guard at the entrance ran out and guided him.

“This way.”

“Thank you.”

The young man lowered his voice to ‘Hageche’, but it didn’t feel awkward. When I went to the yard where ‘Dongheon’ was written, the instructor was already there. His gaze was sharp as if it was going to eat away at my flesh.

“Did you arrive first?”

“joy.”

He didn’t even respond to Dalcheon’s greeting. Dalcheon greeted Dongheon and introduced himself.

“I am Dalcheon, who worked as a secret officer in Gyeongsanhyeon and recently came up. I was given the honor of having suppressed the recent Japanese invasion, but I have not yet received a title. I was wondering what to do, so I established a small school near Dumulmeori in Yangju.

It is a kind of school, and in order to train those who will take the military service examination, it focuses on teaching the military classics from the 18th class of weapons. It is a kind of school to train military officers who will protect this country. Since there is no precedent, I did not know what to call it, so I named it Yangju School.”

The magistrate smiled broadly at Dalcheon’s bold self-introduction.

“Are you by any chance the boy general during the Imjin War?”

“He was a general. He was not a general, but he led an army and swept away the Waegwan.”

“Ohhoho, how humble. I guess you are the person I heard about… … .”

When the magistrate turned his head, a man who looked like a foreigner bowed and agreed.

“I heard that rumor. I also heard that you came to Yangju. The magistrate of Gyeongsan was promoted to the position of Minister of War not long ago.”

It would be seen as disloyal for someone without an official position to live in Hanyang. It would be right to wait outside Hanyang until called. That is why many officials who have fallen from their horses settle in Yangju. It is because they can receive the king’s orders more quickly than going to the distant countryside where their clan is. Or perhaps it is because they hope that they will be called someday. The officials of Yangju must know the hiding place of such a high-ranking official. They also knew about Baek Sa-ban and the virtue of Baek Ga-jang.

“I see. But what is the matter today?”

I already know what I’m saying, but I’m asking so that others can hear it. Ibang nodded to Hyungbang.

“So, today’s liturgy is because one of the students of the manuscript moved to the school established by Confucius Dalcheon. It is presumptuous because he did not teach the law of the sages, and it is rude because he took it without any morality of the industry. Furthermore, he does not respect the sages, and so on.”

The voice of Hyungbang was reading what was written in the complaint, but sometimes he emphasized it with spoken words, so it became quite long. Dalcheon sighed, and the instructor glared with pride. It seemed that just reading the complaint would make him admit all of his crimes.

The quick-witted foreigner stopped the reading of the manuscript, which seemed like it would be quite long.

“Shall we continue?”

“Okay. I don’t know if I should keep listening. So, let’s see the end. What’s your request?”

Byungbang read the end and answered.

“Please punish the unprincipled teacher who is misleading the people, bring back the children who were taken away, and close the doors of that school to prevent the inconvenient theories from spreading throughout the world.”

“Close the doors, return the school children, and punish the teachers… … .”

As I was talking and looking at the manuscript, the manuscript looked startled and quickly bowed deeply.

“I know that the cane is acceptable, sir.”

In fact, the magistrate is not called an inspiration. It must be because he calculated that if he were to be elevated, no one would dislike him. He nodded slowly. It seemed as if he was acknowledging what you said.

“What does your Majesty think?”

The magistrate’s words are not ordinary. The words he uses to ask for opinions are almost always extremely polite.

“If you do something wrong, you deserve to be punished, but if you’re punished for this kind of mistake… … Ahem, it seems like no one can walk around with their head held high. They say you stole a child from school, but ahem… … It may seem that way from the perspective of the schoolmaster, but for me, it was just a father holding his child’s hand one day and coming to the school building. It means I did nothing.”

“What do you think about the part about him taunting the people? I heard he said he would help me pass the military service examination.”

“Yes. Our school’s goal is to pass the military service examination. Just as the goal of the Seodang was to pass the civil service examination, we aim to pass the military service examination. To achieve this, we planned various training programs. I think that many applicants who fail the knight, chang, and gyeokgu do not have the opportunity to come into contact with horses in their daily lives. I think that by allowing them to come into contact with horses in their daily lives and study horses, we can lay the foundation for training 150,000 cavalry archers like in the time of King Taejo. In that sense, I wonder if what I explained to the people could be said to have been misleading.

Now that it’s just started and no one has passed, I guess it’s possible that they over-promoted it, but I don’t think that’s a crime that deserves punishment. I don’t know the law, but I don’t think the law would necessarily reject something that is okay based on common sense.”

It seemed like he was defending himself, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with the context. And the people standing around him were paying attention.

“Did you say you would help me pass the military service examination?”

I looked back at the place where I heard the words. A person who seemed unrelated to this matter raised his hand and asked. Dalcheon looked at the magistrate and he seemed very amused.

“That is the goal. There are seven children now, and two adults. The children are young, so we will postpone it for later. One adult is very skilled in martial arts, so he has no intention of taking the military service examination. And the other is a woman, so he is not qualified to take the examination. If the children come in and the conditions are right, I want to make it a school that produces military officers. If we make this country strong, won’t His Majesty’s worries be reduced?”

The person who had asked the question raised his hand and asked again.

“No, my question is, if I enroll there, will they help me pass the military service exam?”

“I would like to do that.”

What kind of answer were you hoping for? You’re trying to force me into a fraud case.

There are many people who want to be yangban, but cannot be called yangban in the next generation. They are yangban, but most families do not have a single person who passed the civil service examination for three generations. During the 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty, about 50,000 people passed the civil service examination, so if you divide that by 500 years, it comes to only 100 people per year. Those who passed the civil service examination were that precious. Considering that there were quite a few who did not receive a government post, it is often the case that a family is yangban. However, if they could become a government post through the military service examination, wouldn’t that be an honor for the family? Since the civil service examination was difficult, there were quite a few who tried to maintain their yangban status through the military service examination.

The magistrate has already read the strong possibility of passing included in Dalcheon’s explanation. Can it be said that he has deceived the people with that? Now, it is impossible to question the lack of achievements in the military service that has just begun.

“Ahem, I’ve listened to the explanation. Then how about I ask you this. Do you think you could pass the exam in the future?”

Dalcheon smiled faintly.

“Of course. I guarantee you will pass right away if you do it now.”

“How can you be sure?”

Dalcheon had difficulty explaining himself. How can I show that I can do well in the test? Should I try it now? Should I use the Imjin War as an example?

“Because you’re good at it.”

The trial was going in a strange direction. Dalcheon blinked his eyes in thought and then approached the magistrate. The soldiers standing on either side of him with spears stepped forward to block him.

“I would like to whisper to the magistrate. Is that okay?”

“… … Please do so.”

He said he was whispering, but he didn’t come closer and just moved his lips.

– There used to be a person called Samhan Jeilgeom. I surpassed him.

The magistrate suddenly stood up from his seat. Not only was his speech surprising, but his ability to whisper secret words so that others could not hear was no ordinary skill. It was the secret transmission of sound that we heard in old tales.

I came down from the east pavilion without knowing it.

“Is that true?”

“Unless he was lying, it is true what he said.”

“He was the sword of His Majesty the King.”

“Was it? I thought it was a bit vague.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No. I felt like I had drunk a lot of worldly water.”

“Phew.”

The magistrate, who was startled by the strangeness, came to his senses, returned to his seat, and made a ruling.

Dalcheon is innocent!

The plaintiff is found not guilty and given ten lashes of the cane!