Everyone gather!
At Jeong-chos order, officials of the research facility promptly gathered in the front courtyard.
Everyone has gathered.
Good work.
Hearing Jeong-chos report, Hyang standing on the pavilion platform got straight to the main point.
Work at the research facility will be suspended for a while.
Exchanging glances with each other at Hyangs statent, the research facility officials made a commotion.
When the bustling died down a bit, Hyang explained his reason.
A lot of manpower is needed for the selection process regarding those involved in the revolt. So cooperation requests have co in from the Office of Taxation and the Office of Law and Punishnt.
But doesnt the Ministry of Taxation already have enough personnel?
At Hyangs explanation, Jinpyeong raised objections. To Jinpyeongs objections, Hyang replied.
The Ministry of Taxation needs to collect taxes and circulate currency in ti for the autumn harvest this year. The harvest this year stopped all across Joseon because of this rebellion. If the timing is missed, all farming for this year could turn to naught.
At those words, Jinpyeong and other officials who were complaining fell quiet.
But the railroad research.
Ahem!
As Jinpyeong started to say sothing about lingering attachnt to locomotives, Hyangs glare turned fierce so he imdiately shut his mouth.
After suppressing the palace invasion last ti, Jinpyeong simultaneously feared yet respected Hyang. So when Hyangs expression turned severe, he quickly closed his mouth.
With Jinpyeong ceasing to speak, the bustling completely disappeared.
Then bring in the carts!
At Hyangs order, the magistrates and gold troops brought in about 20 carts filled to the brim with books. In front of the carts, Hyang continued speaking.
The lists of rebels surrendered by the ministries of Taxation and Law and Punishnts, registry records of the regions involved, and confiscated genealogies of the rebels clans. Checking these will determine who is included in collective punishnt.
Yes.
***
With the investigation into the rebels and their clans proceeding according to Hyangs order, the research facility officials heaved sighs.
The noblen of Hasamdo will have their family lines cut off for sure.
Though people often say when one is caught planning revolt his three clans will be exterminated, his nine clans will be exterminated, genuinely exterminating three and nine clans have been rare in the past.
To give the most recent example, even those implicated in Gang Sang-ins Conspiracy just had Gang Sang-in and his brother Shim On executed while their families were reduced to governnt slaves. Most others ca out unscathed.
But this ti, those who fall under exceptions were very few. Because the rebels gathered under the pretext of ancestral rites for their clans before rising up, almost all mbers of the clans were involved.
It was the sa for the wives of the instigators. While normally even the wives would be reduced to commoners and the wifes clans left alone, clans whose wives also joined the rebellion were not small in number.
What the heck!
While organizing the register of nas, Yi Soonji threw down his writing brush and shouted in frustration.
No matter how disconnected from the world they lived, are they idiots! How can anyone be so stupid!
The order Sejong passed down through Hyang was simple.
Though applying the Great Ming Code may be customary, we have our own laws in Joseon. Follow those laws to handle matters fairly and accurately.
While issuing this order, Sejong added the following.
I feel like following the Ming Emperors example and exterminating beyond nine clans to ten clans. However, as laws exist, we ought to follow them.
However, the scope of collective punishnt for rebels according to Joseon laws or the Ming Code were mostly identical.
Additionally, most of these revolt cases consisted of mbers of a clan gathering together on the pretext of ancestral morial rites before taking up arms. So those who could be excluded by applying collective punishnt were extrely few.
This was exactly why Yi Soonji was so angry.
Would you look at this! For crying out loud!
Calm down! Stay calm!
The colleagues around hik tried to restrain Yi Soonji, but he could not hold down his anger.
Look at this! This!!
At Yi Soonjis words, his colleagues glanced over the report he had been examining and unconsciously let out sighs as well.
Sigh
At his colleagues reactions, Yi Soonji raised his voice.
Even frogs stuck at the bottom of a well are smarter than this! Since when did 11 year olds participating in revolt make sense!
Sigh There were that many idiots.
Concur.
Hearing Yi Soonjis words, even the colleagues who were restraining him had to heave sighs.
According to the overall trend that one is treated as an adult once married even if they have yet to formally co of age at 15 years old, clans with boys still in early teens participating in the revolt were not rare.
In the end, there were many clans where all males of the clan joined the revolt and as a result, the whole clan was obliterated.
***
Having produced the results after a whole month of overti, Hyang looked at the thick scrolls and sighed.
Phew Dammit! Why is the summary report so freaking thick.
Seeing the scrolls and thick books situated in front of him, Hyang stood up with a helpless expression.
Still need to report though. Magistrate! Load all of these into carts!
Yes, Your Highness.
***
Your Majesty, Crown Prince Hyang requests an audience.
Let him in.
Entering the closed quarters, Hyang offered respectful greetings to Sejong before looking around at the ministers. Seeing the previously glowing ministers complexions now rough and coarse, Hyang had a sorrowful expression.
Their skin were shining just a few days ago The elders must have suffered.
Is the organizing done?
Tearing his sorrowful gaze from the ministers at Sejongs question, Hyang promptly replied.
Yes, Father. Magistrate.
Yes, Your Highness.
The magistrate following behind Hyang handed three thick scrolls to the high official.
Receiving the scrolls from the high official, Sejong undid the knots and examined the contents.
Sigh.
Seeing what the scrolls Hyang submitted contained, Sejong let out a sigh before he knew it.
To think so many committed such foolish acts.
At Sejongs sigh, Hyang imdiately responded.
It ans there were that many who were completely ignorant of worldly matters among those who held the highest positions in those regions.
It must be so.
Answering in a bitter tone at Hyangs words, Sejong looked over the numbers written at the very front of each scroll.
The three scrolls respectively summarized the situations in Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, and Jeolla where rebellions occurred this ti.
As you can see from the scrolls.
Hyang gave a verbal explanation summarizing the contents.
The scale of involvent in each region was as follows:
*Chungcheong
23 clans 1218 people
Private forces 654
Slaves 7,855
*Gyeongsang
32 clans 2,198 people
Private forces 3,421
Slaves 24,328
*Jeolla
26 clans 1,887 people
Private forces 10,578
Slaves 21,894
A great many. Especially in Yeongnam and Honam.
Listening to Hyangs explanation, Sejong looked around at the ministers.
Hold on. As I recall, we prohibited possessing and cultivating private armies long ago.
At Sejongs words, Jo Mal-saeng stepped forward to answer.
That is correct. However, it seems powerful clans in the three southern provinces just changed the nas and raised them. Passing them off as personal guards and rchants and so on.
Sejong quietly nodded at Jo Mal-saengs answer. After all, even his own older brother, Grand Prince Yangnyeong, called up private forces on the pretext of rchants skilled at hunting.
We will have to strictly crack down so that no more private armies can be cultivated because of this incident.
While planning a policy to newly implent and examining the report, Sejong questioned the ministers again.
What is the reason there are so many private forces and slaves in Yeongnam and Honam?
At Sejongs question, Kim Jeom imdiately answered.
Yeongnam and Honam have been famous granaries since long ago so there were frequent raids by Japanese pirates. So most clans raised private forces. The reason for the large slave numbers is because sharecropping is common, but there is also a lot of land directly fard using slave labor.
And all those vast lands were tax-exempt?
At Sejongs question, Kim Jeom promptly answered.
That is correct.
Hmm.
Hearing Kim Jeoms answer, Sejong looked over the scrolls again, brooding in thought. After a long period thinking alone, Sejong turned to the ministers.
Though later generations may see this as cruel asures, I will have to make a resolute decision. Let us purge them.
At Sejongs decision, the ministers shut their eyes tight. Purge ant rciless mass cleansing.
But we have no grounds to stop this!
They dared ard rebellion. There are no grounds!
And so in the end, the ministers could only bow their heads and give the sa answer.
We shall heed your orders!
The scribe who recorded all these events appended the following at the end:
Thus, when the King decided to purge those who instigated revolt, not a single minister opposed his will.
The scribe comnts.
When the choice of a mont caused ones own clan to perish, whom can they bla?
***
Though the decision was made to inflict extre penalties on all officials related to the revolt, that did not end matters.
What is this book?
From among the books that ca with the scrolls, Sejong picked up the thickest to and looked at the title.
Record of a Loyalty-Oriented Individual with Contrary Views.?
Seeing Sejong expressing puzzlent at the title, Hyang imdiately answered.
It is the list of those, though from rebel clans, who did not participate in treason and kept their loyalty until the end.
Is that so?
Eyes shining, Sejong looked over the nas of those recorded in the list. However, in not long, he was full of regret.
There are quite a lot of dead.
Many were killed for refusing to join the revolt.
At Hyangs reply, Sejongs voice turned severe.
By this, the rebels guilt grows heavier. No matter how you disagree, harming your own kin! Can such people still call themselves officials! Minister of Law and Punishnts, listen!
Yes, Your Majesty!
Those from clans who killed their own kinsn will all be executed through dismbernt! They should not die easily!
Yes, Your Majesty.
Discussion regarding how to handle those involved with the rebellion continued after that. As the punishnts for the rebels had already been decided, the discussion was mainly centered around ritorious subjects.
After quite a lengthy debate, the reward criteria for those who achieved rit in suppressing this uprising was formulated.
1st class ritorious subject
Commanders who suppressed the palace invasion. Commanders who suppressed the uprising. Various commanders who died suppressing the palace invasion.
2nd class ritorious subject.
Interdiate and low rank commanders who suppressed the palace invasion. Interdiate and low rank commanders who suppressed the uprising. Soldiers killed suppressing the palace invasion. The heads of clans who opposed those who started the uprising.
3rd class ritorious subject
Various commanders killed suppressing the uprising. The heads of families who opposed those who started the uprising.
4th class ritorious subject
Those killed or injured in suppressing the uprising.
Through these determined standards, rewards were conferred on related parties.
Through the newly implented honors system devised at Hyangs suggestion, many received military orders and rewards.
However, in the process of giving rewards, Sejong gave them a choice.
I will either give land or an annuity choose.
At Sejongs proposal, those received rewards fell into thought.
If they chose the annuity, in addition to paynts at set rates over a designated period, their children gained the benefit of admittance to military academy or exemption from corvee labor.
For country noblen, Sejong additionally granted plaques personally inscribed with Clan of Loyalty and Righteousness.
In contrast, if they chose land, all the additional benefits like ntioned above were completely gone. Moreover, the rewarded lands were given a 5 year complete tax exemption, with taxes halved for the next 5 years that was it.
Most ritorious subjects had no choice but to pick annuities.
It was Hyang who formulated this policy. While first coming up with the idea, Hyang muttered,
I didnt know you could apply policies like this
***
While rewards for the ritorious subjects ended like so, the suffering of rebel participants families had only just begun.
With the youngest rebel participant only 11 years old, male descendants had withered away from the clans involved with the rebellion.
Additionally, with slave laws changing and the tax system transforming, there were no ritorious subjects who wanted to take on slaves.
Should we send them north?
If it was just a few, sending them north wouldnt be an issue, but the numbers are too great. We cant make the entire northern region into rebel sympathizers, right?
After all kinds of discussions, the settled punishnt was sentenced to labor in mines.
All family mbers of rebel participants were dragged off to work 30 years of forced labor in iron and coal mines.
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