Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 339



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Episode 339

Unification (2)

When the division problem was finally resolved and unification was achieved with the return of Joseon, the streets of Seoul were filled with a festive atmosphere for a month. The joy of the Seoul citizens reached its peak on the day when the King of Joseon paid tribute to Taegeon.

The newspapers all reported the incident in a big way. The scene was depicted in a pictorial manner and was imprinted in detail in the minds of readers, and the story was added to this and spread far and wide. In addition, many investigative reports by reporters who went to Hanseongbu and experienced the public sentiment were published.

There was also a phenomenon of immigrants lining up to visit their hometowns. People who had been unable to visit their hometowns due to the border were going to their hometowns in large numbers to say hello. As a result, train tickets, which were not that many, were naturally sold out, and it was difficult to find a ship. It was a big deal for shipping companies that were in the passenger business.

In addition, there was an article in the newspaper predicting that the rapidly increasing number of residents visiting their hometowns would further increase the number of applicants for immigration. It was expected that through these people, not only would they be introduced to Balhae’s new culture, but they would also share their experiences related to the settlement process, which would induce the people of their hometowns to decide to migrate.

As Lee Ha-ryun was reading a newspaper with such articles in it, Namhae-bu Admiral Heo Gyun asked him loudly.

“Oh! Are you pretending not to hear? What was the atmosphere like back then?”

“Oh my! How many times do I have to tell you to understand? I told you the atmosphere was tense.”

Lee Ha-ryun imitated Heo Gyun’s tone with a playful expression.

Heo Gyun had come to Seoul two days ago for a meeting on immigration policy. Of course, he had a great time with Lee Ha-ryun. And from the next day on, he was always chatting with Lee Ha-ryun.

“What do you mean?”

“It looked a bit odd. It was like the King of Joseon bowing down to our King.”

“Who said it had to be done that way?”

“I played the villain role. But that doesn’t mean I’m a villain through and through.”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to fight?”

When Lee Ha-ryun glared at him, Heo Gyun shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

“Well done. We need to imprint that scene on the people. That way, they can feel that unification has been achieved. Anyway, it’s a shame. We should have seen that scene. Wasn’t it a scene that will be remembered in history for a long time?”

“That’s true. From that time on, Balhae, a truly complete empire, was born.”

“The next few years will be a whirlwind of adjustments.”

“If I say more, it’s just nagging. Ugh! I think I’ll quit being the Minister of State and all.”

“That’s a terrible thing. How hard would it be for Giha if you were to leave?”

“Tch! Would you mind taking my friend’s side?”

“Oh my! Don’t doubt my loyalty.”

“Oh my… But the Namhae Department is busy too, right?”

“I can’t tell you how happy I was when I heard that there was a meeting. So I left the work to the vice admiral and the directors and rushed over.”

“You don’t seem to have any loyalty at all?”

“Go and work there once. The Namhae area is so busy. Choryang City is bustling with people. You don’t know how many people come from Dongrae, Geoje, Ulsan, and other places. Also, because of the immigrants who were slaves flocking in at once, the Bukgu region is boiling like water in a cauldron.”

“Then the population composition of Northern Europe will soon become similar?”

“That’s probably true. Up until now, about sixty to seventy percent of the indigenous people of Northern Europe have moved to the northern part of the mainland. If just a hundred thousand people from Gyeongsang Province migrate, the ratio will be adjusted to half.”

“If there are 100,000, that’s half? Then the percentage of Koryo people in Namhae-bu has increased considerably.”

“That’s right. In addition to the existing blood and Jeju Island immigrants, there are also quite a few who came over from the north. As you know, there are many high-paying jobs in the southern seas. Not only is distribution possible within the southern seas, but overseas trade is also possible, and the prospects for special crop cultivation and sugar businesses are also good. Manufacturing centered on cotton textiles is also starting to flourish. In addition, Formosa has a fairly large land area, so northerners will have no choice but to continue to come over. In that sense, even after this immigration process is completed, the proportion of Koryo people is expected to steadily increase.”

“It’s a good thing. What about the local Japanese people? Do they still follow it these days?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s hard to describe how well they cooperate.”

As the story of the local aborigines began, Heo Gyun began to give a long speech. He added his unique humanistic insight to his explanation.

“I realized how powerful the culture that you and Giha repeatedly emphasized contained while working as the governor of Namhaebu. Most of the Japanese were in fact slaves. For those who lived such a life, the most important thing was survival, wasn’t it? The Japanese lords collected taxes so harshly that they were obsessed with survival. Just enough to keep them from dying. However, when they became Balhae territory, taxes dropped to 10%, so should we say that they encountered a completely different world? With the survival issue resolved, they were finally able to live like human beings. So they had the luxury of paying attention to the lives of our Goryeo people living next door, and from then on, they imitated everything. Not only their clothing, but also their food, utensils, and even the way they built their houses. That’s why they began to adopt ondol, even in hot climates, and they were quite proud of having a few pieces of earthenware in their homes. How much worse must it have been for them, who used to use crude wooden utensils?”

“Haha! So that’s why the South Sea is so quiet.”

“Since they have no attachment to foreign traditions, they naturally accept living like the Balhae people. So they have no choice but to strictly follow the policies of the Namhaebu.”

Taegeon and Lee Ha-ryun had already anticipated that this phenomenon would occur. So they were confident that the policy of assimilating the Japanese indigenous people who remained in Namhaebu would proceed without much difficulty. Heo Gyun confirmed this in detail.

“Come to think of it, the most interesting region in Balhae is Namhaebu. Because it is a place that interacts with the three kingdoms of the lineage, Ryukyu, Ming, England, Portugal, and Spain. Maybe Namhaebu will play a big role in changing the world.”

Heo Gyun smiled brightly and answered Lee Ha-ryun’s words.

“Isn’t that why I gave up the position of Prime Minister and went to Namhaebu?”

“Anyway, you’re being sly.”

“Does that mean your brain works fast?”

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Heo Gyun’s index finger circled above his head.

* * *

The meeting started with an internal sponsorship. Since the success of the immigration policy for the people of southern Joseon was a major issue that could determine the future of the country for a hundred years, representatives from each governor-general gathered to check and coordinate the progress of the immigration. As a result, the conference room in the internal building was bustling like a market.

In front of the stage, there was a huge map depicting the territory of Balhae, and especially in the southern part of the Korean peninsula, there were numerous markers attached to each town. Officials would often approach the map and check the markers.

When it was break time and he had some free time, Lee Ha-ryun came in and sat down next to Heo Gyun.

“Huh? Why has the Prime Minister come here?”

“I’m going to look at a map. It’s my first time seeing such a large map.”

“That’s right. Looking at that makes me realize how big our Balhae has become.”

“It has grown, but the area of ​​the civil administration area is too small. If it were up to me, I would like to expand the area to the Songhua River in the west and the Heilongjiang River in the east.”

Lee Ha-ryun spoke about something he had always kept in his mind. He regretted that Yunju (Harbin), Ilan, and Samgang Plains were still in the military government zone.

“It will gradually fill up as time goes by. Isn’t the population growing at an alarming rate right now?”

Minister of the Interior Hyun Yang-geon discovered Lee Ha-ryun and quickly approached him to greet him.

“Are you here, Your Excellency the Prime Minister?”

“Yes, it’s been hard. I have news to tell you.”

In fact, Lee Ha-ryun was not there to look around, but to work.

“It is said that in the old land of Joseon, there have been occasional incidents of scholars committing suicide. They left behind wills saying that they did not want to live in a barbarian country that had abandoned the way of the sages.”

“Phew! That’s unfortunate, but wasn’t it something you expected?”

“If you commit suicide to show loyalty to Joseon, I will highly respect your intention. What? A barbarian country?”

Heo Gyun suddenly became angry.

“Anyway, please work together with the military that is carrying out military administration to resolve the situation well.”

Lee Ha-ryun didn’t seem to care much.

“Yes, Minister of State. Is there anything else?”

“There are common requests from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“I want to hire a lot of people from the Han River and Samnam regions.”

“I see what you mean. Experts in each field, right?”

“Yes. Including doctors with excellent medical skills, factories with excellent skills in each field, and even painters and musicians. They want to find and hire or invite these people from public enterprises and universities. They say it is especially urgent to find the location of potters.”

In fact, the quality of traditional crafts of Joseon was better than that of Balhae. The same was true of pottery. There were more potters in the southern part of the Korean peninsula, and their skills were better. Not only these factories, but also musicians and painters. So as soon as the border was opened, each department requested internally to identify the materials in order to select and use them.

“Haha! As expected, you move on your own. While I was living in Namhaebu, I saw how ceramics were being sold at high prices to the Three Kingdoms, Ryukyu, and Nanman, and I thought that we needed more potters. This is the right thing to do.”

Heo Gyun responded with a smile.

Soon, the meeting started again. This time, Lee Ha-ryun came forward and gave a presentation.

“I will inform you of something I have discussed in advance with the King, the Chairman of the Privy Council, and the internal affairs.”

Taegeon wanted to reorganize the local administrative system. So he decided to maintain the system of ‘hyeon’ and ‘si’ under ‘bu’, which corresponds to ‘do’ in Joseon. However, as the number of ‘si’ increased, he decided to place ‘dong’ instead of ‘sa’ under ‘si’, and in the case of ‘hyeon’, he decided to keep ‘sa’ as the lower organization, but instead of ‘dong’ and ‘pyeong’, he decided to place ‘ri’ under it. In other words, he changed the administrative system of cities and general ‘hyeon’.

“Another new change is that in the future, the village chief of each county and each district will be elected by a public vote.”

“Oh! By voting?”

“If it’s a vote, isn’t there a vote for the members of the Privy Council?”

Voting was not an unfamiliar system to the Balhae people. The members of the Privy Council were still elected by vote, but since the local administrative system was not yet complete, elections for members were only conducted in prepared areas.

As soon as Lee Ha-ryun opened his mouth, the murmur suddenly stopped.

“Unlike the election of members of the Privy Council, the election of the village chief is unconditionally carried out everywhere. This is because nothing is more important than the formation of a rural community to accelerate rural development. You know that there are many problems with the Hyangyak of Joseon. In our Balhae, all residents will directly vote to elect the village chief, and the term of office will be two years. Therefore, when the village chief is elected, opinions on major and minor issues of the village will be shared and implemented, and the village will also promote joint projects.”

As soon as Lee Ha-ryun finished his presentation, the representatives of the governor-general who had come up from the provinces began to speculate on the ripple effects of this system.

“Haha! This is going to be a very competitive election.”

“It was absolutely necessary. Every village has a village chief, right? But in many cases, it is hereditary. And there have been cases where incompetent elders took the position of village chief.”

“So, if we take this opportunity to elect the person the villagers all want as the village chief, wouldn’t cooperation improve?”

The response from local government representatives was very positive.

Taegeon intended to establish a system of electing members of the Privy Council and village chiefs through voting, thereby sprouting the seeds of a democratic system in Balhae society.

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