Drawing on experience gained through years of state governance, Sejong steadily established control over New Frontier’s native tribes.

Using gifts disguised as bribes, subtle persuasion through push-and-pull tactics, and backed by New Frontier’s strongest military force, Sejong gradually brought surrounding tribes under his influence one by one.

However, Sejong never became optimistic about the situation.

“These people have been growling at each other for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. They won’t easily unite. It’s human nature to think your neighbor’s crop looks better than your own. Without proper reconciliation, internal wounds will fester and burst. They need competition.”

He was certain that with appropriate competitive outlets, grievances could be redirected.

Thus, Sejong began pondering what suitable forms of competition might work.

“Wrestling is good, but not enough on its own. We need something that can unite people and create opportunities for private meetings with chiefs. What would work?”

The first thing Sejong thought of was stone battles.

“It’s convenient since all you need are common stones, some clubs, and shields, but…”

***

For Joseon people, stone battles was a time-honored tradition. Young men from nearby villages would gather during holidays or the New Year to engage in stone battles. Sometimes it was even used to resolve village disputes.

However, since stone battles could easily result in injuries or deaths, it frequently escalated into chaotic brawls.

Consequently, when stone battles began, it was customary for village elders or local officials to serve as referees and moderate the matches. Even so, brawls often broke out, and sometimes even the referee elders ended up grabbing each other by the collar.

Despite its roughness, kings, royalty, and influential figures enjoyed watching stone battles matches.

For instance, when Sejong showed reluctance toward stone battles, Former King Taejong had forced him to watch, saying:

“This is also an excellent training method.”

Finally, in Sejong’s 9th year, he established systematic rules for stone battles.

Later, as military reforms progressed, stone battles became a training method for reserve forces. However, to prevent unnecessary injuries, participants were ordered to wear old armor discarded by sword troops.

Subsequently, with the establishment of comprehensive entertainment venues, professional stone-throwing teams emerged. These professional athletes traveled throughout provinces and nationwide, performing stone battles at entertainment venues.

This marked the birth of a ‘league.’

As sword units gradually reduced in size, their plate armor was repurposed as protective gear for professional stone throwers.

When the court realized these regular stone-throwing team matches strengthened people’s sense of belonging, they began utilizing this effectively.

***

Though it seemed decent enough, Sejong immediately shook his head.

“No good. We’ve barely achieved reconciliation. This could easily turn into genuine lethal combat. We’ve already experienced this in Joseon. Even after being one nation’s people for at least a thousand years, they still fought viciously in stone battles matches.”

After abandoning stone battles, Sejong began considering other options.

“Baduk? No. While it’s good for leadership like chiefs, it’s not suitable for warriors. We need something to expend warriors’ energy. Hmm…”

Then Sejong thought of something else.

“How about polo?”

But he soon shook his head again.

“No, that won’t work. Training horses takes too long, and with them barely domesticated, we might create troublesome enemies.”

As each good point was countered by two or three drawbacks, Sejong pressed his hand to his forehead, getting a headache.

“This is giving me a headache.”

“Shall I call for a physician?”

Sejong shook his head at the Chief Royal Secretary’s question.

“No. I’ve been cooped up in this room too long. Let me get some fresh air.”

“Shall I prepare horses?”

“No, I’ll play field hockey.”

“I’ll have everything prepared accordingly.”

As Sejong left his chamber, eunuchs carrying stone balls made of jade and agate followed behind.

***

Though Sejong was famous for disliking physical activity, there were a few sports he enjoyed: archery, which King Taejo had made famous; jump rope, suggested by Hyang; and field hockey.

Among these, field hockey was Sejong’s favorite.

Even in history before Hyang’s intervention, records show officials worried about Sejong staying up all night enjoying field hockey.

This remained true in the history after Hyang’s intervention, and Sejong, conscious of his officials’ concerns, distributed considerable amounts of medicine as gifts to them.

Though the officials verbally expressed gratitude for Sejong’s gifts, they wore complex expressions when turning away.

***

Given Sejong’s love for field hockey, the first things he built upon arriving at the temporary palace were an archery field and a field hockey court.

While playing field hockey on the archery field, Sejong lightly swung his stick and muttered:

“Well… playing alone isn’t much fun.”

“Shall I prepare for jangchigi (field hockey)?”

“No, that’s fine—”

Sejong suddenly cut off his response to the Chief Royal Secretary.

“That’s it! That’s what we need!”

Having struck upon a good idea, Sejong hurried back to his chamber.

Jangchigi was similar to modern field hockey.

Players divided into two teams used long wooden sticks to score wooden balls through the opposing team’s goal. With few restrictions beyond prohibitions on beating opponents with sticks or tripping, jangchigi was the perfect competitive sport for warriors.

As Sejong predicted, jangchigi became explosively popular among native tribes. Warriors who had few outlets for their energy besides hunting now showed off their strength through jangchigi.

Moreover, victory against other tribes, especially former enemies, brought honor comparable to winning a war.

Tribes gave their all to win at jangchigi. They created dedicated practice spaces and held regular matches to select skilled players.

That wasn’t all.

They actively sought out skilled Joseon players in their settlements to learn advanced techniques.

As a side note, by Hyang’s reign, these jangchigi matches had grown to empire-wide scale. Jangchigi and stone battles became the empire’s two major professional leagues. Though there were other professional leagues for archery, wrestling, and other sports, jangchigi and stone battles remained supreme among team sports.

***

While he had decided on a competitive sport to expend warriors’ energy and exploit tribal rivalry, Sejong still had concerns.

Playing field hockey to clear his head as usual, he muttered to himself:

“I need a suitable pretext for private meetings.”

Though Joseon controlled the tribes, they hadn’t achieved complete dominance. Their current position was that of ‘the most powerful among many tribes’ rather than ‘the leading tribe.’

“To become leader of all New Frontier’s tribes, and further make New Frontier itself part of Joseon, we must win over the chiefs. The Queen is handling the Clan Mothers well, so that’s not a concern…”

Analyzing the situation, Sejong sighed.

“Huu~ What would be a suitable means for private meetings?”

In Joseon, he could make secret visits to subjects’ homes or arrange discreet meetings at entertainment houses.

But that wasn’t possible here. Visiting a chief’s home would instantly become gossip. Entertainment houses hadn’t even been established yet, and judging by the chiefs’ behavior at the recent banquet—all getting carried away with their first taste of soju—private drinking meetings were impossible.

“If I use drinking as an excuse, they’ll seek the alcohol first.”

Feeling frustrated, Sejong swung his stick with all his might.

Tak!

Watching the stone ball fly far away with a crisp striking sound, Sejong exclaimed involuntarily:

“How refreshingly it flies!”

However, seeing the eunuch running to retrieve the distant ball, Sejong clicked his tongue softly.

“Tsk! Making him work hard. But it does feel good.”

After watching the struggling eunuch, Sejong soon ended his field hockey session and returned to his chamber.

“Though it felt good, perhaps I should have retrieved it myself?”

The Chief Royal Secretary immediately bowed his head at Sejong’s muttering.

“How could we let Your Majesty move for such a minor task? This is what we’re here for.”

“Still, effort is effort, isn’t it?”

“Consider it exercise for us. Isn’t moderate movement said to prevent minor ailments?”

So I should die of minor ailments instead?

As Sejong forcefully suppressed this retort, his mind suddenly brightened.

Wait! Field hockey only needs two people, right? And when the ball enters a hole, you move to the next one? What if we played not in a confined space but on open plains? New Frontier has plenty of those! If we set long distances between the striking point and the holes, and between holes…

Having reached this thought, Sejong’s face brightened as he slapped his knee.

“I’ve found the answer!”

Thus was born new-field hockey. On a course stretching 10 li (about 4km) one way, 20 li round trip, Sejong invited chiefs to introduce new-field hockey and play together.

Before long, new-field hockey became wildly popular among chiefs and elder warriors. The chiefs and elder warriors couldn’t match younger warriors’ stamina in jangchigi. However, new-field hockey was perfect for managing energy levels. Moreover, the exclusivity of small groups playing privately provided another sense of superiority.

As new-field hockey spread among chiefs and elder warriors, Sejong began using it politically.

He would invite chiefs of influential tribes to play new-field hockey in groups of two or three while having private discussions.

These “field hockey court meetings” became crucial in accelerating New Frontier’s integration into Joseon.

While Joseon’s culture and economic power, symbolized by trading posts, influenced common natives, the “field hockey court meetings” created political alignment with Joseon.

***

While New Frontier’s natives were rapidly becoming Joseon-ized, some natives were ahead of others.

Woodpecker’s husband, “Crouching Bear,” was one such case.

Named “Crouching Bear” for his large build from birth, he was Woodpecker’s husband.

Though expected to become a renowned warrior due to his size and strength, he increasingly disappointed as he grew older.

Despite his size, strength, and intelligence, his fighting skills weren’t particularly good. Having inferior fighting skills compared to other warriors was a major disqualification.

More precisely, while his fighting skills matched other warriors, they didn’t live up to his impressive size and strength.

Though he had strengths in intelligence and excellent situation analysis and judgment, these were easily dismissed.

After being paired with Woodpecker, Crouching Bear carefully observed their new Joseon neighbors. As time passed, he voluntarily studied Hunminjeongeum and learned the Joseon language.

Once familiar with the Joseon language, Crouching Bear quickly mastered basic subjects including mathematics.

The Joseon people noticed his progress.

“That fellow shows promise.”

“Didn’t they say His Majesty would arrive soon? We’ll definitely need people like him then.”

When Sejong arrived and New Frontier’s development began in earnest, Crouching Bear officially became an administrator.

Though still entry-level, Crouching Bear had established a foundation for advancement through his efforts.

Thus, Crouching Bear and Woodpecker acquired a house in the Joseon residential area and began living there.

His position in the tribe reversed instantly.

He transformed from a “warrior who couldn’t live up to his size” to an “important connection.”