When Wan mentioned the Office of Records, all the ministers looked at him with tense faces. Even Kim Jong-seo, who had first mentioned the Office of Records, was the same.
Looking at these ministers, Wan got to the main point.
“The Situation in New Frontier has sent a letter saying he wishes to establish Office of Records in New Frontier as well.”
At Wan’s words, Hwangbo In asked in a seriously hardened voice:
“Have the native officials in New Frontier already begun causing problems?”
Hwangbo In had built his career in law-related departments, from the former Ministry of Punishments to the later Ministry of Justice. True to form, upon hearing about ‘establishing new Office of Records,’ he immediately thought of officials’ corruption.
At Hwangbo In’s words, Wan shook his head with a light laugh.
“Hahaha. No.”
“Is that so?”
At Wan’s answer, Hwangbo In showed an expression of relief. The other ministers were the same.
“Then will you select and send people from among those serving in white at the mainland Office of Records?”
“That’s right.”
At Wan’s answer, Kim Jong-seo crept in with a slight smile.
“Since New Frontier has a short history, there will be little to record, so many will volunteer to go to New Frontier.”
At those words, the other ministers also nodded. Seeing the ministers’ expressions, the smile on Wan’s face deepened.
“Will they really?”
At Wan’s words, all the ministers in the great hall inwardly exclaimed:
‘We’ve been had!’
‘It’s a trap!’
‘We forgot whose bloodline he inherited!’
Enjoying the ministers’ expressions, Wan continued:
“The Office of Records currently exist only in Seoul, don’t they? The Situation is worried about this. If some unforeseen disaster occurs and causes problems for the Office of Records, it would be serious.”
“Ah…”
At Wan’s words, the ministers all nodded. Indeed, there had been a great fire in Seoul during the early years of Sejong’s reign that caused significant damage.
Wan continued speaking:
“Therefore, we intend to create an Office of Records in New Frontier as well to safely preserve all the Empire’s records.”
“Then those sentenced to documentary record punishment serving in the Office of Records will have their workload doubled.”
“That will probably be the case.”
At Wan’s calm answer, all the ministers had the same thought:
‘There will be wailing.’
Wan continued:
“Though we’ll request the Legislative Review Board, we’ll also legally establish compensation measures for those serving in white at the Office of Records.”
“When you say compensation measures…”
“Looking at precedents so far, those who faithfully complete their sentences are pardoned and reinstated. Of course, not at their original rank but two ranks lower. We’ll change this to reinstatement one rank lower.”
At Wan’s words, Hwangbo In bowed his head and answered:
“Those serving in white will be pleased.”
However, all the other ministers muttered the same thing inwardly:
‘The problem is that hardly anyone qualifies…’
‘How many have received pardons and been reinstated so far? You could count them on your fingers, right?’
****
The Office of Records.
It was a ‘place of terror’ for all officials of the Korean Federal Empire—no, for everyone in public service.
-Find, organize, and preserve administrative records not only from Joseon but from all past dynasties.
-Examine these preserved records to create better policies that bring peace to the people and prosperity to the nation.
This was the purpose for which the Office of Records were created.
The problem was finding people to work at the Office of Records.
-Those who can properly read and write Chinese characters.
-Those skilled in Idu script.
These conditions alone were troublesome enough, but the bigger problem was the enormous workload.
Finding and organizing records not only from Joseon but from the previous Goryeo Dynasty and even earlier dynasties was truly an enormous amount of work.
While pondering how to find people for this work that boasted incredible labor intensity, Sejong and Hyang’s eyes fell upon the ‘officials.’
-They can properly read and write Chinese characters and are also skilled in Idu.
Having found the perfect material, Sejong immediately put them to use.
Starting with officials who had performed the myeonsinrye ceremony forbidden by both royal decree and law, officials caught in corruption were thrown into the Office of Records regardless of their rank.
The most representative example was Jo Mal-saeng.
Jo Mal-saeng, implicated in the ‘Kim Doryeon incident,’ had all his property confiscated and had to serve in white at the Office of Records.
Later, after faithfully completing his sentence, Jo Mal-saeng was able to return when talent knowledgeable in defense was needed.
However, the Jo Mal-saeng who returned had become a completely different person.
He returned as someone incorruptibly honest and unconditionally loyal to the king.
Afterward, the Office of Records’ notoriety grew increasingly among officials.
-Decades after its establishment, the workload showed no signs of decreasing.
-The scrutiny pouring onto those sentenced to documentary record punishment and their families from those around them.
While the scrutiny from others was unavoidable, the problem was the terrifying workload.
Documents written in regular or formal script were relatively fortunate. Documents written in semi-cursive or cursive script were difficult to read immediately even for officials familiar with the scripts and Chinese characters.
Moreover, if typos occurred while transcribing, they had to start over from the beginning.
-These are documents that future generations must see, and if there are traces of corrections, problems could arise regarding authenticity. If typos occur, rewrite from the beginning.
Because of this, officials serving in white always had to be tense.
Working slowly was also problematic. If the amount of output was small, they wouldn’t reduce the sentence period.
***
As time passed, that tremendous workload began to decrease little by little.
This was thanks to the desperate struggles of officials who had served in white.
“Now we can see hope!”
However, their hope turned to despair.
Because Sejong had promulgated Hunminjeongeum.
-All records must be translated into the vernacular script and recorded again!
“Ahhh…”
At least work became somewhat easier thanks to the invention and mass distribution of typewriters.
However, Hyang and Wan pointed out problems to the ministers.
“Really! Why do people keep receiving documentary record punishment!”
“We are deeply sorry!”
“Don’t create things to be sorry about!”
Hyang and Wan expressed such complaints because people continued to receive documentary record punishment.
Moreover, among female officials who were just beginning to establish themselves stably, some received documentary record punishment, and it also came from among eunuchs and court ladies.
And those caught this way were thrown into the Office of Records without question.
Initially, there were concerns that having men and women together might lead to incidents, but such things didn’t occur.
“In the Office of Records, there’s neither time nor energy for men and women to develop feelings.”
And on the main beam of the Office of Records was posted an adage written by someone unknown:
-Typewriters are fair.
***
Knowing these circumstances, the ministers showed negative reactions even after hearing Wan’s compensation measures.
However, Wan’s words weren’t finished.
“The Situation and I have discussed many things, and we plan to actively use New Frontier and Bukji for preserving records. First, we’re thinking of additionally building repositories to store the Veritable Records in New Frontier and Bukji.”
“That is truly an appropriate decision.”
The ministers responded positively to Wan’s words.
As Wan said, increasing repositories was a good method to prepare for unforeseen disasters.
However, the ministers were shocked by Wan’s following words:
“And as the Office of Records will be established in two places, we intend to reorganize the Office of Records as well.”
“When you say reorganize…”
“Do you ministers know about the great library that was said to be in Alexandria?”
Wan explained his and Hyang’s plan to the ministers.
-Long ago, there was said to be a great library in Alexandria.
-That great library reportedly gathered all the knowledge and historical records of the West at that time.
-We intend to make the Office of Records into the great library of the East—no, of the Empire.
-Going forward, the Office of Records will gather and preserve not only administrative records of past dynasties but all books and records related to the knowledge and life we currently possess, including historical texts, classics, and miscellaneous learning.
-Of course, we won’t just preserve but also restore them, and make copies available for people who wish to see them.
“…”
The ministers who heard Wan’s plan all just gaped without saying anything.
After quite some time passed, Hwangbo In, who barely regained his senses, reported to Wan:
“Y-Your Majesty. That is truly a beautiful intention. However, to proceed with such a great undertaking requires an enormous budget.”
“I know well. Naturally, I don’t expect to see it completed during my reign. If we proceed expecting about 100 years, wouldn’t it be possible without great burden on the budget?”
At Wan’s point, Hwangbo In, who had been calculating internally for a moment, nodded.
“That seems reasonable.”
“Good. Please draft a proposal regarding this. And…”
Pausing briefly, Wan continued with a sardonic smile:
“Only something of this scale might reduce corruption a bit, don’t you think? Where on earth does that reckless confidence that they won’t get caught come from… Tsk!”
At Wan’s tongue-clicking, everyone in the great hall had similar thoughts:
‘I need to discipline my children once more!’
‘I’ve been hearing strange rumors about my nephew…’
Thus, as Wan and Hyang intended, the ‘transformation of the Office of Records into a great library’ proceeded.
It was a notorious great undertaking where ‘it wasn’t finished even after 100 years.’
Every year, an enormous amount of records emerged, and organizing and preserving them was a task that couldn’t be completed.
Thanks to this, the Office of Records buildings in the mainland and New Frontier had to construct additional buildings every 10 or 20 years.
The Office of Records came to be called the ‘treasure house of human knowledge,’ ‘dungeon,’ and ‘devil’s cave.’
***
“Hmm… Let’s handle the issues with Ming and the Office of Records this way. What about Japan? It’s been quite a while since the Ouchi clan became Japan’s king, is it still noisy?”
At Wan’s question, Hwangbo In stepped forward to answer:
“It seems things are roughly settling down now.”
“Then the burden on the Southern Navy should decrease somewhat.”
“That’s true for now, but there’s something slightly concerning.”
“Concerning? What is it?”
At Wan’s question, Hwangbo In answered:
“It seems Japan has finally decided on southward expansion.”
“Southward expansion already? Does Japan have that capability?”
“It’s still too much for now, but it seems they’ll move in earnest soon.”
“Do you have evidence besides suspicion?”
At Wan’s question, Hwangbo In answered:
“They’ve reportedly brought shipbuilding technicians from Europe.”
“Shipbuilding technicians…”
Wan trailed off with a serious expression.
***
Not only Wan but also Hyang and the ministers were certain that Japan would definitely choose foreign expansion.
One reason was that self-sufficiency was difficult with Japan’s internal resources, but the biggest reason was that Japan thoroughly followed the Empire’s footsteps.
-Both the Empire and our Japan lack resources. Just as the Empire grew greatly by looking outward, our Japan must do the same!
This was the motto of the Ouchi clan, now Japan’s royal family, and many Japanese intellectuals were making similar claims.
The problem was the relationship between the Empire and Japan.
Both countries advocated good neighbor diplomacy with each other, and there was considerable human and material exchange.
However, Japan also knew well that the Empire would never give beyond a certain point.
In the end, the alternative Japan chose was Europe.