While “quite a few” pieces of luggage were being unloaded, as Sejong had put it, people continued disembarking from the ship.
While most were Joseon people returning for crew rotation, there were at least several dozen people in unfamiliar attire—though not unfamiliar to Hyang.
Seeing them, Hyang immediately asked Sejong.
“Father, who are these people?”
“They’re chieftains from the new territory, their head warriors, and officials.”
“Officials?”
When Hyang couldn’t hide his surprise, widening his eyes, Sejong explained with a smile.
“It was quite difficult to handle the new territory’s administration with just the people we brought from Joseon. So we educated the local residents and appointed them as officials. Though their level of understanding of the sages’ teachings may be low, they’re very capable in practical matters. Hangul proved tremendously helpful.”
“They managed just by learning Hangul?”
Hyang looked at Sejong with disbelief. Even in the 21st century, while Hangul was considered the world’s best writing system for its ease of learning, Korean remained one of the most difficult languages to master.
Sejong responded to Hyang’s question with an even deeper smile.
“There’s an excellent bait called power, isn’t there?”
“Ah…”
Hyang nodded at Sejong’s words.
The situation was similar to what happened during the late Joseon period before Hyang’s intervention. When English became essential for advancing as an official, records show that Koreans learned English faster than anyone else.
While nodding, another question occurred to Hyang.
“But why did you bring them here?”
“There are several reasons, but the main one is that we succeeded in completely making the largest tribes in the new territory our Joseon subjects. I wanted to tell you right away, but with war imminent and then ongoing, I couldn’t.”
Watching Sejong speak as if it were nothing special, Hyang wore a shocked expression.
In just four years? Not only incorporating natives as citizens but training them as officials? This man is truly beyond classification!
Sejong had departed for the new territory in the Year of the Wood Rat (1444). Now returning in the Year of the Earth Dragon (1448).
As if reading Hyang’s mind, Sejong added an explanation.
“When I arrived, the situation was already nearly ripe. It just lacked a responsible person to make the final adjustments and decisions. We were very fortunate.”
“Ah, yes…”
I’ll pretend to believe that. It’s better for my mental health.
Hyang muttered internally words that would have made others who had suffered under Sejong—especially the ministers—faint. Seeing Hyang’s expression, Sejong narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Why that expression?”
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
Quickly composing his expression, Hyang continued his questions.
“This is wonderful news! All court officials will be overjoyed, and Joseon will firmly establish itself as an empire. But why did you bring the native officials? I somewhat understand bringing the chieftains and head warriors, but I don’t understand the reason for the officials.”
“Don’t we need to properly educate them to establish a proper administration in the new territory? And before Joseon transforms into an empire, we need to reorganize once more. And…”
Pausing briefly, Sejong asked Hyang with a stern expression.
“Though this father trusts you, you’ve properly analyzed the war lessons, haven’t you?”
“Yes. We’ve analyzed not only the armies that directly conducted the war but also all administrative departments that provided rear support.”
“Well done. They will analyze those war lessons again.”
“Pardon?”
When Hyang failed to understand, Sejong narrowed his eyes again.
“Oh? You don’t understand what I’m trying to do? The old you would have…”
Just as it seemed he would click his tongue, Hyang hastily responded.
“Ah, no. Certainly, outsiders’ eyes can identify problems that insiders might miss. The issue is that these people have just entered official service.”
Sejong’s expression softened at Hyang’s answer. With a smile returning to his lips, he explained the reason.
“Do you know when a gentleman learns greatly once again? When teaching disciples. To provide teachings that disciples with shallow learning can easily understand, the teacher must review what they’ve learned. Moreover, answering questions from disciples unbound by conventional frameworks allows one to find and correct their own misconceptions. That’s why I brought them.”
“Ah, now I truly understand Father’s profound intent!”
While continuously nodding at Sejong’s words, Hyang was internally sweating.
There’s going to be wailing and gnashing of teeth!
The ministers following the father and son felt the same way.
The King is truly the King!
I should have collapsed from illness before His Majesty returned! That damned medicine!
I should have written a resignation letter! A resignation letter!
Afraid of hearing even more terrifying things about work, Hyang hurriedly changed the subject.
“Father, how was life in the new territory? Your complexion has improved greatly.”
This wasn’t mere flattery. Compared to before departing for the new territory, Sejong had lost considerable weight and his complexion had improved.
“Has it? Indeed, the new territory was truly vast. So I enjoyed various activities including horseback riding. Among them, I most enjoyed striking-stick.”
“Striking-stick, you say?”
Hyang felt slightly puzzled at Sejong’s words.
To improve health that much through striking-stick, a game similar to golf or gateball, one would need to play almost daily. Of course, it might be possible for Sejong, who had enjoyed playing striking-stick until dawn on every royal inspection day.
The problem was that the situation in the new territory wasn’t good enough for Sejong to enjoy striking-stick daily. If he had done so, it would have been impossible to achieve the results Sejong mentioned, no matter how exceptional he was.
Seeing Hyang’s expression, Sejong continued with a bright face.
“I modified striking-stick. And received great help from it.”
“What?”
***
What gave Sejong the biggest headache after arriving in the new territory was drawing the natives under Joseon’s umbrella.
The vastness of the region where native tribes lived scattered made it difficult to achieve quick results just using the government monopoly office. Using force would certainly bring bigger problems in the future.
“What should I do about this?”
Whenever his head hurt, Sejong would go outside to clear his mind.
At first, he mainly resolved it by horseback riding. The vast land of the new territory was optimal for riding.
However, horseback riding soon became tedious. Due to security concerns, he needed large numbers of guards, making it unsuitable for clearing his head while contemplating alone. Rather, horseback riding itself wasn’t safe enough to allow other thoughts.
Moreover, Sejong didn’t particularly like horseback riding, due to his overweight build.
“It’s painful for both me and the horse.”
Sejong made this joke-that-wasn’t-really-a-joke while distancing himself from horseback riding. Though he had become quite healthy thanks to Hyang’s “Make a Healthy Pig Project,” he still didn’t care for riding. Thus, unless there was an urgent matter like the great fire in Hanseong before, Sejong rarely rode.
Consequently, Sejong sought another method of stress relief.
“Drinking and entertainment won’t help much…”
The new territory lacked many things needed for drinking and entertainment, and furthermore, the censors from the Office of the Inspector General who had followed him would certainly make noise.
“Not just the censors but the Crown Prince would certainly make noise too, so I need something I can do alone while contemplating.”
While pondering this, one day while enjoying striking-stick, Sejong’s eyes lit up.
“This is it!”
“That’s how I modified the rules of striking-stick to create a new game. First, I changed it from teams of 10 or 20 people competing to matches of two or three people, and made the minimum distance to the hole at least 100 jang (about 300 meters). Then I added variations by placing small forests or ponds between the starting point and the hole. Going around 10 holes means walking 10 li. It was truly wonderful—enjoying my favorite striking-stick while leisurely walking and organizing my thoughts.”
As Hyang imagined the scene while listening to Sejong’s explanation, he internally exclaimed.
This is golf! My goodness! Did you create golf just to clear your mind?!
After internally shouting, Hyang quickly collected himself and asked Sejong.
“You mentioned receiving great help—did you use it politically?”
Sejong beamed at Hyang’s question.
“Indeed, you are the Crown Prince! To catch on so quickly!”
“You praise me too highly.”
While humbly responding to Sejong’s praise, Hyang muttered internally.
So golf and politics truly are inseparable?
Sejong continued excitedly.
“To draw in the natives of the new territory, building relationships with the chieftains had to come first, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Indeed.”
“While I wanted to build relationships through banquets, many things were lacking, and since the natives didn’t know proper drinking etiquette and customs, it would have been worse than not doing it at all. Archery competitions weren’t possible due to vast skill differences, and horseback riding was impossible since they were new to horses, so striking-stick was the only answer. Especially since the key feature of my modified striking-stick was moving together in groups of two or three—it was perfect for persuading and winning over hesitant chieftains.”
“Indeed it would be.”
Hyang nodded at Sejong’s words while becoming increasingly certain of his thoughts.
As I suspected…
Excited, Sejong continued.
“Want to know something interesting? The natives also became fond of this new striking-stick. They even created spacious striking-stick grounds near their tribal territories. From what I know, there are already more than ten such grounds. And the striking-stick masters selected by each tribe compete with masters from other tribes, rotating between various grounds. Of course, this was my suggestion! Hahaha!”
Hyang’s face completely drained at Sejong’s words.
Now you’ve even created the PGA? At this rate, a theory that ‘Sejong created everything’ wouldn’t be strange!
“Eunuch! Bring my striking-stick bag!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Growing more excited, Sejong showed off his hobby to Hyang.
“These are the clubs used in new striking-stick.”
Receiving the club taken from the long wooden box, Hyang’s eyes sparkled.
“You made it from iron?”
“Indeed. Since it’s at least 100 jang from the starting point to the hole, you need to send the ball as far as possible, right? At first, we tried using bamboo or local oak wood, but when made sturdy they were too heavy, and when made light they broke easily. So I ordered the craftsmen of Area 52 to create suitable metal. As expected of skilled craftsmen, they soon produced excellent clubs. Ah! I brought the records about that metal too, so look them over.”
“Yes. But Area 52?”
“That’s right! Since calling it Branch Office 51 didn’t suit its scale and everything else, we called it Area 52!”
“Yes…”
Future historians will have a hard time searching for Areas 1 through 50.
After enthusiastically explaining the new striking-stick, Sejong looked around and ordered Hyang.
“Oh my! We’ve delayed too long! Let’s quickly return and handle the pending work!”
“Yes, yes…”