“It’s not just big—it’s nonsensically big.”
Working in the royal palace, Hyang unconsciously uttered a curse.
As he said, the royal palace was significantly larger than Gyeongbok Palace.
As a result, whenever there were urgent meetings or summons outside the regular court sessions, eunuchs or royal secretaries had to ride horses to the administrative buildings where officials worked.
The same was true for Hyang’s royal meals.
With relatively and absolutely few people working scattered throughout the area, communal dining halls had been established. When mealtime came, officials, regardless of rank, had to gather at the dining hall to eat.
“I suppose the one fortunate thing is that people are already accustomed to dining halls…”
The communal dining halls, introduced by Hyang and expanded by Sejong, had already become familiar, so officials felt no reluctance about gathering there to eat.
Of course, even with familiarity, dining with high-ranking individuals like Hyang was still an intimidating affair, so the dining hall was divided into two sections.
Hyang’s grumbling about the mercilessly vast palace continued.
“The problem is that they’re still expanding it. This damned mouth of mine…”
Hyang blamed himself for carelessly running his mouth and making things worse.
***
The incident began when Hyang was examining maps of the New Frontier royal palace and city district in Mississippi.
While Hyang and Jinpyeong were sighing at the unexpectedly vast scale of the palace and city district, officials standing nearby asked Hyang with sparkling eyes:
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but how does the royal palace compare to Ming’s Forbidden City in size?”
“Hmm? Have you never seen the Forbidden City?”
At Hyang’s question, the official replied with an embarrassed smile.
“My career is still short, and I belong to the Department of Land Development, which has no connection… Besides, haven’t regular diplomatic missions ceased since the establishment of the empire?”
“Ah, I see.”
Hyang nodded at the official’s answer.
***
During the Great Reformation, diplomatic missions became the exclusive responsibility of the Ministry of Rites—later the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Of course, depending on the nature and importance of the mission, the chief and deputy envoys were high-ranking officials from other departments, but the middle and lower-ranking officials who made up the diplomatic corps belonged to the Ministry of Rites.
Moreover, after the war ended and Joseon transformed into the Great Han Federal Empire, such diplomatic missions disappeared entirely.
This was because everything previously received from Ming, starting with the calendar system, had been replaced with the empire’s own independent versions.
Therefore, it was natural that young officials with around ten years of experience, like those now asking questions, or officials not belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would know little about the Forbidden City.
***
“Compared to the Forbidden City…”
At the official’s question, Hyang stroked his chin and muttered.
My first impression was that it would make the Forbidden City look shabby, but…
After briefly recalling to make a comparison, Hyang answered the official.
“If we’re just talking about the palace compound, the New Frontier palace is much larger. But when considering the entire imperial city, the Forbidden City might be slightly larger.”
“Pardon?”
“When I visited the Forbidden City before, I once asked about it. From Tiananmen in the south to Di’anmen in the north is nearly 8 li (about 3.2 km), and east to west is almost the same. By that measure, it would be a bit larger than our palace. Of course, if we’re only counting the palace compound starting from the Meridian Gate inside Tiananmen, then our palace would be larger.”
“I-is that so, Your Majesty?”
“Indeed it is.”
Hyang should have stopped there. But his habit as an enthusiast led him to continue with unnecessarily detailed explanations.
“Besides, doesn’t the New Frontier palace include administrative buildings and military garrisons inside? If we consider that, we’d have to extend the boundary to Daqing Gate south of Tiananmen. It’s similar with Seoul. The imperial city of Seoul, Gyeongbok Palace, should include not just Gwanghwamun but extend to Sungnyemun. In that case… the New Frontier palace isn’t that much larger compared to the Forbidden City and Seoul’s imperial city…”
“Is that so, Your Majesty…”
Seeing the deflated expressions of the officials, Hyang offered words of comfort.
“Don’t be so discouraged. The New Frontier palace is by no means small. And who knows? We might need to expand it more later.”
At Hyang’s words, the officials’ eyes sparkled as they asked:
“Did you say expand it, Your Majesty?”
“Don’t you think so? Considering the size of the New Frontier, more people will come seeking opportunities. When that happens, we’ll need to expand the palace and other government offices in advance.”
“Ah! That’s true, Your Majesty!”
After time passed and the meeting ended, the officials paid their respects and left.
“Hmm? Why haven’t you left? Do you have something to say?”
Jinpyeong, who remained behind when everyone else had left, cautiously answered Hyang’s question.
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I think you may have created a problem.”
“What?”
Two days later, New Frontier officials flocked to Hyang.
“We seek Your Majesty’s approval!”
“Approval? For what?”
At Hyang’s question, the officials unfurled a large paper and answered loudly:
“It’s the second plan for constructing the New Frontier royal palace!”
“Huh? Second plan?”
At the officials’ words, Hyang looked down at the unfolded paper. There, in large letters, was written “New Frontier Imperial Palace Construction Plan.”
After seeing the measurements on the plan, Hyang looked at the officials.
“You say this is the second plan?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Then are you suggesting we rebuild the current New Frontier palace?”
“Not rebuild, but properly construct it according to the second plan.”
“To add, the current palace is based on the third plan.”
The officials explained in detail to Hyang.
***
When the original plan was first presented, Sejong rejected it.
“It’s too small for an imperial palace. Reconsider and come back.”
At Sejong’s words, the officials immediately pointed out the problem.
“But we’re severely short on materials and manpower needed for construction, including timber.”
“Trees are abundant everywhere, and can’t we mobilize the natives who have submitted to us? Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?”
“The natives, Your Majesty?”
“Haven’t there been many natives who wanted to use the government stores but complained about having nothing to offer?”
The officials, immediately understanding Sejong’s words, bowed their heads and answered:
“We will reconsider and return, Your Majesty.”
“And thinking of efficiency, it would be good to have the administrative offices and military garrison under one roof.”
“We will keep that in mind.”
“While you’re at it, consider making it worthy of the name ’empire.'”
At Sejong’s additional request, the officials again bowed their heads and replied:
“We will do our utmost, Your Majesty.”
A month later, when presented with the second plan, Sejong again shook his head.
“Rejected. This time it’s too large. No, it doesn’t match the current situation of the New Frontier.”
“But…”
“The budget is the issue. There’s not enough budget to build according to this plan. Reconsider and return.”
“Yes…”
“However, secure the land in preparation for when the second plan might be pursued again.”
“When the second plan might be pursued again, Your Majesty?”
Seeing the confused expressions of the officials, Sejong continued:
“Think about the size of the New Frontier. How many people will live in this vast land? This is where the emperor who will govern them exists, and where the court is located. Just as a growing child needs increasingly larger clothes, shouldn’t the palace also grow?”
Only then did the officials understand Sejong’s words and bowed their heads in response:
“We receive your command, Your Majesty.”
***
“…and thus, the New Frontier palace was built according to the third plan.”
“As Your Majesty has spoken the same words as the Venerable Emperor, wouldn’t now be the perfect time?”
“The budget issue can be resolved with the reparations from Ming. Actually, we should complete construction while the reparations are coming in to avoid budget pressure.”
“The manpower issue is similar. More and more people are coming from the homeland, and the number of submitting natives is rapidly increasing. If we employ them and pay wages, it can greatly help them settle quickly.”
“Hmm…”
Hyang, arms folded, listened to the officials and after a moment of silence, he asked:
“Helping those from the homeland and those who have submitted to establish a foundation… But don’t the submitted natives, being indigenous, already have some foundation?”
“That foundation is barely enough for survival. They submitted for a better life. Therefore, adequate support is necessary for them to settle as citizens of the empire. There have been instances where this was taken lightly, and they transformed into hostile forces, even requiring military intervention.”
“I saw that in the reports. Hmm… then, apart from the palace, what support measures had you considered?”
“Mobilizing them for railway construction.”
“That’s good too, isn’t it? No, isn’t it better? Palace expansion takes place in a confined area, so there’s a high possibility of slums forming around the palace. But railway construction occurs over a wider area, so we can avoid population concentration, can’t we?”
“The issue is with the government stores. Establishing too many stores isn’t good for operation.”
“If you look at the New Frontier-Mississippi Outer City construction map, you’ll see we’ve already divided and separated the districts. If we properly utilize Area 52 and the surrounding plains, we can minimize slum formation.”
Facing the officials’ fluent responses, Hyang raised a white flag.
“I’ll consider it positively.”
“Your gracious consideration is overwhelming!”
“You may leave now.”
After dismissing the officials, Hyang slapped his own mouth and muttered:
“This damned mouth of mine!”
After this self-criticism, Hyang reexamined the unfolded plans and related reports to assess the possibilities.
“It’s definitely not bad.”
Whether people coming from the homeland or those who had submitted, their purpose was the same:
—To live a better life.
Employing such people and providing financial support wasn’t a bad thing.
Additionally, as the officials mentioned, with reparations coming in from Ming, now was a good opportunity to address financial issues.
Ming’s reparations were both medicine and poison.
They could be medicine to strengthen vulnerable parts of the imperial economy, but if mishandled, they could cause price instability and ruin the imperial economy.
To solve this, a significant amount of the reparations had been allocated to New Frontier development.
Therefore, if the palace and other infrastructure were built during the period when reparations were flowing in, they could avoid budget pressure in the future.
“It’s not bad, but…”
Despite the positive outcome, Hyang’s expression wasn’t particularly good.
“Wan is sure to grumble about it right away, and the Audit Office will do the same…”
Hyang could already envision the Audit Office officials writing petitions, asking, ‘How dare a temporary palace be larger than the main palace!’
“Sigh~ Still, I think it’s best to proceed. If the Audit Office whines, I can simply overrule them with my imperial authority.”
Though he had made up his mind with a sigh, Hyang still couldn’t shake off his uneasiness.
“I feel like I’ve been set up by someone again.”
***
Following Hyang’s decision, extensive reconstruction of the New Frontier palace began.
For smooth construction, not only military engineers but also many natives were employed.
The natives’ response was better than expected, as there was a program to teach carpentry skills to those who wanted to learn.
After seeing the empire’s wooden houses, the natives wanted to build their own homes in the same way. But imperial carpenters were busy, and natives who had learned both theory and practice were excellent alternatives.
As a result, native carpenters became high-income professionals in the New Frontier.