The next day, Wan summoned the monks and exchange students who had volunteered.
“I have read your petition carefully. It is a good intention to volunteer in order to uphold your doctrine.”
At Wan’s words, the faces of the monks and exchange students brightened.
“Then do you permit our volunteering, Your Majesty?”
“Before that, let me ask you. According to your doctrine, there is a passage that says ‘Spread the truth to the ends of the earth.’ If so, you will evangelize in the New Frontier, won’t you?”
“That’s…”
“Answer in the name of the god you believe in.”
“We will not deny it.”
“Hmm…”
Having heard their answer, Wan made a strange expression while humming. After a moment of silence, Wan pointed out the problem.
“The issue is that despite the Pope, the head of the religion you believe in, having changed several times, there is still no answer to the questions sent by our empire.”
***
When the monks first came to the empire—at that time, Joseon—Hyang, who was then the Crown Prince, had posed two questions.
One was about ancestral rites, and the other was about the inerrancy of the scriptures.
“Without answers to these issues, evangelization cannot be permitted!”
At that time, the religious community in Europe—specifically, Western Europe—was in a considerably hostile state.
- Between the authority of the Pope and the authority of secular monarchs, which is greater?
- Should the Pope follow the council, or should the council follow the Pope?
- Should the unity of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy be permitted or denied?
The religious community in Western Europe was in an uproar, with opinions divided on each of these issues.
Simply put, Hyang had thrown a lit bomb into a warehouse full of gunpowder.
The religious leaders, who were already sharply divided over issues that were not easy to reconcile, began to engage in heated debate over the answers to these questions, and soon force was mobilized.
***
Wan continued speaking.
“How much time has passed, and how many Popes have changed since His Majesty demanded an answer? Yet, your Pope has not sent an answer.”
Wan’s point was not wrong.
Starting with Pope Eugene IV, who was the Pope when Hyang posed the questions, to the current Pope Paul II, five Popes had come and gone, but the Vatican still had not sent an answer.
At Wan’s point, the monks and exchange students bowed their heads.
“We are deeply sorry.”
“We will ask for an answer to be sent as soon as possible.”
Wan continued to press the monks and exchange students.
“Does your Pope disrespect me, His Majesty, and our empire?”
“N-no, Your Majesty!”
“Absolutely not, Your Majesty!”
The monks and exchange students hastily denied it in response to Wan’s rebuke.
“To be honest, the situation in the Vatican has not been good…”
“The situation has not been good all this time, Your Majesty.”
***
As the monks and exchange students said, the situation in the Vatican was in complete disarray during that time, and even now.
The religious dispute, which had even mobilized force, was barely patched up, but not completely.
Religious leaders from various European countries and the Vatican still engaged in heated debates whenever they had the chance.
Additionally, problems began to arise as the enormous funds consumed as war expenses when force was mobilized were extracted from the people under various pretexts.
“What kind of people are you! Are you shepherds searching for lost lambs, or merchants selling sacrifices in the temple!”
As those who criticized the church’s exploitation and called for reform appeared again, things became noisy once more.
As this vicious cycle continued, ‘Hyang’s questions’ had somehow disappeared far away.
***
“Hmm… I have already heard rumors similar to what you just said. As written in your scriptures, how can those who should lead the ‘lost lambs’ to the truth display such disgraceful behavior? Tsk tsk tsk!”
As Wan clicked his tongue and shook his head, the monks and exchange students could not overcome their shame and deeply bowed their heads.
Looking at them with a contemptuous face, Wan came to a conclusion.
“The New Frontier is clearly the territory of our empire. Therefore, it follows the laws and policies of the empire. Until your Pope sends an answer, and until it is concluded that the answer does not disrupt our empire’s traditions, I cannot permit you to spread the religion you believe in or allow your volunteering. Go back.”
At Wan’s decision, the monks and exchange students paid their respects with dejected faces and then left the Great Hall.
After sending away the exchange students and monks, Wan clicked his tongue once more.
“Tsk tsk tsk! Those who cause trouble in Seoul’s brothels whenever they get the chance, what divine will and doctrine are they discussing… How are they any different from the Buddhists of the former dynasty and the false gentlemen of the Giyu Year… Eih! Tsk!”
As Wan expressed his displeasure, mentioning the monks notorious for exploiting the people during the Goryeo Dynasty and the literati who had raised the Giyu Rebellion, all the officials in the Great Hall uniformly shut their mouths and only observed Wan’s mood.
‘If I say the wrong thing here, it will be a big problem!’
‘It’s best not to say anything here!’
‘I don’t know anything!’
“What does the Prime Minister think?”
When Wan directly asked the question, Hwangbo In hurriedly answered.
“You are right, Your Majesty! Your words are truly appropriate!”
“That is right, Your Majesty!”
As soon as Hwangbo In finished speaking, other ministers chimed in.
“Hmm…”
After thinking for a moment with his chin in his hand, Wan soon ordered Hwangbo In.
“Convey my command to Prince Tae and Jeong In-ji, who manage the research institute. Tell them to examine the achievements, attitudes toward studies and research, and mindsets of those exchange students, and to categorize them. And tell them to immediately send those with low grades back to their homelands. Those who came to explore the truth are only causing havoc in brothels… Tsk!”
At Wan’s command, Hwangbo In and the ministers immediately bowed their heads and replied.
“We will obey your command, Your Majesty!”
***
After the audience was over, Hwangbo In, Kim Jong-seo, and Yi Gyeon-gi had a separate meeting.
“It seems that His Majesty’s order to reorganize the Europeans is not simply about the brothel issue. What do you think?”
To Kim Jong-seo’s question, Yi Gyeon-gi replied.
“As they say, ‘He who touches ink gets stained by it.’ Don’t you think His Majesty thought it would be good to clean things up at this opportunity?”
At Yi Gyeon-gi’s words, Hwangbo In shook his head.
“I think the brothel issue is just an excuse. Lately, there are rumors that some of those exchange students and professors are trying to do things other than their main business.”
“Other things?”
When Yi Gyeon-gi expressed his doubts, Hwangbo In continued.
“It would be more accurate to say other misdeeds. They are trying to act as spies…”
“Spies!”
When Hwangbo In mentioned ‘spies,’ Yi Gyeon-gi’s face hardened seriously.
***
The number of exchange students staying in the empire was gradually increasing.
Previously, Japanese people made up the largest number, but now, exchange students and professors from Europe boasted the largest numbers.
Most of the exchange students sent from Japan studied Confucianism and administration. Of course, they strived to learn the empire’s technology, symbolized by ‘Area 51,’ but the empire did not release advanced knowledge and technology beyond the Technology Academy.
Because of this, Japan established a technology research institute. This institute gathered craftsmen who had previously been brought from Ming and those who had studied at the Technology Academy and returned, to conduct research to catch up with the empire’s technology.
Exchange students and professors from Europe mostly worked in fields such as mathematics, physics, mechanics, and so on.
This was because Hyang had only accepted those related to these fields from the beginning.
Among those who studied at the Mathematics Academy and the research institute or participated in research, those with excellent grades were actively recruited to settle in the empire, and the level of the empire’s basic science was gradually improving.
Of course, there were those who did not succumb to such recruitment and returned home, or those who could not keep up with the pace and returned home, occurring steadily every year.
But even these people were treated as valuable talents when they returned home. This was because, compared to those who stayed in their European home countries, their level was higher.
It was natural for those who saw this from the side to embark on the path of studying in the empire.
As the ’empire study fever’ blew, a new high-income profession was born.
It was the ‘specialized home tutor for studying abroad.’
To study in the empire, one first had to pass the test conducted by the empire.
The number of people who hired those who had studied in the empire and returned as home tutors for their children to pass this test increased. And those who gave up studying and returned became home tutors.
They returned home because they couldn’t keep up with the pace, but the very fact that they had studied abroad was evidence that they had the skills to pass the test.
Through this process, as the number of people coming to study in the empire and returning after completing their studies increased, those with other purposes began to quietly mix in.
People who tried to recruit craftsmen from the empire or obtain the empire’s technology while acting as exchange students for 2-3 years began to mix in.
Knowing well that it was impossible to recruit craftsmen from Area 51, they were moving to recruit well-known craftsmen in the private sector, or to obtain their technology.
The movements of these people were immediately caught by the secret police, and over time, they became known to officials through the courtesans of regular brothels and the police bureau.
“Hmm… What should I do about this?”
Having received the report from the secret police, Wan was deeply contemplating to find an answer.
The most important and profitable technologies were in Area 51.
If those Europeans had dared to touch the craftsmen of Area 51, they would have been dealt with immediately by mobilizing the secret police, but that was not the case.
“But I can’t just leave it alone…”
Whether by divine providence or not, so far, no craftsmen had been recruited. The leaked technologies were also at least two or three generations behind.
While pondering for an answer, this incident occurred.
“Did His Majesty say ‘Perfect timing!’ at times like this?”
***
“Think about it. Weren’t there also Sungkyunkwan students in the past who didn’t just study to death? Weren’t there many who used to visit brothels whenever they got the chance?”
At Hwangbo In’s words, Kim Jong-seo and Yi Gyeon-gi nodded. Seeing the reactions of the two men, Hwangbo In continued.
“There were many such people, and such incidents weren’t rare, but were there any who were expelled?”
“Almost none.”
“His Majesty is trying to weed out those who have come with different purposes under the pretext of this incident. Of course, we could openly detect and punish them. But there’s no concrete evidence, and if we make a mistake, we might lose the talents we want.”
“You mean they all go back home in fear?”
At Kim Jong-seo’s point, Hwangbo In nodded.
“That’s right. But if we act according to His Majesty’s orders, we can avoid that. Moreover, the better thing is that they will devote themselves more diligently to their studies and research to avoid being expelled.”
Having said this much, Hwangbo In sighed.
“Whew~. I keenly feel whose blood His Majesty has inherited at times like this.”
At Hwangbo In’s words, Kim Jong-seo and Yi Gyeon-gi also sighed simultaneously.
“Whew~.”
Sejong and Hyang never did anything that would lead to a loss, and ‘killing two birds with one stone was basic’ for them. And Wan was clearly proving that he had inherited their blood.