Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1760 The Retirement King
This is what actually happened in Korea during the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns.

The man who died in 1506 was still being discussed by the Koreans in 1545 about "how to keep it a secret from the court." If King Yoro had actually been alive at that time, he would have been nearly 70 years old. If the court had continued to investigate, King Yoro might have become a centenarian king.

"So why have you been dragging this out for so long?"

“Ah,” King Yi Mo of Joseon shook his head, “Actually, the Shilin faction didn’t initially intend to drag it out for this long. They just planned to delay it temporarily and then deal with the old merit faction.”

The so-called Kudetta, the so-called coup, is a revolution if it succeeds, and a rebellion if it fails.

The Shilin faction did indeed intend to carry out a major purge during that period, so they used the "Retired Prince" incident to buy time. Once the case was finalized and solidified, it wouldn't be impossible to move the "Retired Prince" to the ancestral temple.

Ultimately, the fate of the dead is irrelevant; the key is the living. Without keeping the king, installed by the old guard, hanging in the balance, the case cannot proceed. This was also true during the power struggle between the Donglin Party and the eunuch faction; ringleaders like Wei Zhongxian had to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, because the punishment for others would never exceed that of the ringleader. Therefore, a fierce battle would ensue between the two sides over the sentencing of the ringleader.

The same was true in North Korea. However, the Donglin Party and the eunuch party ultimately dared not involve the emperor in the struggle, but the North Koreans held the monarch up as a benchmark, and did so for 40 years, which was really too wild.

However, as it turned out, the struggle between the two sides was far more intense than initially imagined. The Shilin faction, which initially thought it was just a temporary measure, ended up waging a protracted war. Temporary measures became permanent.

This matter couldn't be delayed any longer than the following year. While there might be some justification for delaying a death case for a year, there were no excuses for delaying it beyond that. Therefore, if the matter couldn't be resolved by the second year, the Shilin faction would have to pretend he was still alive. Because once the funeral was held, the imperial envoy would inevitably come to see him, and that might expose the deception.

Moreover, even if the funeral is successful, the matter will return to the question of "how to settle scores with the old guard after the old king enters the ancestral temple".

"Ah, I understand." Shang Luo nodded. If this matter is delayed, the nature of the situation will completely change.

Because of the nature of the matter, it had changed from a suppression of the old guard to a fatal weakness for the literati. Concealing the emperor's death and putting on a show before the imperial envoy was a crime of deceiving Heaven.

This is also one of the underlying logics behind the Korean monarchy and its officials' adherence to the principle of serving the greater good.

While the Joseon king's practice of subservience to powerful figures could guarantee the stability of his kingdom and ensure the king's continued rule, it also benefited his subjects. Within this system, the monarch also had his own ruler, and the Joseon king was, in effect, a subject of the Ming dynasty. Therefore, as seen in the "Retired King" case, factional disputes could escalate the case to the point of targeting the Joseon king himself—a kind of balance. Although the Joseon dynasty itself couldn't be overthrown, every member of the Joseon family could be subject to a purge.

In the first year after King Reign's death, this was still an internal problem in North Korea.

The following year, this became a crime within the tributary system. The political lives, personal safety, and even the political lives and personal safety of their descendants of all those involved in this matter depended on the fact that "the imperial envoy did not discover that they were deceiving the emperor."

After all, the Sarim faction's regime originated from the purge of the meritorious officials, while King Jungjong's regime stemmed from a coup and the Kudetta Incident. If the court were to discover this matter and send someone to question Joseon, the meritorious officials could immediately launch a counterattack, and even retaliate tenfold. It's not impossible that they could even kidnap King Jungjong and hand him over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

This has turned every visit to Korea by Ming Dynasty envoys over the past 40 years into a large-scale reality show.

While the envoy might merely be asking politely, "How is your retired king doing?", and the Ming Dynasty might not care much about it, it was a matter of life and death for Korea. Exposure could lead to annihilation.

This created a rather bizarre situation—the imperial envoy himself was unaware of, or even indifferent to, the matter. However, around him, spies from both sides were engaged in a massive operation surrounding the incident. One side sought to transmit information through various means, while the other did everything in its power to prevent them from getting close to the envoy.

Meanwhile, the Shilin faction was also actively engaged in paperwork. They organized a department to systematically fabricate the illusion that the "retired prince" was still alive for the imperial envoy—because you can't wait until the envoy arrives to make things up on the spot; fabrications will be exposed. Only by preparing in advance can you compare the evidence beforehand.

Thus, numerous departments were secretly organized, and Korea gained an invisible "Emperor Emeritus." This Emperor Emeritus didn't exist, but he was required to pay his respects daily and keep records of his medical treatments—this was crucial, because the excuse for refusing to see envoys was illness, but who could survive a serious illness for decades? Therefore, the illness had to be fabricated, with periods of improvement followed by worsening, requiring meticulous attention to pathology and pharmacology. Furthermore, this department actually had very few people. Since envoys only visited once a year, there was no need for excessive detail. However, this department bore a heavy responsibility; if exposed, it would bear primary responsibility for the downfall of the Shilin faction government. Those who took over this department were often unlucky, even scapegoats.

In fact, this system was still in operation even in the 24th year of the Jiajing reign.

On February 27th of the 24th year of the Jiajing reign in Seoul, the Joseon king and his officials were still troubled by this matter, and therefore held a special meeting—because when they went to the Ministry of Rites to report the situation, the content of their report had become increasingly outrageous.

To avoid mentioning the matter of the Prince of Yang, they said, "After the sixth year of the Hongzhi reign, all the records were burned, leaving no evidence for investigation," meaning the archives were burned down by a fire dragon. The priests of the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to take notes for them.

The Ministry of Rites asked, "Is the Prince of Yanglao still alive?"

The only answer I could give was "still alive," as he is already seventy years old.

The Ministry of Rites asked, "Has the patient recovered?"

The only answer I could give was, "My dizziness has become a chronic condition, and I can't leave my room."

This has become so outrageous that "King Yangon lived to be 70 years old, seriously ill for 40 years," and never left his home yet still didn't die. What terrified the Koreans the most was that the ruler at the time was Emperor Mansoo, Emperor Chunghyo, and King Feiwon. When they heard that the King of Joseon had been ill for 40 years but hadn't died and never left his home, they assumed that King Yangon shared their passion for cultivating immortality and even personally inquired about the matter.

The Korean envoy was so frightened that he rushed back with a report, and the royal palace in Seoul was in complete chaos: "King Yoro's remarks are extremely worrying. If an envoy comes and asks him about this, how should we respond?"

"So," Shangluo asked, "how was this matter ultimately resolved?"

“It wasn’t dealt with.” Li Mu shook his head. “The imperial court forgot about it.”

Yes, the court forgot about it. Starting from a certain year, the imperial envoy stopped asking about the Prince of Yang, and then gradually no one remembered it anymore.

[Pfft~~] Apollonia laughed. [This really, really is a comedy. No wonder he called it a historical comedy. The Koreans are as fantastical as ever.]

"Then the question arises," Shangluo asked again, "Why did you bring this matter to light, Your Highness?"

"Because I want to bring this case back up and teach some people in our country a lesson—so the more absurd it is, the better." The infighting in North Korea continues, and the situation is no different now than it was back then.

“Ah, sure.” Shangluo nodded. “Anyway, if you want to film it, I’ll rent it to you. But in return, how about sending me more of the manpower you mentioned earlier? Let me make it clear, this is a very heavy job, it’s like going to jail with those Romans. It won’t be easy to find suitable people. If you can fill this gap, then I can help you a bit more and make this sitcom even more absurd.”

"How about I arrest the criminals involved in this case?"

"Hmm?" Shang Luo thought for a moment. "Sure, sure. If you think these people are suitable, send them over for me to see. Let heroes manage heroes, let good men manage good men, I think it's fine."

(End of this chapter)