Episode 603: Opening of Heaven – Controversy over the First Law (6)
King Sejong, who had epted the appeal in question, looked like he had been defeated.
“It’s the formation of an external knowledge department… something I never thought of.”
At King Sejong’s words, the government and ministers all nodded.
* * *
The background for the creation of those with a business named Oejibu was a funeral home. The job of the funeral home was to manage ve documents and handlewsuits over ownership of ves.
Even though their number was greatly reduced through Gyeongjang, ves were important property. Therefore,wsuits regarding this continued.
In the meantime, the job that was created was the foreign branch office. Those who were not managers of the funeral home but were familiar with the relevant legal provisions were those who would proceed with thewsuit on their behalf and benefit if they won. These people were called external branches because they were branches located outside the funeral home. (Note 1)
The problem with these external branches was not because they were recingwsuits. This was because it wasmon for people to forge documents to winwsuits or to take advantage of themselves by inciting unnecessarywsuits.
* * *
The contents of the appeal submitted to King Sejong were summarized as follows.
– In the meantime, our Joseon Dynasty is on the verge of bing an empire, just as a young tree ovees the storm and grows into a giant tree.
Judging by the beauty of its meaning, the newly introducedw is worthy enough to be the foundation of the empire.
And the subsidiaryws can also be said to be truly beautiful as they spread out in all directions like stems extending from the roots and help the people feelfortable.
However, its branching and lushness can be a problem.
The legal provisions rted to all matters are detailed, but this makes it difficult for the people to easily ess them. No, it is impossible for officials in charge of litigation to memorize all the provisions of thew.
Because of this, the number of people taking on foreign branches as a business will increase significantly. It would be good if they sincerely moved to help the people’s case, but the problem is that they do not.
Looking at the current situation, most of those who do overseas branch work are robbers. These people are inciting people to filewsuits, using petty writing skills to make a mockery of thew, changing right and wrong, and creating chaos. This is truly a big problem.
As our Joseon Dynasty progresses toward bing an empire, there will be conflicts of interest as many as the number of people, andwsuits will increase. It would be a great harm to leave the foreign affairs departments alone.
Also, since the people do not know all thews in detail, they will findwsuits and disputes difficult. In the end, they will try to solve it using their own power, so it will be a legal butwless situation.
As an alternative to this, we propose a n to train foreign branches.
Those who pass the standards set by the country by testing their knowledge of newws, including the firstw, as well as economic and secr warfare, and thew of discussion, will be given the qualifications of an external branch and will act on their behalf in litigation. It gives authority.
Also, in litigation cases, if external branches debate right and wrong on behalf of theinant and the used, and the judge listens to their opinions and makes a decision, disputes over the oue of the case can be reduced.
* * *
“Hmm… I think it’s okay, but what do you think of the crown prince?”
In response to Sejong’s question, Hyang organized her thoughts and answered.
“I think it’s a good idea. The mostmon phrase among authors when a dispute arises is, ‘Let’s do it ording to thew.’ In reality, most of the documents submitted by the Tribunal report decisions onwsuits.”
At Hyang’s words, the ministers, especially Minister of Justice Hwang Bo-in, who is in charge of all judicial affairs, nodded vigorously. After quenching her throat for a moment, Hyang continued speaking.
“It is something that should not be prevented from causingwsuits among the people. This is because filing awsuit means believing in the fairness and severity of thew. “Ifwsuits are prohibited, awful butwless situation will result, as described in the appeal, and this will cause the empire to copse from its roots.”
Sejong nodded at Hyang’s answer. As Ina-Hyang, who submitted the appeal, said, there was aw, but if the situation became unmanageable, it was certain that the influential person located closest would control the people.
It was said that people like the local nobles before the Giyu Rebellion would appear again, and this was a situation that King Sejong never wanted.
Seeing that Sejong’s reaction was positive, Hyang added more force to her voice.
“Also, if those with specialized knowledge file a case, we can prevent the foreign branches from holding meetings or giving speeches with little knowledge like the current foreign branches.”
King Sejong and the ministers nodded repeatedly at Hyang’s words.
It was a well-known fact that the people of Joseon liked to argue with thew. And his knowledge of thew was also considerable. However, this was limited to areas that directly benefited them.
Therefore, when a fight broke out in apletely different area, the following situation urred.
“ording to thew I know….”
“You man! Is thatw right for this situation? “Is that right?”
“I guess…”
In other words, the two sides involved in the dispute were engaged in a war of words based on the argument made by ‘I guess’. And if it got worse, it would lead to awsuit. And that’s where foreign branches got involved.
Hwang Bo-in, who was listening to Hyang’s story, continued.
“If you look at the reportsing from the Tribunal, you will hear that there are quite a few outside branches who know thew better than the judges of the Tribunal. “It would be of great help to both the people and the judges if their work was trained.”
“Isn’t the problem that people are instigatingwsuits or forging documents?”
King Sejong’sments were a no-brainer.
“Most of the documents forged by erroneous foreign branches are ve documents andnd documents. These documents have originals at the Department of General Affairs and copies at each local government office, so they can bepared immediately if necessary. In fact, document forgery has decreased significantly. “What’s left is to instigate awsuit, but I think it would be better to make it benign.”
“why?”
“Why?”
King Sejong and the ministers alike expressed doubts about Hyang’s words.
“Because we can rely on thew until the end.”
“Ah…”
Thus, the legal provisions regarding ‘foreign branches’ were added.
And one change that urred as a result of this decision was that the word ‘foreign branch’ reced the word wyer.’
Another change that urred was that, despite the creation of judges, thepetition rate for ‘Yulgwa’, which was called ‘Japgwa’ and considered the second group, greatly increased.
“It’s good to be a judge on the tribunal, and it’s good to be a member of the foreign branch!”
“If you only pass the Yul Gwae exam, everything from there is solid!”
“You can proudly work as an external branch!”
This happened as not only those seeking sess but also those who had previously been working as foreign branches flocked to the area.
In addition, as foreign branches were fostered, the number ofwsuits gradually increased and rted precedents continued to umte. Thanks to this, the Record Center continued to expand.
* * *
When thews rted to ‘foreign branches’ were revised, the vige began to express its opinions enthusiastically.
“Why suddenly there was nomentst time?”
In response to Sejong’s question, Hyang smiled humbly and answered.
“After looking at the appeal regarding the ‘foreign branch,’ there was something new that I saw.”
“Is that so? “That’s a good thing.”
Looking at Sejong’s happy expression, Hyang muttered to herself.
‘I had given up until then.’
The only thing Hyang wanted to add was the introduction of awyer and jury system in criminal trials.
But Hyang had given up on this.
“You didn’t even mention it at all? “Is it still too early?”
Hyang couldn’t erase the feeling that it was premature even after looking around, so he kept his mouth shut, waiting for the future.
However, seeing King Sejong and the ministers showing no particr resistance to bringing the foreign branches to the sunny area, Hyang decided to take on the challenge.
“Entrusting the defense work to a foreign branch?”
“yes. “We can look at it from a different perspective, so we can make a more fair ruling.”
“Hmm… And since it’s a jury…”
“It will reduce the burden on the judge. “And ensure fairness.”
After hearing Hyang’s answer, King Sejong looked back at the ministers.
“I think it’s a pretty good idea, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
In the end, after a rather fierce war of words, the jury system andwyer system were added.
* * *
After such intensebor, the firstw and subsidiaryws were finallypleted.
And thew codes thatpleted this revision process were reprinted and distributed throughout the country.
Among them, Minister of Finance and Economy Park Jong-woo visited Kimjeom.
“This is causing a bit of trouble.”
“What’s the problem?”
“The limited edition of the firstw is the problem.”
“Didn’t you say from the beginning that the limited edition is a printed copy of the revised firstw?”
“That’s not the problem.”
“huh?”
When Kim Jeom expressed his doubts, Park Jong-woo sighed.
“Whoa~. There are too many people willing to buy it. “Even if you look at it roughly, the number of people who came forward to buy it was more than 20 times the number of copies sold.”
“huh? “It’s worth 30 gold coins?”
“That’s right.”
“Huh~.”
At Park Jong-woo’s words, Kim Jeom looked helpless.
Although prices had risen a lot, the average ie of an ordinary person a month was 2 nyang of silver. 30 gold coins was enough for a year’s sry for a ministerial official.
Kim Jeom muttered without realizing it.
“There are so many rich people in thisnd.”
* * *
Note 1) Korean ssics Trantion Institute
https://m.itkc.or.kr/bbs/boardView.do?id=75&bIdx=31916&page=1&menuId=125&bc=6