Chapter 10

Chapter 008: Map (1)

The day had dawned.

Kim Seungho, who had started charging his laptop with a solar panel, was being intently watched by Yi Seonggye. Yi Seonggye thought to himself,

‘Not all of my descendants could have been that foolish. Show me. Show me my descendants who governed well.’

The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which records 472 years from King Taejo to King Cheoljong, consists of 1,894 volumes and 888 books, and boasts a vast 49,646,667 characters.

Yi Seonggye, who naturally did not know the concept of a calendar, could not determine the exact years from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty he read last night, but he could at least discern that Joseon had existed for a considerable period.

It was impossible that only tyrants had left a clear mark on that long history.

“Certainly, there must have been wise rulers. If my descendants were so incapable, it would have been impossible for Joseon to last so long.”

Perhaps because he had seen the records of his descendants who left a strong impression, Yi Seonggye felt somewhat disheartened, but he still believed that there must have been virtuous rulers among them.

He looked at Kim Seungho, who had woken up with a tousled appearance, and said abruptly,

“Charge.”

“...Yes?”

“Charge! Laptop! Charge!”

Although he pronounced the laptop as "notebook" in his dialect, communication was possible with short words, so Yi Seonggye spoke in short, clear phrases.

“Annals. Read.”

At this, Kim Seungho scratched his cheek for a moment, then took out the laptop and solar panel from his backpack, plugged the charging port, and opened the door to go out onto the veranda.

“This fool!”

Seeing Kim Seungho about to step outside the room with an unfamiliar device in a completely defenseless state, Yi Seonggye was shocked and quickly grabbed the back of his neck.

“Choke!”

If the information on the laptop were to leak, the current Yi Seonggye would never be able to escape the charge of treason. Kim Seungho, who had left a strong impression, would be immediately beheaded, and his father, who was in the Office of the Inspector General, as well as Yi Seonggye’s concubines in various regions, would all be executed.

“Do you have no sense! You said that the device can be recharged and used again when the sun rises, but are you trying to deceive me!”

Not knowing that a solar panel needs sunlight to function, Yi Seonggye even suspected that Kim Seungho was trying to escape.

“...Ah!”

Only then did Kim Seungho realize how dangerous his defenseless action had been, and he looked at Yi Seonggye with a startled expression.

“Sorry!”

“...”

Although it was somewhat frustrating, considering that the modern Korean language Kim Seungho used was 500 years ahead of Goryeo’s language, the two could only communicate with such short words.

In particular, Kim Seungho was not from a generation that had learned Chinese characters through public education, so even the limited written communication was only possible with the laptop.

“Solar panel needed. Device. Absorbs solar energy.”

“Solar panel?”

The sun, which illuminates the earth during the day and disappears at night.

He knew that crops grew by absorbing sunlight, but not understanding the mechanism of the solar panel, Yi Seonggye naturally found it puzzling.

“Solar panel needed. Power absorption device.”

As Kim Seungho pointed to the solar panel, Yi Seonggye thought for a moment.

His sworn brother and nominal subordinate, Yi Jiran, was already outside, guarding the surroundings.

‘Indeed... Jiran...’

Having been shocked by the records of his scandalous descendants, Yi Seonggye had drunk quite a bit the previous night.

Yi Jiran must have gone outside to secure the area to protect him.

“It’s safer to control the area around this inn rather than the government office. Jiran!”

“Yes, General!”

“Control the area around the inn and ask the owner to step outside for a moment!”

“Yes, General!”

Without questioning or arguing, Yi Jiran, a loyal subordinate, immediately followed Yi Seonggye’s orders.

He controlled the area around the inn with Yi Seonggye’s personal guards, preventing people from moving around, and gave the innkeeper more than a day’s worth of earnings to ensure that no one other than Yi Seonggye and Kim Seungho was inside the inn.

“Is it done now?”

Seemingly understanding Yi Seonggye’s question, Kim Seungho nodded and finally opened the door to expose the solar panel to the sunlight.

After a while, the battery was finally charged, and the laptop began to function again.

***

“The lumps of flesh I saw yesterday were quite shocking, it seems.”

That was just a taste.

How could you possibly read the vast Annals of the Joseon Dynasty in such a short time?

The records of Sejo, Seonjo, Injo, and Gojong, shown as a kind of shock therapy, were so shocking that Yi Seonggye had been glaring at the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty since morning.

He was said to be a heavy drinker in history, and the alcohol he drank yesterday seemed to be quite strong. Despite the strong smell of alcohol, his face showed no change.

‘After all, he drinks horse milk, so the Jurchens must have called him sir and followed him.’

Probably showing Sejo after Taejo, and then Seonjo, Injo, and Gojong, he must have grasped the order to some extent, so I opened my mouth.

“Taejeongtaesewonjeongseongyeonjoonginmyeongseonghyohyeonsukgyeongjeongsunheoncheolgosun.”

When I said the first letters of the posthumous names of the Joseon kings, Yi Seonggye, who was thinking about what they were for a moment, quickly realized they were the names of the main characters in the annals.

“Taejeongtaesewonjeongse. Se. Se.”

“Sejong. Sejo.”

When Yi Seonggye asked who each one was, I told him the posthumous names of Sejong and Sejo.

“Jeongtaesewonjeong.”

He wanted to see the annals from Jeongjong to Danjong.

...

But this is a bit dangerous.

It seems he didn’t read all of his own annals yesterday. If he sees the Annals of King Taejong, he might immediately kill Yi Bangwon. Or, is he not born yet?

For whatever reason, he was the father of Sejong, who is considered the best ruler of Joseon.

‘Sejong in history is not just an ordinary ruler. Although he is suspected of having scoliosis, to kill the father of a person with such talent in the early Joseon period... Wait a moment.’

There is no "what if" in history, but the situation I am in now is that "what if."

It’s uncertain whether Sejong can be born if Yi Seonggye, who has seen the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, changes.

After a moment of contemplation, Yi Seonggye strongly said,

“Jeongtaesewonjeong!”

In response to Yi Seonggye’s words, I asked one thing first.

“Your son. Yi Bangwon.”

“?”

I needed to confirm whether Yi Bangwon had been born yet.

“Yi Bangwon. Born or not born?”

“Bangwon? Who?”

It seems he hasn’t been born yet.

This means Sejong won’t be born.

‘Sejong is really a pity.’

Although Sejo solidified the problems of Joseon, figures like Munjong and Anpyeong Daegun are hard to give up.

If Yi Bangwon had already been born and Yi Seonggye, who is now reading the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, sees the Annals of King Taejong, he would definitely kill Yi Bangwon, but in that case, Sejong might not be born at all.

“Sigh... Without Yi Bangwon, the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty are just reference material...”

As I muttered to myself, Yi Seonggye’s eyes became even deeper, but he soon began to read the Annals of King Jeongjong.

The Annals of King Jeongjong could not avoid dealing with the bloody succession struggle that occurred after Yi Seonggye founded Joseon, and as he read, his face gradually turned pale.

“...It seems Jeongjong is alive now.”

***

The Annals of King Jeongjong that Kim Seungho showed did not detail the princes’ struggle, but Yi Seonggye immediately noticed the succession struggle within.

Traditionally, when Taejo founded the country, a competition among the successors inevitably occurred, and it always led to bloodshed.

‘According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty that Kim Seungho showed me, I married the daughter of Gang Yunseong, the Lord of Sangsan, instead of my wife in Hwaryeong. And this is something that hasn’t happened yet...’

Gang Yunseong was the current head of the powerful Goksan Gang clan, which was thriving in Goksan.

In the actual history, the reason Yi Seonggye placed Queen Sindeok, the daughter of the Gang family, as the queen instead of his wife from the Han family was due to a political marriage.

‘Ultimately, is this also my doing?’

This was a time when the concepts of main wife and concubine were not as firmly established as in Joseon.

While the Han family, who had children with Yi Seonggye, was different, Gang Yunseong was a powerful noble in Goksan, so he probably placed her as the queen to expand his power, and during this process, the children of the Han family, who made significant contributions to the founding of Joseon, were neglected.

And when the text hinting at the princes’ struggle appeared, Yi Seonggye realized.

“...No.”

After Jeongjong ascended the throne, the one who ascended to the throne killed his unborn sons.

Yi Seonggye felt dizzy.

Jeongjong, who seemed to have little interest in the throne, almost never handled state affairs.

“No...”

After a reign of 6 volumes and 1 book, the one who finally abdicated was...

“No!!”

None other than the fifth son, Yi Bangwon, who became King Taejong and the ultimate winner of the princes’ struggle.

“This is unbelievable!”

Yi Seonggye was in despair.

***

‘The shock must be immense.’

Considering the era where one faces the storms of time directly, Yi Seonggye doesn’t look older than forty.

Although Yi Bangwon hasn’t been born yet, it seems Jeongjong is alive now. It would be difficult to accept that among the sons born after him, Yi Bangwon would slaughter his brothers and seize the throne.

“Ugh!!”

“!!”

He raised his right hand as if to smash my laptop with a loud cry!

“Ah, no!”

If it breaks, it can never be restored!

I reflexively hung onto his right hand to stop him from smashing it, but his strength was so great that it was a struggle just to hold him back.

“Yi Bangwon hasn’t been born yet! Calm down!”

The priority now is to transfer as much information as possible while the laptop is functioning, and he’s trying to break it!

While hanging onto the arm of the enraged Yi Seonggye, who was venting his frustration, I was hit in the stomach by his left fist.

“Cough!”

The impact was like being hit by a hammer, and the pain was immense, but I couldn’t let go of his right hand.

“No! The payment plan isn’t finished yet!”

Whether it needs to be paid or not is a secondary issue, but it’s a product I just bought!

“Damn. Just strong!”

Why is he so angry without Taejong!

“Taejeongtaesewonjeong! Sejong! Your grandson was amazing!”

“Ugh!!”

“King Sejong!”

“Brute strength and madness! Heretical!”

“It seems you’re saying brute strength and madness! It’s not like that! In the place I came from, it really happened!”

Damn! It hurts so much!

“Start with Sejong! If you look at King Sejong, maybe Taejong wasn’t completely wrong!”

When viewed by modern standards, Taejong was undoubtedly a cruel figure.

However, considering that he lived in the medieval era and was a king, his choices might have been right.

“Sejong! Wise ruler!”

“No!!”

How can an ordinary person like me withstand the strength of Yi Seonggye, who was one of the strongest military figures in Korean history? I just hung onto him with all my might.

I had to protect the laptop!

“Future! Don’t destroy the future!”