Chapter 8

Chapter 006. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (2)

I was a history-focused YouTuber with 200,000 subscribers, and my laptop contained a substantial amount of material for creating videos. I had gathered quite detailed information on what Portugal and England did to dominate the Atlantic, the impact pepper had on history, the development of ships, and a lot of historical data about Europe and the Mediterranean region. I also had ample materials on the history of firearms and cannons, and I had been consistently collecting data on the histories of various parts of the world before coming here.

Among these, as a Korean YouTuber, there was no reason not to cover Korean history, and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty were a kind of Bible that many history YouTubers dealt with.

"Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. Would you like to see them?"

Perhaps the language of this era was very different from mine, but the conversation with the people who looked like Yi Seong-gye and Yi Ji-ran was almost impossible. However, since modern Korean often reads Chinese characters in a Korean style, some words could be understood.

'If Yi Seong-gye had truly been a loyal minister of Goryeo, he would never have founded Joseon. Just as a successful coup is not a crime, he succeeded in founding Joseon, but from Goryeo's perspective, he was clearly a traitor. Then, when did he start harboring treacherous intentions...'

Perhaps it was when he received the golden ruler from a divine being in his dream as a child. It must have started then.

'A budding traitor... Such a person would never just pass over the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which records everything about his descendants.'

Clearly, I was in a life-threatening situation.

Threatening with a Dupont lighter might work for now, but in this era, where armed men cut off heads on the battlefield, I would be no more than a fly.

"..."

'I got it!'

Huh... Huh... With those words, I managed to steady my breathing and feel that I had returned from the brink of death.

I carefully searched for the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty among the materials stored on my laptop and opened the file. There, I found the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty that I had received from the National Institute of Korean History.

I clicked to open the records of King Taejo Yi Seong-gye with trembling hands.

"Records of King Taejo."

"..."

"You. Yi Seong-gye. Records."

Since the conversation was difficult due to the language barrier, I used the translation function in Word to translate the Korean into Chinese characters and showed them to him. I then pointed at Yi Seong-gye again.

"You. Taejo."

At this, Yi Seong-gye's brows furrowed, and he stared at me intently.

"Are you a divine being?"

A divine being... Perhaps he was referring to the divine being he saw in his childhood... I'll just go with it.

In the late Goryeo period, where death was a constant threat, being by the side of the powerful Yi Seong-gye might be safer.

I nodded.

'Actually, this is good. Being by this person's side, I can protect my life.'

Since there was no clear way to return to reality, becoming his divine being might not be a bad choice.

I turned the laptop screen to show Yi Seong-gye the Records of King Taejo and moved to sit next to him. Yi Ji-ran, a middle-aged man, watched me with a wary expression.

"I'm not sorry at all. Why should I be sorry to someone who tried to beat me up?"

***

Yi Seong-gye quietly began reading the first page of the records as Kim Seung-ho had intended, showing him the laptop screen with the Records of King Taejo.

In the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Taejo refers to none other than Yi Seong-gye. The reason Kim Seung-ho called himself Taejo and showed him the records was probably...

'To confirm that the divine being knows he founded the country.'

A thrilling excitement filled him. As he read each line, Yi Seong-gye's lips twitched.

'This was an ambition I never told anyone. I only thought that if the opportunity ever came, I would challenge it... but it seems I have succeeded!'

Yi Seong-gye carefully read the first volume of the Records of King Taejo, examining it in detail.

Perhaps he thought it was like reading the will of heaven, but Yi Ji-ran's expression had turned pale. Yi Seong-gye, however, looked at him and said softly,

"Do not act rashly. There must be a reason the divine being has appeared before me now. This is a secret that only you, I, and the divine being Kim Seung-ho should know."

"Understood."

When they first met, Yi Seong-gye, understanding the Jurchen people's admiration for martial prowess, demonstrated his martial arts and accepted him as a close friend and sworn brother.

One of the main reasons he accepted him as a sworn brother was his extreme loyalty to his master, which was evident even now.

As he watched the trembling hands that tried to disobey the master's command, Yi Seong-gye smiled and turned his eyes back to the laptop.

How could I have thought I would be in this position today? If I were healthy, I could ride a horse and avoid the enemy's blade, but now, due to illness, I can barely use my hands and feet.

'You must all unite your hearts and strength to assist this person who lacks virtue.'

Reading the records about himself, it was clear that he founded the country some time after this.

'King... I don't know who it refers to, but it seems he received the throne.'

Yi Seong-gye was not only an excellent martial artist but also a man who never knew defeat in war. Even at his current age in his early twenties, he was a general who never lost on the battlefield, and his mind quickly grasped how he had taken over the country.

However, the early part of the records did not explain why he ascended to the throne or what event led to his rise to power.

From the perspective of Goryeo's history, he was a traitor who successfully staged a coup, and the Yi Seong-gye recorded in the annals must have been well aware of this.

'Perhaps I did not detail the events before the founding of the country to glorify myself.'

This was something he could only ask the owner of the records.

Yi Seong-gye looked at Kim Seung-ho, whom he believed to be a divine being, with a questioning gaze.

"Why did I gain power?"

Although he could not understand everything, the divine being who introduced himself as Kim Seung-ho understood some words.

Seemingly quick-witted, Kim Seung-ho pondered for a moment and then answered.

"Return from Weihwa Island."

"Return from Weihwa Island?"

Weihwa Island is a small island in the lower reaches of the Yalu River. How could a small island be the place where a coup was successfully staged?

Kim Seung-ho turned the laptop screen towards himself and opened the materials on the return from Weihwa Island, showing them to Yi Seong-gye again.

"Hmm..."

However, since the materials were written in Korean, Yi Seong-gye could not understand them. Realizing this mistake, Kim Seung-ho thought for a moment and typed his words in Word.

After thinking about what the failure of the Liaodong campaign meant, Yi Seong-gye realized that the country controlling Liaodong was the Yuan Dynasty and was shocked.

"Is the Goryeo royal family, a small country, trying to attack a great nation?"

War is not something that can be resolved by the bravery of generals and soldiers alone.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had conquered the world, was a great general, and the generals under him were capable of founding a new empire in Central China.

A country that had not yet escaped the shadow of the Yuan Dynasty trying to attack it? And Zhu Yuanzhang, the leader of the Red Turbans, had founded a country?

"If it was that period, it would have been a great opportunity for me..."

If Goryeo had tried to conquer Liaodong after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it must have gathered almost all of its national strength. With such military power, it would have been better to turn the tide and attack the Goryeo royal family.

However, Kim Seung-ho, perhaps offended by his words, frowned and said curtly,

"Goryeo. Not a small country."

***

There are many reasons why Goryeo is not considered a small country, especially given its proximity to China and Japan. Before the East-West reversal, Goryeo was a civilization second only to the countries in Central China and was still stronger than Japan.

"This guy already thinks of Goryeo as a small country."

Everything is relative.

If the Korean Peninsula were suddenly placed in Europe, it would be a country capable of subjugating half of the European continent at the time.

The fact that Goryeo withstood three Mongol invasions itself speaks to its strong combat power, so where does the idea of being a small country come from?

"Formal relations and all that, but in this period, the best policy is to be a vassal. Even if the Liaodong campaign was impossible, how can someone trying to found a country be afraid of the Yuan Dynasty?"

The idea of being a small country led Joseon to give up its strong combat power. It was dragged around by the Ming Dynasty, defeated by Japan, and eventually colonized.

"Goryeo. Not a small country."

Ah... The stress builds up when the conversation doesn't go well.

"Let's see. Since these are your records, even just the first volume of the Records of King Taejo will show you the frustrations of your younger self."

Even without a detailed examination of the Records of King Taejo, I doubt this person, who is now a king, would adapt well and be comfortable.

He must have been under tremendous stress, just like I am now.

'Those historians must have been really something.'

Yi Seong-gye, reading his future life story in the Records of King Taejo, initially had an excited expression, but it gradually turned grim.

"Right. You were great. Your sons were also great. Yi Bang-won... He is a named character with diverse evaluations, but apart from being the father of King Sejong and strengthening the royal power... the beginning of a tragic history."

This was a period when concubines were treated as main wives in various regions.

Immediately, Yi Bang-won, the son of Yi Seong-gye's first wife, and others like Yi Bang-beon and Yi Bang-seok, who were later killed by him, were involved in a significant bloodbath by King Taejong.

This included discrimination against illegitimate children and the start of absurd injustices. King Sejong opened a brilliant Joseon Renaissance, but King Munjong died soon after ascending the throne due to the ridiculous customs of the royal family.

And when King Sejo deposed and killed the legitimate King Danjong, he solidified the corruption in Joseon.

Ultimately, the man standing before me must be the origin of countless tragedies.

I checked the remaining battery on my laptop. It was down to about 40%.

"Let's start with the Records of King Sejo."

I will show you the tragedies your great-grandchildren faced.

"Since you think I'm a divine being, I'll gladly become one."

If luck is on my side, I might be able to change the wretched history of later Joseon.

Before that, since I need to protect myself, relying on Yi Seong-gye is a necessary choice.

Yi Seong-gye's face hardened rapidly as he looked at the Records of King Sejo that I opened.

"Ah... But I can't just crack Yi Bang-won's head open..."