Her Majesty’s Secret Service

080. A curious ancestor.

After sending his nephew Lee Yi to Dongpyeong-gwan, Lee Won-bok went to the funeral home attached to Hyeongjo and received a visit from someone he had never imagined.

“Mr. Lee, I need you to come with me.”

“yes? Mr. Merchant Marine, what happened this morning… .”

“His Majesty the Lord has sought this gratitude. Please follow me.”

“Your Majesty the Lord?”

“It is related to the main cause of this resignation.”

“Main building? ah… .”

Lee Won-bok, who heard the merchant’s words, was able to roughly guess what he was being called for. In recent years, there was only one thing that could have involved Joo Sang and Deoksu Lee.

Like this, Lee Won-bok followed the merchant eunuch who came to pick him up and arrived at Huijeongdang in Changdeokgung Palace, where the king was waiting.

There was a small pond in the neatly built yard of Huijeongdang, and the merchant eunuch bowed his head towards the man standing in front of the pond and opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty, this is Lee Won-bok from the funeral home.”

As Sang-seon bowed his back and made a gag, Lee Won-bok also bowed his back accordingly. This is because the man standing in front of the pond was King Yi Hwan of Joseon.

“Lee Won-bok of Shin Funeral Home meets His Majesty the Lord.”

“Mr. Lee, please raise your head.”

Following the king’s instructions, Lee Won-bok carefully straightened his bent body and stood upright.

“I am devastated.”

“I looked into it and found out that among the Deoksu family, you are almost the only one holding a central government position. I called you to such a chariot.”

Lee Won-bok, who heard the story, understood what he had been called for and waited for the king to continue his story.

“You probably heard it too. This is not to say that the reason for the English affair that saved our people this time is that they claim to be from the Deoksu family. Well, in the end we decided to recognize the country called England. Yes, that was good up to that point, but there was a problem.”

Lee Hwan, who said that, demanded an answer from Lee Won-bok.

“Do you think you know what the problem is?”

“Are you being presumptuous…?” God is well… .”

“exactly? Then I will let you know. How ordinary is the item received from the ‘England’ envoy this time? It’s the same with that precious sugar, and the buffalo horn that big countries are trying to prevent from being imported… . That being said, I thought we should also send an envoy in return. Somehow, we discussed it and decided on the positions of government officials and vice-ministers above the party superior level, but there is no intention of filling the position of chief secretary. “They all said they were seriously ill, and they refused the post of Chief of Police, saying there was a disease running in their family.”

Lee Hwan clicked his tongue a few times, as if he didn’t like that fact, and then opened his mouth again.

“Tsk… Anyway, someone has to go to the police station. There was talk among the government officials that it would be a good idea to appoint someone from the Deoksu family who had a government position as the chief minister.”

Lee Won-bok had a feeling that if the story continued like this, he would be taken to the police station without a move.

Wonbok also knew where ‘England’ was located because he had heard about it through rumors floating around the palace and the streets of Yukjo. He said that it takes a year to reach the country by boat from Dongrae.

Lee Won-bok, who was born in Chungcheong-do and had never been outside of Hanyang and Chungcheong-do since he passed the civil service examination and moved to Hanyang, decided that he had to avoid this situation somehow.

“I am devastated, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, then is it okay for me to know that you have accepted the position of Chief Secretary and are going to England?”

“It is truly a shame to say this, and it is a foolish thing to say. God has no children yet. Also, since God was born weak, he does not have the talent to endure a long voyage, so please take away his command.”

“Uh huh… This doctor, I didn’t see it that way… .”

“also!”

“hmm?”

Just as Lee Hwan was about to express his displeasure at Lee Won-bok, who was openly making excuses, Lee Won-bok’s voice continued.

“I would like to recommend to His Majesty the Lord a brilliant person who can replace me. There is someone who is much healthier and wiser than the weak and dull old god. Do you remember Lee Yul-gok, who wrote the Book of Heavenly Capitals?”

The Book of Heaven, Yulgok Lee. After hearing the two words, Lee Hwan’s eyes began to glow softly.

* * *

The word ‘disoriented’ should be used in times like this.

“How old are you? “I am twenty-four this year.”

“You mean age? “I am thirty-two years old this year.”

“Ah, he was eight years older than me. Since you are from a much older family, I will treat you as an older brother from now on.”

I had thought that a suitable person from the Deoksu Lee family would come to visit me, but it was Yulgok. Even Yulgok calls me brother.

I should say something, but I just can’t get my mouth to say something.

“How come you don’t have an answer?”

“Yes? Oh yes, please do so. Brother. Ah, even if I call you this… .”

“Call it whatever you feel comfortable with. older brother.”

Even though the sound of aura came out of my mouth once, it was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t feel at all at ease.

“that… Well, that’s okay, no, that’s right, brother. What brought you here… “Is it you?”

Damn, my tongue was twisted. She never imagined that the day would come when she would treat her distant ancestors poorly, but when something like this happened… It’s too burdensome.

“Brother, don’t be too nervous. I guess… “Are you very awkward?”

“awkward… Well, hmm, hmm. “So, brother, what brings you here?”

This time my tongue was chewed. When I made a mistake twice, Teacher Yulgok smiled bitterly.

I roughly understood why he was smiling like that. Still, judging by the fact that he didn’t openly ask why I was lying, it seemed like the Deoksu family had decided at the family level to recognize me as a member of the Deoksu family.

From the beginning, I thought that would be the case and saved the Joseon people.

“Yes brother, that’s… .”

Teacher Yulgok first asked about my personal information, including the names of my parents, the Chinese characters for my name and its meaning, my parents’ ages, and my date of birth.

Are you going to put it on your genealogy? Hearing that, I felt relieved. As I thought, the Deoksu family had decided to roughly recognize me as a member of their clan.

“Huh, I can’t believe you use the character yu (有) in your name. It seems like she wanted to prove that Uncle Baek had lice. Umm, this is what Jae Jong-sook told me to know… .”

My parents’ names were my actual father’s names, and the Chinese character for their names was the only Chinese character I knew, the ‘yu’ character. I thought he would question why he used such Chinese characters, but Mr. Yulgok didn’t seem to care that much.

“Well, I have a personal question… .”

“Personal question? I will answer what I can. “No, I will answer.”

“Would you please?”

Yulgok’s expression brightens after hearing my answer. Yulgok’s baptism of questions soon followed.

“Where is the country called England located?”

“England? Take a boat from Dongrae to the southeast… .”

“So, is studying abroad known in Europe? If so, how much is known? “If they don’t study abroad, what subjects do they learn?”

“Studying abroad is not known. Instead, they believe in a religion created by a person named Jesus, called Christianity… .”

“What are the tenets of that religion? “Is it a religion similar to Buddhism?”

“hmm… Basically the doctrine is… .”

“If you listen closely, what the person named Jesus is saying seems similar to what the Buddha said. Perhaps influenced by Buddhism… .”

“Oh, well that’s…” .”

If you answer one question, two or three questions come back.

From this question to that question, and from that question to this question, the chain of questions continued.

“Okay, one last time… .”

“Hmm. Brother, that… “I think it’s a little late.”

“yes?”

By the time Yulgok finished his last question, the sunset had already set. Since Dongpyeong Hall is at the foot of a mountain, the sun seemed to set sooner.

“You mean it’s already been this long?”

“That’s right, that… “Shouldn’t we go back before it gets too dark?”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to do that. I feel like I want to stay a little longer, but hehe… “If I go now, when will I see you again?”

“Well, maybe today is the only day. “I’ll be staying at Dongpyeong Hall until next week, so come visit me anytime.”

Of course, I said this out of courtesy. I felt like my head was going to explode if I was bombarded with questions like this one more time.

While we were talking earlier, I remembered that Yulgok’s house was in Paju, not Hanyang, and that Yulgok had said that he was planning to return to Paju around tomorrow, and I brought this up.

“yes? Is that true! Huh! Then there is nothing we can do. “Well, I’ll have to ask Jae Jong-suk to send a letter to Paju.”

“eww… huh? “You sent a letter to Paju. Didn’t you say you would return to Paju tomorrow?”

“Haha, the stories you tell about Europe are usually interesting. I thought there were only two things in the world: learning and studying abroad, but the world is truly wide. The story of Jesus, the story of the Great Qing Dynasty, the end of the Eastern Great Qing Dynasty… .

I don’t know how long it’s been since we had such a fun conversation over the years. It was like I went back to my childhood. Who would have thought that I would feel the way I felt when I read ‘Private’ when I was 4 years old? Thank you, brother. “Then when can I come visit you tomorrow?”

The first time he saw me, Yulgok’s eyes were sparkling, his emotions clearly showing, and it seemed as if he was truly immersed in the story of Europe.

From noble mtl dot come

“Are you planning on coming tomorrow too? ?”

“Yes, didn’t you tell me to come visit you anytime? ha… It’s really unfortunate. This week is the last. Ah, brother. “Didn’t you say that your next destination is Myeong?”

“uh… ? Yes, I did.”

“Do you even know how to speak the language of the great country?”

“All I know is English and Korean.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to find an interpreter?”

Before going down to Dongrae, I planned to ask the Joseon Dynasty government to lend me an interpreter who could speak the Ming language. Although it is said to be an honorary position, it is still a ministry position, so wouldn’t it be possible to borrow some colleagues from the same department?

“I guess so. I was already planning to ask the Joseon Dynasty government. But why do you ask that?”

“In that case, please take me to Ming as well. “We put it together as a group of interpreters from Saejeokwon.”

“Brother, do you know how to speak Ming Dynasty?”

“We don’t know yet.”

If you don’t know yet, what kind of nonsense is this?

“What do you mean you don’t know yet?”

“I can’t help but say I don’t know because I’ve never learned it yet. Oh, don’t worry, brother. I will somehow learn the Ming language by next week. At least to the extent that I can join the interpreter’s group.”

I looked at Yulgok with an expression of complete incomprehension. No, you want to learn a foreign language, especially Chinese, in a week? Does that make any sense?

“Look, brother, that… “Are you sincere?”

“No problem. Aren’t you planning on staying in the Ming as much as you were in Joseon? After listening to my brother’s story, it seems that this is not a story that can be heard in just one or two days. “If I stayed as long in Ming as I did in Joseon, wouldn’t I be able to hear all of your stories?”

If I didn’t say it clearly here, it seemed like I would really have to take Yulgok with me. It seemed like that guy could really learn Chinese in just a week.

‘I’m so exhausted just today, are you going to wear that badge for over a month? That’s not right… .’

And it was obvious that if I took that guy with me, I would be bombarded with endless questions. There is no need to go through the trouble of buying it. In addition, they took teacher Yulgok there. That teacher is good, so try learning English. Umm… Thinking about it makes her head pound.

In the end, I rejected Mr. Yulgok’s offer.

Teacher Yulgok begged him to think again, but his continued firm refusal eventually made him change his mind.

Still, I couldn’t refuse the request to tell the story of ‘Europe’ as faithfully as possible for the remaining week.

Honestly, when will I ever have a conversation with Mr. Yulgok? Yes, it may be a month, but it’s only about a week. Isn’t it worth suffering and thinking of it as a memory?

That is how my first meeting with Teacher Yulgok ended.

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*It is said that the governors and vice-ministers of the envoys were usually appointed from among party superiors of the 3rd rank or higher, and the secretary general was appointed from among the true superiors of the 4th to 6th rank. The Secretary was in charge of recording the daily travels of the envoys.

*Yulgok surprised people by writing letters from the age of 3, and learned the first volume of the Chinese history book, Salyak, at the age of 4. It is said that he understood Salyak better than the person who taught him. At the age of 8, he wrote the masterful poems Hwaseongjeongsi and Gyeongpodaebu, and at the age of 13, he passed the Jinsa poetry examination.