Chapter 130: If That's the Case, Then You Should Grant Him an Official Post [3] For once, Kanghyeok straightened his posture and listened carefully.
Were Ryu Seong-ryong and Hwang Yungil not men too difficult to treat carelessly?
No matter how arrogant Kanghyeok was, and no matter how little use for manners he normally had, he could not just sit however he pleased here.
"Ahem."
Ryu Seong-ryong cleared his throat, as though he intended to launch into quite a long story.
Because of that, even Yi Sun-sin and Kim Simin, who had been sitting at ease, turned their attention toward him.
Sun-sin in particular even looked rather tense, and that was because he was fairly close with Ryu Seong-ryong.
Whenever my lord wears that expression, it's always about affairs of state.
If it was important enough to bring up even on the day of a banquet, then it could not be anything trivial.
-Gulp.
His dry throat swallowed on its own.
Even after everyone's attention had gathered on him, Ryu Seong-ryong paused a little longer before finally speaking.
"You must have heard that there is currently a guest at court."
"A guest?"
"Have you not heard of a man named So Yoshitoshi?"
"Ah, yes. I've heard of him."
Heo Jun had supposedly been summoned in haste to treat his stomach ailment.
He had praised the effect of oral rehydration at such length in his letters that Kanghyeok could still remember it.
Kanghyeok smiled faintly as he recalled the letter Heo Jun had sent him.
Ryu Seong-ryong, on the other hand, remained grave.
"There has been much argument over it, but only this time have we finally reached agreement to send a diplomatic mission."
As far as Kanghyeok knew, that So Yoshitoshi fellow had come quite a long time ago already.
So Yoshitoshi was in many ways a very different person from Tachibana Yasuhiro, who had previously come swaggering into Joseon and then ended up killed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
First of all, as the lord of Tsushima Domain, he was very different from Tachibana, who came from an impoverished house.
What was more, the attitude he had shown after arriving in Joseon was also quite different.
Heo Jun said he was someone who knew propriety.
Since that judgment came from Heo Jun, who had treated him up close, it could be trusted.
Behind that lay Tsushima's geographic character.
Since it was an island domain very close to Joseon, was it not inevitable that contact would be frequent?
In fact, if one looked at the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Tsushima accounted for well over half of the Japanese merchant groups that had traded with Joseon during the early Joseon period.
Even after the Three Ports Japanese Disturbance in 1510, they had continued sending trading groups almost every year, and before that they had sent them more than thirty times a year.
Naturally, their feelings toward Joseon could not help but differ from those of daimyo in other regions of Japan.
Then why are they only now sending a diplomatic mission?
Tilting his head, Kanghyeok looked at Ryu Seong-ryong.
With his shallow knowledge, there were not many things happening at court that he could fully understand.
That was only natural, since he was still unfamiliar even with Joseon's culture, customs, and laws.
As if he had read the question in Kanghyeok's eyes, Ryu Seong-ryong added an explanation.
"As you know, after the Three Ports Japanese Disturbance, exchange with Japan greatly decreased."
"Ah, yes."
In truth, Kanghyeok did not really know when exactly the Three Ports Japanese Disturbance had taken place or how large it had been.
He only remembered the Japanese raid he had directly experienced at Eotan-myeon not long ago.
It was damned miserable.
It was only natural that his overall impression of the Japanese would be bad.
If it was serious enough to have a name like the Three Ports Japanese Disturbance, then it must have been on a far larger scale, so he could understand why people would not even want to deal with Japan.
"So in the present court, many people find Japan's current conduct displeasing. I do as well."
"I see."
"However, they are still a neighboring country right at our doorstep. We cannot go on like this forever. So after much persuasion, we have finally decided to send a diplomatic mission. It will not be an easy road. The journey from here to Kyoto alone will take nearly four months."
That made sense.
This was an age in which even Jeju Island was an extremely distant place.
Kanghyeok merely nodded and listened.
He had no idea what Ryu Seong-ryong was about to say.
"Many people will suffer on the way, will they not?"
"I think so."
Had all sorts of things not happened even on the road from nearby Suwon to Hanyang?
There was no telling what might happen on the road to Japan.
"So I was hoping that several capable physicians... might be able to go along."
"Hm?"
"Even now, Heo Jun and others from the Royal Medical Bureau have been considered, but His Majesty objects so strongly that he cannot go."
"Then..."
"Here, Cheomji of the Jungchubu Hwang recommended you. I know your skill well myself, so I have no reason to oppose it. What is more, these days there are all sorts of rumors in the marketplace about your disciples as well."
"Uh..."
Kanghyeok had not anticipated matters turning out like this.
Japan, out of nowhere.
And not just Japan, but as part of a diplomatic mission.
Hwang Yungil did not miss the chance while Kanghyeok was still at a loss.
"I heard you have always taken a great interest in affairs of state. If you come along this time, you will be of great help."
"Huh..."
Even the previously silent Sun-sin and Simin joined in.
"With your medical skill, there's no doubt."
"There will probably be endemic diseases in Japan too. If you go along, there will be nothing to worry about."
Strangely enough, there was not a single person telling him not to go.
All at once, Kanghyeok remembered his internship days.
—Someone as capable as you should go into surgery.
—What does money matter? Saving people matters.
—So what if you sleep a little less? You're a real doctor.
Those classmates who had loved to talk big when it was someone else's problem.
In the end, not a single one of them had gone into a department that handled lives or was as demanding as his.
Otolaryngology, dermatology, plastic surgery, one after the other.
They all opened clinics and complained as though they were dying, but he knew they were actually doing just fine.
Those bastards... Every one of them drove German cars.
Meanwhile Kanghyeok, the most capable master physician of them all, drove a domestic car that had been out for more than ten years.
Of course, he had felt far more pride and honor in being a master physician than in something like that.
Still, it was not as though he did not resent those friends who used to say such things.
I can already see the road of hardship ahead...
And yet, looking at the people surrounding him now, his thoughts changed a little.
Ryu Seong-ryong.
One of the greatest statesmen of all time, and one of the most loyal subjects in all history.
He could not even imagine what sort of heart Ryu Seong-ryong must have had when writing the Jingbirok.
Perhaps more tears of blood than ink had gone into it.
Kim Simin.
A great commander who died in the early period of the war.
By defending Jinju Fortress with his death, had he not at least kept the Jeolla region safe?
In a way, he was such a great man that merely sitting face to face with him could be taken as disrespectful.
And lastly... Yi Sun-sin.
The hero known by names like Admiral Chungmugong and the Sage of War.
Had it not been for him, there was a high chance the Republic of Korea would not even exist, and if that were so, there was a high chance that Baek Kanghyeok himself would not exist either.
In many ways, these men were completely different from those friends who had pushed him toward surgery.
Hmm.
One thought had never left him since arriving in Joseon.
Why exactly did I come here?
As the eldest son of a fairly free and comfortable scholar-official household, with a house-call bag that endlessly produced medicine.
It was all far too strange to dismiss as mere coincidence.
And were the people he had met here not unusual as well?
I happened to meet Yi Sun-sin, meet Ryu Seong-ryong, meet Kim Simin? And in between I encountered Heo Jun, Kim Gyehan, Heo Im, Kwon Yul, Yi Hangbok, Great Master Samyeong, and others?
After letting out a long groan, Kanghyeok nodded.
He still did not know what it was that was moving his fate, but it did not seem to bear him any ill will.
He even began to think that once in a while, it might not be bad to move according to someone else's will rather than his own.
Was that not a good thing?
To follow, just once, the wishes of the great figures of history.
"Very well. I will go."
"As expected, Kanghyeok, you..."
"However, I have one condition."
"A condition?"
At those words, the eyes of everyone around him widened.
They were not men who would ever dream of attaching conditions to affairs of state.
If the country or the king wanted something, then one simply obeyed.
How could anyone dare argue?
But Kanghyeok had received a completely different kind of education from theirs, and he himself was a completely different kind of person.
More than that, while living in Joseon, he had been thinking about something.
I should grant the old man one wish by now.
Getting married looked difficult no matter how he thought about it.
There are only two women I know, and if the old man found out about either of them, he'd probably faint.
So that was out.
Which meant the only thing left was, of course, an official post.
Let me ask for one.
If there had been one thing he regretted all this time, it was precisely that.
Why would Kanghyeok have no desire for power?
Even at the university hospital, he had once been someone who walked around with residents and fellows at his sides.
And the people sitting here were no ordinary men either.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that the people gathered there could practically steer the court itself.
And if he turned his head just a little, he could see that discussions of serious matters were taking place all over the place, not just there.
If he did not make his demand here, then where else was he supposed to do it?
After swallowing the rest of his dry saliva, Kanghyeok spoke.
"Since this is, after all, a journey to carry out affairs of state..."
"That's right."
"Please grant me one official post."
"An official post? Hmm."
Ryu Seong-ryong scratched under his chin with an unexpected expression.
The Kanghyeok he had known until now was not someone who particularly wanted office.
He did not seem suited to it either.
Yet now, suddenly, he wanted a post.
It was an unexpected request.
It isn't difficult, at least.
Surely he was not asking for some high office.
Granting a petty office like Chambong would have been no trouble at all.
No. This fellow...
Judging by Kanghyeok's usual disposition, if they gave him the very lowest office, he would obviously shake his head no matter what.
And considering his actual ability, assigning him some trivial post like Chambong would have been little short of an insult.
So Ryu decided to bargain.
"What about Bongsa, Junior Eighth Rank?"
"Bongsa?"
"Yes. As it happens, there is a vacancy in the Royal Medical Bureau...."
"Hmm."
In truth, Kanghyeok had been hoping for something at the level of Cheomjeong, the same rank as Heo Jun.
It was, of course, absurd to expect such a position from the start.
He knew that himself.
But what could he do?
He had been born the way he was.
He was not particularly good at hiding his expression, nor did he make much effort to do so.
Because of that, everyone there could tell at once.
That still isn't enough for him.
If some ordinary son of a scholar-official household had made that sort of face, they would have dragged him out at once and had him caned.
But Baek Kanghyeok was not someone they could handle carelessly.
After all, every one of them had received his favor at some point.
This time it was Hwang Yungil who stepped forward first.
He was the most desperate because he believed Kanghyeok's medical skill was practically heaven-sent.
"T-then what about Jikjang, Junior Seventh Rank?"
"Jikjang?"
"Yes. And... if you return from Japan, do you think such merit would simply be ignored?"
"Mm?"
"I will be going as chief envoy, so you need not worry about the evaluation. Once you return, your rank will rise a great deal."
Only then did Kanghyeok's face become satisfied.
Would someone like Hwang Yungil say such nonsense for no reason?
Especially not in front of all these people.
That should get me to Fifth Rank.
That much could not be called especially low.
At once, he calculated that even if the Imjin War broke out, they would not simply discard him carelessly.
"Very well. It would be my honor."
"Good. Excellent. Very good."
"Then when... would we be leaving?"
"I expect it will be around the third month."
By the third month, there would not even be two full months left.
Slapping his knee, Kanghyeok replied, "Huh. That's tight."
"Why so?"
"Should I not go pay my respects to my father in Suwon?"
"Your filial devotion is truly admirable. Of course you should go."
"That being the case..."
"Hmm?"
"How would it be if you granted me the office before I go? The old... no, my father would be pleased."
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