Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 335

At some point, high-heeled shoes began to become fashionable in Joseon.

At first, boot-style shoes were the mainstream, but before long, low-cut shoe styles also began to appear.

The people of Joseon, who had certainly become more affluent than before the reforms began, started to pay more attention to adorning themselves.

Moreover, starting with King Sejong, the mindset of the court ministers who ran Joseon became considerably more flexible.

No, it wasn’t just that their mindset had become more flexible.

Through the purge just before the reforms, the elder ministers who even the king had to be wary of were swept away, and as the number of nitpicking nobles decreased sharply due to the Gyu Rebellion, there was less need to be cautious.

-Neo-Confucianism is the national ideology of Joseon.

-According to Neo-Confucian teachings, extravagance is the shortcut to national ruin and should be eradicated as an evil.

-However, the nobles must maintain a certain appearance as nobles, so it can’t be helped.

As those with this mindset, which could be called ‘the epitome of double standards,’ were expelled from the power structure, King Sejong and the ministers were able to respond flexibly to changes.

***

As these ‘height-increasing shoes’ became fashionable, changes began to blow through men’s attire as well.

It started, of course, with the military.

Because the response was good, the new military uniform proposed by Hyang began to be distributed to the entire army immediately.

Soldiers and military officers who had become accustomed to the new uniforms and new military boots soon began to make alterations to their uniforms.

“Hey, who did they say was the best at sewing in the village?”

“Sewing? Did something tear? If it’s that, I can…”

Chunshim, who was answering her husband Il-sik’s question with an indifferent face, soon glared at Il-sik with sharp eyes.

“What? Are you saying I can’t sew? Is that it? This guy really…”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Il-sik hurriedly tried to explain, but it was too late.

That day, Il-sik and Chunshim had to have a tremendous marital quarrel.

Soldiers who received the uniforms either entrusted their uniform pants to their wives’ hands or to houses rumored to be good at sewing for alterations.

The uniform pants altered this way had their width greatly reduced.

Although the new uniform designed by Hyang already had a much narrower width compared to traditional Korean pants, the pants that were altered again had their width reduced even further.

The combination of these tightly fitted pants and military boots boasted sleek leg lines.

The soldiers’ pursuit of style didn’t end there.

Unless they were replacing worn-out items, boots had to be purchased with money from the military-exclusive stores in each camp and garrison – equivalent to PX or veterans’ stores in the 21st century.

At these stores, soldiers purchased extra pairs of boots, and a strange phenomenon occurred where cavalry boots sold tremendously well.

Non-cavalry military officers and soldiers wore their designated boots when entering training and duties, but when going out on leave or outings, they invariably wore their narrowed pants and cavalry boots.

This was the same for the navy as well.

This phenomenon was immediately reported up the chain of command.

“Not only are they arbitrarily altering the clothes bestowed by His Majesty, but they’re also wearing boots other than the designated military boots… Shouldn’t we punish them?”

When high-ranking commanders who read the report argued for punishment, Hyang stepped forward to oppose.

“No. You should check the words properly. They are state-issued supplies, not bestowed items. They are not gifts. And they’ve only narrowed the pants width and worn different military boots. It’s the same as sword and spear troops maintaining their swords and gun troops maintaining their rifles.”

“…I understand.”

Having experienced this once before, Hyang had created a category called ‘state-issued supplies’ and put the military uniforms and boots in that category.

By making them ‘supplies’ rather than ‘bestowed items,’ he prevented the same issue from repeating.

And as time passed, something amusing happened.

Even the high-ranking commanders of the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff began walking around in narrowed pants and cavalry boots.

***

In this way, new attire imitating the stylish clothing of soldiers began to become fashionable among civilians as well.

Those who still lacked economic leeway and whose work clothes doubled as their outing clothes still wore loose-fitting baji and jeogori as before.

However, men from families with enough means to have separate outing clothes strode the streets wearing jeogori and durumagi (a type of an overcoat)that emphasized the shoulder and waist lines, narrowed pants, and high-heeled shoes.

Interestingly, this fashion did not start in Hanseong but was occurring almost simultaneously across the country. However, Hanseong was indeed the most radical.

A durumagi emphasizing the fit, high-heeled shoes, and a black hat made of horsehair that had been fashionable since the middle of King Taejong’s reign.

Add to that spectacles on the eyes and a folding fan in hand.

Seeing a young nobles walking leisurely while dressed stylishly and then paying respects, Hyang muttered softly:

“Hipster in Hanseong?”

Smiling slightly at the sight, Hyang continued:

“When winter comes and trench coats appear, it’ll be another upheaval.”

Imagining various future fashion changes, Hyang arrived at Area 51 and, seeing the pants of soldiers who were just going out and paying respects, muttered softly:

“Let’s not go as far as joggers or cropped pants…”

While Hyang was proceeding with this fashion revolution through such bold attempts, there was one area where he couldn’t easily make progress.

The wall blocking Hyang’s steps was the ‘sangtu’ (topknot).

***

“For hygiene’s sake, we need to get rid of the sangtu.”

If the ‘cutting hair edict’ implemented by King Gojong in the history before Hyang’s intervention was a symbol of Westernization and modernization, for Hyang, it was for the purpose of hygiene.

“It’s not just about hygiene, it’s such a hassle!”

With 21st-century thinking and hygiene concepts ingrained in him, Hyang frequently bathed and washed his hair.

Of course, court ladies rushed to help him every time, but the long hair was always inconvenient.

Therefore, Hyang began to prepare thoroughly.

“Bring the statistics on all kinds of infectious diseases that have occurred so far from the Royal Clinic.”

“Pardon? All of them?”

“All of them.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

The court eunuch who received Hyang’s order returned to Eastern Palace with a cart full of statistical data from the Royal Clinic.

A few days later, Hyang ordered the court eunuch again.

“This is a bit insufficient. Go to the ho-, no, the Ministry of Finance and bring all the statistics on infectious diseases.”

“…Yes.”

Hyang carried out the entire process of organizing and analyzing the data all by himself.

“It would be easier to entrust it to someone else, but this is certainly something that will face strong opposition from within. If I’m not careful, it might be blocked before it even properly begins.”

Worried about unforeseen circumstances, Hyang proceeded with everything by himself for the first time in a long while.

However, it didn’t take long for rumors to spread through the court eunuchs and research institute researchers.

-The Crown Prince is doing something with statistics on infectious diseases!

-He’s proceeding with everything alone, not entrusting the work to anyone!

At the rumors flowing out of Eastern Palace and the research institute, everyone in the government was on high alert.

Among the things Hyang had taken the lead in proceeding with so far, there were no light matters. However, the things Hyang had proceeded with entirely alone had enormous ripple effects.

The smallpox vaccination that started with the self-harm incident and led to the expulsion of elder ministers including Ryu Jeong-hyeon.

The policy statement that disrupted the balance between King Sejong and the elder ministers.

The tax reform that pressured the local nobles and eventually led to rebellion, and so on.

The ministers, well aware of the tremendous ripple effects brought about by the things Hyang had proceeded with entirely alone, looked at Eastern Palace with tense expressions.

King Sejong was equally tense.

“You won’t even tell your father what you’re doing now?”

“I’m sorry, Father. Please wait just a little longer.”

“I do trust you, but I’m worried.”

“…I humbly apologize.”

At Hyang’s answer, King Sejong’s face hardened.

“Seeing that you keep apologizing, it seems this is no ordinary matter. I understand. I’ll wait for now.”

“Thank you.”

***

Ten days later, Hyang began his presentation at a gathering of King Sejong and all the ministers.

Hyang hung the chart brought by the court eunuch on a hanger, paid respects to King Sejong, and then lightly bowed to the ministers.

“For the past fortnight, I have analyzed based on statistics from the Royal Clinic and the Ministry of Finance. So, to state the conclusion first…”

Pausing for a moment, Hyang took a deep breath and continued.

“I petition to implement a hair-cutting edict for the men of our Joseon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Hyang turned over the cover of the chart. On the newly revealed paper, the characters for “Hair-Cutting Edict” (단발령) were written in large letters.

“Hair-Cutting Edict?”

King Sejong and the ministers looked at the Chinese characters for “Hair-Cutting Edict” written on the first page of the chart and racked their brains to grasp its meaning.

The first to speak was King Sejong.

“A hair-cutting edict targeting the men of Joseon… Are you saying we should get rid of the sangtu?”

“Yes.”

“It’s impossible!”

“That’s right, it’s impossible.”

At Hyang’s words, the ministers unanimously shouted that it was impossible.

Lee Jik stepped forward as a representative of such ministers.

“We have been tying the sangtu since ancient Gojoseon. The sangtu is not just about tying hair, but widely announcing that one has become an adult. To get rid of this is to eliminate a deeply rooted tradition that has continued for thousands of years, so it is absolutely impossible.”

The ministers nodded at Lee Jik’s words.

Hyang also immediately responded to Lee Jik’s words.

“How could I not know the weight of that long-standing tradition? However, the benefits gained by changing that tradition are greater than what is gained by keeping it.”

Turning the page with his pointer, Hyang continued his explanation.

“The table and graph you see now record the number of infectious disease occurrences and infected people across Joseon from the first year of Your Majesty’s reign until last year. As you can see, it’s gradually decreasing.”

“It’s all thanks to His Majesty’s deep virtue.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

Hyang nodded at the ministers’ response.

“That’s right. Because Your Majesty’s virtue is high, the people have followed your orders well. As you can see, as water management has been thorough and hygiene management including bathing has been carried out meticulously, the number of occurrences and infected people has decreased a lot. However, infectious diseases of considerable scale are still continuously occurring.”

“Well, shouldn’t that be seen as an unavoidable force majeure?”

Hyang shook his head at Lee Jik’s point.

“No. During this analysis process, there’s something I found out by asking the people residing in Hanseong. A considerable number of people bathe more frequently than before, but not their hair. The reason was that it was troublesome to untie and retie the sangtu.”

“It seems forced to say that the sangtu is the source of infectious diseases, doesn’t it?”

“No. When I asked those who came from the West, they said that in the case of the terrible Black Death, it spread as fleas parasitic on rats became parasitic on humans. Minister, where on the human body do lice and fleas thrive the most?”

“The head…”

“That’s right! It’s the head! The way to get rid of head lice and fleas is cleanliness, and the easiest way to maintain cleanliness is to wash the hair frequently. But if the sangtu is preventing people from washing their hair, shouldn’t we get rid of the sangtu?”

King Sejong interjected at Hyang’s words.

“Then wouldn’t it be enough to order people to wash their hair frequently?”

“If it were a matter that could be solved by an order, they would have already been washing frequently. And we can’t assign people to monitor whether the people are properly washing their hair, can we?”

The debate continued for a long time after that, but King Sejong and the ministers still did not bend their opposition.

King Sejong and the ministers’ arguments were as follows:

-It’s a tradition that has come down for thousands of years. No matter how much of a hygiene issue it is, the people will strongly resist.

-The people think that those without a sangtu are uncivilized like bandits. They will absolutely not accept the hair-cutting edict.

Finally, after a fierce debate, King Sejong concluded as follows:

“The sangtu is a tradition that has come down over thousands of years, so we cannot recklessly get rid of it. However, the hygiene issue is certain, so we encourage washing hair more frequently.”

“We receive your command.”

‘If it were the imperialist era, there might be a bit more justification to use. We could at least insist that all the prosperous countries have cut their hair short, but now that’s not possible… What a pity. Tsk!’

Hyang acquiesced, licking his lips.