Chapter 32

Chapter 32 — The Second Legal Principle: Creditor’s Subrogation (3)

Rustle!

"...!"

Doyul pulled out the paeji that Jeongmu and the defendants had signed.

"As anyone who can read can plainly see, these documents state that the land was being sold."

"..."

"The defendants' representative argues that the defendants intended only to lease their land and did not know what was written in the paeji."

Doyul raised his gaze.

"I will rebut that argument."

"Go ahead."

With a dry, expressionless face, Doyul began.

"First. It is difficult to believe the defendants' claim that they signed these paeji intending only to lease their land."

Dun!

"The documents clearly state that the land is to be bought and sold. Without any separate evidence, the defendants' representative's claim that the true nature of these transactions was tenancy is nothing more than a one-sided assertion."

"B-But...!"

"Second."

Doyul cut Isu off.

"It is also difficult to believe that the defendants did not know what was written in the paeji."

"Ordinarily, when someone who cannot read signs such a document, do they not ask a literate person to verify its contents?"

"Considering common practice, illiteracy alone cannot serve as proof that they were unaware of what these paeji contained."

"Y-Yulli...!"

"And finally."

"Even if we accept as true that the defendants intended only to lease their land, mistakenly placed their hand seals on the paeji, and genuinely did not know their contents..."

Doyul continued evenly.

"...that would still not necessarily make the sales invalid."

Everyone fell silent and watched him.

"As I just explained, even a person who cannot read bears some responsibility to confirm the contents of a paeji before signing it."

"If they failed to verify the document at the time, then only after a long period passed claimed that they never knew what it said..."

"Would it not be reasonable to find that the defendants themselves were negligent?"

"B-But..."

"Accordingly, the plaintiff's representative seeks confirmation that the transactions contained no defect."

At first glance, Doyul's argument seemed almost flawless.

"...!"

"H-Haha..."

"What... are we even listening to right now?"

The villagers stared blankly.

"Y-Yulli... as expected... he's incredible..."

The person with the most complicated feelings of all was Lee Isu.

For a moment, he simply stared in admiration, completely absorbed in Doyul's argument.

Then...

...Damn it!

This is not the time to admire him!

Only then did Isu remember what position he was in.

His expression stiffened.

Hehehe! They're not even on the same level!

The difference between Jeongmu and Kang Doyul is simply too great!

Park Jeongdo could barely contain his delight.

Meanwhile...

...As I thought.

So that was your intention.

Kim Jiseok finally understood what Doyul was doing.

From the moment Doyul filed the new lawsuit, Kim Jiseok had found it strange.

Why would Kang Doyul bring this action at all?

It wasn't simply because Doyul appeared to be siding with Jeongmu.

If he truly intended to help Jeongmu...

Then opening this lawsuit was actually worse than doing nothing.

Even if Kang Doyul displayed his overwhelming ability and won, Jeongmu would merely preserve the position he already had.

Meanwhile, there remained at least some chance that Isu could put up a meaningful fight.

That led Kim Jiseok to consider another possibility.

...Yes.

That must be it.

On the surface, Doyul appeared to be arguing with all his strength.

But the longer Kim Jiseok watched the proceedings, the more his suspicion hardened into certainty.

Even the wisest man cannot simply acquit a murderer.

Likewise, if Kang Doyul truly wanted to protect Jeongmu and Park Jeongdo, the best strategy would've been preventing this lawsuit from opening at all.

There is only one reason he would insist on holding it.

Actions revealed what words concealed.

Kim Jiseok glanced toward the smirking Park Jeongdo.

He's trying to overturn the entire situation.

And the reason he's putting on this act must be Park Jeongdo.

Kim Jiseok understood his own role.

Follow Doyul's rhythm.

And force Isu to give everything he had.

That was what he needed to do.

"An excellent argument."

Kim Jiseok spoke with admiration.

"I cannot help but marvel at the plaintiff's representative's wisdom."

Doyul grinned.

"...You flatter me."

"M-Magistrate...!"

Isu looked flustered.

Kim Jiseok deliberately hardened his face.

"...Not a single word of the plaintiff's representative's argument was unreasonable."

"If it were entirely up to me, I would consider the plaintiff's grievance and end this lawsuit here."

"Unfortunately, the procedures prescribed by law do not allow me to do so."

Kim Jiseok turned a cold expression toward Isu.

"The defendants' representative would do well not to treat this lightly."

"If you torment the people with frivolous arguments, you may bear serious responsibility for it."

"...What?"

One suspicious event after another had left Isu completely confused.

But now...

Something... is strange.

An uneasy feeling slowly grew inside him.

Both the magistrate and the Yulli... are acting strangely.

Am I missing something?

Isu returned to the basics.

After thinking carefully, he reached two conclusions.

His first conclusion was simple.

It is extremely unlikely that the magistrate and the Yulli have betrayed the people.

There were two reasons he felt certain.

First, both men possessed character far too noble to abandon the people for petty personal gain.

Second, Kim Jiseok and Kang Doyul were both so extraordinarily talented that the scraps Park Jeongdo could offer would never be enough to buy them.

Two men who will one day become pillars of the nation would betray their principles for some trivial immediate benefit?

Impossible!

Once his panic faded, Isu began seeing things he had missed.

Doyul's harsh wording had confused him at first.

But now Isu realized that both Doyul and Kim Jiseok had been repeating the same message.

"A jurist... sometimes has to fight even when defeat is unavoidable."

"Think only about what it is that you need to do."

"Are you planning to stand there forever with that foolish expression?"

"Didn't I just tell you? A jurist must charge fiercely even into a battle he seems destined to lose."

"You'd better give this everything you have."

"The defendants' representative would do well not to treat this lightly. If you torment the people with frivolous arguments, you may bear serious responsibility."

That led Isu to his second conclusion.

Then...!

They want me to defeat the Yulli.

There is no other explanation!

Once certainty caught fire inside him, Isu poured every ounce of thought into finding a path to victory.

Think, Lee Isu!

Find the best move you possess to defeat the Yulli!

Now that he understood their intentions, a tremendous sense of responsibility settled on his shoulders.

But at the same time...

His heart began to race.

How shameless of me...

To feel excited in a situation like this.

He remembered the yulli selection examination.

The day he had stood before Doyul and sincerely wanted to defeat him.

"If you give up like this, won't you regret it?"

"I already know you've studied day and night for this day."

"Didn't you want the magistrate to acknowledge you?"

"Think fiercely and face it proudly."

This time is different!

This time, surely... surely!

If I give it everything I have, I can win with my own strength!

Not through unfair assistance.

But proudly, with what he himself possessed.

"...Ah!"

Suddenly, Isu froze as though lightning had struck him.

...I have it.

Remembering the past had reminded him of his own weapon.

And little by little...

He began to understand what Doyul and Kim Jiseok wanted from him.

"I, Lee Isu, representative of the defendants, will present my rebuttal!"

"Very well. Let's hear it."

The strength in Isu's voice was completely different now.

Doyul secretly smiled.

Not bad, kid.

Isu remembered the day he had eaten gukbap with Doyul at the inn.

"Yulli! I heard you resolved the dispute between Makdong and Elder Yang! Would you explain it to me too? What exactly happened, and how did you reach your judgment? I was so curious I could barely sleep!"

The dispute over the different meanings of a geun for meat and medicinal ingredients.

Doyul had taught Isu something while explaining the solution.

"Do not trap yourself in the wording of documents and recite stale phrases."

"The important thing is to examine the specific reality of each case."

"Learn to treat what is the same as the same, and what is different as different."

Isu raised his voice confidently.

"First! I will rebut the plaintiff's claim that the defendants must have known what was written in the paeji!"

"And your reason?"

"Because the same cases must be treated alike and different cases differently!"

"The circumstances of an ordinary transaction and the circumstances of this case are fundamentally different!"

Doyul looked at him with quiet approval.

"In an ordinary transaction, being unable to read is not necessarily a great source of shame."

"And most people are dealing with someone they have known for a long time."

"So it would be natural to find a literate person in the county and ask them to verify a document's contents."

"But this case is different!"

"The defendants... would not have wanted anyone to know about these transactions!"

Dun!

"The moment they asked another person to read the paeji, word would spread that they had become greedy for money and leased their land to an unknown outsider!"

"Why would they want such a thing known?"

"Contrary to the plaintiff's representative's argument, the defendants had good reason to hesitate before asking anyone else to verify the documents, despite their illiteracy!"

"And it is reasonable to conclude that the plaintiff deliberately exploited that hesitation!"

Doyul watched Isu apply a lesson he'd only explained in passing.

He felt pleased.

Pretty good.

I barely explained that once, and he remembered enough to apply it here.

Isu's reasoning was sensible and convincing.

The villagers watching naturally began nodding along.

"Come to think of it, I wouldn't want rumors spreading that I got greedy for money and leased my land to some stranger either..."

"That's true..."

"Still... Lee Isu's doing quite well!"

Isu pressed forward.

"Second!"

"There is powerful evidence that these transactions were fraudulent!"

"...And what evidence would that be?"

"The evidence is right here!"

Isu pointed toward the mountain of paeji.

Kim Jiseok, who had been listening seriously, tilted his head.

"How can the paeji themselves be evidence of fraud?"

"The documents state that the land is being sold."

"I find it difficult to understand how their existence alone supports your claim."

"No!"

"...!"

Isu quickly picked up one paeji.

"This document clearly states that land is being sold."

"Correct."

"Magistrate, may I ask whether you see anything strange about it?"

Kim Jiseok thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He had already examined those paeji countless times.

And he had found nothing wrong.

"...I did not."

"But I did."

"...What did you see?"

Isu smiled and pointed to a line in the document.

[...the land shall be sold for fifty nyang...]

Kim Jiseok frowned.

"...What is strange about that?"

"The price."

"...Hm?"

Still smiling, Isu began pulling out one document after another.

"Fifty nyang."

"One hundred twenty-six nyang."

"Seventy-nine nyang."

"Forty-two nyang."

"This one, that one, this one too, and that one!"

"Every single one of them is strange!"

"What... do you mean?"

With everyone's eyes fixed on him, Isu's gaze sharpened.

"These paeji all share one thing in common."

"The sale prices written in them are far below the actual value of the land!"

"...!"

The onlookers' eyes widened.

Isu rapidly pulled out more paeji.

"The amounts written here are peculiar."

"They are far too high to make sense as mere payments for leasing farmland..."

"But at the same time, they are far too low to make sense as proper prices for selling the land outright."

The crowd began murmuring.

"Wait, come to think of it, Lee Isu is..."

In modern times, property values and sale records could easily be checked.

Joseon was different.

Land transactions were uncommon.

There were few reliable records.

Prices tended to circulate informally only among those who regularly dealt in property.

Because of that, ordinary people were often unfamiliar even with the idea of a standard market price.

Judging the true value of land and an appropriate sale price was extremely difficult.

"Others may have overlooked this."

"The magistrate."

"Even the Yulli."

"But...!"

Lee Isu was different.

"I remember every land transaction that has taken place in Yeongsan County!"

"I know the prices these lands and others like them have sold for!"

"And I know because..."

He drew a breath.

"...I am the son of the Ibang!"

Kim Jiseok and Doyul both looked startled.

...Very good!

"Others may not know."

"But I do!"

"I am the son of the local clerk who managed every parcel of land in Yeongsan County!"

"I know the county's land transactions!"

"I know its customary practices!"

"And I know the reality of this county better than almost anyone!"

Dun!

"If only one or two transactions showed this strange pattern, perhaps we could call it coincidence."

"But when the same circumstances appear in every one of these land deals..."

"It points clearly toward one conclusion!"

"And what conclusion is that?"

If Isu's first weapon had been knowledge learned from Doyul...

His second weapon was entirely his own.

"I have spent years seeing land transactions."

"I know what prices land in Yeongsan usually sells for."

"And I know which people in this county are currently desperate for money!"

"These are things an outsider could never discover so precisely without taking a deep interest in Yeongsan's affairs!"

"...!"

"And yet the plaintiff, who supposedly came from outside the county, targeted exactly these defendants with astonishing precision."

"Does that not strike you as strange?"

"Th-That..."

Even Park Jeongdo stammered before he could stop himself.

"The county, and Joseon itself, desperately need excellent local clerks like your father. Never think otherwise."

"And when you are grown, I hope you too become a wise local clerk like him."

"Joseon needs both you and your father."

"Yes. For the sake of the county's people, a local clerk must know the county better than anyone else...!"

"I'll become a local clerk like Father and serve a magistrate like Magistrate Kim, and together we'll make this county great!"

"The plaintiff Jeongmu must have..."

Isu's voice rang through the government office.

"...received help from someone who knew Yeongsan County intimately!"

Someone who understood the county's circumstances better than anyone.

Someone who knew the state of every parcel of land.

Information only the son of a local clerk like Lee Isu could truly appreciate.

"Jeongmu deliberately selected these defendants and prepared those paeji with the intent to deceive them!"

"This was not a series of ordinary land purchases."

"It was a planned and systematic fraud!"

That...

Was Lee Isu's second weapon.