Chapter 14
Jeong Hakso, a scholar renowned in Jinhae County for his learning.
He was now bound before me in a pitiful state.
Both ears had been pierced by arrows, his topknot had come undone, and his neck was resting on a wooden stake.
It was so miserable that it almost felt wrong for this to be the end of a man once respected as the county's learned elder.
“Looking at this, you really do realize how empty and futile everything in the world is.”
That said, I didn't feel guilty about killing him.
He was dying because he'd done something deserving death.
Three years ago, the law banning commoners from filing complaints against their local magistrate was enacted.
Exceptions were made when the magistrate was clearly guilty of a crime deserving death, or when someone had suffered an indescribable injustice.
But this bastard had resorted to underhanded tricks because the market had opened and the people were starting to live a little better, and he was afraid they wouldn't borrow his usurious loans anymore.
He deserved to die.
What made his death even more pathetic was the reaction of the county's people.
“That gentleman was charging such outrageously high interest... He's getting his divine punishment.”
“No matter how high his learning was, what good was it? He should have been a decent person first... a person.”
A man who had once been respected in the county as an elder had turned into human trash.
Jeong Hakso's name had become a byword for ridicule and contempt in Jinhae County.
So, shall we carry out the punishment now?
“Magistrate.”
“Kim Ibang, what is it now?”
“Jeong Hakso owns quite a bit of property—house, land, and slaves. How should we handle it?”
The Ibang rubbed his hands together before me, while also glancing at the clerks around us.
He was asking whether we could split up some of Jeong Hakso's property.
Since the court hadn't said anything about whether all of Jeong Hakso's assets should be confiscated and brought into the magistrate's office, a little discretion would be fine here.
Considering that I had been hard on them since arriving and had also reduced corruption a great deal... I should let them have a little here too.
“As for Jeong Hakso's land, if all the hidden fields—fields not reported to the government—plus about thirty percent of the rest and half the items in the warehouse disappear, no one would be able to tell. Apart from that, bring everything into the magistrate's office. Also, all of Jeong Hakso's slaves are to be made government slaves, and his family is to be sent to another county as public slaves.”
“Understood. I will carry it out.”
What a joke. Tolerating corruption even while knowing about it, and adjusting it at a reasonable level—that's the best we can do?
Joseon still has a long and difficult road ahead.
“Carry out the beheading.”
“Yes, Magistrate.”
As soon as I gave the order, Jeong Hakso's head was cut off in an instant by the guards of our magistrate's office.
Everyone gathered there cheered as they watched him die.
“He went and opposed it just because the market opened and the townspeople were finally able to make a living... He deserved to die...”
“Serves him right. Good riddance.”
Yangban are supposed to be respected as the elders of the county, after all... just how lacking in virtue did he have to be for people to say that?
Come to think of it, because he was such an awful person, he came to see me and spouted old-man nonsense about how opening a market would make the people lazy, then tried to get under my skin by filing a memorial that worked around the law banning commoners from suing officials.
If he had been someone with even a shred of common sense, he wouldn't have met such an ending.
“Dismiss everyone gathered here. And send word to the county scholars, asking them all to come to the magistrate's office.”
“Yes, Magistrate. But why are you calling them?”
“I'd like to have a rather serious discussion about the county's future.”
The county's tax system is pretty much a mess right now.
However, with the power I currently have, I can't completely overturn a tax system that's breaking the people's backs.
That doesn't mean I can just leave the mess alone.
If I know the problem is serious, then I should try to fix it somehow.
Even if the measures are, in my eyes, only stopgap measures... for the people involved, they'll be a huge help.
**
Calling the county scholars here and sending them back on empty stomachs would be rude.
In Joseon, where asking someone “Have you eaten?” as a greeting is tradition and courtesy, it would be even more so.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and in Joseon, do as Joseon does.
I prepared quite a lavish spread for the county scholars.
“If I had been appointed magistrate of Jinhae County, I should have first paid respects to the county elders and asked for your advice... but I am still inexperienced, and my official duties have kept me busy, so arranging a gathering like this was delayed. I apologize.”
Truth be told, I don't actually feel sorry.
What's important is taking office as county magistrate, looking after the people's circumstances, and taking down those damn monks for their corruption...
Meeting local notables, stuffing myself with expensive food, and throwing banquets with court entertainers dancing—what's so important about that? It's only natural that such things would fall far down the list of priorities.
Even so, making this kind of introduction is the proper thing to do.
The county magistrate post I currently hold is roughly equivalent to the head of a small county in modern Korea.
If I want to do the job of county magistrate properly, it's also important to keep relations friendly with the people known as the local notables.
Otherwise, any one of them could keep pestering me endlessly, just like Jeong Hakso, who died this morning.
Of course, if they tried to mess with me while I was fighting corruption to protect the people's rights... they'd know full well they'd end up as headless ghosts like Jeong Hakso...
It's best not to leave room for annoying trouble to arise.
A scholar said to be the most respected in this county replied to me.
“We are well aware that you are extremely busy with official duties, Magistrate. We are truly grateful that, despite your busy schedule, you invited us here and treated us to such a generous feast.”
“Thank you for saying so. I am still young and lacking in many ways. I would appreciate any advice you can offer.”
Normally, when a conversation like this is exchanged, both sides should be laughing and smiling.
But here, I'm the only one laughing, while the other scholars are at a loss as if sitting on a bed of nails.
That was only to be expected.
Though I hadn't done it myself, Yi Bang-won had completely wiped out Jeong Hakso's entire household, and watching that happen must have made them think they could end up like Jeong Hakso too.
“I'll end the pleasantries here. The real reason I asked the wise scholars of the county to come today is that I have one thing I need your cooperation with.”
“What sort of cooperation do you need from us?”
“I would like you to pay the same amount of tribute next year as you did this year. And to keep doing so from now on.”
The scholars listening to me frowned. I understood their feelings completely.
I had exposed the fact that those monks had embezzled the tribute by pretending they had bought the offerings at inflated prices. As a result, the tax burden the people had to bear through tribute was drastically reduced.
To exaggerate a little, what used to be two seom of rice per household, even for the poorest families, is now only one seom.
For the county scholars, who owned lots of land and many slaves, that must have seemed like a huge blow...
The people now only have to pay half of what they used to, and you want us to pay the same as before?
How unfair would that seem?
“Thanks to the magistrate, the burden of tribute on the people has been greatly reduced. In addition, poor commoners can use their spare time to weave straw sandals, make mats, or gather wild greens and sell them through the market, so their households have also improved greatly. This humble student, who has lived for more than fifty years, has never seen a magistrate who cares for the people as you do.”
“You flatter me.”
“However, Magistrate.”
The scholar representing them stopped there, then sighed.
“As you also know, even when one is wealthy, paying taxes is not all that easy.”
“I agree with that.”
I agree that the more a person earns, the more taxes they should pay.
But even from a rich person's perspective, paying taxes would be extremely painful.
If I earned ten million won a month, I'd have to pay thirty million won a year in taxes. That's by no means a small amount.
Still, since you earn a lot, you'd have some room to spare even after paying it.
The yangban probably knew I had crushed those monks and cut their taxes, so they must have been happily wondering what they'd spend the savings on... Of course they'd be angry if I dashed those hopes.
“But what is a scholar's duty? Isn't it to educate the people and provide food when they are starving?”
“That is true. But isn't it unfair that while poor commoners have their tribute burden reduced, we have to keep bearing the same burden as before?”
What this bastard was saying wasn't entirely wrong. So instead of saying, “Then die,” I was having a conversation.
But these fellows had committed one extremely serious crime.
Joseon may be a country that pays officials poorly while quietly allowing tax evasion and tax embezzlement, but there are still things you must not do and things you can do.
Up to now, because I only had the power of a county magistrate, I hadn't wanted to bring it up, since it would have been hard to lay a hand on them. But if Yi Bang-won fully supports me... if the court supports me...
I can use this to threaten them.
“Unlike the clerks, I have never taken a bribe. And what I'm holding here is...”
He pulled a book out from the wide sleeve of his robe.
“It's a book about last year's harvest, isn't it? As I was reading it, I saw that it says there was a slight famine in Jinhae County last year... am I supposed to go around asking the people one by one whether last year's harvest was a famine year?”
As far as I know, last year's harvest in Jinhae County was about average.
“That's called deceiving the king.”
It means lying to the king.