Chapter 15
According to the Annals, there is a record of Yi Bang-won saying this.
"Even if there is a bad harvest, collect taxes as if it were a normal year."
Just hearing that line would make Yi Bang-won sound like a man obsessed with squeezing the people dry.
But the reason he said that was Joseon's bad habit.
The government's policy was that taxes had to be reduced at all costs, so in this era the court didn't even provide officials with lunch, and magistrates lied that it was a bad harvest even when it wasn't, just to lower the taxes they had to send to the central government.
Would Jinhae County be any different? Of course not.
Without that background, that fellow Injo would never have created the Yeongjeong Law, which treated land tax as if every year were a bad harvest and collected only four du of rice per gyeol of land.
"What are you talking about, Magistrate?"
"Don't play innocent. The tax ledger I saw for this county clearly said last year's rice harvest was average, neither bad nor good. But another tax ledger said that because there wasn't enough rain, only about 200 du could be harvested per gyeol, and recorded it as a bad year."
In Sejong's time, wet-rice cultivation had not yet become widespread.
Even so, manuring techniques had developed, so there was no longer any need to leave fields fallow for rice farming.
Social unrest had also settled down, so yields had risen quite a bit.
As a result, when farming went well, a gyeol of land could yield 300 du of rice, or 20 seom of rice, unless it was a bad harvest year.
"In present-day Joseon, land tax is collected at 10 percent of the harvested rice, so by rights you should be paying 30 du per gyeol... But our county claimed a harvest of 200 du because of a bad year and took 20 du... no, I see that you and the previous magistrate agreed to collect only 17 du on the excuse of a bad harvest."
"...... Magistrate. It's customary practice."
Joseon is a country that believes collecting less tax is always better, no matter what. That's why the idiot who's left the court scrambling because it has no money is serving as Chief State Councillor.
That bastard Ryu Jeong-hyeon only escaped punishment because he never ran afoul of the law like Jo Mal-saeng, but he was still a loan shark who ruined plenty of people.
Well, that's not important right now.
What matters is that the bastards here lied about their taxes in front of Yi Bang-won, who was obsessed with securing revenue.
"As for me, ever since I topped the civil service exam, I have never once clung to office. I have only devoted myself with the sole wish of repaying Your Majesty's grace."
Honestly, I would rather resign as soon as possible and go back to my hometown for a peaceful life than be worked like Hwang Hui under Sejong.
But if I tried to resign on my own, it felt like His Majesty Sejong would assign Hwang Hui, Huh Jo, or some other court minister to me and try to reeducate me, so I can't do that.
Hwang Hui even told me he would personally educate me, saying I was all talk and no action.
He would never just sit still if I submitted a resignation memorial without a proper excuse and returned to the countryside.
So I had no choice but to work myself to death.
Even clearing away just one injustice that I can see makes countless commoners' lives easier. Their happy smiles are beautiful too.
"I have not once taken any corrupt gain since I was appointed to this county. Unless the Saheonbu is just trying to frame me, my innocence will be cleared eventually, even if it takes time."
Truth be told, the clerks, merchants, and I, the magistrate, had all taken our share more or less.
Compared to what other magistrates had taken, it wasn't much, but I had still accumulated enough wealth to buy a tiled-roof house in Hanyang.
If I didn't take even this much, the merchants and clerks would think I was some demon possessed by the spirit of spotless honesty.
But the income I pocketed is 'legitimate income' that Joseon's laws could never touch, let alone prosecute.
In other words, even if the Saheonbu filed a spiteful charge because I made life hard for the previous magistrate, it would only end with me being dismissed from office. There would be no further punishment. So what would happen to these guys?
"As the magistrate of Jinhae, may I compile this matter I uncovered into a memorial and submit it to Your Majesty? If I do, I have a feeling something very unpleasant will happen."
Those people are the sort who dared deceive the king and embezzle taxes in front of Yi Bang-won, a man who staked his life on tax collection. So the chances of them ending up in a terrible state like Jeong Hak-so are very high.
Anyone in Joseon who had studied even just the Thousand-Character Classic could infer that much. Common sense, common sense.
The scholar who had told me it was customary practice knelt.
As he knelt, the other scholars all followed suit.
"Magistrate, we were wrong. Please forgive us. We will faithfully follow the magistrate's instructions."
"If those of us who are well-off shoulder just a little more, the people can be fed. It is shameful that we knew this and yet did not act."
If I make these men shoulder more of the taxes, the lives of the people in this county will definitely improve.
Though the tribute is burdensome, if they shoulder a bit more...
I can ease that much of the tribute burden on the poor who don't even own a single maji of land. That is proper tax policy.
Take a little less from those who might starve to death at any moment, and collect that much more from the rich.
And if I fought with them, I might savor the joy of victory for an instant...
If I were the mod in Jinhae County, those bastards would be well-known regulars on the board.
In other words, if they start stirring up trouble, the whole county will turn into total chaos.
On top of that, if my policy of making the wealthy pay a little more gets abolished the moment the magistrate changes, the people's lives will become hard again...
After all, if you've whipped discipline into them, you have to give them carrots too.
"I am truly delighted that the esteemed scholars of our Jinhae County are lending me their strength. Even the commoners will come to feel deep gratitude for the burden you have taken off their shoulders."
"If the county people know what we have done for them and are grateful, then this is something to be thankful for as well."
The yangban say that, but their expressions are utterly sour.
I may have said the people would recognize their donations, but they must be thinking what possible benefit that would bring them.
Yes, I have no intention of giving those bastards any monetary reward or lowering their taxes. That much is true.
But I do intend to give them something that Joseon scholars value even more than their own lives.
After all, scholars are the sort who won't hesitate to throw away their own lives if it's for the honor of their family.
"Thanks to you bearing so much of the tribute, the people whose lives have improved will surely gather the pennies they've saved coin by coin and erect a Songdeokbi in gratitude, won't they?"
At the mention of Songdeokbi, the county scholars' eyes lit up and smiles spread across their faces, those same faces having looked sour just moments before.
For scholars who would stake their lives on honor, setting up a stele that records achievements they can boast about to their descendants for generations... no wonder they were so happy.
To put it bluntly, scholars go risk their lives to sit for the exam not simply to 'become officials'... for them, honor matters so much that the bigger goal is really to secure honor as a yangban, just like me.
The county scholars are so splendid and impressive that they receive a Songdeokbi? Since that's something their families can brag about for generations, it's a great bargain for them.
"Are you talking about a Songdeokbi?"
"A Songdeokbi is originally something the people erect voluntarily... I can't say for certain, but even a mere crow doesn't forget the kindness of the parents that raised it. These county people, who don't know their letters or the Four Books and Three Classics but have learned from you scholars the minimum duties a person should keep, don't they look like ingrates who wouldn't show even that much gratitude?"
Honestly, not all Songdeokbi are erected voluntarily by the people.
If a magistrate treats the people well and also keeps the yangban happy, the yangban and the commoners sometimes agree to erect one together, carrying the meaning of a "warning" to other magistrates to do better when they see it.
But in this case, since I told the yangban to pay a bit more tax, I'll instead stir up public opinion to set up a Songdeokbi, using government slaves or whoever else I can rope in.
It does cost quite a bit to erect a Songdeokbi, but if the county people pool a coin here and a coin there, it isn't that much of a burden... and the year's worth of tribute they pay on our behalf will be several times the cost of the stele.
Even if what they did was a good deed and their desire for honor was obvious, I think this much is only right. That way the yangban bastards will feel rewarded and keep doing it.
Right now I'm only making them pay more tribute, but next I'll have them invest money and slave labor in public projects for the county.
I'll make them do things like sacrifice for the county by building a reservoir.
"...... Ahem."
"I will report this to the court as a splendid example."
"We will shoulder a little more tax for the sake of the people."
"Thank you."
As much as I'd like to fix the mistaken land tax too... that's as far as I can go for now.
Even this much has already cleared away a lot of the taxes that were tormenting the people.
Even if I haven't gotten rid of all the filth, life has become quite livable.
"Now then, to thank you for your dedication and resolve today, I would like to treat you all. It's modest, but please eat your fill and enjoy yourselves."
Isn't this exactly the ideal example of a county where the yangban and the magistrate work together?
The magistrate gets 'voluntary tax payments' from the yangban, uses them for public works the county needs and even relief for the poorest of the poor, and the yangban get praised for it.
They would naturally find being shaken down for money unpleasant.
But what can those bastards do about it?
Besides, erecting a Songdeokbi is basically no different from being taxidermied and put on display.
That bastard is such an excellent fellow that he'll keep digging into his own private wealth to help the people from now on.
What's more, even his children and relatives will be proud of it, so he can't stop now.
Even if the magistrate changes, those guys will have no choice but to donate their assets for the sake of the people, though the amount may vary.
Of course, while earning honor in the bargain.