The Commercial City of Hanyang (3)

Hanseong Pan-yun Yi Ye thought to himself.

What on earth was this bastard thinking, coming to Hanseongbu and immediately arrogantly telling him, a senior second-rank Hanseong Pan-yun, what Hanseongbu ought to be doing?

And the very first thing out of his mouth had been a grave warning that countless people in Hanyang would die if things continued like this.

Listening to him, Yi Ye understood why people called Director Kim Daebung a madman when it came to Jongmyo Sajik and the people.

Unlike him, other senior fourth-rank officials were extremely cautious when reporting to him as Hanseong Pan-yun or receiving his instructions.

But this fellow called Kim Daebung expressed only the bare minimum of respect toward his superior before immediately blurting out something as harsh as, 'If things continue like this, we're all going to die.'

'As expected, he's insane.'

"You say many people will die of diarrheal disease? What do you mean?"

Naturally, Yi Ye had none of Kim Daebung's knowledge of hygiene, nor did he understand how waterborne diseases spread.

Even so, there was no one living in Joseon who did not know how frightening diarrheal disease was.

He did not know why.

It was a terrible disease that could reduce even the healthiest person to a half-corpse or kill them within a few days of contracting it.

At times, it even swept through entire villages, wiping out a tenth or even a fifth of the villagers, regardless of age or sex.

"My lord, haven't food shops been increasing rapidly in Hanyang? Until recently, I too thought this would not be a major problem, but... after personally experiencing the fact that they sell slightly spoiled food without the slightest hesitation, I came to believe that leaving things as they are would lead to a disaster."

"Surely they weren't selling food that was completely rotten? Food is simply scarce among the common people, so perhaps they only sold something that had gone a little bad. Eating slightly spoiled food at home is not exactly uncommon, either."

Back when Yi Ye himself had merely been a lowly clerk in Uljin, he had been so poor that he often ate rice with a slightly sour smell after soaking it in water.

His stomach had hurt a little when he ate it, but it had never turned into an upset stomach or anything more serious.

The common people were poorer than he had been in those days, so eating sour rice was probably not especially uncommon for them.

It might be a problem, but it was not regarded as something particularly serious.

And his way of thinking was common sense not only in Joseon, but throughout the entire contemporary world.

Since neither Joseon nor the West possessed refrigeration or freezing technology, keeping food fresh was impossible.

As a result, meat in particular was a rare and expensive food, so even high-ranking people often had no choice but to eat meat that had gone a little bad.

"My lord, people have said since ancient times that the unlikely can kill. Even if eating slightly sour rice at home is one thing, does it make sense for people who take money to sell food to serve something that has gone sour or spoiled?"

"That is true. It makes no sense."

The poor ate slightly sour food because they had to eat even that much to survive.

But anyone who could afford to buy a meal did not need to eat sour rice in order to stay alive.

If eating sour food was unavoidable because of poverty, it was an understandable matter.

But the fact that some people took money to sell sour food simply because they complacently assumed it would not cause any trouble made Yi Ye feel deeply indignant.

"The makgeolli I encountered at a tavern during an inspection was half-spoiled. Not everyone who ate half-spoiled food and drank takbaegi would necessarily come down with diarrheal disease, but..."

Kim Daebung sighed and looked Yi Ye straight in the eye.

"Once diarrheal disease begins, it can spread throughout Hanyang in an instant, and if things go wrong, it could even reach the royal family. Did the former King Jeongjong not suffer from dysentery as well? His Majesty also once endured great hardship when dysentery spread from outside the palace."

Kim Daebung's words sounded to Yi Ye like this:

If diarrheal disease begins because of bastards selling half-spoiled food, it could spread all the way to the royal palace.

Then who do you think His Majesty would hold responsible?

What a terrifying bastard.

A madman browbeating him with ethical reasons and rational logic that could not be refuted, while also threatening him with the compelling reason that he had no choice but to handle this matter.

"Then we must strictly prohibit food sellers from selling spoiled food and alcohol."

"Yes, exactly. But this is not the only urgent problem."

"Is there another problem?"

"Hanyang's population is increasing too quickly, and excrement is not being managed properly. If things continue like this, dysentery will spread violently throughout Hanyang before long."

"What relation could excrement possibly have to dysentery?"

Kim Daebung knew that cholera broke out when human waste, including diarrheal discharge, entered people's drinking water.

However, Yi Ye and the others naturally knew nothing about the connection between drinking water and cholera.

Nor did they know what caused waterborne diseases to break out, so the question was perfectly reasonable.

Having been asked, Kim Daebung began explaining the matter in a way that even Yi Ye, who knew nothing of twenty-first-century knowledge, could understand.

"According to the conclusions I reached after reviewing various records during the spare moments I had after finishing my work, reports that 'the water is dirty' appeared wherever dysentery had spread. For example, when dysentery spread through Janggye-ri in Jinju-mok two years ago, the Jinju magistrate wrote in his report concerning Janggye that there had been a foul smell coming from the village well."

"Was that written in the report?"

"Yes, it was. However, the court was so focused on measures to aid the people after dysentery and diarrheal disease broke out that... it seems they never identified the relevant cause. Now, let me continue with what I was saying."

Until then, Yi Ye had never spoken or worked with Kim Daebung.

However, no official in Joseon could have failed to hear the rumors about Director Kim Daebung, and judging from what Yi Ye had heard about him from various ministers and senior court officials...

They all said the same thing.

They said he was a work monster who handled several times another minister's workload all by himself.

And yet, he still had enough spare time during working hours to review reports from regions where dysentery had broken out and even deduce its cause?

The Kim Daebung standing before Yi Ye was beginning to look less like a man and more like a supernatural monster.

"Of course, the fact that such a statement was written in a report does not prove that diarrheal disease is necessarily connected to drinking water. However, when I was at the Ministry of War, we began collecting and processing all of Hanyang's excrement to mass-produce gunpowder. Considering that there has been no report of large numbers of people in Hanyang coming down with diarrheal disease since then, it seems that excrement, drinking water, and diarrheal disease are indeed strongly connected."

"...... Indeed, that does seem to be the case. The mere fact that such a thing was written in a report submitted by Jinju does not prove that water and diarrheal disease are connected. But if there is more evidence to support it, then Director Kim's deduction must be correct."

"In that regard, I believe we must thoroughly manage the residential areas of those currently living in huts wherever they can in Seongjeosimni."

"Are you saying we should build them thatched houses?"

Kim Daebung understood the importance of welfare, but he also understood its potential side effects very well.

Therefore, he had not the slightest intention of building those people thatched houses.

"If we did that, the people who bought land in Hanyang and built thatched houses on it would be wronged. And if you look at the matter strictly, are they not people who arbitrarily occupied vacant land in Seongjeosimni?"

"That is true."

"We cannot allow them to use the nation's land without paying anything in return. I intend to mobilize them for various forms of corvée labor once every ten days over the next ten years, making them build latrines and perform all sorts of arduous work. Alternatively, I am considering making them pay a tax equivalent to one-tenth (10%) of the wages they receive at their places of employment for ten years."

"Is that not a little too harsh?"

"If rumors spread throughout all eight provinces of Joseon that building a single hut in Seongjeosimni meant one could live on that land indefinitely, and that the government would eventually give the land to its occupants, people would swarm there from across the country. Those among them who failed to find work would become wastrels who preyed upon the nation. And what would that make of the people renting homes in Hanyang or painstakingly saving money to buy their own houses?"

Hearing him put it that way, Yi Ye was left speechless.

"Then how do you intend to crack down on people selling spoiled food and alcohol, and how will you establish the standards?"

"I will draw up a basic framework and submit it to you by the end of today."

"..... You mean you will finish all of that today?"

"It will be more than enough time. Please do not worry too much."

"I will give you a generous deadline, so there is no need to rush. And as Hanseongbu Seoyun, the duties you must perform are..."

For roughly one shijin, or two hours, Yi Ye personally taught Kim Daebung what he had to do as Hanseongbu Seoyun.

As he did so, he thought to himself.

Since his duties as Seoyun were piled up like a mountain, even Kim Daebung would need several days to draft a new policy...

"It is about time I started preparing to leave for the day."

In the past, leaving work on time had attracted quite a bit of scrutiny, but these days, failing to leave on time earned one a stern scolding from His Majesty.

His Majesty said that failing to leave work on time was an act of unfilial disobedience because it meant neglecting one's health.

Just as Yi Ye was preparing to leave for the day, Kim Daebung appeared before him with a book in hand.

"My lord, I have finished writing it all up."

Yi Ye immediately read through its contents at high speed.

There was not a single thing to criticize; it was so perfect that it could be implemented exactly as written right away.

It was absurd.

In a single day, Kim Daebung had established standards for managing every food shop throughout Hanyang and written a guidebook detailing how they would be managed in the future.

"You may leave for the day. I will be leaving as well."

Having finished his work, Kim Daebung immediately left the Hanseongbu government office.

Once Kim Daebung was out of sight, Yi Ye sighed and said,

"As expected, that fellow is a supernatural monster."

And once again, he made a resolution.

It was something he had thought before, too.

He absolutely must never send his grandson into government service.

If something went wrong, his grandson might be worked to the bone under Kim Daebung, and Yi Ye could not bear the thought of seeing that.

It might elevate the family's honor, but how much hell would the boy have to endure?