Chapter 184
‘There is a saying that even the Great Wall of China can collapse because of a single ant hole.’
The enormous Great Wall would not collapse merely because a single ant hole had been made in it, but if someone discovered that hole and
repeatedly struck it with a pickaxe, could even the Great Wall not eventually be destroyed?
The unity among the merchants living in Jinhae had now reached a point where, with a single traitor having emerged, it was bound to collapse just as the Great Wall falls because of one ant hole.
"The other merchants said that suddenly raising taxes would make it impossible to run their trading houses. Do you feel differently, Brother-in-law?"
It is only natural to collect an appropriate amount of taxes from merchants.
Many merchants in Jinhae County lived as poorly as ordinary tenant farmers, but those who operated large businesses often earned hundreds or even thousands of seok of white rice a year.
But because Joseon was a country weak in commerce, if merchants tried to evade taxes by keeping double books and reporting absurdly low incomes...
there was no way the authorities could discover it.
During the Tokugawa shogunate, the great merchants of Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto, along with merchants who wielded influence in the various domains, reportedly took advantage of samurai ignorance of commerce and economics to manipulate their accounts and live without paying almost any taxes.
'Our Joseon must never allow that.'
Therefore, raising the taxes collected from merchants to the level ordinary people were paying was something that absolutely had to be done.
"As my brother-in-law said, we are Joseon's subjects too, so of course we should pay an appropriate amount of taxes. Besides, you are not asking us to pay more simply because we are wealthier than others, but only to pay taxes at the same level as the other people... How could we possibly oppose that?"
"As expected, Brother-in-law, your love for the country is truly profound."
"Loyalty to the king and love of country are the natural duties of every Joseon person, from the Chief State Councillor above to the slaves below. Though I may be a merchant, how could I live while forgetting my loyalty to the king and love of country?"
Since my brother-in-law had opened the way, all I had to do now was steer the mood toward the idea that paying taxes was the right thing to do.
Then everyone gathered here would have no choice but to accept it, unable to voice their opposition.
Both power and legitimacy were on our side.
"Therefore, to fulfill my duty as a person, I shall pay the proper taxes."
"Thank you, Brother-in-law."
"However, I think we will only be able to pay the proper taxes starting next year."
"Is it not possible this year?"
Kim Man-seok gave me a pained look.
"Our merchants possess enormous amounts of wealth and all kinds of goods, and we earn money by buying and selling them here and there. As a result, our trading house alone has warehouses piled high with precious goods such as silk, honey, and dried persimmons. But if we were suddenly made to pay taxes using some of those goods, it would completely ruin our business for the year, and in the worst case, the trading house itself could go under."
"Is that so?"
Koreans have probably experienced situations like this many times.
I mean the absurd experience of having enough money in your bank account, yet being unable to buy anything to eat or even take public transportation such as a bus because you left your cards, cash, and even your phone at home.
If a company were suddenly hit with a tax bomb after constantly moving its cash and merchandise around, and had everything seized at once...
it might find itself unable to pay for goods that had to be paid for immediately.
If that transaction were suspended and the company could not even cover the bills coming due, causing them to bounce,
there could be cases where the company went bankrupt and collapsed despite having plenty of sources of incoming money.
Joseon merchants were not all that different.
Therefore, telling them to hand over 16 percent of this year's income as taxes right now would be no different from telling them to die.
"So why don't we put this year's taxes off and have you begin paying them next year?"
"...... His Majesty said he wanted the proper taxes collected starting this year."
"His Majesty surely wants us merchants to conduct our businesses soundly and live well too. But if we are suddenly made to pay such a large tax, most of the people here will go bankrupt. And would that not be true of every merchant in Joseon, not just those of us gathered here?"
A crucial principle in negotiations is to present a condition at the very beginning that is more excessive and unreasonable than what you actually intended to obtain.
The person hearing it will be extremely flustered, wondering what kind of nonsense you are talking about.
However, since you have already startled the other party once, if you then pretend to consider their circumstances and offer a compromise suited to realistic conditions, they fall into the illusion that they have reached a reasonable agreement.
I was using this principle to persuade the merchants by staging this exchange with my brother-in-law.
"Brother-in-law, that truly will not do."
"Brother-in-law, you should submit a memorial to His Majesty and ask him to withdraw that demand. If merchants are suddenly required to pay such a large amount of taxes this year, Joseon commerce could come to a halt right here. Countless trading houses will go under."
After hearing my brother-in-law's words, I placed a hand on my forehead and let out a deep sigh as if I had a headache.
"Normally, this would of course be out of the question, but I will submit a memorial to His Majesty and ask him to collect the proper taxes from merchants starting next year rather than this year."
"Thank you, Brother-in-law."
"Are merchants not also Joseon's subjects? Caring for the merchants of Jinhae County is an important duty as well."
If I had told the merchants of Jinhae County from the beginning that they would have to start paying taxes next year, they would have complained irritably, asking how they were supposed to live if they had to pay that much tax starting next year...
Perhaps because I had begun by imposing the unreasonable condition of starting this year, an atmosphere formed in which everyone accepted it with an expression suggesting that nothing could be done.
"If it is starting next year, I think we can pay the taxes."
"We will keep that in mind and make the necessary preparations when conducting our transactions."
Since they had promised to pay taxes starting next year, I could now collect 16 percent of their income from merchants as well, just as I did from tenant farmers.
Of course, unlike farmers, they moved around conducting transactions, and their cash flow was irregular, so they could use all sorts of tricks if they wanted to...
The officials in Hanyang might be ignorant of economics, but if I ordered officials from merchant backgrounds, including Kim Mandeok, to teach the Ministry of Taxation officials directly how to read accounting books...?
Once they learned how to read accounting books on top of the learning skills they had honed while preparing for the civil service examinations, they would generally be able to distinguish whether someone had manipulated their accounts.
"It is a great relief that you are willing to cooperate like this."
Anyone who evaded the taxes they owed through illegal means was not a Joseon subject but a criminal, while anyone who paid the proper taxes was a subject of Joseon.
That meant they were people I had a duty to protect and help.
Although I had used Sejong's authority and various underhanded tricks as tools of persuasion, they had ultimately promised to pay their taxes, so I ought to provide them with some help.
"The court is currently compiling a geographical gazetteer of all eight provinces of Joseon. It will record the specialties of every region, and anyone who receives a copy will be able to see at a glance what specialties are produced throughout the country."
"Do you intend to distribute the geographical gazetteer to merchants like us as well?"
"We intend to produce a separate version that excludes military secrets and other highly important state information, and we plan to sell that gazetteer to all the merchants of Joseon."
A geographical gazetteer was not simply a collection of maps.
It would contain all sorts of information, such as each district's specialties and what kinds of goods were likely to sell well.
Such information could not be bought even with money in this era, so the merchants' eyes would naturally light up when they heard that the state was going to compile it and sell it to them as well.
But the carrot I was offering them did not end there.
The important part starts now.
"In any case, are you not the merchants who have agreed to be the first in Joseon to pay their taxes properly? Therefore, I will specially ask His Majesty to allow the goods sold by the merchants of Jinhae County to carry phrases like these when they are sold."
"What wording do you mean?"
"‘Dried persimmons from Jinhae, declared delicious by His Majesty after tasting them,’ or ‘Jinhae paulownia tableware that His Majesty tried and found excellent.’ I intend to require any other district's specialties bearing such phrases to undergo an extremely stringent verification process, and only goods or foods that His Majesty has personally approved will be allowed to carry them. But I intend to make a special exception for you and let you use them in this way."
The eyes of the Jinhae merchants lit up when they heard my words.
They probably did not understand what brand value was or how it worked...
'Dried persimmons from Jinhae, personally tasted by His Majesty and declared delicious.'
They seemed to instinctively realize how well an item bearing such a phrase would sell throughout all eight provinces.
"Really?"
"Why would I lie? If you pay your taxes properly and produce your specialties properly, I will personally ask His Majesty and make it happen."
I would experimentally allow phrases such as “dried persimmons declared delicious by His Majesty after tasting them” to be attached only to goods like the dried persimmons sold in Jinhae...
Later, if the system were operated by allowing such phrases only on the highest-grade specialty goods, and only when Sejong wished, the brand value of those specialties would soar tremendously.
King Sejong was an open-minded man, so if I explained it well, he would certainly accept it.
"I believe you, my lord."
"All right, then. From next year onward, do not think about reducing your taxes by falsifying your ledgers. Report your income honestly and pay the proper taxes."