Chapter 185
In the original history, the myeon-ri system implemented by Han Myeong-hoe was not properly administered in its early days.
That was because registering in the household register did not merely saddle people with the obligation to pay taxes; it also created the serious problem of not knowing when they might be dragged away into Joseon’s army, which only pretended to function properly.
So everyone tried to avoid cooperating.
The problem of being dragged into the army was serious enough to threaten the survival of the poor.
If a war broke out and the country collapsed, or some comparable crisis occurred, forced conscription would naturally be understandable.
But even when nothing of the sort was happening, the people had to live with the unbearable risk that able-bodied men between the ages of fifteen and sixty might be conscripted for anywhere from three months to a year whenever the state called upon them for military service.
Try grabbing any Korean who is working hard at a company and suddenly telling them that, starting now, they have to enlist in the army for a year.
Having to enlist immediately would be a major problem, but what would happen to the company where they had been working so diligently?
They would be unable to work because of their long-term military service, and the company would drive them out after paying their severance.
Joseon was at least an agrarian society, so they could immediately return to life as a tenant farmer. But what could be done if their family ended up on the verge of starvation because they had been unable to farm properly during the time they spent fulfilling their military obligation?
“At least once we reach the middle of the Joseon period, the banggun-supo system will be introduced, creating a system that lets people avoid military service by paying money. Since people will no longer be forced by the state to abandon their livelihoods and serve in the army without warning... that is why the people were at least willing to accept household-register reforms through the myeon-ri system.”
The cotton cloth they had to pay in place of military service was an enormous burden for the poor, but at least once they paid it, they would not suddenly be dragged into the army out of nowhere.
They would have had no choice but to choose it, since it freed them from the fear that the head of their household would be unable to work and their family’s livelihood would become hopeless.
“We have to solve this military-service problem somehow.”
When I was first assigned to Jiphyeonjeon after completing my term as magistrate of Jinhae County, Jo Mal-saeng once asked me how we could possibly solve the military-service problem.
Just as I was trying to come up with an answer, Yi Bang-won happened to launch the implementation of ‘currency,’ forcing me to shelve the plan for solving the military-service problem.
“Now that not only the court’s revenues but also the tax income of the local government offices has increased, could we gradually change military service from a system that randomly conscripts able-bodied men between fifteen and sixty... to one in which the service period is set in advance?”
If I had my way, I would introduce a military-service system like the one used by the twenty-first-century military, where soldiers would complete basic training and then be sent to bases throughout the country to live in barracks.
However, there are practical difficulties in doing that.
If Joseon were to implement a proper conscription system now, the number of soldiers to be drafted would be as high as one hundred to two hundred thousand.
How could we build barracks for all of them, transport enough food to feed them there, and spend several years using all that manpower solely for military training and preparing for enemy invasions?
‘What Joseon can afford right now is only the food they will eat and the minimum necessary equipment.’
“Ultimately, would it be best to have them serve in the army in the districts where they live, like a local defense force? In a seven-day cycle, they would spend one day training militarily, five days doing all sorts of construction or farming work, and one day resting. That would probably be the best option, right?”
As it happens, Joseon is desperately short of labor for building all kinds of infrastructure, including water-supply and sewage systems, levees and irrigation facilities, farmland reclamation, and roads.
So it would be best to have people fulfill their military obligation in one concentrated stretch of two or three years and then stop conscripting them afterward.
When war broke out, we could mobilize the active-duty soldiers who had already been conscripted.
“Yes, this is probably the best we can do for now.”
And in the border regions of Hamgyong and Pyeongan, which could be considered Joseon’s front line, we should send only those who volunteer.
For them, we could provide a substantial lump-sum payment upon discharge, much like a military savings plan.
If we promised to pay volunteers an amount of goods equivalent to twenty seok of polished rice when they completed their service, I imagine quite a few people would apply.
“I can organize this into a proposal and submit it to the Right State Councillor...”
While I was staying at the Jinhae County Office and repeatedly mulling over the details of a military-service system that I could work out in my spare time, the magistrate came to see me.
The accumulated fatigue was plainly visible on his face.
“My lord, we have finished gathering all the information about Jinhae County needed to compile the geographical gazetteer.”
“What? You have already finished?”
I had been here for less than twenty days.
So I had expected gathering the information needed for the household survey and the geographical gazetteer to take at least another week.
It was difficult to believe the magistrate’s claim that it was already finished.
“It is almost startling that you finished so quickly. You have worked very hard during this time. Then hurry and show me what you have compiled so far.”
The magistrate watched my expression as he handed me the compiled volumes.
Well, anyone would become tense in that situation when asking a superior to approve their documents.
I also feel nervous when submitting reports to superiors like Hwang Hui, Maeng Sa-seong, and Jo Mal-saeng.
It is because I worry that there might be some flaw.
“Reviewing these materials will take quite some time, so sit here and wait for a while.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After having the magistrate sit down, I diligently reviewed the documents.
I expected there to be flaws, since the materials had been compiled at breakneck speed...
But aside from a few extremely minor oversights, there was nothing in them that I could find fault with.
Usually, working this quickly would lead to problems, so how had they managed to process everything so rapidly without making any errors?
“There is absolutely nothing to find fault with. At this level, it is nearly perfect.”
The magistrate let out a sigh of relief at my words.
“It is a relief to hear that there are no problems.”
“But I am curious how you managed to proceed so quickly. How exactly did you do it?”
“That is because the yangban and the commoners alike cooperated with one heart and one purpose in investigating the geographical gazetteer.”
“Everyone united as one to get the work done...”
“Yes, my lord. I personally gathered everyone together without distinguishing between yangban and commoners, explained that implementing the myeon-ri system and the other institutions would greatly benefit everyone, and told them to ask about anything they were curious about. After going through that process, they all came to fully understand my true intentions.”
If the state simply ordered the people to implement the household-register system, including the myeon-ri system, by saying, ‘Implement this immediately,’ then everyone, yangban and commoners alike, would have to obey, even if they did not properly understand what it was.
But when the magistrate of the district personally stepped forward and explained what the system was and how it would benefit everyone...
To use a hospital analogy, it was like a doctor thoroughly explaining every question and concern a patient might have before surgery, giving the patient peace of mind and confidence.
I had expected it to have an even greater effect than that.
So I could understand that the magistrate’s active explanations had dispelled people’s resistance to the system...
“Even so, this speed...”
“First, I had always carefully inspected the military information, including the fortress, military facilities, and number of soldiers, so I simply recorded it based on those existing records. As for the section on this district’s specialties, the merchants themselves came forward and clamored that these were our specialties and that they should be allowed to present them to His Majesty, so that part was easy as well.”
“I see.”
It seemed that my efforts to persuade the merchants personally had helped.
“And the most important household survey progressed so quickly because those appointed as myeonjang, ijang, tongjang, and banjang threw themselves into the investigation with great enthusiasm.”
“Is that so?”
“Do most older yangban not spend their entire lives devoted to learning while making the management of their family’s inherited land their pastime? Living that way, some of them also give up in despair, saying that they will never enter government service or receive an official rank before they die.”
Come to think of it, about ten years after I was born, my father began neglecting his studies, saying that no matter how much more he studied for the civil service examination, he would never pass it.
After that, he told me over and over, until I was sick of hearing it, that I absolutely had to pass the examination and become an outstanding man who would bring glory to the family...
The scholars here would not be much different.
No matter how much the country of Joseon changed, a yangban’s dream was still to pass the civil service examination, achieve success, and bring honor to the family.
Even if an exhausting workload and an endless hell of work awaited them after achieving success and fame, they had no choice but to grind their very bones and flesh into preparing for the civil service examination for the sake of their family’s honor.
“When I told those men that cooperating with the compilation of the geographical gazetteer might earn them an official rank, and that those who performed exceptionally well might even receive a government post, they worked with all their might. As for the commoners, I explained that if people did not register their names in the household register, those who paid no taxes could still come and receive relief, and that this would reduce the benefits you yourselves could receive by that much... As a result, nearly everyone living in this district applied themselves wholeheartedly to registering their names in the household register.”
“The only people who failed to register their names this time must have been slash-and-burn farmers or people so desperately poor that they wandered from place to place.”
“Yes, my lord.”
That is how taxes and welfare work.
If I pay taxes while that fellow pays none, I will feel completely wronged and become furious; and if he receives welfare benefits while I do not, I will be so outraged that I will make a scene.
Using that principle, I told them that failing to register in the household register would inevitably bring disadvantages within the village community...
They must have rushed forward, all insisting that they would register.
“Excellent. I think this is enough information for compiling the geographical gazetteer. You have worked very hard during this time, so go in early today and get some proper rest.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Now, it looks like we only need to organize things a little further before we are finished.”
I finished organizing the materials gathered over five days and immediately submitted the completed geographical gazetteer to Hanyang.
Then I stayed in Jinhae for about another week, accepting the banquets the people prepared for me, taking Han Myeong-hoe and Gwon Ram fishing, and cooking and eating plenty of dishes with the fish we caught.
**
Meanwhile, the court was quite shocked when it received Kim Daebung’s geographical gazetteer of Jinhae County.
“The population of Jinhae County has increased by 15 percent compared with the previous survey. How could this be?”