Chapter 21
Meeting and parting are the way of the world.
I'm not the king of Jinhae County or anything, so if the court tells me to leave, of course I should go...
Still, actually leaving like this weighs on my heart. There's still so much to do, and it feels like I'm leaving with work unfinished.
That said, Joseon is, by today's standards, the most highly centralized country in the world.
If they tell me to go and I refuse, that would be treason, so I have no choice but to go.
"There are plenty of things I haven't finished, but I did work hard enough that I have no regrets. That's enough."
After forcing myself to comfort myself and leaving the neatly sorted stacks of documents behind, I stood up.
The deputy clerk and the other clerks who saw me couldn't hide their regret and said...
"It's so disappointing that such a fine magistrate is leaving this early."
"Meeting and parting are the way of the world. And the man coming in this time isn't a sixth-rank county magistrate like me, but a fifth-rank magistrate, right? Rather than some greenhorn who just barely passed the civil service exam like me, a seasoned government man is coming, so Jinhae County will prosper even more than it does now."
During the year and a half I served as Jinhae's county magistrate, Jinhae County developed quite a bit.
Most of them were drifters who used to wander around near our county, but once they settled in Jinhae County, the population rose by nearly 10 percent.
The amount of farmland also increased by about 3 percent, and once reclamation is really finished next year or the year after, I think it'll rise by around 10 percent.
As the market came alive, the people's standard of living rose a great deal, and with irrigation water easier to secure, the yield from farming also increased by nearly 15 percent.
Jinhae County itself was a bit large to begin with for a county ruled by a mere county magistrate, but with the success of the policies I carried out this time being recognized... even the county's status was raised.
In Korean terms, it's like a town being promoted to a small city.
"Magistrate..."
"The magistrate who came this time will take better care of you than I did. And if anyone saw this, they'd think I was being sent into exile. I'm being promoted to the upper grade of Jeong 6th rank, after all."
The court judged my achievements very highly. So highly, in fact, that they raised my rank by three whole steps.
By stepping from Jong 6th rank upper grade to Jeong 6th rank lower grade, and then to Jeong 6th rank upper grade, that is.
According to the new Sunja Law created this year, Joseon's officials in the dangha class—that is, everyone below upper Jeong 3rd rank—basically get promoted by seniority, with one rank every fifteen months being the norm. For county magistrates, it's one promotion every two years and six months.
In practice, I'd only worked a year and six months, so it would have been normal not to get promoted...
Thinking about it that way, this was a promotion worthy of celebration from any ordinary point of view.
"It was an honor to serve you, Magistrate. But what should we do with the gifts the county people brought?"
"Refuse them all."
"Magistrate, these were all gathered with one heart and one mind by the county yangban, the commoners, and even our clerks. Turning these down too would be betraying the pure hearts of the people who prepared them. No one here hasn't benefited from your grace. You may not know it, but everyone in the county joined together and even submitted a petition asking that you stay just a little longer. We didn't tell you because if you found out, you'd never allow it, and in the end the petition was rejected and you were moved away like this... If you won't even accept these, we'll be truly heartbroken."
Hearing them say that much makes it hard to refuse.
I had already ordered the clerks not to prepare any farewell party or farewell gifts. So I canceled yesterday's farewell banquet.
And yet they still prepared gifts like this... I suppose these are the people's sincere feelings.
On top of that, they had even submitted a petition as one to keep me from leaving. Refusing this would be stranger.
"There's nothing for it. Then I'll accept them."
"Thank you, Magistrate."
After exchanging final farewells with the deputy clerk, I greeted the newly appointed magistrate waiting outside the county office.
"I, being foolish and inadequate, have on no small number of occasions failed to handle the great responsibility of serving as county magistrate properly. Still, please forgive my mistakes, Your Honor."
Hearing the word 'mistakes,' the magistrate let out a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha, Kim Magistrate, don't you know the saying that too much of a good thing is no good? Too much humility can look rude too, you know. His Majesty the retired king also highly values the fact that Kim Magistrate built the market and educated the yangban and commoners."
"I'm ashamed."
The magistrate, who looked to be in his mid-forties and seemed to be taking my words as mere politeness, laughed heartily like a friendly middle manager.
"I heard the county people, without regard to class, joined together to thank you for your benevolent rule and petitioned for you to stay a little longer. If someone like you says that, what does that make me?"
Hearing him put it that way, I realized that honestly showing how 'insufficient' I felt here would be rude to him.
I can't go making a bad impression on a senior who has spent more than a decade longer in office than I have.
"I'm sorry."
"That's enough. You can tell what kind of person you are just by looking at the piles of gifts stacked on carts in the government office yard over there. Even after taking that much, no one is complaining; if anything, judging from the faces of the people who only regret seeing you go, I think I can tell what kind of person you are."
"Thank you."
The new magistrate gave me a small snort of laughter.
"And I think I'm very lucky to have been appointed as a local magistrate. The Ministry of Taxation is now working overtime like it's second nature, trying to figure out how to expand and run the new market you created in every county across the country. Everyone is working themselves to the bone, with no time even for tea or writing a poem."
Office work in Joseon and office work in modern 21st-century society differ greatly in intensity even when the work itself is the same.
For example, if you work from 9:00 to 18:00 in America, they say you still grind away even while chewing a sandwich at lunch.
But in Joseon, on the premise that you only have to finish what you're given, officials sometimes chit-chat in the middle of work under the excuse that it's business-related, and they even rest while drinking tea.
As the magistrate in front of me is saying, there are almost no cases of people working late into the night, staring only at paperwork while skipping meals and bathroom breaks.
Unless something truly urgent happens, that is.
"So people usually say that if you go as a local magistrate, it feels like you've been dumped in the sticks and your promotion will slow down. But I was truly glad to be able to shake off the hardship of the Ministry of Taxation and come to Jinhae County. Thanks to that, I came here in a good mood. And since Kim Magistrate did such a good job, it doesn't seem like his successor will have to suffer that much either."
"Hearing you say that, I don't know where to put myself."
"Kim Magistrate, you're truly diligent. Speaking as a senior with thirteen more years in office than you, let me give you some advice: if a person lives too diligently, he may one day break. Even living too straightlaced can be a problem."
"I'll take that to heart. I'll try to look at the world a little more flexibly, Magistrate. But there is still far too much county work unfinished, so I'd like to quickly tell you only the important items among them."
"Go ahead."
"From my point of view, the county's human waste—feces and urine—is just being wasted. The people haven't been educated yet, so they're building outhouses anywhere and handling it however they please... If we collect it and ferment it properly, it will become excellent fertilizer and be a huge help to farming."
The magistrate's face hardened at my words.
"I'm just giving him a useful tip, so why is he reacting like that?"
Whatever the case, I still have to properly hand over the work I need to pass on to the magistrate.
"Unfermented waste will only end up killing vegetables and grain, and it isn't very effective either. So please strictly forbid the ignorant villagers from spreading it directly on the fields, and make them use only waste mixed with straw or fallen leaves and fermented for at least twenty days."
"...... Understood."
"And when the farmers perform corvée labor, the government provides them with a midwork snack. But I heard that the clerks and aides are skimming off the makgeolli from those snacks. Even if corvée does reduce the peasants' grain-loan burden, their bodies must be terribly exhausted... How could you let them steal the makgeolli the people are supposed to get in between? Of course the clerks and aides must be having a hard time too, so please keep an eye on that as well... and make sure to give them plenty of liquor too."
Next, I handed the magistrate a booklet I'd put together listing the matters to be handed over.
A thick book full of densely written characters.
Seeing that, the magistrate's face turned even paler as he asked...
"How exactly did you do your job, Kim Magistrate?"
"I merely did my utmost not to burden His Majesty."
The newly arrived magistrate took me by the shoulder and gave me a firm warning.
"Kim Magistrate, there is one very important thing I need to tell you."
"Yes, Magistrate. I'll take it to heart."
"Never say that in front of the Minister of Taxation, no—rather, in front of the Ministry of Taxation officials."
The officials of the Ministry of Taxation have ended up with overtime because of me. If I were to say in front of those people that I was so lacking I could only manage this much, they'd have to get angry.
Of course, it's not as if what I've done is absolutely negligible. But it's also true that there are more than a few things I still haven't finished.
If we just properly ferment manure and use it as compost, agricultural efficiency will rise quite a bit, and the number of people dying from waterborne diseases will also go down.
Even if a full water and sewer system is too much to ask, we should at least make sure every house and public place has a latrine so people only use those... And then there's developing local specialties and all that; the work left to do is piled up like a mountain...
Still, if we do it one by one, it'll work out.
It still looks far from enough to me, but if we keep pushing even a little reform forward... Joseon will brighten.
If I set the stage that way, then I can retire, can't I?
If that much is done, even that old codger Heo Jo and Hwang Hui—who was famous for loving gold and had the nickname Gold Grand Censor—won't be able to say a word to me, right?
"Thank you, Magistrate."
As I said that and was about to leave the county, a welcome voice came from behind me.
"Magistrate."
"Heh. I'm not the magistrate anymore."
"Sir, aren't you going to take a merchant like me with you?"
Kim Mandeok grinned at me. Beside them was their daughter, Kim Gye-wol.
"Are you going to Hanyang?"
"If you put in a word for me, couldn't I get at least one stall in the farthest corner of Joseon's biggest market? The commerce guild in Jinhae County can be left to my son, so I want to try my hand in a bigger pond."
If Kim Mandeok stayed by my side, I wouldn't have to agonize over money problems anymore.
For now, I still had to deal with all the valuable gifts I'd received—those dried persimmons and dried seafood and so on.
Just the dried persimmons alone must amount to nearly a ton by now...
"Count on it."
"Please continue to take good care of me, Magistrate."
After saying that, we were about to head straight for Hanyang.
What I saw then was the people of Jinhae County crowding thickly along both sides of the road I had to take.
As soon as they saw me, they burst into tears.
"Thanks, Magistrate. Because of you, by next year I'll be able to own a piece of land, even if it's only palm-sized. How can I ever repay this kindness..."
"Thanks to you, I don't have to worry about repaying next year's grain loan anymore, so when I lie down at night my legs stretch out on their own. I'm so happy. I still haven't even repaid the kindness you've shown me, so why are you leaving already?"
Even the yangban who had opposed my call for higher taxes at the very beginning came out to see me off.
They bowed to me with great respect.
"Thanks to you, the people have plenty to eat and wear, and laughter never stops all over the county. We will never forget even in death the kindness of your benevolent rule."
Watching them, tears came to my own eyes too.
Leaving all those farewell words behind me, I went up to Hanyang.
Though I am leaving this place, if I work harder at what I can do from where I'll be...
I believe that one day, all of them will also share in Joseon's development together.
**
Meanwhile, after Kim Daebung left, many people came to the county office, regardless of whether they were yangban, merchants, or farmers.
The newly appointed magistrate felt his head spin at the sight.
But being a seasoned hand, he was able not to show it on his face.
"What do you want?"
At those words, the scholars of the county said in unison.
"Because of the great grace the former magistrate has bestowed on this county, we wish to erect a merit stele to commemorate his beneficence and benevolent character. Please grant us permission."
Kim Daebung knew nothing about the merit stele being built.
It was simply that from poor commoners to the yangban, everyone had gathered money with sincere hearts.
"I will allow it. And since this office too is one that has received His Majesty's command, I will do my utmost to repay that grace."
Though he said that, the magistrate felt extremely stifled inside.
Since His Majesty had strictly ordered the officials not to come to work on their days off, he could at least rest a bit that day...
But on days other than holidays, he'd been suffering endless overtime, so he thought that coming here had saved his life.
The predecessor magistrate he had to compare himself with was the kind of guy who had the yangban and the commoners unanimously asking to be allowed to build a merit stele for him.
He wondered if it would have been better to just keep working overtime at the Ministry of Taxation.
Thinking that, he began reading the handover document Kim Daebung had written.
With every page he turned, he felt like he was going crazy.
"On days when the five-day market opens, accidents increase, so as the magistrate I have to go to the market myself and judge disputes among the people and inspect discipline? And if the yangban want to reduce what they pay in tribute, I have to bring up the merit stele and educate them to behave properly. And since I have to collect taxes from the merchants, I should go out myself about once a year and check whether the merchants are hiding their property..."
I had spent more than ten years in office, but I'd never seen a lunatic like this before.
What kind of magistrate personally keeps an eye on every merchant one by one and even works directly in the market?
With so many things to do, the Ministry of Taxation seems like it would be better.
Honestly, when you're appointed local magistrate, unless there is some special order from the king, the Joseon common sense is to work comfortably and save money.
But if I were to clean up Kim Daebung's mess to a level that even the retired king and His Majesty the current king would be satisfied with...?
I'd have to give up on making a fortune from bribes.
No, actually, it's possible. If I did only as much as Kim Daebung, nobody would say a thing even if I pocketed rice worth 2,000 seom.
But is it possible to do as much as Kim Daebung?
If not, then I have to be completely clean and honest. Only then can I earn at least a little sympathy from the yangban, clerks, and commoners whose standards have been raised by Kim Daebung.
And beyond that, if I were to clean up everything he left behind...? I'd have to work myself to the bone.
The magistrate thought this to himself.
"I want to go to the Ministry of Taxation and work overtime every day as routinely as eating a meal. That would be easier on both my mind and body, damn it."