Chapter 31
Jiphyeonjeon is Joseon's policy research institution and academic institute.
In short, if anyone looks promising, they get snatched up and dragged here so we can make them do all kinds of policy research and even study more, so you could call it a "graduate student" training institute.
"Lord Kim Sujan, you seem quite at ease today as well."
"Doctor Choi (Choi Manri), shall I help you?"
Choi Manri is lower in rank than I am. He's Jeong 7th rank, and I'm Jeong 6th rank.
But since Choi Manri is six years older than me... we're both yangban officials, so it's awkward to treat him too casually, but also awkward to use honorifics, which creates this kind of situation.
"Lord Sujan, don't you already have so much to do, with the task entrusted by the Minister of War and all the work of devising and making farm tools?"
"That's true, but as a member of Jiphyeonjeon, I do have enough time to briefly help Doctor Choi."
Choi Manri is lower in rank than I am. He's Jeong 7th rank, and I'm Jeong 6th rank.
But since Choi Manri is six years older than me... we're both yangban officials, so it's awkward to treat him too casually, but also awkward to use honorifics, which creates this kind of situation.
"Lord Sujan, don't you already have so much to do, with the task entrusted by the Minister of War and all the work of devising and making farm tools?"
"That's true, but as a member of Jiphyeonjeon, I do have enough time to briefly help Doctor Choi."
No matter how much I want to submit a resignation memorial as quickly as possible and retire, and no matter that I have no desire for promotion at all, I have no intention of needlessly making official life harder.
If I didn't even go through the newcomers' rite like Yulgok Yi I and had a lousy personality on top of that, I'd end up with nothing but enemies around me. Then when I resign and try to live back in my hometown, someone might even accuse me for no reason...
It's essential to build the friendliest possible relationships with the officials of Jiphyeonjeon.
And Choi Manri is called a Confucian old fogey because he came out against Hunminjeongeum. Looking at why he opposed Hunminjeongeum, it was understandable even by modern standards.
The one who was the real Confucian old fogey, the one who said the common people were pigs and dogs, is Jeong Changson, over there in the corner, looking at me suspiciously. Jeong Changson and I are just too different in temperament to build a good relationship, no matter how hard we try.
"Lord Sujan, you really are impressive."
"I'm just faithfully doing the work assigned to me."
It's true that because I was playing the role of Jiphyeonjeon GPT, the workload on the entire office has gone down.
Thanks to that, the Jiphyeonjeon officials no longer work overtime every day; they only stay late about one or two days out of seven, and the rest of the time they leave on time.
So even though I never went through the formal welcome rite, the other officials are gradually starting to accept me as one of their own in Jiphyeonjeon.
Still, if I work too comfortably by myself, I'll be marked for giving offense, and Jiphyeonjeon Deputy Chancellor Jeong Inji will start dumping all kinds of work on me... so I should aim for a proper balance.
"Even this grueling life in Jiphyeonjeon feels a little more bearable with Lord Kim Sujan around. On our next day off, I'll treat you to a drink."
"I'll look forward to it."
We were having such a warm conversation when Jeong Inji came into Jiphyeonjeon, his face deeply twisted.
Judging by that expression, it doesn't seem to be just because of overtime. What in the world happened?
For now, Jiphyeonjeon is a policy research institute, not an organization that handles war or anything like that, so it can't be that some natural disaster struck somewhere and they're asking us to figure out how to deal with it right away.
"His Majesty the Grand King Emeritus and His Majesty the King have said they will implement a currency system. Last time, they tried using paper money and it didn't work well, so this time they said they'd use coins."
Just hearing that makes my head go numb. Currency? Did he just say coins?
The back of my neck suddenly tightened and stiffened, and the world before my eyes grew dizzy.
That was the worst economic policy ever attempted because even King Taejong Yi Bang-won and King Sejong were ignorant about it.
Still, this time they said they'd use copper-colored coins instead of paper money... but there's no way that would work. The idea of making coins out of copper itself is good, though.
Every other part of it is completely botched. Bluntly put, the chances that that coin currency policy would succeed are lower than the odds of getting a first-rate score on the Korean CSAT by marking choice 1 for every question.
"For the royal lectures, stop reading the Four Books and Five Classics or any other books for a while, and stop all other policy research too. From now on, Jiphyeonjeon will examine what is right and what is wrong about introducing coins. And also how it should be carried out..."
Jeong Inji's gaze landed squarely on me.
If I were really a shameless bastard who had sold my conscience, I'd take Yi Bang-won's side and pretend not to see a flawed currency policy just to get ahead.
The thought crosses my mind that it would have been wonderful if I were that kind of person.
But I'm not that kind of person.
"Deputy Chancellor, this really won't do."
"You haven't even heard how His Majesty the Grand King Emeritus intends to implement the policy yet, have you? Then how can you be so sure?"
Obviously, I can't say, "It's because I know the future, so I can guess what the policy will be." So I need to take this in another direction.
"May I ask you something, sir? If every warehouse in Joseon, including the Office of Taxation, were filled only with coins, would the state treasury become full?"
"......No, what are you talking about?"
"Then how about filling half the warehouses with coins and the other half with rice?"
People accumulate wealth with currency issued by the Bank of Korea. The reason that's possible is that if you have ten thousand ten-thousand-won bills, you can actually buy goods worth 100 million won.
Government offices, companies, and ordinary citizens alike never question that obvious fact.
That's why we cherish and treasure a scrap of paper stuffed with cotton and hard to tear, and call it money.
But if a bureaucrat, even one who is Deputy Chancellor of Jiphyeonjeon, can't trust coins, can the common people really regard coins as currency and use them?
To my question, that old-fogey Jeong Changson answered in Jeong Inji's place.
"That's nonsense. Storehouses should hold all kinds of local specialties and rice. Coins are just things used to make trade easier, aren't they? The people hand over rice and receive coins, and they simply end up being used that way."
Just hearing it is dizzying nonsense. If even the government doesn't trust their value and won't accept coins as taxes, then what kind of currency policy can you possibly run with those coins?
This kind of policy is 100 percent, 1,000 percent doomed.
"If even the state says it can't buy rice with coins, can the people really trust coin currency and use it?"
Jeong Inji shook his head at my words.
"His Majesty the Grand King Emeritus and His Majesty the King are determined. And you can't say it will definitely fail, can you? Kim Sujan, you're young and haven't been in office long, so you may not know this, but back when hojeohwa—jeohwa collected from each household in place of taxes—was used, it did function as a kind of currency."
"Wasn't that because the government saw jeohwa as something useful even for collecting taxes? The people knew that the paper money was something the state itself used, so they thought jeohwa had value. I haven't served in office in those days, but the people today don't use jeohwa. Because, as I said..."
Grand King Emeritus Yi Bang-won is a man of the mace. He is the sort of person who charges straight ahead for the sake of his convictions and principles, whether the path is right or wrong.
Thanks to those convictions of his, I was able to put smiles on the faces of the people of Jinhae County. Because Yi Bang-won killed Jeong Hakso and turned his whole family into government slaves, which pushed me forward.
As an ally, there's no one more reliable than this man. But turn him into an enemy, and there's no one more frightening.
It's like getting a dodge-immune attack, an instant-kill move, damage over time, and area attacks all at once.
Both Jeong Hakso, who was hit by that, and the Yeoheung Min clan were in no shape to be called unscathed.
"Because even the court officials didn't accept jeohwa as tax payment."
Jeong Inji let out a sigh as he looked at me. Then he patted my shoulder.
"Listen, Kim Sujan."
"Yes, sir."
"You know this as well as I do, but the Chief State Councillor has been grinding his teeth at you. You know why, even if I don't say it, don't you?"
It must be because I'm directly rejecting the Confucian political idea, advocated by people like Xunzi and Mozi, that commerce and industry should be suppressed and absolute frugality practiced.
I haven't caused him any direct harm, but there's no way I could look good to him after denying his mistaken beliefs.
"Yes, sir. I know very well."
"Kim Sujan, you could be in danger. His Majesty the Grand King Emeritus doesn't leave people who oppose him alone. So think carefully about it."
Having said that, Jeong Inji gestured for me to step back.
"You don't seem able to handle government affairs in your current state. Take sick leave. Then come back after you've straightened out your body and mind. Frankly, among the Jiphyeonjeon officials here, there's no one who hasn't benefited from you, so take a few days to rest well and come back."
"Thank you, sir."
"If a person is too rigid, he breaks."
After hearing that, I immediately left the office. The sun was still high in the sky, and yet I was leaving work.
Even so, I don't feel happy at all.
**
My feet naturally carried me to Unjongga, the Jongno market street. I just wanted to see what Unjongga looked like.
I guess I had started to want to breathe in the smell of people living their lives.
Before I knew it, after wandering without really thinking, I had arrived at Kim Mandeok's shop.
Kim Mandeok was busy there, doing business with his usual easy charm.
"Buy some delicious dried persimmons brought from Jinhae County. I hear the wife of the Ministry of War's Jeongrang official is pregnant, and if you're looking for something sweet and tasty, Jinhae dried persimmons are the best."
"......My lord did ask for something sweet, but the price is a bit high."
"Jinhae dried persimmons are top-quality produce even worthy of being presented to His Majesty. Still, since I'm especially thinking of you, I'll only take four doe of rice for one doe of dried persimmons. Normally you'd have to give five doe. I can't go any lower than that."
"......All right."
Seeing him treat even the Ministry of War Jeongrang household slave with easy friendliness instead of throwing insults at them, it was clear he was definitely destined to become a great merchant.
Just as I was trying to settle my mind with those thoughts, Kim Mandeok spotted me and came over with a cheerful face.
"Goodness, sir! You're leaving work early today."
"Is business in the market street doing all right?"
"Thanks to your patronage, nobody in the market street is giving me a hard time, so business is doing quite well. The Jinhae dried persimmons and anchovies are selling well, so now I'm thinking of starting to sell paulownia-wood bowls too."
"That's a relief."
Kim Mandeok looked at my face and worried.
"But you seem to have a bit of worry on your face. Are you perhaps sick somewhere?"
"No, nothing like that. I just have something on my mind."
Something on my mind... Since it's state affairs, it'd be awkward to tell him directly.
Still, maybe it would be all right to ask about it in a roundabout way, like disguising your own unrequited love story as a friend's story and asking about that...
"Mandeok, let me ask you something. As a merchant, do you think profit is more important, or trustworthiness?"
"Trustworthiness is more important."
"Why is that? You need money to keep trustworthiness, don't you? And to protect your family, too."
Kim Mandeok grinned at me.
"If you abandon trustworthiness to gain immediate profit, it may feel good in that moment. But after spending quite a long time as a merchant, I found that those who abandon trustworthiness end up being hated by the merchants and customers around them. So I came to realize that betraying trust just to chase the money right in front of you is like selling off the rest of your merchant life in one go."
Come to think of it, even the Rothschild family, famous for conspiracy theories, became huge thanks to keeping their word and insisting they'd protect the money of the Holy Roman Empire's electors even if their own family went under.
If they'd gone out just to line their own pockets, the Rothschild family wouldn't have become such a byword for conspiracy theories as it is now.
"So I will keep trustworthiness. For the sake of surviving. More than that, even though I'm a humble merchant, if I abandon trustworthiness I feel guilty as a human being. Before sleeping, after waking in the morning, after eating lunch at noon, and even when evening comes."
"I see."
"Yes, so as a merchant, I will value trustworthiness more."
......Listening to him, I made a decision.
Yes, if I didn't stand up against a currency policy that would fail in order to protect my own safety... I'd regret it for the rest of my life.
I don't want to live the rest of my life as time spent in regret.
"Thank you."
With that, I went home.
Even if it meant getting beaten to death by a mace, it was a choice I wouldn't regret.