Chapter 32
Chief State Councilor Ryu Jeonghyeon, whose name had become renowned across Joseon as the kingdom's foremost fiscal-policy expert.
The policies he pursued were truly revolutionary.
Xunzi taught that a state could make its people wealthy only by taxing them lightly and living frugally, and he wanted to apply that directly to Joseon's economic policy.
He abolished the policy of providing lunch to the civil officials, eunuchs, clerks, petty officials, and government slaves who worked in government offices, calling it too costly.
If they were hungry, wasn't it enough for them to pack a lunch at home and bring it with them?
On top of that, he thought only officials needed to receive stipends, and that soldiers were merely people who had to be fed and kept alive, so he argued that paying them stipends was a waste of public funds and should be avoided.
“A treacherous wretch like Kim Daebung has appeared and is ruining the court's proper spirit. Truly, I worry about the court's future.”
He went to great lengths to cut wasteful spending at court. At the same time, he thought it unacceptable to pay officials' stipends—one of their income sources—in old rice, so he changed the rule to have them paid in fresh rice instead.
Fresh rice and old rice were both rice, of course, but if two seom of old rice were worth one seom of fresh rice... then being paid in old rice meant the officials' stipends were being cut, and that was unacceptable.
“That vile Kim Daebung is blinding the Former King, His Majesty, and the ministers. How could one not be heartbroken over this? Even this old retainer must step forward and offer loyal advice.”
Of course, offering loyal advice also depended on timing, method, and choosing the right content. Just as when you first begin studying, you don't start with the Four Books and Three Classics—you start with the Thousand Character Classic.
To get rid of Kim Daebung, the treacherous minister who was obscuring the king's clarity, he had to proceed step by step.
That way, the people would stay focused on farming and not be distracted by anything else, and the peasants who had no land of their own and were always short of food would borrow money from him at usurious rates.
Then he could collect high interest, and even better, peasants who couldn't pay it would become his slaves, making his household wealth grow even more.
As he was wondering how to cut Kim Daebung down without it causing trouble later, one of his slaves carefully came up and reported.
“My lord, an Assistant Reader from the Hall of Worthies has come to see you. Should I send him away?”
There was only one Assistant Reader from the Hall of Worthies who would come looking for him: Jeong Changson, the promising talent his family placed high hopes in because he never held back from offering loyal advice.
Normally, it would be impossible for some lowly ninth-rank nobody to come straight to see the Chief State Councilor... but Ryu Jeonghyeon was especially fond of young men, or to be exact, young men with the right sort of ideas (by Ryu Jeonghyeon's standards).
“It seems Jeong Hyojung, Jeong Changson's courtesy name, has come. Bring him in here, and prepare a modest tray of refreshments.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Jeong Changson offered Ryu Jeonghyeon a bow that was flawless by the standards of etiquette.
“Chief State Councilor, I am sorry for coming so suddenly without sending word.”
“For Assistant Reader Jeong to come hurrying here like this, I assume you have something urgent to tell me. And right now all the scholars of the Hall of Worthies and those supposed ministers in the Six Ministries have been deceived by treacherous wretches like Kim Daebung and now think lightly of the Way of the Sages... I know very well that you alone in the Hall of Worthies are walking the proper path.”
In plain terms, he was saying that Kim Daebung was a first-rate bastard who would go on to become a traitor like the Eulsa Five, and that the officials who followed him were no different from pro-Japanese collaborators who abandoned Joseon and chased only their own selfish gain.
On the other hand, he was also laying on praise for himself and Jeong Changson as loyal subjects who would fight to the end for the country's independence.
If that weren't the case, a Chief State Councilor wouldn't have called a junior official like 'Kim Daebung' a treacherous villain and sycophant right in front of him.
“That fellow Kim Daebung boldly declared that the policy of minting and distributing coins that His Highness the Former King is pushing will definitely fail. As a subject, how could he say that a policy His Highness has poured his heart into will fail before it has even begun? He passed the civil service examination as a top scorer at a young age and, by sheer luck, succeeded in benefiting the people of Jinhae-hyeon, but isn't he truly unbearably arrogant?”
“Ho ho, our Assistant Reader Jeong is full of youthful spirit.”
“Forgive me, my lord.”
“A fiery temper is a young man's privilege, and properly guiding it is an old man's duty. I know that your anger comes from being unable to bear injustice when you see it, so how could I possibly blame you?”
Joseon's worst austerity fanatic and the future 'great loan shark' Ryu Jeonghyeon, who would later even kick up a fuss over Prince Hyoryeong's son-in-law not repaying his debt, and the old fogey Jeong Changson, who would stand before King Sejong and say the people were dogs and pigs who couldn't be educated.
The two of them got along far too well. Ryu Jeonghyeon genuinely liked this young man.
If possible, he even wanted to keep pulling him up through the ranks.
“Honestly, it's hard to like the fact that a scoundrel like that is getting ahead while we leave loyal men like Assistant Reader Jeong in the dust. Still, Heaven has helped us. Because the man's rotten to the core, he overestimates his own abilities and is digging his own grave right now, isn't he?”
“You mean Kim Daebung's grave?”
“Exactly. That fellow is heading straight toward the spot where he'll die. He struts around as if he were already a minister, and why do you think he was exempted even from the new official initiation rite? Because His Highness the Former King and His Majesty favor him, of course. But now he has gone and opposed currency, one of the cherished projects of those two majesties—has the fool gone mad and decided he wants to die? Well, one objection won't get Kim Daebung taken down right away, of course...”
Ryu Jeonghyeon's eyes sparkled.
“Submit a memorial saying that man opposed the currency policy. Then I too shall step forward to set the court's discipline straight.”
Kim Daebung had wanted to oppose the currency policy purely for Joseon and for the people.
But Ryu Jeonghyeon's purpose was different. He, too, wrapped himself in the appearance of serving Joseon, but in truth his motives were different.
Because as long as Joseon's people remained as poor as they were now, his own wealth would keep increasing and he would grow richer.
If Kim Daebung properly carried out economic policy and the people became wealthy enough that they no longer borrowed from him at usurious rates, then what would become of him?
“If a loyal retainer is too spirited, His Highness the Former King is the sort of man who would exile him or rebuke him harshly to mold him properly. Before long, Kim Daebung will be exiled to some remote place in Pyeongan Province.”
“......”
“Don't be too hasty. When people grow physically distant, their hearts grow distant too. That isn't just a story about romance between men and women. For now, we may not be able to stop him from setting up periodic markets in every county he wants, but we can stop him from stationing officials there.”
Jeong Changson was deeply impressed by the Chief State Councilor's seasoned skill at riding the political currents without taking any losses himself while sending the other side to ruin.
So he had even been thinking of neatly dealing with that future traitor Kim Daebung. He, too, wanted to become a shrewd politician like Ryu Jeonghyeon someday.
“As expected, the Chief State Councilor's wisdom is comparable to that of Zhuge Liang.”
“Ho ho, are you flattering me now? Well, I don't dislike hearing it.”
A tray of refreshments was placed before Ryu Jeonghyeon and Jeong Changson.
In a cheerful atmosphere, they exchanged stories about the Joseon they thought should exist.
Until late at night.
**
Kim Man-deok told me,
that losing trust was like death.
And that I would be tormented endlessly by my own conscience, not by anyone else.
I deeply sympathized with his words.
What is more frightening than dying is carrying regret with you all the way until you die.
If I had stepped forward and filed a memorial about the currency policy...
My eyes fell on Jongno's licensed market stalls. Looking at them brought Jinhae-hyeon's market to mind.
Though it was much smaller, everyone at the Jinhae-hyeon market looked happy.
They were poor commoners, but they thanked me for creating the market and shared precious food with me.
They were so happy to give me the most precious food.
I, too, thought their feelings were so lovely and so touching that I shamelessly ate until my stomach was about to burst.
“If currency is implemented, Joseon will face a great economic depression.”
Of course, the aftereffects of the economic depression Joseon's people would experience would be infinitely smaller than those of the Great Depression.
However, countless people would be killed, or suffer pain no different from death, because of a mistaken economic policy and a flawed currency system.
The Veritable Records of King Sejong record a case from the days when the current Chief State Councilor, Ryu Jeonghyeon, was serving as joint director of the Gyeongsi Office (the office that supervised Hanyang's licensed markets), when a peasant arrested for not trading in trash coins was flogged to death.
And similar things must have happened all the time in the local counties as well.
Everyone sacrificed in this era was socially weak, while the wealthy and powerful were untouched in the slightest.
Those who died in the depression were only the young commoners.
“I have no choice but to step in.”
I don't know whether I will ever have another chance to return to Jinhae-hyeon.
If I ever happen to visit Jinhae-hyeon by pure chance...
If I heard that the Jinhae-hyeon people who had written a memorial signed by a thousand people and even erected a commemorative stele to thank me had died because of the currency, because I hadn't stopped it... truly, it would be unbearable.
I was afraid I would regret it forever.
“Aren't you Sir Kim Suchan? The court hasn't convened yet... no, why are you not wearing your official robes and instead dressed in white mourning clothes? And what is that axe in your hand, and what is the servant following behind you carrying a mat for?”
“...... I have no intention of entering Gwanghwamun with an axe in my hand.”
“Well, of course...”
I stopped talking to the gate guard at Gwanghwamun and told the servant to spread out the mat.
I placed the axe on top of that mat.
If it were Yi Bang-won, he might kill me for opposing the currency policy.
Yi Bang-won and King Sejong are the sort of people who would push the currency policy through at the risk of their lives, looking hundreds of years ahead.
I, too, might be swept aside.
But even if I die, I don't want to regret it. That's how I feel.
“Your Majesty, using coins as currency now is the road to Joseon's ruin! Please heed this humble subject's plea!”
The face of the Gwanghwamun guard who heard my words turned snow-white.
Even that military officer would know what opposing the currency policy means.
“Please hear this subject's memorial! If you will not listen, then strike this subject's neck with this axe!”