Chapter 40
There is no such thing as a perfect human being in this world, and there is no such thing as a perfect system or law, either.
Every country in the 21st century has adopted democracy, but that does not make democracy perfect.
It is simply chosen because it has far fewer flaws than despotism, where everything depends on the monarch alone.
Of course, the Daedong Law is not all advantages.
It just has far fewer drawbacks, both in number and severity, than collecting tribute does.
So, with implementation of the Bangwon Law approaching, we had to spare no effort to minimize the drawbacks and maximize the benefits.
But judging from the look on Ryu Jeonghyeon's face as he visited the Ministry of Revenue, it didn't seem like he had come in with any "good intentions."
"Minister of Revenue."
At his words, Hwang Hui looked tense.
"As you know, Joseon's roads are terribly inconvenient. There isn't a single official here who doesn't know how poor Joseon's transportation is. Everyone had a hard time getting up from their hometowns to Hanyang to sit the civil service exam."
If you watch period dramas or historical epics set in the Joseon era, you often see scenes of people staying together at inns on mountain roads.
And not just for one night, either, but for several days at a time.
Of course, it wasn't as if people in that era treated inns like hotels or went sightseeing by staying there... The reason is that if you walk mountain roads day and night, a huge tiger can suddenly appear, meow, and eat people.
Using the roads was unbearably inconvenient, and because flat land was scarce, if you went even a little farther you had no choice but to cross rough mountain paths.
I had a really hard time when I went to Hanyang to take the civil service exam, too.
“The mountain roads are as treacherous as can be, and if you stay at a private house along the way to take the exam, you can often hear stories of tigers showing up and eating people. And roads that aren't mountain paths are just as rough.”
Ryu Jeonghyeon strode toward me with a smug look on his face.
Having a man as high-ranking as the Chief State Councillor come up to me like this and put on this kind of pressure... the pressure was immense.
Of course, compared with what I felt when I submitted a grievance memorial before Yi Bang-won in his black dragon robe and with an iron mace in hand, it was nothing.
‘What exactly are you going to use to kill me?’
Once I changed my thinking like that, I felt a little more at ease.
In truth, that guy had gotten this far because he was good at following Yi Bang-won's wishes.
He had not hesitated to make all kinds of accusations, and he had even carried out the role of killing Sim On, which was how he could rise to that position.
By Joseon standards, Ryu Jeonghyeon was a man who had committed plenty of crimes that could mean the death penalty at the king's whim, or a pardon at the king's whim.
A bastard like the treacherous ministers of late Goryeo, who used usury to swell the number of slaves and slowly devour land across the country. He even gave offices to men who were good at collecting usurious debts.
Ah, to be precise, it was the post of "yeokseung"—the stationmaster—but if they did well, he would have them transferred to a new posting and turn them into regular officials.
"With roads this rough, how are you supposed to haul the white rice collected from each district? Do you think that sounds easy?"
To think the man who was Chief State Councillor was saying exactly the same thing Song Siyeol had said when he came out against the Daedong Law.
Song Siyeol had opposed the Daedong Law for these reasons.
"The Daedong Law? I think it's truly a good law in terms of purpose. It's meant to reduce the burden on Joseon's commoners and help them live better—who would oppose that?"
"But here's the thing: transporting rice is no easy job. Joseon has so many mountains that even using carts is difficult. So how are you supposed to move all that heavy rice?"
"You say we can transport it by water? Water transport is all well and good, but depending on the weather or the conditions, boats can easily flip over or sink. Every time that happens, the tax losses are no small matter, and the jojol—the people who work in grain transport—keep dying one after another."
"In the end, isn't the point of the Daedong Law tax relief? Then rather than pushing through a Daedong Law with all these side effects, it's better just to cut taxes to one-third and lighten the people's tax burden."
I know that bastard Song Siyeol also loved Joseon dearly—more precisely, the Joseon that the Westerners had all to themselves—but seeing Ryu Jeonghyeon say something similar, it seems he too loves Joseon deeply. As they say, when things reach the extreme, all rivers return to their source; in the end, the essence is the same...
It's remarkable how the logic and grounds of the two are in perfect alignment.
"Since carts can't be used on mountain roads, in the end the commoners will have corvée labor levied on them and be made to haul it on shoulder yokes. Let's see, Kim Suchan."
"Yes, my lord."
"Under the Bangwon Law, they said they'd collect 18 do of white rice per gyeol of land, right? Then for 1,000 gyeol of land, you'd have to collect 18,000 do, which comes to 180 seom of white rice. Truly an enormous amount."
The weight of 180 seom of white rice comes to a staggering 32.4 tons. If you think about how one ox cart in Joseon can carry roughly 500 kg...
That's enough to require sixty-five ox carts to haul it.
If carried on a shoulder yoke, one person usually carries about 100 kilograms, so this would require 324 yoke bearers.
Thus, the implementation of the Daedong Law was seriously hampered by transportation problems.
"Of course, they wouldn't actually haul all of it on yokes. When moving it to Hanyang, they'd try to use water transport whenever possible. But even that wasn't easy."
Ryu Jeonghyeon's face bore a smile, and his voice was so soft and gentle that it was beyond kind. Anyone who didn't know him would mistake him for a very dignified, refined gentleman.
But that man's true feelings were absolutely not gentle.
That man was the Chief State Councillor—basically the equivalent of the Prime Minister in modern Korea. If a man like that couldn't properly act 'nice' when necessary, would he have been able to rise to that position?
"Back when I was Minister of Revenue, I managed the grain transport ships that carried tax rice from each county to Gyeongchang (the central government granary). The Ministry of Revenue takes in about 100,000 seom of white rice every year, you know. Hauling that was no ordinary hardship."
This is exactly why the implementation of the Daedong Law was delayed.
The grain tax from Jeolla, Chungcheong, and Gyeongsang had to be brought by sea to Hanyang... and during King Taejong's reign, it was said that if ten grain transport ships were used to move the tax rice, one of them would sink.
Well, honestly, that was exaggerated no matter how you looked at it. In reality, one in ten ships probably didn't sink.
However, ships did keep sinking one after another, and people did keep dying—that much was an undeniable fact.
"It was very common for grain transport ships loaded with hundreds of seom of white rice to sink while bringing it in. Five to ten ships sank every year. Building one ship cost 200 seom of white rice, and it carried 400 to 500 seom of white rice aboard it... so per ship, an astonishing 700 seom of tax grain ended up as fish food. And that's not all—there would also be dozens of jojol aboard, and they too would lose their lives in vain."
"Is that so?"
"If the Bangwon Law is enacted, won't we have to operate tens of times more grain transport ships than we do now?"
...... No, that's not it. In the first place, even if you collect 18 do of rice per gyeol, 15 or 16 do of that will go to the magistrate's personal share, gifts he sends to officials and relatives during the holidays, what the clerks and other office underlings skim off, local taxes, and so on.
"When great ministers like Ryu Seongryong, Yi Hangbok, and Yi Wonik advocated the Daedong Law after the Imjin War, do you think they were saying for no reason that even if only '1 do' were collected per gyeol, it would be more than enough to cover all the tribute sent to the capital?"
But there's no way this man didn't know that.
And even if you collect 1 do of white rice, will it go up to Hanyang still in 'white rice' form? It won't.
The white rice would be exchanged for tribute goods before being sent up.
"Your Excellency, when I was briefly serving as magistrate of Jinhae, I saw that the abuses of tribute collection were so severe because the brokers took on the role of the sajuin—middlemen who receive the money needed for tribute and exchange it locally for tribute goods—and passed everything on to the gyeongjuin—who inspect the tribute before it is sent to the palace—where all sorts of corruption took place. The gyeongjuin tried to handle things fairly and impartially, but the sajuin committed all manner of corruption and wrongdoing."
Truth be told, the sajuin were bad and the gyeongjuin were bad too. Both were rotten bastards.
Still, I left the gyeongjuin out of it because they had risen to the very top among the licensed merchants, making them untouchable men who could send their daughters as concubines to princes, royal relatives, and ministers...
Everyone knows it. That both are rotten, I mean.
"Under the Bangwon Law, sajuin are forbidden from taking tribute in rice; instead, the magistrate's office will directly collect the tribute value in rice, as the law requires. The office will use the rice it has collected to buy tribute goods directly and send them to Hanyang. So, as Your Excellency worries, there is no need to rapidly increase grain transport ships in order to send tribute from each district to Gyeongchang."
"......"
"And when I was magistrate of Jinhae, I heard from merchants that Joseon's jojol always sail only along the coast by law. But across Joseon's eight provinces, especially the three southern provinces, the coastal sea lanes are rough and full of reefs, harsh waters that even experienced sailors are reluctant to navigate."
The merchant mentioned here is Kim Man-deok. One time, after getting drunk, I heard him rant about how pitiful Joseon's jojol are because of this...
'If you become a minister, please, don't make the jojol sail only along the coast.'
He had said that. I agree with him.
For example, after King Jeongjo died, private merchant ships took over transporting the grain tax, and they sailed the open sea instead of hugging the coast, making the trip far faster and easier than the jojol did. Thus, they proved that all that talk about the transport route and the like didn't amount to much.
"So merchants often sail far around the sea, and they say it's much safer than sailing along the coast."
Ryu Jeonghyeon's expression soured.
"The common people are now suffering and starving to death because of corrupt petty officials and the sachal acting as sajuin. As one who receives the state's stipend, how could I hesitate to set this right?"
"...... So you already had a plan for everything."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
I replied calmly.
"The Bangwon Law will be a law that opens a better tomorrow for the people of Joseon. It will be pushed forward without neglect, so please don't worry.."
Once I fix the problems and see the new Bangwon Law enacted, I think I can submit my resignation after that.
Isn't this all just about Joseon doing well and me doing well... that kind of thing?