Chapter 52
Taejong Yi Bang-won's purges were swift, precise, and impressive.
The same went for Prince Yangnyeong's in-laws, and King Sejong's in-laws as well.
According to the "Confucian notion" that one's maternal family is off-limits, he sent off people who absolutely should never have been purged...
He spared people he didn't need to kill—people he might have had nothing to say about even if they died—but whom he judged posed no threat to his royal authority, and he tried his best to apply guilt by association as sparingly as possible.
No need for further explanation; just mentioning that the current Minister of Justice in court is Jeong Do-jeon's eldest son should make it clear enough.
Now that I've looked into the personality of Yi Bang-won, the man who entrusted me with the role of secret royal inspector, and the kind of purges he prefers...
Though I'm not a test taker, I have to carry out the difficult task he gave me; how should I think and act to solve this problem?
As I was lost in thought over that, Kim Mandeok cautiously asked.
"Sir, why did you decide to start in Anseong first? Wouldn't it have been easier to inspect districts closer to Hanyang than Anseong?"
"I figured it would be easier later if I started from the farthest place. So I deliberately came to Anseong first, since it's the farthest county and prefecture among the ones I have to cover."
Among the regions Yi Bang-won told me to inspect, Anseong is the farthest from Hanyang.
Of course, in Joseon, where there are no cars or trains, traveling around multiple cities is a hardship in itself.
"I see."
"Ah, and there's one more important reason."
When solving a problem, understanding the examiner's intent matters more than anything.
That was true for the CSAT, and it was true in office life too: if you can't figure out the "exam setter's intent" or your boss's intent, it's hard to get good results, and even if you do your work well, there are cases where you never rise above assistant manager.
It's a sad thing, but there are countless people who work incredibly hard and well, yet end up laid off by companies because they go against the bad direction their boss wants or fail to flatter properly.
On the flip side, there are plenty of cases where people rise to department manager even if they're a bit incompetent, simply because they read their boss's intent well.
So, as a Joseon official, it's important that I first figure out Yi Bang-won and King Sejong's intentions... I should probably share my answer sheet with Kim Mandeok, right?
"To make an example of one and warn a hundred."
"...... Are you planning to impeach the Anseong magistrate?"
If I used the authority of a secret royal inspector, I could make the Anseong magistrate a man who would never hold office again.
All I'd have to do is dig up every bit of petty corruption hidden in the county and every issue that comes up from enforcing the Bangwon Law, then report them one by one.
But sending the magistrate away and putting things back in order like that would only be second-rate.
A first-rate official should make the magistrate regret his mistakes of his own accord, and fix what he did wrong himself.
"Who in Joseon doesn't take sujeung—bribes given as holiday gifts? And how can we say the yangban and the clerks aren't colluding and lying that this year is a poor harvest? How can we say there isn't anyone claiming to own 100 gyeol of land while saying they only have 50 gyeol and asking for their taxes to be lowered?"
There isn't a person in the world who won't kick up a speck of dust when shaken. If there were, that would be a god, not a human being.
Much less in Joseon—if I set out to shake things down, who wouldn't end up revealing some sign of hidden assets concealed for tax evasion?
"If I were to inspect the county with the resolve to catch every last one of those schemes, there wouldn't be a single Anseong magistrate or Anseong yangban family left."
That's not what Yi Bang-won wants.
If a lawful, uncompromising inspection wipes out all the corrupt yangban, other yangban will simply have to take their place...
...and the resulting administrative vacuum, village security vacuum, and breakdown of order would be impossible to deal with. Anarchy is truly terrifying.
Because with no government, women would be raped and murders would happen, and with no one to punish the criminals, the people who don't commit crimes would be the fools.
So I don't intend to wield the mace Yi Bang-won entrusted to me in some unnecessarily scrupulous way.
"Isn't it impossible in Joseon not to accept sujeung, or not to give it? We should just do exactly what the Bangwon Law prescribes. If someone owns 100 gyeol of land, all you have to do is collect taxes on 100 gyeol."
"So you don't intend to wipe out the Anseong magistrate and the yangban after all."
"That's right. I'll just warn them that His Majesty the Retired King will be very angry if they don't comply. That's how we'll set order straight."
On the battlefield, if there is a soldier who deserts, or attempts to desert, he is almost always shot dead.
And he dies in front of everyone. The reason is extremely simple.
The one being executed dies because he committed a crime deserving death anyway, and the other soldiers, by watching it, burn into their bones the lesson that they must not desert if they don't want to die.
"I don't intend to do anything like that unless it's unavoidable."
Of course, if something truly exceptional happens, I'll have no choice but to revise my approach and resort to tough measures. I don't like seeing blood.
"Ah, come to think of it... when are you planning to hold your wedding?"
"If I don't have a wedding within the year, Father says he'll just pick a daughter from a decent family for me. I don't really know what to do."
It might not be something I should say to Kim Mandeok, who gave me his daughter as a concubine, but ah! Who am I really supposed to marry?
If things keep getting tangled like this, I'll have no choice but to go out on Dano and pick the prettiest young lady from a noble house on the swings.
As I was seriously worrying about the marriage issue, a cheerful song sung by the people drifted over from far away.
Right now it's harvest season, and in the meantime the Bangwon Law has been proclaimed throughout the country and has gone into effect... so they must be singing merrily because taxes have gone down and life is good.
"Let's go over there."
"Yes, sir."
As you often see in dramas and movies, a secret royal inspector is shown storming straight into the government office and bringing everyone down the moment he senses the magistrate's corruption.
In truth, that's only staged for dramatic effect. If you make your appearance like that in the open, you're guaranteed to be exiled to Samsu and Gapsan.
Let's think about it logically.
Even when the police start an investigation, they need a certain amount of reasonable evidence before they can get a search warrant and order you to report to the station.
If you were called to the police station out of the blue with no evidence or grounds at all, that officer would face every kind of disciplinary action for abuse of power.
Much less if you investigate a magistrate who is a full four ranks above me without even circumstantial evidence—what do you think would happen?
So, at the start of a secret royal inspector's work, you have to listen to local rumors first, and only after you've caught clear signs of a crime should you make your appearance. That's proper exercise of official authority.
"Kim Mandeok, you alone come with me. I'll have a drink or two with them and ask whether anything good has happened."
"Yes, sir."
Kim Mandeok and I went straight to where the feast was being held.
Though two strangers suddenly appeared, they couldn't tell us to get lost when they saw us.
Because both Kim Mandeok and I were disguised as noblemen who had taken the civil-service exam and were on their way home.
"...... Let me ask you one thing. What is so good that you're celebrating like this even though it's not a holiday like Hangawi?"
At my words, a farmer answered with a broad grin.
"Because taxes have gone down thanks to the newly proclaimed Bangwon Law, we can eat well and live well, so of course we're smiling. Before, even tenant farmers like us who didn't have a single patch of land had to pay three or four seom of rice per household in tribute. Now we only have to pay 13 doe per gyeol."
When I heard the words 13 doe, my head went blank.
Right, well, since sharecropping is said to be half-and-half, the average rate is 50 percent.
Let's say one gyeol is 18 doe, and you can pay about half of that.
But 13 doe per gyeol? That's crossing the line.
Still, you can't be full after the first spoonful, so let's let that go for now.
"Taxes really have gone down enough to make life worth living."
"Yes, now I can even feed my children until they're full. Or I can tighten my belt a little and buy land. It's a really wonderful world."
The people's faces were full of smiles.
If I put this in a memorial and send it to Yi Bang-won, he'll be thrilled.
But even if the Bangwon Law benefits everyone, the world is still full of corrupt official bastards.
There will be plenty of scoundrels who use the loopholes and weak points in this law to commit corruption.
To put it bluntly, for people who used to be squeezed for three seom of white rice, being told they only have to turn over two seom would be enough to make them shout for joy.
There'll inevitably be people who try to slip into that gap and embezzle the taxes.
Let's see, the only thing that comes to mind right now is tampering with the size of the doe-bak measure or something...
Without saying a word, I was lost in thought when Kim Mandeok stepped forward and asked the people.
"Though I did fail the civil-service exam, I don't want to go home empty-handed, so... could you tell me where the tribute goods offered to the king are sold?"
Kim Mandeok fumbled around and handed the peasant a fairly large bundle of cotton cloth.
The person who received it waved it off and refused.
"Goods offered as tribute aren't something just anyone can buy. You have to be introduced by the local clerk or a local yangban. Otherwise, buy them through a temple."
The core of the Bangwon Law is that the government office gives rice, and merchants provide tribute goods in return.
Therefore, goods from merchant 00 have to be directly tradable...
...but you can only buy them through a temple?
Our Anseong magistrate—looks like you'll need to be visited by a secret royal inspector to come to your senses.