Wokou Can Be Put to Good Use (2)

Ming had a saying: "Northern barbarians in the north, wokou in the south."

Because the Northern Yuan, descendants of the Mongols, and the Jurchens were wreaking havoc in the north, while the south was plagued by wokou—many of them Chinese—roaming the seas as pirates.

Joseon's situation was not all that different from Ming's.

Up north it was the Jurchens, and down south it was the wokou; getting headaches over them was an everyday affair.

“I really do need to do something about those Japanese bastards. How should I handle it?”

The key to the Bangwon Law is water transport.

Among these, shipping by sea the rice and various specialty goods collected through the Bangwon Law is extremely important.

If Joseon failed to secure control of the seas, the Joseon court's tax revenue would drop by as much as thirty percent.

On top of that, since Joseon is surrounded by mountains and overland transport is extremely difficult, the pace of commercial development would be terribly slow.

That would throw a wrench into my goal of pursuing a comfortable life for all the people of Joseon...