He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Great Cleanup (4)

In the historical records, there’s a record of Lee Bang-won saying something like this.

‘Even if there’s a bad harvest, collect taxes the same as in normal years.’

Just hearing those words, Lee Bang-won would seem like a person obsessed with squeezing the common people dry.

However, the reason he said this was because of a bad habit of the country called Joseon.

Since the government policy was that taxes must be reduced unconditionally, during this period the royal court didn’t even provide lunch for officials, and magistrates would lie about good years being bad harvests to reduce the taxes they had to pay to the central government.

Would Jinhae County be any different? Of course not.

If this background hadn’t existed, King Injo wouldn’t have created the Yeongjeong Law, which considered all years as Haha years (bad harvest years) regardless of good or bad harvests, collecting only 4 du of rice per gyeol of land.

“What are you talking about now, Magistrate?”

“Don’t play dumb. The tax records I saw for this county clearly stated that last year’s rice farming was an average year (neither bad nor good harvest). But looking at other tax records, it says there wasn’t enough rain and only about 200 du could be harvested per gyeol of land, marking it as a bad harvest.”

During King Sejong’s era, paddy field farming wasn’t widespread yet.

Nevertheless, since the fertilization method of applying fertilizer had developed, there was no longer a need for fallow periods when growing rice.

Social chaos had also stabilized, so the harvest yield had increased considerably.

As a result, farming could now yield 300 du of rice per gyeol, which is 20 seom of rice. Unless there was a bad harvest, that is.

“Currently in Joseon, we collect 10% of the harvested rice as land tax, so normally you should pay 30 du of tax per gyeol… but our county claims to have harvested 200 du due to bad harvest and pays 20 du… no, you agreed with the previous magistrate to collect only 17 du citing bad harvest.”

“… Magistrate. This is customary practice.”

Joseon is a country that believes collecting less tax is unconditionally good. That’s why some fool who made the royal court struggle with lack of money is serving as Chief State Councilor.

That bastard Ryu Jeong-hyeon just didn’t get caught by the law like Jo Mal-saeng, but he’s someone who killed several people through usury.

Well, that’s not what’s important right now.

What’s important is that these bastards here deceived about taxes in front of Lee Bang-won, who’s obsessed with securing finances.

“You see, ever since I passed the civil service examination with top honors until now, I have never once been obsessed with government positions. I have only devoted myself with the heart of wanting to repay His Majesty’s grace.”

Actually, rather than being worked to death by King Sejong like Minister Hwang Hee, I want to resign as soon as possible and return to my hometown to live a comfortable life.

But if I rashly request resignation, King Sejong would probably assign someone like Hwang Hee or Heo Jo, or any of the ministers in the royal court to me and attempt to reform my mindset, so I can’t do it.

Hwang Hee had said he would personally educate me, calling me someone who only talks big.

They wouldn’t just stand by and watch me submit a resignation petition to the Royal Court and retire to the countryside without any plausible justification.

So I had no choice but to work myself to death.

Just removing one injustice that I can see makes countless Common People comfortable. Their joyful smiles are also beautiful.

“Since taking office in this County, I have never once taken any corrupt profits. Unless Saheonbu intends only to frame me for treason, even if it takes time, my innocence will be proven.”

Local Clerks, Merchants, and even I as the Magistrate have actually taken what we reasonably could.

Compared to what other magistrates have taken, it’s not much, but I’ve still accumulated enough wealth to buy a tiled house in Hanyang.

If I didn’t take at least this much, the Merchants and Local Clerks would see me as an evil spirit possessed by the ghost of incorruptible integrity.

However, the income I’ve taken is ‘legal income’ that can absolutely never be judged by Joseon law, and can’t even be prosecuted.

In other words, even if Saheonbu finds it offensive that I made the previous governor look bad and sues me for the crime of being offensive, it would only end with dismissal from office. There would be no further punishment. So what will happen to these guys?

“As the Magistrate of Jinhae County, may I compile this disloyal fact I’ve discovered into an Official Report to His Majesty? If that happens, something very unpleasant seems likely to occur.”

Those people are the ones who dared to deceive the king and embezzle taxes in front of Lee Bang-won, who stakes his life on collecting taxes. Therefore, they have a very high probability of suffering a terrible fate like Jeong Hak-so.

This is common sense that anyone in Joseon who has studied even the Thousand Character Classic can deduce, common sense.

The Scholar who had been telling me it was customary knelt down.

When he knelt, the other scholars followed suit exactly.

“Magistrate, we were wrong. Please forgive us. We will follow your words well.”

“If we who are well-off bear just a little more burden, we can feed the Common People to their fill. We are only ashamed that we tried not to act despite knowing this.”

If I make them bear more taxes, the livelihood of the County’s Common People will definitely improve.

Though it’s heavy Tribute Tax, if they bear a bit more of the burden…

I can reduce the Tribute Tax burden on the destitute, those who don’t even own a single plot of land, by that much. This is exactly what proper tax policy should be.

Collecting a little less from the poor who wouldn’t be strange to starve to death immediately, and collecting that much more from the rich.

And if I were to fight with them, I might taste the joy of victory for a moment, but…

If I’m a newbie in Jinhae County, those guys are famous users who made names for themselves in the Gallery.

In other words, if those bastards cause trouble, the entire county will become chaos.

Besides that, my ‘those who have more pay a little more’ policy would be immediately abolished if the magistrate changes, making the common people’s lives difficult again…

If you’ve tightened discipline with the whip, you must also give the carrot.

“I am truly delighted that the virtuous scholars of our Jinhae County are lending me their strength. The foolish common people will surely feel deep gratitude for how you are lightening their burden.”

“The county’s people will know what we’ve done for them and be grateful? Then this too cannot but be a thankful matter.”

Though the yangban say such things, their expressions are completely sour.

I said the common people would appreciate their donations, but they’re probably thinking what benefit that would bring them.

Right, well, I have no intention of giving those bastards financial compensation or reducing their taxes. That much is true.

But I plan to give them something that Joseon scholars value more than their own lives.

These scholar types are the kind who would throw away their own lives without hesitation for their family’s honor.

“Thanks to you all bearing more of the tribute tax burden, won’t the common people whose livelihoods have improved gather their saved pennies with grateful hearts to erect a merit stele?”

At the mention of a merit stele, life returned to the county scholars’ eyes and smiles appeared on their faces. On the faces of people whose expressions had been completely rotten just moments before.

To scholars who stake their lives on honor, offering to erect a merit stele inscribed with achievements their families can boast of for generations… it’s natural they’d be so pleased.

Frankly speaking, when scholars risk death to take the civil service examinations, they’re not simply going to ‘serve in office’… like me, their greater purpose is to secure honor as yangban, so important is honor to scholars.

County scholars being so excellent and great that they receive a merit stele? It becomes something their families can boast of for generations, making it a profitable deal for those fellows.

“You speak of a merit stele?”

“Merit steles are originally erected voluntarily by the common people… I cannot be certain, but even a mere crow doesn’t forget the kindness of the parents who raised it. Though they may not know letters or the Four Books and Three Classics, do the county’s people who learned the minimum moral duties one must observe as a human from you scholars here appear to be such ungrateful wretches that they wouldn’t express even that much gratitude?”

In truth, not all merit steles were erected voluntarily by the common people.

When a magistrate treats the common people well and also keeps the yangban happy… it’s also erected by agreement between yangban and commoners as a ‘warning’ for other magistrates to see and do well too.

However, in this case, since I ordered the yangban to pay more taxes, I plan to instigate public opinion to erect a merit stele in return, whether using government slaves or whoever.

Though erecting a merit stele costs quite a lot of money, if the county’s people each contribute a penny or two, it won’t be such a great burden… and the year’s worth of tribute taxes they’re paying instead will be several times the cost of the merit stele.

Even if their kindness is transparently motivated by seeking honor, I think this much should be done for them. Only then will the yangban bastards feel rewarded and continue this behavior.

Right now I’m just telling them to pay more tribute tax, but next time I’ll tell them to invest money and slave labor in public works projects for the county.

They’ll make him sacrifice for the county with things like building reservoirs.

“… Hmm hmm.”

“I will submit an official report to the Royal Court about this as a very beautiful example.”

“We will bear a little more tax burden for the sake of the common people.”

“Thank you.”

I’d like to fix even the wrongful land taxes… but this is as far as I can go right now.

Even just this much means I’ve cleaned up many taxes that tormented the common people.

Even if I couldn’t clean up all the filth, it’s become quite livable for people.

“Now then, today I would like to treat you all as a token of gratitude for your dedication and resolve. It’s modest, but please eat plenty and enjoy this occasion.”

Isn’t this exactly the ideal example of cooperation between nobles and magistrate in a county?

The magistrate receives ‘voluntary tax payments’ from the nobles to conduct public works needed by the county’s common people and even provide relief for the extremely poor, while the nobles get praised.

Having money extorted from them would naturally look disagreeable.

But what can those bastards do about it.

Moreover, erecting a merit stele is essentially like being preserved for posterity.

That guy is such an excellent fellow that he will continue to spend his private wealth to help the common people for our sake.

Even his descendants and relatives take pride in this, so he can’t stop either.

Even if the magistrate changes, they’ll have no choice but to donate assets for the common people, though the scale might differ.

Of course, while gaining honor in the process.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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