He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 18

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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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Merit Stele (2)

The country called Joseon is a nation where introverted people cannot survive.

Even living in Hanyang, neighbors know how many spoons each household has, and they all know stories about whether the neighbor Gae-ddong got divorced and is remarrying or not.

Because poor people, no, even yangban cannot survive in pre-modern Joseon society without helping each other.

Besides, there’s no particular leisure activity other than spending hot nights with one’s wife at home…

It’s basic common sense in Joseon that when people who’ve been close since childhood gather, they start chatting while holding takbaegi.

In this natural scene, Jang Dol-i, who belonged to Kim Man-deok’s Merchant Guild, opened his mouth.

“Uncle, aunties, have you heard that news?”

“What news are you talking about? How would we know? If you’re thinking of telling us that Deok-man, the representative old bachelor of our Baenamu Valley, is getting married, forget it.”

“Everyone in Jinhae County knows about that guy getting married, so why would I tire my mouth talking about that? That Deok-man, who usually acted like such a miser, even came to me saying he’s getting married and bought me a bowl of that soup rice or whatever that the new Magistrate created at the market!”

“Oh my, since a person who seemed like he’d never marry in his lifetime is getting married… even Deok-man has become a proper person.”

If Deok-man had been here, it would have been a story that would make him furious, asking what’s so amazing about an old bachelor getting married.

Even if he hadn’t been called stingy with kindness until now, he had acted like a miser, but to say he became a proper person by getting married when it seemed like he’d never marry in his lifetime…

It was no different from being seen as an old bachelor who seemed like he could never get married even if he died.

He couldn’t stand them cowardly scratching at his insides based only on facts.

“Then what is it?”

“The yangban lords, thinking of us common people, will pay the same amount of tribute tax as when those corrupt monks were around. Instead, they’ll reduce the amount of tribute tax that poor folks like us have to pay by that much.”

At the mention of further reducing tribute tax, those around Jang Dol-i perked up their ears.

No, even those who had been doing business nearby came running over.

Other stories might be different, but this was about reducing taxes that were a burden to them, so they couldn’t help but be interested.

“Except for that bastard Jeong Hak-so who died last time, the yangban lords aren’t particularly harsh people… but they’re not virtuous enough to pay our tribute tax for us, are they?”

Anywhere you go in the Eight Provinces of Joseon, the ancestral rite day of the local yangban house becomes the village festival day.

Because if a yangban performs ancestral rites without gathering the village people and feeding them plenty of delicious food, their reputation falls within the village.

As their reputation falls and continues to fall, they won’t be treated as yangban even in the county’s yangban society, so they tearfully set up feast tables on ancestral rite days that hundreds of village people can eat and still have leftovers.

Moreover, when there are bad harvests, he opens his own warehouse and distributes grain for free.

While these people do have their human side, it’s also because if they don’t do this, they might be devoured by the tiger that is hungry common people.

So the county people only regarded the nobles as folks they were grateful for during ancestral rites… but suddenly these people are dedicating themselves for the common people? It was more than a little suspicious.

“Jang Dol-i, didn’t you mishear that?”

What Jang Dol-i heard was 100% true. And it had to be, since the person who told him to spread this word far and wide was none other than Kim Man-deok, the head of his own trading company.

And who is Kim Man-deok? He’s such a remarkable merchant that the Magistrate who cares for the people more than any other magistrate Jang Dol-i has seen personally comes to seek his advice.

Anywhere you go in the Eight Provinces of Joseon, there would be no other merchant besides his master whom officials visit not to receive bribes, but to seek advice.

‘But he told me not to reveal this.’

“You know my cousin’s brother-in-law’s daughter has now entered as Hobang Nari’s concubine, right?”

“Who doesn’t know that. So my cousin received a gyeol of land and was bragging about it with his mouth split wide – feels like it was just yesterday. Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt.”

“This is what I heard directly from my cousin brother. My cousin brother said that our Magistrate gathered all the noble lords and personally persuaded and enlightened them, so the noble lords voluntarily said they would bear more tribute tax.”

The mysterious phenomenon of nobles voluntarily offering to pay more taxes.

However, the people of this county had already reached the point where they believed that whatever Magistrate Kim Dae-bung said he would do, it would come to pass no matter what.

He had cut tribute tax in half, returned the rice embezzled by corrupt monks to the people, established a market to provide entertainment and even means to earn a living… so it was understandable.

“And from what I heard, that’s not all.”

“Did he do something else?”

“They say he’s building several weirs (reservoirs) on Dongcheon and Seosacheon. If you participate in that, he’ll reduce your grain loan by the amount of daily wages.”

“… He’ll reduce grain loans for doing corvée labor (public works)?”

“He even says he’ll provide snacks and dinner so the workers won’t go hungry. With the taxes paid by the noble lords.”

Those who heard this felt dizzy. It was because they had heard one after another stories that they couldn’t understand with their common sense.

Originally, corvée labor was something where if the magistrate said he would do it, it was natural to mobilize people without pay, and they had to prepare their own meals. It was the same when building Gyeongbok Palace, and the same when building Changdeok Palace.

It was common sense as natural as water flowing from high to low, but this magistrate says he’ll reduce ‘grain loans’ if he assigns corvée labor?

It was something they absolutely could not understand with their minds, no matter what method they used.

“I don’t know about busy farming season, but during the off-season or when I have time, I should definitely go out, right?”

“If lots of weirs are built, there will be fewer bad harvest years too.”

Building fortress walls isn’t something that immediately helps them, but building weirs on rivers reduces the chances of bad harvests and…

It will also become easier to cultivate farmland, making it much more convenient to clear and own my own land.

No matter how I look at it, this policy has only good points and not a single bad aspect.

“The Magistrate has persuaded the noble lords well. But listen, won’t it all end when the Magistrate leaves?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

The man who had said it would end when the Magistrate left asked Jang Dol-i argumentatively.

“The Magistrate has persuaded the noble lords well so they’re doing this now, but do you think this will continue when another Magistrate comes?”

Jang Dol-i barely managed to hide the smile forming on his lips.

Kim Man-deok had promised to give half a seom of rice to all employees if they could incite, no, persuade the Common People to erect a Merit Stele.

If he could persuade the people here to erect a Merit Stele, he would essentially get half a seom of rice for almost nothing.

“Then how about we erect a Merit Stele?”

“A Merit Stele?”

“Since the noble lords have generously given their wealth for poor Common People like us and for the County, we should also express our gratitude by asking them to write something and erecting it.”

“Are you really Jang Dol-i? Why have you become so smart?”

“What does that matter?”

The Jang Dol-i they knew was just a guy who made a living doing odd jobs at Kim Man-deok Trading Company, not such a clever person. So they thought it was a bit suspicious, but…

Right now, what was more important than that was the fact that the noble lords were paying lots of taxes, reducing their tribute tax, and they didn’t have to worry about repaying relief grain by working on dam construction during the farming off-season.

If they worked during the farming off-season, the relief grain they had to repay would decrease, and if they were also given meals… this was no different from rice multiplying by itself.

“The important thing is, if we erect a Merit Stele to show our gratitude to the noble lords… the noble lords won’t be able to stop something that even has a ‘Merit Stele’ erected for it, right?”

The suspicion about why Jang Dol-i was saying such smart things completely disappeared with the single phrase “won’t be able to stop.”

Their taxes had decreased and their lives had improved. A method to maintain this for a long time was coming from Jang Dol-i’s mouth, so they felt it didn’t matter who might be behind that fellow.

“Noble lords pointlessly like having their names remembered by future generations. So if we erect a Merit Stele to thank the noble lords, they’ll continue as they are now, right?”

“If all the County’s Common People pool together, it probably won’t cost much.”

“When the noble lords are willing to pay more taxes, we can’t fail to do at least that much.”

As public opinion gathered like this, those who had been talking here also gradually dispersed.

They had to do business, and whether they went home to spank their wives’ bottoms or went to tend their kitchen gardens, they had things they needed to do.

And they immediately scattered in all directions to spread the word.

“I heard that… the Magistrate persuaded the nobles for our sake to pay some of the tribute tax in our place?”

“Since our taxes were reduced thanks to the noble lords, shouldn’t we at least erect a Merit Stele for them?”

“It’s better for those people to hear a word of gratitude than to do it just with empty words…”

And not long after, a Merit Stele praising the virtues of the nobles was erected in the county.

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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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