He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 31

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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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Currency and Paper Petition (2)

Jiphyeonjeon is Joseon’s policy research institution and academic research organization.

In short, anyone who shows promise gets kidnapped and brought here to conduct all sorts of policy research, plus additional academic training – so you could say it’s a ‘graduate student’ training institution.

“Kim Soo-chan seems to be full of leisure today as well.”

“Dr. Choi (Choi Man-ri), shall I help you with something?”

Choi Man-ri has a lower government position than me. He’s 7th rank, and I’m 6th rank.

However, Choi Man-ri is 6 years older than me… Since we’re both yangban officials, it’s awkward to speak down to him openly, but using honorifics is also ambiguous, so this kind of dynamic plays out.

“Don’t you have too much work, Soo-chan, what with the task the Minister of War assigned you and having to design and make farming tools?”

“That’s true, but as a member of Jiphyeonjeon, I have enough leisure to briefly help Dr. Choi.”

No matter how much I want to quickly submit my resignation petition and retire, having no ambition for promotion, I have no intention of unnecessarily raising the difficulty of my government service life.

Like Yulgok Lee I, I haven’t even done Myeonsillye yet, so if I’m also unsociable, only enemies will remain around me. Then when I try to resign and return to the countryside, someone might falsely accuse me for no reason…

Building the most friendly relationships possible with Jiphyeonjeon officials is essential.

And that person Choi Man-ri is called a Confucian old-timer because he opposed Hunminjeongeum. But looking at his reasons for opposing Hunminjeongeum, they were at a level that even modern people could understand.

The real Confucian old-timer who said the people were like pigs and dogs is Jeong Chang-son, who’s looking at me with suspicious eyes from that corner over there. Jeong Chang-son and I are people of very different dispositions who couldn’t build a good relationship no matter how hard we tried.

“Soo-chan truly seems remarkable.”

“I’m just faithfully doing my assigned work.”

It’s true that because I’m performing the role of Jiphyeonjeon GPT, the work burden on all of Jiphyeonjeon has decreased.

Thanks to this, Jiphyeonjeon officials also work overtime only one or two days out of seven, rather than constant overtime, and leave work on time other days.

So even though I haven’t done Myeonsillye, the other officials are gradually acknowledging me as a member of Jiphyeonjeon.

But if I work too leisurely by myself, I’ll be guilty of being presumptuous and Jiphyeonjeon Vice-Director Jeong In-ji will throw all sorts of work at me… I’ll need to find the right balance.

“The hard life of a Jiphyeonjeon official seems more bearable when shared with Kim Soo-chan. I’ll treat you to a drink on the next holiday.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

While we were having this warm conversation, Jeong In-ji entered Jiphyeonjeon with his face severely crumpled.

Looking at that expression, it doesn’t seem to be simply because of ‘overtime work’. What kind of major incident has occurred?

First of all, Jiphyeonjeon is a ‘policy research institution,’ not an organization that handles wars or such matters, so it’s not like they’d suddenly demand we figure out how to deal with natural disasters that have struck somewhere.

“Retired King and His Majesty have decided to implement a currency system. Since the paper money didn’t work well last time, they’ve decided to use copper coins this time.”

Just hearing this makes my head spin. Currency? Did he just say copper coins?

Suddenly my neck feels tight and stiff, and my vision becomes dizzy.

That’s exactly the worst economic policy that King Taejong Lee Bang-won and King Sejong implemented due to their ignorance.

Still, this time they said they’d use copper-shaped coins instead of ‘paper money’… but that still won’t work. The idea of making coins from copper itself is good.

It’s because all the other ideas are completely screwed up. Frankly speaking, the probability of that copper coin currency policy succeeding is lower than the probability of getting a grade 1 on the Korean SAT by marking all answers as number 1.

“Stop reading the Four Books and Three Classics and other books for royal lectures for now, and halt all other policy research as well. From now on, Jiphyeonjeon will examine what aspects of introducing copper coins are right and what aspects are wrong. And also how to implement it…”

Jeong In-ji’s gaze landed squarely on me.

If I were truly a bad person who sold his conscience, I would pretend not to see the wrong currency policy while watching Lee Bang-won’s reactions for the sake of advancement.

I think it would have been great if I were that kind of person.

However, I cannot become that kind of person.

“Deputy Director, this really won’t work.”

“Haven’t you not even heard how Retired King intends to implement the policy? So how can you be so certain?”

Obviously I can’t answer that I know the future and can predict the policy content. So I need to approach this from a different angle.

“Let me ask you, sir. If we filled all of Joseon’s warehouses, including the Ministry of Taxation, with only copper coins, would the National Treasury become abundant?”

“… What are you talking about?”

“Then what about filling half the warehouse with copper coins and the other half with rice?”

People accumulate wealth with currency issued by the Bank of Korea. This is possible because if you have ten thousand 10,000 won bills, you can actually purchase 100 million won worth of goods.

Government agencies, corporations, and even individual citizens don’t doubt this obvious fact.

That’s why we call pieces of tear-resistant paper stuffed with cotton ‘money’ and cherish them dearly.

But if officials, especially someone who’s a Deputy Director of Jiphyeonjeon, don’t trust ‘copper coins,’ can the common people regard and use copper coins as currency?

That old-fashioned Jeong Chang-son answered my question in place of Jeong In-ji.

“That’s nonsense. Granaries should contain various specialties and rice. Copper coins are just items used to make transactions convenient. The common people will pay rice and receive copper coins, and naturally use them that way.”

Just hearing about it makes my head spin with this nonsense. The government doesn’t trust the value itself and won’t accept copper coins as taxes, yet what kind of monetary policy are they trying to implement with such coins?

This kind of policy will fail 100%, 1,000%.

“If even the government says it can’t buy rice with copper coins, how can the common people trust and use copper currency?”

At my words, Jeong In-ji shook his head.

“The will of Retired King and His Majesty is strong. And you can’t say it will definitely fail, Kim Soo-chan. You’re young and haven’t been in government service long, so you might not know well, but in the past when we used Hojeohwa (paper currency collected from each household instead of taxes), it functioned quite well as currency.”

“That’s because the government saw paper currency as something useful that could also be used when collecting taxes. The people knew that paper money was also used by the government, so they thought paper currency had value. I may not have experienced government service in those days, but right now the people don’t use paper currency. Because as I said…”

King Taejong Lee Bang-won, he is a man of the iron mace. It means he’s someone who charges forward recklessly for his beliefs and convictions, whether it’s the wrong path or the right path.

Thanks to his convictions, I was able to bring smiles back to the faces of the people of Jinhae County. Because Lee Bang-won killed Jeong Hak-so and made his entire family into government slaves to support me.

When he’s an ally, there’s no one more reliable than this person. But when you make him an enemy, there’s no one more terrifying than this person.

It’s like unavoidable, instant death, damage over time, and area attack all hitting at once.

Both Jeong Hak-so who got hit by that and the Yeohung Min Clan were all left in shambles.

“Because the Royal Court officials also wouldn’t accept paper currency as taxes.”

Jeong In-ji looked at me and sighed. Then he patted my shoulder.

“Listen, Kim Soo-chan.”

“Yes, sir.”

“As you know, the Chief State Councilor is grinding his teeth at you. You know why without me having to say it, right?”

It’s probably because I’m directly denying the Confucian political concepts that Xunzi, Mozi, and others advocated – suppressing commerce and industry and practicing unconditional frugality.

Though I haven’t directly harmed him, he can’t look favorably upon me for denying his misguided beliefs.

“Yes, sir. I’m well aware.”

“Kim Soo-chan, you could be in danger. Retired King doesn’t leave alone those who oppose him. So think carefully about this.”

After saying that, Jeong In-ji gestured for me to withdraw.

“It seems you can’t handle government affairs in your current state. Take sick leave. Come back after you’ve straightened out your mind and body. Frankly speaking, there’s no one among the Jiphyeonjeon officials here who hasn’t benefited from you, so take a few days to rest well.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“If a person is too rigid, they break.”

After hearing those words, I immediately left the court. To leave court when the sun is still high in the sky.

Yet I feel no joy at all.

**

My feet naturally headed toward Unjong-ga (Jongro Market). I simply wanted to see what Unjong-ga looked like.

I suppose I wanted to smell the scent of human life.

Walking without much thought, I soon arrived at Kim Man-deok’s shop.

Kim Man-deok was there conducting business with his usual cheerful manner.

“Come buy delicious dried persimmons from Jinhae County. I hear the Military Affairs Assistant Director’s wife is with child – if you’re looking for something deliciously sweet, Jinhae dried persimmons are the best.”

“… The Assistant Director did tell me to buy something sweet, but the price is rather expensive.”

“Jinhae dried persimmons are top quality that are even presented to His Majesty. But I’ll give you special consideration – just four doe of rice for one doe of dried persimmons. Normally you’d have to give five doe. I can’t reduce it any further.”

“… Very well.”

Seeing how he treated even the Military Affairs Assistant Director’s slave with such cheerful familiarity, without any condescension, he’s definitely material to become a great merchant.

As I was thinking this and trying to organize my thoughts, Kim Man-deok spotted me and approached with a pleased expression.

“Oh my, sir! You’re leaving the office early today.”

“How’s business at the market?”

“Thanks to your influence, sir, no one at the market gives me trouble, so business is going quite well. The Jinhae dried persimmons and anchovies sell well, so now I’m thinking of gradually selling bowls made from paulownia wood too.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Kim Man-deok looked at my face and showed concern.

“But you look somewhat troubled – are you perhaps feeling unwell?”

“It’s not that. I just have some concerns on my mind.”

Concerns – since it’s a matter of state, it would be inappropriate to confide in him directly.

Still, just like how someone might ask about their own unrequited love by disguising it as a friend’s story… wouldn’t it be fine to ask indirectly by framing it as someone else’s situation?

“Man-deok, tell me. As a merchant, do you think profit is more important, or do you think integrity is more important?”

“Integrity is more important.”

“Why is that? You need money to maintain integrity. And to protect your family too.”

Kim Man-deok looked at me and smiled broadly.

“If you abandon integrity to gain immediate profit, that moment might feel good. But having done merchant work for quite a long time, I’ve learned that those who abandon integrity end up being hated by fellow merchants and customers alike. So I’ve come to understand that abandoning integrity to chase immediate money is like selling off your entire remaining merchant life.”

After all, even the Rothschild Family, famous for conspiracy theories, began to rise to prominence because they kept their word, saying they would protect the money of the Holy Roman Empire’s electors even if their own family perished.

If they had only looked out for their own money, the Rothschild Family wouldn’t have earned the reputation as synonymous with conspiracy theories like they have now.

“So I will keep my word. To survive. Furthermore, though I am a humble merchant, if I abandon my integrity, I will suffer pangs of conscience as a human being. Before sleep, after opening my eyes in the morning, after eating lunch at noon, and even when evening comes.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, so I will value integrity even more as a merchant.”

… Listening to his words, I made up my mind.

Yes, if I don’t oppose the currency policy that’s bound to fail to protect my own safety… I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.

I don’t want to live the rest of my life in regret like that.

“Thank you.”

With those words, I went home.

For the sake of making a choice I wouldn’t regret, even if it meant being beaten to death with an Iron Mace.

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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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