He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 8

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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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Grassroots Market Economy (1)

After becoming a county magistrate, I understand why King Sejong made corrupt ministers like Hwang Hee and Jo Mal-saeng pay for their crimes with lifelong exile.

When I declared that I would turn a blind eye to the bribes the local clerks had taken, and that I would decide whether to spare them based on how they worked going forward.

The local clerks are working frantically like fish that have found water.

Watching them, I naturally understand.

“Oh my, Tax Clerk sir, please stop. We’ll carry these things ourselves.”

“Watching you guys carry things makes me feel like my stomach will burst. When I was young, eh? I could carry two straw sacks of rice at once and still fly around!”

The director of the military office, equivalent to an executive director in a company, personally stepping forward to do menial labor like carrying loads. What a rare and precious sight this is.

I didn’t particularly order those guys to do that, but they’re rolling around working hard on their own.

No wait, if their work doesn’t satisfy me, I might send a heartfelt letter to the king anytime. They’re pleading with their whole bodies for me to spare them. It’s a tearful ass-kissing show.

Behind those guys, I can see the image of some comedian saying “Let me show you once.”

Who told them to join hands with corrupt monks and embezzle so grandly?

When a loach thrashes about, even a cuttlefish thrashes too – a junior officer who got scolded by the Tax Clerk was now berating the soldiers below him.

“If you don’t finish today’s assigned work, I die and you bastards die too! Don’t forget that my fist is closer than any military law or regulations!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Do I look funny because I’ve only been talking lately? If not, run like hell! Run so fast your soles can’t be seen! Hey, Jang Bok! I told you not to put that there – did you hear me with your toes instead of your ears?”

“I’m sorry!”

“Does being sorry end your military service?! Move it over there right now!”

Actually, before starting this work, I really didn’t scold Ibang or the Tax Clerk. I only said that if I wasn’t satisfied, I’d have no choice but to submit an Official Report.

But the further down it goes, the more people seem to be getting harsh treatment… Should I tell them to take it easy?

And while the local clerks are guilty people who embezzled a lot, what crime did the soldiers and slaves who are getting worked to death have?

They just worked because their superiors ordered them to.

Having rolled around exhaustingly in the military for 2 years myself, I know their pain and sorrow. Now I should gradually intervene and show the magistrate’s mercy by letting them have some makgeolli and good food.

“Magistrate, Magistrate…”

Clerk Kim came running in urgently, calling for me. Did something bad happen?

Right now, wherever you go in our county, you can hear the people shouting “Long live the Magistrate!” and since the common people’s heavy burden of tribute tax has been reduced, their lives have become quite livable…

“Magistrate, Magistrate! I’ve finally finished organizing all the market-related regulations!”

Dark circles were deeply shadowed under Ibang’s eyes.

His eyes were also bloodshot red, so it seemed he hadn’t slept at all for several days.

Since this is an era without fluorescent lights, he would have had to work on documents by candlelight… his eyes couldn’t possibly be fine.

He should have been more moderate even when committing survival-based corruption.

When a person commits a crime, they have nothing to say even if worked to death. But what about me?

To avoid being criticized by King Sejong, who works his slaves (ministers) so terribly that even demon-like professors who exploit graduate students would give a standing ovation, I’m not doing a single bad thing that could violate the ‘law.’ What a pitiful and pathetic fellow.

“You’ve worked hard. Tell me the specifics.”

“Yes, Magistrate. First, we plan to collect two doe of rice monthly as market tax (stall fees) from merchants who want to do business in the market, and two hop of rice from common people. And as you instructed, if someone does business without paying the market tax, we plan to confiscate all the goods they’re selling and drive them out.”

“… Confiscation, isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“We need to go that far to prevent bandits from sneaking into the marketplace pretending to be poor and hiding their true identity to cause trouble. If they pay the market tax, even if they’re bandits, they’ll be ones who know to fear the government office.”

In dramas set in late Joseon, there are many scenes of peddlers waiting at inns for one, two, or three days. It’s absolutely not because those people are lazy.

It’s because tremendous dangers lurk on mountain paths. There are huge beasts like tigers, leopards, bears, and wolves, and quite many people who turned to banditry because making a living was too difficult.

Since bandits can’t survive only on stolen goods, they sell their stolen items when markets are set up.

Distinguishing and handling all of that would be impossible even mobilizing all of Joseon’s administrative power… so that’s a realistic alternative.

“But there’s one problem.”

“Yes, Magistrate.”

“Most of those who set up illegal stalls (selling without permits on mats) in the marketplace are people who don’t even have food to survive the day, selling things like firewood, wild vegetables, and straw shoes. For such people, even two hop of rice would be burdensome. For those people, if the county household register clearly states they are people of Jinhae County, let them be exempted from the market tax.”

“The people will be moved by the Magistrate’s warm heart.”

“Since His Majesty sent This Magistrate here to do this, as a subject, shouldn’t I look after everyone with care?”

When I first took office as magistrate here, I was only thinking about crushing the rotten system and normalizing the county so as not to disappoint Hwang Hee and Heo Jo.

But seeing the people’s joy directly, and hearing news that village festivals were being held because their lives improved thanks to me…

A feeling of love for the people gradually began to grow in my heart.

Not like those damn corrupt politicians who only care about their own gains. A magistrate who truly cares for the people – wouldn’t it be okay to have at least one such magistrate?

“And as the Magistrate instructed, we intend to create a distinction between merchants and farmers participating in the market. Merchants will be allowed to set up shops closer to the government office in the marketplace, while the common people will be positioned in the outer areas. Furthermore, merchants will be allowed to conduct business in the marketplace daily, while farmers will only be permitted to sell goods in the marketplace once every month on the 5th, 15th, and 25th.”

Law offices, tax accounting offices, and accounting firms are all clustered together. You might think being clustered together would be more disadvantageous… but in fact, it’s said to be more advantageous.

Since all the professional offices are gathered in that neighborhood, when you need to find an accountant, you go there… and among them, you find an eye-catching office and entrust your work to them.

The items farmers sell in the marketplace are predictable anyway. It’s better for them to all gather together and do business.

If someone comes to sell straw shoes and manages to sell all their straw shoes, how nice would it be to buy some wild vegetables with the money earned and return home.

“Well done. And one thing you must pay close attention to is when merchants band together to sell goods at ridiculously high prices or commit fraud. You must crack down on it immediately.”

“How could there be any doubt?”

Ibang spoke quite confidently, as if his determination to do well was firm.

Well, if he doesn’t want to die, he’ll work hard… like hell.

Once someone has done something bad once, doing it a second or third time isn’t difficult.

I’m not Confucius or anything, so how could I possibly reform those who were corrupt officials?

First, I’ll beat them up, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll have a conversation with a sword in hand.

“If I hear even the slightest news that you’re handling your work carelessly, something very enjoyable will happen.”

Local clerks in Joseon are equivalent to local government officials in Korea. In pre-modern society, the status of government officials, even at the lowest level, was similar to other professions except for lawyers and doctors.

In a country that can’t even pay proper salaries to such people, preventing them from receiving personal gifts?

I can’t even imagine what would happen. So completely eliminating corruption is impossible.

All I can do now is keep it within a controllable range.

“… How could that be possible?”

“Clerk Kim.”

“Yes, Magistrate.”

“This Magistrate, you see, had dreams of reaching high office, so I took the civil service examination and even became the top scorer to become a minister. But if I can’t maintain my convictions, I’ll just return to my hometown.”

The most frightening person in the military is an officer who has given up on promotion. The reason is simple. If a lieutenant or sergeant who has given up on promotion hands over materials related to the military unit to the Defense Security Command?

Everyone including the battalion commander would be finished. They would have enough power to even affect whether the regiment commander gets his star.

What more, a county magistrate who has given up on promotion? Just thinking about having such a person as my superior is terrifying.

“…”

“If I can’t maintain my loyalty to His Majesty, wouldn’t that make me a treacherous subject rather than a loyal one?”

In Joseon, the word “treacherous subject” is a polite way of saying “traitor.”

And in Joseon, it’s basic common sense that traitors have their three generations exterminated. This is a declaration of my will to work even at the cost of my family’s lives.

“I’ll be watching. And one more thing I want to say is don’t just work all the time, go inside and rest a bit. But before that, make arrangements to generously provide those soldiers and slaves who have been working all day over there with a bowl of takbaegi, rice, soybean paste, and vegetables to wrap and eat. This Magistrate cannot bear to watch them work while starving.”

“How could there be any objection.”

“If word gets out that the workers are going hungry, This Magistrate will be very disappointed.”

After saying that and returning to the Government Office, an unexpected visitor appeared.

I thought perhaps the scholars of the county had come saying that the policies I’ve been implementing lately don’t make sense…

But he was neither a scholar nor a wronged common person… he was a merchant.

“I am Kim Man-deok, a merchant who deals in anchovies and dried persimmons on a small scale. I have something I wish to petition the fair and just Magistrate about, so I have come here.”

… Looking at his eyes, it doesn’t seem like he came to make a corrupt request. What exactly did he come here for?

And if the Local Clerks allowed him an audience with me, there’s a high possibility he’s a big shot with the economic power of a county notable.

Naturally, he must have come knowing that if I thought poorly of him, I could torment him in various ways, whether by beating him with a beating stick for daring to request a conversation with the Magistrate as a lowly merchant, or whatever else.

“Let me hear what you have to say.”

This type of person usually turns out to be a good person who brings profit…

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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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