He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 95

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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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Transportation Reform (2)

I merely went to the Ministry of Taxation.

It’s not like I went there to do anything bad.

I just went to request a little more budget from the Minister of Finance.

When Minister of Finance Jo Gye-saeng saw me, he grumbled with a sour expression as if he wasn’t very pleased.

“His Majesty ordered me to allocate a particularly large budget to the Warship Bureau, so I squeezed out a budget that didn’t exist and allocated 5,000 seom of white rice. That’s half of what Gungi-si needs to make all the weapons required in Joseon, half.”

“How could I not know of Your Excellency’s consideration? As the head of the Warship Bureau, I am always grateful to Your Excellency.”

“Your words flow as smoothly as water. Yes, thanks to you, Joseon’s finances have become more abundant. The court’s revenue has tripled compared to before. When converted to white rice, that amounts to 600,000 seom. However, as revenue increased, the places where the court spends money have also greatly increased, haven’t they?”

“I am very well aware of that.”

Currently in Joseon, even in the Local Provinces, in the city centers of fairly large counties above the rank of mok, they are collecting feces and urine to make gunpowder.

The leftover residue from making gunpowder is mixed with rice straw and other materials to make compost, which is distributed to farmers.

Furthermore, county magistrates are personally going around villages and thoroughly managing waste by demolishing toilets near wells.

On top of that, a considerable budget is being spent to maintain and expand the markets established in counties nationwide.

They’re also frantically recruiting officials to manage and supervise commerce.

“His Majesty recently noticed that the Ministry of Taxation has been working overtime frequently, and said this is because the number of officials is insufficient compared to the assigned workload, so he ordered us to conduct civil service examinations annually for the next five years. He told us to select 100 people each year in the final examination of the literary track.”

“That means 100 more officials will be added each year.”

“That’s why I requested to increase the number to 150, since even if I assign them all to the Ministry of Taxation, it would still be insufficient. I received special approval. The salary to give them is also no small matter.”

“Isn’t this a necessary investment for Joseon?”

“That’s why I don’t seek you out separately to scold you about why you’ve increased expenditures like this. Look at the faces of the Ministry of Taxation officials now – can you see how exhausted they are?”

After hearing the Minister of Finance’s words, I turned my head to examine the complexions of the Ministry of Taxation officials.

They all have sunken eyes with dark circles drawn beneath them.

Recently in Joseon, King Sejong issued a ban on overtime work, saying ‘I can’t even work overtime, so why are you working overtime!’…

Even though they would normally leave work on time and get sufficient sleep, the fact that they look like this means…

Just how intense must their work be for them to look like this?

“We’re working this hard, and you came asking for more budget because the Warship Bureau doesn’t have enough to spend – haven’t you thought that’s too much?”

Jo Gye-saeng let out a deep sigh.

“… It’s not like it’s someone else, and Kim Je-geom isn’t the type to ask for more budget to waste money on useless things. I’ll try to arrange the budget somehow. So, where and how much do you think we need to spend?”

In dramas and such, you sometimes see scenes where a department head throws documents at a subordinate making reasonable requests, shouting at them asking if they think they can climb over him.

But that’s a scene used because it’s a drama – in reality, you should never do that.

Even if objectively the subordinate has made a really big mistake, if you get angry like that, they might hold a grudge and report you for workplace harassment.

So it’s better to politely refuse like Jo Gye-saeng just did, saying that while your words are correct, the current situation makes it difficult to accept your request.

And if you add words with the nuance that you’ll listen to and accept their opinion as much as possible.

It would become almost impossible to object and oppose after saying all that.

In normal cases, that is.

“The number of ship craftsmen that Deputy Envoy Hwang brought from the Ming Dynasty reaches 47. To provide these people with minimum food, clothing, and shelter, we need 800 seom of white rice.”

“No matter how important the skills they possess are, aren’t they just craftsmen in the end? It seems like we’re giving them too much…”

“Other craftsmen are only mobilized for labor for about 2-3 months a year, so they can somehow survive by earning on their own for the remaining 9 months. However, the craftsmen at the Warship Bureau work full-time, so we must ensure they can live without difficulty on their salaries alone.”

“If it were up to my heart, I’d want to give them 800 seom or even a thousand seom. But right now, the Royal Court budget doesn’t have that kind of leeway. So for now, let’s give them 400 seom, and next year I’ll somehow increase it to 600 seom.”

Money is limited, but there are countless places to spend it.

However, if you don’t spend money properly when you need to, you’ll miss opportunities to make big money.

“Your Excellency, Joseon needs many ships right now, one way or another.”

“One way or another? Why are you speaking so vaguely, unlike yourself?”

“When markets are established throughout the country and commerce develops, the production and trade of specialty products will increase dramatically. Then, instead of limiting themselves to their own counties, there will be more people wanting to expand to other regions to sell their goods. To become wealthy.”

A smile appeared on the face of Minister of Finance Jo Gye-saeng as he listened to my words.

As markets spread nationwide, the taxes paid by merchants doing business there had come to account for a large portion of the Joseon Court budget.

But if those merchants expanded their business scale to operate nationwide, their income would increase even more, and therefore tax collection would be much greater.

“Indeed, that’s right. As you say, Joseon will need an incalculable number of ships in the future. But the ships that the Warship Bureau is trying to build now are clearly ‘warships,’ aren’t they? And operating and maintaining them will require enormous amounts of money. We should build warships considering the circumstances of each naval base. Then for ship construction, let’s see, about 2,000 seom of white rice…”

2,000 seom of white rice is roughly the cost to build about 6 panokseon.

Excluding the cost of weapons to be installed inside.

Chinese treasure ships would cost somewhat less than this.

Still, with just 2,000 seom of white rice, we cannot build enough ships that Joseon needs.

“Your Excellency, you must give us at least 15,000 seom of white rice.”

Jo Gye-saeng froze in that position after hearing my words.

He seems dumbfounded.

“Although all ships built by the Warship Construction Office will be used as warships, I have no intention of just keeping these ships tied up at the naval base. I will utilize them for grain transport.”

“Grain transport, you mean using them to carry taxes? Yes, that would indeed be essential for the proper implementation of the Bangwon Method.”

“What if we use them to transport tax grain collected through the Bangwon Method, and also charge money for transporting goods and people that merchants want to move?”

“You want to let common people use warships? No matter that it’s your suggestion, I cannot accept this graciously…”

I have absolutely no intention of lending out entire warships.

Building a single ship costs over 300 seom of white rice.

With that money, you could buy a tile-roofed house of over a hundred pyeong in Hanyang.

Ships are something that people could steal and run away with if you lend them out entirely – would I be crazy enough to make such a proposal?

“We would charge money for transporting goods and people, but naturally the navy should operate the ships. This way, each province’s naval base could not only secure the funds needed to operate and maintain warships, but also obtain enormous income. Additionally, it would fill the lacking navigation experience of the Joseon Navy.”

“Using warships like merchant ships would have such advantages.”

“This way, the Ministry of Taxation could greatly reduce the budget it needs to provide to each naval base.”

In 21st century modern nations, it’s considered common sense for soldiers to only do military work and training within the army…

But pre-modern armies were actually people who did anything and everything to secure the funds they needed.

The Military Training Command, for instance, engaged in printing and publishing businesses, and even coin minting operations.

They also engaged in vicious forced sales called mupan, selling 1,000 won worth of anchovies to common people for 10,000 won.

Right now, Joseon’s military is probably securing a certain budget by producing salt and cultivating special products…

Rather than that, it would be much better to let merchants use navy warships like merchant ships to earn money and gain navigation experience.

Countries like America consider them officers working on merchant ships, and legally designate merchant marine officer training institutions as ‘naval academies’…

‘You’d be a fool not to do it.’

“In the long term, it saves costs for the navy and greatly helps Joseon’s development – how wonderful is that?”

“… I’ll give you 11,000 seom. Really, I cannot give more than this.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency.”

Jo Gye-saeng sighed while holding his forehead.

“I can’t give you any more this year, so if you need more money, use your household’s assets to cover it. If you come asking for money again next time, I’ll throw salt at you.”

I requested this budget because I have some understanding of the Ministry of Taxation’s financial situation.

I thought I could somehow get up to 10,000 seom, so that’s why I requested it.

If I knew there really was no source of money, I wouldn’t have come here. Making a fuss asking for something impossible would just be acting like a troublemaker.

“If I need more money next time, I will submit a petition to His Majesty then.”

Jo Gye-saeng blinked his eyes after hearing my words.

“To widely implement the Bangwon Method and benefit the Common People, many ships are needed. But if they cannot be properly produced, it will greatly hinder His Majesty’s efforts to care for the people. As a subject, how could I just stand by and watch such a tragic situation?”

If Joseon’s logistics situation improves, the Common People’s household items will become much more comfortable.

And until now, poor Common People had no choice but to work as tenant farmers, paying 50% in tenant fees while being forced to plow fields…

But what if they were given options to work for merchant guilds or in places like workshops?

The number of tenant farmers needed remains the same as before, but the Common People’s options have increased…

The Yangban would lower tenant fees just to avoid letting their land sit idle.

Just like how the treatment of Western Europe serfs dramatically improved after the Black Death swept through during medieval times.

“I will request that the royal treasury funds be provided.”

After saying that, I left the Ministry of Taxation.

Now that I’ve secured the money, once I help the craftsmen from the Ming Dynasty adapt to Joseon, we can start soon.

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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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