I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 75. Have You Ever Heard of Patent Rights? (6)
“Patent……? What do you mean?”
“Yes. A patent grants the person who develops a new technology or method the exclusive right to use it for a set period. And when someone else wants to use that technology, they must pay a certain fee to the patent holder. We call that fee a ‘patent fee.'”
The room fell silent. Wi Jung blinked, studying So Yeon-hui’s face.
Ju Ha-yun said nothing, lost in thought as he slowly digested her words. So Yeon-hui watched their reactions carefully before continuing.
“Truth is, I do want to help people stand against the tyranny of the local gentry. But if I provide technical or policy advice without compensation every time someone asks, I worry the relationship might deepen too much.”
“So you’re asking them to pay this patent fee in return?”
“Yes. Nearly all the advice I’d be giving would be based on new technologies anyway.”
So Jin’s eyes turned toward his daughter. Demanding payment from the royal family was, in a sense, presumptuous.
No matter how clever his daughter was or how useful her talents might be, if she offended the royal sensibilities, there was no telling what calamity might follow.
Wasn’t this crossing a line?
He called out his daughter’s name in a low, anxious voice.
“Yeon-hui.”
“General So, there is no need for concern. The young lady’s words are indeed reasonable.”
But Ju Ha-yun quickly intervened.
So Jin closed his mouth and looked at Ju Ha-yun, who offered him a light smile and continued speaking.
“General, you need not worry. The young lady is correct. It would be shameless to ask for help without offering anything in return. After all, she is not a retainer of the Wi Family.”
So Jin studied Ju Ha-yun for a moment. Since the royal had spoken first, there was no further room to object. Still, unease lingered, and he swallowed silently.
Ju Ha-yun turned his gaze back to So Yeon-hui.
“How much do you want?”
So Yeon-hui paused before answering.
“For each use of a method or technology, please provide one-tenth of the total project cost.”
Wi Jung immediately furrowed his brow and leaned forward.
“Isn’t that excessive? One-tenth of the total cost for a single technology?”
“There’s a purpose for it.”
“In your position as a convicted criminal, where would you spend so much money? Surely you don’t think indulging your own desires won’t damage the So Family’s reputation?”
Wait, what is this man saying?
“Why are you jumping to conclusions without even listening properly? At least hear me out first.”
So Yeon-hui gave Wi Jung a sharp rebuke. Faced with her fierce manner, he reluctantly fell silent.
An awkward quiet settled over the room. So Yeon-hui narrowed her eyes, glaring at Wi Jung for a moment, before continuing.
“I want half of that one-tenth to be set aside as funds for industrial accident protection for the workers.”
“Industrial accident protection, you say?”
“The funds would cover medical treatment for workers injured while using new technologies in construction or manufacturing. I want to end the practice where the government conscripts people for work but takes no responsibility when they’re hurt or die on the job.”
Why would people fear being conscripted for corvée labor?
Because even if they died or were injured while working, the state bore no responsibility whatsoever.
Moreover, if someone conscripted for labor couldn’t complete their term due to injury or death, another family member would be seized in their place.
Take the So Family itself—if his father were injured, his mother, or even So Yeon-hui herself, would be conscripted instead.
Ju Ha-yun regarded So Yeon-hui silently. Wi Jung started to speak, then closed his mouth.
The reminder to hear her out to the end seemed to echo in his ears.
So Yeon-hui continued with a satisfied smile.
“From the remaining amount, allocate eighty percent as additional wages to the workers in charge of that section of the project. Even if conscription is meant to replace taxes, surely there should be payment? These are people struggling to make a living, likely unable to pay taxes in the first place.”
People say this Dae-jin Kingdom is truly ruled by a benevolent king.
They say he established the Well-field System, considered the most ideal method in the world, creating a land where peasants can live well.
Though those living in the villages must pay the household tax, sometimes tribute, and various special levies on different pretexts.
All the same, even adding all these taxes together never exceeds about half the harvest. This is proclaimed a truly benevolent reign—an era of peace beyond compare.
‘An era of peace where revolts break out every year, large and small.’
So Yeon-hui spoke.
“One myo of land typically yields about seventeen sacks. With rice farming, the yield drops by up to twenty percent more.”
If someone eats two-tenths of a sack daily, that’s enough for one person to eat for half a year—or for a six-person family like the So Family for about a month.
But when half of that goes to taxes?
“Our So Family owns only three myo of land. Even if we cultivate it entirely and farm for a full year, after paying taxes, what remains amounts to barely a month and a half of food.”
“Newly cultivated land is exempt from taxes for one year.”
“You know how difficult it is to clear new land in the first place.”
It isn’t simply a matter of turning vacant land into farmland.
Land eligible for tax exemption due to new cultivation would almost certainly be on the mountainside, and as everyone knows, these mountains are wild untamed country.
“How many people die to wild beasts when attempting to clear land? That’s why my father strictly forbids the children from going to the fields.”
So Yeon-hui glanced at her father as if seeking confirmation. So Jin cleared his throat softly and nodded in agreement.
“Yeon-hui is right. In the first month after we began clearing, we spent all our time putting up fences and cutting vegetation to drive away wild beasts.”
In a world without tractors, harvesters, or excavators, farming works that way. Yet taxes are fifty percent? And if you fall short by even a few coins, you’re dragged to the labor camps?
It might as well be a death sentence.
“Wages are necessary, at the very minimum for survival. They’re also essential for reducing the common people’s resistance to state labor conscription.”
“You’re saying that rebellion can be prevented just by throwing in a little money?”
“Of course. Winter conscription is labor everyone avoids. But if you offer even a small wage, they’ll all volunteer, don’t you think?”
And naturally, the quality of work would improve as well.
Free labor and paid labor couldn’t possibly produce the same results.
“Here’s how you could do it. If conscripted workers can’t pay their taxes, use eighty percent of their daily wage to cover the unpaid taxes first, then give them the remainder as wages. Since four percent of the total project cost is allocated to wages, you’ll have plenty of funds available.”
“A wall-building project usually takes about three months—ninety days total. Even if you allocate five coins on paper as the wage, if you’re actually paying one coin per day, it would cost you less than half.”
“But that still means the overall project cost will increase, there’s no avoiding that.”
Wi Jung tapped his fingers on the floor as he calculated. One-tenth for patent fees, half of that for industrial accident reserves, four-tenths for worker wages…
His eyes widened as he looked at So Yeon-hui.
“Then what do you intend to do with the remaining one percent of the patent fee?”
“That would go to the So Family, and we’ll use it as we see fit.”
So Yeon-hui shrugged her shoulders. Her expression was so nonchalant that Wi Jung couldn’t immediately respond.
So Yeon-hui didn’t stop there.
“Oh, and one more thing. If safety guidelines are followed properly and no one gets hurt, with everyone returning home safely, then we don’t need to return that industrial accident reserve to the So Family.”
A patent holder who even refunded part of the fee? Where else could you find such generosity?
So Yeon-hui marveled at her own magnanimity, but Wi Jung stared at her for a long moment before turning his gaze toward Ju Ha-yun.
“What do you think? Does this seem effective?”
Ju Ha-yun kept his hands neatly folded on his lap, lost in thought for a long moment.
The structure was designed so that the vast majority of the patent fee would flow back to the workers.
It was less like selling a technology and more like using the technology as a pretext to create a framework for protecting people.
Yet…… in all of this, the name “So Family” was woven through.
The name of So Yeon-hui, the patent holder, or the So Family itself, would naturally come to light.
“Was your reason for proposing the patent fee system perhaps to restore the general’s reputation?”
So Yeon-hui’s eyes widened momentarily.
Instead of answering, she nodded slowly.
“It’s impossible for my father to be officially exonerated. But if overwhelming achievements shake the people’s hearts…….”
“The imperial court would have no choice but to consider an amnesty.”
At Ju Ha-yun’s reply, So Yeon-hui smiled quietly.
Wi Jung, having heard this brief exchange, looked at So Yeon-hui anew.
Her face was the same as before—calm, composed, as if nothing out of the ordinary had been discussed.
Yet she had woven three separate schemes into a single request for help installing the Water Conduit System.
Three birds with one stone, in that short span of time.
“We are truly fortunate that the young lady is the Crown Prince’s sister.”
What if someone with such terrifying ambitions had instead been allied with the Consort Yeon?
Wi Jung shuddered at the mere thought.
And So Jin silently observed the entire scene unfold.
His daughter, who had set conditions before the royal family and drawn out negotiations to her advantage, seemed somehow unfamiliar, yet strangely reassuring.

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