Chapter 144: The Struggle. (3)
'Entrust the establishment of textile factories using automatic looms to merchant guilds.'
The basic argument of those who opposed during the three-day debate leading to this decision was simple from the start.
—Automatic looms are not free. If the price of the looms is higher than expected, would there be merchants willing to step forward?
Thinking this point was valid, Sejong asked Hyang.
"How much does it cost to make one loom?"
"30 nyang of silver."
At Hyang's answer, Sejong could not hide his regret.
"30 nyang of silver means 10 seom of white rice, so it is expensive. As expected, the state must step forward...."
When Sejong tried to proceed with nationalization due to the price, Hyang spoke up.
"Yes, it is certainly expensive. Also, I think more than 10 looms would need to be installed at once to generate commercial profit using automatic looms. However, if we bring them in such large quantities, the production cost per unit will go down."
At Hyang's word that costs could be reduced, Sejong pointed out the problems.
"No matter how much it goes down, it won't go below half, will it? On top of that, you need to build buildings to house the looms, hire people, and obtain livestock or waterwheels to provide power—won't that cost too much? Would there really be people willing to pay that much to step forward? Especially with no track record yet."
To Sejong's doubt, Hyang answered with a firm voice.
"There are!"
"There are?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. There are still quite a few merchant guilds that survived from the previous dynasty! If it's them, it's certainly possible!"
At Hyang's words, Sejong looked at Kim Jeom, the Minister of Taxation. At the unspoken question Sejong threw, Kim Jeom immediately bowed his head.
"What His Highness the Crown Prince said is correct."
"Do you have proof?"
At Sejong's question, Kim Jeom answered immediately.
"Of the goods entering Ming through Shandong, one-third are glass products and ceramics made through the royal workshops. The remaining two-thirds are products from private merchant guilds. The volume traded in Shandong is increasing every year, but this ratio has been maintained since glass products were first released."
"The ratio is being maintained? Then does that mean the sales of private merchant guilds are also continuously increasing?"
"That is correct. Not only that, but the trade volume with Japan through Waegwan is also explosively increasing."
"I know that well. I remember receiving a report that we need to establish a trading post in the territory of the Ouchi clan."
"That is correct."
Sejong, who had been searching his memories for a moment at Kim Jeom's answer, asked Kim Jeom.
"As far as I know, the Japanese present silver as payment for trade. Then the silver holdings of merchant guilds trading with Japan must be enormous?"
"That is correct. Not only merchant guilds trading with Japan, but merchant guilds trading with Ming also have considerable silver holdings. Therefore, I fully support the plan proposed by His Highness the Crown Prince. We must absorb as much silver held by merchant guilds as possible."
At Kim Jeom's words, Sejong expressed doubt.
"Why is that?"
"Our Joseon, as well as both Ming and Japan, use silver as a means of trade. Therefore, we must maintain the value of silver at an appropriate level."
"Is that so?"
At Sejong's doubtful question, Kim Jeom answered firmly.
"It is!"
Hyang, who had been listening to the conversation between Sejong and Kim Jeom from the side, shouted inwardly.
'Yes! Minister of Taxation, nice! All that talk about prices was worth it!'
* * *
While Hyang had consistently educated them about prices, Kim Jeom and the officials of the Ministry of Taxation were feeling an anxiety slowly rising.
What made them feel anxious was the market price trends coming through the monopoly offices, the customs duties coming through customs houses, and the scale of taxes collected every year.
The officials of the Ministry of Taxation who had received intensive education from Hyang had thoroughly investigated to find whether merchant guilds were evading taxes. Thanks to this, through the incoming taxes, the Ministry of Taxation was confirming the transaction scale of merchant guilds as close to the truth as possible.
"The transaction scale of merchant guilds is growing."
"Not only the transaction scale but also the profits are increasing."
The officials reporting on merchant guilds reported one peculiar fact.
"The amount of silver held by merchant guilds seems considerable. In the past, they would have paid in kind like copper or sulfur, but now most are paying in silver."
"Paying in silver?"
When Kim Jeom showed interest, the officials immediately brought books.
"These are the lists of customs duties and taxes paid by merchant guilds. If you look, you will see that when the trading post was first established in Shandong, many paid in kind, but now almost all pay in silver."
"Hmm...."
Kim Jeom examined the records while making a sound through his nose.
Most of Ming's products coming in through the trading post in Shandong were luxury goods—silk, inkstones, musk, and so on. In the early days, Joseon's merchant guilds had paid a significant portion of these goods as in-kind payment for customs duties. But now, most merchant guilds were paying in silver.
"Hmm...."
While Kim Jeom was examining the reports with a serious face, other officials brought reports.
"What is that?"
"These are the settlement reports coming up from the monopoly offices."
"And?"
"Looking at the settlements from monopoly offices in cities where merchant guilds are located and nearby areas, the amount of silver received as payment is gradually increasing."
"The amount of silver increasing means...."
Kim Jeom, who stopped speaking for a moment, gave an order to another official.
"Go bring the records of the amount of silver paid out by the court."
"Yes, Minister."
After a while, Kim Jeom laid out all the reports brought by the officials and began comparing them.
"It's certainly more than what went out from the court."
With the start of the Gyeongjang, the court and the royal family completely abolished the tribute system. The reason was that its harms were too great. The royal family and court, having abolished the tribute, changed the method to purchasing necessary goods, using grain or silver as payment.
Besides the cost of tribute, they also paid wages in silver to those working in the royal workshops.
However, looking at the records of the Ministry of Taxation now, it was certain that the amount of silver circulating in the market was several times that.
Through cross-verification, having confirmed that the circulation of silver had increased, Kim Jeom gave another order.
"Bring the investigation of how much is paid to buy one seom of white rice!"
"Yes!"
Kim Jeom's face became even more serious as he examined the report recording the price trends of rice, the staple food of Joseon people.
"Certainly...."
When Gyeongjang first began, 1 seom of rice was traded at 1 nyang of silver or less. Of course, during the spring hardship it was more expensive than that, but during the harvest season it had maintained a price below 1 nyang of silver.
However, since last year, the price of rice had been rising little by little. It wasn't rising enough to be visible, but when comparing monthly records, it was discovered that it was rising gradually.
"This is troubling...."
Feeling the crisis, Kim Jeom immediately sought out Im Sunyuk.
"Certainly, the asking prices of goods have been rising little by bit in recent times."
Im Sunyuk, who had come running while coordinating the newly created administration, nodded and answered.
"Does this seem like it will become a problem?"
"It will become a problem. If done wrongly, those holding real goods like grain or land could make enormous fortunes."
"What do you think is the solution?"
"Please give me a few days."
Im Sunyuk, who requested time at Kim Jeom's words, visited Kim Jeom again three days later.
"No matter how much I thought about it, the answer was almost the same. The court must step forward to absorb as much silver circulating in the market as possible, and circulate currency. Also, the planned new treasury should be able to not only make loans but also accumulate wealth."
Hearing Im Sunyuk's answer, Kim Jeom fell into silent thought without opening his mouth.
After pondering for a long while, Kim Jeom made a decision.
"I must write a petition to His Majesty."
Since it had to be written not simply as a petition but with accurate cause-and-effect relationships, Kim Jeom struggled over several days to draft the petition.
Finally, at the moment he completed the draft of the petition after several reviews, Hyang reported the completion of the automatic loom.
At the moment Hyang argued for entrusting the establishment of textile factories to private merchant guilds at the automatic loom demonstration site, Kim Jeom felt a thrilling emotion.
'This is it! We can absorb the silver circulating among the people, and my work can be reduced too! Excellent!'
* * *
Having heard Kim Jeom's explanation, Sejong asked again with a serious face.
"Is it that serious?"
"It has not yet been revealed, but soon anyone will know. And when that time comes, we will have to put in several times the effort."
"Heoh~."
At Kim Jeom's answer, Sejong let out a long sigh.
"All this time, I was happy thinking that a lot of wealth was coming into this Joseon and the people were pleased. But was that a mistake?"
At Sejong's self-reproach, Kim Jeom said that was not the case.
"That is not so. Certainly, the people's lives have gained some breathing room."
"Minister, I don't understand, so I'm asking—isn't it better the more wealth comes in?"
Jo Malsaeng, who had been listening from the side, threw out a question, and before Kim Jeom could say anything, Hyang spoke up.
"Minister, it is true that it is good for a lot of wealth to come in. However, if done wrongly, it is also true that it becomes poison."
Jo Malsaeng, who still didn't understand, asked another question at Hyang's words.
"I don't understand what you mean by poison. Even now, aren't there many places to spend money, but too little coming in, causing trouble?"
At Jo Malsaeng's words, Hyang explained with a simple example.
"Looking at present-day Joseon, it is a state where there is not enough strength to digest the wealth that has rushed in. To put it simply, it's like leaving a young child to eat the amount two or three adults would eat just because they eat well, or a feast being spread before someone on the verge of starvation."
"Ah...."
At Hyang's explanation, Jo Malsaeng nodded. Sejong, who had been listening to Hyang's explanation from the side, sighed again.
"Haaah~. Really.... It grew a bit faster than I thought, but I never imagined something like this would happen."
At Sejong's lament, Hyang answered in a calm voice.
"It was something we would experience anyway."
"Something we would experience anyway?"
"Yes. From the late Goryeo period, not only agriculture but also commerce and industry were devastated. Our Joseon strove to shake off this devastation since the founding, but those advocating 'virtue as the foundation, wealth as secondary matter' despised commerce and industry. The problem is...."
As Hyang's explanation grew longer, Sejong cut him off.
"The problem is that those who preached virtue so much grabbed hold of wealth and gave little in return."
At the conclusion Sejong reached, Hyang quietly bowed his head and answered.
"That is correct."
"Hmm.... Let me think for a moment."
Sejong became like a stone statue right there and fell into thought.
After pondering for a long while, Sejong finally reached a conclusion.
"Very well! I will accept the Crown Prince and the Tax Minister's plan. Summon the merchant guilds and put it to bid! This is done by my expediency, so I will take all responsibility!"
At Sejong's words that he would not accept any rebuttal, all the ministers bowed at the waist.
"We receive your command."
The historian who recorded all these events added the following.
'All matters are carried out by My expediency, and I will take responsibility.'
With His Majesty making such a decision, all the great and small officials bowed and dared not refuse.
The historian comments.
Just a few years ago, we worried because the nation had no money, but now we have become an era worrying that wealth overflows in the market.
However, the historian did not even get to see that wealth.
Once Sejong made his decision, the ministers immediately began preparations.
* * *
Having confirmed Sejong's decision and returned to his room in the Eastern Palace, Hyang muttered while looking at the reports piled high on his desk.
"It's fortunate that it's now when there's still some capacity left."
From the Three Kingdoms period, merchants of the Korean Peninsula engaged in vigorous commercial activities. The term 'Sillabang' was created because merchants of the Korean Peninsula traveled to and from China conducting commercial activities.
And this activity continued vigorously through the Goryeo period.
However, with the invasion of the Yuan Empire, economic chaos from the rise of powerful aristocratic families, and economic deterioration from Japanese pirate invasions, the power of merchants on the Korean Peninsula gradually weakened.
What Hyang considered fortunate was that this was the early Joseon period.
There were still not just a few specific merchant guilds, but large and small merchant guilds remaining.
Having organized the situation, Hyang let out a sigh.
"Huu~. If it had been the mid-Joseon period, I wouldn't even want to think about it. Would it have been better if it were the late Joseon period instead?"