Chapter 180: The Latter Stages of Gyeongjang (5)
As many tenant farmers from across Joseon moved to the Samnam region, they came to rely on local government offices, military garrisons, and provincial headquarters along their way.
Once those tenant farmers and their families stayed for a day and departed, the relevant government offices, military garrisons, and provincial headquarters immediately submitted reports to higher authorities. These gathered reports ultimately arrived at the Ministry of Personnel in Hanseong, where they were sorted and organized.
The organized reports were presented to Sejong daily. After reviewing the reports, Sejong turned to look at his ministers.
"Progress is proceeding smoothly."
"Indeed, Your Majesty."
"How long do you expect the movement of tenant farmers to continue?"
At Sejong's question, Heo Jo answered immediately.
"It appears it will continue until early March."
"Then, is there sufficient farmland for them to return to?"
At Sejong's question, Kim Jeom answered immediately.
"At the current rate, it will be exhausted by the end of February."
"Hmm..."
At Kim Jeom's answer, Sejong examined the calendar.
"The end of February is not far away. Then, execute the Third Plan immediately, and prepare for the Fourth Plan as well so that we do not miss the timing."
"We shall obey your command!"
As the ministers bowed their heads, Sejong instructed them once more.
"The success of this plan only ends when the Fourth Plan is safely completed. Please keep this in mind and devote yourselves fully."
"We shall bear this in mind and carry it out faithfully!"
The ministers answered in unison.
* * *
As the great migration of tenant farmers progressed, a question began to circulate among tenant farmers throughout the country.
'Why must we give 50% of the harvest to the landlord?'
Doubts about 'Byeongjak-bansu' (halved harvest sharing), which had until then been a kind of unwritten rule, began to spread among many tenant farmers.
* * *
Traditional Byeongjak-bansu had been practiced since the Goryeo dynasty.
At harvest time after a year of farming, the harvested grain was divided equally between the landlord and the tenant farmer. Under a rice farming system where irrigation facilities were inadequate and production was irregular, this was a reasonably rational system.
However, as time passed, various problems began to surface.
In years of poor harvest, tenant fees would decrease or disappear entirely, but the standard was when production decreased by more than 70% compared to normal years. Simply put, tenant fees would only be reduced in truly life-threatening situations.
Additionally, there were issues with byproducts generated after harvest. The most representative was straw. Straw was usefully employed in various aspects of farmers' lives—for roofing, twisting ropes, weaving sacks, and more. However, when the landlord provided the seeds, the landlord took all of this straw as well.
Another problem was taxation.
Originally, tenant farmers were exempt from taxes. However, for various reasons, taxes were imposed. In the northern regions, landlords bore this burden, but in the southern grain belt regions, tenant farmers had to bear it themselves.
Finally, there was excessive interference from landlords.
From the tenants' perspective, Byeongjak-bansu was advantageous in poor years but disadvantageous in good years. From the landlords' perspective, the predetermined distribution rate led to cases where tenants were lazy or secretly diverted harvests beforehand.
Therefore, landlords either personally managed and supervised tenants or appointed overseers to do so. However, because this management and supervision was harsh, complaints among tenants never ceased.
* * *
The background that brought these gradually accumulating discords to the surface was Sejong's flood control projects.
As Sejong embarked on direct royal rule and carried out flood control projects, droughts and floods decreased. Annual harvests steadily maintained normal yields, and years of abundant harvest gradually increased, bringing these dissatisfactions to the surface.
The greatest driving force that brought these dissatisfactions to the surface was the enormous scale of land confiscated by the state through the Giyu Rebellion.
Nearly 60% of farmland in the Samnam region passed to the court, and the fact that those cultivating that land paid only 30% was a great stimulus to tenant farmers.
"What! Cross just one irrigation ditch and some people only have to pay 30%, while others pay 50%—does that make any sense!"
Landlords who had not participated in the conspiracy breathed sighs of relief at having survived, but a paradoxical situation was created where tenant farmers were voicing their complaints.
And another element stimulated the tenant farmers: the development of commerce and industry.
- If you participate in road construction, you get a fixed monthly wage! And they say if you manage it properly, it's better than tenant farming!
- Even doing day labor in the city earns as much as tenant farming!
- The country will soon establish schools, and there they say anyone who isn't a slave can send their children to learn!
As various rumors circulated, tenant farmers began agonizing over the subject of migration.
* * *
This was the 'Third Plan' that Sejong had ordered his ministers.
- Until now, far too many people have been dependent solely on agriculture. To solve this problem, the migration of tenant farmers is encouraged.
To ensure the success of this 'Third Plan' designed with such purpose, people sent by the court secretly spread rumors.
Eventually, many tenant farmers began making decisions.
A small rural village near Anseong in Gyeonggi Province.
"Husband! Let's talk!"
At his wife's words, Gapseong sat back down on the veranda.
"What is it?"
"Let's move too."
At his wife's words, Gapseong made a puzzled expression.
"What? You ate your meal and now you're talking nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense. I heard a rumor. They say a merchant group in Suwon is planning a large medicinal herb field this time. They say they're selling medicinal herbs to Ming and Japan."
Realizing his wife's words weren't idle talk, Gapseong's expression turned serious.
"And?"
"That medicinal herb field is huge, so they're looking for people to manage it. They say they pay a monthly wage too. 2 nyang of silver!"
At his wife's words, curiosity disappeared from Gapseong's face.
"If the conditions are that good, someone nearby must already have snatched it up."
"That's not the case apparently. The merchant group is looking for people who have experience growing medicinal herbs."
"Is that so?"
At his wife's words, Gapseong's expression changed again.
Seeing her husband's mood shift, Gapseong's wife put force in her voice.
"That's why I'm saying we need to move quickly! Where else would you find 2 nyang of silver a month? Even if we work ourselves to death tenant farming now, after paying rent and taxes at harvest, we barely make it through a year, right? And that's after selling all the white rice and exchanging it for mixed grains!"
"That is true..."
At his wife's words, Gapseong nodded his head.
"Isn't it only thanks to the medicinal herbs you grew in the vegetable patch we made in the back that we can hold on a little longer? So let's take on the medicinal herb field ourselves!"
"It would be good, but..."
At his wife's words, Gapseong was tempted on one hand but frightened on the other. Seeing her husband hesitate, Gapseong's wife mentioned their children.
"This spring, we should send Gap-sik and Byeong-sik to school too! We can't just let the children end up tenant farming like us, can we!"
"That is true."
When his wife mentioned the children, Gapseong nodded.
* * *
At that time, among many people excluding the scholar-official class, there were quite a few who knew Chinese characters well.
While they couldn't read and write Chinese characters perfectly like the scholar-officials, a significant number of people had some degree of Chinese character knowledge.
Among such people, the most numerous were merchants. Without knowing characters, no business could be concluded in the process of drafting contracts, keeping ledgers, and creating promissory notes for transactions.
Next were physicians. Chinese character knowledge was essential to properly read medical texts written in Chinese characters.
Following them were craftsmen, especially those connected to government offices. To produce items requested by the court or military garrisons and naval stations in various regions on time, they needed to be able to read official documents sent down.
Finally, the situation of farmers and fishermen was somewhat peculiar. There were not a few who could read, but those who could compose were extremely rare.
The reason for this was the proclamations posted at government offices. Since most proclamations posted by the government were closely connected to their lives, quite a few farmers could read the Thousand Character Text haltingly.
Of course, when proclamations were posted, if there was a yangban nearby, one could ask them to read it aloud. However, each time, they had to feel considerable humiliation. While some yangban read it pleasantly, many yangban read it aloud with expressions full of ridicule.
Because of such humiliation, even lower-class farmers had considerable enthusiasm for educating their children. Of course, during poor harvests that were everyday occurrences in early Joseon, they couldn't even dream of it, but as livelihoods improved, enthusiasm for education began to rise again.
And as rumors about 'Commoner Schools' that the court gradually spread began to circulate, the skirts of women with children began to flutter.
* * *
When his wife mentioned the children, Gapseong thought seriously.
For Gapseong and his wife, their two sons were as precious as gold and jewels. Originally, they had three brothers—Gap, Eul, and Byeong—but they lost one in consecutive years of poor harvest and epidemics.
After repeated deliberation, Gapseong finally made a decision.
"Which merchant group in Suwon did you say?"
"They said it's Daejin Merchant Group in Suwon."
"Suwon is about 50 li (approximately 20km) from here... Wife! Pack some rice balls! I can go and come back in two days! Pack some coins too!"
"Yes!"
At Gapseong's words, his wife ran to the kitchen in high spirits.
* * *
Landlords also reacted to these movements of tenant farmers.
"What! Man-sik! It's almost planting season, what are you doing!"
In a rural village in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, a dispute between a yangban and a farmer was taking place.
At the question from the yangban who appeared to be the landlord, the farmer answered in a curt tone.
"Can't you see? I'm packing our things!"
Seeing the farmer loading large and small household items and bundles of clothes onto a large cart, the yangban beat his chest in frustration and raised his voice again.
"That's why I'm asking why you're packing!"
"I'm packing to move!"
"Move? Where?"
"I'm going to Suwon! They say a merchant group workshop was established there and they're hiring people, so I'm moving there!"
"What! If you leave, who will farm the land?"
"Who knows? Why farm when half of it just flies away even if we work ourselves to death farming!"
"Still, there's the affection of having lived here all this time! How can you leave without even saying anything!"
"Affection? You're talking about affection! Because of that so-called affection! Calling it feast days and memorial services, my wife gets dragged away to work in the kitchen all day, and I have to chop and haul firewood, and when the eldest young master goes fishing, I have to stop working and go to the stream to cast nets.... Is that all affection? Huh!"
"Well, that's..."
At Man-sik's words, the landlord's face showed embarrassment. The landlord kept few slaves and instead frequently used tenant farmers. Of course, he knew the tenant farmers' complaints were significant, but the landlord had been confident.
"What could those lowly ones do with their complaints! If they don't farm my tenant land, what will they do!"
The landlord had spoken thus to nearby landlords on ordinary days.
"Heave-ho!"
As Man-sik, having loaded his young children onto the cart, grasped the handles to leave, the landlord urgently blocked Man-sik's path.
"Alright, alright! I'll take only 30%. Won't that do?"
"Hmph! It's too late!"
When Man-sik played hard to get, the landlord became desperate. Already nearly half of the tenant farmers had left. Moreover, Man-sik was someone many surrounding tenant farmers followed. If even someone like Man-sik left, it was obvious that almost no tenant farmers would remain.
Ultimately, the landlord offered conditions again.
"30%! And whenever I call you for work, I'll pay wages!"
"How much will you pay?"
"50 won each time I call you! How about that?"
"100 won!"
"100 won is too much, I'll give you 60 won!"
At the landlord's words, Man-sik, who thought for a moment, nodded.
"Fine. Let's go to the government office and write a contract!"
"Do we really need to write a contract?"
At those words, Man-sik answered briefly.
"The country's law requires it, so we must follow it!"
* * *
Similar events occurred throughout the country, and eventually, most landlords lowered rent to 30% and attached various supplementary conditions.
These changes were all documented in contracts, and reports about them came up to Hanseong.
After examining the reports, Sejong smiled faintly as he looked at his ministers.
"The Third Plan appears to have roughly succeeded."
"Indeed, Your Majesty."
"Then execute the Fourth Plan!"
"We shall obey your command!"