**Chapter 196: The Beginning of Spring (1)**
With the arrival of spring in the Gyeongsul Year (1430), Joseon began to bustle once again.
As the Gyeongjang reforms progressed, various sectors composing the economy were growing in scale. However, agriculture remained the backbone of the economy, and within agriculture, rice farming was paramount.
Therefore, as the full-scale planting season arrived, all of Joseon slowly began to stretch and awaken.
Having weathered the aftermath of the Giyu Rebellion, the rural villages of Joseon began to change their appearance.
The biggest change was that land consolidation projects had begun to increase significantly in many regions.
* * *
Joseon's farmland desperately needed land consolidation. When Hyang first saw Joseon's rice paddies, he muttered to himself:
"A giant puzzle...?"
Coming from the 21st century where he had only seen neatly arranged fields like go boards due to mechanized farming, this was a natural reaction.
However, there were circumstances. Two-thirds of the Korean Peninsula's terrain was mountainous. People gathered and lived on the remaining one-third of flatland, developing farmland and establishing homes. With each farming household having different forms of ownership, the shapes of rice paddies and fields inevitably became irregular.
Given this situation, problems were bound to arise. The biggest problem was farmland management. As Hyang described it as a "giant puzzle," the intricately intertwined plots made managing farm roads, irrigation channels, and drainage channels nearly impossible.
Therefore, using carts on the narrow farm roads was impossible, and disputes over agricultural water frequently arose.
Of course, the nations that occupied the Korean Peninsula had not given up on solving this problem and idly stood by.
However, from the problem of mobilizing labor to ownership disputes related to land consolidation, little progress was made.
Joseon was no exception.
In the first year of King Sejong (1419), the Magistrate of Gobu and the Jeolla Governor requested the construction of the Mulje Embankment in Gobu County, and underneath it, 10,000 gyeol of farmland was divided into plots as Jeolla Governor Lee An-u implemented the Jeongjeonbeop (field allocation system). (Note 1)
However, the results were not good. In August of the following year, a major flood caused the embankment to collapse, and approximately 600 gyeol of rice paddies were lost. Eventually, later that year, Jeolla Governor Jang Yun-hwan proposed the closure of the Mulje, and it was shut down. (Note 2)
This situation began to improve little by little after Hyang was invested as Crown Prince.
Hyang, who began making his presence known with Geumpil (golden brush), advocated for nationwide flood control projects using relief grain.
King Sejong and the ministers, thinking Hyang's proposal was sound, undertook flood control projects using relief grain.
The flood control projects that began this way expanded in scale every year as their effects were confirmed. As the scale of the projects expanded, the types of projects being carried out also diversified.
When the construction and maintenance of weirs and reservoirs neared completion, the court turned its attention to river maintenance.
During the short period after harvest and before the ice formed, and during the short period after the ice melted and before planting began, the court concentrated manpower on river maintenance.
They dredged riverbeds filled with sand and organized the surroundings to widen the river channels, reducing the likelihood of flooding.
Additionally, in the early period they stacked stones, and in the later period after the development of cement called "Hoejuk," they used reinforced concrete to build underwater weirs, beginning construction to prevent droughts and salt damage (damage caused by seawater flowing in during high tides).
While Hyang had proposed this, it was not achieved using his knowledge.
Over thousands of years, humanity had accumulated knowledge regarding river flood control.
This was true for Joseon as well. Since the Three Kingdoms period, they had built embankments and reservoirs, so there was sufficient technical knowledge.
However, the reason Joseon—and of course the previous dynasties as well—could not properly maintain rivers was a matter of mindset.
Traditionally, large-scale civil engineering projects like river maintenance were considered "corvée labor (Yeok)." Therefore, Joseon officials forcibly mobilized labor.
As a result, there was absolutely no compensation such as wages, and cases where people had to provide their own meals were frequent.
In this situation, people reduced themselves to slaves or became wanderers drifting from place to place.
It was precisely in this area that Hyang applied his knowledge like MSG (seasoning).
Initially, he had people work in exchange for relief grain. Later, as the Gyeongjang reforms progressed and the court gained more capacity, Hyang introduced the concept of "performance-based pay" to these projects.
If the construction period was shortened or safety accidents were prevented, the officials in charge of supervision had an advantage in promotion, and in addition to relief grain, extra goods were paid to the laborers who worked on the projects.
"Praise makes even whales dance, but incentives make whales fly in the sky!"
With such reward systems in place, river maintenance proceeded with even greater momentum.
As a result, by the Giyu Year (1429), the sixth year of the Gyeongjang reforms, river maintenance throughout Joseon was showing some results.
* * *
In this situation, with the reform of the slave system and the mass emancipation of slaves, followed by the Giyu Rebellion and its aftermath, tenant farmers began moving in large numbers. Landlords who had owned many slaves and tenant farmers had to farm with far fewer tenants and slaves than before.
With the workforce reduced but needing to maintain similar yields as before, they had no choice but to increase farming efficiency. The answer was land consolidation.
Before the planting season, landlords gathered not only tenant farmers but also people from nearby markets and began land consolidation.
They demolished the haphazardly entangled rice paddy and field boundaries to create one large plot, and also organized agricultural waterways.
They didn't just organize waterways. As river water levels were maintained stably through reservoirs and various weirs, waterwheels, which had previously only been known about, were introduced in large numbers to supply water to the irrigation channels.
With the organization of irrigation channels and farmland, it was a natural result that farm roads widened.
Farm roads that previously would have barely allowed one person with a jige (A-frame carrier) to pass were greatly widened, becoming wide enough for carts to enter.
* * *
As the Gyeongjang reforms progressed, the court received an unexpected gift.
That was the spread of carts.
King Sejong had agonized over how to get the common people to widely use carts.
Efforts to spread carts had begun during King Taejong's reign. Jang Ja-hwa, who had returned from a diplomatic mission to Ming, had reported as follows:
"There is nothing better than carts for transporting goods."
"Is that so?"
Upon receiving the report, King Taejong ordered artisans to make carts, but he faced strong opposition from Chief State Councillor Ryu Jeong-hyeon.
"Our Joseon has many mountains, so carts have limitations! Compared to the wealth, time, and effort required to make them, their utility is too low, so there is no need to make them!"
Eventually, King Taejong had to give up on spreading carts. (Note 3)
This was the same during King Sejong's reign. Looking at the history before Hyang's intervention, in April of the 17th year of King Sejong (Eulmyo Year, 1435), there had been a clash between King Sejong and his ministers over "carts."
However, King Sejong pushed forward, and when he confirmed their utility, he said to his ministers:
"Among you, there are some who dislike them, but there is nothing as convenient as carts for carrying bricks, roof tiles, and stones. If you load them onto a cart at once, you can carry twice as much as three people carrying on their backs, so how beneficial is that?"
Gaining confidence, King Sejong proposed spreading carts to the northeast and northwest regions as well. However, ministers including Hwang Hee continued to voice opposition.
"Carts are convenient, but they are only good on flat roads. They cannot be used where the road is rough or swampy. Looking at Pyeongan Province, the road is flat and good up to Anju, but other regions have rough roads so they cannot be used."
Hwang Hee, pointing out the terrain problem, continued:
"Furthermore, carts are not something just anyone can make. To spread carts, the state would have to send artisans to make them, but they would break soon after being given, and within a few months become unusable. But the state cannot keep sending artisans indefinitely, can it?"
(Note 3)
Eventually, King Sejong gave up on spreading carts to rugged terrain. Afterwards, carts gradually disappeared from Joseon.
What was funny was that 350 years later, the Silhak scholar Park Je-ga strongly advocated for the use of carts in his "Bukhag-ui" (Northern Learning Treatise).
And King Sejong's frustration led him to hand over more and more duties to the Crown Prince.
Due to a diet overly centered on meat and stress, his health deteriorated, and as various reform policies continued to fail even when pushed through, King Sejong became severely frustrated and began handing over state affairs to the Crown Prince.
Having thus handed over duties to the Crown Prince, King Sejong began full-scale research on writing systems.
* * *
However, in the changed history after Hyang's intervention, carts were increasing in number.
While the expansion of commerce and industry contributed to this increase, Hyang's tinkering also played a part.
The handcarts created in Hyang's "District 51" - called "rear cars" in 21st-century terms - became an unprecedented hit with the Great Hanseong Fire as an opportunity.
Using iron mass-produced at the Anju ironworks to make the frames, the handcarts were sturdy.
"If only we had rubber..."
Contrary to Hyang's regret, the wheels made with wooden spokes were sturdier than expected.
Another reason for their popularity, along with their sturdy structure, was their appropriate size.
The size suitable for one or two people to pull, replacing horses or cattle, was actually the cause of the hit.
Though the cart was small, it could transport at once what four or five grown men would carry on jige carriers.
Rugged terrain that Hwang Hee had pointed out, and narrow roads that large carts pulled by cattle or horses couldn't enter - the handcart could pass through most of them. Moreover, since two or three grown men could push and pull to get through rugged terrain, peddlers became the biggest purchasers of handcarts.
It was becoming commonplace to see peddlers with their handcarts loaded with goods, sometimes pulled by donkeys, traveling around for commerce.
The same was true for large merchant groups. Many carts were needed to transport goods. Large carts pulled by cattle or horses were useful, but handcarts pulled by human power were perfect for short-distance deliveries.
Finally, thanks to blacksmiths having become a symbol of high-income professionals, blacksmiths increased nationwide, and the maintenance problem was also resolved.
Thus, with numerous causes and effects intertwined, the number of carts began to skyrocket.
The carts that had gradually been disappearing since the fall of Goguryeo, once called the "Kingdom of Carts," made a splendid resurrection in this era.
* * *
Thus, while the countryside was awakening with active land consolidation that hadn't been originally intended, the court finally began road construction.
"It is finally beginning."
At King Sejong's words, the ministers looked at him with tense faces.
King Sejong continued with a serious expression.
"While there is water transport, and railways are being researched, water transport has the risk of natural disasters, and with railways, we don't know when we'll see results. Therefore, we must properly maintain the land roads of Joseon for the people to be at ease. As such, you all are well aware of how important the road construction we are about to undertake is."
"We will keep it firmly in mind."
Though the ministers answered in one voice, King Sejong continued to emphasize:
"Keep in mind that the development of Joseon depends on the success or failure of this construction."
"We will engrave it in our bones!"
The ministers answered in loud voices to King Sejong's admonition.
* * *
Note 1) Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Land Consolidation entry.
http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0002943
Note 2) Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Mulje entry.
https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0013293
Note 3) Reading King Sejong's Annals in One Volume, written by Park Young-gyu. Woongjin Knowledge House.