Chapter 67: The Minister of Revenue's Depression
"Haaah~."
With mountains of scrolls and books piled before him, the Minister of Revenue heaved a deep sigh.
The name of the Minister of Revenue, who sighed as if the earth might collapse beneath him, was Kim Jeom. In the original history, he would have served as Minister of Revenue in the early years of King Sejong's reign, then transferred to the Ministry of Justice, and subsequently taken up the position of Governor of Pyongan Province.
However, in this history, his fate had changed. Though there had been several regular personnel changes in the court—it was customary for the court's ministers to rotate positions once a year—Kim Jeom remained continuously in his post as Minister of Revenue.
"I cannot tell whether this is fortune or misfortune."
While Kim Jeom himself agonized over whether his continued tenure as Minister of Revenue was good or bad, his wife was actually pleased about it.
"Is it not a good thing that you do not go far away to the outer regions, but remain only in Hanyang?"
However, there was a real reason why Kim Jeom's wife was happy. If Kim Jeom were sent to the outer regions, the most likely posting would be as Governor of Pyongan Province. And the place where the Governor of Pyongan Province resided was Pyongyang, famous as the 'Village of Colors'—notorious for its pleasure quarters.
In any case, after being retained as Minister of Revenue, what completely upended Kim Jeom's ordinary routine of managing the Ministry's affairs began when Hyang was invested as Crown Prince.
For a Grand Prince to be invested as Crown Prince was quite significant. Even if the Crown Prince was very young, he would still gain a certain degree of influence.
In that sense, Hyang's investiture as Crown Prince was the beginning of a nightmare for the ministers.
Kim Jeom glared at the gold pen in his hand and muttered.
"This thing is the cause of it all."
When production of gold pens was entrusted to the private sector, the quantity and intensity of work the Ministry of Revenue had to handle began to increase dramatically.
"Haaah~. It was good at first."
When he heard it would be entrusted to the private sector, Kim Jeom had felt good. Even in his eyes, the gold pen was a truly useful item with many applications.
It was easier to maintain than a brush, and had an appropriate lifespan. Above all, even a second-grade silver pen was cheaper than most brushes. Thanks to this, competition would be fierce among businesses wanting to become producers of these gold pens, and he was certain that hefty gifts would come his way.
"I didn't realize the Crown Prince was so infuriatingly clever."
The Crown Prince, having received authority over gold pen production by petitioning His Majesty, created a truly absurd system.
It was called 'open bidding.'
According to the Crown Prince's command, the specifications for gold pens were delivered to the merchant guilds that participated in the bidding.
Under this system, the guilds had to write down the prices at which they could produce the pens, and under the Crown Prince's observation, they had to undergo public evaluation. This was the moment Kim Jeom's expected gifts went flying away.
The Crown Prince held out paper slips to the Minister of Revenue, the Vice Minister, and the Assistant Minister who were in charge of the evaluation.
"Please unconditionally reject any guilds that have written prices lower than this."
"What is this price?"
"This is the production unit cost when the artisans of the Directorate of Armaments produced gold pens. It includes not only material costs but also the wages of the craftsmen, averaged out. Therefore, reject any guilds that wrote prices cheaper than this amount unconditionally."
At Hyang's words, Kim Jeom raised a question.
"Is cheaper not better?"
At the Minister of Revenue's words, Hyang clicked his tongue.
"The materials for the gold pens made at the Directorate of Armaments all came through tribute payments, so if you only consider unit costs, it's difficult to get lower than that. Yet they claim to make them at even cheaper prices? Does the Minister think that's possible?"
"...There would certainly be problems."
"Furthermore, on the gold pens of selected guilds, the Ihwa pattern will be stamped as a mark that the nation has certified their quality. But if problems arise with the quality of such items? Do you think the people will trust the nation?"
"I am mortified."
At Hyang's sharp rebuke, Kim Jeom had to bow his head. As he bowed his head, Hyang's grumbling reached his ears.
"To think a man who is the Minister of Revenue of a nation has such shallow thinking... tsk!"
And so, starting with the gold pens, Kim Jeom's ordeal began. In a way, among the ministers, the Minister of Revenue was the first to start being scolded by King Sejong and Hyang.
* * *
The Minister of Revenue's ordeal intensified with the nationwide implementation of smallpox vaccination.
In the process of implementing smallpox vaccination, the household registries of Joseon's eight provinces were reorganized. The first copies of these reorganized registries were submitted to King Sejong. And upon seeing those figures, King Sejong issued a stern rebuke to his ministers.
"It has been merely two years since the last household registry was compiled, yet in just two years the population has swollen this much? Do ministers expect Me to believe this!"
"We are mortified!"
"Do not create reasons for mortification!"
King Sejong shouted at the top of his lungs, but the ministers had nothing to say.
Joseon compiled household registries every three years. The compiled registries were made in three copies—one for the relevant county, another for the Ministry of Revenue, and the last for each region's provincial office.
Yet, according to the household records, when Joseon was first founded (1392), the population was merely 300,000.
Thereafter, as wanderers were continuously settled and household surveys were vigorously implemented, Joseon's population began to increase rapidly. According to the household survey conducted two years ago, Joseon's population was approximately 1.9 million.
However, the population of Joseon confirmed through this smallpox vaccination was approximately 4.3 million.
"Speak! All of you speak! Have Joseon's people done nothing but bear children for the past two years! Can the population increase by more than 2 million in just two years!"
"We are mortified!"
"Do not create reasons for mortification!"
At King Sejong's roar, the ministers could only continue bowing their heads.
However, both King Sejong and the ministers could understand the cause of this situation. Both local administrative bodies and the people had much to gain from avoiding tax burdens, especially tribute payments.
The people could reduce their tribute burden, and local administrators could line their pockets appropriately.
Unable to contain his anger, King Sejong with a red face harangued the ministers.
"When Joseon was founded, the people were few and devastated by the aristocracy's exploitation, so We reduced taxes! Since little came in, it was natural to spend little, so We greatly reduced the stipends of the royal family and ministers compared to the previous dynasty!
But look! The actual population is this large, yet the population recorded in the registry does not even reach half! The nation collects little in taxes, yet the people still cannot escape poverty—so where has all that wealth gone!"
"...."
"Why are you silent? Is it not obvious? If not the scholar-officials, then who! The very scholar-officials you all defend so!"
"We are mortified."
King Sejong ground his teeth.
"The nation is in this wretched state, yet what, the scholar-officials are blameless? These damnable scoundrels!"
King Sejong's arrow was aimed at the purged ministers. Hearing King Sejong's roar, the ministers clicked their tongues inwardly.
'They likely won't be released from exile for some time.'
'Considering their age, they'll probably die before being released from exile.'
"Huu~."
With a long deep breath, King Sejong forcibly suppressed his anger and issued orders to the ministers.
"Compile accurate household registries and land registers immediately!"
"We receive your command!"
"We took your hard work into consideration and included the modernization of stipends in the reform measures! But do you think We should show such favor when you work in this manner?"
"We are mortified!"
"We will devote our utmost to handle this!"
At the ministers' answers, King Sejong responded coldly.
"We shall see!"
* * *
With King Sejong's command, what became most urgent was the Ministry of Revenue. Both the household registries and land registers were under the Ministry of Revenue's jurisdiction. Kim Jeom gathered his subordinate officials and conveyed the royal command.
"Therefore, we must supplement both the household registries and land registers. Everyone must do their utmost."
"Minister. But even now, the workload is already excessive!"
When one subordinate official protested, Kim Jeom shouted.
"Then write a letter of resignation! Do you think someone does this because they like it? Do you think I do this because I like it?"
At Kim Jeom's shouting, the Ministry of Revenue officials all shrank like turtles, watching only Kim Jeom's expression.
"If you have complaints, go punish the local officials who did such a sloppy job! First, find out where the population increased the most compared to two years ago and report back! ..."
Fifteen days later, Kim Jeom submitted a single scroll to King Sejong.
"What is this?"
"This is a list of counties where the population increased strangely while compiling the household registries."
"Are there only one or two such counties?"
"That is true, but these are particularly severe cases."
At Kim Jeom's answer, King Sejong unrolled the scroll and read the contents. After reading the contents carefully, King Sejong frowned.
"This is quite severe..."
The counties listed on the scroll totaled twelve places, with populations increased from at least 5 times to as much as 8 times. With a deeply furrowed brow, King Sejong looked back at the chief eunuch.
"Summon the Chief Inspector."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At King Sejong's command, the inspectors and investigators belonging to the Office of the Inspector General headed to the twelve counties. The officials who arrived at the relevant counties thoroughly shook down the local magistrates, clerks, and their direct superiors. As a result, 26 former and current local magistrates received dismissal or exile sentences, along with 40 clerks.
Kim Jeom and the Ministry of Revenue officials effectively vented their anger, but before long, they received their reward for it.
"It's come again!"
"Again?"
At his subordinate's report, Kim Jeom grabbed the back of his stiff neck.
"Where is it this time?"
"Jeolla Province, Gwangju-mok."
"Damnable..."
Kim Jeom cursed.
When local magistrates suffered terrible punishment due to the household registry irregularities, other local magistrates desperately devised countermeasures to avoid the sword of inspection. They wrote 'explanatory documents' by thoroughly combing through records including those left by their predecessors.
They verified one by one the number of wanderers who had successfully settled, the children of those wanderers, and though rare, the number of slaves who had received emancipation and became commoners, creating grounds for population increase. They also meticulously recorded the scale of newly cultivated ownerless land and wasteland along with current owners. Such documents came flooding into the Ministry of Revenue daily.
From the Ministry of Revenue's perspective, after venting their anger satisfactorily, the workload had increased several times over.
"Hehehe..."
"Ha! Haha! Ha!"
Looking at the accumulating documents, Kim Jeom and the Ministry of Revenue officials could only let out hollow laughter with expressions of having lost their minds.
* * *
Amidst this piling work, yet another duty was assigned to the Ministry of Revenue.
"The establishment of a nationwide organization to manage the monopoly of sugar and salt."
"I will truly submit my resignation!"
"We'll all die at this rate!"
"Whether we die this way or that way!"
From Kim Jeom to all the Ministry of Revenue officials, everyone made a solemn resolve. At that time, Hwang Hee, on their behalf, proposed to King Sejong 'supplementing manpower through the civil service examination.'
At Hwang Hee's suggestion, Hyang submitted an alternative plan to 'recruit students from Sungkyunkwan' due to 'time and cost' issues, and King Sejong approved it.
Upon hearing the news that 'Sungkyunkwan students will supplement the Ministry of Revenue's personnel,' all the Ministry of Revenue officials cheered.
"Long live His Majesty!"
"Long live!"
* * *
"Now then, endure just a little longer."
"Yes, Minister."
After Kim Jeom's encouragement, the Ministry of Revenue officials once again gathered their energy to tackle their duties. However, some officials had too much energy.
"What! A coming-of-age ceremony!"
Kim Jeom, who had been processing the mountain of reports, was horrified. He sprang from his seat and asked the Vice Minister of Revenue.
"Who exactly? Where? When?"
"Three days ago..."
"Bring those damnable scoundrels immediately!"
A short while later, the officials who had held coming-of-age ceremonies were dragged before Kim Jeom in a line.
"How many in total?"
"23 people."
"That's a lot..."
Kim Jeom shouted at the officials standing before him.
"Do you have minds or not! A coming-of-age ceremony! Why a coming-of-age ceremony of all things!"
"We apologize. However, the coming-of-age ceremony is a tradition..."
"You damnable scoundrels! What everyone has forbidden for generations is precisely these coming-of-age ceremonies! Especially when the current His Majesty punished coming-of-age ceremonies just one year ago! What tra~dition? You speak of tradition!"
"We, we apologize!"
"How will you resolve this! The Office of the Inspector General is already excitedly writing petitions, so! How will you resolve this!"
"We apologize!"
"If you're sorry, you shouldn't have done something to be sorry about! Go home immediately and reflect on your actions!"
"Yes..."
At Kim Jeom's shouting, the problematic officials began to leave Kim Jeom's room, shuffling awkwardly.
At that sight, Kim Jeom exploded with frustration and shouted.
"Did you put shackles on your feet! Get out immediately!"
"Yes, yes!"
As Kim Jeom had worried, upon receiving the report, King Sejong raged like fire.
To King Sejong, who seemed about to impose extreme punishment at any moment, Hyang made a proposal. At Hyang's proposal, King Sejong immediately executed the sentence.
It was 'document organization punishment.'
It was a punishment to complete the organization of household registries and land registers that would take 5 years even if half the Ministry of Revenue officials worked on it, within 1 year.
If they failed to complete it within 1 year, additional punishment of exile awaited.
Thanks to this, the problematic officials could not even go home and had to eat and sleep in the new storage building constructed next to the Ministry of Revenue offices.
Though personnel had been supplemented, the work the Ministry of Revenue had to handle had increased several times over, so from Kim Jeom to the lowest officials, everyone was constantly in a state of overwork.
Eventually, seeing this, King Sejong ordered the royal kitchen to provide food. To be precise, it was a feast under the guise of providing food. King Sejong, who prepared a feast for the Ministry of Revenue officials, encouraged the attending officials.
"We are well aware of your hard work. However, for Joseon's administration to function properly, the Ministry of Revenue must be without problems, so We can only ask you to put in a little more effort. When Joseon's administration improves, We will supplement personnel, so We ask you to endure a little longer and exert yourselves."
"We are overwhelmed by Your Grace!"
At King Sejong's words of encouragement, all the officials bowed and expressed their gratitude.
In this process, a new proverb emerged.
'Receiving food from the Ministry of Revenue.' It was a proverb metaphorically referring to treating someone well before making them do difficult work.
Meanwhile, King Sejong passed a medicine packet to Kim Jeom through the chief eunuch.
"We ordered the royal physician to prepare medicine good for the body. Take good care of yourself."
"We are overwhelmed by Your Grace!"
"We put in plenty of precious medicinal ingredients, so it will be of great help to you."
"We are overwhelmed by Your Grace!"
Though he continuously spoke words of gratitude, to Kim Jeom, King Sejong's words sounded like this: 'You'll have to pay for the medicine, won't you?'