Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 181

181. I Am Not a Sage Ruler (1)

“I am sorry. All the slots for tenant farming are already taken.”

“Oh dear! What am I going to do!”

The tenant farmer, who had come hoping to secure national land for farming, slumped down, despair etched on his face at the Ministry of Rites official’s words that all the slots were filled.

“Oh dear, honey!”

“Father!”

As the head of the household collapsed, his family members rushed to his side, trying to help him up.

“Honey, get up! Please!”

“Father, please get up!”

The family cried and pleaded, trying to lift their father, but the farmer, his legs weak, sat on the ground with a blank expression, muttering.

“I heard that I could till the best rice paddies in Joseon [historical Korean kingdom] at a cheap price, so I came from so far away…. What am I going to do…. What am I going to do….”

“Father!”

“Honey!”

The official, watching the chaotic family with a pitiful look, cautiously broached the subject.

“Listen, could I have a word?”

“Yes?”

“It’s a long way to go back now, isn’t it?”

At the official’s question, the tenant farmer wiped away his tears and replied.

“Yes, but what can I do? It’s dirty and shameful, but I’ll have to go back and beg.”

“Then, how about this? You know that they are developing the Northeast Frontier, right?”

At the official’s question, the tenant farmer’s eyes began to light up little by little.

“Yes. I’ve heard rumors. Many people have already left for there last year or the year before, haven’t they?”

“That’s right. This time, a lot of land has become available with the development. But there are not enough people to cultivate it. How about going there and starting a new life?”

“But… reclamation is not an easy task.”

The official nodded at the tenant farmer’s words.

“I know that well. That’s why His Majesty the King has decided to exempt you from taxes for 5 years, and for the next 5 years, you will only pay half of the taxes. And for the first 2 years, you will also receive food support, and you will also receive farming tools. Finally, you will also receive one farm horse.”

At the official’s words, the tenant farmer jumped up from his seat as if nothing had happened.

“You’re giving us a farm horse? That expensive thing?”

“Yes, isn’t it because His Majesty the King feels sorry for your situation? It is a great act of grace.”

At the official’s words, the farmer quickly ran to the official.

“Then! The land! How much land are you giving us?”

“It starts from a minimum of 2 gyul (approximately 2 jeongbo [unit of area], 36 majigi [another unit of area]) to 4 gyul. How about it? Would you like to try it?”

At the official’s question, the tenant farmer looked back at his family standing behind him. The family members, who had been listening to the official’s explanation from behind, all nodded.

Seeing the family’s reaction, the tenant farmer grabbed the official’s sleeve.

“I will do it! I will go! I will leave right away!”

At the tenant farmer’s answer, the official smiled and replied.

“It’s a long way to the Northeast Frontier. We have prepared a boat, and we will depart as soon as enough people gather, so stay in the Gyeongsang Left Naval Base first. If you go to the naval base, they will give you a place to stay. The same goes for food. It’s all free. It’s His Majesty the King’s order.”

“Oh dear!”

At the official’s answer, the tenant farmer prostrated himself towards the north [direction of the capital, symbolizing respect to the king].

“The grace is boundless! May you enjoy a long life! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years!”

It was a tenant farmer wishing for Sejong’s long life.

* * *

This kind of thing had become a common occurrence in the national lands of the Samnam region [southeastern region of Korea]. Many of the tenant farmers who missed the opportunity because they arrived a little later than their competitors chose to go north.

Of course, there were quite a few who chose to return to their hometowns, but most chose to go north in search of new opportunities.

“Land! I’m going to have my own land!”

The biggest reason why tenant farmers chose to go north was that they would have ‘their own land’.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Ministry of Taxation were busy moving around among the tenant farmers, carrying out their tasks.

“You, and your family, have your departure certificate, right?”

“Yes? Yes.”

At the Ministry of Taxation official’s question, the tenant farmer rummaged through the depths of his piled-up luggage and took out a piece of yellow paper.

“Here it is.”

“Give me your hopae [identification tag] as well.”

“Yes.”

After confirming that the name and registration written on the certificate matched what was recorded on the hopae, the Ministry of Taxation official recorded it in his book and moved on to the next.

“And, do you have a jeonjang [banking institution] account?”

“Yes, I have that here too!”

After receiving the account, the Ministry of Taxation official checked the account holder’s name and hopae number written on the account and recorded it in the book before returning it to the tenant farmer.

The Ministry of Taxation official returned the hopae, certificate, and account, and informed them of the precautions.

“When you go north and settle in the reclaimed land, you must report to the family registration office set up in the relevant government office within five days. Otherwise, you will not be able to receive what His Majesty the King promised.”

“Yes? Yes! I will definitely do that!”

“Then take good care of your luggage.”

After finishing his work, the Ministry of Taxation official strode to where other tenant farmers’ families were.

As the Ministry of Taxation official left, the tenant farmer looked at the certificate in his hand and muttered.

“This is a gold nugget….”

* * *

When a certain number of people gathered, the tenant farmers began to move north.

The tenant farmers gathered in Honam and Yeongnam were put on military ships and headed north, and those gathered in the Chungcheong region began to move north by land under the escort of the military.

When people departed like that, a large-scale express mail service ran throughout Joseon.

A group of express mail runners headed to the hometowns of those who had gone north, and other express mail runners went up to Hanseong [capital city of Joseon].

The reports brought by the express mail runners who came to Hanseong were immediately checked by the officials of the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Personnel, and the jeonjang.

The reports that the officials checked and organized were immediately sent to Sejong.

Checking the reports that came up every day, Sejong wore a relieved expression and looked back at his ministers.

“It seems that the 4th and 5th phases are proceeding smoothly.”

“That is correct.”

“I think all of this is thanks to your hard work.”

“You are too kind! If Your Majesty had not established all these plans from the beginning, it would have been impossible!”

At Lee Jik’s answer, all the other ministers nodded and muttered inwardly.

‘Truly, this father and son are not human.’

‘Is it right that this ingenious plan can come out of a human head?’

They were ministers who felt a sense of awe as they offered words of praise to Sejong.

* * *

Immediately after the suppression of the Giu Rebellion, Sejong immediately established this plan.

The project plan, which was drawn up from the 1st phase to the 6th phase, was a supplement to the Gyeongjang [land reform policy] that was being promoted.

It was a revised plan aimed at executing the Gyeongjang on a faster and larger scale as the power of the local Sarim [faction of scholars] weakened through the occurrence and suppression of the Giu Rebellion.

If these plans succeed properly, the Gyeongjang, which had reached its 7th year, could be successfully completed.

Among the plans created in this way, ‘Phase 4’ was to persuade as many tenant farmers as possible who had not received farmland among the tenant farmers who had moved to national land through ‘Phase 3’ to migrate north. It was a plan that could solve the migration to the north, which had been sluggish despite offering various incentives.

‘Phase 5’ was to test the situation of Joseon’s land transportation routes and the capacity for information transfer.

The express mail runners who departed from the starting point had to carefully record and report to the upper levels the number and situation of the relay stations they passed along the way, the condition and size of the roads they traveled, and the travel time.

The reports that came up in this way were compared and updated with the records of the existing Ministry of Taxation, Ministry of Public Works, and Ministry of War, as well as the records of the research institute that traveled around the country to record astronomical observations. Road construction would proceed based on the final version created in this way.

In addition, the government offices and jeonjang in each region that received the administrative documents brought by the express mail runners had to check the changes and prepare a report to Hanseong. In Hanseong, the administrative documents that came up in this way were compared with the administrative documents that came directly from the starting point and the documents that came from the destination to check for the occurrence and scale of errors.

All of this process was ‘Phase 5’ planned by Sejong. Although Hyang slightly added MSG [a Korean expression for embellishment], most of it came from Sejong’s head.

* * *

Although he confirmed that the situation up to ‘Phase 5’ was going smoothly, Sejong did not forget to ask his ministers.

“Phase 4 and Phase 5 will end soon. So, I hope you will not let your guard down until the end and do your best for success. Only then will ‘Phase 6’, which will start in the fall, be successful.”

At Sejong’s request, the ministers all bowed their heads and answered.

“We will do our best!”

The last ‘Phase 6’ that Sejong and his ministers were preparing was the ‘Samin Academy’.

* * *

“Let’s stop here for today.”

Sejong finished the discussion on ‘Phase 4’ and ‘Phase 5’, and after coordinating opinions on various pending issues that were piled up after that, Sejong declared a recess.

When Sejong declared a recess, the ministers politely paid their respects and left Geunjeongjeon [main hall of Gyeongbok Palace].

As the ministers all left, Sejong sighed deeply with a face full of fatigue.

“Hoo~. I’m tired.”

“Shall I call the royal physician?”

Sejong shook his head at the head eunuch’s question.

“It’s not that bad yet. I want to be alone for a while, so go out for a while.”

“Yes.”

“The historians should also go out for a while.”

The historians, who were already familiar with Sejong’s words, packed their writing tools, paid their respects, and left Geunjeongjeon.

Sejong, who came down from the throne, quietly stretched and moved to where the map was hung.

Sejong, standing in front of the map depicting the entire Joseon, the Jurchen region, the virgin land to the east, the Shandong region of the Ming Dynasty, and parts of Japan, raised his finger and pointed to the Northeast region.

“We will recover all the areas we told Ming about within this year. And the Samin policy will also be completed. When the migrated people are completely settled, the Jurchens will also be tamed. If that happens….”

Sejong drew his finger straight to the virgin land to the east.

“If that happens, it will be an immediate eastward advance. If we explore this virgin land and make it the territory of Joseon, Joseon will improve even more. If it goes well, the Ming Dynasty will not be able to do whatever they want with us.”

After talking up to that point, Sejong sighed deeply.

“Hoo~, the problem is that there are no people. The population difference is too big.”

According to the census conducted every year, the total population of Joseon, including the commoners, was approaching 5 million. It had increased a lot compared to the 4.3 million people identified at the beginning of the Gyeongjang, but the population of the Ming Dynasty was roughly over 60 million. (Note 1)

Even with a simple comparison, the difference was more than 12 times. The difference in power that came from there made it impossible to recklessly turn the Ming Dynasty into an enemy.

‘If a war breaks out, we may be able to win the first few times. But if Ming decides to continue the war, we will lose.’

Even if it wasn’t an analysis by the Joseon Army General Staff, anyone could see that it was a certain defeat in this state.

“The conclusion is that we have to increase the population. Just as the Crown Prince prevented smallpox with cowpox, we must prevent population loss by catching other diseases as much as possible. The food problem can be solved by the increased territory, so there is no need to worry, but the problem is talent….”

Sejong muttered, poking the Joseon mainland on the map with his finger.

“The Samin Academy is the starting point. Starting with this, we will cultivate and use talent. If necessary, we will have to employ women as well. If we can’t do that….”

Sejong sighed deeply again.

“Hoo~. Joseon will collapse.”

Sejong, who was chewing on his words with a complicated face, shook his head.

“I will never create such a thing. Never!”

Sejong, who had made up his mind, turned his body.

“The ministers don’t know, but if ‘Phase 6’ succeeds properly, we will have to implement ‘Phase 7’ before long. We have to finish preparing as soon as possible so as not to miss the timing.”

Sejong, who mentioned ‘Phase 7’ that even the ministers did not know, opened the door and called the head eunuch.

“Head Eunuch. I’m going to Gangnyeongjeon [king’s residence]. I’m tired today, so I’m going to sleep a little early.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

* * *

Note 1) Population Change and Social Change in China. Northeast Asian History Net.

http://contents.nahf.or.kr/item/item.do?levelId=edeah.d_0004_0030_0020_0010