Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 410

410. Lord of War. Huashang (1) [Huashang refers to Chinese merchants.]

The changes in Joseon through the Gyeongjang [referring to a series of reforms] weren’t just changes in Joseon alone.

Both Ming China and Waegu (Japan) began to move in significantly different directions than in the history before Hyang’s intervention.

First, looking at Ming China, the development of commerce was far more prosperous compared to the history before Hyang’s involvement.

Emperor Xuanzong was at the forefront of this development.

Unlike the history before the intervention, Emperor Xuanzong responded by making the Haijin Edict (海禁令, sea ban) [a policy restricting private maritime trade] more flexible rather than strengthening it.

First, the scale of trade with Waegu was expanded slightly. As a result, trade volume between the Muromachi Shogunate of Waegu and Ming increased.

In addition, several trading posts were opened in coastal areas of Ming such as Fujian (福建), Jiangsu (江蘇), and Guangdong (廣東), allowing merchants authorized by the Ming court to trade with neighboring countries.

Of course, this authorization could only be obtained by paying a considerable sum.

Merchants who paid money to the Ming court and received authorization could open stores and launch ships at the trading posts established by Ming for three years to conduct trade.

Therefore, not only medium and large merchants in the region but also merchants from the inland rushed to pay money, purchase trade permits, and launch ships.

There was another calculation hidden by Emperor Xuanzong and the Ming court.

Only at the beginning of the implementation, the Joseon navy’s control of the sea was just beginning to grow.

Therefore, pirates and Wokou (Japanese pirates) [maritime raiders active in East Asia] roamed the seas between Ming, Joseon, and Waegu.

In response, Emperor Xuanzong built a naval fleet to escort merchant ships. In addition, he allowed merchant ships to arm themselves. However, only merchant ships that purchased trading rights from the Ming court were allowed to arm themselves.

And to manage this, Ming officials and soldiers thoroughly searched the ships before departure.

Because of these incentives and restrictions, merchant groups paid money to purchase trading rights, which greatly helped Ming’s finances.

Of course, this policy was borrowed from the policy that the Joseon court applied to Joseon merchants and Ming and Mansour’s merchants.

And as time passed, as Joseon secured control of the West Sea (Yellow Sea) and South Sea (East China Sea) of Joseon, the activities of pirates and Wokou decreased.

Upon receiving the report, Emperor Xuanzong moved a significant portion of the navy to the southwest to suppress the pirates there.

“Emptying the East Sea (Yellow Sea) is considered dangerous. If Joseon has other intentions, wouldn’t it be a big problem?”

Ministers expressed their opposition to the relocation of the navy, but Emperor Xuanzong scoffed.

“Humph! Are our Ming and Joseon only connected by the sea? And aren’t we leaving a reasonable size of the navy behind?”

“But….”

“What you are doing now is called 杞憂(gi-u, groundless fear) [an idiom for unnecessary worry]. Shut your mouths!”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s scolding, the ministers and eunuchs all closed their mouths.

* * *

In order to grow Ming’s commercial sector and at the same time improve finances, Emperor Xuanzong implemented many policies.

One of them was strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, just like Joseon.

Even during this period, the imitation and forgery by Chinese people were very notorious. Most of the items that came from the ancient tombs of the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms periods were fake, and counterfeit medicines that risked people’s lives were circulating.

It wasn’t just imitations and forgeries that were a problem. When a rumor spread that a product made by a certain merchant or artisan was popular, before long, products that copied it exactly were released by other merchants.

It was a trend of disregarding intellectual property rights that later historians called ‘Shanzhai (山寨, mountain village) culture’ [referring to imitation or knock-off products].

Of course, Emperor Xuanzong and his ministers were well aware that this trend was an obstacle to the healthy development of commerce. Therefore, they made many efforts to eliminate this trend, but this trend did not easily disappear.

However, this trend began to diminish when Hyang directly negotiated with Emperor Xuanzong and launched a joint venture.

The products distributed by the joint venture between the Ming emperor and the imperial family, and the Joseon king and the royal family were incredibly popular.

Of course, it was only natural that products that illegally copied these products would circulate.

And Emperor Xuanzong, upon receiving a report related to this, was furious.

“This is making a mockery of the promise I made. To make a mockery of my promise is to make a mockery of me, and this is nothing short of treason!”

* * *

Enraged, Emperor Xuanzong immediately began cracking down. It wasn’t just a simple crackdown, but a massive armed suppression involving the military.

This crackdown caused a tremendous amount of bloodshed. The downfall of just one family or one merchant group was considered minor. Even entire villages disappeared. This was because not just a simple crime, but treason was applied.

A merchant group caught for unauthorized copying was immediately ruined by the military. The place where the sign of the merchant group was hung was destroyed without leaving a single cornerstone, and even the ground was dug up to pull out the treasures hidden underground. And in the pit created in that way, the bodies of the dead were buried.

And based on the ledgers acquired from such merchant groups and the interrogation of those involved, even those who received bribes were rounded up and purged like a string of dried fish.

In this process, Emperor Xuanzong did not forget to create competition between the Dongchang (Eastern Depot) [a Ming dynasty secret police] and the Jinyiwei (Embroidered Uniform Guard) [another Ming dynasty secret police].

“I will give 30% of the confiscated property as a reward! This is a reward for appreciating your loyalty to me!”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s declaration, the Dongchang and Jinyiwei shouted cheers.

“Long live the Emperor! Long live! Long Long Live!”

As the Central Plains was once stained with blood in that way, indiscriminate unauthorized copying gradually disappeared. Of course, unauthorized copying still took place in hidden places, but unauthorized copying that was openly and publicly conducted as before disappeared.

And the ‘Royal Intellectual Property Registration Office’, which was created by following the example of Joseon, appeared.

* * *

As this whirlwind of blood passed through, the Central Plains suffered, but there was also a benefit.

The benefit was that the power of the emperor, symbolized by Emperor Xuanzong, was further enhanced. Of course, even before that, the emperor was called ‘Son of Heaven (天子)’ [a traditional title of the Chinese emperor] and was a symbol of power.

However, the emperor did not hold all the power. The ‘Princes (親王)’ who had established themselves all over the continent shared a significant portion of the emperor’s power.

And a significant portion of the power that the princes had taken was returned to Emperor Xuanzong by the whirlwind of blood caused by Emperor Xuanzong.

After a whirlwind of blood swept through, the powerful and wealthy prayed with earnest hearts.

“Please let the whirlwind of blood end with this one time….”

However, the whirlwind of blood that they wanted to avoid so much blew once again.

The name of this whirlwind of blood was ‘currency’.

* * *

As everyone knows, the Ming court, seeing that Joseon was using currency effectively, and especially that Joseon’s silver notes were exerting influence as far away as Melaka, also decided to create and circulate currency – specifically, not physical currency but banknotes.

And the two problems that arose as the circulation of currency began caught Emperor Xuanzong’s attention.

The two problems that caught Emperor Xuanzong’s attention were counterfeit money (僞幣) and private money (私錢) [privately issued currency].

The problem of counterfeit money was a problem from the time of preparing for issuance. In order to prevent such counterfeit money problems, a precise currency plate that could not be forged was needed. However, it was impossible to develop this with Ming’s technology, so Joseon eventually had to create and present the currency plate and printing press.

On the day the currency plate and printing press made in Joseon arrived, Emperor Xuanzong praised the Joseon envoy and rebuked his own servants.

“Why can’t we make what Joseon makes!”

Before the currency printed in that way was circulated, the Ming court sent samples to government offices throughout the Central Plains for display. This was to prevent people from mistaking and using counterfeit money.

However, less than half a year after the currency began to circulate, a memorial was raised that counterfeit money had been discovered.

Emperor Xuanzong, upon seeing the counterfeit money that was raised along with the memorial, looked back at the ministers with a dumbfounded expression.

“They mistook this for real money (眞幣)? Are all the people of the empire blind?”

The counterfeit money in Emperor Xuanzong’s hand was so crude that anyone could tell it was counterfeit.

While Emperor Xuanzong was contemplating the qualities of the people he ruled, the Senior Grand Secretary stepped forward and answered.

“The region where the memorial was raised is a remote area with natural barriers (天險). It is said that this is because there are people who do not properly know the ways of the world.”

“Huh….”

Emperor Xuanzong sighed and shook his head, then gave an order.

“Make samples again and send them to every remote area without exception.”

“I obey your command!”

However, less than three months later, another memorial was raised that other counterfeit money had been discovered. This time the problem was even more serious, as it was discovered in Sichuan, where there were many people, although it was far from Beijing. And, although it was still crude, it was a more advanced skill than last time.

Emperor Xuanzong, receiving the memorial and the counterfeit money, glared at the Senior Grand Secretary.

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

“Please forgive my sins! Please save me!”

“Drag him out!”

“Yes!”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s order, soldiers of the Jinyiwei entered and dragged the Senior Grand Secretary away. In response to the Senior Grand Secretary’s cry for help, Emperor Xuanzong coldly responded.

“Do I need to show mercy twice?”

Glaring at the ministers and eunuchs who were frozen solid, Emperor Xuanzong immediately gave an order.

“Immediately mobilize all available personnel from the Jinyiwei and Dongchang to eradicate the counterfeiters! These are traitors who harm the empire, so you must not show any mercy! Anyone who shows even a slightly lax appearance will be charged with the same treason!”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s order, the executives of the Dongchang and Jinyiwei sweated coldly and answered loudly.

“We obey the imperial order!”

Following Emperor Xuanzong’s order, a whirlwind of blood blew in the Sichuan region. Because their necks were on the line, the personnel of the Jinyiwei and Dongchang persistently tracked down the counterfeit money organization. In the process of that pursuit, there were many who were caught not only as members of the real organization but also those who were caught in slander. However, the Dongchang and Jinyiwei did not distinguish them and first arrested them and then proceeded with torture.

In this way, about 20,000 people disappeared as dew on the execution ground in the Sichuan region alone, and counterfeit money disappeared.

* * *

Emperor Xuanzong, having solved the problem of counterfeit money, carefully examined the problems related to currency and corrected and supplemented the shortcomings.

“The amount of currency used has increased, but the rate of increase is not fast compared to the size of our empire. What is the reason?”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s question, the new Senior Grand Secretary stepped forward and answered.

“There are still quite a few merchant groups that use their own private money, that is, bills.”

“Why?”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s question, the Senior Grand Secretary explained the reason why they use their own bills.

-First of all, merchant groups lack faith in the currency issued by the country. The reason is that they remember the failures of the Gyochos (交鈔) [paper money issued during the Jin and Yuan dynasties] issued by the Yuan Dynasty and the Da Ming Baochao (大明寶鈔) [early Ming dynasty paper currency] issued in the early days of the empire.

-Next, it is to hide their wealth. In order to use currency, they have to bring real gold and silver to exchange, and they do not want their wealth to be revealed in the process.

“Why are you trying to hide your wealth?”

“Because of taxes.”

At the new Senior Grand Secretary’s answer, Emperor Xuanzong gnashed his teeth and struck the armrest with his fist.

“These damn bastards!”

At Emperor Xuanzong’s shout, everyone, including the Senior Grand Secretary, prostrated themselves on the floor.

“If you are a citizen of the empire, it is natural to pay the prescribed taxes! And they use private money to avoid paying those taxes? I will issue an imperial order right now!”

It was another cry that called for a whirlwind of blood.

* * *

Author’s words.

Hello?

This is Gukbbong, who is writing ‘Black Company Joseon’.

The update was delayed because I felt chest pain from yesterday and went to the hospital to get a diagnosis.

The doctor said that it seems to be indigestion caused by stress for now. However, if you continue to feel pain after taking all the prescribed medicine, he said to go to a large hospital and get a detailed diagnosis.

I hope that this time will pass without any problems.

And now I really need to lose weight.