There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 205

The proposal initiated by Ko Bong-ji’s request involved two main points.

The first, abolishing the horse tribute from Jeju Island and moving all remaining horses to the mainland, easily gained the court’s approval.

Reasons included that just as Joseon had gained benefits by paying tribute to Emperor Yongle, Yi Bang-won should also provide some reward to Jeju Island, which had completely submitted to him during his reign. Also, since there were already plenty of horses, there was no need to continue exploiting Jeju Island. But the biggest reason was this:

‘No one will lose out from the elimination of Tamra Ranch.’

Eliminating the Jeju Island ranch didn’t infringe on anyone’s interests, so no one opposed it.

However, the second proposal was different.

Yi Bang-won dismissed it, suggesting further discussion, but the mere fact that this proposal came from the Chief State Councilor was enough to ignite the court.

Within days, one could witness the court officials foaming at the mouth in opposition.

“Your Majesty, the Daedong Law [a proposed tax reform] contradicts ancient laws!”

‘So, that’s the name they settled on for the law, after all.’

“Imtojakgong (任土作貢) [assigning tribute based on the land], is a good law from ancient times, established by Emperor Yu to collect produce from the nine provinces. How can we abolish it today?”

“Collecting jo (租) [land tax] and gong (貢) [tribute] separately is clearly stated in the Great Tang Code (大唐六典) [a legal code]. However, some ministers today are blinded by the private gain of combining tribute into taxes, seeking to destroy the law and sever etiquette. Please, Your Majesty, be aware!”

The upright-looking Yangban [scholar-officials] passionately cried out, making me momentarily mistake the meritorious subjects for villains.

‘Their intentions aren’t entirely pure, that’s for sure.’

However, the intentions of those who were calling for the meritorious subjects to be ousted for trying to change the law for their own benefit were not so transparent either.

‘These guys are all from prominent families who have some influence in their hometowns.’

As the saying goes, ‘If there is land (田), there is tax (租); if there is a household (家), there is corvée (調),’ land tax was levied according to the amount of land, but tribute functioned as a de facto poll tax.

As with most poll taxes, taxes were levied based on the number of people rather than income or assets, resulting in a strong regressive effect.

‘Of course, this makes people reluctant to register their names in the census, but the landlords obviously don’t care.’

Landlords had no choice but to vehemently oppose the proposal to eliminate this tribute and increase the land tax.

Naturally, the meritorious subjects collectively protested.

“Baseborn, you say!”

“Do you dare slander the leading officials of this nation!”

‘This is why you need to divide and conquer.’

Would the meritorious subjects have been so eager to push for the Daedong Law if their meritorious land had not been taken away first?

“As the world changes, so must the laws! How can you brand us, who have stepped forward to alleviate the heavy tribute burden on the people, as a faction of petty men!”

“Your Majesty, you must not let those who have harmed the meritorious subjects and royal relatives go unpunished!”

The charge applied to the faction of Jeong Do-jeon, who were swept away during the First Strife of Princes, was ‘harming royal relatives.’

When the meritorious subjects brought this up, the opposition fell silent.

No matter how precious wealth is, is it more precious than life?

Taking advantage of the brief hesitation, Prince Wansan, Yi Cheon-woo, spoke.

“Currently, officials of the nation and the local gentry are colluding, preparing the tribute to be paid to each office (各司) in advance and receiving certificates (帖紙, 증서) [official documents], then going down to their districts and collecting double the value, causing immense suffering to the people.”

Crown Prince Je was not fully aware, but the burden of tribute had been increasing since the reign of Yeonsangun, who collected various miscellaneous taxes.

After Yeonsangun was overthrown, the king and his ministers would often criticize Yeonsangun’s tyranny, but they still made good use of the increased tribute quotas that Yeonsangun had established.

This era was not yet as severely corrupt, but the issue of advance tribute payment was already emerging.

Taejong had strictly prohibited this, but he could not eliminate the old practice that had been passed down since the Goryeo era, so it was later recognized during the reign of Sejo.

“There was a royal decree strictly prohibiting those who pay in advance, but as long as tribute exists, how can such a decree be upheld? Please, combine the tribute with the land tax and bestow the virtue of a wise ruler!”

“Bestow it upon us!”

Yi Bang-won looked at his ministers and pondered for a moment.

The target of bestowing virtue was not to his liking, but it seemed that the result would be what he wanted.

===

“Your Highness, you are on our side, aren’t you? Since His Majesty listens carefully to your words, please speak well of us to His Majesty. The benefits of Cheonghaejin are also your benefits, are they not?”

Yi Cheon-woo and other royal relatives came to me.

He was taking on the role of the action leader for the royal relatives, replacing Yi Hwa, who had become increasingly uncomfortable moving around.

“Your Highness may not remember well due to your young age, but I remember those country bumpkins who would only talk about how Goryeo was this and integrity was that, but as soon as the country stabilized, they started showing their faces, trying to get into office.”

“I consider those guys to be petty men. Now they come and talk about the noble tradition of joyongjo (조용조) [a land tax system], it’s ridiculous. In reality, it’s clearly because of that land tax, isn’t it?”

‘Those who have converted are the scariest, after all.’

I thought as I looked at the meritorious subjects who had suddenly become radical reformers.

I remember these guys were reluctant to give up their land.

‘This might just be an opportunity.’

The meritorious subjects and the non-meritorious subjects who entered office later were originally from different backgrounds and parties.

They had always been indifferent to each other, but through this incident, they were now colliding head-on.

‘Wait, is that why Father hasn’t given a clear answer?’

I suddenly had that thought.

‘In this matter, both sides have no choice but to look to the king.’

While Yi Bang-won continued to evade with the excuse of further discussion, the differences between the two sides were becoming more entrenched.

However, we couldn’t let the debate continue indefinitely.

The time to take one side was approaching.

It was around that time that Yi Bang-won called me.

===

“What do you think about the meritorious subjects’ proposal?”

“I think it’s something that will have to be implemented eventually.”

Combining my knowledge from the Korean History Proficiency Test and the knowledge I gained after falling into Joseon, my conclusion was that tribute was a significant factor hindering national development.

‘Commerce and industry can only develop if they can profit through transactions.’

However, in this era, the state did not acquire necessary goods by paying for them, but rather collected them through a tribute system, imposing a kind of direct service.

In this situation, there could be no impetus for the development of commerce and industry, and the reason why the commodity economy developed after the implementation of the Daedong Law was probably because of this… That was the conclusion I came to.

As I was about to slowly explain this reason, Yi Bang-won coolly said,

“Then let it be so.”

“Yes?”

“Chief Secretary, is the Chief Secretary here?”

Yi Bang-won shouted, and I was surprised and waved my hand.

“No, no, you’re going to issue a royal decree right away?”

This wasn’t a matter that could be decided simply by issuing a royal decree.

‘I think the scope of the Daedong Law’s implementation was in my Korean history textbook.’

The picture was that it started in Gyeonggi Province during the reign of Gwanghaegun and spread nationwide during the reign of Sukjong.

‘Gwang-in-hyo-hyeon-suk-gyeong, so… I don’t know, but wouldn’t it have taken about a hundred years?’

It would take at least several generations for it to expand nationwide.

It was probably the result of complex and intertwined interests, political struggles, lack of administrative power, and debates over effectiveness.

I vaguely expected it to take about that long, like in the original history, but now he was going to implement the Daedong Law right away.

However, Yi Bang-won asked as if he didn’t understand my concerns.

“What are you worried about? The opposition of the gentry?”

“Wouldn’t there be a problem if the gentry collectively opposed it?”

“Hmm, they’re not particularly scary, even if they do.”

“Yes?”

“The landlords who remain now are not the powerful families of old Goryeo. They are just local scholars who are just entering the court now.”

I understood a little at Yi Bang-won’s words.

“Ah.”

Joseon was a country that was established to eliminate the contradictions of Goryeo.

The people who were currently opposing the Daedong Law were difficult to see as great political forces that had extended their reach to power.

‘The closest to that were the meritorious subjects, but these guys have become the ones who proposed the Daedong Law.’

“What can those who cannot exert influence in the center do? Rebellion? That would be even better.”

With Joseon’s military power at its peak, even if local scholars occupied a few government offices and started a rebellion, it would be suppressed in less than a month.

“Even so, I don’t think they’re stupid enough to do that.”

Yi Bang-won added.

“Then, even if they don’t openly resist, wouldn’t they be able to resist in other ways?”

I timidly retorted.

As the saying goes, if there is a policy above, there is a countermeasure below.

“How so?”

“They pretend to follow on the surface, but they pass on the land tax that will be levied under the new law to the tenant farmers…”

“That’s possible.”

Yi Bang-won said.

“But isn’t that something that happens when there are many people but not enough land? Is Joseon in that situation now?”

“Ah.”

The current Joseon naturally has a smaller population than in the late Joseon period. Moreover, the proportion of self-employed farmers was quite high due to the land reforms that had been steadily carried out since the beginning of the dynasty.

“If you own your own land, the burden of the increased land tax won’t be that great compared to the elimination of tribute.

If there is a landlord who passes on the land tax, the tenant farmers can just go somewhere else.”

I felt like I knew why Yi Bang-won was answering so nonchalantly.

Even if the landlords resisted, there was nothing they could do, at least in this era.

Rather, it was because it was now that the Daedong Law could be implemented without worrying about side effects.

“So, we can do it if we want to…?”

“That’s right.”

As soon as the Chief Secretary entered, Yi Bang-won opened his mouth.

“Convey to the Seungjeongwon (承政院) [Royal Secretariat]. I will accept the request made by Chief State Councilor Yi Hwa.”

After saying that, Yi Bang-won looked at me and said.

“In the end, the meritorious subjects won this fight. That’s what I intended from the beginning.”

“Yes? Did you intend to side with the meritorious subjects from the start?”

“Originally, I didn’t intend to solve this problem by dirtying my own hands right now. But since I had to take care of it someday, isn’t this the perfect time for the meritorious subjects to act as scapegoats?”

Scapegoats.

Yi Bang-won smiled as he saw my expression.

“The gentry will strongly oppose it, as you said, but that opposition will not be directed at me. It will be directed at the treacherous and greedy relatives.”

I don’t know if they’re treacherous, but they were greedy people, so it wasn’t wrong.

“Their arrows will be aimed at the meritorious subjects. Now, whenever there is something that bothers the meritorious subjects, we can use them appropriately to solve it. Right now, your great-uncle and cousins are looking down on them, but they will soon realize that’s not the case.”

I was amazed by Yi Bang-won’s thoroughness.

“They are our family members, whether we like it or not. Won’t they be upset when they realize Father’s intentions someday?”

“Upset? I’ve already ordered the Ministry of Taxation to calculate how much the increased amount of grain transport will be if we collect tribute in rice.”

Yi Bang-won whispered, and my face stiffened.

Hmm.

That’s too much money to express resentment.

Later, I’ll have to brag to my relatives that I persuaded Yi Bang-won.

End

ⓒ Pitkong