There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 275

< Money Makes the World Go Round (2) >

“Is the nation creating new banknotes?”

The story that leaked from the court was enough to become a topic of conversation among the people.

“Yes, they say the nation will exchange silver for the banknotes.”

The plan conceived by King Yi Je had its foundation in modern central banks, but it wasn’t such a unique idea even in this era.

The Yuan Dynasty also had the Pyungjunko (平準庫) [Price Stabilization Treasury], a system where people could bring Gyochos (交鈔, Yuan Dynasty banknotes) and exchange them for silver.

This system worked well for a while, but it collapsed as the Yuan court began to overissue Gyochos to solve chronic fiscal deficits, and the soaring prices due to the collapse of logistics fueled it.

The chaos of these Gyochos affected the entire Yuan territory, so the Joseon people had faint memories of it.

Fortunately, however, the credibility of the current Joseon court was incomparable to that of the Yuan Dynasty.

“Still, the court hasn’t done anything terribly wrong so far…”

“Compared to the Goryeo era, it’s a sea change, a sea change.”

Living in an era when the nation’s policies changed frequently, like the saying ‘Goryeo Gongsa lasts three days [Goryeo public works last only three days, meaning things were fleeting],’ was already a distant memory.

The reign of the King, which had continued since his days as Crown Prince, though seemingly radical, rarely saw policies easily withdrawn or changed.

Many people expressed concern about his actions, but the King never took back what he had publicly stated, so the perception that ‘the King is trustworthy’ had somehow taken root.

“They say His Majesty greatly civilized the Wa (倭, Japanese) and receives thousands of *kwan* [unit of currency] of silver in tribute each year. It seems the treasury is piled high with silver.”

“They used to demand tributes as public taxes, but now the nation collects rice and buys it back at full price. Surely they wouldn’t just turn a blind eye.”

Above all, the operation of the court, which had been achieved through the collection of public taxes for many years, was a major transformation when the Public Procurement Office was established and transitioned to a procurement system through transactions.

It may seem insignificant, but over the past few years, the court had been continuously sending signals to the public that it would take materials while paying a fair price.

Unintentionally, this had completely turned into trust in the court.

Thus, the newly issued banknotes were to start with unprecedented trust in the history of the Korean Peninsula.

===

Contrary to the court’s concerns, the public’s reaction to the banknotes was not bad.

It was fortunate for me, who thought I should start paying salaries with banknotes to force them to settle, but troublesome tasks still remained.

It was the design issue.

“Your Majesty, have you decided what to draw on the banknotes?”

“The officials suggested referring to Gyochos.”

I answered Yi Bang-won’s question.

If that were the case, it would be in the form of writing letters and face values and stamping the royal seal, like Gyochos.

However, to prevent counterfeiting, I was planning to include more complex pictures and patterns, so I needed a lot of ideas.

“I’m planning to put in a more meaningful picture.”

“For example?”

“It would be good to draw landscapes, or the Four Gracious Plants [plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum]. Or people…”

What I had in mind was closer to the design of modern banknotes.

Even if we leave out the practical purpose of preventing counterfeiting, Gyochos are too bland.

‘We need to show the design capabilities of Joseon.’

In particular, the idea I was focusing on was the last one.

It was to draw people.

However, in this country, where there is a king to be revered and respected, putting the face of another person on the banknotes is naturally out of the question.

“Wouldn’t it be good to draw the faces of our Joseon’s past kings?”

‘If we put the royal face on it, wouldn’t it reduce the damage to the banknotes a bit?’

Damaging the portrait is a capital crime, so just drawing the royal face would significantly reduce the damage to the currency, right?

It was just a practical thought, but the reactions of the two former kings sitting in front of me were different.

“Me,,,! Put me in,,,!”

“Do we really need the portrait?”

Yi Bang-won asked back with a not-so-welcoming expression.

Well, putting great people on money isn’t really a Joseon-style mindset.

‘Grandfather is, well, Grandfather.’

“Who would tear and scatter my money? In the end, the problem is unintentionally damaging the money, and no matter how well you manage it, you can’t completely prevent it from being eaten away and worn out.

If that happens, it will not only cause harm to the late kings but also only result in the people being punished for no reason.”

Yi Bang-won calmly refuted.

As expected, the reaction was similar to that of the officials.

‘Actually, figures from previous eras would be fine.’

Of course, the Goryeo kings are excluded.

There would be no objection to Dangun [mythical founder of Korea], Gija [legendary sage], or the founders of the Three Kingdoms, but even these figures should be revered as ancestors of the nation, so there may be objections that portraits cannot be drawn carelessly.

“Do it,,, with me,,,! I’m okay,,,!”

‘Then, what if we put in a picture that is a portrait but not a portrait?’

“Didn’t I write the Yongbieocheonga (Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven) when Father was in power?”

It was such an impressive poem that it easily defeated Kwon Geun with just a few verses, so Yi Bang-won naturally remembered it.

He had ordered it to be recorded.

‘In it, the six kings of Joseon were compared to the six dragons of the East Sea.’

Kings are often compared to dragons.

Since there is Yongbieocheonga, my masterpiece, why not draw dragons instead of kings?

“The officials say that the Jin Dynasty also issued Gyochos, with ten types of denominations: 100, 200, 300, 500, 700 *mun* [unit of currency], and 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 *kwan* [unit of currency].”

We were also planning to issue various types of banknotes with different denominations, following their example.

If that were the case, there would be enough room for the four posthumously honored kings, Mokjo, Ikjo, Dojo, Hwanjo, and Taejo.

‘If we engrave the dragon whole and large on the design, each scale will have its own characteristics, making it difficult to distinguish counterfeits.’

Who would draw that?

Of course, the newly recruited friend.

‘Work, Ahn Gyeon.’

He’s probably working now, though.

===

Thus, the newly created banknotes were quite decent for the first issue.

Ahn Gyeon made dying sounds but drew and brought them as I ordered.

“I thought you were only good at drawing human figures, but your dragons are quite good too.”

I took the banknotes made as prototypes and looked at them under the lamplight.

Indeed, the dragons were majestic overall, looking as if they would come to life and roar at any moment.

“I have created four designs for now.”

Commonly, different designs of dragons were drawn on the front.

The highest denomination, 1 *kwan*, had a dragon representing Mokjo Yi An-sa, and on the back, there was a white cow (白牛) and a straw gold crown.

This was based on the legend that Yi An-sa used his father’s tomb in a place where a king would be born, and buried him with a white cow gold crown.

Next, there were pictures of the Tumen River splitting like the Red Sea, according to the story of Ikjo Yi Haeng-ri escaping from the Jurchens when the tide happened to be low, Dojo Yi Chun shooting down a black dragon with an arrow, and Hwanjo Yi Ja-chun opening Ssangseong, etc.

‘It’s a shame that Yi Seong-gye (Taejo) didn’t get in.’

Still, we can push out the higher ancestors first, and then put him in when the banknotes are established and other denominations are needed.

Another feature I gave was the numbers engraved on the banknotes.

“Your Majesty, I have drawn them as you commanded, but what kind of pattern is this…?”

Arabic numerals have been actively used in the Eastern Palace since my days as Crown Prince due to their practicality, called Cheonchuksu (天竺數, Indian numbers), but the newly arrived Ahn Gyeon did not know them.

Like that, Arabic numerals have not yet spread throughout Joseon, but things will be different if this happens.

“This is not a picture, it’s a number.”

The face value is also written in Chinese characters next to it, but Arabic numerals are written even larger.

‘If you put it on money, you can’t help but be interested. They’ll want to know what it means.’

The notation itself, where the unit goes up as 0 increases, is intuitive, so most people will easily understand what it means.

Of course, there were also people who opposed me pushing for the spread of Arabic numerals.

“Cheonchuksu [Indian numbers] is something that the country has not used in the past, but how can you engrave it on banknotes along with the late kings?”

“Even if Your Majesty is close to Buddhism, why bother?”

As always, I ignored them refreshingly.

‘I don’t listen to those weaker than me.’

“The old Gyochos also had Mongolian and Chinese characters engraved together, so what’s the problem? Cheonchuksu has already shown its wonderful use, so don’t discuss this issue anymore.”

Thus, the weak rebellion was quickly suppressed.

The fact that there were no other flaws in the banknotes also played a part.

“I think it would be good to show the majesty of the late kings more than I thought.”

The officials who had been reluctant to draw portraits on the banknotes expressed their admiration when they saw the samples.

That means that the picture drawn by Ahn Gyeon is excellent.

‘It’s like visually expressing Yongbieocheonga as it is.’

Yi Bang-won also expressed satisfaction when he received the results.

“I didn’t understand why you wanted to draw the late kings on money, but now I know what you meant.”

Yi Bang-won, who had been working hard on propaganda, could not have failed to notice what this meant.

Wasn’t what the court had been working so hard on the propaganda of the legitimacy of taking power through the achievements of the late kings?

Since it was drawn on the banknotes that all the people would use, the propaganda effect would be certain.

I smiled evilly.

It was truly a win-win-win situation.

===

“They say the Joseon Bank will be established soon, and officials’ salaries will be paid in banknotes?”

Yi Cheon-woo nodded at the question of a member of the royal family.

“The old folks are worried. They’re afraid they’ll be paid with trashy banknotes like when the Yuan Dynasty collapsed.”

“Those who want it can still take it in rice as before, so many people are relieved.”

Yi Cheon-woo chuckled.

“That’s how old people are. Even if the bank exchanges banknotes for silver, they say, what good is silver if the food supply is cut off?”

The shareholders of Cheonghaejin knew better than anyone else in this country.

The amount of cargo in Joseon now is incomparable to what it used to be.

The output of the Samnam region, the core granary of Joseon, and the amount of grain transported through Cheonghaejin are increasing year by year.

In the old days, a little rice was moved and shared among all the people in the capital, so even a slight famine or disruption in grain transport would cause prices to skyrocket and people would die in the capital, but now the situation is completely different.

“Then what should we do with the dividends from Cheonghaejin? Should we receive them in money too?”

The meritorious subjects who were familiar with these circumstances did not particularly dislike money.

At first, the meritorious subjects divided their shares each time rice was transported to Hanseong, but as time passed, that became inconvenient.

After that, they received it in silver every time, and now they thought it was okay to receive it in banknotes, which were no different from silver exchange tickets.

“Isn’t it easier to lend money if you receive it in money?”

Lending at interest is no better than Hwan Gok (환곡, government loan system) now, but things could change again once money starts circulating.

The meritorious subjects exchanged glances.

What could be more fun than getting rich in the world?

Especially in these good times.

It was truly a golden age.

< Money Makes the World Go Round (2) > End