Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Breaking the Cartel (8)
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After their meeting with Kim Dae-bung, the great merchants rushed straight to the Bureau of Investigation to confess their crimes.
It was out of sheer terror that even the slightest delay might land them with a charge of insolence, costing them their heads at any moment.
Rather than being forced by anyone—in this case, Kim Dae-bung—these men had come to realize their sins and repent due to the cry of conscience that resides in every human heart.
It wasn't as if they feared Kim Dae-bung grabbing an axe and submitting a memorial against them if they didn't confess right away.
The next day, the ministers gathered in the audience hall began discussing with King Sejong how to deal with them.
"They say good fortune in life comes only occasionally, while misfortune crashes in like a tidal wave all at once... But how could such a gruesome affair unfold in Hanyang so soon after the great fire?"
King Sejong's insides burned with frustration.
Since his ascension, Joseon had developed at a speed no one could have imagined.
The court's budget had multiplied several times over in just a few years, and the memorials pleading for emergency grain relief—once as regular as annual events due to starving commoners—had ceased entirely.
And as Kim Dae-bung had mentioned recently, if workshops sprang up across Joseon mass-producing and distributing newly developed tools like farm implements at affordable prices?
Rice yields would increase year after year, swelling the court's coffers even more and enriching the lives of the people.
Commerce would flourish further, creating a virtuous cycle that made Joseon ever wealthier.
After living with such bright prospects, learning of the merchants' "vile underbelly" had hit him hard... His vision darkened, a throbbing headache setting in.
"The Hanyang market guilds swept up every inch of developable land near ferry ports like Yongsan and Gwangjin with their pooled wealth, aiming to monopolize all of Joseon's commerce for themselves. Isn't this the kind of outrage even the Goryeo clan's powerful families might have committed?"
"This minister's heart aches beyond endurance."
"Indeed. Only the Chief State Councillor truly understands my feelings."
The other ministers chimed in agreement with Hwang Hui.
"This minister regrets not foreseeing the downsides, blinded by visions of commerce's benefits reducing hunger."
"To think we nearly repeated Goryeo's mistakes—it's utterly heartbreaking."
At that moment, Hwang Hui unleashed a minister's ultimate weapon, laced with 90% pretense and 10% sincerity.
He requested resignation.
"Your Highness, Chief State Councillor Hwang Hui reports."
"Speak."
Hwang Hui bowed until his forehead touched the floor, then drew a deep breath.
He spoke with profound remorse, as if pleading from the heart.
"As Chief State Councillor, this minister bears the grave duty of reviewing all court policies, predicting their impact on Joseon, and preparing accordingly. Yet he failed to detect the heinous plot by these Hanyang 'great merchants.' The guilt is immense. Moreover, he overlooked how Kim Jang-seok, the rice wholesaler, cornered every sack of rice coming through Incheon to drive up prices. Thinking on my incompetence fills me with despair."
"How could all this be the Chief State Councillor's fault alone? It is also my failing."
"No, Your Highness. Even military law demands the head of a watchman who fails to guard the tower, for vigilance against threats is paramount... This minister's failure is unforgivable."
By 21st-century standards, Hwang Hui was the sort who'd sell out his country for bribes.
His granaries received annual "holiday gifts" worth ten thousand seom of white rice, and his income from favors dwarfed that several times over—an astronomical sum.
Kim Dae-bung estimated his bribe haul at least hundreds of billions, up to a trillion in modern value.
Yet Hwang Hui loved his country more than bribes and genuinely felt responsible for this crisis.
"Dismiss an incompetent like this minister and appoint more capable men like Kim Dae-bung of the State Council to safeguard the ancestral temple and state altar."
Hwang Hui had amassed enough wealth long ago to live leisurely for life, with plenty left for his great-grandchildren's grandchildren.
Having risen to Chief State Councillor, there were no higher offices left.
So resignation held little regret for him...
"The Chief State Councillor need feel no guilt, but if you truly believe you've erred, continue aiding this flawed king by my side."
"Your benevolence overwhelms me."
"Chief State Councillor Hwang Hui, devote yourself to Joseon until your dying breath, earning merit thereby."
In Joseon, "devote yourself until death" was mere rhetoric.
Like politicians calling themselves "the friend of the common man" or "the one who best understands the poor"—empty flattery.
Hwang Hui thought nothing of it...
But he didn't know.
King Sejong would keep rejecting his resignations with every excuse imaginable.
Yet instincts honed by decades in office warned Hwang Hui.
'You're Chief State Councillor for life.'
Realizing this, Hwang Hui shuddered.
King Sejong gazed at him warmly and smiled.
"They requested disbanding the market guilds. What says the Minister of Finance?"
"The guild system no longer suits our times. It must be abolished."
"Why so?"
"King Taejo bound the market merchants into guilds because Hanyang lacked proper markets then. In exchange for trading rights, they paid taxes in goods the state needed. Even if they grew corrupt internally, they couldn't harm the nation greatly. But circumstances have changed completely."
King Sejong furrowed his brow.
This time, they'd merely hiked Hanyang's rice prices several-fold for profit, but if they grew stronger later...
They'd manipulate not just Hanyang's, but the nation's rice prices at will.
That meant toying with Joseon's lifeline.
"Separate from encouraging free trade, create a new Sub-Bureau of Commerce under the Ministry of Finance to monitor merchants. Punish acts harmful to the state, reward and promote those beneficial."
"...The routine clerks' workload will explode."
"Managing every county nationwide, our current staff is woefully short. We need a dedicated Sub-Bureau with new appointees."
"Draft a proposal at the Ministry of Finance, then deliberate at the State Council."
Minister of Finance Min Gye-saeng thought to himself.
He'd whip up a rough draft and dump it on Kim Dae-bung.
Having lived his life as a civil official, he was clueless about commerce—better to hand it to an expert, for the good of state and people, a hundredfold.
This had absolutely nothing to do with grudge over Kim Dae-bung's workload hikes leaving Ministry of Finance officials no time for lunch, starving daily.
All for the nation and its people.
"Minister of Punishment Seo Sun reports. While accusing rice wholesaler Kim Jang-seok, we heard that in young master Kim's slave lawsuit, bribes flowed everywhere. I dismissed it as traitor talk, but he won over a thousand slaves... He must have bribed widely to secure victory."
Listening, Jo Mal-saeng's pupils shook wildly.
He himself had pocketed 36 slaves from young master Kim.
Equivalent to about 720 seom of white rice—a fraction of his bribes as Deputy Prime Minister, but...
If exposed that as Minister of Punishment, he'd taken 720 seom worth to rig the slave trial in Kim's favor, who knew when the iron mace would crush his skull.
Joseon's law would've ruled for Kim anyway.
So it was just a "service fee" for an inevitable win...
'If this gets out, I'm dead.'
"Order a reinvestigation."
"So be it. And render judgment."
The ministers awaited King Sejong's verdict in silence.
"Rice wholesaler Kim Jang-seok manipulated Hanyang's prices for immense profit. This is tantamount to gambling with citizens' lives—akin to treason. Thus, execute him by dismemberment. Enslave his wife and children as public slaves. Confiscate all assets."
No one would defend Kim Jang-seok.
Even if Ryu Jeong-hyeon, haunted by Goryeo's ghosts, lived, he'd rage that the man deserved death.
Confucianism forbade tampering with rice.
"The market guilds disrupted Hanyang's order through collusion, but they confessed voluntarily and offered half their wealth. Pardon them specially. Disband the guilds effective immediately."
"Your benevolence overwhelms us."
Thus, Hanyang's commerce overlords, the market guilds, dissolved in an instant.
Upon hearing court had adjourned, Kim Dae-bung sought out Jo Mal-saeng at once.
"Deputy Prime Minister, I know everything."
Jo Mal-saeng's pupils shook wildly once more.