Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Matchlocks and the Northern Expedition (5)
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While the Ministry of Military Affairs plans everything needed to conduct the war, including troop provisions transport, the Ministry of Finance takes on the role of securing the budget to execute those plans.
This means that the Ministry of Finance is the next hardest-hit department after ours in terms of crushing workloads right now.
Even our father-in-law, known as the ace of the Ministry of Finance's operations, was being worked to the bone like a wrung-out rag, and up close, his face looked pretty rough.
He must have suffered terribly.
"My son-in-law is truly remarkable. Even though I'm just a low-ranking official in the Ministry of Finance and don't shoulder the heaviest tasks, I feel like I'm going to drop dead from overwork. But your face doesn't show much fatigue at all."
"Is that so? Truth be told, I'm struggling too with the increasing workload."
"Overtime is daily life in our Ministry of Finance, but they say the Ministry of Military Affairs barely does any?"
This is only possible because Deputy Prime Minister Jo Mal-saeng prioritizes tasks well—separating what doesn't need doing from what must be done immediately—and I'm processing them as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Honestly, without Jo Mal-saeng, our Ministry of Military Affairs would be experiencing overtime hell even worse than the Ministry of Finance.
"So, seeing as my son-in-law has come to our home on this precious holiday—not to spend it with my daughter, but to meet me—it seems like you have something to ask. I'd love to share a drink with my son-in-law whom I haven't seen in ages and chat about this and that... but I just don't have the energy. I hope you understand."
"Once the war wraps up, I'll treat you to some ginseng wine."
"Ginseng wine? Where did you get your hands on something so precious?"
"The merchants from the Hanyang markets offered it up themselves."
In the 21st century, you'd never accept gifts like this, but in Joseon, refusing them could cause problems.
Once, when I turned down the massive gifts they offered because I couldn't accept them...
A rumor spread through the Hanyang markets: "Branch Manager Kim Dae-bung is investigating all sorts of corruption among the merchants, and the worst offenders are being shipped off to the borders like in Goryeo times."
They came to me confessing their self-made sins and offered four times the previous gifts.
After that, I changed tactics and now accept a moderate amount.
If rumors like that spread because I refuse gifts and commerce grinds to a halt, it'd be a fatal blow to Joseon's economy.
"...At this rate, the herbalists will bring deer antler velvet too."
Someone actually did offer me deer antler once.
From what I heard, it was from a royal physician whose name I won't mention, who had "relocated" it for his livelihood...
I figured accepting that would spell big trouble, so I told him to take it back.
"Father-in-law, with over 25,000 troops mobilized this time, isn't the court budget running pretty low? How about you and I pool our resources to supplement it a bit?"
"My son-in-law only uses the money he earns for state affairs. Truth be told, I've been thinking the same. His Highness opened the inner treasury and contributed a whopping 20,000 seom of white rice, so we can't just sit idly by."
Joseon is a country where failing to observe propriety can actually be a criminal offense under the law.
Put more simply, even actions not technically crimes under the penal code can lead to punishment just for being insolent.
With 20,000 seom coming out of the inner treasury funds, if wealthy officials like us don't contribute?
Who knows when we'd face reprimands or punishment for some reason.
Better to offer when asked nicely than get dragged through the mud and fleeced later.
"So, how much should we contribute?"
"How much can you manage right now?"
"I could scrape together up to 30,000 seom of white rice somehow. Any more, and I'd be dipping into my trading capital, which I can't afford."
"Then I'll manage 10,000 seom somehow. Together, 40,000 seom should ensure the court won't dare accuse your trading company, brother-in-law."
Right now, Kim Man-deok is like a chaebol owner who also serves as a Ministry of Strategy and Finance official, in modern Korean terms.
Using all sorts of confidential info gained from his official duties to rake in massive profits, no less.
Since he profits so much from working in the Ministry of Finance, it's only right to give back that much.
"Some say we've made fortunes thanks to our bureaucratic positions, but shelling out this much still stings a bit."
"Isn't that just how taxes work? It won't stop the trading company from running or put you in immediate hardship... but it's natural to feel the pinch when handing over such a large sum."
Father-in-law clicked his tongue.
"Still, as officials, if we begrudge this bit of wealth and don't contribute what we should, wouldn't we be begging to end up like Ryu Jeong-hyeon?"
Lately, in the Ministry of Finance, they curse tax dodgers and ruthless moneylenders as "Ryu Jeong-hyeon wannabes."
Even father-in-law had that phrase right on the tip of his tongue.
Well, it's good for Ryu Jeong-hyeon, I suppose.
Every Joseon scholar wants their name in the history books, and that guy's name will be bandied about in Joseon for ages to come.
Sure, it'll be in phrases like "that bastard Ryu Jeong-hyeon" or "deserves to get the Ryu Jeong-hyeon treatment," but...
His name lives on, so the late Ryu Jeong-hyeon would be pleased.
Not that a dead guy can complain.
"But with me being so loyal and patriotic here... got any profitable info for me?"
"Ha, this is a one-time deal."
30,000 seom of white rice could buy about 70 decent tiled-roof houses in Hanyang.
Think 70 luxury Seoul apartments.
He's handing over that kind of cash, so in Joseon sensibilities, there has to be some return.
Let's see, something that benefits the nation and lets father-in-law make a killing...
"Father-in-law, around April next year, the court's 25,000-strong army will cross the border. Rice prices in Hamgyong Province will skyrocket then."
"April next year..."
"Buy up rice from the southern provinces at fair prices and sell in Hamgyong. You'll more than recoup this loss and make a fortune. But..."
Kim Man-deok cut me off mid-sentence.
"Son-in-law, I'm a low-rank official, but still a court servant. How could I gouge with rice? I'll mark it up just 30% over purchase price. Selling surplus rice from all eight provinces at that rate to Hamgyong will mean far fewer people starve there even with war-driven price hikes."
It was the same in Napoleon's time; no pre-modern army could fully sustain troops on central supplies alone.
Logistics is a killer issue.
No matter how efficiently I supply and gather resources, local procurement will be essential.
That'll consume heaps of grain like rice, so in rice-scarce Hamgyong, prices will explode.
But if merchants like father-in-law sell at 'reasonable profits,' we can save some folks from the shortages.
"That's all well and good, but..."
"Yes, father-in-law."
"Frankly, it feels unfair that I'm the only one forking over so much. Ahem, wouldn't it be good to give other merchants a chance to show their loyalty too?"
I must've been too stuck in 21st-century thinking.
Merchants here don't pay corporate taxes or such like modern companies.
They just submit about 10% of income based on their self-made ledgers...
'Which are of course stuffed with cooked books.'
No harm in squeezing a bit more tax from them.
No—commoners will face heavier burdens from the coming war taxes too...
Letting merchants off without extras wouldn't make sense.
"As expected of father-in-law's wisdom."
"Just the wisdom of an old mule. Haven't I lived decades longer than you, my son-in-law?"
Hmm, but I'm swamped, so no bandwidth to urge—or threaten, no, encourage—merchants to voluntarily contribute taxes.
Right, encourage.
I could do it if I tried, but it'd mean more overtime.
So, I should give father-in-law the chance to execute this brilliant idea he came up with himself.
This is absolutely not dumping work on him.
It's handing him a golden opportunity to earn merit.
"Father-in-law."
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You want to become a capital official, right?"
Father-in-law shook his head.
"I'm aiming to rise only to full third-rank magistrate before resigning. I feel my body weakening more with age. Thanks to you, our family has become proper yangban—that's enough..."
"No, that's not it. When I heard that after grueling work, instead of resting at home, you study the Four Books and Three Classics, I was deeply impressed. I believe that dedication will remain unwavering."
"I read the Four Books and Three Classics to know my duties as a man..."
"Loyalty to king and country is a man's duty too."
You can never win a Confucian debate with father-in-law.
Because I'm a past civil service exam tournament champion.
"I'll pass the word to the Minister of Finance. Succeed in this, and promotion is imminent—you'll be junior 7th rank soon."