Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Great Cleanup (3)
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Jeong Hak-so, a scholar from Jinhae County renowned for his vast knowledge.
He was now bound before me in a pitiful state.
His ears pierced by arrows on both sides, his topknot undone, his neck resting atop a wooden stake.
For a man once respected as a learned gentleman of the village, this was far too wretched a sight.
"Seeing something like this really makes the world feel so utterly futile."
That said, I felt no guilt over killing him.
He had done the deed that earned him death.
Three years ago, the law prohibiting commoners from suing magistrates was enacted. It legally barred the people from accusing the magistrate of their own county.
Of course, if anyone could see that the magistrate deserved death for his crimes or had suffered an utterly unjust wrong, some flexibility was applied.
But this bastard had resorted to loopholes out of fear that with the market open and the people finally scraping by, they wouldn't borrow from him at exorbitant interest rates.
He deserved to die.
And what made his death even more miserable was the reaction of the county's people.
"That gentleman always charged such high interest... This is heaven's punishment."
"No matter how learned you are, what's the point if you're not even human first... human."
A man once revered as an elder in the county had now fallen to the level of human scum.
Jeong Hak-so's name had become an object of ridicule and scorn throughout Jinhae County.
Now, should I carry out the execution?
"Magistrate."
"Kim I-bang, what is it now?"
"Jeong Hak-so has quite a bit of property—houses, land, slaves. How shall we handle it?"
I-bang rubbed his hands before me, glancing at the clerks around him as well.
He was asking if we could share some of Jeong Hak-so's wealth.
The court hadn't specified to confiscate all his assets for the magistrate's office...
So a bit of flexibility could be exercised here.
Considering how I'd worked them hard since I arrived and greatly reduced corruption...
I should give them a cut here at least.
"As for Jeong Hak-so's lands, all unregistered fields, thirty percent of the rest, and half the goods in his warehouse can disappear without anyone knowing. Everything else goes to the magistrate's office. His slaves will all become office slaves, and his family will be sent as public slaves to another county."
"Understood. We'll carry it out."
Even as I said it, I found it amusing. Knowing about corruption yet tolerating and regulating it to an appropriate level as the best option.
The path Joseon must take was long and arduous.
"Execute the corporal punishment."
"Yes, Magistrate."
At my order, one of our office's military instructors swiftly severed Jeong Hak-so's head.
All the gathered onlookers cheered at the sight of his death.
"Once the market opened and folks in the village started getting by, he just had to oppose it... Deserved to die."
"Good riddance, good riddance."
Yangban were usually treated as elders in the county...
How lacking in virtue must he have been to hear such words?
Well, being rotten to the core, he came to me babbling like some old fogey that opening the market would make the people lazy, then bypassed the law prohibiting commoner lawsuits with a petition to make trouble for me.
If he'd had any sense in his head, he wouldn't have met this end.
"Disperse the crowd here. And contact the county's scholars—tell them all to come to the office."
"Yes, Magistrate. But why summon them?"
"I wish to discuss the county's future with them seriously."
The county's tax system was a complete mess right now.
However, with the authority I currently held, I couldn't completely overhaul a tax system that was crushing the people.
Nor could I just leave the mess as it was.
Now that I knew how serious the problem was, I had to try fixing it somehow.
Even if it was just a temporary measure in my eyes...
It would be a huge help to those involved.
***
Sending the county's scholars away on empty stomachs would be rude.
In Joseon, where asking "Have you eaten?" is traditional courtesy upon meeting someone, it was especially unacceptable.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do—or in Joseon, follow Joseon ways.
I prepared a lavish spread for the county's scholars.
"Upon taking office as Jinhae County's magistrate, I should have first paid respects to the county's elders and sought your counsel... But being still inexperienced and pressed by duties, I've delayed this gathering. My apologies."
Truth be told, I didn't feel particularly apologetic.
As the newly arrived county magistrate, tending to the people's affairs and dealing with the monks' corruption was what mattered...
What was important about meeting local notables, feasting on expensive food, and hosting parties with courtesans dancing? That was way down the priority list.
Still, this kind of courtesy was necessary.
The position I held as county magistrate was akin to a small county governor back in Korea.
To do the job properly, maintaining friendly relations with the so-called local notables was important.
Otherwise, any one of them could harass me endlessly, like Jeong Hak-so who died this morning.
Of course, they'd now learned well that touching me, who fought corruption to protect the people's rights, would turn them into headless ghosts like him...
Still, better not to create openings for trouble.
In response to my words, the scholar reputed to have the highest prestige in the county replied.
"We know full well how busy you are with official duties, Magistrate. Amid your packed schedule, to summon us like this, lay out a feast, and treat us so generously— we are truly grateful."
"Thank you for saying so. I'm still young and full of shortcomings. I hope you'll all offer me much counsel."
Normally, this exchange would call for mutual laughter, haha and hoho.
But here I was, laughing alone, while the other scholars sat as if on pins and needles, at a loss.
It couldn't be helped.
Though I hadn't done it myself, Yi Bang-won had utterly destroyed Jeong Hak-so's household, and they'd witnessed it—thinking they could easily end up the same.
"I'll end the greetings here. Truth be told, the reason I asked you wise scholars of the county to come today is for one matter I'd like your cooperation on."
"What cooperation can we provide?"
"It's that next year, and going forward, you contribute the same amount of tribute goods as this year."
The scholars' brows furrowed at my words. I fully understood their feelings.
I had exposed how the monks had embezzled by buying tribute goods at inflated prices. As a result, the people's tribute tax burden had plummeted.
To exaggerate a bit, even the poorest household used to pay two seom of rice per family; now it was just one.
For these county scholars with vast lands and many slaves, this must have hit enormously...
The people now paid half what they used to, yet they were told to pay the same as before?
How unfair it must seem.
"Thanks to you, Magistrate, the people's tribute burden has greatly lessened. Moreover, poor folk can now sell straw sandals, mats, or foraged herbs in their spare time through the market, so their livelihoods have prospered greatly. This humble scholar, having lived over fifty years, has never seen a magistrate who cares for the people like you."
"You're too kind."
"However, Magistrate."
The scholar representing them paused here and sighed.
"As you know, even the wealthy don't pay taxes without pain."
"I agree."
I agreed that those who earn more should pay more in taxes.
But even from a rich person's view, paying taxes must hurt deeply.
If I earned ten million won a month, I'd pay thirty million in taxes yearly. Not a small sum.
Though with that much income, I'd still have plenty left.
The yangban knew I'd cut taxes by cracking down on the monks, so they'd probably daydreamed joyfully about what to do with their savings... Only for me to wipe it all away. Naturally infuriating.
"But what is a scholar's duty? Isn't it to educate the people and provide them grain when they hunger?"
"That's true. But isn't it unfair that poor commoners get their tribute reduced while we must bear the same as before?"
What he said wasn't wrong. That's why I was talking instead of saying "Then die."
But these guys had committed one fatally grave crime.
Joseon paid officials low salaries but tacitly allowed tax evasion and embezzlement. Still, there were lines not to cross.
Until now, with just my authority as county magistrate, it had been hard to touch them, so I'd held back. But if Yi Bang-won fully backed me... if the court supported me...
I could threaten them with it.
"Unlike the clerks, I've never taken bribes. And this in my hand..."
I pulled a book from the wide sleeve of my durumagi robe.
"...is last year's harvest record. Reading it, I see Jinhae County reported a slight famine... Do I need to go around asking the people one by one if last year's harvest was truly poor?"
By my knowledge, last year's harvest in Jinhae was average.
Reporting it as famine was "falsifying reports to the throne."
It meant deceiving the king.