Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Stele of Merit (2)
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In the nation of Joseon, introverts couldn't survive.
Even in Hanyang, neighbors knew exactly how many rice paddies each household owned, and word spread about whether the dog next door had divorced and remarried.
Poor folk—no, even the yangban—had to help each other to get by in pre-modern Joseon society.
Plus, aside from those steamy nights with their wives, there wasn't much in the way of leisure...
So when childhood friends gathered, cracking open the soju and shooting the breeze was just common sense in Joseon.
In this everyday scene, Jang-dol, who worked for Kim Man-deok's merchant company, spoke up.
"Uncle, have you heard the news from the aunties?"
"What news? If you're talking about our village's top bachelor, Deok-man, finally getting hitched, save it."
"Everyone in Jinhae County knows that one already. Why bring it up and wear out your mouth? That penny-pincher Deok-man even came to me, said he's getting married, and treated me to a big bowl of that new country soup the magistrate set up at the market."
"Lord almighty, the guy who seemed like he'd never tie the knot... Deok-man's finally human."
If Deok-man were here, he'd throw a fit about why everyone was so shocked a bachelor was getting married.
He could stomach being called stingy, but saying he was getting hitched and turning human implied...
...he'd looked like a hopeless old bachelor who'd die single. No different.
He couldn't stand them cowardly scraping at his insecurities based on facts.
"So what is it then?"
"The nobles are paying our tribute goods for us, just like back when those damn monks were skimming it off. In return, they're cutting the amount us poor folks have to pay by that much."
At the words about cutting tribute goods, everyone around Jang-dol perked up their ears.
No—even merchants nearby came running over.
It wasn't just any talk; it was about reducing the taxes that burdened them. How could they not care?
"Excluding that bastard Jeong Hak-so who kicked the bucket, the nobles aren't total skinflints... but are they really saintly enough to cover our tribute goods too?"
In any of Joseon's eight provinces, a yangban household's ancestral rite was the whole village's feast day.
If a yangban held a rite without feeding the villagers a mountain of good food, his reputation in the village tanked.
A bad rep snowballed until the local yangban society didn't treat him like one anymore, so they wailed and laid out feasts for hundreds on rite days, enough to feed the village twice over.
In bad harvests, they'd even open their granaries and hand out grain for free.
They had their humane side, but it was also because skipping it might get them mauled by hungry commoners like tigers.
So the villagers saw yangban as "real lifesavers at ancestral rites"... but them suddenly sacrificing for the people? Highly suspicious.
"Jang-dol, you must've heard wrong."
What Jang-dol heard was 100% true. After all, the one spreading it far and wide was none other than his boss, Kim Man-deok.
And who was Kim Man-deok? Among all the magistrates Jang-dol had seen, he was the one who cared most for the people—the kind a magistrate personally visited for advice.
In all eight provinces, no merchant got officials coming for advice instead of bribes except his boss.
'But he told me not to spill that.'
"You know my cousin's brother-in-law's daughter got taken as a concubine by Lord Ho-bang?"
"Who doesn't? Your cousin was bragging about getting a plot of land yesterday, mouth flapping non-stop. Makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it."
"Heard it straight from my cousin brother. The magistrate gathered all the nobles and personally persuaded and enlightened them, so the nobles volunteered to shoulder more tribute goods."
Nobles voluntarily paying more taxes—an unbelievable phenomenon.
But the county folk already believed anything County Magistrate Kim Dae-bung said would happen.
He'd slashed tribute goods in half, returned the rice the monks embezzled, set up a market for entertainment and livelihoods... It made sense.
"And that's not all, from what I hear."
"What else?"
"They're building several dams on Dongcheon and Sasacheon streams. Join in, and they'll cut your emergency grain loan by a day's wage."
"...Public labor, and they cut your grain loan?"
"They even provide snacks and dinner so workers don't go hungry. Paid from the nobles' extra taxes."
Hearing this made their heads spin. It defied all common sense, one bombshell after another.
Corvée was always unpaid if the magistrate ordered it, and you brought your own food. Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace—same deal.
Water flows down, not up—that was the natural order. But this magistrate cuts grain loans for corvée?
No way to wrap their heads around it, no matter how hard they tried.
"Not during busy farming season, but off-season, when we've got time—we gotta go."
"More dams mean fewer bad harvests, right?"
Building walls didn't help immediately, but dams cut flood risks...
...and made reclaiming fields easier, letting them expand their own land effortlessly.
No downsides, only upsides. A flawless policy.
"The magistrate must've convinced the nobles well. But when he leaves, it's over, right?"
"What kinda nonsense is that?"
The uncle who'd said it was done after the magistrate left grilled Jang-dol.
"Even if he convinced them now, you think the next magistrate keeps it going?"
Jang-dol barely hid his smile.
Kim Man-deok promised half a seom of rice to any employee who stirred—er, convinced—the people to erect a Stele of Merit.
Convincing this crowd meant scoring that rice practically free.
"How about erecting a Stele of Merit then?"
"A Stele of Merit?"
"The nobles generously gave for us poor folk and the county. We write our thanks and put it up."
"You really Jang-dol? When'd you get so smart?"
"What does that matter?"
The Jang-dol they knew was a grunt scraping by at Kim Man-deok's firm, not some sharp mind. Suspicious, sure...
...but right now, nobles paying extra taxes meant less burden, and off-season dam work with cut loans and free meals mattered more.
Work off-season, shrink your debt, get fed... Rice breeding itself.
"Key point: Erect the stele to show our gratitude. Then nobles can't scrap it with a stele standing, right?"
Doubts about Jang-dol's sudden smarts vanished at "can't scrap it."
Taxes down, lives better. A way to keep it, from Jang-dol's mouth—who cared who was behind him?
"Nobles love leaving names for posterity. Thank them with a stele, and they'll keep it up."
"Villagers pooling cash won't cost much."
"If nobles are paying extra taxes, that's nothing."
With opinion swaying, the group dispersed.
Merchants back to stalls, others home to smack wives' rears or tend gardens—work called.
And they scattered, spreading the word.
"Heard the magistrate convinced the nobles to cover some of our tribute goods for us?"
"Taxes cut thanks to nobles—least we can do is a Stele of Merit."
"Better than them doing it for nothing; one word of thanks goes far..."
Soon after, a Stele of Merit praising the nobles' virtue rose in the county.