Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Maps and Trade (11)
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The introduction of the face-and-ripe system and the final version of the gazetteer were submitted to Byeon Gye-ryang.
The eyes of us Hall of Worthies officials, myself included, were all fixed on him right now.
If Byeon Gye-ryang found any flaws, we'd have to correct those errors and check the rest of it for mistakes too...
All the Hall of Worthies scholars were united in hoping to hear the words "no problems" from Byeon Gye-ryang's mouth.
Breaking the long silence, Byeon Gye-ryang made his declaration.
"I've gone through the newly compiled gazetteer from start to finish, and there's not a single flaw anywhere. Everyone's worked hard. It's not quite quitting time yet, but you've all been worn out fretting over this gazetteer compilation up to now. So today, go ahead and clock out early to get some rest."
Having heard the declaration that the gazetteer was perfectly complete—and granted early leave to boot—the Hall of Worthies officials let out cheers of joy.
And with that, they all hurriedly began preparing to leave.
I started packing up too, going with the flow to slip out naturally.
A high-ranking official might have special duties, but as a low-ranking one, I had nothing particular to do, so I could just follow everyone else and head out.
Ah, of course, now that the gazetteer's done, the Chief Scholar and Deputy Scholar of the Hall of Worthies have to go around consulting with various ministries, starting with the State Council.
"Chief Scholar, then this humble official will take his leave. Thank you for your consideration."
Even if it meant letting his own food rot, Byeon Gye-ryang—the miserly Chief Scholar who wouldn't share with others—had granted us all early dismissal...
Any wise official would seize this chance without fail and hurry home.
Those who wanted after-work drinks could band together and go drinking, while folks like me, eager to see their wives and kids left behind even a moment sooner, could just head home.
But as I tried to slip away to freedom, Byeon Gye-ryang reached out and grabbed my shoulder.
"Kim Eung-gyo, take this gazetteer and head to the Ministry of Finance."
"Pardon? The Ministry of Finance?"
"The gazetteer's not fully distributed yet, but from the data collection stage onward—excluding Danchon County—merchants and commoners in countless townships have been ramping up specialty goods production. Thanks to that, commerce has boomed even more, and the local markets have grown far larger than before. And this is before the gazetteer's even complete. Imagine the impact once it's distributed..."
Distributing the gazetteer wouldn't cause specialty goods production to explode overnight.
The court had already announced that a nationwide specialty goods list would be compiled and released alongside the gazetteer, so merchants had moved swiftly to prepare ahead of schedule.
Thus, items designated as local specialties had already maxed out production.
So short-term production hikes beyond this were impossible.
The real issue came after distribution.
'What sells where for profit.'
Once everyone knew that info, the extra specialty goods would start flying off the shelves.
And if markets expanded in response...
"This humble official can't presume to predict how large commerce will grow. But I do know the direction it'll take, so I've prepared a few countermeasures accordingly."
"As expected of Kim Ji-bu—no, Kim Eung-gyo. You always have a plan."
"But my ideas might have flaws, no? That's why I think we should discuss them with you, sir..."
At that, Byeon Gye-ryang shot a signal with his eyes to the nearby Deputy Scholar.
The old Deputy Scholar suddenly looked enlightened and wedged himself between us.
"Chief Scholar, you need to head to the State Council soon. Otherwise, the Chief State Councillor will chew you out for being late."
Hearing that, Byeon Gye-ryang made a helpless face.
"Everything Kim Eung-gyo has done so far has been flawless. So I'm sure it'll be the same this time. I fully back whatever countermeasures Kim Eung-gyo proposes. Now go help out at the Ministry of Finance."
With that, Byeon Gye-ryang headed off to the State Council.
Might've been my imagination, but his steps looked awfully hurried, like he was fleeing something.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Though the Hall of Worthies had led this gazetteer project, the Ministry of Finance would have the most work once commerce expanded afterward.
Sure enough, the ministry officials were moving about in a frenzy.
"Kim Jeong-rang, sir, I've compiled the report with the needed info."
"Faster than expected—well done. Now take this straight to the Vice Minister."
Officials, clerks, scribes, and even slave errand boys were all so frantically buried in work that I felt awkward even greeting them as I arrived.
My father-in-law Kim Man-deok—dressed in official robes—was practically running back and forth with documents until he finally sat at his desk.
The moment he did, he buried his nose in paperwork and dove into his tasks with utmost seriousness.
He was so engrossed he didn't even notice his son-in-law standing there blankly...
"The Hall of Worthies has finished compiling the gazetteer, so I've brought the original here to the Ministry of Finance. Could you pass this to the Minister of Finance?"
No one in the ministry had time to notice a newcomer like me, so I announced my business loudly myself.
At my words, a clerk rushed over, took the gazetteer like a sacred relic, and vanished into the high-ranking officials' hall.
Right then, another clerk stood, cleared a spot next to my father-in-law's desk for me to work, and invited me to sit.
Setting up a workspace in the corner of the Ministry of Finance for me, who might have to leave for the Hall of Worthies anytime...
There was only one reason for that.
Byeon Gye-ryang had prearranged it with the Minister of Finance.
Something like: the gazetteer would wrap up today at the Hall of Worthies, so use this guy well in the increasingly busy ministry for a while, then send him back.
Otherwise, the Minister wouldn't dream of putting a Hall of Worthies scholar like me to work without clearance.
As if proving my guess, my father-in-law stood from his seat and came over.
"Son-in-law, lend us a hand."
"......I'm swamped with Hall of Worthies work too."
"Take a look at how the ministry folks are working. Doesn't it make you feel sorry for them?"
Looking at his face as he spoke, I could tell his sunken eyes meant he'd been worked to the bone.
Word had it the Ministry of Finance clocked out on time daily, yet his face was this haggard anyway.
Mountains of tasks piled up endlessly no matter how much they cleared, stressing him out like this, I figured.
With those hollow eyes, Kim Man-deok silently pleaded with me.
If it were any other official giving me that look, I'd have cited the Chief Scholar ordering all Hall of Worthies scholars to clock out early and bolted...
But it just had to be my father-in-law.
In Joseon, even if you killed someone to avenge your parents—short of treason—it was forgiven.
If you offered to serve a life sentence in your parents' stead, it wasn't allowed by rule, but if it was for filial piety, Joseon would let you.
No one living in great filial piety kingdom Joseon could ignore a family elder's plea.
Not even me.
"This is really just this once?"
"Thanks, son-in-law. I'll treat you to a meal later."
"So what exactly do I need to do?"
At my question, Kim Man-deok dumped a massive pile of work on me like he'd been waiting.
Super complicated stuff, like how to tax production and distribution of specialties once they ramped up...
"This is insane."
King Sejong had ordered the gazetteer, sure, but I'd made the work explode.
If I didn't handle it right, countless people could suffer later.
If me grinding a bit more made everyone happy, what choice did I have?
While my Hall of Worthies colleagues enjoyed early bliss, here I was alone in the ministry, taking a direct hit from the work bomb...
But work had to get done.
"Right now in Joseon, the best is a flat tax rate for farmers, artisans, merchants—no exceptions."
Introduce income tax by bracket, and merchants with cash plus yangban would team up and riot.
Sure, the court would win eventually...
But recovery could take decades.
And Joseon's priority now was expanding commerce over boosting tax collection...
So no income-bracket tax rates now.
Hell, we didn't have the capacity anyway.
"The issue then is merchants' account books... How to make them transparent..."
As I pondered, the answer appeared before my eyes.
My father-in-law's account book.
"Father-in-law, what's the method in this ledger you're using?"
"It's the traditional accounting method us Jeolla merchants use. Called Yungi. Simply put, it lets you check for errors by seeing if the left and right sides balance."
Not modern double-entry like I knew, but it had debits and credits.
Precise as double-entry, so it'd help for sure.
"Have merchants submit annual ledgers of income, expenses, and costs using this Yungi method."
"......Yeah, something like that."
"Not just merchant houses—all government offices should standardize on Yungi too."
And so, while handling ministry work, I recommended fully adopting the Yungi accounting method, and also organized my prepared military reform proposal.
This went up to Sejong the next day in a memorial.