Chapter 191
Chapter 191
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Joseon-Style Standing Army (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Early in the Joseon era, two major problems plagued the common people.
One was tribute goods, and the other was military service.
With the implementation of the Tribute Goods Reform Act in Joseon, the situation had certainly improved.
However, the issue of military service remained completely unresolved to this day.
Because of that, the people of Joseon were still suffering even now.
"In the past, Joseon's circumstances made it impossible to touch the military service system, but things are different now."
The current court budget had increased by more than eightfold compared to when I passed the civil service exams, and while there were no official surveys, it was clear that living standards for the people had improved considerably.
When survival was tough, people would flock to the granaries unbidden, clamoring to borrow rice.
But once food and livelihood issues were resolved, they started avoiding borrowing from granaries, where they had to repay old grain with fresh rice two or three years later...
Just look at the constant memorials from the Ministry of Finance complaining that rice stockpiled in granaries and local offices was rotting away unused.
The people were living well enough now that they no longer sought out granary loans or emergency grain relief.
"With the national treasury now solid, it's time to reinvest for the sake of the people."
That's why I submitted a memorial proposing to completely overhaul the military service system.
To reinvest the increased budget, resolve the people's hardships, and make the nation even stronger.
I organized my thoughts a bit as I headed to the Ministry of Military Affairs' upper council chamber.
Minister of Military Affairs Choi Yun-deok, who was there, greeted me warmly.
"Has our Kim come?"
Choi Yun-deok and I weren't that close.
We had gone to Ming together escorting the Crown Prince, but I was busy the entire trip sticking by the Crown Prince's side, explaining all sorts of new weapon systems to him.
Like slightly modifying weapon designs to make them viable as intimidation tools, even if not practical as main firearms in actual combat.
Or that future wars would be dominated by standardized and gunpowder weapons, so we needed to produce lots of small-caliber cannons no matter what.
I talked about such things day and night...
On the return trip, as the deputy envoy, I should have handled all the practical affairs, but since I was glued to the Crown Prince, Deputy Envoy Choi Yun-deok ended up doing all of it.
'I thought he'd resent me for that.'
I was momentarily flustered by his unexpected reaction, but I quickly understood why he liked me.
During the recent subjugation of the Jurchens beyond the Paju River, my meticulous supply and institutional designs had allowed the expeditionary force to achieve far greater results than expected.
He hadn't forgotten that, and I realized he was genuinely grateful to me.
In original history, the Four Garrisons and Six Forts were only established after the second Paju expedition, but this time, we managed to conquer everything up to Hunchun and the Yanbian region by 21st-century standards.
Thanks to that, Choi Yun-deok, a military official, had achieved the rare promotion to Senior First Rank.
So he felt grateful, and he probably expected more opportunities for merit if he stayed on good terms with me going forward.
Even though Choi Yun-deok was known as an upright official, like any Joseon scholar-official, he was desperate to rack up achievements for the glory of his house and name...
"Yes, my lord."
"Sit comfortably."
As I took my seat, Choi Yun-deok got to the point.
"I've read the memorial you submitted, Kim. As you said, Joseon's military service is a huge burden on the people."
"Yes, that's right. When I was first posted as Jinhae County Magistrate, I heard from the people that tribute goods and military service were as frightening as tigers or plague outbreaks."
The saying "A ferocious tax collector is fiercer than a tiger" didn't come about for nothing.
In reality, paying harsh taxes left people without food, guaranteeing starvation...
Unless they were trapped inside a tiger's den, living in an area frequented by tigers still allowed survival depending on the tiger's mood.
"However, I believe you well understand why His Majesty and we court ministers couldn't arbitrarily reform the military service system."
"Yes. Just as introducing the new Tribute Goods Reform Act brought immediate results, some systems can be changed for quick effects. But military service... it inevitably requires a lot from the court budget, so it's hard to touch casually."
Militaries in any era are money-devouring monsters.
Indeed, until before I took office, nearly half of Joseon's budget went to salaries for professional soldiers like the Mounted Braves and Patrol Troops.
Even with such generous stipends, it was too tight for their living expenses, so the Mounted Braves had to rotate in three shifts, paid only during active duty.
'That's like getting paid for only four months a year.'
"That's why in this memorial, I wrote that we can't even pay the conscripted soldiers. Truthfully, I'd like to pay them too, but with Joseon's current budget, it's not realistically feasible."
"Serving military duty is no easy task for them, yet all we do is barely feed them during it. As someone who's lived as a military man for decades, I always feel ashamed reflecting on this reality."
"But my lord, while fully compensating their hardships may be difficult now, we can at least lighten their burden to some degree."
Choi Yun-deok perked up his ears at my words.
I had only seen how tough military service was for the people through documents, but he had witnessed it firsthand over decades as a military official...
He knew well how much they suffered.
"The biggest reason people dread military service is that they don't get adequate pay during it. If they received proper wages, even poor commoners wouldn't find it pleasant, but they wouldn't see it as utterly impossible either."
There was one incident that set South Korea ablaze in the 21st century.
The case where the Military Manpower Administration ordered a man—the family breadwinner for two orphans barely scraping by—to enlist upon reaching conscription age.
Because of this, the man had no choice but to send his younger sibling to an orphanage during his service period.
He said his greatest worry wasn't his own suffering in the military, but having to send his sibling to the orphanage.
Fortunately, the story spread nationwide through the media, lawyers offered pro bono representation, and the breadwinner received an exemption before it went to court.
If even leaving one sibling behind to enlist was this agonizing, imagine Joseon family heads abandoning elderly parents, wives, and multiple children to be dragged off to service...
And not knowing when they'd be called up.
Right now, Joseon couldn't pay wages to those in service, but it could resolve the anxiety of "not knowing when they'll be conscripted."
"Since paying wages isn't feasible, I believe we should switch to having all adult males from age 15 serve a fixed three-year term, and thereafter not conscript them again unless in extraordinary circumstances."
"With such a law, men would marry around age 18 after finishing service, gaining freedom from supporting a family during that time."
"And wouldn't it be a waste of manpower to just drill them in military training every day? So in their spare time, they could do civil support like building dikes and bridges needed by the county, maintaining roads, or helping with peak-season farming."
This way, local offices could use their labor, so providing food for the soldiers wouldn't be such a burden.
Previously, assigning 300 soldiers to a small county like Jinhae would empty the office granaries feeding them...
But now, with taxes left after remitting to the central court, we have plenty to run the county and feed 300 or 400 soldiers easily.
"Then the soldiers assigned to local offices would hardly get any military training. With transplanting rice seedlings, various civil engineering projects, and a shortage of hands, they'd end up doing construction work every day."
"It would be somewhat like that, but even elite like the Mounted Braves and Patrol Troops rotate in three shifts a year, don't they?"
That's why in Joseon, no one joins special units like Mounted Braves or Patrol Troops for livelihood; it's for social status elevation.
So Mounted Brave recruitment had property requirements.
Social status didn't matter—even lowborn were fine—but you needed at least a few plots of land; no exceptions.
"Having soldiers train militarily once every five or six days would suffice to maintain wartime readiness. And having every adult male across Joseon serve three years from age 15 means, in other words, we can mobilize them anytime in emergencies."
In short, if Joseon willed it, we could immediately muster not quite hundreds of thousands, but certainly tens of thousands.
"In my view, this is the best we can do for now, my lord."
Choi Yun-deok nodded at my words.
"It will certainly reduce the burden on the people and benefit the nation. Understood. I'll strongly advocate for this plan in the privy council to get it approved."