Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Chief State Councillor Slayer (4)
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Ryu Jeong-hyeon, that piece of trash, was guilty of a crime just by living and breathing in Joseon.
Even if it meant delaying my own resignation a bit, I had to get rid of this scum before I left Joseon for good.
Listening to the tearful plea of the family head kneeling before me only strengthened that resolve.
"Aigoo, my lord... I had no choice but to borrow one seom of rice from the Chief State Councillor during the hungry spring gap, just to keep my fox-like wife and rabbit-like children from starving."
"I see. It must have been hard to get through the barley hump."
"After paying the rent, tribute goods, military service taxes, and all that, there's truly not a single grain left in the family rice chest. I really didn't want to borrow from a usurer... but if I didn't, my wife and kids would starve to death right then and there. Borrowing one seom this year means repaying it with five seom next year—I know full well how tough that is... But how could I turn a blind eye to my children starving while looking only at this worthless father of theirs?"
The main customers of private moneylenders aren't the rich. They're the desperately poor.
People who don't have even a million won handy for utilities or loan payments overdue, worrying every day if they'll be evicted from their tiny rented rooms.
Times change, but the fundamentals of human life don't. The man before me must have borrowed from a usurer, swallowing his tears, for the sake of his family.
"We scraped by like that for a few years, but this year the landlord suddenly raised the rent to fifty percent. Because of that, I couldn't repay the rice I owed the Chief State Councillor. Then one day, his servants showed up at my house and dragged off my daughter Eon-nyeon without a word. They said since I couldn't pay this year's rice, according to the contract I signed when I borrowed, they were taking my eldest child Eon-nyeon as a slave."
Tears fell in drops from the man's eyes.
Whether in Joseon or modern Korea, grown men tough it out and don't cry unless it's something like a parent's funeral.
Even when their household is on the brink of ruin and they're dying inside, they usually try not to show tears in front of others...
The man kneeling before me now began sobbing with heaving gasps.
"I'd only heard about how much rice and by when I had to repay. I had no idea the contract had a clause like that. And it's been ages since my daughter became a slave in the Chief State Councillor's household, but this worthless father hasn't even reported it to the authorities, let alone done anything."
The annals record Ryu Jeong-hyeon like this.
A capable finance expert (though his entire policy was slashing budgets willy-nilly), but he squeezed the common people with usury too harshly.
How vicious must he have been to leave a record saying, "The people avoid borrowing from the Chief State Councillor unless they have no choice. He is widely reviled."
And this madman, after King Taejong Yi Bang-won died, lent money to Prince Hyoryeong via a proxy account (one of his own servants)...
When Prince Hyoryeong didn't repay properly, Ryu Jeong-hyeon razed the servant's entire house. It's a wonder he didn't die in the original history.
I thought he was a viper among vipers, but I never imagined he'd be this ruthless.
Exploiting the fact that commoners can't read to slip in a clause making their child a slave.
And yet, in Joseon, it's legal to take debtors as slaves if they can't repay, so they can't even file a complaint with the authorities.
Impressive, Ryu Jeong-hyeon. You absolutely must die for Joseon.
"My lord, my lord. Please, just once, help me out. I know it's an shameless request, but please, please help this lowly one."
My own eyes were growing red as I listened.
They say parents carry the child they raised and lost to illness in their hearts forever.
To be tricked by a fraudulent contract and have your young daughter dragged off as a slave, never to see her face again... Does that even make sense? No decent human being would do that.
Part of me wanted to help without asking for anything in return.
'But if I hand out favors for free, every beggar hoping for a handout will come swarming.'
I'm no god; I can't take care of them all.
"......I can't help you for free."
The man before me, Gap-seok, who had been wailing on his knees, suddenly began banging his head on the floor.
So desperate he didn't care that his forehead split open and bled.
"If I can just get my daughter back, you could tell me to die and I'd follow your order. Please, please help me."
"......I'll pay you generously for your labor, so from now on, have your whole family work in my household. That should suffice. And keep it quiet—no rumors."
When you extend a hand to a desperate person, especially a parent on the verge of losing their child, they never forget the grace, even unto death.
If I help Gap-seok now, he'll be willing to die for me without hesitation. It'll be a huge help down the line.
Just when I need someone I can absolutely trust, this works out perfectly.
"My lord."
"How much rice do you need?"
"One and a half seom would be enough. With that, I can get Eon-nyeon back."
"No, I mean how much rice do you need to feed your wife and kids properly."
"Pardon...?"
"No one who works in my house goes hungry. Your kids will have to help with chores now and then, so aren't they part of my household too?"
At my words, tears fell from Gap-seok's eyes once more.
"My lord, thank you. Truly, thank you."
"Go with Dol-soe to the Chief State Councillor's house, repay the debt, and bring back Eon-nyeon first. I'll give you two more seom of grain besides, so feed your family well from now on. And there's one job you'll start tomorrow: gather the stories of others who've suffered injustice at the Chief State Councillor's hands, just like you."
"Yes, my lord."
"Go on, then."
With that, I called Dol-soe and sent him off with Gap-seok to Ryu Jeong-hyeon's house.
After pondering how to deal with Ryu Jeong-hyeon, I went into the study and began drafting my memorial.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ There's an old saying: "The mouth is a door that invites fire, the tongue a sword that cuts people."
Memorials are like that.
The Yesong Controversy that killed countless people in Joseon, and King Sukjong's factional upheavals, all began with a single memorial.
"Hyojong wasn't the eldest son, so he should wear mourning for one year, not three, right? Sure, it dents legitimacy, but facts are facts!"
That one memorial split Joseon into Westerners and Southerners, leading to bloody purges.
The memorial I'm submitting is the cornerstone for rooting out the scum exploiting the people—starting with Ryu Jeong-hyeon.
"I have to do this."
That's why I proposed the Bangwon Law, and then slaved away day and night in the Ministry of Finance to lay its foundations.
So before I retire for good—really, the very last thing—let's do this one final task.
Let's cut down the lingering ghosts of Goryeo trying to sabotage the Bangwon Law out of hatred, and the dog-like wretches fattening their bellies by exploiting Joseon's people.
"......Shall I write it?"
With resolve firm, I took up the brush.
A brush I wield countless times in daily life, but thinking of using it to kill someone made it feel unbearably heavy.
Former Jiphyeonjeon Scribe Kim Dae-bung prostrates twice and humbly submits. If Your Majesty proclaims the Bangwon Law across the land and implements it widely, the myriad people will rejoice that a peaceful era has dawned, and starvation will cease. Recalling Master Gwan's words that the people regard food as heaven, I dare say enacting and enforcing the Bangwon Law is no different from Your Majesty opening new heavens for the young masses. Then or now, the key is the economy.
The hope that, though poor today, diligent effort will bring a better life tomorrow.
The belief that sparing no effort today means soon owning even a patch of land.
The expectation that hard work will provide better clothes and food for wife and children.
Creating these is the duty of a ruler.
In Joseon, the Great Equalization Law truly benefited the masses.
Thanks to my involvement, it's been renamed the Bangwon Law and started centuries early—what fortune!
Yet upon deep reflection, I fear those practicing usury in Joseon will have no choice but to defy the sacred will of His Supreme Majesty and Your Majesty. In this world, the worse the economy slumps, the harsher unemployment bites, the better some people do financially.
Moneylenders, voice phishers, scammers, crime syndicates, for example.
They make their money preying on the desperate...
So when hard times hit, their incomes skyrocket.
In Joseon, Ryu Jeong-hyeon is the prime example.
Usury exists because impoverished commoners, swallowing tears to feed their families, borrow rice and money. But just as drinking seawater only brings death to the thirsty, borrowers seeking to save their kin often can't repay and end up as slaves to the usurer—a common tragedy. Usurers have built their wealth this way, but with the Bangwon Law, the people's lot improves, and they won't need to borrow anymore. In short, usurers lose their path to riches. Would they want that? Yi Bang-won called opponents of the Bangwon Law Goryeo remnants.
And there's only one minister who loves usury in Joseon.
Chief State Councillor Ryu Jeong-hyeon.
"I'm definitely going to kill you and send you back to the countryside."
To enact the Bangwon Law, we need a clear example, and this guy's perfect.
Here, I also detailed all of Ryu Jeong-hyeon's outrages in the memorial.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kim Dae-bung's memorial turned the court upside down.