Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Secret Royal Inspector Kim Dae-bung (8)
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In the spacious mat spread across the government office courtyard, the village headmen sat huddled together, their faces etched with bewilderment.
Everyone looked utterly dumbfounded, clueless about what this was all about.
For lowly folk scraping by in the early 15th century, the very notion of the lofty Secret Royal Inspector explaining the need for the nation's new Field Survey Law must have felt utterly alien.
I'm Joseon's very first Secret Royal Inspector, and explaining a policy's necessity to the common people is a first for me too.
"I am Kim Dae-bung, the Secret Royal Inspector dispatched here by direct imperial command from His Majesty to inspect the people's livelihood."
No one among those present could possibly not know me.
No matter how little information flowed in Joseon, everyone must have heard the tale of the Secret Royal Inspector who turned the county magistrate into a headless ghost (in due time).
Even if they hadn't, the runners or clerks would have regaled them with my story on the way here.
"As you all know, I've summoned you here to personally show you why the Field Survey Law is essential."
The principles behind the Field Survey Law are, frankly, incredibly complex.
Even modern Koreans with university or at least high school educations rarely bother reading community posts past ten or twenty lines.
They often demand a three-line summary.
The worst skip even that, claiming three lines are too much.
So expecting illiterate Joseon commoners to grasp its intricacies would be a tall order.
I pointed at one particularly prominent village headman and asked.
"With the Equal Field Tax in place and your taxes cut, is that a good thing?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Thanks to His Highness the Supreme King's benevolence, even during the hungry spring gaps, our family no longer starves. Back in old Goryeo—no, I never imagined such days would come in my lifetime."
It was the same when I first arrived in Anseong County.
County Magistrate Yi Seok may have exploited them every which way, but the sharp drop in their actual tax burden had everyone gathering for a feast.
And who in this world would turn down a legal tax break?
"All of this is made possible by the benevolence of His Highness the Supreme King and His Majesty, who watch over the poor like you."
Before diving into the heart of it, I tossed in a casual nod of praise for Yi Bang-won and King Sejong.
It's a virtue every Joseon yangban ought to possess, and essential groundwork for explaining what comes next.
"Yet no matter how Their Highnesses strive, they can't stop floods or droughts. Some things are inevitable. Like the stark fact that running a country demands taxes above all else... So what happens when taxes fall short?"
"Just as we levy special tributes when regular ones run dry, we'd have to collect more taxes when they're insufficient."
"Exactly. That's why, before the Equal Field Tax, the realm piled immense burdens on the poor like you just to gather the needed revenue."
Taxes are the fuel that keeps a nation running.
No matter how gas prices soar, commuters must still pump fuel, tears streaming down their faces.
Likewise, sustaining Joseon requires a steady tax haul.
Fall short, and the government's functions grind to a halt, turning the peninsula into an anarchic kill-or-be-killed wasteland.
"But once the Equal Field Tax took hold, tax collection flipped entirely. More from those with vast lands and wealth, less from paupers like you."
The Equal Field Tax boils down to one rule: property bears tax; no property, no tax.
That's the ideal, anyway—in practice, landlords and tenants split land taxes roughly half-and-half.
As the Three Reforms spiral into chaos, tenants end up footing the full bill, naturally.
Think of it like Korean renters covering half the landlord's comprehensive property tax, real estate tax, and rental income tax... yeah.
Truth be told, while implementing the Equal Field Tax, I'd love to exempt tenant farmers from tribute payments and full deposits entirely.
That thought leaves a lingering pang of regret.
'Of course, even this much is revolutionary for them.'
"Before, after rent, you might have five to seven seom of rice left, and they'd take three seom in tax. Meanwhile, neighbor Kim Cheomji, with his own ten-gyeol fields yielding over three hundred seom yearly, coughed up a mere fifteen. That's how they scraped by."
Actual tax mechanics are far more labyrinthine.
But the crux I'm driving home stays the same.
The poor faced sky-high effective rates; the rich, feather-light ones.
"Joseon collected taxes this way for ages, but His Highness the Supreme King saw the injustice, pitied you, and birthed the Equal Field Tax. Now it's eight mal of rice from you, forty-eight seom from Kim Cheomji. He fills the gap since you have little and pay less."
The village headmen nodded, as if something clicked.
I couldn't swear they grasped every word, but this much sank in.
Your taxes dropped, but Kim Cheomji's skyrocketed, keeping total collections steady.
"So, how do we learn just how much Kim Cheomji holds? You, speak up."
The tapped headman answered, bewilderment plain on his face.
"We'd have to check his land holdings."
"Precisely. Enter the Field Survey Law. Some of you headmen know already, but measuring fields with it reveals exactly how much land Song Jin-sa or Kim Saengwon claims. We pinpoint the haves' hauls, tax them heavier, and cover what you save."
Ah, truth be told, that's nonsense.
Joseon or the 21st century—where pre-modern gaps have shrunk insanely—the top 1% still hoard half the world's wealth.
Joseon's no different: a sliver of yangban, royals, and the king gobble up nearly all the land...
Taxing commoners at 90% nets less than 20% from the elite.
Thus, the Great Equalization Law cuts taxes for the masses; the Field Survey Law bulks central coffers. Win-win.
Commoners pay sustainably less and thrive; the court rakes more from fat cats and expands. Good all around.
The rich loathe the squeeze... but they don't need to get it.
If it were 21st-century style—no income tax on the poor, near-40% on the rich—I'd get the backlash...
But slapping the same flat rate on the dirt-poor and land barons with dozens of gyeol? Rejecting fairness like that is absurd.
No chance.
"So, even if your tenanted plots measure a tad larger, you'll oppose Field Survey Law measurements?"
The headmen shook their heads in unison.
With the zeal of men who'd fake death if ordered.
"No, Inspector! We love the Equal Field Tax."
"Forgive our ignorance of His Highness the Supreme King's grace."
A mere policy rundown, and they react like this—my face breaks into a grin.
"Head back, spread far and wide to your villagers why they must aid the Field Survey Law measurements."
"Yes, Inspector!"
"Help me, and the Equal Field Tax benefits endure."
Truthfully, they'd still reap gains uncooperatively.
But true grasp and heartfelt aid? Effects amplify a hundredfold.
Surveys accelerate wildly.
Yangban won't dare buck villagers united body and soul.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few days later, Kim I-bang led a clutch of Anseong County clerks to Jangcheon Village for Field Survey Law land measurements.
Villagers swarmed them on arrival.
Harvests done, hands idle—they turned out voluntarily for state work that benefited them.
"Lord Kim I-bang!"
Kim I-bang, heading the clerks, stared in stupefaction.
Land surveys counted as corvee labor, something everyone dodged...
Yet lately, every village poured out helpers unbidden for Field Survey Law work... he hadn't adjusted.
"What must we do?"
Absurd as it was, he'd vowed to save his neck, grab his purse, and flee to another village—so he issued orders.
"Pair up in twos, tauten this rope per our guidance to measure lengths. We'll explain hands-on."
"Yes, Lord Kim I-bang."
Thus, Jangcheon folk and clerks united to survey the entire village in a single day.
Progress blazed elsewhere too...
Less than a month on, Anseong County's full land survey wrapped.
Kim Dae-bung, results in hand, gaped in shock.
"How much have the taxes ballooned?!"