Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Transportation Reform (1)
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Park Je-ga, the author of Northern Studies, once said this.
"There are no carts in Joseon."
Up through the early to mid-2010s, historians took these words at face value and often misunderstood Joseon as a country that simply didn't use carts much.
But the reality was that Korea's terrain is so full of mountains that carts couldn't be used for transport—not that people never thought to use them.
That's why most freight transport had to rely on ships. It was a mindset born from the idea that if you have no teeth, you gum it with your gums.
"It's truly an honor to be working alongside you two, Jang Byulju and Magistrate Jeong."
The two men flinched at my words for a moment.
Good grief, anyone would think I was about to eat them alive.
Far from eating them, I wouldn't even bully them.
All they had to do was work alongside me—keeping office hours until closing time, slaving away for the Ancestral Temple and State Altar, for Joseon, and for the people.
'Civil engineering is Jeong Bun, and Jang Yeong-sil is a living human 3D printer.'
Just hearing their names fills my chest with excitement. What an incredible combination.
If we add Jeong In-ji to handle the math, everything will be perfect.
Jeong Bun replied to my words.
"My lord, you may be younger in years than us, but your rank is clearly higher, and your contributions to the nation far greater. Why address us with such honorifics? Please, speak comfortably."
"If you insist, then I'll follow your lead, Magistrate Jeong. It's an honor for me to work with two officials renowned across Joseon for their exceptional skills."
Jang Yeong-sil is too famous to need explanation, but the name Jeong Bun might sound a bit unfamiliar...
When it comes to civil engineering, Jeong Bun is the best in all of Joseon.
If his supervision of construction projects had been merely passable, everyone would have stepped in to stop him when he became Deputy Prime Minister—telling him not to tarnish his dignity by overseeing sites personally.
Even after rising to Deputy Prime Minister, Jeong Bun was skilled enough to force the court to grudgingly allow him to personally supervise civil works.
I don't know about shipbuilding itself, but his talents will shine when it comes to constructing shipyards for building them.
"We'll build camaraderie among the Naval Shipyard staff later. For now, let's set priorities one by one, starting with the most important."
These two are specialists not in administration, but in taking precise instructions and turning them into reality.
So as manager, I'll just provide direction and the end goals, then I can step back and handle other tasks.
No need for a literature-major lightweight like me—who knows next to nothing—to meddle unnecessarily.
'If amateurs interfere, the ship goes straight to the mountains.'
"First, let's settle the stipends for the artisans who arrived from Ming today and will start work. Jang Byulju, how much do you think we should give them annually?"
"This lowly one has only ever lived as an artisan, so I know little of such matters."
"That's why I'm asking you. To make proper use of these artisans from Ming, we need to consider their circumstances and hearts—give them enough stipend to motivate hard work."
In Joseon, employing artisans was called corvée, treated like military service—an obligation.
So they gave artisans only the bare minimum pay and made them work.
Factory managers and deputies got official ranks with realistic salaries during service, but other artisans were essentially worked for free.
"Free" meaning they got a monthly wage, but think of it like 100,000 won a month.
'Insane, really.'
"To be frank, the stipends the state provides now are nowhere near enough for artisans to feed their families. So when corvée duty comes, they just kill time pretending to work, barely meeting quotas."
Joseon imposed labor obligations on artisans like military duty but paid them almost nothing.
If the state treated them that way, of course they'd slack off.
That way, they'd have energy left for night gigs like designated driving or delivery.
"They need at least a Rank 9 salary minimum. Otherwise, they can't survive."
Jeong Bun nodded in agreement with Jang Yeong-sil's words.
"Clerks and runners can exploit their petty authority to make good money, so they don't need salaries. The same goes for officials like me and Jang Byulju."
"Exactly."
"But artisans must live off their stipends alone. Forcing them to work without even 12 seom of white rice a year... it's no different from telling them to starve."
Right after I took office, Joseon's budget execution methods changed significantly.
Before, the Ryu Jeong-hyeon virus in the Ministry of Finance meant that suggesting fair pay for artisans got you finger-pointed as a wastrel squandering the people's blood taxes.
Influenced continually by that virus, officials even argued for slashing their own salaries by several tenths annually to save on taxes.
But now things have improved—they readily approve reasonable budget requests with proper justification.
"Then I'll petition His Highness for Rank 6 to Rank 9 salaries for the artisans from Ming."
Jeong Bun looked worried at my words.
"The Minister of Finance will shout you down. Will they really approve such generous pay?"
"I'll make it happen somehow. If not, I'll petition His Highness directly."
"My lord truly has strong convictions."
"It's all for the nation. If things go wrong, I can always resign."
"......Resign, my lord?"
Jeong Bun's gaze toward me was intensely disapproving.
'You look like you'd never resign, even in death.'
Facing that look... I should probably pile more work on our Magistrate Jeong.
Too much free time breeds bad thoughts.
There's an old saying: idle hands lead to depression.
Useless thoughts come from idleness too, so if our Magistrate Jeong throws himself into building a new shipyard, those misguided notions will vanish.
"Alright, we'll settle artisan wages at the shipyard that way. Now, let's rebuild all the shipyards from scratch for building ships."
"You're planning to build new shipyards?"
"The current ones are too cramped—we can only build small ships. The artisans who defected from Ming built vessels carrying over 1,000 seok, nearing 10,000 seok of grain... But our so-called large shipyards only produce ships that carry 1,000 seok of white rice cargo. How could they build a 10,000 seok large ship there?"
Zheng He's treasure ships reportedly exceeded 800 tons in capacity.
The limit for wooden ships.
Compared to carracks or caravels used for circumnavigations, which carried just over 100 tons, they were enormous.
"I'd like you to build the shipyards according to this design I came up with. Is that possible?"
Jeong Bun's eyes sharpened with an expert's keenness in an instant.
True to the man who, even after becoming Deputy Prime Minister, hobbled around sites on a cane, barking at artisans, "This isn't how you do construction!" and giving precise guidance.
And even with me there, I suddenly became invisible...
They dove straight into their own world.
"Jang Byulju, is this feasible?"
"When I built the nogro and cranes before, I used pulleys. This looks like a complex arrangement of them... but it's fully possible."
"Good. So we can definitely build it this way."
With those two saying it's possible, next I need to show them the blueprint for the ships I want to build.
Show the concept designs, then storm the Ministry of Finance to secure artisan wages.
If I don't hurry, it'll mean overtime—and then Minister of Works Yi Cheon will give me an earful.
"Enough on that. Take a look at this drawing."
This time, Jang Yeong-sil's eyes widened.
"This is a large ship with planking added to form walls and a pavilion."
"Since it's planked with walls and a house-like pavilion, I plan to call it the panokseon. This pavilion may seem minor, but it'll let the captain or military officers board and survey the battlefield."
"Building it wouldn't be too difficult. But why make a ship with such a unique shape?"
"When I was at the Ministry of Defense, I heard from the Japanese that their ships are small and low-built. They love boarding enemy vessels for close combat. But the panokseon is a large ship with added planking... they won't dare climb aboard."
"As expected of my lord."
Not just the Japanese, actually. It'll be a huge help against Ming too.
But that's a secret only I know for now.
"Also, learn to build Ming's double ships. In the future, all Joseon's grain tribute ships will switch to doubles."
And before storming the Ministry of Finance, I first stopped by Minister of Works Yi Cheon and successfully got his approval.
Now for the Ministry of Finance.
Rank 4 lightweight Kim Dae-bung charges in to wring budget from the Rank 2 Minister of Finance.
What a grand, chest-thumping moment.