Development and Expansion (6)
Yi Yeon let out a heavy sigh as he waited for his second brother to arrive.
"Haaah..."
He had a plan in place, yet he prayed that this would never come to pass.
But it had happened.
Is there no choice?
Just as no two snowflakes falling from the sky are alike, so no two people in this world are the same, a phrase goes. But the way people lived was strikingly similar.
When full, you want to lie down. When lying down, you want to sleep. That was human nature.
Even in times when food was hard to come by, there were always festivals when you could eat your fill.
The saying "no more, no less, only at the end of the year" must have come from that truth.
Because eating was so important, after becoming king he set out to resolve the matter of food first.
Back then there were no active trade deals between nations, and you couldn't simply go buy whatever you wanted to eat from somewhere.
If the most vital issue of eating couldn't be solved, not only would reform fail, but he would be dragged around by his ministers like a beggar.
Fortunately the problem was resolved quickly.
With the poultry farm business and the introduction of transplanting rice, the common people no longer had to worry about eating.
But starting three years ago, whenever there was a festival, strange rumors spread about large gambling arenas popping up everywhere using bullfighting.
Even fights had broken out over money, they said.
So he had always known this day would come.
Since the end of gambling is bankruptcy for everyone, someone wouldn't endure and would strike out hard.
He never imagined it would be one of the Hwaryeokgun soldiers who did it.
But he couldn't simply suppress it either.
Bullfighting was a traditional amusement passed down from before the Three Kingdoms era, and since it was something locals started among themselves, finding out who had opened the gambling arena was an extremely difficult task.
But he couldn't ignore it.
If it grew too big, it would become an organized gang like a Sword Society and disrupt the world.
That was why he had prepared.
When such an incident occurred, he would use it as a pretext to neatly sweep away everything related to it.
But time was the issue.
If he didn't act quickly while the incident was still fresh across the nation, by then people would have forgotten the details and might turn hostile.
That was the reason he had urgently summoned his second brother.
Although it was over gambling, it was really tied to finance.
So he had to discuss it quickly with the second brother, who was in charge of the Joseon Bank.
"Your Majesty, Haneunggun has arrived."
"Bring him in."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The moment his second brother sat down, Yi Yeon started talking.
Brother, we need to build a Gyeogu-jang right away.
Already? We haven't even started the general bank system yet, right?
Brother! You know about the Cheongdo rod bomb incident?
Ah... is that what this is about?
Yes, brother. So I'm thinking we should start the general banks immediately. That way we can stop usurious loans and illegal gambling.
But how can we do it right now? We don't have anything prepared!
Just convert all the Joseon Bank branches located everywhere into general banks.
Eh?!
Haneunggun was startled. He had no idea this was completely different from the original plan.
Yi Yeon had planned to model the general banks after the Joseon Bank, let them compete with each other, and set up patent protections so that even ordinary people who came up with clever inventions would register them.
The Joseon Bank would handle that business.
Commercial and regular loans would be managed by the general banks, along with deposits.
The problem was they couldn't do it right away.
Collecting shareholders had been dragging on.
Unlike companies, banks were places that operated with other people's money, so you couldn't just let one or a few people put in capital and establish a bank.
It would obviously be abused.
So he had set it so that each family could only acquire up to five percent of the shares.
That way there would be more than twenty shareholders, and the problem would be smaller.
But no one wanted to just put in money and sit on the sidelines.
Unlike the Joseon Bank, these were banks created by ordinary people, so they didn't trust each other over matters involving money.
Connecting trustworthy people to each other might take years.
In the midst of that, the Cheongdo rod bomb incident happened.
Yi Yeon didn't want to miss this opportunity.
He never knew when it would come again.
So he made his decision.
He would convert all the Joseon Bank branches into general banks.
He had thought about the problems that would follow, but there were none.
In fact, it might even be better.
Brother, that way we don't need to collect capital, and we can slowly gather shareholders.
Your Majesty, are you planning to turn over all the assets the branches hold?
Yes, brother. Since the royal family members are already branch managers, we only need to change them to general bank managers.
That makes sense, but it doesn't seem right to hand over the assets too.
Haneunggun shook his head. Yi Yeon smiled happily.
This man who had been all over the place was now showing caution.
But still, he only knew one thing while the other didn't.
Brother, even if we hand over all the assets, the shares stay with the Joseon Bank.
Ah, I see. I never thought of that either. Your Majesty, there are still many things we lack.
No, brother. You're doing well.
Really?
Of course!
Yi Yeon answered loudly, as if he had just sworn an oath.
Unlike the eldest brother, the second brother was far from timid.
Even so, he had to praise him regularly.
The more he praised him, the better the brother would become.
But, Your Majesty, if there are no Joseon Bank branches in the provinces, how will we handle industrial loans?
If we get industrial loans, we go to the Gongdan at Geompo, don't we?
Ah... I see. Then we don't need to get approvals in the provinces.
That's right. We don't need to do that. So for now, industrial loans will only be handled at the Hanyang main branch and the Geompo Gongdan branch.
Understood, Your Majesty. Then we will prepare accordingly.
The moment Haneunggun was about to stand up, he sat back down and asked.
Your Majesty, do we really need to build a Gyeogu-jang?
A gambling arena?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Mmm... When you're full, you want to do something else, don't you?
Even so, I don't like the idea of the country opening gambling arenas.
But we can't just leave it to those who engage in usurious lending, can we?
That's true, but...
Haneunggun's voice trailed off, as if he still didn't like the idea.
But the usury business had to be rooted out.
They had said those people were also inciting illegal gambling.
* * *
Even in the hastily convened council meeting, the gambling arena was the problem.
One of the ministers stood up and voiced his opposition in a pleading tone.
Your Majesty! A gambling arena? Absolutely impossible!
Why do you think that?
Isn't it the same as the country opening gambling arenas?
Yi Yeon had expected this kind of talk.
There had only been opinions to strongly suppress and punish the Cheongdo rod bomb incident, but no one had said how to do it.
There was more.
Some even suggested arresting everyone related to bullfighting and sending them to the mines.
It happened during a festival, they said, and it involved children to elders. But who was who?
They thought a lot had changed, but it hadn't.
Ministers who were still overly rigid and stuck in old ways still existed.
That was why he hadn't expected much.
He explained why it had to be done and pushed forward.
We can look at it that way, but I think differently.
What?
Bullfighting is an ancient tradition passed down from long ago. People bet big money on it, and during that process an explosion occurred because of usury issues. But that isn't important. What matters is making sure such things never happen again.
But opening gambling arenas in the country isn't right.
I know it's not right. But we can't prevent it. So we should nationalize it and use the money earned there for good things.
That sounds good, but don't the people need to be caught?
That's right! But how do we catch them? The local people say they won't talk.
I am sorry, Your Majesty. We didn't know that either.
Ugh!
The farther away from Hanyang, the farther the law and the closer the fist.
Yi Yeon decided to fix that with this opportunity.
Anyway, I don't think we can just let this matter pass. So I have prepared something.
After speaking, Yi Yeon descended from the platform.
He raised his scepter and turned the first page of the report made of large bells.
The following words were written on it.
(1) From now on, debts related to gambling do not need to be repaid.
(2) Starting next year, even private debts do not need to be repaid.
(3) Anyone who demands repayment in violation of this will be punished without exception.
The ministers murmured in shock, and one of them asked.
Your Majesty, what does this mean?
It is a plan to eliminate usury and illegal gambling.
What?
Do you know the characteristics of usury and illegal gambling?
They... both are illegal, aren't they?
That's true, but the key is that huge sums of money change hands. And it happens secretly. So I decided to cut off their money supply first.
The money supply, you mean gambling debts?
That's right. As long as we cut that off, the villains will be finished.
According to the investigation, the larger the gambling arena with big money involved, the more active credit transactions became.
Someone who held a grudge would report it, but since only small amounts changed hands, there was nothing to catch. They were using such tricks.
But it was the credit transactions that were the problem.
It was credit, not usury.
That was why once you got involved in a gambling arena, you had no choice but to go bankrupt.
Yet they couldn't report it.
Because they were being blackmailed into killing their families.
That was why the Hwaryeokgun soldier who couldn't bear it had gone and blown up the rod bomb.
So Yi Yeon ordered that gambling-related debts did not need to be repaid.
That alone would cut off their financial lifeline, he thought.
However, Your Majesty, not repaying private debts seems like a big problem.
That's right. So whoever owes private debts or is owed should go to a nearby bank, transfer the debt or credit to the bank, and get repaid. The deadline is the end of this year, and after that it disappears, so they must hurry.
Yi Yeon decided to abolish private debts between individuals too.
He saw that as the seed of disputes between neighbors and friends, and the creation of a world where people didn't trust each other.
Your Majesty, does that mean lending money is just giving it away?
That's right. If someone has a conscience, they will repay. From next year they won't have to.
Is it necessary to go that far?
There is no other way to solve problems caused by money. In the future more problems will arise from money.
Then what if someone urgently needs money?
Just go to a bank.
That was the reason Yi Yeon had been rushing to promote the general banks.
If private lending was abolished, chaos would result, but in its place the banks would be activated.
As a result, knowledge of finance would increase, and eventually people would realize that banking was a profitable business.