The Seed of Abundance (1)
“Your Majesty, everyone has gathered.”
“I understand. I’ll head out soon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yeon beamed as he stared at the scroll Cho-hee had drawn. The “Kinetic Exercise Method” she’d sketched was nothing short of genius. He’d checked it three times already, and it rivaled the famous folk paintings of Kim Hong-do from the late Joseon era. So he’d summoned the finest court painter himself, had it properly mounted, and hung it on the wall of the palace for everyone to admire.
“It’s truly remarkable!”
Cho-hee’s exercise sequence had five panels laid out side by side, like a photo strip. When flipped quickly, it looked as if a person were actually moving. The motion was so lifelike that anyone watching the basketball games had no doubt they’d get tall.
“That’s why they say tall people play basketball!”
Yeon grinned.
“Perfect timing!”
He’d been turning over gifts to thank her, but the ivory seal stamp from the Ming envoys solved the problem on the spot.
“Speaking of which… who’s been spreading those rumors about the rice transplanting method?”
A rumor was circulating that if the method failed, the king would make it right. Yeon had tried to trace the source, but the gossip was too vague and slippery.
“Let time sort it out.”
He set the thought aside and headed for the Gangnyeongjeon. Today was the day of the royal lectures, so he had to make his way to the Sajeongjeon. But he couldn’t stop muttering under his breath.
“Whose country has more meetings debating academics than deciding policy?”
The moment he’d gained Yi I, Yeon had immediately called a full council. He still wanted to fill the empty post of Minister of War and finish planning the new government offices. Yet the royal lecture schedule had pushed tomorrow’s policy meeting back again.
“These boring lectures need to be abolished.”
Because he remembered the past, he could endure the Confucian drivel without issue. It was just tedious. So sometimes he’d steer the conversation onto other topics and leave the ministers in a bind.
Among the classics, the Book of Changes had principles for how the world changes. That gave Yeon endless opportunities to bring up scientific phenomena from his middle-school science textbook. The ministers always looked helpless.
Today, during the lecture, Yeon suddenly raised his hand and asked, “Do any of you know about this?”
“What do you wish to inquire about, Your Majesty?”
“The snow piled up over there and the icicles hanging there are both frozen water, yet they look completely different and feel different to the touch. Can any of you explain why?”
“That is…”
The minister who knew the classics well tried to bring in yin-yang and the five elements, but the logic kept twisting. Yeon pressed on.
“You know that if both freeze solid they turn to water, correct?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Anyone who didn’t know that would be strange.”
“Yet one becomes snow and the other hard ice. How can you not understand the difference?”
“Forgive us, Your Majesty.”
This time the ministers showed clear embarrassment. Snow was snow, ice was ice. They had never thought about why the two were different and had never bothered to learn.
Yeon sighed and shook his head in frustration. From now on, the ministers would be the ones learning from the king, not the other way around.
“I believe the difference lies in density.”
“Density, you say?”
“Yes. It’s the word formed by combining the ‘dense’ radical with the ‘way’ radical. It tells you how much matter is packed into a certain space.”
“A certain space, you mean?”
“Exactly. For example, if the same bowl holds as much rice as it does beans, the rice would have a higher density.”
When the ministers looked confused, Yeon used something right in front of them as an example. He couldn’t keep explaining otherwise.
“Ah… I finally understand the word ‘density’ Your Majesty created. But I still don’t know the reason you brought it up.”
“I was watching snow fall one day and realized something. When the temperature drops below freezing, the clouds in the sky turn to snow and fall, while the water near the ground freezes into solid ice. Even low-density snow can turn into high-density ice if enough pressure is applied. Just like mixing rice flour with water and adding heat and pressure turns it into solid rice cakes. I realized that the same substance can change shape depending on heat and pressure.”
“Oh…!”
Yujam, the Minister of Works who had just been trying to explain the classics with yin-yang, nodded in admiration.
“Truly, Your Majesty’s insight is as vast as the heavens. This humble minister’s shallow understanding cannot possibly gauge its depth. I am grateful beyond words for Your Majesty’s profound and wise eyes that see the truths of the universe.”
Praise from a veteran who had passed the age of sixty made Yeon’s whole body feel like it was twisting.
*How can he speak like that?*
Even though palace etiquette was strict, no one had ever talked to the king this way.
*The dialect would’ve been easier.*
Even in his own memory, Yeon had often struggled to understand the ministers’ speech. During council meetings, when opinions clashed, the whole palace would erupt in regional dialects. Every time he had to sit there speechless.
He never minded it much. He could usually figure out what was being said.
*Over half of it was insults.*
But the over-the-top compliments were different. They had to be handled carefully. Yeon glanced at Lee Jun-gyeong and spoke.
“Lord Yeonguijeong said I should stay away from flattery and keep the honest words deep in my heart. What do you think?”
“Your Majesty, I am truly honored. I spoke that way because flattery may temporarily sway people’s hearts, but in the long run it only harms them. Honest words may sting at first, but they are the only ones that will help Your Majesty grow and this kingdom prosper. Therefore, anyone who flatters must be removed at once.”
Yujam, listening in, immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed flat on the floor.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty! I never intended it that way. My disrespect has been grave. Please spare my life!”
“Enough. Today we’ll let it pass. But in the future, refrain from such words.”
“I will remember, Your Majesty.”
Yeon had been about to say more, but stopped.
*I can’t waste time.*
The ministers were all old. Yeon had asked them to drop the honorifis and speak more simply, but they refused.
*Ugh…!*
Annoyed, he decided to get to the point since he still had tomorrow’s council to prepare for.
“What I used snow and ice as examples for earlier was to discuss ‘select and concentrate.’ If you think of selection as the ‘heat’ and concentration as the ‘pressure,’ you can gather the scattered people into one powerful force, just like turning rice into rice cakes.”
Yeon finished and scanned the room. Everyone waited to see where the king would lead them next. They had learned by now that when the king spoke offhandedly, there was always a deeper plan.
“Right now this country doesn’t have to worry about food. I see that as the result of select and concentrate. What do you think? Speak freely.”
Sim Tong-won spoke up first. He had heard the flood of rice-planting reports and the rapid recovery of investments. A young king who seemed like a savior… he wanted to do anything to help.
“This humble minister agrees with Your Majesty. Last year’s bountiful harvest was thanks to Your Majesty’s wise choice, and now ten thousand people are rejoicing instead of starving.”
Yeon couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. *I heard your bunch were making a killing off the rice prices.*
Unlike him, Sim’s group was selling eggs larger than quail eggs at premium prices, keeping the market lively. But he couldn’t say that out loud. The king’s artificial hatching technology had made it possible, and the business was tied up with them.
Next, Hongdam, the Minister of Revenue, lowered his head and spoke with utmost courtesy.
“This humble minister also agrees with Lord Sim. Every year at this time the people were starving, but thanks to Your Majesty’s brilliant decisions, such bad news is no longer heard.”
Even last year the grain harvest ratio had been the same, yet the treasury was overflowing while it had never been before. Besides the good harvest, they had ordered all grain stored in the government offices except Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces, saving on transport costs. The amount stored was far beyond expectations, meaning officials had been skimming heavily during transport.
*The thieves were everywhere.*
Unlike the military factory, no one could be punished. Too many administrators and suppliers had created a complete blockade. Yeon had already come up with the perfect solution.
When the barley famine drew near, he ordered that any commoner suffering from hunger could borrow one-tenth of the government-stored rice at a low interest rate. Normally, borrowing at this time required two to five times the amount in interest. There was even a custom called “barley and millet interest,” where you had to repay more. But now it was just ten percent.
The people flooded the government offices. The officials, following the king’s orders, gave them generous loans. Yet the warehouses still overflowed. Frightened by the threat of hard labor without regard for status, the landowners had no choice but to sell their rice at a bargain. They were willing to exchange it for something else and wait for new coins. But it hadn’t gone as smoothly as hoped.
“We will begin with corvée labor, one of the three mandatory services every yangin must fulfill.”
Taxation and tribute were far too entrenched to touch immediately, but corvée was easy to change.
*They’ll spend a fortune, but it’s worth it.*
The moment the stockpiled rice was released, food became abundant everywhere. Still, those without land had nowhere to borrow from and would starve. So Yeon ordered that all land measurements be completed and road-construction projects begin in those areas. That way he could create jobs and pay the people in rice.
Fortunately, the gold mine discovered at Unsan was yielding plenty of gold, so the treasury had no worries.
Next came tribute.
*No matter what, we have to change this.*
Tribute was a tax paid in local specialties since the time of Taejo. Over the years it had become riddled with corruption—point-returning, defensive acceptance, and countless other abuses. The people’s anger had grown unbearable. Yeon looked his ministers straight in the eyes and brought up something he had read online.
“I’ve investigated our country and the Japanese. The amount of arable land is roughly the same, yet their population is twice ours. I heard the reason is rice transplanting. That’s why I took the risk and allowed it.”LT__div style="text-align:centerborder:3px double #c9a84cpadding:30pxbackground:linear-gradient(180deg,#1a1408 0%,#0a0800 50%,#1a1408 100%)border-radius:4pxmargin-bottom:20pxposition:relative">
Japan has more than 73 percent mountainous terrain. Yet its population exceeded that of Joseon. The explanation is that its location further south allowed double cropping in addition to the advanced rice transplanting method. Before the large-scale reclamation of the Kanto Plain by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Imjin War, rice production per capita was far lower than in Joseon.
“I am willing to help. Let us begin preparing for the future of this nation.”
The ministers’ eyes sparkled. They had never seen a king plan so far ahead and ask for their cooperation like this. It was the ideal ruler from a book. They all bowed deeply.
“Your Majesty, we will devote ourselves wholeheartedly to your service.”
*Why are they acting like this?*
Yeon tilted his head in confusion.