Innovation and Revolution (10)
Yi Yeon, now King Seonjo, had started with chickens.
He had decided that once food was secured, anything was possible, and the best way to secure it was to raise chickens that ate well, grew fast, and laid plenty of eggs.
Fortunately, that plan had begun swiftly thanks to the greedy band of Sim Tong-won, and it was now fully established.
Next, what Yi Yeon valued most was population. In an era when the population was the true measure of national power, even the most devastating firearms could be swallowed whole if the population could not be expanded.
But increasing the population was no simple task. Even without the usual quibbles, the infant mortality rate exceeded half.
Yi Yeon had agonized for a long time before deciding to supply high-quality protein. He also planned to slash the price of salt dramatically.
“That alone will greatly reduce the illness,” Heo Jun had said, and the remedy had proven effective.
Therefore, pregnant women were to receive one chicken, thirty eggs, and one bag of salt as a reward.
“Eat well and bear a healthy child.”
Postpartum women were likewise granted one chicken, thirty eggs, and a bag of seaweed and salt.
“The mother must eat well for the child to grow strong.”
“In doing so, the profit from selling chicks and feed will be minimal.”
Still, the impact stabilized chicken and egg prices and salt, bringing them low enough that anyone could afford them.
At the same time, the number of children surged—more than twice the previous estimate.
“Last year we paid out more than five hundred thousand chickens,” he reported.
“Yes, Your Majesty. This year, even in the first half, we have already exceeded fifty thousand.”
“So you suggest expanding the gongdan further?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Right now, without that method, we will be unable to support the growing populace.”
“Hmph… It is certainly a good idea, but…”
The numbers were already double what he had anticipated, so he could not simply rejoice.
Since every pregnancy and birth had to be reported to the authorities to receive the reward, the figures could not be falsified.
Unless someone had falsified the reports.
Of course, such people existed. Even now they were mining coal in the pits.
Therefore, at least five hundred thousand new citizens would be born this year, and plans had to be made to feed and clothe them.
“If this continues, we may have to solve the food problem all over again.”
Right now rice was abundant, because chickens and eggs had reduced the need for it.
But if the population grew by five percent each year, they would be overwhelmed.
He had begun draining and reclaiming wetlands, but planting immediately was impossible, so he doubted they could feed every new mouth.
Moreover, medical bureaus had already been established throughout the eight provinces, variolation was being practiced, and once separase arrived from Bingcho-busan, infant mortality would plummet—and adult mortality as well.
Therefore, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn brought from Ming would also have to be produced.
“No, that will not do.”
They had prepared for this contingency, but a drought could still bring chaos.
And Ming’s pigs, the ones they had been raising, could no longer be kept.
“We must analyze the root cause.”
With abundant food, the people’s nutritional state had improved, birth rates had risen, and infant mortality had plummeted.
As a result, the phrase “there is not a house without a child” had spread.
“That much I had expected…”
Lowering infant mortality would cause the population to explode exponentially.
Plans were accordingly drawn up. Jobs would be needed to support the new children, so gyeongdae and gwangdae were to be expanded to stimulate commerce, and thermal power complexes were to be built to create work and increase output.
Moreover, to train the workers needed there, the defense army was being recruited.
“That too I had expected.”
But he had never imagined the birth rate would rise so suddenly from this alone.
No, he had expected it to be controlled.
Eighteen to twenty was the prime marrying-and-childbearing age, and he had believed that once those young people were gathered, the birth rate would not spike.
But the practice of marrying before enlisting in the defense army had become fashionable.
He did not know who had started it, yet the rumor spread that women who gave birth would receive a month’s vacation, that commercial shops in the gyeongdae and gwangdae would be sold first, and that reclaimed land would be allotted preferentially.
As a result, many men confirmed their wives’ pregnancies before enlisting.
Before, such men would have refused to enlist rather than support a wife and unborn child, but now they did not.
Even enlisting brought one stone of rice—one year’s supply—for the child and the mother, and eight won per day for reclamation work.
That alone could net two hundred won in a month, a fortune, so more men were choosing enlistment to solve their family’s food problem.
But when they returned, serious trouble could arise.
They were only just finishing the gongdan and thermal power complexes; they could not accommodate everyone, and even if they could, the places would fill up quickly.
Applications to enlist in the defense army were pouring in.
So he asked.
“Will building gongdan alone be enough to feed them?”
“It seems possible, Your Majesty.”
“How?”
“We will direct those who wish to join the defense army into gongdan construction; once complete, we will encourage them to settle there.”
“Hmph… So you wish to expand the commercial population?”
“Exactly so, Your Majesty.”
Hongdam, the merchant, knew that profits from commerce far exceeded those from agriculture, and had therefore proposed nationwide gongdan.
“And how do we feed them?”
“Large-scale poultry farms and pig pens on the outskirts of the gongdan will solve that.”
“And feed?”
“We will plant soybeans and peanuts that grow well in reclaimed land, along with corn, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins—or, as Your Majesty suggested, dandelions and frog eggs brought from the Western Regions.”
Hongdam seemed to have prepared for every contingency, answering confidently each time.
But one critical need remained.
Funds.
“We will issue national bonds to cover the construction costs?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Even if tax revenue falls short this year, it should exceed six million stones. Two million stones—six hundred million won—should be sufficient to solve the problem.”
“Heh heh! The purse is growing quite fat.”
“All thanks to Your Majesty’s instruction.”
Hongdam had initially been opposed to issuing national bonds, but now he proposed them enthusiastically, having learned that flooding the market with money would activate commerce and increase revenue.
“Very well. Six hundred million won in national bonds will be purchased entirely by the Joseon Bank. Yet that alone will not be enough to absorb all applicants.”
Yi Hwang, who had once reluctantly burned slave documents, now led the charge for the abolition of the slave system.
Even villagers who had turned away from him praised him wherever he went for doing good.
Exultant, Yi Hwang argued that the slave system was irrelevant; newly born children were not slaves.
According to Neo-Confucian teachings, “ren” meant loving and respecting all people.
Yet opposition was fierce.
Without slaves, families could not be sustained.
So Yi Hwang offered a compromise: free any slave who had worked for more than five years.
But even that met resistance.
As a result, runaway slaves had increased dramatically.
Once they enlisted in the defense army, they could no longer be hunted.
More than fifty thousand had already done so.
Those under eighteen had claimed eighteen, those over twenty had claimed twenty, and with no household registers to verify their ages, the authorities could only accept their word.
Therefore, they would need to accept at least two hundred fifty thousand more into the defense army than they had planned.
Even with new gongdan across the provinces, they could not absorb such numbers.
Yi Yeon looked at Hongdam’s troubled face and smiled faintly while glancing at his ministers.
“Speak your thoughts.”
They all cleared their throats and lowered their eyes.
Except Gongdan Yoo-jam, whose hand shot up.
“Your Majesty! This minister has a plan.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Once I led an agricultural frontier settlement here when the new city was built. So I say: what if we laid rails instead?”
No minister was unaware of the steam engine Yi I had created; Bak Sun had praised it after visiting the Pocheon cement factory.
“I would like that too. But iron production is insufficient until a new steel mill is built.”
“This minister also thinks so. However, laying only the tracks may be possible—even if the rails are laid later.”
“Ah, of course!”
Yi Yeon unconsciously snapped his fingers with a crisp “clack.”
The King Seonjo persona was fading; his own thoughts were growing louder, and habits from his previous life were returning.
The problem was money.
This was the perfect opportunity.
The royal house could seize complete authority over railways.
Yi Yeon rose from the throne and descended the steps.
He walked to the blackboard leaning against the wall and picked up the chalk.
He began to draw and write.
“What do you think of this?”
“Ah…!”
The ministers gasped loudly in unison.
“An excellent plan, Your Majesty.”
“The method is good, Your Majesty.”
“With that, all problems will be solved.”
Yi Yeon drew a map of the eight provinces on the blackboard, marking two locations in each province and naming them gongdan.
Straight lines were drawn between them, labeled “railways.”
Beside them he added a brief note.
1. Establish a Railway Bureau under royal oversight.
2. Royal house provides all funding.
3. Railway Directorate under the Ministry of Works oversees operation and maintenance.
4. Repay royal support from revenue first.
5. Audit the Railway Bureau twice yearly even after full repayment.
The ministers had no choice but to approve.
But they did not know the truth.
The royal support could never be repaid.
“If it grows, it grows.”
The world was vast; placing railways everywhere would require endless funds.
* * *
The next day Yi Yeon met his second brother.
National bonds and additional matters had been discussed.
Upon hearing the plan, the second brother’s face grew grave.
“Your Majesty, purchasing six hundred million won in national bonds is not a problem. However, coin is lacking. We cannot use gold or silver; that would drive their market prices to nothing.”
Gold and silver ingots were already piled high.
Everything they had taken was stored.
Yet the market was still overflowing with gold and silver, acquired through trade.
What would happen if they released gold and silver as currency instead?
The second brother was right; they might become worthless.
“That is why I summoned you.”
“Are you considering issuing paper money?”
“Yes, brother.”
Yi Yeon produced the prepared banknotes and handed them over.
“What do you think?”
The second brother examined the notes, eyes widening.
“Magnificent, Your Majesty. Impossible to counterfeit.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Look here. As you said, when light shines on this, the triple-five appears. And if you wet it and rub, the print does not smear.”
Yi Yeon had planted Russian dandelion seeds from his second mother-in-law Togus’ daughter-in-law in a corner of the spring pond at Changdeokgung.
Yet only months later they had grown lush.
He gathered the roots and extracted rubber using acetone and toluene.
Acetone was made by fermenting corn, like smokeless gunpowder.
Toluene came from distilling coal.
Sulfuric and nitric acids could be mixed, but that was reserved for trinitrotoluene.
The rubber was mixed with water, dissolved again in toluene, and a turquoise ink was produced.
That was enough, but Yi Yeon added one more ingredient and prepared another banknote.
“Brother, what about this?”
“Eh? What is that? Why does the line glow?”
Yi Yeon had mixed copper with zinc sulfide, heated it, ground it into powder, and created a special ultraviolet ink that emitted green light.
No one could even dream of forging it.