Patent Rights (2)
The patent system was one that, even in the world Hui-yeom had originally lived in, had only settled into place after a great deal of trial and error.
Even after it took root, people never stopped trying to slip through legal loopholes and infringe on patent rights.
This was the Middle Ages, where communication and transportation remained undeveloped. The state collected taxes by head count, and because the common folk resisted taxation, the authorities did not even know the precise population of their own people.
Under those conditions, it was hard to believe that something called “patent rights” would carry any real force—even if it came by imperial decree.
Hui-yeom had already stated this plainly in the secret letter he sent the Emperor through Baek Beon.
Naturally the ministers, after hearing the explanation of patent rights, began to mutter among themselves.
“Is he an idiot?”
“How many merchants are there under heaven, and how many people? You think that’s going to hold?”
“Besides, isn’t it better to share outstanding inventions so everyone can use them?”
“He’s just flattering His Majesty. ‘Look how loyal I am’—that sort of thing.”
“Heh. Well, he is young.”
Their hushed whispers never reached Emperor Sungui’s ears. But he could see exactly what they were saying as clearly as if he were reading their minds.
Clicking his tongue, the Emperor recalled the contents of Hui-yeom’s secret letter.
The patent system will look useless. Therefore the many inventions this humble servant will introduce to the world will, to a great many people, appear like gold left lying in the street.
Exactly so.
Yet the fact that they would not even try to honor a clear imperial decree would hand the throne a powerful pretext for purges.
If someone ignores the patent rights and copies this humble servant’s inventions, will that not become a ready justification for Your Majesty to swing the blade of purge?
It would be proper, I submit, to leave them be until they have fattened themselves sufficiently—until the fools who resist Your Majesty’s radiance have gathered up all that gold.
Emperor Sungui looked down upon his assembled ministers with cold eyes. They whispered among themselves, and from their gazes spilled an undisguised light of greed. The Emperor could only give a bitter smile.
They see the Sichuan Dang Family as an easy mark capable of offering up tribute like this.
And Hui-yeom, who had predicted every part of this situation, had offered this counsel:
And so, on a fine day, at a fine hour, harvest their heads all at once and cut out the cancer that has taken root in the Empire.
Is that not a truly chilling sight?
A poisoned bait had been cast before their eyes, and even the old foxes of the political stage could not hide their greed; their eyes rolled as they calculated how best to tear into that delicious morsel.
For the first time since he had undergone the capping ceremony, become an adult, and taken the imperial throne, Emperor Sungui felt a shiver run through him.
Since ascending the throne he had waged an endless struggle for power against the ministers who gnawed away at the Emperor’s radiance. The Emperor’s power was mighty, yet no sovereign could govern the realm alone.
Ever since the days of Yao and Shun, every generation of officials had banded together to weaken royal and imperial authority and strengthen the power of the ministers; and the throne had endlessly sought to crush them in turn.
Neither side holding absolute power was the correct answer.
A state with strong imperial authority could maintain consistent policy, restrain the landlord and aristocratic classes from exploiting the people, and advance toward prosperity—yet if a foolish, benighted ruler appeared and ran wild, the nation would plunge straight into the abyss.
Conversely, if imperial authority grew too weak, the Emperor became a mere figurehead, and the ministers would manipulate state affairs for their private gain, acting like pests that hollowed out the country. There might be a few pure officials, but human beings, by and large, put themselves and their own houses first.
To check that tendency, a healthy, constructive mutual restraint between imperial power and ministerial power was essential.
Gyeong was a dynasty founded by dynastic revolution. As a result, the influence of the founding meritorious officials had traditionally been strong. Emperor Sungui had continually tried to whittle down those meritorious houses, sow division among the ministers, and strengthen imperial authority—but he had never conceived of a method like this.
No doubt it came down to differences in interests and fields of vision.
An Emperor who viewed everything through the lens of politics simply could not understand the mind of a merchant who viewed everything through the lens of business.
And he would stake his life that the same held true for the ministers—longtime enemies and allies of the throne alike.
From a politician’s standpoint, granting patent rights and then failing to administer them is nothing special. It looks like neither profit nor loss. An empty, meaningless policy. They do not realize it is the groundwork I will use to take their heads.
Emperor Sungui clenched his still faintly trembling right hand into a fist.
There is no fool who will not pick up gold left lying in the street.
His palm was damp with sweat.
The ministers, represented by the Eight Great Families, will ignore the useless patent rights, copy the goods the Sichuan Dang Family produces, sell them, supply them, and pocket the profits. Of course they will be careful at first. But after a year, two years, three years, if We show no reaction at all? Like fish nipping at a fisherman’s bait, they will go from cautious nibbles to greedily tearing at it. And they will never know that the silver they earn is coated with arsenic.
All the Emperor had to do was set the Dongchang in motion, pile up the evidence piece by piece, and, when the moment came, simply swing the blade with that evidence as his justification.
It was a perfect picture.
There is no reason not to accept it. And yet…
A different thought suddenly crossed Emperor Sungui’s mind.
Is bringing a man like this into the court truly the right choice for strengthening Our authority?
Look at the skill of that fellow—feigning the role of a fool who takes losses, acting as if he were excessively loyal to the Emperor, all while pouring the poison of the charge of treason into the court.
In that moment, Emperor Sungui felt a flicker of fear toward Hui-yeom.
If he serves Us, he will be an unmatched pillar of strength… but if he ever turns his heart elsewhere…
The Emperor decided he would have to reconsider his earlier notion of elevating Hui-yeom to Naegak-subo and using him as a blunt instrument. He spoke.
“Well then, Subo. What do you make of Dang Hui-yeom’s petition regarding patent rights?”
The current Naegak-subo, Bang Jun-hwi, bowed his head and answered.
“Your Majesty, Dang Hui-yeom’s petition will benefit all who strive to raise the fragrance of this land. How could one not call his intent truly beautiful? It is proper that Your Majesty grant it.”
“Do the rest of you think likewise?”
At the Emperor’s words the assembled ministers abruptly dropped their rolling eyes and, in the most loyal voices they could muster, cried out together:
“We beg Your Majesty to grant it!”
Emperor Sungui smiled bitterly.
“Very well. The Naegak-subo shall consult with the Grand Academicians of the Cabinet and the Minister of Revenue and prepare a suitable draft of the patent rights—taking care not to depart greatly from the proposal Dang Hui-yeom has already submitted. Furthermore, regarding the enterprises the Dang Family undertakes, so long as they are not unlawful, see that they are protected.”
That last clause was a shield raised so that the greedy ministers could not openly strip the Sichuan Dang Family bare. It was partly for the Dang Family’s protection, but also because without such a measure the officials would rush so blatantly to devour the Dang that the “big fish” Hui-yeom and the Emperor wanted would never have time to take the bait.
They needed whales on the hook if they were going to raise a storm of purges; a net full of small fry would leave the Eight Great Families untouched.
At the Emperor’s words a flicker of regret passed through the ministers’ eyes. But they would find a way. Instead of crushing the Dang head-on with official authority and squeezing silver out of them on every pretext, they would arrange to profit by copying and selling the patented goods.
Their instinct for private gain would soon tighten the noose around their own necks. It would be exactly like a monkey trap.
“By the way… what a truly magnificent treasure. Everyone who visits this place will bow before Our majesty.”
The sculpted dragon, so lifelike it seemed ready to move, poured light from its eyes and a dragon’s cry from its throat while the wish-granting pearl shone. It was the very embodiment of imperial dignity.
“Quite apart from the patent rights, is there any other reward you desire? Speak without hesitation.”
Because the patent rights were, in truth, an ambiguous sort of reward, the ministers nodded as if it were only natural that a second gift should be offered.
Hui-yeom smiled as if he had been waiting for exactly those words and bowed his head once more.
“This humble servant wishes to open a small new enterprise here in Beijing. A teahouse selling a special tea called Caffa, brought in from the Western Regions. I beg Your Majesty to grant permission.”
“Must you?”
The question carried the meaning: Surely you don’t need permission for something like that? Hui-yeom answered.
“There may be those who would consider it presumptuous for a provincial upstart from some Sichuan backwater to do business in Beijing, where Your Majesty’s radiance is strongest…”
In short, there would be territorial pushback. Emperor Sungui nodded. Even a mongrel dog had the run of its own yard; of course the established commercial interests of Beijing would push back.
Watching the faces of several ministers darken—men who apparently had relatives running high-class teahouses—the Emperor nodded with genuine pleasure.
“No one in Beijing shall raise any objection to the Sichuan Dang Family operating a teahouse in the capital.”
“Your Majesty’s grace is boundless. Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!”
“Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!”
When Hui-yeom cried out the longevity cheer, the ministers joined in as well.
In addition, Emperor Sungui bestowed a reward of one hundred guan of silver upon Michelangelo, the man who had created this immortal work of art.
With the rewards for the Twin Dragon Statue more or less settled, an atmosphere formed as if it were time to wrap things up and withdraw from court. That was only natural: an enormous gift had been presented, and with it the massive bait of the patent-rights system had been cast.
But the gifts Hui-yeom had brought were not finished.
“The second gift this humble one has brought is the heads of a bandit gang.”
“What? The heads of a bandit gang?”
“Yes.”
Hui-yeom recounted how, on the journey from Sichuan, a company of wild bandits—in truth the private troops of the Pi Clan—had attacked the Dang Family’s party, and explained that the wooden crates brought in behind him contained those bandits’ heads.
“We have suppressed a band of wild bandits who dared disturb the peaceful reign of His Imperial Majesty. I thought this, too, might serve as a small gift…”
At Hui-yeom’s words every gaze in the hall swung toward Pi Jae-hyeon.
Emperor Sungui looked down at him.
“Well now. Wild bandits in this age of peace and prosperity? Come to think of it, it has not been long since We were angered by the river pirates on the Yangtze… Minister of War, have you nothing to say?”
That damned merchant!
Pi Jae-hyeon ground his teeth. If one captured wild bandits, the normal course was to hand them over to the nearest yamen and collect a bounty. Why else would the heads be brought all the way before the Emperor?
The ministers could not fail to understand that Hui-yeom had guessed the bandits’ true backer and intended to land a solid blow. And even if the bandits had not been private troops of the Pi Clan, the mere fact that wild bandits had proliferated enough to attack a loyal subject on his way to see the Emperor was something for which the Ministry of War would find it hard to escape responsibility.
In short, he was being force-fed the mess.
“Your Majesty, this humble servant’s ability was lacking; I failed to grasp the rise of every small band of wild bandits in the provinces. I am deeply ashamed.”
“Oh? Then are you saying this arose from the negligence of the local officials governing Hubei?”
“That is not what I—”
If the local officials who had been hit with this sudden frost ever learned of it, they would nurse a grudge against the Pi Clan. For Pi Jae-hyeon, who hoped to bring even the provincial armies under his control and complete his grip on military power, it was like being doused in filth—yet he was desperately short of excuses.
Those idiots. They couldn’t even handle such a simple job cleanly and had to blow it up this big!
He had selected three hundred men who at least claimed some martial training and sent them precisely to prevent this sort of thing. The company commander, a fellow named Gu Il-hak, had supposedly been a late-stage First-rate master bordering on Peak.
Damn it all…
In the end the question was who would eat the Emperor’s scolding—the Ministry of War or the provincial armies. The Emperor held the hilt of the knife, and Pi Jae-hyeon had to decide which cheek to present.
Protect his own people and earn outsiders’ hatred, or shield outsiders and absorb the damage himself.
In the end Pi Jae-hyeon had no choice but to pick the former.
“…I shall see to it that the Five Military Commands enforce stricter discipline upon the provincial armies so that such an incident never occurs again.”
“The Regional Military Commissioners may have charge of the provincial forces, but the Five Military Commands are not without responsibility in this matter either. Look into it carefully.”
“…Yes…”
It was galling. Yes, they had sent private troops, but the inability to control every naturally arising bandit, mountain brigand, and wild outlaw had been a constant ever since the previous dynasty. Could one inspect the weeds growing in the backyard every single day and pull them all by hand? Across the vast Central Plains such incidents were common as dirt; by any measure the Emperor was making too much of it.
His teeth ground of their own accord… yet with a weakness in the other man’s hand, Pi Jae-hyeon could only bow his head. Having achieved his immediate purpose, Emperor Sungui did not press further.
“Well. It seems the burden on the central army and the provincial forces alike is heavy. Should We raise taxes and allocate a little more to the provincial armies? Minister of Revenue, what do you think?”
There was no way the Ministry of Revenue would react favorably to a proposal to raise taxes in order to expand the military. The Minister of Revenue’s face stiffened as he bowed.
“Your Majesty, I speak with fear and trembling, yet if We increase taxes now for further military expansion, the people’s lives will grow still more painful. As this very incident shows, the spirited great-clan houses and temples of the provinces possess armed strength of their own. Issue an edict ordering them to suppress the bandits, and bestow silver rewards in proportion to the heads they bring in. That, I submit, is the way to spare the people and ease their lives.”
Damn him.
The Cheon Family of the Eight Great Families—itself a rival of the Pi Clan—would never stand by and watch the Ministry of War siphon off more taxes for more soldiers. When Emperor Sungui used the Cheon Family’s mouth to thrash the Ministry of War and, at the same time, made clear that he would strengthen the martial houses of the jianghu, the Eight Great Families each wore a faint sneer according to their own positions.
Judging that enough was enough, Emperor Sungui continued with a question.
“So. The final gift is weapons, is it? Let Us see them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Hui-yeom smiled.
“As it happens, the Imperial Guards are already preparing them in the rear courtyard.”