Black Corporation: Joseon

“Argh…”

Lee Euntak, a civil servant in the Ministry of Taxation, groaned in front of a book.

“This way won’t work, and that way…”

Lee Euntak, who was calculating by moving mountains of documents spread out on one side of the desk, scattered all the documents and shouted out.

“I can’t find the answer! There’s no room to cut the budget! Aargh!”

“Look at him!”

When Euntak lost his reason and went wild, his colleagues nearby grabbed him.

“Catch him! Catch him!”

“Endure it! Hold on!”

As the commotion subsided, Lee Euntak was dragged to Kim Jeom, the Minister of the Taxation.

“You seem to have some energy left, flipping over desks like that.”

“I’m sorry, my lord.”

“What exactly is the problem?”

“We’re out of budget, my lord.”

At Euntak’s reply, Kim Jeom’s face crumpled helplessly.

“Damn it…”

* * *

The biggest problem in the reform that Sejong was gradually implementing was the budget.

Since its founding, Joseon had greatly reduced the budget for use in the royal court.

This was because they were well aware that the people had barely survived due to excessive taxes at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty.

They minimized various miscellaneous taxes, and naturally, the expenditure decreased due to the reduced tax revenue for running the government.

As a result, Sejong set the period for the reform to be 10 years.

The goal of the reform was to gradually change the revenue part, reform the administration of the central and local governments, and ultimately strengthen Joseon’s capacity to expand externally.

Sejong also focused on the wholesale business because he was well aware of the importance of the budget needed in this process.

The wholesale of sugar, proposed by the Crown Prince at the right time, was a great boon that could greatly expand the budget.

However, the budget flexibility decreased as a significant amount of wealth was consumed as investment funds for facilities when wholesale stores were installed up to the military unit level.

In addition, the budget flexibility significantly diminished when it was decided to purchase the main components for the armored infantry rifles and cavalry rifles from private suppliers.

In fact, Sejong was well aware of this issue.

Hence, starting from the issue of purchasing the main components of the infantry rifles, he always operated with a clear understanding of the budgetary limits, even for the construction of a national steel mill.

However, Sejong was not pleased with slow handling of issues directly related to national defense due to budget constraints.

To solve this, Sejong resorted to a bold move.

Sejong’s method involved taking control of the finances of the Naesu Byeoljwa, an institution created to manage the inherited wealth from the Goryeo royal family and the private property of the Lee Seong-gye family in the Hamgyong Province. It also managed land and wealth distributed to the royal family, and it was precisely this aspect that Sejong took advantage of.

In a gathering of royal relatives, Sejong made the following request:

“For the prosperity of our Joseon, the sacrifices of our esteemed elders and siblings are necessary.”

Since there was no one who could refuse a request made by the king, all the royals agreed to Sejong’s request.

With the agreement of all the royal family members, Sejong distributed pledges to each of them.

The content of the pledges, which Sejong himself wrote and sealed with his own personal stamp, including the jade seal and the seal of the treasurer, was as follows:

– For the next 5 years, 70% of the previously received stipend will be paid. After the subsequent 5 years, the same amount as the initial stipend will be paid, and thereafter, an additional 20% will be added to the payment.

The terms were fairly reasonable, so the royals suppressed their dissatisfaction.

And this pledge came to be recognized as the first national bond of Joseon.

In this way, flexible funds were injected from the Naesu Byeoljwa, but overall, the financial situation was still tight. One major reason for this was the research institute in Hyang and the steel mill being built in Pyeongan Province.

“Father, a little more budget…”

“Get out, you child!”

Such conversations popped up a couple of times a month, indicating how much the research institute in Hyang consumed the budget – as if they were drinking cold water.

However, Hyang had a point.

“No! I’m not recklessly spending! The budget is just too limited, what can I do?”

As confirmed in the previous audit, Hyang never wasted the budget.

The real issue was that the absolute value of the central Joseon government’s budget was simply too small.

And the problem with the steel mill located in Pyeongan Province was its location.

Furthermore, the steel mill located in Pyeongan Province had a problematic location. Under the direction of Kim Deok-su, the forefather of the prominent Kim family of Anju, the steel mill was situated about 200 ri (approximately 80km) from the national border. Due to its location, a new unit had to be formed and stationed for defense, which was a significant reason for the budget constraints.

* * *

Even though the budget had dried up, it wasn’t as if the treasury was completely empty.

There was money prepared to operate the court, but the contingency funds that had been set aside for emergencies had been entirely used up.

Upon assessing the situation, Kim Jeom lost his appetite.

“Sigh, if we could just get past Chuseok, everything would be resolved.”

At Kim Jeom’s words, his subordinates frowned.

“The question is whether we can make it safely until then. If there’s a flood or an epidemic, it’s game over.”

Kim Jeom raised his voice in irritation at his subordinates’ remarks.

“The problem is that you all see things so pessimistically! Can’t you be a bit more optimistic?”

“My apologies.”

“If you’re sorry, then don’t cause issues to apologize for in the first place! Go and do your work! Don’t you see those piled-up scrolls over there?”

“Yes, sir!”

At Kim Jeom’s stern command, the subordinates hurriedly returned to their stations.

Left alone in his place, Kim Jeom let out a long sigh.

“Sigh~. It’s true that the lack of budgetary leeway is a problem… but it feels like there’s no solution.”

Faced with a daunting problem that seemed to have no solution, Kim Jeom sighed once more and muttered to himself.

“Sigh~. Maybe I should just submit a request to be sent off to a provincial post?”

* * *

“Get out, you brat!”

After being kicked out for requesting an additional budget, Hyang headed towards Eastern Palace while complaining.

“Even nowadays, he doesn’t call me the Crown Prince anymore … Damn it, what about the budget….”

As he lamented over a situation that seemed inscrutable even to him, Hyang caught sight of monks following a court official.

“What’s with these monks doing here?”

To Hyang’s question, the inner palace official following behind him immediately answered, “It seems they are going to Junggung Palace¹ to deliver a sermon.”

“How audacious they are to…”

Hyang, recalling the princes who were sensitive even at the mention of the character ‘Buddha’ of ‘Buddhism’, stopped in his tracks.

“Your Highness?”

“I’ve got it! Let’s attack Japan, no, let’s sell to Japan!”

“Huh?”

The court official’s head tilted in confusion, but Hyang retraced his steps and hastily walked towards Geunjeongjeon Palace.

“What’s this sudden matter? I’ll say it again; there’s no budget.”

Sejong was the first to draw a line at Hyang’s second approach. However, Hyang was undeterred.

“Your Majesty! How about selling books?”

“Selling books?”

“Selling Buddhist scriptures to the foreign nation!”

“What?”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong’s eyes widened in surprise. Not just him, even the court ministers who hadn’t left yet looked on with astonishment.

* * *

At this time, the relationship between Joseon and Japan was not that bad.

In the early days of the founding of Joseon, the first solution used to prevent damage from the Japanese was diplomacy.

At that time, the Joseon court promised to cut off relations with Japan on the surface, while secretly strengthening its relations with Japan.

Not only the shogunate, but also diplomatic relations were established with local feudal lords such as the Kokujin-jōshu, Ōuchi clan², Otomo clan³, and the lord of Tsushima Island.

When these policies began to take effect, an unexpected obstacle arose.

The deaths of Ōuchi Yoshihiro and Sō clan’s Kitashige.

And when Wada Saimon seized the real power of Kyushu and Tsushima Island and promoted the Japanese pirates to plunder Joseon, the efforts of Joseon lost their efficacy.

However, the ties of friendship between the Korean and Japanese feudal lords still remained.

Just before the Tsushima expedition in the first year of King Sejong’s reign, Korea informed the Japanese feudal lords about the expedition.

When Korea declared its intention to carry out the Tsushima expedition, Governer of Kyushu responded as follows:

“The pirates are enemies of Japan, so we ask Joseon to severely punish them with military power.” (Note 1)

* * *

“Isn’t it not just once or twice that Japan has demanded a Buddhist scripture from us?”

At Hyang’s question, both Sejong and the court officials nodded.

“That’s right.”

“Just recently, as well.”

In April of this year, the Japanese king – to be precise, the shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, which Korea acknowledged as the ruler of Japan – had requested a copy of the Tripitaka.

At that time, King Sejong had refused this request.

“There is only one copy of the Tripitaka, and it has been handed down from our ancestors, so we cannot simply give it away.”

The Japanese king’s demand was very persistent, sometimes even declaring war, and there were cases where the envoy was detained.

However, they couldn’t give the Tripitaka, and they couldn’t cut ties because the copper import line would be blocked, so King Sejong merely treated the envoy well and sent him off.

Eventually, discussions about creating Buddhist scriptures and woodblocks arose in the Ministry of Rites due to Japan’s requests.

However, producing Buddhist woodblocks in Joseon, where ‘Reverence for Confucianism, suppression of Buddhism’, was the national policy, it was simply an unthinkable act.

“So, we are going to print exactly 10 copies of the Tripitaka. Then, one copy goes to the Japanese king, another one to Governer of Kyushu, and another one to Ouchi clan as a gift. The Japanese king may not know, but Governer of Kyushu and Ouchi clan have been good to our Joseon.”

At Hyang’s words, King Sejong nodded.

“I see. Then what about the remaining 7 copies?”

“We have to start a competition among other Japanese feudal lords. We will sell it to the one who offers the highest price.”

“Hmm!”

“Aha!”

At Hyang’s words, King Sejong and his ministers exclaimed in admiration.

Japan, lagging significantly in terms of cultural development, was eager to acquire cultural elements from Joseon or Ming. The Buddhist scriptures were particularly coveted due to their rarity, prompting the Japanese king to request these scriptures and their corresponding woodblocks.

“Shouldn’t we print about 50 copies instead of 10?”

“Tsk!”

Sejong clicked his tongue at Maeng Sa-seong’s question.

“Have you forgotten the fact that scarcity increases value? Why do you think the Crown Prince suggested 10 copies?”

“I apologize!”

“Don’t apologize when there’s no need to!”

After scolding Maeng Sa-seong, Sejong looked at Hyang with gentle eyes.

“So, you mean to sell those 10 copies?”

“Yes. With the name ‘Tripitaka’ alone and its limited quantity of just 10 copies, their value in Japan will skyrocket exponentially.”

“I see.”

“And, instruct the monks to make Buddhist scripture woodblocks and print or transcribe them into books. Those scriptures are to be sold in Japan. This way, we can see two benefits within Joseon and three benefits from them.”

“Two benefits, three benefits?”

The bodies of Sejong and the ministers gradually leaned toward Hyang’s words.

Hyang, who cleared his throat for a moment, explained what the benefits were.

“The two benefits that can be obtained within Joseon, one of them is that we can reclaim the lands still held by the temples.”

“Ah!”

The consistent policy pursued by the founding of Joseon was a policy of promoting Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism.

Taejong consolidated numerous Buddhist sects into seven orders, confiscated 80,000 slaves from the temples and turned them into public slaves, and took away 60,000 gyeol of land.

Following this, Sejong merged the seven orders into the Seon and Gyo sects, leaving only 36 main temples across the country. He also confiscated 3,000 gyeol of good land out of 11,000 gyeol, and nearly took away the remaining slaves.

“By giving a certain percentage of the proceeds from selling Buddhist scriptures to the monks, you can solve their livelihood problems. Even without land, they can live. This would stabilize the people’s sentiment, and so, it serves as another benefit.”

“I see.”

At Hyang’s explanation, Sejong nodded.

He had been consistently pursuing the policy of promoting Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism, but the presence of Buddhism was not fading, not only in the palace but also among the people.

“Gently easing it might also be helpful. Then, what are the three benefits we can gain from the foreign countries? The first thing that comes to mind is that the Governer of Kyushu and the Ouchi clan would be frienlier towards us.”

“That’s right. Powerful clan families, like Kyushu government or Ouchi clan, becoming closer to our Joseon is a big gain. Another benefit is that by selling Buddhist scriptures and importing rice or silver from their country, we can be relieved of our budget pressure. The last benefit is that we can spread Buddhist scriptures, clearly marked as made in our Joseon, to them, making their people admire our Joseon.”

At Hyang’s explanation, Sejong smiled and received the words.

“I like the last benefit the most, although the other benefits are also good. What do you ministers think?”

“It’s a really good idea!”

“Then we should put it into action. Send people to the major temples of the Seon and Gyo sects right now.”

“We accept your command!”

* * *

Three months later, the Ouchi clan of the 9th Province,  was busy receiving envoys from Joseon.

“You’ve come a long way. You must be tired.”

Moriharu⁴, who succeeded his deceased brother as the lord of Ouchi, graciously welcomed the envoy from Joseon.

“Thank you for your warm welcome. Fortunately, there were no typhoons, so we managed to cross over safely..”

The envoy from the Ministry of Rites politely returned the greeting to Moriharu’s gracious welcome.

While serving tea to envoys, Moriharu moved on to the main topic.

“So, what brings you from Joseon to this distant place? Have the thieves caused trouble again?”

“All is quiet for now. I came here on behalf of His Majesty the King. Here is a personal letter from His Majesty.”

The envoy untied the scroll he took out from his belongings. In front of Moriharu, who straightened up neatly, the envoy read out Sejong’s personal letter.

“Provincial lord of Japan, heed my words…”

After the reading of Sejong’s personal letter was over, Moriharu respectfully bowed.

“I’m truly grateful for your interest. I’m all more thankful as the roots of my family are from Baekje.”

“Here, this is a gift from His Majesty for you.”

At the envoy’s gesture, an official from the Ministry of Rites who had been standing behind came forward, carrying a large wooden box covered in silk.

“What is this?”

“Do you know about the Haeinsa Temple’s Tripitaka Scripture?”

“Yes, I am familiar.”

“This is a Buddhist scripture copied from that Tripitaka.”

“Oh!”

Moriharu, with trembling hands, untied the knot of the silk wrap.

When the knot was untied, a shiny wooden box lacquered with ocher revealed itself. On the lid of the box, there was a Buddha statue engraved in relief and gilded.

With trembling hands touching the Buddha statue, Moriharu declared to the envoy.

“Giving us such a precious gift… Our Ouchi clan will fully cooperate with Joseon in the future!”

A similar situation was experienced by an envoy who visited Governer of Kyushu.

Only Ashikaga Yoshimochi, who was called the shogun of the Muromachi government and the king of Japan, showed a slightly disappointing reaction.

After that, fierce competition took place over the remaining seven volumes of the Tripitaka. At the end of the competition, the seven volumes were sold for a hefty price of 500 kwan of silver (about 1.87 tons) per volume.

Not only the Tripitaka prints. The Buddhist scriptures printed or copied from other temples were also sold at a minimum price of 200 nyang of silver per volume.

“It’s a precious scripture, but isn’t it too expensive?”

“Do you think this is an ordinary scripture? Don’t you know there are only 36 temples recognized in our Joseon? It’s the scriptures written by the high monks of those places, one letter at a time with a brush, and carved out of woodblocks! Just by looking at it, your devout heart would thump! It’s not ordinary!”

It was a premium caused by the rarity of ‘only 36 places’.

—–

(Note 1) Military strategy of the Joseon era. Military History Compilation Research Institute, Ministry of National Defense.

1. Queen’s Palace[↩]
2. One of the most powerful important families during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate[↩]
3. Helped in the establishment of Ashikaga shogunate[↩]
4. 11th Heaf of Ouchi clan[↩]