Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 169
Episode 169: Aftereffects and currency. (4)
Amid a mixture of anticipation and fear, the autumn harvest and tax collection began.
‘Starting from this harvest, we will only accept taxes in currency!’
Since the government’s announcement had already been made long before the uprising, the people of Joseon were already aware of the fact and were mentally preparing in their own way.
The entrance to a public bathhouse near Seochon, Hanseong.
Two men were talking at the entrance to the bathroom.
“You said they are creating a new currency this time?”
“I guess so. “I heard it’s completely different from what you’ve been using so far?”
“okay? “Is there going to be someone who can be put to good use this time?”
“Well…”
“What are you doing blocking the entrance to the public bathhouse? “I’m going to take a bath or not!”
“Yikes!”
The men, who were immersed in chatting, rushed to the cash register at the entrance of the bathhouse when the bathhouse owner shouted at them.
“Here are the rates.”
“me too!”
When the men held out the small sacks of grain they had brought, the bathhouse owner unscrewed the spout of the sacks and checked the contents.
“It’s a bean. Let’s see…”
The bathhouse owner poured the beans into a bowl attached to a scale and weighed them.
“I got it right this time. “Get in!”
As the men entered, the bathhouse owner, who had poured beans into a large sack, grumbled.
“shit! Money doesn’t make babies, but it takes so long! Once you’ve decided, you’ll figure it out quickly! “Measuring weight is just work!”
People living in urban areas of Joseon generally welcomed currency. However, most rural people reacted negatively.
“Creating new money? “Aren’t we just wasting precious copper again?”
“You can use cotton cloth, so why bother….”
“What do you do when you make it? “They said they were going to go around making trouble again to catch counterfeiters.”
“No matter how hard you try, you can’t buy anything with it, so it’s a hassle…”
People living in rural areas and fishing villages were still accustomed to bartering. In addition, the situation was full of distrust due to the low reliability of previously issued currencies.
Finally, on the day when harvest and tax collection began, the people of Joseon were able to see the newly created currency of Joseon.
* * *
As the harvest began, Hojo’s officials dispatched throughout the country were busy without a moment’s notice.
Hojo officials watched the process of farmers putting harvested rice into bags and checked for any irregularities.
“Let’s see… Kim Gap-seok (甲石 Gap-dol)’s 22 sum of rice… Then, the tax rate…”
The Hojo official told him how much tax Gap-dol’s had to pay according to the tax rate.
“Do you understand how much it is?”
“Yes, Nari.”
“Then, come to the battlefield created next to the monopoly within the next five days and exchange it for currency to pay.”
“Yes, Nari.”
“Don’t forget that after five days, a late fee of 1 penny per day will be charged!”
“I will definitely go within five days!”
“ah! As you know, the reseller only accepts currency, so bring some extra!”
“yes! “Okay!”
The Hojo official, who had warned the farmer several times, moved quickly to check on the harvest situation of other households.
* * *
Peasants who visited the battlefield, carrying everything from sacks of rice to rice paddies on carts to exchange for money to pay taxes, saw a crowd of people gathered next to the battlefield.
“Why are so many people gathered here?”
Like other farmers, Gapdol went to the monopoly with a bag of rice to pay taxes and asked the farmers standing around him about the condensed milk.
In response to Gapdol’s question, the farmer explained the reason in a calm voice.
“They say you need to get a brief explanation about currency before entering the battlefield, so they’re killing you like this.”
“Is that so?”
Hearing the farmer’s explanation, Gapdol stood on tiptoe and looked ahead. Indeed, soldiers holding spears were lining up the peasants, and on one side, a government official sitting at a desk in front of him was explaining something by pointing his fingers here and there on the desk.
“next!”
After waiting for about 1 hour (2 hours), it was Gapdol’s turn. Gapdol headed to where the official was with the other farmers and looked at the desk. There were lots of colorfully lined papers and yellow copper coins and white coins on the desk.
The official, who cleared his throat by drinking water, looked at Gapdol and the farmers and began to explain.
“First, let me explain the coin. This blank thing here is Baekdongjeon. From the smallest size to 1p and 5p. This 10 penny white coin becomes 1 won in this brass coin. Do you understand up to this point?”
The peasants blinked and nodded in response to the official’s question explaining the coins.
“I understand roughly.”
“You can tell them apart because they are different sizes, right?”
“Yes, Nari.”
In response to the farmers’ answer, the official continued his explanation by pointing to the yellow coin.
“This is a brass war. Starting from the smallest, it is 1 won, 5 won, 10 won, and 100 won. After all, you can tell the difference because they are different sizes, right?”
“Yes, Nari.”
After finishing explaining the coins, the official started explaining the bills placed next to him.
“The blue line crossing diagonally here is a silver coin worth one cat. In other words, this piece of paper money has the value of one silver coin.”
At the official’s explanation, the farmers opened their eyes wide and examined the bills. The four edges of the bill were surrounded by red and blue stripes like dancheong, and inside it was written ‘Silver 1 nyang (silver 1 兩)’. And next to it was a wonderful landscape painting.
The official continued his explanation.
“This one cat of silver is worth 1,000 won of brass. Do you understand?”
“yes? yes.”
“And these 10 silver coins are gathered together….”
The official pointed to another banknote next to him.
“It’s worth 1 cat of gold. got it? Well, you probably won’t even be able to see a gold one-nyang bill.”
At the official’s words, the farmers nodded without realizing it. They wondered whether they should see gold once or twice in their lifetime.
Occasionally, I heard a rumor that someone who was lucky enough to find precious wild ginseng in the mountains saved a gold ring for his wife and her dinner table changed, but rumors were just rumors.
After completing simple basic training, the official asked questions to the farmers.
“Then which one is a penny?”
“Eh… that is…”
* * *
Gapdol and the farmers who received education about coins and banknotes moved to the battlefield.
The place where the battlefield was located was the house of Yuji, who participated in the ‘Giyu Rebellion’. In the large front yard of the mansion, which was over 70 square meters long, there were several desks, and officials were sitting there exchanging grain brought by farmers for currency.
“Wait here and move one by one when a seat becomes available.”
“Yes, Nari.”
Hearing the words of the military officer who stood in front of the farmers, the farmers calmly waited for their turn.
Finally, when it was his turn, Gapdol went to an empty seat and set up the luggage he was carrying.
“Who lives where?”
“My name is Kim Gap-dol, or rather, Kim Gap-seok, who lives in Angol.”
“Kim Gap-seok of Angol….”
In response to Gap-dol, the official got up from his seat and searched through the stack of documents piled up behind him. The official rummaged through dozens of neatly placed books, took out one, and returned to his seat to check the contents.
“Kim Gap-seok of Angol…. Here he is. “Is this year’s production 22 stones?”
“Yes, Nari.”
“Then the tax rate…”
The official who calculated while flicking the abacus asked Gapdol.
“The tax you have to pay is 1 kilo of rice. Am I right?”
“That’s right.”
After receiving Gapdol’s confirmation, the official flicked the abacus again.
“If 1 mal of white rice is 1, then 1 sack of white rice is 200 won, so 1 nyan of silver is 110 won. “Did you bring rice?”
“Yes, Nari.”
Gapdol unloaded the rice from the carrier.
“Did you bring some rice?”
“yes. I need to buy some salt and a few other things at the wholesale store. They say the monopoly only takes money….”
“That’s right, hey!”
“Yes, Nari!”
In response to Gapdol’s answer, the official gestured to the soldier waiting next to him. The soldiers unpacked the bags, checked the rice for contamination, weighed it, and reported it to the officials.
“Nothing wrong.”
“I understand.”
After receiving the soldier’s report, the official opened the wooden box next to him and took out a fairy tale.
“This year, the price of rice is 200 won per seum (1 cat of silver). First, take 200 won here. To make it easier to bet, there is one 100 won bill and 10 10 won bills.”
Gapdol, who took the coin, blurted out a word without realizing it.
“To…”
The official chuckled at Gapdol’s reaction.
“Not much? But it is money guaranteed by the government.”
“Yes, yes….”
Gapdol still had a shocked expression on his face. Regardless of whether Gapdol said that or not, the official opened the wooden box next to him and carefully took out a bill and handed it to Gapdol with both hands.
“Take it. “It’s only 1 cat of silver.”
“But why with both hands?”
“Do you see the red stamp down there?”
“yes.”
“It is the Royal Seal of His Majesty the Lord.”
“Egg money!”
Gapdol, who was startled, rubbed his hands against his pants and politely accepted the bill.
“It is an item with His Majesty the Lord’s royal seal, so please do not damage it carelessly.”
“yes! “I will definitely do that!”
“Pay taxes in the main house.”
“Yes, Nari!”
* * *
Gapdol, who had paid all the taxes, glared at the bills in his hand.
“Suddenly, a complex of sorrows has appeared.”
The bills in his hand were a source of sorrow to Gapdol. It was impossible to stuff something with the king’s seal inside the inside of the bag, so carrying it around made it easy for it to be stolen.
Gapdol thought for a moment and then bit his lip tightly.
“We need to clean up the abandoned complex quickly! “Write and see!”
Gapdol walked to the monopoly shop right next to him.
That day, Gapdol bought a load of salt, candy, and various spices, and to finish off, he bought some fish and alcohol to give to his children and returned home. And he got excited and got ripped off by his wife.
“What a fool! Who told you to buy some salt and candy? Who told you to buy this much?! “I’m going to sprinkle salt in the rice fields instead of rice seeds!”
* * *
When currency began to circulate, those who paid the most attention were naturally merchants.
“Hmm…”
The merchants who were carefully examining the newly circulated currencies soon came to a conclusion.
“Those who have the skills to counterfeit new coins would make more money doing other things.”
“That’s right.”
Merchants evaluated the coin as ‘uncounterfeitable.’
“It’s definitely not a casting.”
“It is certain that the crown prince used an extrusion.”
“Thanks to you, as I said before, counterfeiting is difficult.”
As evaluated by merchants, the newly minted coins were stamped by a press.
While making armor to be supplied to the military, the press skills of artisans belonging to the government reached maturity. In addition, by using a power source called axial force instead of human power, it was possible to press with stronger pressure, and more precise frames could be made using steel supplied from steel mills.
The reason merchants valued the coin so highly was simply because it was ‘difficult to counterfeit.’ That wasn’t the only reason.
“The value obtained by melting down white coins or brass coins is much less than the value of simply distributing them, so there would be no fools who would melt them down and do something else.”
“That’s right.”
This was Hyang’s work. During the IMF era, 10-won coins were melted down and sold, and Hyang, who knew that the design and size of 10-won coins changed as a result, boldly reduced the size of the coins.
“It’s the numbers on the coin that matter! And the country guarantees the value equivalent to that number!”
On the riverside of Hyang, King Sejong and the minister accepted Hyang’s opinion.
Merchants had all positive reviews about the coin. One of the reasons it received favorable reviews was that it reduced the possibility of confusion by varying the size according to value.
The merchants’ topic continued with paper money.
The eyes of merchants who saw the banknote for the first time were directed to King Sejong’s royal portrait stamped in a corner, and their impressions were simple.
“If you don’t want to be labeled a traitor, don’t even dream of counterfeiting!”
Previously, counterfeiting currency was a serious crime comparable to treason, and the death penalty was standard.
However, this banknote had the king’s seal stamped on it. Forging this was an inexcusable treason.
To put it simply, not only the head of the person involved was blown off, but the heads of all three people were blown off.
“Thanks to you, I don’t think you need to worry about counterfeiting.”
“That’s right.”
After concluding that counterfeiting was impossible, the merchants began examining other parts of the banknote.
The merchants who were quietly examining the bills all cocked their heads.
“How did they film this?”