Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 348
Episode 348 Let’s make a play board! (2)
When Hyang was realizing the seriousness of the matter, King Sejong of Geunjeongjeon was also pointing out the same problem.
“Minister of Justice.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Did you say that the number of people arrested last time in connection with rental water was 80?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“How many households are there in the neighborhood where they were caught?”
“There are about 30 households.”
Sejong’s face became more serious at the Minister of Justice’s answer.
“Are you saying that 80 people were gambling in a small town with only 30 households?”
“That’s right.”
“In this busy farming season?”
The Minister of Justice bowed his head at Sejong’s words.
“I apologize. Because of the lack of divine power….”
“It’s not the captain’s fault. There must be something wrong with Joseon right now. Hmm….”
While King Sejong was speechless with a serious look on his face, a merchant ship informed him of the arrival of Hyang.
After a while, with King Sejong’s permission, Hyang entered Geunjeongjeon and paid homage to King Sejong.
“okay. “What happened?”
“I have something to tell you about this attempted leak of craftsmanship.”
“We plan to discuss measures to protect artisans with ministers now.”
“That is an important issue, but what Soja is worried about is a different issue.”
Sejong’s eyes sparkled at Hyang’s words.
“another pair of boots? So what was it?”
“It’s a gambling problem.”
“gambling?”
After briefly answering the question, King Sejong glared at the ministers and briefly clicked his tongue.
“Tsk!”
The ministers were in awe as they heard King Sejong click his tongue for the first time in a long time.
It was a small sound of clicking one’s tongue, but to the ministers it was a loud sound like thunder.
-Are you crazy to say that no one mentions a problem that even the crown prince, who is stuck in Area 51 every day and does nothing else, notices until I tell him about it?
Although he only clicked his tongue once, the ministers who understood the long reprimand contained in it began to sweat.
‘Why didn’t I know this?’
‘By the way, why did the Crown Prince, who was doing something else in Area 51 every day, intervene again? Why does it always happen like this!’
‘No matter how good of a person you are and who inherits the Lord’s blood, that’s true! Thinking the same thing on the same day? ‘This is a conspiracy!’
‘No matter how I look at it, it looks like it’s being done with a lot of effort.’
When the thoughts of the ministers, who were frightened by King Sejong’s clucking sound, were drifting to conspiracy theories, Hyang continued his explanation.
“Yes, they said that during the process of arresting Dae-su this time, those who were gambling with him were also arrested. I don’t know how big the place they were gambling was, but the problem is that 80 people were caught at one time. During the busy farming season, 80 young men played a gambling game in broad daylight. Is this a small problem? Were there only people in that area who gambled like that? “If we look at the whole of Hanseong, or even the whole of Joseon, how many people are giving up their jobs to gamble?”
The Minister of Justice took action in response to Hyang’s criticism.
“The Crown Prince’s words are truly appropriate. “The evil of gambling ruins the person involved, ruins the family, and even ruins the country, so it is best to punish it severely and prevent it.”
In response to the Minister of Justice’s words, Hyang immediately asked a question.
“Is prohibition and severe punishment really the best option?”
“yes?”
The Minister of Justice, who did not properly understand Hyang’s question, blinked and asked again, and Sejong stepped forward on Hyang’s behalf.
“Since ancient times, gambling has been an endemic disease of the nation, so many famous soldiers and famous officials have made efforts to prevent gambling. However, one thing that has not been eradicated despite such efforts is gambling. Do you think you can stop it by simply banning it and severely punishing it?”
The Minister of Justice began to stutter in response to Sejong’s question.
“That’s… in God’s opinion… that’s…”
“Tsk! “Think more!”
After giving the Minister of Justice a reprieve, King Sejong looked at the other ministers.
“What do you think?”
“….”
The ministers were dumbfounded at King Sejong’s question. Sejong, with a dejected look on his face, looked back at the scent.
“Has the crown prince had anything in mind?”
“yes. First of all, we need to know how much the people are addicted to gambling. And you need to know why. Measures are next. “The most urgent thing is to know the cause.”
“What you say is reasonable. The Minister of Justice immediately….”
“We will need help from the Ministry of Finance and Economy.”
“To the Ministry of Finance and Economy?”
“Gambling requires stakes. Even if you start with your own money, if it is not enough, you will go into debt, and there will definitely be people who use gambling debt to play with money. And will such people pay their taxes properly?”
“It is true! If you do something wrong, there will be people who will betray themselves again! Minister of Finance and Economy!”
Kim Jeom immediately responded to King Sejong’s words.
“We will do our best to investigate together with the Minister of Justice! “Those who cheat on their taxes will be punished!”
Hyang muttered to himself at Kim Jeom’s answer, which gained a lot of momentum.
‘After tasting that man’s money, he changed…’
* * *
In the end, a nationwide crackdown was carried out jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
Meanwhile, the township made other requests to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
-The entire population of Hanseong.
-Amount of rice consumed in Hanseong.
-The difference between the estimated amount of rice and grains consumed for food by residents of Hanseong and the actual amount of rice consumed.
-Based on this, the estimated consumption of rice for alcohol production in Hanseong.
-Amount of dry goods sold in Hanseong.
-The quantity of silk, which is a high-priced item among the fabrics sold.
The faces of the Ministry of Finance and Economy officials who accepted Hyang’s request turned white.
“I’m so busy with crackdown work….”
“I need to take my medicine first.”
“… Bring some black bean tea.”
After receiving and analyzing the report written by the Ministry of Finance and Economy officials, Hyang sighed.
“Ha~. As expected, if there is light, there is also darkness…”
The report from the Ministry of Finance and Economy showed the dark side of the police chief.
As the renovation progressed, the consumption activities of the people who were able to afford it increased.
This was a natural phenomenon. Hyang also knew this, so he made and sold various luxury goods and high-quality daily necessities through Area 51 and the royal workshop. And the private sector also joined this trend.
The problem was that this consumption was starting to become overheated.
Silk made within Joseon as well as expensive silk imported from the Ming Dynasty were being sold in large quantities, and high-quality soju (燒酒) was commonly sold even in guesthouses in the countryside.
* * *
This also happened in history before the intervention of incense.
8 years of King Jungjong’s reign. King Jungjong left school as follows:
“Within the city, from the nobility to the common people, there is competition for luxuries in various fields such as home clothing, carriages, and weddings, so the order of nobles and nobles is collapsing.”
In some ways, the sight of the well-to-do commoners living more extravagantly than the nobles seemed like an eye-opener, but the entire city of Hanseong was overflowing with money.
This is because the population of Hanseong itself was over 200,000, and Hanseong was the center of trade with the Ming, Jeojin, and Japanese countries.
With this increased economic leisure, all kinds of luxuries were rampant. As an example, according to a survey by Jinhyeongcheong (a government office that provided relief to the people during famine) in the 36th year of King Jungjong (1541), the amount of rice consumed to make alcohol per day was There were about 1,000 seats. (Note 1)
Similar information was written in the report that the county is currently viewing. Of course, in absolute terms, it was small compared to the situation almost 100 years before the intervention of incense, but it was a scale that could not be left as is.
“To put it simply… the entire Joseon Dynasty has become the Gangnam ragtag of the 20th century.”
After completing the analysis of the report, Hyang came to a simple conclusion.
* * *
In the 20th century, to be exact, the development of Gangnam, which began in the 1980s, produced a huge number of wealthy people. And these mass-produced rich people have transformed consumer culture.
Before development, people who were ordinary or even poor gained enormous amounts of money. However, there was no way for those who did not learn how to consume properly to consume healthily. Eventually, luxurious goods were circulated in large quantities through them, and all kinds of decadent cultures began to emerge.
Of course, talking about these poor people as the source of all evil could have been a simple scapegoat, but it was true that it had too many negative effects.
* * *
“What these poor and wealthy people have in common is that they have money, but they don’t know how to spend it… To be more precise, they don’t know how to have fun. “There’s no proper entertainment, so it’s either drinking or gambling.”
After coming to a conclusion, Hyang placed a blank sheet of paper in front of him and began drafting the report.
Hyang, who was writing down various plans for the people’s leisure, looked at the list he had written and said just one thing.
“Anpyeong will like it. “Captain Kim Jeom would hate it…” Hyang
smiled evilly after seeing the list of policies that were sure to result in huge expenditures no matter how he looked at them.
“If you have too much money, isn’t it natural to use a straw?”
* * *
While Hyang was plotting such an evil plan, King Sejong was receiving reports from Naegeumwiwi.
“I have looked into what your Majesty has asked me to do. It is said that the Militia Committee also noticed the unusual movement and attempted to investigate.”
“But why was there no report?”
“Because the rental water incident happened in the middle of the day, we didn’t have enough manpower…”
“That’s right…”
King Sejong lost his appetite at Naegeumwijang’s answer.
“The Mill Commission is also suffering from a lack of talent.”
“If we expand the organization as instructed by His Majesty, the talent issue will be resolved to some extent.”
“Again, do your best at screening.”
King Sejong repeatedly cautioned in response to Naegeumwijang. It was because I was worried because the members of the Militia Committee were from the sword world.
“Anyway, let’s look at the report first.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Sejong received the report and read its contents carefully.
Sejong, who had been concentrating on the report for a while, looked at Naegeumwijang with surprised eyes.
“The gambling debt flowing from the gambling table is almost 10,000 gold nyang? And only in Hanseong? “Are you sure about this?”
“They say that’s only what appears on the outside. “The directors of the Militia Committee believe that if we dig a little deeper, it will be several times that amount.”
“Huh…. That’s amazing….”
Sejong was so stunned that he couldn’t speak. Most gambling debts were private loans at high interest rates. If the amount of money floating around as a gambling debt was 10,000 nyang of gold, several times that amount of interest would go into the pocket of the owner of the money.
King Sejong, who had reviewed the report several times, gave an order to Chief Naegeum.
“Good job.”
“If you give me the order, I will take care of the poles right away.”
“He’s too big for that. If you do it wrong, your secret will be revealed. “Please wait for the time being.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Sejong, who had sent off his disguise, muttered while looking at the report.
“How can we absorb this money?…”
* * *
While Hyang was plotting and Sejong was thinking of a way to stick a straw, the first result of the joint work between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance and Economy was written as a report.
“First, we checked the types of gambling going on among the people. The most commonly played is Jeopo (樗蒲 Yutnori), followed by Ssangnyuk and Golpae. However, there are two games where wealth is greatly exchanged: baduk and janggi.”
“It’s baduk…”
When the word ‘baduk’ came out, King Sejong’s face became filled with regret.
This was when Yangnyeong, who was killed, was still the crown prince. Yangnyeong summoned baduk players to Heungdeoksa Temple, where the ancestral rites of his grandmother, Queen Sinui, were held, and clashed with King Sejong over this issue.
Following the Minister of Justice, Kim Jeom came forward to report.
“As a result of investigating those arrested in this crackdown, we have found those who gave them private loans. The wealth seized from those who found it was 17,000 taels of gold. The problem is that those caught in this raid will not be all.”
King Sejong and the ministers were troubled by Kim Jeom’s answer.
* * *
Note 1) Segye Ilbo 2007.08.28.
https://m.segye.com/view/20070827001639