Black Corporation: Joseon Chapter 186

Episode 186: Currency War. (2)

The ministers who heard Emperor Seondeok’s command improved the cabinet details.

“Great man! Even though it was His Majesty’s decision, he should have stopped it!”

“Subo! “Re-circulating paper money is definitely not an easy task!”

Not only the bachelors of the cabinet but also the ministers of each department spoke bitterly towards the assistant cabinet secretary. However, such ministers and academics remained silent at the words of the Assistant Cabinet Secretary.

“Our Daemyung people are using Joseon’s banknotes. I trust the banknotes made in that small Joseon Dynasty more than the banknotes of our country. How embarrassing is this? How long will you continue to dishonor His Majesty the Emperor?”

“….”

The academics and ministers remained silent in response to the Assistant Cabinet Secretary’s question.

It was embarrassing for the people to trust the money of another country, even the paper money of a much smaller country, more than the paper money of a famous country.

The Cabinet Secretary continued speaking in a stern voice.

“Let’s say that’s the case with Joseon’s banknotes. Looking at the current situation, the vouchers issued by the battlefield at the top are more trusted than the vouchers issued by the government. Where is this disloyalty? So this time, no matter what happens, we must succeed in distributing the coins.”

At the words of the Assistant Cabinet Secretary, the bachelors and ministers let out a long sigh.

“Whoa~. “It may be an extremely difficult task, but let’s do it.”

“I can’t embarrass Your Majesty any further than this.”

* * *

Although all was said, the ministers had to solve numerous difficult problems.

The first hurdle to overcome was how to handle previously issued paper bills.

“The problem is that the people are still using these coins, even though they may not know if they are not using them at all.”

“Even if we print new bills, if we don’t solve this problem, it will only lead to a vicious cycle.”

The Joseon envoys, who were preparing to return, came to the attention of the ministers and scholars who were struggling to find a clear solution.

“This wasn’t the first time Joseon used banknotes, right?”

“Right! “I heard that Joseon also had a major failure once!”

“I said it was a tassanjiseok!”

The ministers and academics, who had been exchanging opinions, immediately went to see the Cabinet Secretary.

“How about bringing in officials from Joseon?”

“That’s right. “If you know how they reacted, you can do things a little faster and more accurately!”

After hearing the words of the bachelors and ministers, the assistant cabinet secretary nodded and stood up.

“I think that’s right. “Then let’s report it to His Majesty together.”

“yes!”

As the Cabinet Secretary took the lead, ministers and academics followed suit. This was because the risk of receiving an unpleasant order from the emperor was reduced as the Cabinet Secretary took the lead.

* * *

“Your opinion is right.”

Emperor Seondeok nodded after hearing the explanation from the assistant cabinet secretary. When the emperor agreed, the assistant cabinet secretary received the word.

“Then, the selection of envoys to be sent to Joseon….”

“Why are you making it so complicated? “Isn’t someone with experience already here?”

“yes?”

The face of the Assistant Cabinet Secretary, who had been briefly remembering Emperor Seondeok’s words, brightened.

“ah! That’s right! “They said that the government of the Shinigami group that came this time was involved in that matter!”

“yes. So, please call an envoy from Joseon.”

“yes. “I accept the Emperor’s command!”

After a while, Champan Hojo, who had heard from the eunuch that Emperor Seondeok was looking for him, arrived in front of Emperor Seondeok.

“your majesty. “Did you call me?”

“Yes. Last time, the envoy told me that Joseon had participated in the process of creating and distributing currency. Is that correct?”

“That’s right.”

“okay? Then I will ask you. As far as I know, Joseon also tried to make and distribute banknotes and coins before the current king ascended to the throne, but failed. But since it was successful this time, what method did you use?”

Hojopan immediately answered Emperor Seondeok’s question.

“Of course it was. So this time, to avoid failure, I received all taxes in currency.”

“Just that?”

‘danger!’

Hojo Champan, who instinctively sensed danger, desperately began to make excuses.

“There were a few more measures, but it would take a lot of time to explain them all. The god went back and reported to His Majesty the Lord….”

But before Hojo Champan could finish his words, Emperor Seondeok raised his hand to stop Hojo Champan.

“Stop, time is precious. Therefore, I hope that the envoy will stay here and cooperate. “I will send an envoy to the king of Joseon.”

In response to Emperor Seondeok’s orders, Hojo Champan had no choice but to bow his head.

“I follow your orders.”

* * *

Returning to Hoedong-gwan (會同館), the lodgings where the Joseon envoys stayed, Champan Hojo let out a long sigh.

“Are you still working overtime after coming all the way here?…”

Hojochapan, whose schedule had been thrown into disarray due to an unexpected task, unfolded the paper and began to write a report.

Although it was in the form of a posthumous medicine visit, the procedure required reporting the entire incident to King Sejong and obtaining his permission.

As he unfolded the paper and was wondering how to write it, a memory suddenly appeared in his mind.

This was what Kim Jeom said to himself before leaving.

‘There are many good tonics in Beijing, so take care of your health!’

After reflecting on Kim Jeom’s words, Hojo Champan looked towards the east with eyes full of suspicion and muttered.

“Did the captain really expect something like this to happen?”

But Hojochampan soon shook his head.

“Oh, no way… If that were possible, he would have worked as a fortune teller instead of a minister…”

At the same time, Kim Jeom, who was wrestling with the documents, pounded his ears.

“Who can curse at me like this…”

As Kim Jeom muttered to himself, the subordinate officials around him muttered to themselves.

‘Would it be one or two?’

Kim Jeom, perhaps aware of the feelings of his subordinates, looked into the distance and grumbled.

“How long has it been since you went to Hojo Champan and it still hasn’t come? “Did you find a pretty concubine in Beijing?”

* * *

King Sejong, who read the official letter of Emperor Seondeok handed over by an envoy from Ming, looked back at the ministers.

“Now that things have come to this, I must tell Champ Hojo, who has gone as envoy, to work hard for the time being.”

“That’s right.”

The ministers did not raise any objections to King Sejong’s words. There was a lot of work here too, but it was better than going against the government’s wishes and causing headaches.

Because of the importance of the issue, Hyang, who participated in the meeting, was rather pleased and delighted.

“What a great opportunity! Ming is our biggest opponent, so we can take advantage of this opportunity to get to know Ming’s inner workings more clearly!”

“huh?”

Sejong, who was questioning Hyang’s words, soon organized his thoughts.

‘Obviously, Emperor Seondeok needs our experience, so he said he would borrow Hojo Champan for a while. If that happens, Hojo Champan will suggest circulating the currency the way we did. If that happens… I see! You can clearly know information such as people’s financial size and population! It’s a good opportunity to find out the falsity of the name!’

Sejong, who noticed Hyang’s thoughts, smiled and looked at Hyang.

“You always think good thoughts.”

“I am devastated!”

The ministers who listened to the conversation between the two grumbled inwardly.

‘And again!’ it started! A Zen question and answer just for the two of us!’

‘Is it all just the two of you know? ‘That’s it!’

“What do you think?”

“yes? yes?”

When the ministers questioned King Sejong’s question out of nowhere in a bewildered voice, King Sejong’s expression became fierce.

‘Eek! Think! think!’

‘No more tongue-clicking!’

While the ministers were desperately racking their brains, Maeng Sa-seong was the first to answer.

“This is truly a great opportunity. “Through this, we can confirm the size of the Ming Dynasty numerically, so there is no more good news!”

King Sejong’s expression relaxed at Maeng Sa-seong’s answer.

Sejong received the words in a much calmer voice.

“It is indeed so. Ming and our Joseon have a good neighborly relationship, but no one knows what will happen in the future. “I will have to send a secret letter to the governor of Hojo.”

“This is the right sentence!”

The ministers responded with one voice to King Sejong’s decision.

After the meeting that day, the ministers ran to Maeng Sa-seong and repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

* * *

While things were going on in Hanseong, Hojo Champan had to engage in a war of words with Ming officials in Beijing.

“When a new coin is issued, previously issued coins must be recovered as much as possible. However, there must be a recovery period to prevent unnecessary spending.”

The Ming officials nodded at Hojojampan’s words.

In the conference room where they were located, not only government officials but also eunuchs and the Geumwiwi were seated.

Dongchang, an organization of eunuchs, formed another government due to its size and organization. In addition, the Jinui Commission was close to the political police directly under the emperor.

Therefore, eunuchs belonging to the alumni association and executives of the Geumwiwi Commission also had to attend the meeting.

And Emperor Xiande was sitting at the head of the meeting and presiding over the meeting.

A eunuch from his class raised a counterargument to Hojo Champan’s words.

“But the amount of coins issued since the Hongwu year is enormous. Retrieving it means that it must be exchanged for physical silver or for paper coins issued vertically, but in a small country like Joseon, that wouldn’t be the case…”

The eunuch’s face was filled with sneer as he slowly trailed off.

Seeing that face, Hojo Champan gritted his teeth to suppress the anger boiling inside.

‘You damn eunuch!’

“Whoa~.”

Hojo Champan, who sighed and let go of his anger, answered the raised objection.

“Of course it is. However, if you ignore this and distribute new currency just because it is large, the new currency will also be treated the same way. Therefore, we need to recover as much as possible.”

Following Hojochampan’s words, the court eunuch raised the issue again.

“But the quantity is enormous….”

As the eunuch said, Hojo Champan pointed out the reality.

“How much is the value of that coin recognized? When transacting at a business in Shandong, even 10% of the face value was paid a lot. Are you really thinking of exchanging it for face value?”

“That’s not true, but…”

The eunuch trailed off at Hojo’s point. However, the views of Emperor Seondeok as well as other officials and executives of the Geumui Committee were not kind.

This was because after the alumni association became an official institution, various scandals continued to emerge.

In the end, Emperor Seondeok came forward and came to a conclusion.

“Exchanges for old coins are made according to the current market price. And we will exchange it for a set period of time, and after that, the validity of the old contract will not be recognized.”

“I accept Your Majesty’s orders!”

Everyone gathered in the conference room bowed their heads in response to Emperor Seondeok’s decision.

It was a very drastic decision, but we all agreed that there was no other answer now.

* * *

With the decision on exchanging old and new notes overcoming a critical juncture, the meeting moved on to the next agenda.

“Currency must be issued by an independent institution. There must be only one place of publication. Otherwise, it would be difficult to control the amount of issuance and we would not be free from the problem of counterfeiting.”

In the words of Hojo Champan, an official belonging to the Ming Hobu pointed out the problem.

“Our territory is large, so distribution is difficult. “Our name is not a small country like Joseon.”

The word ‘small country’ kept popping up and scratching my insides, but Hojo Champan held back his anger with superhuman patience and explained the reason.

“But if you take pictures in multiple places, you won’t be able to control the volume of publication. Do you want the newly issued magazine to suffer the same problems as the old magazine?”

“Isn’t that so…”

“We need to first prepare pre-printed bills by sending them from afar, and then start exchanging them all at once. If you place multiple places to print currency because it is inconvenient, problems will arise in controlling and supervising the amount of issuance. In the worst case, how will we handle this if we decide to take pictures and spread them in large quantities in a location far from Beijing?”

The Ming officials remained silent at Ho Jojampan’s point.

That was one of the reasons why the paper money in question became a piece of toilet paper.

In the end, Emperor Seondeok had to make another decision.

“The place where new banknotes are issued will be located here in the Forbidden City!”