624 REFORM OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
Consolidate Control of Market RegulationYu also called for reducing the quota of officials in control of market activities
to a minimum and abolishing the Bureau of Market Weights and Measures
(P'yongsiso), an office created in I392 and given this title in 1466. The Market
Bureau regulated shops. weights, measures, the type of goods for sale, and mar-
ket prices, but Yu was not sure whether he should retain the bureau or distrib-
ute its tasks to other agencies. The Ming dynasty (as opposed to specific capital
market bureaus from Chou through T'ang) did not have a single market bureau
in charge of the nation's business. Yu expressed his own preference for subsuming
the capital's market bureau as a subagency of the Seoul Magistracy (Hansongbu).
The Ministry of Taxation would then control regulation of tax collection and
commodity prices, the Ministry of Works weights and measures, the Ministry
of Punishments violations of the law and disputes over agrecments. and thc Seoul
Magistracy city shops and marketplaces. His attitude toward both cash and mar-
ket sales did not indicate much awareness that a growing market and increased
demand for currency would require an administrative response to handle new
responsibilities. Anyone aware of the massive transforming effects on society
that the expansion of production and trade could accomplish would have at least
advocated the creation of a Ministry of Trade and Industry rather than divide
responsibilities according to the classical division of responsibility into the Six
Ministries.^44
Currency and Warehousing
Another category of govcrnment organization included offices related to mar-
ket and commercial activities. Even though Yu expected to transform labor ser-
vice to cash payments or wages for workers, he still had not become progressive
enough to assume that an expanding economy would require the manufacture
of sufficient currency to meet the demand for cash. In fact he suspected that the
kings would maintain current prohibitions against minting currency and print-
ing paper money, and he presumed that it would not be necessary to retain the
Court for Providing Aid (Sasomsi), the office in charge of manufacturing paper
money and collecting slave tribute payments. Its reserves could be transferred
instead to the Ministry of Taxation.^45
Warehouses and granaries in the capital wcre to be divided into three agen-
cies. Yu proposed fusing the Ever-Normal Directorate (Sangp'yonggam) with
the Military Stores Warehouse (Kunjach'ang) to take charge of stabilization of
market priccs hy huying and selling commodities accumulated in this warehouse.
The other two warehouscs had specialized purposes: the Surplus Storage Ware-
house (P'ungjoch'ang) or Lcft Warehouse (Chwach'ang) would store all rice and
cash paid into thc capital, and the Prosperity Expansion Warehouse
(K wanghungch'ang) or Right Warehouse (Uch'ang) would house all rice and cash
needed for paying the salaries of regular officials. Yu noted distinctly that the