PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION 681
4B Ch'omjol chesa (currently called Chinmu) and the lesser garrison, the Man-
hojin, comanded by the rank 5B Manho. The objective herc was to eliminate all
small and useless garrisons and combine their forces into larger ones. Yu sum-
marized the country's local garrison structure as consisting of ninety-two: thirty
army garrisons and sixty-two naval garrisons. The army garrisons were com-
manded by twelve Ch'omsa (i.e., Ch'omjol chesa) and eighteen Manho; the navy
garrisons were commanded by fourteen Ch'omsa and forty-eight Manho. Yu
insisted that the total of ninety-two garrisons had to be reduced by one-third and
the troops redistributed.
Yu raised a problem that might be crucial in determining the authority of gar-
rison commanders since some of the Ch'omsa and Manho currently held 3B and
4B rank, each one grade higher than Yu's plan. Since the current rank was equiv-
alent to civilian magistrates, dropping them in rank would subordinate them to
their civilian colleagues. Yu claimed that hecause of the decline in the quality
of garrison commanders the government had in recent years sought to attract
qualified men for these posts by raising their rank beyond their qualifications
and recruiting men from relatives of yangban without jobs (hallyang) or from
irregular officials. After completing their tour of duty, they would then be trans-
ferred to thc Ch'amha (ranks six through nine) grades of the civil bureaucracy.
Yu believed that by appointing only qualified military men to be provincial
garrison commanders with real government salary payments would he be jus-
tified in lowering their rank. Improving the quality of the provincial garrison
command and its forces was more important than filling empty quotas by manip-
ulating ranks and other terms of service. Once able men were in command of
garrisons, Yu did not expect that civil magistrates would be capitalizing on their
rank to outmaneuver their military colleagues in the field. Care also had to he
taken to maintain post commanders who had become familiar with the area and
not transfer them from one end of the country to the other, a principle that should
apply as well to post-station commanders, educational officials, and district mag-
istrates. Yu believed this was consistent with the Han dynasty practice of allow-
ing magistrates to appoint all their subordinate officials, garrison commanders,
ferry and post-station officials because it promoted long-term tenure and rela-
tions of ease and familiarity between officials and the peoplc.^20
Kang Hang's Account of Provinces in Japan
Yu turned to Kang Hang's account of his experience in Japan as a prisoner of
war during Hideyoshi's invasion to contrast the difference hetween provincial
administration in the two countries. Kang was viewing political institutions that
approximated the feudal organization of Chou China, and he praised the Japan-
ese for choosing thc most meritorious subjects for office, granting them lifetime
tenure in their posts, allowing their heirs to inherit their positions, and giving
them the authority to mobilize their own armies - all of which guaranteed them
the certitude of military victory. In Korea. however, provincial officials did not