688 REFORM OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
cial governors would appoint commissioners (Ch'asawon) to proceed to the gra-
nary and supervise tax collections with the tax collectors (Kamsugwan) and trans-
port officials (Yang'un 'gwan). The transport workers and sailors were subjected
to demands for fees and bribes from commissioners, other granary otncials, and
the agents of the Ministry of Taxation at the capital. At times the officials of the
capital granary prevented the boats from docking for some time to increase the
pressure for payment of fees and bribes, and the agents of princes and princesses
in the capital would show up at the docks in Seoul and claim that the sailors
were their own runaway slaves. An individual sailor might have to pay a dozen
sam of rice per trip to pay the bribes and fees, and would be forced to borrow
grain or money at interest. Some had to flee because they had no way to repay
the debt. The creditors might then demand repayment from the residents of the
Han River, who would then impose fees on the next group of sailors to arrive.
The commissioner of maritime transport in the capital (Haeun p'an 'gwan) and
all his underlings reaped huge profits from the whole operation.
Yu wanted to eliminatc this system by restoring the grain-transport system to
its early Kory6 form. Since there were currently only two maritime granaries
on the coast, he wantcd to retain those two, restore one that had been abolished,
and create five new onesY He also proposed creating five new granaries along
rivers for the internal transport of grain to the capital. Since irregular clerks were
cUlTently administering the grain-transport system, he sought to appoint an admin-
istrator (P'an'gwan of rank 8A) to supervise each granary according to early Korya
practice, and a national maritime transport commissioner (Haeunsa, of rank 3A,
to replace the current Haeun p'an'gwan), who would make recommendations of
men for the post of administrator of the individual granaries.
The maritime transport workers (chosol) and river transport workers (subu)
were to he selected from areas near the granary, provided one hong of land and
two support taxpayers, and granted a daily rice ration of five mal including wait-
ing time en route. The number of transport workers would he restricted by the
quota for ships set by the government according to his own calculation of the
ratio of thirty-six men per maritime vessel and eighteen for riverine vessels. The
state would assume all expenses for building, repairing, and replacing ships from
its regular revenues. All private fees for boat loading and the use of horses were
to be eliminated and the cost borne by the granary, and any official caught demand-
ing any unauthorized fees from the transport workers and sailors would be indicted
for embezzlement. Yu also provided exact measurements for the dimension of
each type of vessel and the weight of its grain cargo, and specified that trans-
portation by river should occur three or four times a year, and only two by sea.
For the most part, he preferred to alleviate the responsibilities of the work-
ers and sailors for the sinking of ships, but his idea of alleviation was rather
Draconian by modern standards. If a transport sailor were responsible for the
loss of a ship, he would received 100 strokes. Otherwise, the ship's captain would
receive 100 strokes the first time he lost a ship, but he transported with his fam-
ily to the frontier as an ordinary soldier if it happened again. The administrator