774 FINANCIAL REFORM AND THE ECONOMY
arrangements had become even more prevalent (after it was prohibited by King
Yejong in 1468).
Yulgok observed that in his time the magistrate of Haeju in Hwanghae Province
had discovered a solution to the problem of tribute. He had decided on his own
authority to levy one toe (. I mal) of rice on each kyal of land to provide funds
for purchasing tribute items, collected the tax himself, and paid it to the capi-
tal. Since the peasants then only had to pay grain and not search or pay for trib-
ute items, exploitation of the peasantry under the pangnap system was eliminated.
Yulgok recommended that this method be extended to the whole country, and
that a thoroughgoing investigation of popUlation, products, and land area be
conducted to establish equitable tax rates and reduce unnecessary tribute
requirements.
This plan was not original because in 1468 King Sejo had proposed replac-
ing tribute with a surtax on land. Yulgok did not mention Sejo's idea, nor did he
think of it himself; he was merely astute enough to appreciate what the magis-
trate of Haeju had attempted on his own authority. By advertising the use of a
land tax to replace tribute, however, Yulgok provided the basis for the adoption
of the plan in 1594.^6
When Yulgok criticized the expansion of royal tribute quotas in 1501 under
YOnsan'gun's reign, he pointed out that many districts were no longer produc-
ing items for which they had originally been assessed and had to buy them else-
where. He therefore recommended that the quotas set in the Tribute Ledger
(Kong 'an) be revised downward from Yonsan'gun's levels, that all of his addi-
tionallevies abolished, and that downward revision of quotas be adjusted to the
land area of the district and the size of the popUlation to ensure an equal and
fair distribution of taxes.
When King Sonjo accepted Yi Chun'gyong's recommendation to establish a
Directorate for Rectification of Tribute (Chonggon-dogam), the directorate rec-
ommended that tribute levies be assessed according to district population and
cultivated land. "Some districts once affluent are now impoverished, some are
no longer producing the same goods, some that used to have large populations
are now small, some had lands under cultivation which are now laying waste .. ,"
so that large districts were only paying a tenth of what they should, while small
districts were paying the same quota as a large district. Even when magistrates
had redistributed tribute taxes by shifting them to a land tax, there were still no
standard schedules of payment, and they were levied on tenants as landowners.
Despite the urgent need for reform, the attempt was abrogated because of oppo-
sition to it from officials'?
Then in 1 574, when Yulgok was governor of Hwanghae, his observations of
conditions in the province reinforced his dislike for the tribute system. The peas-
ants had been forced to go hunting in the hills and fishing in the rivers to obtain
tribute for the king, neglecting their fields and leaving their homes in disrepair.
If they did not produce the product required, they had to spend an inordinate
amount of time and resources to buy it elsewhere. If they were able to catch deer,