790 FINANCIAL REFORM AND THE ECONOMY
Thus, despite the conservative reaction to the taedong system, it had begun
to penetrate P'yong'an and Hwanghae provinces, and Kim Okkun has gone fur-
ther and argued that in these two provinces, and in the case of royal tribute (chin-
sang) in Hwanghae Province, tribute had already been changed to a land tax in
practice, an arrangement called the private taedong system (sadaedong). Kim
did not specify the date when this transformation occurred, but as proof he referred
to the statement in 1697 of the minister of personnel, who in response to a for-
mal proposal to adopt the taedong system in Hwanghae Province in 1694, pointed
out that the gist of the taedong system was already in practice. Formal and legal
acceptance, however, did not occur until fifteen years later, in 1708,32
After Injo died and King Hyojong ascended the throne in 1649, the situation
for reform became more favorable. When Prince Yonch'on (YOnch'on'gun), Yi
Kyong'om, recommended adoption of the taedong system for the three south-
ern provinces. many of the high officials, including Councilor of the Left Yi
Kyongsok, Councilor of the Right Chong T'aehwa. and Director of the Office
of the Royal Clan (Tollyongbu YOngsa) Kim Sanghon, favored it. but discus-
sion was delayed for three months by mourning requirements for the deceased
king, Injo.
After Kim Yuk was appointed councilor of the right, he again proposed adopt-
ing the taedong reform for Ch'ungch'ong and Cholla provinces, but he revised
his earlier tax rate proposal upward from the equivalent of seven mal/kyol to the
equivalent of ten mal/kyol, the rate suggested in 1638 by officials of the Royal
Lectures. He did so in order to meet objections against revenue shortage, but he
still insisted that the tax be divided into cloth and rice: one p 'il of cotton defined
as worth five mal of rice in current prices, and two mal of rice in the spring, and
an additional three mal in the fall. The tax equivalent of ten mal (or two p'il)
would still have been much lower than the sixteen mal/kyr'Jl (eight mal each in
the spring and fall) in Kyonggi and Kangwon provinces.
Since the total amount of land in Ch'ungch'ong and Cholla was 270,000 kyol,
Kim estimated tax revenue from the surtax at 5AoO tong (270,000 p'il) of cloth,
equivalent to 1.350,000 mal of rice, and 85,000 som (1.275 million mal) of rice,
which would pay for royal tribute, miscellaneous labor service, and expenses
of magistrates' yamen in addition to ordinary tribute. The Border Defense Com-
mand responded to Kim's written memorial by proposing that the system be tried
only in Ch'ungch'ong Province first.
When Kim Yuk was summoned to court to testify about his plan, he men-
tioned that he expected opposition from wealthy landlords in the south but felt
it was more important to legislate on behalf of the ordinary people. He was sup-
ported by Cho lk and Yi Sibaek, and opposed by two or three officials. When
King Hyojong then asked whether he had more to fear from peasant or landlord
resentment on this issue, all officials agreed that peasant chagrin would be greater
if the king failed to pass the law.^33
The conflict over the issue became so bitter that the court was split apart. In
1650, the minister of taxation, Kim Chip, was so offended by Kim Yuk's remarks