864 FINANCIAL REFORM AND THE ECONOMY
Kim Yuk's support of copper cash as a medium of exchange at the same time
that he had criticized his advocacy of the taedong system for Ch'ungch'ong
Province. Yi could not understand why King Hyojong had adopted cash since
it obviously had no value and could not be eaten or worn like rice and cloth. He
felt that cotton already functioned as a satisfactory medium of exchange in Korea,
the supply of copper cash was too small to provide a national metallic currency,
and even King lnjo had tried and abandoned it. He claimed that the people would
never be happy with copper cash even though Kim Yuk had claimed that it would
benefit the people as a whole rather than a few with commercial interests. King
Hyojong, however, was not moved by Yi's arguments to change his policy.
By contrast, Kim Yuk reported in 1653 that people in the capital were able to
pay taxes and fines in cash as well as rice, and that travelers were able to pur-
chase goods for cash while traveling through the country. He obtained Hyojong's
permission to establish mints in Cholla and Kyongsang provinces as well to con-
tinue the sprcad of cash throughout the country.20
Negative comments about cash policy continued to appear, however. Later
that year the Office of Special Counselors (Oktang or Hongmun'gwan) memo-
rialized that the virtuous rule of Hyojong had declined since he first came to the
throne because somc of his policies had not succeeded, and the top state coun-
cilors were sharply divided over the issues. Although cash policy had been
designed to enhance the flow of currency and promote the exchange of goods,
the country was lacking in copper and had to rely on imports from abroad, mak-
ing the minting of copper coins difficult. Before cash could be brought into cir-
culation, enough of it had to be minted, and the people had to be educated
gradually to the benefits so that they would realize they would not be harmed
by its use. Forcing the people to use cash before they had learned to trust it would
cause them suffering rather than contribute to their wealth.^2 ]
In the spring of 1654, a middle rank official in the Office of Special Coun-
selors, Kim Suhang, reported that in a recent trip through the villages of
Hwanghae and P'yong'an provinces he found that every person was caIT)'ing
cash with him, but he was surprised when they informed him that they had been
forced to do so by a new order from the Ever-Normal Bureau that required all
persons to carry 50 mun of cash personally, and that any violators would be pun-
ished by a corps of special officers (Pyolchang). Kim commented that the law
made no sense in requiring that people have a certain amount of cash on their
persons because the point of ordering the use of currency was to spend it and
keep it in constant circulation, not to retain a fixed amount.
When Kim Yuk questioned the veracity of his report, Kim Suhang denied that
he was spreading false information. He remarked that he had been told prior to
his trip by friends in the capital that cash circulated throughout the two north-
west provinces, and when he went there, he saw for himself that cvcryone was
carrying cash arollnd in thcir belts. He had assumed it was a natural develop-
ment until he heard directly from the people and magistrates he met that the
special officers roamed arollnd the villages rounding lip people lip to check them