INFLATION AND DEFLATION 929
MyonghOn added that allowing so many separate agencies to mint cash had
obstructed spread of cash in the economy because it increased the cost of mate-
rials and resources and contributed to the deterioriation in coin quality. Now
that a national shortage of copper had occurred, minters had begun to use lead
as alloys and some coins were so poorly made that they crumbled when han-
dled, destroying public confidence in their quality, and reducing the general value
of all coins in the market - a problem that Yu Hyongwon had warned against in
his writings. Kwon urged Sukchong again to economize on the use of copper
by concentrating all minting operations in a single office, but Sukchong followed
Yu MyonghOn's suggestion to wait until the beginning of the next year.
Paradoxically, the shortage of cash had reduced, rather than increased, its value
because it promoted cash adulteration in compensation. Yu Myonghon felt that
by concentrating minting in the Ministry of Taxation and the Office of Benefit-
ing the People, the government would economize on production cost and max-
imize seigniorage profits for the state, provide standard coins for use in the market,
and eventually succeed in extending the use of cash throughout the country. Suk-
chong agreed to abolish minting by all but the Ministry of Taxation and one
other capital agency, but he chose the Ever-Normal Bureau instead of the Office
of Benefiting the People to join with the Ministry of Taxation as the sole agents
for minting and supervising cash.R
A little over a year later in 1694, however, Sukchong reneged and granted the
Royal Division (Oyongch'ong) the right to mint cash to provide enough revenues
for the completion of wall construction work. After debating whether the Royal
Division should be permitted to mint more cash for a six-or twelve-month period,
Sukchong compromised by agreeing to ten months.
The battle between liberality and restraint in the minting of cash was exacer-
bated by a horrendous famine in r695, reputedly more severe than the one in
r680. Sukchong initially granted permission to the governor of Kangwon
Province to mint cash for relief funds but rescinded the order when two minis-
ters objected that his compassion would destroy the government's control over
the money supply by setting a precedent for other governors to make similar
requests. They asked instead that he have the Ever-Normal Bureau mint extra
cash and send it out to Kangwon Province. Sukchong overrode their objection
and permitted more minting by the governors of Hwanghae, Ch'ungch'ong, and
Kangwon provinces to fulfill his responsibility to care for the welfare of the peo-
ple. He only agreed to impose a limit of TO,OOO .vang (I million coins) of cash
to be minted in the capital and sent to those three provinces, but he assigned
responsibility for this to the Office of Benefiting the People instead of the Ever-
Normal Burean. Even though Sukchong chose to violate his own law to limit
the minting of cash to two agencies in the capitaL he was forced to do so pri-
marily by a moral compunction to provide relief, not by a desire to maximize
government revenue for ordinary expenditures. All authorizations for additional
minting between [69 [ and 1695 were necessitated hy emergencies and limited
by cautious fears about the effects of infiation.~