INFLATION AND DEFLATION 951of Cholla, Kim Man 'gil, obtained permission from King Sukchong to mint about
120,000 yang (1.2 million mun or coins or 1,200 strings) to provide relief funds
for the province during a severe famine, and Sukchong had to overcome the same
kind of opposition to cash recently expressed in YOngjo's court. It saved the peo-
ple of the province from starvation at that time and should have been done for
the whole country. Only when the censorate began to complain about counter-
feiting did minting become taboo and the idea of abolishing cash so popular,
but he thought the only choice left was to mint more currency.
Third State Councilor Sim Suhyon, however, preferred that cash be abolished
because it gave rise to immoral behavior and thievery, and was also too costly
for Korea to afford because the copper would have to be imported from Japan.
Chief State Councilor Yi K wangjwa, however, pointed out that because no cash
had been minted for thirty years and much of it had been lost or worn out, the
value of cash had increased so much that the price of grain was still cheap even
after a poor harvest. Formerly, one could buy three mal of rice for one yang of
cash, but at present one could buy as much as four to five mal for that amount
of cash even during the spring when rice prices were high.2s Moneylending had
become immensely profitable for the rich, who tripled their cash loans over the
planting season, or quadrupled them if they took advantage of occasional gluts
or shortages of the grain crop.
Nonetheless, Yi argued that usury was not the fault of cash. When he had been
passing through Kongju, people along the road asked him to abolish cash and
set market prices, but they did not realize that even if the wealthy had accumu-
lated grain or cloth instead of cash, they still would have been caught in the same
trap. Furthermore, if cash were abolished, about 120-130,000 yang (1.2-1.3
million coins) of government cash reserves as well as private savings would lose
its value entirely.
Yongjo, however, rejected the idea that paper money like cash would create
similar problems if it were more or less expensive than commodities ("heavier"
or "lighter"). He was still convinced that human beings did not hold any spe-
cial honor for paper money while cash had exacerbated tendencies toward trick-
ery and deception because it was light in weight and easy to carry. Nonetheless,
Yongjo was finally forced to compromise his basic position when he made his
final decision. He issued a decree stating that because every country had used
cash since ancient times, he could not now abolish it in Korea until he could
find a substitute, but he would not mint more of it, and would eliminate some
of the worst problems that had been created because of its use.^29 In short, King
Yongjo joined with the most conservative officials in his court who were inca-
pable of seeing the advantages of metallic currency and associated cash with
evil human inclinations. Forced by the majority of his officials to concede that
cash had become indispensable, he was not moved to increase the money sup-
ply and solve the severe deflationary situation that had been created by previ-
ous policy.