Book XII 709its account, spending the money and grain based on the orders from above
and making sure that spending did not exceed the income of the state.
Hence, national revenue was not wasted and the husbandry of three years
gave one year’s surplus of food;^22 consequently, national expenditures were
under control.
“As we respectfully look back, it has been six years since Your Majesty
ascended to the throne. If you now have serious disturbances such as rebel-
lion or war, do you have two years’ military provisions to feed and maintain
several hundred thousands of troops? Since so- called military provisions
directly concern the lives of the Three Armies, even an army of a million
soldiers is useless when they run out of their provisions, and an impregnable
fortress unreliable even if it is a thousand feet tall.
“After the land reform was carried out, a set of laws was promulgated
with regard to the tribute taxes to the king, from above down to the stipend
land for officials according to their rank, as well as the lands for military
purposes. These laws were undoubtedly made in consideration of various
problems. However, these laws are quite problematic from the standpoint of
expanding savings and preparing for unexpected trouble in the future,
because the construction of the new capital in recent years has cost much
more than expected.
“Furthermore, Ch’ungch’ŏng, Chŏlla, and Kyŏngsang Provinces, which
take the major portion of the national tax revenue, recently suffered flood
and drought damage, and their agriculture was devastated. So it is apparent
that the taxes collected from these provinces will be lower than in the pre-
vious year. The so- called mobilization of troops is something that can occur
unexpectedly at any time. If an urgent dispatch happens to be issued from
our borders, how would you raise the expenses for the army and the military
provisions for their use? Though we are crude and ignorant, we are deeply
troubled by this.
“Fortunately, however, Left and Right Kyŏnggi Provinces are expecting
a somewhat favorable crop this year. Hence, we request that, for this year
only, taxes be levied on all the public and private lands and collected appro-
priately, except on those belonging to royal family members, ferries, post
stations, dispensaries, guesthouses, yamen offices, and widows, so that we
can make good the deficiency in military supplies and stop the practice of
spending the entire revenue only for immediate affairs.
- The Liji, p. 222.