MIL IT A R Y FIN A NeE 495bility for examining school students and testing military officers in archery (to
their own superiors?), and only collecting cloth taxes from households that ordi-
narily did not havc the service obligation. If the new law were adopted, evcry-
thing would depend on the how well provisions of the law were drawn up. Both
he and the governor had recommended earlier that the law should be applied
not only to P'yong'an, but also to the hilly regions of South Hamgyong and
Hwanghae. He also wondered whether it was possible that he and the gover-
nor were the only supporters ofreform?.lX
Yi Sehwa's remarks are truly valuable because they represent a practical
approach to military service reform from the mouth of a working military offi-
cial, and they demonstrate a practical willingness to attempt new and radical
measures according to the criterion of what would work rather than what was
ideologically acceptable. His argument was that the household cloth tax was
practically feasible and would be accepted by yangban because they would prc-
fer it to worse alternatives like a massive registration program. The capacity for
adaptation to changing circumstances and the willingness to adopt new solu-
tions to old problems was by no means confined to idealistic, scholarly recluses.
Eight in Favor, Six Opposed: Sukchong Capitulates! Sukchong praised Yi
Sehwa's remarks, but the very next day his chief state councilor Kim Suhang
called for more study. He said the household cloth should not be promulgated
immediately, but recommended that advocates on both sides of the question be
calm and modcrate their emotions, and criticized the king for his excessive behav-
ior in punishing protesting censors. Sukchong said it would have been all right
if the censors had only given their opinion on the issue, but they "overturned
right and wrong" by demanding that the governor of P'yong'an be punished for
criminal action.1Y
A few days later a censor in the inspector-general's office, Yi On'gang,
requested cancellation of the household cloth system in p'yong'an. Admitting
his knowledge was based on hearsay, nonetheless he claimed that he was more
in tune with the sentiments of the yangban in P'yong'an Province than Yi Sehwa
was. He believed that the only people in the province who wanted the system
were the soldiers who sought a reduction in their service taxes. "There is no
reason why any of the ordinary people who do not have military service would
actually want to pay a cloth tax." Since the same logic applied to all eight
provinccs, there was no reason even to test the system out in p'yong'an. The
minister of personnel later remarked that everyone was opposed to the house-
hold cloth tax, and the only court official to support it or the capitation cloth tax
this day was none other than Yi Samyong, recently promoted to second minis-
ter of personnel.
Sukchong finally showed signs of weakening and summoned a major court
conference. He told his officials that in the face of criticism a decision had to be
made either to retain the household cloth system or do something about the worth-
less military registers. If both those alternatives were rejected, some other means
had to be found to solve the military tax problem. Chief State Councilor Kim