680 REFORM OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
Yu also noticed that in the late sixth century in the Sui dynasty special may-
ors were created to manage the capitals because of the emperor's frequent trav-
els. He suggested following Sui practice by granting the governor a concurrency
as mayor of an important city with the special title of special mayor (Yusu), with
a high rank of 2B to qualify him as a direct subordinate to the king rather than
to any intermediary provincial official. These special cities and each prefectural
or district level also had command of a school for training recruits for the cen-
tral bureaucracy. 18
The essence ofYu's program was to station the governor in the provincial cap-
ital with his family, raise his status by conferring concurrencies on him as a mayor
of a special city, maintain the assistants already called for in the original law
code of T 469, and expand provincial control over maritime transport. Yulgok
had complained bitterly about the offhand treatment of provincial governors in
the sixteenth century because, contrary to any six-year limit for gubernatorial
service, governors served only one year, had virtually no knowledge of the sen-
timents of their residents and subordinate officials, and were unable to handle
emergency situations. Since the frequent transfer of provincial officials back and
forth to the capital merely served to clog the post-stations hostels, Yulgok wanted
not only longer terms for governors and provincial military commanders but an
order that they take their families with them, choose a suitable town for their
scat of office, and assume concurrent duties as magistrate of the town, as only
the governors of the two northern frontier provinces were currently permitted
to do. He ascribed the military weakness of the border region to frequent trans-
fers of provincial governors, who were virtually unknown to thc provincial pop-
ulation. Keeping governors on duty for as long as twelve years would, by contrast,
give the population a feeling of stability and confidence and allow governors to
take vigorous action against any bandits or invaders of Korean territory. 19
In the worst possible situation, if incompetent men were chosen to fill provin-
cial posts, the governors would take graft to accumulate wealth and neglect the
problems of the peasantry, and the provincial commanders would fleece the sol-
diers of their propelty and ignore defensive military preparations. No matter how
wise the ruler, the beneficence of his government at the top would never reach
the hottom of society to help transform major social prohlems. Constant review
of provincial officials was requircd to select the best men and weed out the incom-
petent. Court officials would have to recommend the best candidates for provin-
cial posts and hold them responsible for reform.
Military CommandSince military organization of garrisons had varied requirements that would dif-
fer by province, Yu did not expect to create a uniform organization for all
provinces, but at least he wanted uniformity of terminology. The highest level
provincial garrison would be graded into large and small garrisons, referred to
by current titles - the large Ch'omsajin or garrison commanded by the the rank