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Public Works Administration 885 CHAPTER : MANUFACTURING GOODS It Is a Sign of Avarice Actively to Promote Manufacturing of Goods by Gathering Artisans. The Office of an Upright Official Should Be Unconcerned about Manufacturing Goods Even if All the Artisans Are Fully Ready. The following happened when Wei Zhongfu served as assistant magistrate of Yongchuan. Because he was upright and anxious to preserve his good name, he was extremely cautious whenever his district grew interested in manufacturing various goods. He first made artisans calculate the expenses for manufacturing goods, and when they submitted their report, he told them to hold the implementation of the concerned project for now. The projects that he thus suspended during his term amounted to several hundred or thousand min of copper cash. In my observation, the way in which Wei Zhongfu dealt with manufacturing goods should serve as an example for all magistrates. Therefore, I say that great avarice [for personal integrity and honor] is necessarily no different from integrity. The following happened when Shang Ze served as commandant of Linqiu. He was a man of integrity. One day there was a banquet, and those who attended all danced, including the district magistrate. The magistrate danced waving his hands, but Shang Ze merely moved his body. The magistrate asked why Shang Ze danced that way, and the latter replied, “When the magistrate moves his hands, his aide will follow him. If a low-ranking official like myself does the same, how can common people survive?” The following happened when Ch’oe Yundŏk served as magistrate of T’aean. When a decorative metal piece fell off his quiver, the artisans in his district fixed it, using iron belonging to the state. Upon learning that it was repaired, he immediately ordered the fixed piece to be taken off. The intensity of his integrity was like this. The following happened when Min Yŏgŏm served as magistrate of Kwaksan. Because his saddle was worn out, his subordinate requested that he repair it, saying , “The saddle is also military equipment.” Min replied, “Was it because of our saddles that our army was defeated and ran away when the Japanese invaded years ago?” He always repaired his old armor instead of replacing it and wore it all day long along with his helmet. At night he did not take off the helmet but made it into his pillow, even when he had a boil on his head. The following happened when Yi Suil became regional naval commander. Before he was appointed, his predecessors used to drive the artisans to manufacture goods day and night, which were to be used as bribes to men in power, and this cost 1,000 taels every month. Abolishing this abuse, Yi Suil honestly reported 123. Unknown. 124. Unknown. 886 book X to the court about the military provisions, eliminating all the items existing only in name. As a result, some of the taxes to be paid to the government were either remitted or exempted, and various villages in his district found this convenient. Deeply resenting from the beginning that the provincial military commanders who owed favors to higher officials [ch’aesu] practiced bribery, he did not present anything to those in power, not even 1 mace or 1 ch’ŏk of silk. In the Supplementary Volume to the Literary Essays of Yi Tŏngmu [Ch’ŏngbi songnok] there is the following record: “When the traveler entered the yamen, he found that there were three or four wooden frames spread in the yard and on top of them large pieces of ox hide dried under the sun, which reminded him of the surface of octagonal drums, and official slaves were tanning them, applying oil. When he entered the manufactories, artisans were crafting five or six chests that were made of chestnuts and oaks, having a monk trim and apply varnish on them. On one side, several skilled craftsmen were making sedan chairs for males and females, Amur cork chests, small lacquer tables, and so forth, sawing wood and carving a pattern of clouds on the pieces. On the other side, a couple of tanners were sitting together, making silk shoes embroidered with a pattern of clouds on the front and leather pouches. In the next room there were silversmiths who were making jewelry, including Korean-style hairpins, bracelets, rings, decorative knives in the shape of sea turtles, female knives [carried by women to protect themselves], and so forth. Observing all these activities, the traveler...

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