말 100필인가, 1,000필인가 - 고려-명 관계에서 세공 문제 -

Abstract

After the murder of King Gongmin in 1374, the relationship between Goryeo and Ming rapidly deteriorated. The Hongwu emperor did not recognize the new throne of King Wu. After five years of cooling period, the emperor offered conditions for improving relationships, which required a huge amount of tribute to Goryeo. The items for the tribute were gold and silver, cotton cloth, and horses. When the conditions were first presented in 1379, the number of horses required was one hundred every year. However, in 1383, the emperor suddenly increased the number of horses to one thousnad every year without any explanation. Goryeo did not take issue with this point, but demanded that it be reduced because it was difficult to prepare gold and silver. In 1384, the emperor demanded that horses be paid on behalf of gold and silver, and from that year to the following year, Goryeo met the emperor’s demands by paying five years’ worth of tribute. At that time, the Ming Dynasty bought horses from nearby polities to wage war with Mongolian forces. Around that time, the horse cost was about 5 nyang of silver for a horse of the highest grade. However, the convert price offered by the emperor to Goryeo in 1384 was 50 nyang of gold or 300 nyang of silver per horse, 50 to 60 times the market price. As a result, the total amount of tributes finally paid by Goryeo was only about 60% of the amount originally required. The emperor did not withdraw from changing his remarks in the middle, but instead tried to make up for it by raising the price of Goryeo’s horses. From Goryeo’s point of view, they did not point out the emperor’s slip of the tongue and persevered, leading to concessions from the Ming court. In a sensitive diplomatic situation, it can be said that both sides did not blush and obtained what they wanted.