Yongjo‘s diligent emphasis on being a king for the people was constructed through his ploy in creating politics of patriarchy by representing himself as the ruler-father figure for his populace. He reached to the people in order to promote his image and hence gain popularity. By doing so, it enabled him the power over his bureaucratic oppositions in enforcing policies which he thought was beneficial for the entire society.
The bureaucracy in theory was by no means, an obstruction for the king. For most of the time, they should serve the crucial purpose of being a medium between the monarchy and his populace. In reality though, when the bureaucrats were the ones who enforced orders in the society, they often abused their powers and advocated social hierarchy in effort of preserving their own status. To the bureaucrats, the issue of social reform was seen as a clash towards their own benefits. So it was natural for their opinions to differ from those of the monarch. On the other hand, the king thought of restructuring The Military Tax as a top priority since the treasury depletion crisis worsened due to increases in the population of tax-exempted Yangbans. Each of the monarch and the bureaucrats had to defend their perspectives with the use of Confucian rhetoric. While the bureaucrats adopted a hierarchical approach of Confucian rhetoric, stating that they are the guardians of Confucian traditions and thus it is important for the Confucian state to protect them. The king wanted a more egalitarian approach to Confucian ideology. With conflicts imposed between the hierarchical approach and the egalitarian approach, the king thought after the support of his people. His unprecedented action was applied partly out of urgency. The Confucian social order, supposedly composed of...