bring upon us such awful things as I fail to win the sympathy of heaven. How can I earn the sympathy of heavens if I do not self-reflect and make efforts myself? I should start with reflecting on myself. As he worried that rain would ruin the harvest and force his unfortunate people to starve, the king ordered his courtiers to reduce the taxes and decrease the number of dishes in his own meals. One early morning 25 years later (1753), the continuous rain reminded Yeongjo of the flood during the 4th year of his reign, when he had eaten less food: Oh! Floods and droughts really happen because I lack virtue. I am much older than that year, but how can my compassion for the people and will to work hard for them be less than back then?". Yet again, he ordered a reduction in the number of dishes on his dining table. People around him described him as an articulate, bright, benevolent and kind monarch. He was penetrating in observation and quick of comprehension. Policies Realising the detrimental effect on state administration of the factional strife, Yeongjo attempted to end it as soon as he ascended the throne. He reinstated the short-lived universal military service tax, and then went beyond the palace gates to solicit the opinions of officials, literati (scholars), soldiers and peasants. Yeongjo reduced the military service tax by half and ordered the variance be supplemented by taxes on fisheries, salt, vessels and an additional land tax. He also regularized the financial system of state revenues and expenses by adopting an accounting system. His realistic policies allowed payment of taxes on grain from the remote mountainous areas Gyeongsang Province, to the nearby port, with payment in cotton or cash for grain. The circulation of currency was encouraged by increasing coin casting. Yeongjo's concern for improvement of the peasant's life was manifest in his eagerness to educate the people by distributing important books in the Korean script (Hangul), including the Book of Agriculture. The pluviometer was again manufactured in quantity and distributed to local administration offices and extensive public work projects were undertaken. Yeongjo upgraded the status of posterity of the commoners, opening another possibility for upward social mobility and inevitable change. His policies were intended to reassert the Confucian monarchy and a humanistic rule, but they were unable to stem the tide of social change that