That afternoon.
A message was sent to the key figures of the Eunhae Merchant Group, telling them to gather at Eunwol Pavilion, and I hurried over there as well.
When I stepped into Eunwol Pavilion, I was greeted by a face I was really happy to see.
It was my Master.
For a while, Master hadn’t been able to oversee my training because of outside business, so when had he even arrived?
And besides Master, the Changin Escort Bureau’s Chief was there too, so I greeted the two of them.
I knew why they had both come today.
It was to discuss countermeasures against the ones who injured Deputy Jo Yeong-yeong last time and stole our escort goods.
Given how serious this was, I couldn’t walk up and chat, so I just clasped my fists and bowed my head.
It really wasn’t the kind of situation where we could sit around laughing and talking.
Soon everyone was present.
Father opened the meeting.
“The reason we’ve gathered here is to discuss how we should deal with them. Let’s hear everyone’s thoughts.”
The first person to speak up was External Chief Administrator Go.
“What does the Eunhae Merchant Group have to be afraid of that we should just sit back and watch them? Just give me the order and I’ll butcher every last one of them right now!”
External Chief Administrator Go spoke, practically exploding with rage.
“The cargo is one thing, but they actually dared to almost kill our Deputy Jo! Our Deputy Jo!”
For some reason, he seemed more furious about Deputy Jo almost dying than about the stolen goods.
Honestly, I’m angry about that too, but still, shouldn’t he at least set those personal feelings aside a little?
Thinking that, I glanced around the people in Eunwol Pavilion and couldn’t help but laugh to myself.
Everyone was nodding fiercely.
Ah…
Come to think of it, Deputy Jo wasn’t just like a daughter to the people here, but also like their niece, their older sister, and their little sister to most of the Merchant Group.
So of course, she was someone who received everyone’s affection.
As for Internal Chief Administrator Yu…
“Ahem.”
Father cleared his throat and spoke.
“Honestly, I’m quite angry about that myself. But what we have to approach carefully here is that they aren’t just ordinary bandits.”
The Changin Escort Bureau’s Department Chief picked up his words.
“The Merchant Lord is right. They’re rebels made up of those who used to wander and beg. And as you know, for people whose eyes have gone mad from hunger, does death really matter to them?”
“Well, that’s true.”
The scariest people in the world are the ones with nothing left to lose, especially those whose stomachs are empty.
A parent will do anything if their child is starving to death. Of course, there are abnormal parents who don’t, but that’s beside the point.
“So I don’t think we can treat them the same way we would ordinary bandits. The problem is…”
With a serious look, the Changin Escort Bureau’s Department Chief continued.
“That rebel group is steadily growing in size.”
Ah… right.
In my previous life too, the rebel mob started out small.
But as their strength grew, they turned into a massive bandit group that swept across all of Hubei.
Because of that, the Hubei region fell into terrible chaos.
Who knows how many landowners and Merchant Groups they attacked.
And even though the Eunhae Merchant Group managed to stay safe through it all…
So what?
For a Merchant Group to survive, what matters is the purchasing power of the people who can afford to buy goods.
So even our Merchant Group couldn’t avoid going through hard times.
As for the Baekcheon Merchant Group…
Honestly, what rebel group would dare raid the Baekcheon Merchant Group?
They’re packed full of Murim Alliance warriors.
“Then what are we supposed to do? Are we giving up on subjugating them? You know how much the other Forest Bandits will look down on the Eunhae Merchant Group if we’re not careful.”
Pavilion Lord Yeon agreed with External Chief Administrator Go.
“On that point, External Chief Administrator Go is right. But it’s not like the Department Chief doesn’t already know that.”
At her words, the Department Chief nodded.
“So I’d like to leave the decision to the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
What a cautious person.
Whatever they do, it’ll cause trouble either way, so he wants to leave the final decision to us, the client Merchant Group.
Father’s concern only deepened.
There really wasn’t any clear strategy.
If we subjugated them, we’d be troubled by who those people actually were. If we just left them alone, we’d worry others would start underestimating us.
Still, the fact that it’s only the second year and there are already this many refugees wandering and begging…
The surprising thing is that this is still much better than in my previous life.
Back then, by this time, the bands of wandering beggars had already grown so huge they were almost impossible to handle.
The root cause behind those rebel groups forming is land.
Most of the refugees had mortgaged their land to borrow grain or money, and when famine hit and they couldn’t repay it, they were thrown out onto the street.
Plenty of tenant farmers were kicked off their plots too.
Sigh.
In a bad harvest, it’s always the common people who die—it’s the same no matter the era.
Land, huh…
Ah! A good idea suddenly popped into my head.
“…ho?”
“…”
“Seo-ho?”
“Ah! Yes? Father, did you call me?”
“Yes. You suddenly zoned out like you were deep in thought.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“So, what were you thinking so hard about?”
“I was trying to come up with a way to resolve this situation.”
At my words, everyone’s eyes lit up as they looked at me like they were staring at a bundle of treasure.
Ugh! Why is everyone suddenly putting this much pressure on me?
“All right, say whatever you have in mind.”
“Isn’t the main problem that they’re a rebel group?”
“That’s right. If we handle this poorly, we’ll end up massacring commoners.”
“Then shouldn’t we just make it so they’re no longer a rebel group?”
“What do you mean?”
“We buy land. Then we lease it out to them as tenant farmers.”
“…”
After doing some quick calculations, Internal Chief Administrator Yu spoke.
“It’s a good idea, but we’d need an enormous amount of money. Our Merchant Group might actually stagger from it.”
“Seriously?”
“…”
“Is the Eunhae Merchant Group really that tight on funds?”
“Ahem.”
Internal Chief Administrator Yu quietly turned his head away.
“But it would still be impossible to absorb every rebel group that way.”
“Right. There’ll definitely be a limit. But if we do it for as many as we can manage, we might be able to resolve this a lot more easily than we think.”
External Chief Administrator Go asked with a displeased look.
“Are you saying we should forgive the ones who stole the Merchant Group’s wealth and nearly killed our Deputy Jo?”
I shot back.
“When did I ever say anything about forgiving them?”
“What?”
“Of course they have to pay for their crime.”
“So in the end, blood for blood…”
“No. Fortunately, no one died, so…”
I continued.
“We have them farm without pay for, say, five years.”
“Without pay? Then what are they supposed to live on…”
“We’ll lend them what they need.”
“Then aren’t you just trapping them in an endless cycle of debt and repayment?”
“If you look at it that way, you could say we’re no better than some heartless landlord, but they’re the ones who chose to raid people. Just giving them a chance to live without dying is already more than enough. And if they work hard, I’m planning to give them a chance to break out of that cycle.”
The Changin Escort Bureau’s Department Chief, who had been quietly listening, raised an objection.
“But they might refuse your proposal. They’ve already tasted success once. If they can gain wealth easily, why would they choose to earn money with sweat and toil?”
“You’re absolutely right. First, we need to show them that raiding isn’t easy money.”
It hadn’t been long since the rebel group settled in the mountains between Sunyang County and Yangyuan County.
And what they chose as their way to make a living was raiding.
They ambushed travelers passing through the route between Sunyang County and Yangyuan County and robbed them of their belongings.
The first time was hard, but after that, it didn’t bother them at all.
Then one day.
Their numbers had grown to around fifty, and they pulled off their first really big score.
They attacked the Eunhae Merchant Group’s caravan heading toward Yangyuan County.
When they saw the wagons stacked high with grain, they shouted with joy. With that much grain, they wouldn’t have to worry about filling their bellies for quite some time.
On top of that, there were a fair number of useful medicinal ingredients mixed in.
Honestly, at first they were worried, thinking someone would come after them for revenge. But no matter how many days passed, there was no sign that anyone was coming to subjugate them.
“Looks like they decided to give up on the cargo, huh?”
“Yeah, what kind of fighting force does a Merchant Group have to deal with us anyway?”
“After tasting my fiery arrows, they won’t dare come anywhere near us.”
And soon, a certain thought began to settle among them.
‘Raiding is easier than I thought, huh?’
‘If it’s like this, there’s no need for us to farm, is there?’
‘We’ll be rich in no time at all!’
So they started throwing themselves into raiding with enthusiasm.
As rumors spread that they had a huge stockpile of grain, nearby groups started appearing, wanting to join them.
That was how they steadily grew in strength.
The problem was that the food started disappearing much faster than they’d expected.
It happened one day.
The lookouts came running in a hurry with news.
“We need to get ready to hunt right now! Wagons loaded with grain are coming.”
“What did you say?”
“It’s a Merchant Group emblem I’ve never seen before. But there don’t seem to be many Escort Guards, so they look like easy prey.”
They began preparing for what they called a hunt—another raid.
Just then, one young man felt something was off.
“Hey, sir. Doesn’t something about this feel suspicious?”
“What does?”
“I already think it’s weird that the Eunhae Merchant Group just left us alone, but now, on top of that, a big caravan loaded with grain is passing through here again?”
“So what?”
“Word must have spread that the Eunhae Merchant Group got robbed… Something about this really feels off.”
“Then what do you want us to do? We’ve only got, what, five days of food left? You want to starve to death?”
“That’s…”
“If you don’t have a better plan, then just shut up!”
Full of bravado, they grabbed their weapons and headed out.
They hid in an ambush point they had prepared in the mountain and waited for the right moment.
Clatter, clatter,
The sound of wagon wheels reached their ears, and they waited for their target to approach.
They’d gained a bit of experience from their previous raids, after all.
Soon, the wagons came into view.
“…!”
When they saw it, they swallowed hard.
An overwhelming amount of grain.
‘All of that is grain?’
‘My goodness!’
‘With that, we won’t have to worry about food for at least a month!’
And just like the lookouts said, there didn’t seem to be many Escort Guards.
When the caravan was completely inside the ravine, the leader jumped up and shouted.
“Attack!”
“Waaaah!”
At that signal, they all rushed out with weapons raised and swung at the Escort Guards and wagon drivers.
But then—
Clang-!
Clang!
“What the hell? Who are these guys?”
Their weapons were blocked far too easily by the Escort Guards’ swords. And then,
Slash-!
“Ghk!”
In an instant, the Escort Guards’ swords cut through their weapons and slashed their arms and legs.
“They’re bandits after the cargo! Show no mercy, cut them down!”
“Yes!”
By this point, the raiders realized something had gone very wrong.
And that if it went on like this, they would all die!
“Retreat! Fall back!”
“Aaargh!”
“S-spare me!”
The rebel group fled in a frantic panic.
“Oh no, what on earth happened?”
The people waiting at the mountain stronghold rushed out in shock when they saw them coming back, injured all over like defeated stragglers.
The ones who had gone out brimming with confidence had returned looking half-dead.
Their morale crashed to rock bottom in an instant.
They realized something.
Living as bandits, raiding people, was not easy at all.
And worry about the future slowly filled their hearts as despair began to settle over them.
Sliding my sword back into its sheath, I spoke.
“Operation complete.”
At my words, the people around me stowed their weapons and spoke to one another.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“Good work, everyone.”
We’d just staged a whole play to hook that rebel group.
If we had truly meant to subjugate them, we would have gone for their necks. We wouldn’t have carefully aimed for nonfatal spots like arms and legs.
For this plan, I, my four Escort Guards, and a handpicked group of elite martial artists and Escort Guards were mobilized.
To show that rebel group a sharp lesson without getting hurt ourselves, everyone needed outstanding skill.
But this still wasn’t enough.
They would need to fail a few more times before their confidence completely crumbled.
.
.
.
Three more days passed after that.
By now, their food had probably just about run out.
In other words, it was time to start talking.
For this matter, my Master represented the Changin Escort Bureau, and I represented the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Heading toward the mountain stronghold where the rebel group had settled, we ran into a group of people.
Hm?
I couldn’t help but be shocked when I saw one of the young men among them.
Wait, what is that guy doing here?
–TL Notes–
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