At my proposal, the Gyeong Clan Lord nodded.
“Alright. If I even turned down that offer, I doubt I’d be able to get up from this seat today.”
I immediately wrote out two copies of the investment contract and handed one to him.
After we wrapped things up to our satisfaction, I drank my tea and asked him,
“Ah, by the way, which firm did you hire to build that house?”
“The Ogeol Construction Merchant Group.”
That was exactly the main culprit behind this whole man–made disaster.
“May I ask how much the construction cost?”
“I commissioned it for five hundred silver taels.”
Cough!
I almost sprayed my tea.
What a bunch of robbers.
Huh? The first price they quoted me was four hundred taels.
But because I asked them to clear the place out in a hurry, I ended up paying a thousand.
“Then why were you trying to sell it to me for four hundred taels?”
“It’s not a new house, it’s an old one, isn’t it? It was built ten years ago. How could I charge the price of a new house?”
…Hah.
I was moved for the second time.
.
.
.
That night.
Warrior Jin Yeong visited to instruct me in the Imperial Palace Martial Art.
After the training ended, Warrior Jin Yeong looked at me with a satisfied expression.
“You definitely have talent for martial arts. Has your master never told you that?”
“My master has said that before, but I just thought he was trying to encourage me.”
“No. You really are gifted. You might not know this, but most of the people who learn the Imperial Palace Martial Art are already practicing some other martial art.”
That made sense.
The Imperial Palace Martial Art was created to bind people who had all learned different techniques into one.
“And I’ve never seen anyone advance this quickly in the Imperial Palace Martial Art.”
“Heh.”
I gave an embarrassed laugh.
“At this rate, in just a few more months you won’t need to learn from me anymore.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to slow down on purpose.”
“Hm?”
“Because I want to keep seeing you, Jin Yeong.”
At my words, Warrior Jin Yeong smiled in delight.
“As your instructor I ought to scold you for that, but I can’t say it doesn’t feel good.”
That was exactly what I was aiming for.
“No wonder His Majesty cherishes you. Let’s end today’s training here.”
“Thank you for your guidance.”
I hurriedly clasped my fists and paid my respects.
“To explain the situation, first of all, the Merchant Lord of the Ogeol Construction Merchant Group tried to escape through a secret passage, just as you said.”
“As expected.”
“Yes. Thanks to your warning, I could use a tracking technique in time and follow him.”
“That’s really a relief. Honestly, if someone committed crimes that serious, they ought to pay for them. If he had escaped and gone on living large, I would have been really upset.”
I asked him,
“So where is he now?”
“He’s locked in the imperial dungeon. And everyone who did the completion inspections ten years ago when those houses were built is being dragged in.”
Normally, when something happens, they send a summons and give you a chance to explain yourself.
But when they decide the crime is this clear, they send Imperial Guard officers to arrest you and haul you in.
That was why he used the phrase “dragged in.”
In my previous life, when the situation had been figured out late, those who had committed corruption back then were also dragged into the palace and went through some pretty harsh suffering.
They walked in on their own two feet, but left on stretchers.
Naturally, more than half their family property was confiscated.
Well, this time won’t be much different.
“Right now the Censorate is shaking down the Ministry of Works from top to bottom, and it’s a lot worse than I thought.”
I gave a bitter smile inside.
Do you really think the ones above didn’t know about the Ministry of Works’ corruption all this time?
As if.
They definitely knew.
They just closed their eyes and took something in return.
Corruption is always a chain.
And I was pretty sure His Majesty knew about this Ministry of Works corruption too.
He was just waiting for the right time, sharpening his knife.
That’s why the moment this blew up, he pounced and is now dealing with it like a storm.
“Anyway, all the Ministry of Works officials are under investigation right now.”
I nodded and said,
“That must be quite a headache for His Majesty.”
“Hm?”
“Right now, if His Majesty could have his way, he’d probably like to execute every Ministry of Works official involved or sentence them all to hard labor. But if he does that, the Ministry of Works will grind to a halt, so he can’t do this or that, can he?”
That gap between ideals and reality.
Warrior Jin Yeong looked at me in admiration.
“You really are remarkable. You hit exactly what His Majesty is worrying about. Your loyalty to His Majesty truly is deep.”
“I’m embarrassed to hear that.”
“So, how would you handle this if it were up to you?”
I let out a small chuckle.
“Honestly, who says a hard labor sentence always has to mean working in some mine?”
“Hm?”
“Leave their ranks as they are, but only pay them one–fifth of their salary. The rest of their pay goes straight toward their fines.”
“Wouldn’t high–ranking officials finish paying too quickly then?”
I shook my head.
“The higher their rank, the bigger and more numerous their corrupt acts will have been, so you just levy that much more in fines.”
“That’s quite the clever idea!”
“And if they slack off or neglect their work, have their families sent to places like the mines and put under a real hard labor sentence. Then they’ll grind themselves down working.”
At that, Warrior Jin Yeong tilted his head.
“The one who committed the crime is the father, so why should the family suffer like that? Isn’t that too cruel?”
“They all ate well and lived well off that money, didn’t they?”
“Ah… when you put it that way.”
“And if people were living in those collapsing houses, there would have been widows and orphans created. If you say punishing the family is unfair, then the victims and their families will curse you instead.”
“That’s true…”
“And if the one who committed the crime works hard, then their family never has to go to hard labor at all.”
At my words, Warrior Jin Yeong nodded. The way he was looking at me, you’d think he was staring at a bar of solid gold…
Yikes.
I quickly lowered my head and said,
“This is just this small merchant’s shallow opinion, so you really don’t have to take it too much to heart.”
But from the look on Warrior Jin Yeong’s face, he had already taken in every single word. Damn it.
.
.
.
A month passed after that.
Before I knew it, it was already mid–Tenth Month.
There was all kinds of gossip going around about this incident.
And among all the people who sold me their houses, the only one who came to find me and offer to return part of the sale price was the Gyeong Clan Lord.
Honestly, that’s how normal people should be.
That was why I’d been so moved by him.
Whether they knew or not, they ended up selling me defective houses, so morally speaking, returning part of the money is the right thing to do.
But there aren’t as many people as you’d think who stick to what’s right when there’s profit in front of them.
Not that I’m the type to just grab that money and say thank you.
At the very least, if they’d saved their lives thanks to me, you’d think they’d come say thank you, right…
“Young Master. Shouldn’t we start looking for a new construction firm soon?”
At Palgap’s words, I nodded.
“True. But we’ll commission it later. Winter’s just around the corner, so they won’t be able to start work anyway.”
“That’s true, it is.”
“And I’m not planning to spend more of my own money to put the buildings up. I’m going to use the compensation money to build.”
“As expected of you, Young Master. Come to think of it, when is the judgment supposed to come out?”
At Palgap’s question, I recalled what Warrior Jin Yeong had told me a few days ago.
“Probably within four or five days.”
That was because he’d said the palace would summon me within four or five days to hear my opinion.
And then,
“My lord. Someone from the palace is here.”
It was Escort Guard Chang Un, who was standing guard, calling out.
They called me faster than I thought.
.
.
.
The next day, I headed for the imperial palace.
After I notified them inside through the palace guard, someone came out to fetch me.
“Are you Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Kang Eul-jin from the Censorate. First, allow me to offer my condolences.”
From the way he was speaking so politely to me, he seemed to be a lower–ranking official.
No matter how widely my name has spread, officials of a certain rank wouldn’t be this courteous.
“Thank you.”
“Please, follow me.”
“Alright.”
I followed him to the Censorate. And there, I ran into a familiar face.
It was Scholar Hwang Bon-ji, who was currently serving as Left Censorate Inspector.
Roughly the third–highest position in the Censorate.
Instead of openly greeting him, I just exchanged a brief look.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
As he said, I waited for a bit in the reception room, then followed him into one of the halls.
Inside, several people in high–official robes were seated.
I respectfully clasped my fists.
“This small merchant greets the honored sirs.”
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
I sat down and looked over the faces turned toward me.
They seemed to be high officials from the Censorate, the Embroidered Guard, and other departments.
They were probably the ones in charge of deciding the judgment for this case.
For something this big, His Majesty appoints about five people to discuss and pass judgment.
“The reason we’ve called you here is that we wanted to hear your thoughts on a few points regarding this case.”
The man seated in the center spoke first.
“First, did you buy those houses knowing they had defects?”
“What? Of course not. If I’d known they were defective, I wouldn’t have paid more than double the going price for them.”
Of course I’d known, but I couldn’t exactly say that.
“I paid one thousand silver taels for each house.”
“Gasp!”
At my answer, their jaws dropped.
“T–then that’s six thousand taels…”
“I bought ten houses in total, so it’s ten thousand taels.”
“…”
“I’ve heard the remaining four houses also have defects. This is no small loss.”
At my words, they nodded.
Then someone raised a question.
“But why did you pay such a high price? As we said earlier, the proper price for those houses should be only about half that.”
“They needed to vacate the houses in a hurry. I was planning to start repairs before winter set in.”
I continued,
“Then the former owners would also have to scramble to find new places to live, so I simply added a premium on top.”
“Hm, is that so?”
“Thanks to that, there were no casualties. Isn’t that an enormous relief?”
“Th–that is true…”
I asked them,
“As far as I know, if someone suffers financial damage due to defects in a building, they can demand compensation from whoever is responsible for those defects.”
I had looked that up in the law code beforehand.
To avoid getting taken advantage of, every merchant group keeps law books on hand.
And besides, I already knew at least this much.
“That is true.”
“Then may I request compensation for the losses I’ve suffered?”
At my words, they asked,
“How much compensation are you requesting?”
“Here, I’ve prepared a list.”
I took a scroll from my sleeve and handed it to them.
It was the compensation claim list I had carefully put together.
“…”
After reading it, they could only let out low murmurs, at a loss for words.
But they wouldn’t be able to refute it.
Every item was within common sense and within the proper bounds of the law.
Compensation for the buildings themselves, the cost of clearing away the collapsed structures, the cost of rebuilding the houses, and so on…
Three thousand taels per collapsed house.
Six houses had collapsed, so that was eighteen thousand.
On top of that, I had to tear down the remaining houses and rebuild them, so I added that as well.
Three thousand five hundred silver taels per standing house.
Four houses hadn’t collapsed, so that was fourteen thousand.
Altogether, thirty–two thousand taels.
“Honestly, because of this incident, there are all kinds of rumors going around that I’m cursed or that I’ve been struck by heavenly punishment. But that’s only counting the immediate damage, not the full loss. If you factor everything in, even five thousand taels per house wouldn’t be too much.”
I went on,
“With that in mind, I request compensation for the loss I’ve suffered.”
.
.
.
A few days later.
The final judgment came down.
First, the Ministry of Works officials who had committed corruption were given a labor sentence.
It was a new punishment created under His Majesty’s order – a sentence where they work diligently to pay off their fines.
He had adopted the punishment I suggested exactly as it was.
Ah, when I think about how much His Majesty must have laughed, my stomach suddenly hurts.
In my previous life, aside from a few Ministry of Works officials whose crimes were especially vile, most of them had gotten off with light fines. That was thanks to the gap between ideals and reality.
But once they were put under the labor sentence, they ended up paying for their crimes in full.
To pay off all those fines, they’d probably have to work themselves to the bone for at least ten years.
And the Merchant Lord of the Ogeol Construction Merchant Group, along with everyone involved in the corruption, received a hard labor sentence.
In my last life, they couldn’t avoid execution, but this time, since no one actually died, it was hard labor instead.
Even so, they’ll probably rot in the mines for the rest of their lives.
I don’t particularly feel sorry for them.
They made their own bed, so now they can lie in it.
They enjoyed a luxurious life with money earned through corruption, so isn’t it only right that they pay the price for it?
Along with that, all of the merchant group’s assets were confiscated, and most of that went toward my compensation.
The rest was given as compensation to the people who had had those defective houses built, but the amount wasn’t very large.
They had already sold their houses and, in the process, made double their money – that was taken into account.
But the Gyeong Clan Lord received five hundred taels in compensation, because I told them he had tried to return money to me.
In the process, the corruption of other construction merchants was also exposed, and those merchants who had committed corruption collapsed under massive compensation payments.
Anyway, that was how I ended up investing ten thousand silver taels and earning another twenty–two thousand from this whole affair.
Honestly, the only reason I got every coin I requested was because His Majesty was behind me.
His Majesty the Emperor really is the best.
But… I need to be careful.
Who knows when I’ll get dragged off as an office slave.
–TL Notes–
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