“If it were me, I’d sell Liubao tea from Guangxi among the dark teas. It has a mild flavor with almost no astringency, and I heard it’s very effective at reducing fevers.”
“Exactly.”
“The Great Yue Kingdom is a hot country, so dealing with fevers is extremely important. That way we can sell it at a high price, and I’m thinking of using that money to bring back grain.”
“Grain?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“After Deputy Merchant Lord told me about trading with the Great Yue Kingdom, I thought about it carefully. About what it is we really want to gain from that trade right now.”
He continued.
“That’s grain. With the current famine, securing enough food has become extremely difficult. And that sort of thing will probably be handled at a national level.”
“Why do you think it’ll be handled at the national level?”
“We’re facing a famine across the entire country. There’s no way you fix that with what a few ships can carry, right? Besides, even if the Great Yue Kingdom has plenty of grain, exporting that much would require negotiations between the two states.”
“…You’re right.”
“But from the Empire’s standpoint as a great power, stepping forward and trading directly would hurt its pride. They’ll probably hire a Merchant Group and trade indirectly. And I think the Deputy Merchant Lord is predicting that in advance and preparing for it.”
At that answer, Eun Gil-sang blurted out before he realized it.
“You pass!”
After delivering a letter to the White Flame Merchant Group, I stopped by an inn on the way back to pick up my mother and then returned to the Green Mountain Inn.
“You’ve returned?”
Deputy Yu Dae-ik greeted me.
“Where’s Father?”
“He’s still in his room.”
They’re still talking?
I briefly probed the Qi upstairs. I could sense Father and Yong Eung–wan.
The fact that their conversation was dragging on was good news.
Just then, I heard the door open, and the two of them came down the stairs.
I hurriedly cupped my fists and reported.
“I’m back, Father.”
“Good work.”
Father’s expression was bright. So…?
“Seo-ho.”
“Yes?”
“You picked your talent well.”
Ah! He passed!
“Thank you, Father.”
“No need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you.”
Father let out a hearty laugh, then turned to Yong Eung–wan.
“You can select the sailors and bring them here. I’ll also have a room prepared for you here.”
“Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. You deserve that kind of treatment, Captain Yong.”
As he said that, Father patted Yong Eung–wan the sailor… no, Captain Yong, on the shoulder. Looked like he really liked him.
Well, Captain Yong was one of the talents I wrote down as soon as I came back.
There was no way he wouldn’t catch Father’s eye.
He came over to me and bowed his head.
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
“I may have handed you the chance, but you’re the one who grabbed it, Captain Yong.”
“Captain, huh… Being called captain feels a little embarrassing.”
.
.
.
Today is the day the assembly of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven is held.
With Palgap’s help, I changed into a luxurious, splendid outfit.
When I went downstairs, Father was waiting.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s fine. Your mother isn’t done getting ready yet either.”
“Ah, right.”
Women’s preparations always take longer anyway.
And it’s not like we’re pressed for time.
“I heard from Escort Guard Seo Wu that Lady Hong Geum-so is pregnant.”
“Yes. I already got the report.”
Ah, so he already knew.
Then you could’ve at least told me.
“Father, I’m hurt.”
“…Sorry. It slipped my mind.”
“I’m really hurt, you know.”
At my words, Father cleared his throat and looked away.
“Hem. Fine. If something like that happens again, I’ll be sure to tell you.”
“All right, I’ll hold you to that. Also, Father…”
“What now?”
“When you return to Hubei this time, I’m planning to go back to Hubei with you.”
“To Hubei?”
“Yes. There’s nothing left I need to do in Beijing. And I’ve got things to discuss with Gong Mil.”
Father nodded.
“Understood. Do as you like.”
“And about Captain Yong yesterday… What part of him did you like?”
“Ah… that?”
Father grinned.
“You’ll understand that once you become Merchant Lord.”
“I have no intention of becoming Merchant Lord, though.”
“Then you’ll never know, for the rest of your life.”
While I was talking with Father like that, Mother came down from upstairs.
“Oh my! Sorry for making you wait.”
“Not at all. Hehe.”
All dressed up, Mother looked truly beautiful.
Come to think of it, I’d heard she’d been called Gansu’s Number One Beauty in her youth.
Suddenly I found myself wondering what side of Father she’d seen that made her decide to marry him.
With that random thought in mind, we headed for Pear Blossom Pavilion.
When we arrived, the servers led us inside.
“Please fasten these over your clothes.”
Once again, we were handed the familiar silver tokens.
They were props for the little game that was a staple of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups’ gathering.
After each of us fastened the silver token at our waist and went up to the second floor, those who had arrived earlier greeted us.
Most of them were familiar faces, so there were only a few people Father needed to introduce to me.
After exchanging greetings with the Merchant Lords of the groups that had just made it into the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven, the three of us split up.
Mother went up to the third floor where the Merchant Lords’ wives were, and Father went to where the Merchant Lords were gathered.
And I headed to where the younger generation who had come with the Merchant Lords were gathered.
As I approached, they greeted me like an old acquaintance.
“Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho!”
“Come on over!”
“So the Eunhae Merchant Group sent Deputy Merchant Lord Eun again this time.”
“Doesn’t this pretty much confirm you’re the successor?”
At that, I waved my hands quickly.
What are they even saying? That’s the kind of talk that gets you in trouble.
Since it came up, I decided to make things clear here.
“The successor has been decided, but it’s not me.”
“Then? Ah, Deputy Merchant Lord Jeong-ho?”
So Jin-ho isn’t even in the running, huh.
I let out a wry smile and nodded.
“Yes. The Merchant Group will be passed down to my eldest brother.”
“Don’t you feel it’s a waste? Deputy Merchant Lord Eun, you contributed a lot to the Eunhae Merchant Group’s growth.”
“Not at all. I don’t regret it in the least.”
When I answered so firmly, they nodded and changed the subject.
“Anyway, the Song Family Merchant Group actually got kicked out of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven like this.”
“Yeah, seriously.”
“No matter how hard things are, bootlegging liquor? Isn’t that just stupid and dangerous?”
“Honestly, I never liked that place.”
“The fact they were even counted as one of us Hundred Great Merchant Groups was ridiculous in the first place.”
“Well, they brought it on themselves.”
The place they were talking about was the Song Family Merchant Group.
They’d originally hovered around rank seventy or so, and their main business being brothels was the problem.
When the Prohibition Decree went into effect, their brothel business started to shake, and the brilliant idea they came up with to fix it was illegal liquor.
To be honest, I wasn’t fond of the Song Family Merchant Group either.
Its Merchant Lord had started out as a loan shark. He took young women as payment for debts, sold them to brothels, and eventually just opened his own.
That was one of the reasons I disliked them, but the biggest was how ruthlessly and filthily they grew their business.
To secure courtesans, they deliberately lent money to households with young girls, then made sure they couldn’t pay it back.
They were basically dragged there by force.
Anyway, once the Prohibition Decree made customers stop visiting the brothels as often, they secretly brewed bootleg liquor and served it to a few regulars.
Eventually, they got caught and all hell broke loose.
From what I heard, one of the courtesans working there reported them to a Censorate Inspector.
Breaking the Prohibition Decree was a serious crime, so the Merchant Lord was sentenced to death.
And just like that, the Song Family Merchant Group went completely under.
As the groups below them all moved up one rank, the Merchant Group that had been in one hundred and first place naturally became one of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven.
I lifted my head and looked at the man standing over there in front of a pillar.
That was the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Mudong Merchant Group, which had just joined the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven this time.
They were famous as a Merchant Group dealing in porcelain.
Just then, a group of young masters passed by him. For a brief moment, I caught the smiles flickering across their faces.
And then—
Splash!
One of them dumped the tea he was holding all over the man’s clothes.
“Oh no! My goodness, I’m so sorry.”
“I-it’s fine.”
That was on purpose. Definitely on purpose.
Even among the younger generation gathered here, there were factions, and the ones who’d just spilled tea on the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord on purpose were the worst sort.
If I remembered right, they used to hang around with the Deputy Merchant Lord of the now–ruined Song Family Merchant Group.
I didn’t know if they hated the one who’d taken his place at the Hundred Great Merchant Groups’ assembly, if they were trying to get revenge, or if they were just doing it for fun.
Back then, I’d heard about what happened from Brother Jeong-ho. He said he tried to stop them several times, but it was no use.
They tormented the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord pretty viciously, and he hadn’t been able to protest properly.
But a chance came for him.
When the Emperor pushed for trade with the Great Yue Kingdom, the Mudong Merchant Group, whose main product was porcelain, suddenly grew at a rapid pace.
And from then on, the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord stopped holding back.
I later found out he’d just been keeping his head down.
Their Merchant Group had been far weaker at the time.
Once their group exploded in size, he stomped all over the people who’d bullied him, like he’d been waiting for that moment.
Of course, that was all in a future that hadn’t happened yet.
For now, he had no choice but to endure the bullying from those nasty bastards.
“Guess the silk they used for that robe is so cheap the tea soaked in faster than I thought.”
“If he’d had his clothes made with high–grade silk, it wouldn’t be like that. Hahaha.”
At their words, the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord’s face flushed red.
Tsk, what a bunch of bastards.
I frowned and walked over to them.
As I did, I could feel several gazes focusing on me.
Was I really that famous?
Thinking that, I handed the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord a handkerchief.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, yes… Thank you.”
I turned my head and spoke to the group who’d just spilled the tea.
“When you drink tea, isn’t it proper etiquette to sit down and drink it? Walking around with a teacup in your hand… how frivolous.”
At my words, they bit their lips.
Because I wasn’t wrong.
“And just now you said the silk used for the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord’s clothes was low–grade… but speaking as someone from a Merchant Group that deals in silk, it’s not low–grade at all. The silk in your clothes is what’s cheap.”
“W-what did you say?”
“That silk goes for four silver taels a bolt.”
High–grade silk starts at around ten silver taels a bolt.
“W-what nonsense is that? I paid twelve silver taels a bolt for the silk for these clothes!”
“Oh dear…”
I said it like I truly pitied him.
“You were swindled. A merchant getting swindled… I don’t even know how to console you.”
At that, the people around us struggled not to burst out laughing.
“Y-you…”
In the end, they kicked their chairs back and stormed out.
“Hahahahaha!”
“As expected, nobody can win against Deputy Merchant Lord Eun!”
Seeing that, the others burst into laughter. They’d disliked the ones who’d just left too.
Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun came up behind me and spoke.
“Nicely done.”
Deputy Merchant Lord Sa Gang and Deputy Merchant Lord Han Baek-geon also smiled at me.
I formally exchanged introductions with the Mudong Merchant Group’s Deputy Merchant Lord.
“I’m Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“I’m Dam Jin, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Mudong Merchant Group.”
He cupped his fists to me as he spoke.
“I’ve often heard your name, Deputy Merchant Lord Eun. Aren’t you the Handsome Young Hero from the Dragon–Phoenix Martial Gathering?”
“That embarrassing nickname… please just forget it.”
Please, I’m begging you, forget it.
Not noticing how mortified I was inside, he bowed his head once more.
“And thank you for stepping in.”
“Think nothing of it. They were getting on my nerves too.”
Helping Deputy Merchant Lord Dam Jin wasn’t just about knowing the future and wanting his goodwill.
It was simply uncomfortable to watch.
They were the typical petty cowards who cower before the strong and act tough in front of the weak.
“Come over here. If you keep standing there, you’ll turn into a pillar.”
Starting with Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun, I introduced everyone to him one by one.
Just then, someone stepped up onto the stage.
It was an elderly man with a massive, imposing build.
He was Ho Ju-shin, Merchant Lord of the White Flame Merchant Group.
Maybe because he was from Shandong, he was extremely tall.
There’s an old saying, “Shandong giants,” referring to the tall, broad–shouldered men from that region.
“Thank you all for coming in such numbers. Since we’ve gathered like this for the first time in a while, I hope it will be an enjoyable occasion.”
He looked around the room.
“Then, we’ll begin the assembly now.”
He took the drumstick handed to him and struck the drum.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
And just like that, the assembly of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven officially began.
“As you know, because of the Prohibition Decree, alcohol is banned these days. So instead, we’ve prepared plenty of delicious food. Please, everyone, take your seats.”
At those words, I sat down at a suitable table.
Clatter.
Then, as if they’d been waiting, the others took seats at the round table where I’d sat.
On my right was Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun, on my left Deputy Merchant Lord Sa Gang, and next to them Deputy Merchant Lord Han Baek-geon and Deputy Merchant Lord Dam Jin.
There were six chairs at the table, so that left one seat open.
Just then, someone walked over and asked us,
“May I sit here?”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt