I continued speaking.
“If you find him, come to Nanjing.”
“Nanjing… you say?”
“We’re set to sail at the end of the Fifth Month, and from now on all the preparations will be over there.”
“Understood.”
Then Palgap, who was standing beside us, tilted his head and asked.
“Huh? So that means we’ve gotta go to Nanjing too, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“I see. Then I’ll start getting ready.”
“You’re not even a little flustered?”
At my words, Palgap rubbed his nose and said,
“I told you before, didn’t I? Young Master runs all over the empire so much that we’re always packed and ready to leave at a moment’s notice. And besides, when you’re bored you run all the way up to the North Sea.”
I suddenly didn’t have anything to say to that.
My eyes met Lady Seohyang’s for a moment.
She smiled faintly, and I scratched the back of my neck.
So you already knew. Tsk.
I turned back to Escort Guard Jin Yu.
“Anyway, that’s how it is. I’ll be counting on you.”
“I’ll definitely accomplish it, even if it costs me my life.”
For the record, there’s really no need to go that far.
Escort Guard Jin Yu immediately set out to find the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s debt manager.
That afternoon.
I asked Geumryeong to deliver a letter to my father.
We did have carrier birds, but Geumryeong was just too fast.
I did have to pay in silver taels for the service, but in this matter, time was silver.
You could say I was buying time with money.
In the letter to my father, I asked him to have Captain Yong Eung–wan bring the trading ships to Nanjing.
Nanjing lay in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Since it was a bit inland from the open sea, it was a safe harbor from waves and storms.
From Yangyang to Nanjing took about fifteen days, so they’d probably arrive around the start of the Fifth Month.
After that, we’d rush our preparations and set sail before the Fifth Month ended.
At the latest, we had to leave by then if we wanted to load grain in the autumn and return home.
What mattered here was the cargo we’d load onto the ship headed for the Great Yue Kingdom.
When I’d spoken with Captain Yong Eung–wan before, what he’d recommended was tea.
We’d also talked about porcelain, like teacups and such.
Just like he’d said, those goods brought in a hefty profit, and in my previous life, we’d made good money supplying tea.
Back then my stomach hurt a little – no, a lot.
If we’d had ships of our own, it would’ve been the perfect chance to grow at a much faster pace.
Anyway, the single most profitable item back then had been liquor.
“As far as I know, people in the Great Yue Kingdom really like our empire’s liquor…”
“That’s right. They go crazy for it.”
“Then why didn’t you mention it?”
“Well… we’ve got the Prohibition Decree in the empire right now, don’t we? Talking about it in this situation would just make us miserable.”
He was right.
Liquor was the thing that brought in the biggest profits, but because of the empire’s current situation, that was off the table.
However, once this trade concluded successfully and they realized how badly those people wanted liquor, they’d probably relax the Prohibition Decree under certain conditions.
Just like they did in my previous life.
That would be the moment the brewing artisans I’d gathered would finally shine.
Truthfully, what they wanted even more than the empire’s liquor was the empire’s weapons, but those were strictly forbidden as trade goods.
If high–quality imperial weapons fell into their hands, those blades could very well end up pointed back at the empire.
“Deputy Gwak.”
“Yes.”
“Please send a letter to the Mudong Merchant Group.”
“Understood.”
The Mudong Merchant Group specialized in porcelain and had just made it into the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven.
So I’d met their Merchant Lord and Deputy Merchant Lord at the last gathering.
Conveniently, their main headquarters was in Jiangsu Province, where Nanjing was located.
That made them the best source to supply porcelain and the like, so they were the very first party we needed to negotiate with.
A few days later, a reply came from the Mudong Merchant Group.
It was a positive answer, saying we should meet in Nanjing.
It’d be good to see Deputy Merchant Lord Dam Jin again after so long.
Anyway, I wondered how the Changhae Merchant Group – no, the Baekcheon Merchant Group – was doing with their trade preparations.
“Apparently Deputy Merchant Lord Song Un from the Changhae Merchant Group hasn’t been seen much lately.”
At Escort Guard Lee Pil’s report, I stroked my chin.
Trade with foreign nations was on such a huge scale and had so many variables that the person handling the practical work was crucial.
And yet that very person wasn’t at the forefront…
“Then who’s in charge of the trade work right now?”
“I don’t know the details, but it seems to be someone from the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s side.”
So they were already getting that blatant about it.
It looked like the Baekcheon Merchant Group was going through the formal steps to completely swallow the Changhae Merchant Group.
If this trade succeeded, the Changhae Merchant Group’s signboard might very well be replaced with the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s name.
To prepare for that day, they were probably sending the person who’d be in charge later to learn on site.
But trade with foreign nations was never easy, and even if you gave the job to someone experienced, they’d still barely have enough time to learn.
“This has to be done this way…”
“From what I can see it’s not even that complicated, so do we really need to do it like this?”
“Of course.”
“You’re not just doing this to make me look bad, are you?”
“Absolutely not!”
“This doesn’t seem very efficient, so we should change it.”
“Sure, the costs may be a bit higher and it may not seem efficient at first, but in the long run this actually saves money.”
“Enough. I’ll be in charge of this work from now on, so I’ll do it my way.”
“…”
“So if you want to hang on to your position at least until then, stop playing games and just stick to giving advice.”
“I’m giving advice right now.”
“From where I’m standing, this doesn’t sound like advice. It sounds like you’re nitpicking.”
“Fine, then handle everything yourself! But remember this! Whatever goes wrong, it’s not my fault.”
“Don’t worry. Do I really look that incompetent to you? If I were, the Merchant Lord of our group would never have entrusted me with such an important duty.”
“…”
Ah…
I’d pictured it without even meaning to.
But I doubted reality would be any different from my imagination. I’d seen this sort of thing way too often.
When someone new took over a job, they were always overflowing with enthusiasm and tried to change this and that.
But usually, those changes didn’t fit reality at all and caused massive problems.
Naturally, their head would roll.
This time would be no different.
Well, it wasn’t something I needed to worry about anyway. Right now, they weren’t the Changhae Merchant Group – they were the Baekcheon Merchant Group.
I’d told Escort Guard Jin Yu to find the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s debt manager because I wanted revenge on the Baekcheon Merchant Group, not to help the Changhae Merchant Group.
Merchant groups were always competitors by nature.
The Changhae Merchant Group would just happen to benefit from our help in the process.
Though it was true that their situation really was pitiful.
Sigh, I really am too soft–hearted.
Anyway, Escort Guard Jin Yu finding the debt manager alive was the best outcome, but even if that person was already dead, we still had options.
One of those options was to recruit the Changhae Merchant Group’s Merchant Lord and other veterans into our own group.
Then we’d use them to snatch away the profits the Baekcheon Merchant Group would’ve made from the trade.
After all, the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s trading partner had originally been the Changhae Merchant Group’s partner.
Still, the best method by far was to find the debt manager alive.
Because then we could drag the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s honor straight down into the mud in one strike.
.
.
.
Kee–ree! Kee–ree!
Hmm, seagulls.
The way we’d just been in Beijing a moment ago and then I opened my eyes and we were suddenly in Nanjing… that was probably just my imagination.
We were in Nanjing now.
“So this… is the sea.”
“It’s really vast.”
Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un stared at the sea in awe.
Most of my entourage was the same.
“Is this your first time seeing the sea?”
They couldn’t tear their eyes away from it as they nodded.
Well, the empire was enormous.
There were countless people living deep inland who died without ever seeing the ocean in their entire lives.
I had been to Shandong once before, but that hadn’t been by the coast.
“I finally understand that saying about a frog in a well never knowing how vast the great sea is.”
I let out a faint chuckle.
“Alright, let’s head to the lodging.”
“Yes.”
The imperial palace had offered to provide accommodations, but I politely refused.
The lodging they were offering was official quarters inside the Provincial Military Command Office.
Nanjing was an important place, so of course they’d stationed a Provincial Military Command there.
The facilities would’ve been nice enough, but we would’ve had to live together with government officials, and that meant a lot of inconveniences.
So we instead rented out an entire inn.
Partly for the sailors of the trading ships that would be arriving soon, but also for my sake.
If I wanted to get everything ready to screw over the Baekcheon Merchant Group, we needed fewer eyes on us and freedom to come and go.
By the way… I wondered if Escort Guard Jin Yu had found him yet.
Hoo–hoo! Hoo–hoo!
On a night when an owl’s cries echoed eerily through the air…
A man was hiding inside an abandoned temple to the Lord of the Passes deep in a dense forest.
‘Damn it! That bastard Namgoong Gang!’
He clenched his fists and ground his teeth.
His name was Mo Cheong.
He was the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s debt manager.
The only reason he still considered himself the debt manager was because he’d never submitted a resignation, and no one had directly informed him he was fired.
On top of that, he wasn’t dead yet.
As the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s debt manager, he handled recording the payments from borrowers and collecting money from those who hadn’t repaid their debts.
To be honest, he hated his job.
Collecting from people who couldn’t repay always meant scenes full of shouting, wailing, and violence.
He was human, so it hurt every time he had to watch something like that.
Even so, he’d had no choice if he wanted to put food on the table.
Then one day, the Merchant Lord summoned him.
“Was today the last payment date for the Changhae Merchant Group’s debt?”
“That’s right. They’ve paid their installments every month without fail, a truly model merchant group.”
“So they’re annoyingly diligent, is what you’re saying.”
“Sir?”
“Anyway, this time, you go collect the money yourself.”
“Me, in person?”
“It’s the last payment, isn’t it? So go and tell them they’ve done well all this time.”
“Ah! I see. Understood.”
Even as he received the order, he felt something was off.
Since when did Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang care about a debtor’s hard work?
But he still thought the words themselves made sense, so he headed to Cheongdo without any real suspicion.
The Changhae Merchant Group’s main headquarters was in Cheongdo, Shandong.
He collected the payment from them and told them they’d worked hard, but on his way back…
His escort quietly whispered to him.
“You must be careful.”
“What’s this about all of a sudden?”
“The people traveling with us… they’re dangerous.”
At that, he felt a cold jolt of realization.
He’d finally understood why Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang had sent him.
They were planning to eliminate him on the way back, after he took the money.
‘But for what?’
He pondered for a moment, then let out a hollow laugh.
Because he’d already guessed the reason.
‘Come to think of it, he was practically sick with envy when he saw the groups going out under the imperial palace’s protection for this trade.’
This was all a shameless ploy to forcibly seize the Changhae Merchant Group.
And if the truth ever got out, the Baekcheon Merchant Group’s reputation would be dragged through the filth.
The Baekcheon Merchant Group was a merchant group under the Murim Alliance’s umbrella, an organization that prized honor above all.
If word spread that Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang of the Baekcheon Merchant Group had done something like this, the Murim Alliance elders would never sit still.
He’d be dismissed before his grace period was even up.
Anyone who’d worked at the merchant group long enough knew at least a bit about the situation between the Murim Alliance elders and Namgoong Gang.
Working at the Baekcheon Merchant Group for years basically meant you had connections with those elders.
He had those connections himself, which was why he knew all this.
Ironically, that was probably the very reason they wanted him dead.
If word of this reached the Murim Alliance through his mouth, Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang’s position would become dangerously shaky.
Anyway, just as he and his escort had expected, the “escort squad” that had been assigned to protect him suddenly launched an attack on his life.
In the chaos, he’d barely managed to escape thanks to his escort guard’s sacrifice.
But they didn’t give up chasing him.
Using the emergency funds and smoke bombs he’d stashed away just in case, he’d only barely managed to stay ahead of them, and now he was almost at his limit.
He’d learned martial arts for self–defense, but only at a second–rate level, nowhere near enough to shake professional pursuers.
‘The Hwangbo Martial Family… it’s so damn far.’
The people he was trying to reach were the Hwangbo Martial Family.
They were also in Shandong Province, but sneaking around while running from pursuit made it feel like a journey of a thousand miles.
‘Urgh…’
He frowned at the pain stabbing his side.
The bleeding from the wound he’d taken while fleeing earlier was becoming a serious problem.
‘I’m out of Golden Wound Ointment too…’
Just then he heard shouting and saw the flicker of torches.
“There’s blood here!”
“He can’t have gone far!”
He prayed they wouldn’t find him, but cruelly, that wish didn’t come true.
“Over there!”
Mo Cheong tried to run in a panic, but his pursuers hurled a storm of hidden weapons at him.
Tak–!
“Ghk!”
One of the hidden weapons struck him, and he tumbled down a slope. When he finally came to a stop, a sword was at his throat.
“If you were going to die like this anyway, why make it so hard on yourself?”
“Heh! You’ll end up just like me in the end.”
“Maybe. But what can I do? I want to live just a little longer.”
And then…
Whoosh!
The torches in their hands suddenly went out. Plunged into sudden darkness, the warriors chasing Mo Cheong flailed in confusion.
At that moment, a voice whispered right by Mo Cheong’s ear.
“Please come with me. There’s someone who’s been looking for you.”
–TL Notes–
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