Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 112 - Merchant King (6)

Chapter 112 – Merchant King (6)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I had to admit that I had underestimated Yeo Bul-jin up to now. It was ridiculous for some upstart Company Lord to underestimate the Merchant King currently reigning as the greatest in the commercial world, but honestly, I had been disappointed in him.

I consider it a major demerit for a merchant to reveal violent emotion in front of someone he has only just met. Yeo Bul-jin had shown a storm of emotion in front of me and the Wudang disciples, and because of that, I had lowered my estimation of him.

But what if he had actually known everything? Then even the display of all that turmoil had only been acting.

“Heh heh heh…”

I laughed while rubbing a chin that had no beard.

Yeo Bul-jin still didn’t know that I had caught on. If so, there was no need to tell him.

“Prince Xian, is it. How could a nameless merchant like me possibly meet His Highness Prince Xian?”

“Naturally, I would have to arrange that. I’ll write you a letter of introduction.”

“Is that so. You’re asking quite the difficult favor. Negotiating with His Highness Prince Xian.”

If the Merchant King and Prince Xian were trading something in secret, then there was no doubt it was likely an extraordinary treasure of which only a few existed in the world. In such a case, the price would be whatever one could get. One procured the item first and only then set the price.

Naturally, the most important thing was negotiating that price. No matter how rare an object might be, merchants ultimately speak through price. Right now, the Merchant King was entrusting me with the most important part.

“But shouldn’t you give me the information necessary to set that price?”

“A peerless treasure. I’d like you to bring back the highest possible price.”

Yeo Bul-jin said it in a firm voice. In other words, he wasn’t going to tell me.

“I won’t ask how much effort you put into obtaining it, Merchant King. But at least tell me what kind of object it is.”

“It wouldn’t be fun if I told you now.”

“Then would it be acceptable if I sold it for a single copper coin?”

“If it’s not a figure that satisfies me, I won’t lend you the distribution network.”

“Then even if I bring back the highest price possible, all you have to do is say you’re dissatisfied, isn’t that right?”

“Look here, I’m not a prankster like you. Just as a sword is a martial artist’s pride, words are a merchant’s pride.”

I let out a low hum. I too knew that Yeo Bul-jin wasn’t the type to do something cowardly.

“Of course, whether you believe me is your…”

“Very well.”

When I accepted readily, Yeo Bul-jin’s eyes widened.

“You’re spending less time thinking it over than I expected. From your perspective, this is an unfair deal.”

I grinned. This was probably Yeo Bul-jin’s test to see the size of my vessel.

In my previous life, Yeo Bul-jin had been a merchant who never abandoned the proper path even in hardship. It was fortunate that I knew that much. If I hadn’t, I would have hesitated greatly. Unintentionally, I had made my vessel look larger than it really was.

“Could it be that you’re placing too much faith in the value of my name? If so, that would disappoint me instead.”

“If words are the sword, then judgment is internal energy. I merely judged based on what I saw.”

I smiled.

“Of course, whether you believe me is up to the Merchant King.”

“Heh heh. You’re not an easy young man.”

The elders’ eyes were darting back and forth. To martial artists, it probably looked like we were exchanging moves. They too were fine merchants, so they could surely see the blade hidden in the shadow of words.

“Then I’ll take that as acceptance.”

“Very well. It’s difficult, but I’ll do it.”

It was not just difficult, but absurd. To tell me to sell an object I knew nothing about.

I knew this was Yeo Bul-jin’s test. Otherwise, there would be no reason to send me to Prince Xian.

He had acted because he didn’t know whether I was connected to the government, to Prince Xian, or to Yeo Hong-won. And to find that out, he was sending me to Prince Xian.

Even so, being able to borrow the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s distribution network for three years was simply too attractive an offer.

“Will no one from the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company be accompanying me?”

I tried laying a little bait. But Yeo Bul-jin laughed as if to ask what nonsense I was talking about.

“If I were sending someone from the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company, why would I entrust it to you? Naturally, you’ll have to transport it entirely by your own strength.”

“Ah, I see.”

That differed somewhat from what I had expected. I had thought he’d attach someone under the pretense of an escort to keep watch on me. Though he could always assign someone secretly.

It was certain that there was some ulterior motive behind sending me to Prince Xian, but exactly what he was plotting would require more watching.

“Good. Then let’s end this discussion here. This is a banquet, not a place to discuss business.”

“Before we begin the banquet, may I discuss one last business matter?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like an advance on our salt. Not much, just about one-tenth of the expected sales profit.”

“An advance, is it. Very well. I’ll have it prepared for you when you leave.”

As expected, a great magnate was different. This was thirty thousand geun of salt, yet he was giving me an advance. If it had been another merchant company, they would at least have needed time to think it over, but the Merchant King was different.

“Then shall we begin the banquet?”

Yeo Bul-jin clapped his hands. At once, beauties striking enough to make the eyes brighten came up over the stone platform. Some of them carried dishes, while others carried instruments.

The Daoists of Wudang all stiffened. The sounds of the pipa and zither wrapped around the pavilion. The banquet had begun.

* * *

They say there are people who draw energy from being around others, and conversely, people who feel their energy drained when surrounded by others.

Since I was a merchant, I naturally belonged to the group that drew energy from people, while my Senior Brothers, who had lived in the mountains, belonged to the group whose energy was drained.

So on the day after the banquet ended, our complexions were utterly different. My skin had become so radiant it practically glowed, while my Senior Brothers looked like walking skeletons.

It wasn’t as though the revelry had been vulgar. Because there were Daoists present, the Merchant King had limited the courtesans to music and pouring drinks. Fortunately, I didn’t particularly enjoy that sort of thing anyway. Even so, my Senior Brothers had had their energy drained merely by being around incense and perfume.

“I had a wonderful time.”

“Travel well. Is there no need to check the advance?”

“Checking an advance in front of you would be an insult, Elder.”

“Thank you for seeing it that way. Please handle Gansu well.”

“Of course. We’ll stop by Wudang first and depart right away.”

There was a small box in my bosom. That small box contained the item the Merchant King had asked me to deliver all the way to Gansu. I desperately wanted to open it, but it was well sealed, so I couldn’t.

“Travel well, Daoists.”

“…Yes.”

So we left the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company with the Merchant King seeing us off.

The road from Nanjing through Anhui and back to Hubei. Since Namgung Hwi had invited me, I had considered stopping by the Namgung Clan to rest, but my Senior Brothers wanted to return to Wudang as quickly as possible, even if it meant sleeping rough. The banquet at the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company must really have been that devastating to them.

Then again, it had been only a merchant-company banquet, yet there had been fireworks, an orchestra, fine wine, and excellent food. It had been dazzlingly extravagant. The Daoists of Wudang, who had lived frugally all their lives, could hardly help feeling dizzy.

There were some incidents on the way. We ran into Green Forest bandits, but when Myeong-yeop glared at them with hollow eyes while letting his momentum flare, the mountain bandits simply fled in terror.

That was how we arrived back at Wudang. This trading expedition had meant a great deal not only to the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, but to Wudang as well.

It had been Wudang’s first entry into the commercial world, and it had also shown the younger disciples the raw jianghu.

“You’re back.”

Standing in front of the mountain gate were Sect Leader Cheong-ui, Master Cheong-hwa, Martial Uncle Cheong-yu, and the others.

“How did you know when we’d arrive and wait here like this?”

“Waiting for disciples to return after growing is a joyful thing. But…”

Cheong-ui’s eyes fell on my Senior Brothers behind me. All of them were skin and bones, with hollow eyes, looking as if they had returned from working in a mine.

“Did you take the disciples to some brothel or another?”

Cheong-yu shot the question at me. Honestly, I couldn’t really blame him for it. If I were him, I might have thought the same thing.

“N-no, of course not. A brothel? What are you saying?”

The one who jumped in protest was Myeong-yeop. It was only natural for him to feel wronged when he had stood still and somehow become a man of pleasure.

“Then why do they all look like that?”

“If I’d taken them to a brothel, do you think I’d have brought the younger ones too?”

I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

“Ahem. So you haven’t rotted that far after all.”

“Of course not. What do you take me for? It’s just that the journey by carriage was exhausting.”

“Ah. That would do it.”

Only then did the Martial Uncles’ misunderstanding clear up. Martial artists normally moved by qinggong, so they had no reason to ride carriages. But to keep pace with a trade caravan, you had to ride in one, and that brought motion sickness.

“Then the disciples should go in and rest first, and Hui-yeong, you come to Three Purities Hall for a moment.”

“Yes.”

At Cheong-ui’s call, I turned around and announced the end of the journey. In truth, there wasn’t much to wrap up. In any case, there was no way we could haul thirty thousand geun of salt back with this number of people.

Salt peddlers who moved it by cart were small individual traders. Merchant companies like ours moved it in groups by salt barge. Under normal circumstances, I would have stored it in a warehouse, sounded out places to sell it, and then sent out a salt ship, but since the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company had agreed to sell it for us, I could ignore it for the time being.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

“You worked hard!”

“Those who participated in this trade journey, report to the chief foreman and receive your expedition stipends.”

“Yes!”

The company members slipped into the company headquarters in perfect order.

“They follow you well.”

Cheong-ui said it with a hint of admiration. I smiled awkwardly.

“Not compared to the Sect Leader.”

“I’m not saying it lightly. Leading people is much harder than it looks. I made many mistakes at first as well. But you handle it with the ease of someone who’s done it many times.”

That was because I really had done it many times. Just as Cheong-ui said, I too had gone through many trials and errors in the beginning.

I had ruled my subordinates through fear, and I had blinded myself with immediate gain and underpaid them as well. But in the end, efficiency was best when subordinates wanted to work of their own accord.

So all I had to do was determine whether the person in front of me would slack off if I paid him well and treated him comfortably or not.

“It makes me curious all of a sudden. What do you think is the most necessary thing in leading people?”

“Respect.”

“Hah. That’s not the answer I expected.”

“What answer were you expecting?”

“Money, of course. What else?”

I smiled. It seemed Cheong-ui still had strong preconceptions about merchants. Which was half correct, to be fair. Merchants were people obsessed with money.

“Money is only part of respect. If you say you respect someone but pay him poorly, that’s deceit.”

“That’s true enough.”

“There’s a reason they say a man will die for the one who knows him. Men in particular are creatures who die for recognition.”

“A good insight.”

“Then what do you think, Sect Leader?”

“The Dao.”

“That’s cheating. You’re using an unbeatable technique.”

Cheong-ui laughed heartily. By now I knew there was nothing more foolish than asking about someone’s Dao, so I let it pass. In any case, the Dao in each person’s heart was different.

When I looked at Cheong-ui beside me, he truly had the bones of an immortal. Anyone who reached mastery in something eventually radiated a style of his own.

But that style didn’t last all that long.

“…So what is this?”

“A banknote.”

Cheong-ui trembled. His whole body shook, so the banknote in his hand shook as well.

“It looks like it says one thousand taels of silver.”

“Yes, that’s right. I only wrote you a banknote for the minimum amount for now. Roughly speaking, I have thirty thousand seok of salt, and at about one tael of silver per five seok, that gives six thousand taels in revenue. Subtract two thousand taels in costs and that leaves four thousand taels in profit. Divide that eight to two, and Wudang’s share comes to eight hundred taels.”

“Then why is it one thousand?”

“Two hundred taels is a donation. Please use it as you see fit, Sect Leader.”

“…C-cough. I can scarcely keep up with the thought.”

“You can follow a lightning-fast sword, but you can’t keep up with one simple calculation like this?”

Cheong-ui was sweating profusely. Which was understandable. The most Wudang had earned from the warehouse business was around two hundred taels of silver.

But that had at least required effort on Wudang’s part. This time, one thousand taels had simply rolled in while they sat still. Only now did Cheong-ui seem to truly realize what it meant to cooperate with the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.

“To think such an enormous sum would come in all at once…”

“Wudang is changing too.”

I smiled. The reason I had deliberately added those extra two hundred taels. I wanted Cheong-ui to start working money. Even if I were gone, I wanted Wudang to be able to survive on its own in this brutal commercial world.

But it seemed Cheong-ui still had a long way to go before reaching the level I wanted. Judging by the way he had his hand on his chest and was breathing hard.

“This is insane…”

Cheong-ui’s dazed voice echoed through the Sect Leader’s chamber in Three Purities Hall.