Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 130 - Cleanup (1)

Chapter 130 – Cleanup (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Then at present, the merchant company most actively operating in Gansu would be the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company, correct?”

“That is right.”

Prince Xian looked at Muk Hui-yeong with an uneasy expression. He truly was an incomprehensible fellow.

At first he had seemed no more than a subordinate merchant errand-runner sent by Yeo Bul-jin, yet all at once he overturned the whole board. No mere courier could ever have done such a thing.

On top of that, he had defeated even the Eastern Depot’s Superintendent, who would be considered a master even in the martial world. Most important of all was the demonic qi whose source could not be discerned.

The imperial palace was more aggressive than any sect in collecting martial manuals. Powers and martial arts unknown to them could become the seeds of rebellion.

In that sense, when the Demonic Cult was annihilated, it was the imperial palace that made many copied versions of the Demonic Cult’s manuals. Of course, if any private individual not of the imperial palace copied a Demonic Cult manual, he would immediately be condemned to an extreme punishment.

Yet even in that imperial palace, he had never seen a cultivation method that handled demonic qi like that. If such a thing had existed in the imperial palace, he would have learned it himself. What kind of past Muk Hui-yeong had lived through to possess such demonic qi, he could not guess.

“And which merchant company holds the next largest share after that?”

“The Yunchang Merchant Company.”

“Ah. The Yunchang Merchant Company.”

Muk Hui-yeong briefly grew a little sentimental. But that lasted only for a moment.

“So Your Highness has ties with the Shanxi merchants as well.”

“Shanxi is closer to Gansu than Anhui is. In truth, if not for Yeo Hong-won, there would have been no need for me to become entangled with Huizhou merchants at all.”

“I see. Then what about merchants of Hubei?”

“Merchants of Hubei?”

“Me. Me.”

Muk Hui-yeong shamelessly pointed a finger at himself.

Seeing him grin while saying that, he truly was a merchant through and through. In any case, he certainly was a curious man of many sides.

“You mean, clear the way for you to do business in Gansu?”

“Exactly.”

“But you may simply enter and do business. I think free competition among merchant companies is better for the livelihood of the people. Once the government starts meddling, abuses inevitably appear.”

“That is true. But we don’t want to compete.”

Prince Xian looked at Muk Hui-yeong as if staring at a lunatic. Muk Hui-yeong smiled and continued.

“There is one place that does not compete, isn’t there?”

Only then did Prince Xian understand what Muk Hui-yeong meant.

“You mean government procurement supplies?”

“Exactly.”

Government procurement supplies were certainly somewhat removed from competition, since the government directly chose the supplier. Of course, there were provinces that tried to be fair and put even procurement supplies up for open bidding, but in most cases they were simply entrusted to merchant companies that had proven reliable.

On top of that, the quantity of procurement supplies for the whole province of Gansu was by no means small. An ordinary merchant company would not even dare place a bid. If one made a mistake while doing business with a government office, one could end up in prison.

“At present, the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company is handling the procurement supplies too, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“We will take that over.”

“That is not as easy as it sounds.”

Prince Xian showed open difficulty. Muk Hui-yeong nodded.

“I know. It would worsen Your Highness’s relationship with the retired merchant king and the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company, and it would basically smear ink all over Young Master Yeo Hong-won’s face.”

“To be honest, that matters little to me. A retired merchant king is, at the end of the day, still only a merchant. But can a mere company lord like you bear the wrath of the retired merchant king?”

“Why, of course.”

The way Muk Hui-yeong said that as though it were nothing left Prince Xian speechless.

“To begin with, does your merchant company even possess the distribution network to handle procurement for the entirety of Gansu Province? If it did, I would at least have heard the name of your company.”

“That’s all right. We’ll use the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s distribution network.”

Prince Xian was rendered speechless. It truly was a spectacle. He meant to seize away the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s lifeline of money, then use the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s own distribution network besides. At this point, it was not even fantasy. It was plain madness.

“Even if I know little of the commercial world, isn’t that too nonsensical?”

“It’s all right. I already received the retired merchant king’s permission to use the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s distribution network.”

“Even if that were so, what person would allow that if it meant using their own network to steal their own livelihood?”

“That’s the amusing part. Watching the one who took his livelihood trample his distribution network. Isn’t that funny?”

Muk Hui-yeong grinned as if the thought alone amused him.

Prince Xian truly could not understand what Muk Hui-yeong was thinking. Of course, this was simply not something Prince Xian could understand.

The retired merchant king had made Muk Hui-yeong sell the Taiji Wisdom Sword, and thus forced him to swallow bitter water first. Muk Hui-yeong was exacting revenge for that.

“Your Highness knows it too, does he not. The Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company can be replaced, but a man like me cannot.”

Muk Hui-yeong thumped his own chest with confidence. Annoying though it was, it was true.

Certainly, in the plan being prepared, a man possessing demonic qi of so high an order would be of immense help. And as far as Prince Xian knew, Muk Hui-yeong was the only one of his kind.

“Then let us do it that way. I will speak to the Ministry of Revenue.”

“Thank you.”

“However, if just because I show you this convenience you fail to maintain the quality of the procurement goods, I will replace you without mercy. Procurement goods concern the livelihood of the people.”

“Naturally. There won’t be a word of complaint.”

Muk Hui-yeong was all smiles. Then again, taking charge of the procurement supplies for the entire Province of Gansu was not merely a burden for a newly founded merchant company. It was practically impossible.

But Muk Hui-yeong had already expanded the size of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, and he had also secured the retired merchant king’s promise to lend him the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s distribution network. Of course, the retired merchant king would never even have dreamed it would be used in this way.

If the retired merchant king tried to withdraw his promise to lend the distribution network, that too would be exactly the situation Muk Hui-yeong wanted. It would let him shatter the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s credibility itself.

The consignment sale of the salt, and the promise regarding the distribution network, had all already been documented in writing. Matters of that scale could not be handled by spoken agreement alone.

Moreover, the Daoists of Wudang who had attended that discussion were there as witnesses. If the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company tried to brand even the Daoists of Wudang as liars, they would have to shut down business in Hubei entirely.

Of course, there was one problem. The retired merchant king had clearly said he would lend the distribution network if the amount gained from selling the Taiji Wisdom Sword proved satisfactory. But Muk Hui-yeong had not sold the Taiji Wisdom Sword at all, so naturally there was no sale price either.

Even so, Muk Hui-yeong had already finished calculating that too.

“The procurement contract is done on a yearly basis, correct?”

“It is. Ah, I cannot break the current contract with the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company in the middle. The penalty would be rather large.”

“Starting next year is sufficient. We also need time to prepare.”

“Then you do not handle matters entirely like a brute.”

“Instead, let’s sign next year’s contract now.”

“That, at least, is simple enough.”

“And by custom the advance payment is one-tenth, correct?”

“That is so.”

For an instant Prince Xian saw Muk Hui-yeong’s eyes turn snake-like. The moment money to be received entered the picture, his eyes became instantly sly.

The total procurement scale of all of Gansu Province was around fifty thousand taels of silver. At this moment, Muk Hui-yeong had signed a contract worth fifty thousand taels. And he had also gained an advance payment of five thousand taels in one lump sum.

The contract went through with the speed of flowing water. Muk Hui-yeong immediately received five thousand taels from the Ministry of Revenue, and the smile on his face when taking the money truly did look happy.

* * *

When I entered the reception hall, Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang were seated there with anxious expressions. The instant I pushed the door open, both of them sprang to their feet.

“How did it go?”

“What part?”

“You went and met His Highness Prince Xian. Nothing happened?”

“A lot happened.”

I cut off the arm of his eunuch guard, threatened Prince Xian in a manner not quite threatening, and signed a contract worth fifty thousand taels of silver. Quite a lot had happened.

“Ah. There’s something I should tell you, by rights.”

“What?”

“Starting next year, the procurement supplies of Gansu Province go to the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

“Huh?”

“The Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company was handling them before.”

“…Can that really happen?”

Yeo Hong-yang’s voice came out blank. As someone of the commercial world, he would know too. Pushing aside a merchant company that had already seized the position was no easy matter. And if the one in that position was the retired merchant king’s Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company, there was no need to say more.

“Well, it doesn’t matter to me much. My eldest brother is in charge of the Gansu side anyway.”

“Right. And we’ll be using the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company’s distribution network too.”

“What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be?”

“It’s all already been discussed with the retired merchant king.”

“I really can’t understand any of this.”

“The world is full of things one can’t understand.”

At my grin, Yeo Hong-yang’s expression twisted, and Myeong-il only stared blankly because he couldn’t follow what I was saying.

“You don’t need to understand that part. What’s important is that you’re the one who takes what belonged to Yeo Hong-won.”

“I’m the one who takes it?”

“That’s right. You have your own faction too, don’t you? If your faction and our company cooperate, how do you think the retired merchant king will see it? He’ll think Yeo Hong-won made a mess, and that you were the one who more or less cleaned it up. That’s how you earn points. Finished.”

“Hoh.”

Yeo Hong-yang nodded as though impressed.

Truly, Yeo Hong-yang had encountered an astonishing fortuitous opportunity. Namely, the fortuitous opportunity called me. It sounds less stylish when I say it out loud myself, so normally I refrain.

But at that moment, Yeo Hong-yang’s expression turned into one of disgust, as though looking at some sort of insect.

“Even so, that’s a bit…”

“Hm?”

“Calling yourself a fortuitous opportunity is a little too much self-consciousness, isn’t it?”

“Did I say that aloud?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Myeong-il, he too was shaking his head, so it seemed I truly had said it. Hm. Signing a fifty-thousand-tael contract must have gotten me too excited.

“Well, it isn’t wrong.”

“…Yes, I suppose having confidence is better than lacking it.”

Thus we joked around a little as we left Lanzhou.

As before, there were still no people in the streets of Lanzhou. Even so, since I had removed the black-path elements led by the Mara Blood Buddha, things should improve considerably.

Once we reached the outskirts of the city, we saw only shabby houses roofed with piles of straw. They looked like houses so poor that one wondered whether anyone truly lived in them. Since there was no sign of people at all, perhaps no one did.

Yet then our eyes caught sight of a little girl lingering at the entrance to the village. Considering that there were no people at all in central Lanzhou even in broad daylight, standing there like that meant the little girl possessed considerable courage.

Of course, there was no particular reason for us to care. The black-path men had all been cleaned up already, so the girl was in no danger.

I was about to pass by just like that. The girl paid no attention to us either. But to my eyes, there was something strangely familiar in the girl’s face.

Before I realized it, I had stopped walking and approached the girl.

“Little miss. Why are you outside at this hour?”

The girl looked up at me. I crouched down so she could see me easily. Only then were her eyes level with mine.

“My little brother hasn’t come home.”

“Your little brother?”

“Yes. About this tall…”

The girl described her younger brother with hand and foot gestures, and only then did I realize where I had seen her face before.

It was the face of the little swindler who had tried to run a pity scam on us. Myeong-il had cut him down when he charged at me.

When I turned around, both Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang seemed to have realized it as well, because their expressions darkened. I looked back at the girl.

“I see. So you’re the sort of older sister who cherishes her younger brother.”

“Cherishes him? No way. It’s only because we need the money he brings back to pay for Mother’s medicine. It’s long past the time he should’ve come back. Who knows what he’s doing out there. Tsk.”

“So you weren’t waiting for your brother. You were waiting for money.”

“Of course! Why would I wait for that brat?”

The little girl planted her hands on her hips and made a displeased face. But the expression was not honest. Siblings that age were often like that.

“So you care for your mother, and your little brother goes out and earns money.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“You’re admirable.”

I stroked the girl’s head. The moment I raised my hand, the girl flinched and tucked her neck in.

“This uncle isn’t that bad.”

“It seems that way. Please understand. Our father used to beat us a lot.”

“Is that so? Then where is your father now?”

“He’s dead. Which is fortunate.”

“That can happen.”

For this once, the girl’s expression was honest. She really did seem to think it was fortunate that her father had died.

I opened my money pouch. I had five thousand taels of silver received from Prince Xian. From it, I pulled out one hundred taels and handed them to the girl. The girl accepted the money in a daze.

“Isn’t this money?”

“It is.”

“Then why are you suddenly giving this to me?”

“Because you’re admirable.”

I smiled deliberately. The girl looked at me as though she could not believe it. Which was understandable. What kind of person gave away one hundred taels of silver out of nowhere on the road?

“Use it for your mother’s treatment. And don’t spend all the rest immediately. Invest it in your future. Learn letters, or a skill, something like that.”

“…Y, you really are giving this to me.”

After receiving the money, the girl bowed repeatedly at me. The more she bowed, the more uncomfortable I felt, so I straightened up from my crouch.

“Then this uncle will be going.”

“W, wait!”

As I was about to leave, the girl grabbed at me.

“At least tell me your name, benefactor. So that later I can come find you and repay you.”

“It’s all right. You don’t have to repay me.”

I stepped away from the girl. When I signaled with my eyes to Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang, they too started walking with heavy steps. The girl did not even dare think of following us.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

From far away, we could hear the little girl shouting.

After walking for some time, I only turned around once the girl had become no more than a dot in the distance. Contrary to her words that she had been waiting for money rather than her brother, she was still lingering at the village entrance.

“This leaves a bad taste.”

When I looked to the side with a bitter smile, both Myeong-il and Yeo Hong-yang were also looking back toward the girl.

“Junior Brother.”

For the first time in a long while, Myeong-il spoke first.

“Yes?”

“If the righteous martial world had managed the black-path properly, wouldn’t things like this not have happened?”

It had been Myeong-il who killed that little boy. His expression was gloomy. It could not be otherwise.

As one lives in the jianghu, all of us come face to face with such things. Times when it is no one’s fault in particular. I could only say what I myself had come to realize.

“Let’s not assign responsibility to unavoidable choices. If you live that way, life becomes unbearably exhausting.”

“Shouldn’t even unintended choices carry responsibility?”

“If you feel this much guilt, then you’ve already suffered enough for it. We didn’t know the child’s circumstances, did we?”

Myeong-il fell silent. It did not seem that any comfort from me would work on him in the current situation. At that moment, the one who opened his mouth was neither Myeong-il nor me, but Yeo Hong-yang.

“Daoist. If you put it that way, then this is also the responsibility of the commercial world.”

“Why does the commercial world come into it?”

“Once merchants earn money, they have a duty to return something to society. Isn’t it because we failed to properly return the money earned in Gansu that people as impoverished as them came to exist?”

“Returning things to society is a merchant’s duty?”

“That is what the imperial palace itself says. They say rich merchants should build academies or schools and raise scholars, and if they do, some taxes will be reduced. But do you think that is merely because of the law? I sincerely believe merchants too should return a certain portion to society.”

Yeo Hong-yang spoke with passion. Even I had not known the full extent of Yeo Hong-yang’s values. He really did possess quite healthy values.

“So in that sense, this is also the fault of the commercial world. How can it be only the fault of the martial world?”

“…Thank you.”

Out of Myeong-il’s mouth came words that seemed the least likely to emerge there. Yeo Hong-yang too seemed slightly startled and stopped speaking.

“Then the conclusion is this.”

I clapped my hands.

“The martial world is at fault, and the commercial world is at fault too.”

“…Right.”

“Then we should go correct that mistake.”

“Go correct it?”

“Of course.”

I turned my head forward again. The little girl was no longer visible now.

“We have to go hand some money to the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company, don’t we?”

I laughed. For some reason, Yeo Hong-yang looked uneasy.