Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 42 - Fame (1)

Chapter 42 – Fame (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Jin Mu-byeok had probably brought up the name of the Zhuge Clan in order to pressure me.

If Wudang was the sect that represented Hubei, then the Zhuge Clan was the family that represented Hubei.

The two were both orthodox forces that respected each other and almost never clashed. So he had probably meant that, for Wudang’s sake as well, I should stop stirring up the Wuhan Merchant Association any further.

Of course, I had no intention of pressing the Wuhan Merchant Association any harder either. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Song Hwan-yeong, but if the Wuhan Merchant Association disappeared completely, the East Lake Merchant Association would stagnate and rot as well. A certain level of competition was necessary for mutual prosperity.

In this situation, learning that the Zhuge Clan stood behind the Wuhan Merchant Association was a considerable gain. I knew how viciously the Zhuge Clan would one day dominate Hubei’s commercial sphere. At the very least, I needed either to build the strength to oppose them or flee early. Of course, fleeing was not an option for me.

“I did not know the Divine Physician of Hubei was so deeply versed in martial arts as well.”

“Jeon Gil-sang was just weak.”

“How could that be?”

I told the truth plainly, but Jeon Gil-sang’s high reputation made even that sound like humility.

At any rate, the traffic control between the East Lake Merchant Association and the Wuhan Merchant Association was swiftly resolved through official mediation. There was hardly even anything to call mediation. The Wuhan Merchant Association had been oppressing the East Lake Merchant Association out of greed, and all that happened was a natural process of returning things to where they belonged.

“Then the merchant companies under the East Lake Merchant Association can now prepare to work again, I take it.”

“But the association itself has shrunk far too much to begin with, so we’ll have to treat it as starting over.”

“Do you currently have enough personnel?”

“A lot of people leaked away, but the association also shrank by that much, so there is some breathing room. To be honest, up to now the East Lake Merchant Association had no work worth paying wages for. I just gave the ones who remained a little something because I was grateful they stayed.”

“I see. Then how would it be if those people were shifted to work at our merchant company?”

“Ah. You said you founded a merchant company too. Then that would actually be good. If it’s you, I can trust it.”

By now Song Hwan-yeong already regarded me as a benefactor. In truth, since I had helped the East Lake Merchant Association breathe again, I really was one.

“How many people do you need? I don’t really know the scale of your merchant company.”

“I think two errand-boy level people for miscellaneous work, one clerk-level person to handle accounts, and one foreman-level person who can oversee and organize all that and report to me should be enough.”

“That’s clean. It’s best to start like that. If your enthusiasm gets ahead of you and you hire too many people, labor costs only grow.”

“Exactly.”

Honestly, if the Wuhan Merchant Association had only accepted me, I would’ve hired from the Wuhan Merchant Association. But by now, the relationship between the Wuhan Merchant Association and me was beyond repair. Still, they had brought that on themselves.

“What was the name of your merchant company again?”

“The Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

“Ah, your name was Muk Hui-yeong, wasn’t it. It’s a good name.”

“Thank you.”

“Ahem, then if you’ll be running a merchant company in Hubei from now on…”

“Of course. I should join the East Lake Merchant Association.”

Song Hwan-yeong and I laughed at the same time. Having already fallen out with the Wuhan Merchant Association, I had no real place else to go.

For now, since my merchant company was still small, it was much better to belong to an association. Only inside an association could I hear news from the commercial world faster and, when necessary, borrow manpower.

“Then we’d be grateful. I’ll waive your admission fee.”

“I can pay an admission fee much like that.”

“No matter how difficult the association’s circumstances are, we can’t take money from a benefactor. Just by helping revive the association, you’ve already done something worth more than the admission fee.”

“Ha ha. If you insist.”

It was pleasant to hear. After talking only with martial artists for so long, speaking with a merchant again felt like I was finally having a proper conversation. Wasn’t this sort of give-and-take the essence of commerce? This was not merely equal exchange, but the realm of mutual benefit.

The admission fee alone was easily more than ten nyang of silver, so even that counted as a modest gain. But more than the fee, the greater gain was confirming the trust of Song Hwan-yeong, the Association Master of the East Lake Merchant Association.

The East Lake Merchant Association still had enough framework left in it that they readily found me about four people.

“So the Company Lord is the Divine Physician of Hubei. I will do my best.”

“I never knew the Divine Physician of Hubei possessed martial skill enough to beat Jeon Gil-sang.”

Perhaps Song Hwan-yeong had put some care into it, because the people he found all looked fairly competent.

Especially, regardless of the others, I was surprised when I saw the one who had come as the foreman, a managerial rank within a merchant company.

“I am Jo Chung-heon, who will be serving as foreman at the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company from now on.”

When more than ten thousand people worked for a merchant company, it was classified as a Great House. That was why there were not many Great House merchant companies in all the Central Plains, and the Imperial Court would audit them directly.

When I raised the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company to the level of a Great House, there had been twelve Great House merchant companies in the Central Plains. At that time, in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, there was a Great House merchant company called the South Gate Merchant Company. And Jo Chung-heon had been the one serving there as general manager.

Before seeing him in person, I had only wondered if it might be the same man because the name matched, but after seeing his face, though he looked somewhat younger, he was indeed the man I knew. I did not know how a man from Hubei had ended up all the way in Guangdong to become a general manager, but merchants moved from region to region for a living, so it was not all that unusual.

And from now on, the future where Jo Chung-heon would go to Guangdong had vanished. It was hard to find people you could trust while running a merchant company. Jo Chung-heon had been famed in the South Gate Merchant Company as both loyal and capable. I had even failed several times in my previous life while trying to lure him into the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.

In my previous life, he had been talent I could only drool over from afar, and now he had accidentally come under me. I had no intention of letting him go. No matter his circumstances, I intended to give him the best treatment in the industry and make him settle in.

“But, Company Lord. This salary seems rather high compared to my career…”

“It’s fine. I should treat my own people well.”

“I haven’t shown you anything here yet.”

“You will show me in the future, so it’s fine.”

Jo Chung-heon scratched his head. From his point of view, this had to be bewildering. It was not easy to give this much trust after seeing a face only once. If I had not known Jo Chung-heon’s future, I would not have invested like this either.

“…Thank you. Then I will work hard so as not to be ashamed of this salary.”

“That would be good. Still, take it a little easy.”

“How could I possibly do that?”

There were people who could do that, and people who could not. And I knew Jo Chung-heon to be one of the latter, which was why I said it.

I simply smiled while looking at Jo Chung-heon. As for the others, I also set their salaries at the top level in the industry.

The errand boys, the clerk, and even Jo Chung-heon, who had come as foreman, were all startled when they heard their pay. Labor costs were expensive, but compared to the money they would earn in the future, it was trivial. If you tried to save small things, you lost big things. And if you wanted to seize something, your hands had to be empty.

“What our merchant company will be doing from now on is simple. We will sell the Green Forest Twelve Forms in the warehouse this coming spring, after winter passes.”

“The warehouse was full of Green Forest Twelve Forms. Shouldn’t we start selling them even now? The Green Forest Twelve Forms may be a manual famous among commoners, but that doesn’t mean it’s a book that sells well universally. And its price isn’t seasonal…”

“It will be.”

“Pardon?”

“If we sell them in spring, we can sell them at a higher price. It may sound like nonsense, but for now, please do as I say.”

Jo Chung-heon looked as if he had much to say.

For the clerk and the errand boys, they only had to do their own work regardless of business direction. But a foreman was management, so he could also suggest the direction of the business. In that sense, he looked like he wanted to stop me out of concern, but since I, the Company Lord, was pressing the matter this strongly, there was little more he could say. Giving proper, direct advice was one virtue of subordinates, but trusting and following was just as much a virtue.

“Foreman.”

“Yes.”

“Please trust me and follow.”

When I repeated myself that far, Jo Chung-heon finally nodded.

“Because I will not be stationed at the merchant company to work, the foreman’s role is important.”

“Yes. I heard that from the Association Master as well. He told me to take special care.”

“Yes, yes. Until spring comes, Foreman, what you should do is meet with publishers as much as possible and establish a distribution network.”

“If it’s the publishing trade, then I suppose we will have to go to Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Understood.”

I grinned. Zhejiang had Hangzhou, and Jiangsu had Nanjing and Suzhou.

From old times, they said there were four places where the books of the world gathered: Beijing in Hebei, Hangzhou in Zhejiang, and Nanjing and Suzhou in Jiangsu. Since he knew the flow of the trade, he understood me immediately. With capable subordinates like that, work moved forward easily.

“I have deposited the merchant company’s operating funds in the Wuhan Money House. Clerk, when you use funds, please record the source and amount clearly, and you errand boys as well, please support the foreman and the clerk properly. I will now be returning to Wudang, so if anything urgent comes up, send a message to Wudang.”

“Yes. Understood.”

That was how I fired the opening shot of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company’s revival. No one knew it yet, but before long everyone would know the name Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.

***

After finishing my instructions, I returned to the inn in Wuhan. In the courtyard of the inn, Myeong-gyeong was swinging his sword. The moment he saw me from a distance, his lower lip jutted out.

“I was unbelievably bored.”

“My apologies, Senior Brother. Shall we go?”

“Back to the main sect?”

Myeong-gyeong’s expression brightened immediately. Children’s expressions were easy to read, which was nice.

“Yes.”

“No, wait a second. But didn’t you say you were coming out to visit home? When are you going home?”

The cheerful Myeong-gyeong suddenly prodded me in a sore spot. Sorry, but saying I would visit home had only been an excuse. I had come out to work on merchant-company matters, not with any intention of going home.

“Ah. I don’t think I can go home. I already sent word.”

“When?”

“I stopped by while I was separated from you for a bit, Senior Brother.”

Myeong-gyeong gave me a suspicious look. This was why I hated sharp little brats. Naturally, I had not sent any word home. But since Myeong-gyeong had no way to verify it, he had no choice but to let it go.

“Well, fine. We need to train martial arts again quickly anyway.”

“You train every day already.”

Contrary to Myeong-gyeong’s grumbling, whether we slept at an inn or out in the open, we got up at dawn and trained. In the midst of that, Myeong-gyeong corrected my fist techniques and sword techniques. I was already better at swordsmanship to begin with, but Myeong-gyeong still insisted on teaching me. It seemed he considered that the duty of a senior brother.

At any rate, that martial training too had shown some progress. Perhaps it was the effect of Unyielding, but it felt as if I had developed tenacity even when training. Even the fist techniques and kicking arts that I would’ve wanted to throw aside in the past, I kept clinging to now. No matter how little talent I had, perhaps there were still things effort alone could do, because even Myeong-gyeong said I had improved.

“Still, since you’ve come out after so long, your parents must be disappointed.”

“Only my father is there. My mother passed away long ago.”

“…Ah, really? Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“If your father is alone, shouldn’t you go even more?”

Unexpectedly, Myeong-gyeong was hung up on my family. Children’s capacity for empathy was hard to understand. I shook my head.

“It’s fine. Father doesn’t even know I came out.”

I felt sorry toward my father, but when I thought of him, who in my previous life had already passed away, my heart did not really stir or race with anything in particular. That was because my father and I had not actually been that close.

“Junior Brother.”

“Yes?”

“Family is precious.”

Unexpectedly, Myeong-gyeong spoke in a serious tone. Of course, however serious a child tried to sound, how serious could it really be. But at least among all the Myeong-gyeongs I had seen, this was the most serious.

Did he think giving advice like that was also part of a senior brother’s duty? I merely smiled and let it pass.

The face of my father that rose to mind was blurry. Since, by my memory, it had already been over twenty years since he died, that was only natural.

“Let’s go.”

Was it because I had heard Myeong-gyeong’s words? Somehow, for that reason alone, I felt as though I had committed a kind of unfilial act, and it did not feel good.

That was how we left Wuhan and headed for Jun County, where Wudang stood. It was Wudang, to which I was returning after a long time.