Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 55 - I Am a Merchant Company (1)

Chapter 55 – I Am a Merchant Company (1)

===================

Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

I immediately called Jo Chung-heon to Hubei. Matters like this had to be reported face to face.

In any case, Wudang was busy with the Taiji Sword Guardians test, and since I was a lay disciple, if I had only Cheong-hwa’s permission, I could leave the main sect.

The moment I stepped outside the main sect, I saw Jo Chung-heon, his clothes covered in dust. Since he had come by changing horses, he likely hadn’t had a moment to rest.

“It seems the journey was hard.”

“Not at all. I’ll go straight to the point.”

Jo Chung-heon spoke as he dismounted from his horse.

“Right now, people are refusing to meet with the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

“Refusing to meet with us?”

“Yes. Let me explain in more detail.”

Jo Chung-heon continued. He said that at first he’d gone to Hangzhou and Suzhou and had been building a distribution network without issue.

There was no way it couldn’t have gone smoothly. That was because I had set the commissions paid to distributors nearly at the maximum. Part of it was because we were latecomers without existing ties to the publishing houses, but I judged that if they simply sold the goods, they could earn more than enough beyond that.

The problem, he said, arose suddenly. The publishers who had been easy to deal with all began refusing communication at once.

Since even the ones whose acquaintance he’d already made refused to speak, there was no need to mention those with whom he hadn’t made any acquaintance. In the end, even places where the contracts had been just short of signing were canceled, and his trip to Suzhou and Hangzhou ended with nothing gained at all.

Smiling, I cut in.

“Have you considered that this might simply be a problem of the foreman’s ability?”

“I did consider that. But it wasn’t a problem of my ability.”

It had been a joke, but he took it seriously. Then again, now that I thought about it, Jo Chung-heon had always had a serious personality even in my previous life.

“I gave a few coins to a beggar I knew in Suzhou and asked what sort of rumors were going around in the commercial world. Sure enough, word had spread widely telling people not to deal with the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company. They said severe retaliation would follow.”

“Then there must be someone behind the rumor. Did you hear where the retaliation was supposed to come from?”

“That much I lacked the ability to find out. It looked like the Beggars’ Sect knew, but somehow they wouldn’t tell me.”

“You were more than capable. You did everything that needed doing.”

“Pardon?”

Jo Chung-heon tilted his head as if he thought he’d misheard. But I was sincere. As foreman, Jo Chung-heon had done everything, no, more than everything.

How could an incompetent foreman possibly know the Suzhou branch of the Beggars’ Sect, or be able to deal with them? On top of that, he’d even picked up by instinct that the Beggars’ Sect knew but was refusing to say anything. At this level, he’d practically boiled the meat and spoon-fed it into my mouth.

Of course, even without the clues Jo Chung-heon brought me, I already roughly knew what force was checking us.

“The Zhuge Clan.”

“The Zhuge Clan? Why does the Zhuge Clan suddenly come into this?”

Jo Chung-heon looked bewildered.

“The Zhuge Clan is behind the Wuhan Merchant Association.”

“…Is that so.”

I’d heard it from the Provincial Councillor in the Provincial Administration Commission, but I hadn’t spread it. Probably not many people in the world knew that the Zhuge Clan stood behind the Wuhan Merchant Association.

Even so, Jo Chung-heon immediately began turning his thoughts as befitted a capable foreman.

“If the Zhuge Clan truly stands behind the Wuhan Merchant Association, then the only force that could be checking the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company would be the Zhuge Clan.”

“Why did you think so?”

“Because your side has a debt and grievance from the fact that you revived the East Lake Merchant Association. Because they are a giant force that can extend its influence all the way to Suzhou. Because they possess the force needed to retaliate. And because it perfectly explains why the Beggars’ Sect knows but won’t say.”

“A perfect answer without a single wasted part.”

I clapped my hands. It was an answer that matched my own thoughts exactly.

Though I was smiling, worry had settled over Jo Chung-heon’s face.

“Then shall I go to the Zhuge Clan myself?”

“And do what when you get there?”

“What else can I do? I’ll have to kneel, if it comes to that.”

“Ha.”

I let out a dry laugh. From Jo Chung-heon’s point of view, it was only natural to think that easing the Zhuge Clan’s anger was the orthodox course. For the weak to bow to the strong was the natural order, whether among martial artists or merchants.

Leaving that aside, seeing him willing to kneel for the sake of a merchant company he’d hardly spent any time in made me once again recognize his loyalty.

“That won’t be necessary. Even if I go myself, they might or might not open the gate for me. If you go as foreman, you’ll only be turned away at the door.”

“I suppose so. Then there is no method. Especially for printers and publishers, there is no way they can ignore the Zhuge Clan.”

I nodded. The Zhuge Clan was a place with many literary men. As such, they were major patrons and great hands in the publishing world. There was no way ordinary publishers would take that risk when such people were blocking the road.

“Then what do you intend to do?”

“Who knows. What shall I do?”

I smiled. Jo Chung-heon furrowed his brow, as if unable to understand why I could smile in a situation like this.

Jo Chung-heon didn’t understand because he didn’t know that in my previous life, I had gone through this kind of underhanded obstruction countless times.

***

After speaking to Cheong-hwa, I left Jun County. By now, among the lay disciples, I had become one of those who moved freely in and out of the main sect.

My merchant company was going to truly begin growing now, and there would be more and more matters that needed my attention, so I couldn’t remain tied to the main sect forever. In any case, the only task given to me right now was to master the Flowing Cloud Sword Art. It wasn’t a situation where I particularly needed another person’s guidance. What I needed was sword talent.

The moment I entered Wuhan, I went to the Wuhan branch of the All-Under-Heaven Merchant Company and exchanged the promissory note for money. Since a man in shabby martial clothes had shown up carrying a note for one thousand nyang of silver, I was naturally met with suspicious looks, and they took time verifying that it wasn’t forged.

Since it had come from the Sect Leader of Wudang, it was naturally not forged, and after receiving an apology from the branch master of the All-Under-Heaven Merchant Company, I took the one thousand nyang of silver and left.

[ Sword Talent (Low Grade) – 6th Grade ]

[ Price: Seven Hundred Nyang of Silver ]

First, I bought Sword Talent (Low Grade). Seven hundred out of a thousand nyang was a large sum, but I absolutely had to buy sword talent if I wanted to master the Flowing Cloud Sword Art. I briefly considered buying higher-grade talent while I was at it, but Sword Talent (Middle Grade) was 5th Grade and cost three thousand nyang of silver, which was far beyond even dreaming of.

[ Talents of the same type cannot be equipped simultaneously. Purchase anyway? ]

The moment I thought that I would buy it, my purse became a little lighter. Seven hundred nyang of silver had simply vanished. When I opened my money pouch, exactly three hundred nyang remained. It truly was exact calculation.

The talents I was currently wearing were as follows:

8th Grade Sturdy Body.

7th Grade Swift Movement.

6th Grade Sword Talent (Low Grade).

5th Grade Unyielding.

After some testing, I found that I could equip up to five talents at once. That meant I still had one more talent slot I could use, but I decided to leave it open. It was a place to fill later when a talent I truly needed appeared.

After buying sword talent, I went to the East Lake Merchant Association. That was because all the buildings I’d bought on the outskirts of Wuhan were being used as warehouses, while the place where we actually did office work was a rented empty room in the East Lake Merchant Association’s building. Of course, it was being lent to us for free.

“Oh. You’ve come.”

The moment I arrived at the East Lake Merchant Association, Song Hwan-yeong, its Association Master, welcomed me. The dark circles under his eyes were still there, but the vitality of the man himself was completely different.

Being tired from having too much work and being worn down with worry because there was no work were entirely different matters.

“It seems the association is expanding its strength well.”

“It isn’t what it used to be, but at least we’re working. Even that alone leaves me endlessly grateful to you.”

“It’s all right. You’re already helping enough just by lending us a room for free.”

“Heh heh. Isn’t that only natural?”

Song Hwan-yeong laughed heartily and thumped my back a few times, then suddenly changed expression.

“Ah. But I heard there are bastards interfering with the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company these days? You haven’t even properly begun doing business yet, so whoever’s doing that is going too far.”

“It’s the Zhuge Clan.”

“Exactly. Those bastards can chew on… Hm? The Zhuge Clan?”

Startled, Song Hwan-yeong trotted after me as I headed toward the room where the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company’s people were.

“Could it be that thing? I heard some lay disciple of Wudang absolutely smashed a direct-line child of the Zhuge Clan. Was that you, by any chance?”

“And how did you hear that? Yes, it was.”

“I overheard some martial-world gossips talking about it in a pleasure house.”

Rumors really did travel fast. My name itself hadn’t become known, but what mattered was the fact that a lay disciple of Wudang had beaten a direct-line child of the Zhuge Clan, so there was nothing strange about it spreading that way.

“Then are they taking revenge because of that? Those Zhuge Clan fellows really are petty.”

To be exact, this had happened because I’d rejected Zhuge Yan’s proposal, but there was no reason to explain that.

“Anyway, if there’s anything I can do to help, I will, so don’t feel burdened and speak up.”

“Just by not throwing us out of the association, you’re already helping.”

“How could I do that? A man must have trustworthiness.”

Song Hwan-yeong laughed heartily again and returned to his own place. I opened the door to the room where the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company’s people were working.

Since I opened the door without knocking, I got a clear look at the employees in their natural state.

The two errand boys were playing omok, and the clerk was staring blankly at the ceiling with his mouth hanging open. The only one working was Jo Chung-heon, the foreman, who had arrived before I had.

“C-Company Lord!”

One of the errand boys saw me and sprang to his feet in a panic, overturning the board. The stones clattered all over the floor. Only after one black stone rolled to my foot and bumped into it did it finally stop.

The clerk, who had been slumped in his chair, also suddenly straightened his back.

“It’s all right. Carry on with what you were doing.”

This wasn’t their fault. Unlike the foreman, the errand boys and the clerk were people who simply carried out the work given to them. But with the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company’s path entirely blocked off, there was no way there could be work for them to do. That was why they were sitting there absent-mindedly playing around. If one insisted on assigning blame, then it was my fault for rejecting Zhuge Yan’s proposal, so I had no desire to reproach them.

Leaving the embarrassed errand boys and clerk behind, I walked over to Jo Chung-heon.

“How is the organization of the materials I asked for?”

“I’ve just finished it. Please check them.”

Jo Chung-heon held out the papers. They were the pieces of information I’d asked him to gather while we were coming together from Jun County to Wuhan. Looking through them, I nodded. They were arranged very clearly and well.

“But, Company Lord.”

“Yes.”

“Why do we need materials like these?”

“We have to find a breakthrough.”

“What do these have to do with a breakthrough…”

“I’ll handle that myself. The foreman should carry out the foreman’s role.”

“Ah, yes.”

There was no point in explaining it. He wouldn’t understand anyway. This was a method known only to those who’d rolled around in the commercial world until they could roll no more.

Right now, we couldn’t clash with the Zhuge Clan head-on. To clash with a giant force like that, one of two things was necessary.

Money great enough to overwhelm the Zhuge Clan.

Or force great enough to overwhelm the Zhuge Clan.

But if I satisfied either of those two conditions, then the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company would already be a Great House merchant company.

In the end, the only method left was to slip around them this way and that. And that method of slipping this way and that, I had already mastered almost completely in my previous life. That was because, when the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company grew too quickly in my previous life, it received every kind of obstruction imaginable.

‘This much is cute.’

At most, they were only blocking my distribution network. It was such a classic method that it almost made me yawn. The net the Zhuge Clan had woven was full of holes.

I unfolded the papers Jo Chung-heon had given me again. On them, the unorthodox factions in Hubei and its nearby regions had been neatly organized.