Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 57 - I Am a Merchant Company (3)
Chapter 57 – I Am a Merchant Company (3)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The people seated in the gang leader’s room were all of different kinds. The gang leader and his men all watched me warily, Jo Chung-heon looked frightened by the savage pressure of the black-path men, and I still hadn’t wiped the business smile off my face.
“Business. There are exactly two kinds of people who talk about business.”
“Oh. That’s new to me. What kinds are they?”
“Businessmen, and swindlers like you with oil smeared on their tongues.”
“Are you saying I’m a swindler?”
“The way you talk does sound a bit like one.”
It was clear enough that Gong Du-ho, the leader of the Thousand Snakes Gang, was wary of me. That was probably why he’d lined up all these fierce-looking subordinates around him.
“It’s not good to jump to conclusions without evidence.”
“I’ve got evidence.”
“Do you?”
“First, this is my first time hearing the name Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”
“Of course. It’s a merchant company founded not long ago, and it hasn’t actually done business yet.”
“Don’t cut me off and shut up for a moment… Second, although this is awkward to say as gang leader, the Thousand Snakes Gang is not an attractive place for joint business.”
I deliberately widened my eyes as though this were the first I’d ever heard of it.
“What do you mean by that? Where could there be a place as attractive as this? I came here because I thought the Thousand Snakes Gang was the most suitable place to become our blood ally.”
“Then it’s one of two things. Either you’re an ignorant fool who doesn’t know the Wuhan underworld, or you’re a swindler trying to eat the liver out of a flea. When instincts overlap, they become certainty, and they’ve overlapped twice already. The instinct that you’re a swindler, I mean.”
“That’s rather hurtful. I may not have a name as a merchant, but I do have the name Divine Physician of Hubei. And I’m a lay disciple of Wudang too.”
“I’ve heard that. But being Divine Physician of Hubei or a lay disciple of Wudang doesn’t guarantee you’re not a swindler.”
“How unfortunate.”
“To be honest, even that heroic medical work of Divine Physician of Hubei feels a little fake. Weren’t you in on it with the authorities or something?”
“What would I have gained from that? And what would the authorities have gained?”
“You might’ve diverted attention with the epidemic first and then killed a political enemy.”
“Wow, you’ve got a rich imagination. Life must be exhausting for you. Isn’t the reason it’s dark outside right now also a conspiracy of the imperial palace? There’s probably some formation covering the entire Central Plains.”
When I said that in a mocking tone, one of the men beside him half drew his sword.
“Watch your tongue when speaking to our Gang Leader. If this were in the old days, we wouldn’t even have met a peddler like you.”
“Which is exactly why I came here instead of going to the Black Dragon Gate, isn’t it?”
I kept talking without dropping my smile. The subordinate drew his sword all the way and pointed it at my face.
“Didn’t I say so? That’s why I believe the Thousand Snakes Gang has no choice but to become our blood ally. A newly founded merchant company with no one to lean on, and an underworld gang that has lost the initiative. Aren’t both of us groups that desire change in the Wuhan market?”
At my words, the people of the Thousand Snakes Gang twitched. Even by their own judgment, that much would sound reasonable.
“Put that way, I understand it a little better. From now on, don’t twist your words in front of me. I’m a black-path man, so I’m stupid. I’ve also got the bad habit of letting my hands move before my head.”
Gong Du-ho growled. But perhaps because he had already been struck where it hurt once, he was not as vicious as before.
“I’ll be careful from now on.”
“Good.”
“And from now on, Gang Leader, you should be careful as well.”
“…What?”
“I didn’t come here to become a subordinate of the Thousand Snakes Gang. I came here to do business together.”
Even while saying that, I did not lose my smile. The subordinates all looked slightly enraged, but Gong Du-ho raised a hand.
“That’s not wrong. Whether you’re a swindler or not remains to be seen, but your business talk seems worth hearing.”
“I’m grateful to hear it.”
“Still, it’s strange. Usually, when lay disciples found merchant companies, they wouldn’t try doing business with black-path gangs even if only because they had to mind their parent sect.”
“Usually, yes. But I’m not a usual sort of person.”
At my quip, Gong Du-ho gave a short laugh. He turned his head and looked at the subordinate who had drawn his sword earlier.
“Bring some liquor. Business talk shouldn’t happen without liquor.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And the rest of you, get out too.”
Gong Du-ho sent all the subordinates he had gathered right back outside. As expected of someone who had once thrown his weight around in a region, he clearly knew when to act fierce and when not to.
Soon, a subordinate brought liquor and cups, and only the three of us remained in the gang leader’s room: Gong Du-ho, Jo Chung-heon, and me.
“All right then. What kind of business do you want to do?”
“As I said earlier, our Radiant Crystal Merchant Company has nothing to lean on. We don’t have much capital, and our connections aren’t broad.”
“If you’re Divine Physician of Hubei, wouldn’t you have some ties to the magistrate’s office too?”
“Official connections are not something one should use lightly. A merchant company can be swallowed whole by the authorities that way.”
At my words, Gong Du-ho let out a short sound of admiration.
“You’ve got deep insight for the Company Lord of a merchant company that’s only just been founded.”
I merely smiled. In terms of experience and insight in the world of commerce, there were only a handful of people in the Central Plains right now who could compare with me. I hadn’t led a Great House merchant company for nothing.
“Then you’re planning to peddle your goods. Since your capital is lacking, you can’t afford a shop, and since you have no connections, you can’t have anyone supply your goods for you.”
“Oh.”
This time, I let out the admiring sound. They said the Thousand Snakes Gang once had some real influence before the rise of the Black Dragon Gate, and it seemed that saying had not come from nowhere. Perhaps because he was a man of the black path, he understood the bottom of the commercial world surprisingly well.
“You really are easy to talk to.”
“Heh heh. Well, I catch on fast enough.”
When I flattered him a little, Gong Du-ho laughed loudly. By now, most of his wariness had faded.
As his wariness faded, several cups of liquor passed between us. Gong Du-ho poured for Jo Chung-heon and me, and I poured for him. Since the Thousand Snakes Gang’s circumstances were not very good, it was cheap fiery liquor, but dealings with the black path were always like this.
In any case, since Gong Du-ho was easy to talk to, there was much less I needed to explain.
Peddling meant carrying a stall on one’s back and roaming the streets to do business. Ordinary passersby might not know it, but even the streets had their territories and owners.
And usually, those street territories were controlled by black-path people. So when one peddled in the streets, most people did so by paying pitch fees to black-path gangs.
Originally, because I didn’t want to get too deeply entangled with the black path, I had looked for distributors who owned storefronts. But since the Zhuge Clan had blocked that road, there was now only one place left for me to go.
“So you came to ask about the pitch fee?”
“If that were all, I wouldn’t have come all the way to you personally. That’s too small a matter to call business, don’t you think?”
“That’s true.”
“I came to sign a contract with the Thousand Snakes Gang.”
“What kind of contract?”
“I intend to hire all the black-path men within the Thousand Snakes Gang’s reach as peddlers.”
“Cough.”
My surprise attack made Gong Du-ho spit out his drink. A foul-smelling mixture of liquor and spit splashed across my face, but I did not lose my smile. Jo Chung-heon promptly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped my face for me.
“Cough, ahem. My apologies. You suddenly said something I never even imagined.”
“It’s all right.”
A true merchant does not lose his smile even before breath that makes him want to retch. I had taken spit in the face on purpose before, so something like this could be dismissed with a smile.
“You’re saying you’ll use black-path men as peddlers?”
“Yes. I’m using the Thousand Snakes Gang as a labor broker. I’ll pay one nyang of silver for each man.”
“…Hoh. I’ve worked with merchants plenty, but this is a first for me. Use black-path men as peddlers? How can you trust those bastards with rotten temperaments?”
“Isn’t that exactly why I’m signing the contract with the Thousand Snakes Gang? Naturally, if there are problems with the manpower, the Thousand Snakes Gang will have to take responsibility. We’ll only supply the goods, and the black-path men will do nothing but sell them. Management of the people in between will be handled by the Thousand Snakes Gang.”
“I see.”
Gong Du-ho accepted it easily enough. Then again, if he was getting one nyang of silver in commission for each person he brought in, it was only natural that he should do that much.
Using black-path men as peddlers. It was a method that Radiant Crystal Merchant Company had used in my previous life. Of course, it was also a method appearing in the world twenty years earlier than in that previous life.
Normally, when one peddled goods, money leaked out in two directions. Money paid to hire the peddlers, and money paid to the black path as pitch fees. This method merged those two into one by using black-path men as the peddlers themselves.
At first, of course, there had been many ups and downs. Black-path men refused to listen to instructions and frequently embezzled goods. But I had realized that if middle management was entrusted to the black path itself, the problem was generally solved.
And I wanted to go even further than that and have the Thousand Snakes Gang serve as a labor broker as well. If they were a black-path gang with real roots in one region, they would be connected to the Hao Clan and to black-path men in other regions as well. From the Thousand Snakes Gang’s point of view, the more people they brought in, the more money they made, so of course they would bring in many.
“A remarkable business sense. I suppose I can’t call you a swindler anymore.”
“I haven’t shown you my business sense yet. Though if you see it, you’ll be even more surprised.”
I immediately had Jo Chung-heon draw up the contract.
A contract between Radiant Crystal Merchant Company and the Thousand Snakes Gang.
The Thousand Snakes Gang will provide Radiant Crystal Merchant Company with manpower to be used as peddlers and with places to operate.
Radiant Crystal Merchant Company will pay commissions in proportion to the number of workers the Thousand Snakes Gang brings in.
Personnel management will be wholly entrusted to the Thousand Snakes Gang.
Financial management will be wholly entrusted to Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.
Those were roughly the clauses in the contract. Since many black-path men were ignorant louts who couldn’t write a single character, all the accounting work would have to be handled entirely by Radiant Crystal Merchant Company anyway.
‘We’ll need to recruit a few more errand boys and clerks.’
Right now we had two errand boys, one clerk, and one foreman. But depending on how much the Thousand Snakes Gang delivered for us, we might need more people.
The Thousand Snakes Gang would handle personnel management on their side, but Radiant Crystal Merchant Company still needed enough staff to at least verify sales. After all, we would be active not just in Wuhan, but elsewhere too.
“That’s a neat contract. Did you work your way up in some merchant company for a long time?”
“Long enough.”
“As expected. People who start from the bottom are built differently.”
Gong Du-ho said that with satisfaction. Unlike the hostile beginning, the meeting ended warmly. The gang leader was more drunk than I was and looked ready to swear brotherhood with me on the spot. Then again, to him, I must have looked like a divine messenger bringing him an opportunity to make money again after so long.
The subordinates who had no idea what sort of conversation had taken place in the gang leader’s room looked back and forth between me and their leader in confusion.
“Bleegh, bleeeaaargh.”
The moment we came out of the Thousand Snakes Gang, I patted Jo Chung-heon’s back. He could drink a fair amount, as befitted someone from the commercial world, but matching both me and a black-path gang leader had simply been impossible. There was a saying among merchants that one’s tolerance for drink was one’s skill. Jo Chung-heon was not yet a completed merchant.
Radiant Crystal Merchant Company worked closely with the Thousand Snakes Gang while arranging peddlers to sell the Green Forest Twelve Forms in the spring. The three hundred nyang of silver I had left were long since spent, and I had even borrowed more money from the East Lake Merchant Association.
Perhaps because the Thousand Snakes Gang had finally gotten a taste of money again after so long, they worked extremely hard for us. We decided to peddle in four provinces: Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui. For a merchant company making its first opening sale to operate in four provinces at once was a gamble involving tremendous risk, but I had confidence.
Then two months passed, and spring came.
It was the moment when bandits expelled from the Green Forest strongholds came down on the villages as brigand bands.