Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 71 - Cleanup (2)

Chapter 71 – Cleanup (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Investigating Censor. The Censorate’s main force and an official of regular seventh rank. These more-than-one-hundred watchers spread across the whole realm possessed immense authority.

“…What is this?”

“My, my. Can’t you read? And yet you’ve become that successful. Impressive.”

Wang Song kept chuckling. I was dumbfounded.

“Can such an important post really be handed out like this?”

“I didn’t hand it out. You’re the first censor I’ve recommended since becoming Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.”

“Was becoming a censor done through recommendation?”

“At the level of a Vice Censor-in-Chief, it’s possible.”

Only then did I truly grasp anew that Wang Song, sitting before me, was a high official of regular third rank. A regular third-rank official was treated with respect wherever he went. And right now I was drinking with someone that lofty.

“As far as I know, censors aren’t allowed to hold other occupations. Wouldn’t that create ties to their own interests?”

“No, many do. Some are merchants too.”

“Aren’t those cover occupations?”

“That too is true.”

“Mine isn’t a cover occupation. My real profession is merchant.”

I shut the wooden box with a sharp snap. Investigating Censor. I didn’t know what in the world he saw in me to give me this, but it was close to arbitrary tyranny. If used well it might be an elixir, but nine times out of ten it would be poison. The reason Investigating Censors were forbidden from holding concurrent posts wasn’t just conflict of interest. They were also so busy that they had no time for anything else. If I wanted to remain a merchant, then I absolutely couldn’t accept this.

“And didn’t I tell you earlier? I have no intention of entering official service.”

“Ho ho. This is the first time in my life I’ve been refused so bluntly to my face.”

“What’s wrong is wrong. I’m grateful that you’ve thought well of me, of course.”

“But this isn’t a proposal.”

Wang Song’s eyes curved. His eyes were full of mischief.

“I’ve already reported to Beijing that you’re a censor.”

“Pardon?”

For a moment I almost failed to control my expression. Who could possibly be pleased when something they didn’t want was forcibly thrust upon them?

“No, wait a moment, sir.”

“As I said, this is the state’s summons. If you’re a subject of the Great Imperial Realm, you ought naturally to answer that summons.”

“I have no intention of answering. It isn’t as though His Majesty the Emperor called for me personally.”

“Ha ha. Then is it because my rank is too low for you to agree?”

“That’s not it. Even if a Chancellor recommended me, I still wouldn’t go.”

“Then what if the Emperor himself recommended you?”

“Are you comparing yourself to the Emperor right now?”

Wang Song immediately turned mute. If someone tried to pressure me with an unanswerable question, then I could simply return the favor. As the atmosphere turned strange, even Gang Se-min and Hyeong Tae-seong, who had been watching, went stiff-faced.

Even if it meant quarreling with Wang Song here and severing ties with him, I still didn’t want to be a censor. Wang Song’s head dipped, so I couldn’t see his face clearly from where I sat. I thought that even if he became angry, it couldn’t be helped. The best I could do was think of the way that would reduce his anger as much as possible.

“Heh.”

“…?”

“Heh, hahahaha!”

I had already worked out a few possibilities in my head, but Wang Song’s reaction was one I had never once imagined. He suddenly lifted the head he’d lowered and burst into loud laughter. Gang Se-min and Hyeong Tae-seong looked just as blank as I did, unable to understand what was happening.

“As expected, you’re an amusing fellow.”

Wang Song had laughed so hard that tears had gathered, and he even reached up with his index finger to wipe the corner of one eye.

“Was the censor post a joke?”

I asked carefully. But I had already looked at the censor badge several times, and this thing was real. There was no way the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate would forge a fake censor badge either.

“No, it wasn’t a joke. You’re a censor. I reported it to Beijing.”

The skin around my eyes twitched faintly. I felt like I couldn’t follow what he was saying at all.

“But you’re different from an ordinary censor. As you said, Censorate Investigating Censors can’t hold concurrent posts, and they even look into family background.”

“What do you mean, different from an ordinary censor?”

“You’re not attached to the Censorate, but to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

“…You’re only saying things that make less and less sense. Since when did the Embroidered Uniform Guard have censors?”

“They do. It’s secret, though.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Wang Song. He was still smiling, but there was truth in his gaze.

“And the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s censors don’t inspect officials.”

“Then what do they inspect?”

“Martial artists.”

“…!”

I flinched as though a drop of cold water had fallen down my spine. Inspection of martial artists.

The rumor that the Imperial Palace was secretly watching the martial world in violation of the rule of non-interference between officials and the martial world was a conspiracy theory that appeared again and again. I had thought it sounded convincing enough myself. After all, martial artists were also subjects of the Imperial Realm.

Still, there was a difference between thinking something sounded plausible and clearly knowing it. One fact gives rise to information and insight, and further than that, it becomes a foundation for thought itself.

“So it really was true.”

“The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot both keep watch on the martial world. I don’t think it’s all that astonishing.”

“From a common-sense standpoint, it makes sense to watch it.”

“Exactly. It’s nice when someone is easy to talk to. Whenever you bring this up to martial artists, they foam at the mouth and ask by what authority the state dares to inspect them.”

“I can understand why they would feel that way. But my identity leans more toward merchant than martial artist. People who can cause trouble at any time ought to be watched.”

“In any case, the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Investigating Censors are tasked with reporting martial artists who break the law of the realm.”

“By that logic, even brawling at an inn is illegal. Destruction of property. Assault. It often ends in death too.”

“Ordinary matters like that naturally don’t need to be reported.”

So people dying was ordinary now? If one insisted on calling it ordinary, then it was ordinary indeed.

“Then what does get reported?”

“Rebellion. Dynastic replacement. And anything else that may become a threat to the Emperor.”

Those words, wrapped in Wang Song’s cold voice, fell one after another. Rebellion and dynastic replacement. In truth, merely saying those words aloud could get a person dragged away on a charge of treason.

That was why this conversation could only be carried out in secret. I felt I roughly understood now why Wang Song had insisted on dismissing all the servants.

“Do you truly think I can do something like that?”

“Certainly. Rather, I’ve never seen anyone better suited to the work than you.”

Wang Song dropped his laughter and looked at me with serious eyes.

“You have one foot in the martial world and one foot in the commercial world, so you can judge matters from a neutral perspective. On top of that, I can see your skill in dealing with people, and wit appears in your adaptability. Where would one find a more suitable man?”

“But I never said I would do it.”

“Well, of course, when I said earlier that the country had called you, that was a joke. It is true that I reported it to Beijing, but if I withdraw it, that’s the end of it.”

“Then…”

“I had been planning to give you the salt certificates for the Hubei region. What a pity.”

“Pardon?”

“Then let’s put the wooden case away.”

Wang Song reached as if to take the wooden box from my hand, but before I realized it, I had already hugged it to my chest. Wang Song tilted his head.

“What’s this? Weren’t you just about to refuse because you didn’t want it?”

Wang Song’s whole face was full of smiles. It was the sort of smile that said he knew exactly what I was thinking.

At times like this, my pride always stung. When I ended up moving exactly as the other person intended, that is. But really, to a merchant, salt certificates were the very definition of cheating.

“I wasn’t about to refuse. I was thinking it over.”

“Then if you’re going to refuse, do it quickly. If word of the report I sent to Beijing reaches His Majesty, it will become difficult to cancel.”

“No, wait a moment. Why are you suddenly in such a hurry?”

“I’m a busy man. Didn’t you know that?”

My head spun at tremendous speed. It spun so fast I thought my brain might burn up from the friction heat.

“I’ll do it.”

“Hm?”

“I said I’ll do it.”

“You’re too quiet. I can’t hear you well.”

“I said I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”

“That’s better.”

Wang Song laughed heartily. Gang Se-min and Hyeong Tae-seong were already standing there with their mouths hanging open as if their jaws might fall off. Once Wang Song’s laughter subsided, Gang Se-min stammered his way into speaking.

“Sa, salt certificates? Is that really something you can hand out so casually?”

“Why shouldn’t I? As far as I can see, the best merchant in Hubei is Company Lord Muk. And he isn’t a man with such a small vessel that he’d cheat the people just to squirrel away a little profit.”

“That may be true, but still.”

Gang Se-min stammered, and when even the Provincial Administration Commissioner was stammering, the Revenue Councillor hardly dared to interrupt.

“Even if the Provincial Administration Commissioner objects, it can’t be helped. Salt certificates are issued by the center anyway, aren’t they?”

“…That is true enough.”

Salt certificates refer to exchange notes that grant the right to sell salt. Usually, one certificate could be redeemed for roughly two hundred geun of salt.

Since they were given to merchants by the state, there was nothing for the Provincial Administration Commission to manage. Eight parts out of ten of the reason that major merchant companies and great associations were desperate to build good relationships with officials in Beijing lay in salt certificates. Because selling salt was no different from holding power over the region.

Possessing salt certificates brought enormous advantages to a merchant company.

First, it created fixed income that could be calculated with perfection. In an industry where profits might crash all the way to the floor if things went poorly, that was an immense advantage. Salt prices remained stable because the state set the volume and controlled release, and because it was a necessity, it always sold.

Second, the very fact of possessing salt certificates raised a merchant company’s credibility. As Wang Song had said, salt certificates were issued by the state, so to ordinary people it looked as though the company had received the state’s recognition.

There were various other smaller benefits, but those were the two greatest ones. In any case, to me, who had had nothing to sell after the Green Forest Twelve Forms, this was like rain in a drought.

“So then, what is it that I have to do?”

“Your eyes are shining very differently from before.”

“When merchants smell money, they come alive.”

A warm smile spread across my face before I knew it. No, to think he had prepared a gift this large. In my previous life, Radiant Crystal Merchant Company only became able to handle salt after more than ten years had passed since its founding. But in this life, Radiant Crystal Merchant Company would be dealing in salt in less than a year.

“It’s nothing complicated. As you live in the martial world, you’ll naturally pick things up by ear, won’t you? If you discover a special situation there, then all you need to do is report it upward.”

“I see.”

If that was all, then it really wasn’t a burdensome duty. I didn’t need to go out actively searching. I only had to pass on what I heard.

“If you discover an illegal situation, you may also display the censor badge and carry out immediate summary punishment. But you must be cautious. There aren’t many censors of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Central Plains.”

“I hope it never comes to that.”

“Indeed. If possible, just make reports. There is no need to risk your life unnecessarily.”

I accepted the censor badge and also secured Wang Song’s promise regarding when I would receive the salt certificates. Since he guaranteed that the certificates could be issued within at least two months, I needed to ensure Radiant Crystal Merchant Company was in position to move by then.

That was how Wang Song’s farewell banquet came to an end. I first sent a letter to Wudang. It was a letter saying that my return would likely be delayed a little.

There simply wasn’t time to go back and forth to Wudang when the salt certificates would arrive in two months.

I feel a little sorry saying this, but I was busy. I had to interview people to bring in, expand warehouse space, and buy an estate building from which to conduct office work.

In the midst of all that, there were also many documents to submit to the Provincial Administration Commission and waiting times to account for, but because the Revenue Councillor was on my side, the work proceeded at lightning speed. Jo Chung-heon and I truly ran ourselves ragged. When Jo Chung-heon went out and came back, I went out. When I went out and came back, Jo Chung-heon went out. Since we were going to be selling salt going forward, we also needed to build ties with the officials who oversaw the markets.

Naturally, ties in the Central Plains were generally built over alcohol. I could have driven out the drunkenness with internal energy, but officials were the sort of people who detected things like that like ghosts, so I couldn’t do that either.

So every day I met people, drank myself senseless, and then woke up around lunchtime.

And that day as well was a lunch hour in which I had one of those ordinary drinking appointments.

“Tsk, tsk. You brat. You’ve really set your mind on disgracing Wudang. Myeong-gyeong, what do you think?”

“I suppose it’s my fault for failing to manage my junior brother properly.”

It was noisy somehow, and on top of that, they were familiar voices. And even though it was broad daylight, it felt as though a shadow had fallen over me. I snapped my eyes open.

“Wah!”

I immediately rolled off the chairs I’d put together as a makeshift bed.

That was because the moment I opened my eyes, I saw Cheong-hwa, Myeong-gyeong, and Myeong-seong standing over me in plain sight.

“…Is this a dream?”

That came out of my mouth without me thinking. But the pain in my cheek told me it wasn’t. Cheong-hwa’s hand, which had apparently already moved at some point, was yanking my cheek as though he meant to tear it off.

“Aaaagh!”

“Do you think it is?”

It was the day I reunited with my master and senior brothers of Wudang after a long time.