Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 98 - Huizhou's Nobles (3)

Chapter 98 – Huizhou’s Nobles (3)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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There was an uproar at the usually peaceful Huaiyin Salt Transport Office for the first time in a long while. That was because among the merchant companies that had come to exchange salt certificates, one had appeared that no one recognized.

“Radiant Crystal Merchant Company? What’s this place?”

“They say it’s a merchant company from Wuhan. Affiliated with the East Lake Merchant Company.”

“So Hubei. But didn’t the East Lake Merchant Company go under a long time ago?”

“When was that? In Wuhan itself, the East Lake Merchant Company completely crushed the Wuhan Merchant Union. For a while the mockery that the Wuhan Merchant Union had been pushed out of Wuhan was everywhere.”

“Why would I know anything about Hubei?”

The head of the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office, Salt Transport Commissioner Hu Geum-yang, scratched his head as though troubled.

The reason the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office was calmer than other salt offices was simple. Huaiyin was not like other salt yards where dogs fought in the mud. It was entirely the ground of the Huizhou merchants.

That was why all the merchant companies that came to exchange salt for salt certificates were already fixed. No merchant company would dare touch the Huizhou merchants’ territory.

So at first, Hu Geum-yang had thought that a merchant company called the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company must be a new merchant company created by the Huizhou merchants themselves. But after checking, it turned out to be a small merchant company from Hubei.

“Is the Company Lord crazy?”

“Well. They say the Company Lord is young. Barely around twenty.”

“He starts a merchant company at that age? He should donate that money to me instead.”

Hu Geum-yang let out a mocking laugh. He had seen many people who wanted to succeed young and so started merchant companies early. Without exception, they ended in failure and debt.

Thinking of it that way, he could understand why the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company had come to Huaiyin’s salt yard to exchange for salt. Some thunderstruck fool who knew nothing of the world must have simply come to the nearest salt yard in Hubei.

“But doesn’t the fact that they secured salt certificates at all mean they’re a merchant company with some capability?”

“They must come from a wealthy family. If they secured salt certificates, then they clearly have a line into Beijing.”

“Is that so?”

“And ever since things shifted to the commuted-payment system, the standards for issuing salt certificates have loosened somewhat too. I hear they may abolish the salt certificate system entirely and make it possible to convert directly to silver.”

“Then the Huizhou merchants are only going to grow even stronger. Isn’t the common belief already that the Huizhou merchants have more capital than the Shanxi merchants?”

“That’s only what people speculate. They all have so much money hidden away that until they actually clash directly, who can say?”

“A veritable immortal realm.”

“Aren’t they both breeds that have already entered the realm of immortality through money? We officials just wipe up behind the immortals and live off a few crumbs that fall from their table.”

The low-ranking official serving as registrar at the salt office looked at Hu Geum-yang with admiration.

Usually, officials held their noses high and tried to fight with merchants. That was only natural, given that the two stood at opposite ends of the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

And the Salt Transport Commissioner was especially a high official of the upper third rank. A man of that level would ordinarily be too proud even to sit at the same table as merchants. In fact, many officials appointed to the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office did at first try to suppress the Huizhou merchants. And those officials were all dismissed from office or demoted elsewhere within half a year.

But Hu Geum-yang was different. From the start, he had understood the Huizhou merchants and tried his best to make things convenient for them. As a result, Hu Geum-yang had managed to serve at the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office for no less than three years.

If it had merely been a long period of service, that would not have inspired such respect among the office officials. But Hu Geum-yang had gently coaxed the Huizhou merchants into letting the salt office officials make a little pocket money, and thus the officials of the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office were now living more comfortably than ever before.

“The Chief Salt Merchant has arrived.”

At that moment, someone announced that a visitor had come.

The visitor entered immediately without even waiting for permission to do so. He was a middle-aged man with drooping eyes, a protruding mouth, and a memorable goatee.

The salt office officials all pretended not to notice, while Hu Geum-yang sprang to his feet to greet the visitor.

“Lord Son. You have come.”

“Lord, you say. Every time the Salt Transport Commissioner calls me that, my heart skips a beat.”

“Heh heh. You’re a man who contributes greatly to the empire’s economy, so how could I not address you with respect?”

Son Yeong-ui, Chief Salt Merchant of the Huizhou region, smiled in satisfaction even as he spoke modestly.

Son Yeong-ui spoke humbly, but it was certainly true that the Chief Salt Merchant was not someone even the Salt Transport Commissioner could treat carelessly. He was, after all, the head of the collective body of Huizhou salt merchants. Even if he was a mere commoner, a man who could control the price of salt throughout the Huizhou region held tremendous power.

“So. How has the busy Chief Salt Merchant come all the way to the Salt Transport Office today?”

“Ha ha. You more or less know already, don’t you?”

“Heh heh.”

Hu Geum-yang gave an awkward laugh. Then again, given their respective offices, Hu Geum-yang and Son Yeong-ui were men who had no choice but to see each other often. Having known each other for a long time, they understood one another without many words.

“Indeed. We’ve received notice that a place called the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company intends to exchange salt certificates at Huaiyin’s salt yard.”

“Heh heh. It truly is a place I’ve never heard of. At first I wondered whether they might be underlings of the Shanxi merchants.”

“After looking into it, it seems they’re a newly established merchant company from Wuhan.”

“Wuhan? This is the nearest salt yard for them, certainly. Even so, if they had gone just a little farther around, there was also the large salt yard in Shouguang, Shandong.”

“Don’t misunderstand. We were surprised too when we received the notice.”

“How could I possibly suspect the Salt Transport Office? I know that already.”

Smiling, Son Yeong-ui stroked his goatee. Hu Geum-yang flinched slightly. That was because whenever the Chief Salt Merchant stroked his beard like that, it meant he was displeased.

But when he thought about it, it made more sense to interpret that displeasure as being directed at the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company rather than the Salt Transport Office. Once he reached that thought, Hu Geum-yang sighed inwardly and began to feel sorry for the immature young Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.

Who was Son Yeong-ui? Was he not the man called the chow chow of Huizhou, the one who had defended against every attack from rival merchants?

That was how sensitive Son Yeong-ui was about Huizhou merchant territory, and how famous he was for baring his fangs the moment another merchant came even near its borders. Of course, the reason he had been given the nickname chow chow had even more to do with the resemblance.

“From what I could find out, the man called the Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company is quite young. It seems he probably made a mistake without realizing this was Huizhou merchant territory…”

“Teaching him what happens when one makes a mistake is also the duty of a senior merchant. Heh heh.”

Hu Geum-yang tried bringing it up because he suddenly felt sorry for the young Company Lord, but Son Yeong-ui seemed to have already made up his mind to destroy him.

If that was the case, then the Salt Transport Office had nothing to do. This was a fight between merchants. All it could do was pray for the repose of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company’s Company Lord.

“Um, Lord Hu. Another visitor has arrived.”

While Hu Geum-yang and Son Yeong-ui were talking, the same man who had announced the earlier visitor returned.

Hu Geum-yang scowled deeply, plainly for Son Yeong-ui to see.

“Can’t you see that I am currently meeting a distinguished guest who arrived first?”

“Ah, well, it’s someone you showed interest in before, Lord Hu…”

“Who?”

“The Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

Son Yeong-ui’s eyes met Hu Geum-yang’s. After blinking once, Son Yeong-ui smiled.

“I was curious as well, so this works out nicely.”

Hu Geum-yang closed his eyes. It was as if he could vividly see the immature young Company Lord, who had just set foot in the commercial world, being torn to pieces.

***

I looked behind me. Including the errand boys and foremen of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, there were ten. Add the four martial men of the Wudang Sect, and including myself, it made fifteen people on this trade run.

Of course, aside from Myeong-yeop, the Wudang martial men were Myeong-gyeong, Myeong-seong, and Myeong-jin. Since they were all my direct Senior Brothers, I did find myself wondering a little whether they truly counted as martial escorts.

Still, seeing how excited my Senior Brothers were to look around outside, I figured it hardly mattered. While I was smiling contentedly, Myeong-yeop, riding beside me, looked anything but pleased.

“Senior Brother. Is something bothering you?”

When I asked, Myeong-yeop opened and shut his mouth a few times. It seemed he was hesitating to speak.

“Why? Go ahead and say it.”

“Mm. We’re only here as escorts, and since you’re the master of this trade run, I don’t really want to interfere.”

When I pressed him, Myeong-yeop finally spoke.

“And?”

“No matter how little I know about the commercial world, I do know that Huaiyin’s salt yard is tightly controlled by the Huizhou merchants.”

“Ah.”

I smiled. From behind us, I could feel the gazes of the merchant company people turn toward me. It seemed they had all been wondering the same thing as Myeong-yeop.

Then again, even martial artists tended to restrain themselves outside their own territory. If they caused a disturbance for nothing, they would get into trouble with the martial men guarding that region. Martial artists were just that sensitive about territory too.

“Are you worried we’ll go over there only to get trampled by the Huizhou merchants?”

“It feels a bit different when you put it that bluntly.”

Myeong-yeop wet his lips with his tongue, looking embarrassed.

“It’s fine. I came here after thinking it through.”

“Right? You’d know better than me. I shouldn’t have said anything. This is why I was trying not to.”

“No. It’s a perfectly natural question to have.”

“May I hear what you were thinking?”

“Well. Even if Huaiyin is Huizhou merchant territory, the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office doesn’t exist solely for the Huizhou merchants, does it? It’s a government office. It should be open to everyone.”

“That may be true, but…”

It seemed a bit too theoretical for Myeong-yeop’s taste, because his reaction was lukewarm. I adjusted and switched to a comparison more suited to the martial world of the Central Plains.

“Senior Brother. What must one do to become the strongest under heaven?”

“Polish one’s martial arts well.”

“And after polishing them as far as they can go?”

“Defeat the strongest under heaven.”

“Exactly. To become the strongest under heaven, you have to defeat the strongest under heaven.”

“Ah.”

Myeong-yeop gave a little cry of realization. Then his face darkened even more.

“I forgot. You’re insane.”

“What a hurtful thing to say.”

As we talked, we eventually entered Huaiyin. To me, it felt as though the air itself changed the instant we did.

“Silk for sale, silk! Fine silk that came all the way from the Western Regions!”

“Kids, move along, kids! Try this medicine once and your wife won’t be able to sleep at night!”

“Thief!”

The streets crowded with merchants, starting with the medicine sellers, were more than enough to dizzy my Senior Brothers. There were so many people that you could barely move your feet without stepping on someone, so arguments broke out constantly and theft was frequent.

“Ugh, it’s dizzying.”

“I kind of want to try that. They say it’s skewers made from chicken.”

“That’s not chicken. It’s pigeon.”

“What? Then isn’t that a scam?”

“The one who eats it is the fool.”

Apparently even the merchant selling the pigeon skewers heard me. He glared at me as though he wanted to kill me. Since I did not want to pick a fight in front of my Senior Brothers for no reason, I simply looked elsewhere and whistled.

In any case, I did not dislike this cluttered atmosphere. Rather, in order to be a merchant, one had to like this air.

“Hall Master!”

As we walked through the streets of Huaiyin, the foreman I had sent ahead earlier came running toward me from afar. The point of sending him in advance had been to have him secure lodging first and scout out a restaurant too.

“Ah. Foreman. Where’s the lodging?”

“Heh heh. I found a spacious place close to the salt yard.”

“Nice.”

Spacious was surely a lie. I had not given him that much of a budget. What pleased me was that it was close to the salt yard. If it was close to the salt yard, then plenty of salt merchants would be gathered there. If we were going to clash sooner or later, it was better to clash sooner.

“I have procedures to handle at the Salt Transport Office first, so Senior Brothers, please take the merchant company people and go ahead to the inn.”

“You aren’t coming with us?”

“No. It’s better for me to go somewhere like that alone.”

Without complaint, Myeong-yeop led my Senior Brothers and the merchant company people to the inn. The younger Senior Brothers, led by Myeong-gyeong, clearly wanted to come with me, but with Myeong-yeop there, they had no choice but to follow him.

After sending them away, I headed straight for the Salt Transport Office. In my previous life, I had gone in and out of the Huaiyin Salt Transport Office often enough that I could find it with my eyes closed.

“Who are you?”

To the constable guarding the Salt Transport Office, I gave the name of my merchant company and my own name. They would certainly let me in.

Because from the Salt Transport Office’s point of view, there was no way they would not be curious about the Company Lord who had personally walked into the tiger’s mouth that was Huizhou merchant territory. Just as I expected, I was let inside.

Once inside, I saw a middle-aged man who looked like the head of the salt office, and another middle-aged man who looked strangely familiar.

“So you’re the Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company?”

The middle-aged man who appeared to be the head of the salt office asked. I smiled and answered.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s our first meeting, elder of the Salt Transport Office.”

“My name is Hu Geum-yang.”

“So you were Lord Hu. Understood.”

“You seem polite enough. What a pity.”

“Pardon?”

Before I could even ask that back, the familiar middle-aged man smiled. Hu Geum-yang immediately clarified his identity.

“This is Lord Son Yeong-ui, Chief Salt Merchant of Huizhou.”

“Ah.”

Only then did the face come back to me. And I couldn’t help but smile. Naturally so, since I had just met the lovable dog.