The Inn at Jisanpo
The sweltering summer had passed.
When the seasons changed, the first thing to transform was always the market. The folding fans, hemp cloth, and insect-repelling incense that had filled the stalls vanished, replaced by chestnuts, jujubes, and padded winter clothes. Above all, the shops overflowed with an abundance of grains of every kind.
Ja Gangcheon was not one to miss such a shift. As if possessed, he headed straight for the fruit stall near the market entrance.
“Welcome, Lord of the Manor. The pomegranates are excellent today.”
He visited the market so often that he had grown friendly with most of the merchants.
“How have you been? I haven’t seen you around lately.”
“I was under the weather and took some rest. You’re alone today, though. Where’s Cheongu… that is, the Chief Manager?”
The shopkeeper glanced around furtively.
“Sorry. Still not used to the new title.”
“Who exactly are you watching for?”
“There are so many more Donghae Merchant Group people about these days. Makes a man nervous for no good reason.”
“Surely they haven’t been giving you trouble over something like that?”
Ja Gangcheon’s face turned serious, and the shopkeeper hurriedly waved both hands.
“Heavens, no! The Donghae folk would never do such a thing.”
“Then why the nervous glances?”
“Truth is, the head of the labor office invites me for dinner whenever I say anything unkind about the manor. He somehow finds out like a ghost, then sits me down and says ‘please, I beg you’ while we eat together. There’s no pressure at all, yet the whole occasion is dreadfully uncomfortable…”
Having unburdened himself of the complaint, the man looked distinctly relieved.
“I’ll tell him to stop doing that.”
“Oh, no, please don’t. The Donghae Merchant Group has been doing so well lately that I’ve benefited myself. They even sent me the first shipment of southern fruit because this is a place you visit often, Lord.”
Importing southern fruit had long been one of the Donghae Merchant Group’s lines of trade.
“That’s good to hear. Then give me one of those pomegranates as well.”
“Shall I juice it for you?”
Knowing exactly how Ja Gangcheon preferred it, the shopkeeper quickly fetched a bowl and began squeezing the fruit.
“The Donghae Merchant Group’s momentum is so strong these days I half expect them to become the foremost trading house in Gyounam before long.”
“I see. I’ll have another cup.”
“Hahaha, I’m not flattering you. I used to feel sorry for them—they worked hard yet the results never matched. But ever since last summer everything changed. They even started hiring the honest, hardworking relatives of market merchants as staff.”
That sort of grassroots goodwill mattered greatly to a trading house. It was not merely a question of reputation; only close relations allowed one to fully tap the manpower, connections, and experience those people possessed.
So recruiting talent really is paying off.
Five people hired from across the country had already come by to pay their respects.
“You can always tell the Donghae people these days by how fast they walk. That’s how busy they are.”
It was impossible to feel displeased when friends received praise—especially friends he had recently worried over the most.
“I lose.”
“Pardon?”
Ja Gangcheon pointed to the left end of the fruit-laden stall, then swept his finger all the way to the right.
“From here to here! Deliver every last piece to the Donghae Merchant Group!”
“My lord! There’s really no need…”
Even as he spoke the words of refusal, the merchant’s hands were already filling baskets with fruit.
After sending the gift to the Donghae Merchant Group, Ja Gangcheon promptly regretted it.
Cheongu’s going to scold me.
Not for spending too much money. Even if the gift was excessive, Cheongu would only say, “You’re allowed.”
The real reason for regret was simpler: the fruit had originally been supplied by the Donghae Merchant Group itself.
I just bought fruit supplied by Donghae and sent it right back to Donghae.
They would never resell it, of course, but they were certain to find the whole thing absurd.
“Am I an idiot?”
He even felt a flicker of irritation toward the merchant who had sold it to him knowing full well.
“I really should stick with Cheongu when I go out.”
He had come alone only because Cheongu had left the manor first.
—I’ll go discuss how we should sell the medicines.
Three medicines produced under the name of Deungmyeong Manor had been completed. Internal tests had confirmed their efficacy to a degree that even the maker, Yang Mosu, found astonishing. Selling them, however, was another matter entirely. Price, production volume, initial promotion—countless decisions still waited.
“I’ll wander around the harbor for a bit, then join him for lunch once the meeting’s over.”
With that plan in mind he headed for the docks.
“It really is different.”
Twice as many ships as before were coming and going. Cheongu had told him as much, yet seeing it with his own eyes made the difference unmistakable.
Perfect for people-watching.
Watching people was Ja Gangcheon’s favorite pastime, and a scene this lively was ideal.
“How about there?”
He spotted a teahouse that had set out outdoor tables and started toward it. Reaching the place proved less simple than expected.
“Lord of the Manor! Good day to you!”
One man greeted him, and then a whole line of others came running to offer their respects.
They really are the busiest people around, just like the fruit seller said.
More than twenty Donghae Merchant Group members had stopped to bow before he finally reached the teahouse.
“Lord! What brings you here? You should visit more often.”
This time it was Seokho, the lanky one from the Donghae Merchant Group.
“Just looking around.”
“Shall I keep you company?”
“Aren’t you busy? I heard there was a meeting.”
“Ah! The head of the trading house decided to preside over it himself this evening, so it’s been postponed.”
“When was it canceled?”
“More than two hours ago already.”
Ja Gangcheon tilted his head.
“Then where did Cheongu go? He never came back to the manor.”
“I couldn’t say. Perhaps he had somewhere else to stop first…”
In all the time they had been friends, Ja Gangcheon had never once been unable to account for Cheongu’s whereabouts.
“Could you find out where Cheongu is?”
Just in case, he decided to ask.
“At once, my lord!”
It was a casual request, yet Seokho moved as if he had received the most important order of his life. Within a single gak he stood before Ja Gangcheon again.
“He’s gone to Jisanpo!”
“Where’s that?”
“A fishing harbor to the south. Mostly small fishing boats put in there.”
Fortunately a trading-group member who had been heading that way had run into Cheongu.
“Shall I ready a horse?”
“Which way is Jisanpo?”
Seokho’s finger traced the coastline and stopped at one point.
“That harbor you can see over there is Jisanpo. It’s rather far on foot.”
“It’s fine. I’ll take a shortcut.”
“There isn’t really a shortcut…”
Pat!
Ja Gangcheon sprinted toward the sea, then raced across the calm waves straight for Jisanpo. Whether he was running or flying was hard to tell, but Seokho merely nodded.
“Wherever the Lord of the Manor goes becomes the road.”
“Whoa! A flying fish…?”
“That’s a person!”
Ja Gangcheon waved to the fishing boat and then accelerated toward the distant silhouette of Jisanpo. Behind him the fishermen burst into admiring exclamations as he vanished across the waves.
“Wow. So that’s the level of the Lord of Deungmyeong Manor?”
“They said no one of the same age could match him, and it wasn’t empty talk.”
“Same age? You could add twenty years and still not find his equal.”
“Come now, that’s going too far.”
“Nonsense! Didn’t you see how he handled the Five Fiends of Shandong? Anyone who wants to even stand on the same ground would need at least that much strength. Is there a single expert in their thirties today who could deal with the Five Fiends alone?”
While they debated, Ja Gangcheon leapt from the final wave. Though he rose several times his own height into the air, he landed as lightly as a falling leaf.
“Cheongu!”
There was no need to search. Cheongu stood at the edge of Jisanpo with a middle-aged man.
“Huh? Gangcheon. How did you know I was here?”
Cheongu stared in astonishment at his friend who had dropped from the sky.
“The trading-group people told me. But why are you here?”
Before Cheongu could answer, the other man offered a greeting.
“An honor to meet you, Lord of the Manor. I am the waiter of Yeonok Inn.”
An old inn stood at the far end of Jisanpo. The middle-aged man introduced himself as its waiter.
“Hello, Uncle Waiter.”
“I had a personal matter and sought out Chief Manager Cheongu. If I have caused any inconvenience, I offer my apologies.”
“It’s fine. What’s going on?”
Cheongu explained in his place.
“They decided to sell the inn, but a problem came up.”
The building had been dilapidated for so long that major repairs were unavoidable. Yet the recent boom at Jinhaepo had brought more boats to Jisanpo as well.
“The owner saw an opportunity. Rather than sink money into repairs, he decided to sell.”
The waiter took up the story.
“The owner is my uncle. The inn has run at a loss for years, so he’s wanted to sell for a long time. Only recently did buyers finally appear.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The people who said they would buy changed their minds this morning. All three of them backed out.”
“Just like that?”
“That’s not all. The money house that held the debt demanded immediate repayment. Normally, once a sale is agreed, they add a little extra interest and grant a month’s grace as a matter of custom.”
Even to Ja Gangcheon, who knew little of such affairs, the whole business reeked of foul play.
“Why come to Cheongu, then?”
“I looked into it and it seems Gu Donggu is the one pulling the strings. So I asked the Chief Manager what sort of man Gu Donggu is.”
“Gu Donggu—the old boss of Haejeonggol?”
“Yes. I heard he recently took charge of a Shandong Escort Agency outpost, and he’s been showing up in Jisanpo quite often.”
At the name Gu Donggu, Cheongu’s brow furrowed.
“He’s trying to snatch the inn cheap. He’s had his eye on this place for a long time.”
“Why?”
“He wants to run a secret pleasure house that only accepts special clients. All that entertaining he used to do must have given him the idea.”
“Ah!”
The waiter let out a soft exclamation of understanding.
“Then it makes sense he’d want this spot. My uncle originally chose the site purely for the view.”
“If pleasure boats start running from Jinhaepo, the whole route out to Jisanpo could be turned into a flower garden.”
“How do you know all that?”
“When I was still in Haejeonggol I used to beg around here. This uncle helped me a lot back then.”
“Ah. I see.”
Learning that the man had once helped Cheongu lit a spark of determination in Ja Gangcheon.
“So Gu Donggu really wants this inn badly?”
“He does. An escort-agency outpost doesn’t actually make big money. The secret house would be his real business.”
An outpost master was little more than a warehouse keeper. Yet because he could use the name of the Hwangbo family, no one dared touch him. If he built a secret pleasure house on that foundation…
Gu Donggu would have both power and wealth.
“Good. Then it’s simple.”
Ja Gangcheon reduced the entire situation to a single clean line.
“How much were they asking for the inn originally?”
“After a good deal of haggling they settled on eight hundred taels of silver.”
“Then I’ll buy it for eight hundred.”
“Pardon?”
“My lord, do you mean to open a secret house yourself…?”
Ja Gangcheon waved the suggestion away.
“I’m going to sell it to Gu Donggu—at a much higher price.”
It was a delightfully simple solution. Ja Gangcheon had just learned how to make money with money.