Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Hall of Worthies GPT (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I had no house in Hanyang, so the first time I came for the civil service exams, I'd paid to stay in a private home.
Of course, if I'd been confident about passing, that might've been different, but back then, a wet-behind-the-ears eighteen-year-old taking the exams was just about gaining experience.
That's why, when I headed off to take the exams, my family figured there was no need to buy a house in Hanyang, so I'd relied on the hospitality of strangers.
"Oh, Lord Kim the Junior Secretary. How do you like this place? It's about seventy rooms in size, located in the Gwangang Quarter—a prime spot where commuting to the Six Ministries, the Hall of Worthies, or the palace isn't any trouble at all."
"Seventy rooms... Isn't that a bit too big for me?"
"For a Junior Secretary who's destined to become Prime Minister one day, isn't this still too modest? I'm worried it might be."
"What are you talking about? Even if I get married down the line and take on more servants to help with the household, it still feels way too spacious..."
Seventy rooms—that's roughly 130 pyeong when converted to modern units. And the Gwangang Quarter was the Joseon equivalent of somewhere in Gangnam, right in the heart of the city.
Sure, I was a rank-6 official now, but I couldn't shake the feeling that scoring a house this size, courtyard included, was overkill. Maybe something smaller would suit me better.
This place was the equivalent of buying a 100-pyeong apartment in Gangnam—no exaggeration.
Even if early Joseon Hanyang had cheaper real estate than twenty-first-century Korea, a house like this still felt too much for me.
As I mulled it over, Kim Man-deok, standing beside me, whispered some advice.
"With the gifts you received as Jinhae County Magistrate, My Lord, you could buy four houses like this. So don't skimp on the spending."
"Even so, I'm still a bachelor. No wife or kids yet, and the only servants I've brought are Dol-soe over there and one woman to cook our meals."
"Given your fame and wealth, My Lord, you ought to have a 150-room mansion in the Gwangang Quarter at the very least. And marriage is another matter. If you wished, you could pick any lady from the noble houses as your wife, while beauties line up to become your concubine... How can you call a mere seventy-room house too big?"
Political marriages didn't appeal to me, and at nineteen, I'd kept putting it off.
In Joseon, marriages weren't about personal wishes—they followed parental decree. If my father decided, I'd have to tie the knot even with a woman twenty years my senior.
But I'd topped the exams at eighteen, and my father—who'd never even held a rank-9 post—indulged my stubbornness in a way unbecoming of Joseon custom, letting me dodge marriage so far.
At my age, having one or two kids wouldn't raise eyebrows.
Kim Man-deok shot me a look, and Kim Gyeol chimed in from the side.
"Excessive integrity has its downsides too."
"...... Alright. We'll take this one."
Honestly, I was dumbfounded. Sure, our family estate back in the provinces was far larger... but that was the provinces.
This was Hanyang proper—Seoul—and in the Gwangang Quarter of Bukchon, infamous for sky-high land prices, no less.
Once I decided to buy, the real estate broker sidled right up to me.
"Excellent choice, My Lord. Your eye for quality is unmatched. This house once belonged to the renowned incorrupt official Wooheon Napjae Kim Jong-seo, who lived here briefly after passing the exams."
At this point in history, Kim Jong-seo was just another promising talent, yet the broker boasted about it like a selling point... Apparently, who had lived in a house mattered a great deal.
Come to think of it, I'd heard that in modern real estate, apartments where Seoul University grads had lived could fetch ten million won more. In exam-obsessed Joseon, past residents could surely sway prices.
"The Gwangang Quarter's proximity to the palace and the merchant guilds drives up the land value, so even at seventy rooms, it'll cost 400 seom of white rice."
...... 400 seom of white rice—a king's ransom, but not beyond my means. Just from my magistrate gifts, converted to rice, it'd be around 2,000 seom.
Great location, ample space—this price was fair.
"Understood. Though converting my gifts to rice at the guilds will take time..."
"No worries, My Lord. I'll introduce you to merchants I know. They'll handle it swiftly."
I had few connections in the capital. Still, with a Hall of Worthies rank-6 official as buyer, the broker wouldn't dare gouge too hard—maybe 20-25% over, tops.
But handing my gifts to him? No chance. I had Kim Man-deok, my partner in fortune.
I nodded to him, and he chuckled, clamping the broker's shoulders firmly.
"Hey, you."
"What do you think you're doing? I'm in the middle of talking with Lord Kim..."
"You know who our Junior Secretary is, right? The top scorer of the civil service exams."
"So what?"
"He topped the exams, then as a magistrate built such merit he earned a Stele of Merit. If you're any merchant in Hanyang, you've heard how Grand King His Highness donned the black dragon robe and smashed in Jeong Hak-so's head in Jinhae?"
"Who in Hanyang hasn't?"
Kim Man-deok jerked a thumb at me, smirking crookedly.
"Know what Grand King His Highness said alongside ordering Jeong Hak-so's death? 'Joseon must be a land of hope for its people. The Jinhae Magistrate made it so.' And the man selling you this house? He's that former Jinhae Magistrate."
The broker's smile vanished. Cold sweat poured down his face.
Not even a virgin ghost smothering him in his sleep would shake him this badly.
"I've done big business in Jinhae myself, so I know all about 'marking up prices' to fleece outsiders... But you pick your marks carefully."
"...... Are you threatening me?"
The broker's tone shifted. He'd already fallen into Kim Man-deok's trap.
"Nah, just saying it straight. No blood between merchants."
The Veritable Records, starting with King Seongjong's, list reasons to ban markets: bandits.
Bandits meant not just fantasy-game mountain outlaws, but merchants whose scams were banditry without the blades...
Kim Man-deok, grizzled from Jinhae dealings, had a knack for intimidation.
"So, how much?"
"350 seom of white rice. No, 300! Just 300 seom!"
"Furniture included?"
"Oh, with furniture, 350—no, 340 seom is plenty."
Kim Man-deok grinned at me.
"This price seems fair, My Lord."
"Fair enough, but didn't you hit him too hard?"
"He's a merchant. He won't take a deal that slits his own throat. That was the real price from the start."
"You're ruthless."
"Hanyang's full of cutthroat merchants—guilds even hire thugs for brawls, I've heard."
By Sukjong and Yeongjo's reigns, sword gangs roamed like mobsters, so powerful the court deployed the Royal Guard to crush them.
Early Joseon wasn't free of armed thugs either, especially with the elite disdain for commerce...
'Like Yongsan computer-shop gangsters, itching for trouble.'
Even trying to fleece a bureaucrat like me? With commoners, they'd wield clubs and threats: Buy this or regret it tonight.
One day, I'd have to 'reeducate' the lot.
"How long for 340 seom rice with furniture?"
"A week, My Lord—and we'll clean top to bottom."
"Much obliged."
And so, I left the cleaning to them too.
We drew up the sales contract.
Kim Man-deok checked it over, then rose to leave.
"I'll join the guild first, then sell your gifts at the market. And Gyeol."
"Yes, Father."
"The Junior Secretary won't manage the household easily. Lend a hand."
"Don't worry. I'll do my best."
With that, Kim Man-deok left me Dol-soe, the cooking woman (in her forties), Kim Gyeol, and a few of his own farmhands for cleanup.
Kim Gyeol took charge in my stunned place, procuring bare essentials.
"Jang-deok auntie, start on rice. Dol-soe and the hands, grab side dishes from the market."
...... She might as well be the household manager.
Thinking that stirred something... Damn my spry nineteen-year-old body—stray thoughts turned weird fast.
Having issued orders, she whispered to me.
"On a day like today, feed the servants plenty of meat and drink."
Ah, right. New house, joyous occasion—starving them would sour it.
"Furniture hasn't arrived yet, so we can't live here proper... But today marks my settling in Hanyang, so eat your fill of meat and liquor. You've all worked hard."
My orders given, everyone hustled.
"Thanks. Man-deok aside, I never expected help from you too."
"Father commanded me to prize your affairs above our house's. I merely obeyed."
Figures. No drama-style love at first sight...
"But I'm truly glad to aid a virtuous lord of upright will like you, My Lord. Here's to more in the future."
That "future" tickled strangely.
Afterward, Kim Man-deok and Kim Gyeol visited often to help. Thus, I wrapped up the big move smoothly.
A few restful days post-move, and my first day at the Hall of Worthies arrived.
Tense for my debut, I reached the Hall.
There, the Deputy Chief Scholar greeted me warmly.
"Welcome, Junior Secretary Kim. You've got mountains of work ahead."
...... Send me back to Jinhae.