Chapter 770: The Serpent's Temptation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 770: The Serpent's Temptation
".................."
A heavy silence began to permeate the meeting room.
The elders, who had been cheering Sun-woo’s words with such fervor only moments ago, had all simultaneously clamped their mouths shut.
It was only natural.
The proposal Sun-woo had just put forward was a topic far too sensitive and burdensome.
‘He’s joking, right?’
‘Surely... he’s just saying that...’
‘Did I mishear him?’
The elders began to glance at one another, their expressions filled with disbelief. They had no idea how to even begin responding.
After a long, agonizing silence, a voice finally broke through.
"......Sword God...... would you not consider reconsidering?"
Gye Sang-deuk spoke in a tone that was unnervingly calm.
However, his face was twisted with strain. He looked as though he were barely suppressing a boiling rage.
"No. I believe there is no room for reconsideration," Sun-woo replied flatly.
"Jinan has served as the foundation for countless people for over twenty years since the Cheonmu Alliance was established. If we were to suddenly relocate the Alliance now, it would cause immense backlash."
Gye Sang-deuk stared at Sun-woo with a steady gaze as he spoke.
Relocating the Alliance?
It was an absurd notion.
Ever since the Cheonmu Alliance had settled there, Jinan had achieved astronomical growth over the past two decades. Along with that development, it had become the home and livelihood of a vast population.
And now, he wanted to move the Alliance out of the blue?
The driving force behind Jinan’s prosperity was the very existence of the Cheonmu Alliance. For the Alliance to leave was no different from telling the city to go ruin itself.
There would be an uprising.
Those who owned land in Jinan.
Those who owned buildings in Jinan.
The powerful figures who governed Jinan.
The numerous merchant guilds that used Jinan as their base.
Even the countless commoners residing in Jinan would rise up together to condemn the Uicheon Alliance. To them, Jinan was their home and their life's foundation.
"I am well aware that there will be immense backlash. However, I believe it is a burden well worth enduring."
Sun-woo continued, his expression remaining impassive.
"Worth enduring? My thoughts differ entirely. I can never agree to this. If we relocate the Alliance as you say, the weak and marginalized will lose their very livelihoods."
Gye Sang-deuk spoke with a stern, uncompromising expression.
"It seems our opinions differ, then."
Sun-woo looked Gye Sang-deuk straight in the eye.
"Relocating the Alliance is, in fact, a choice made for the sake of the weak and marginalized."
Sun-woo’s eyes began to sparkle with conviction.
"What nonsense is that!"
At those words, Gye Sang-deuk’s face flushed red as he raised his voice.
"If the Alliance moves, the countless shops and merchant guilds that followed us will move as well! That means everyone who settled in Jinan will lose their jobs!"
"I do not care," Sun-woo said calmly.
"What!?"
"They can simply move along with the shops and merchant guilds. What exactly is the problem?"
"It is not as easy as it sounds! They have already established their lives in Jinan!"
"Do you truly believe that?" Sun-woo asked, his expression tinged with doubt.
"What did you say?!"
"Do you truly believe they have 'properly' established themselves in Jinan?"
"Is that not obvious? They work, eat, and sleep in Jinan day after day! How can you say they haven't established themselves?"
"Then let me ask you this. How many of them do you think actually own their own homes?"
Sun-woo glared at him with a sharp, piercing gaze.
".........There must be... some who do... and some who don't, would there not?"
Gye Sang-deuk answered with a voice that lacked confidence.
In truth, he didn't know. He had no idea whether they owned their homes or not. He was merely guessing.
The number of laborers in Jinan was as countless as the stars in the sky. Among so many people, surely there were those who owned a single house? That was all he thought.
"You are wrong, Elder."
Sun-woo spoke with a firm expression.
"There is not a single one."
He looked at the elder with a dry, hollow gaze.
"That is preposterous! There are thousands, tens of thousands of laborers in Jinan! How can you say not a single one owns a house?"
Gye Sang-deuk raised his voice, vehemently denying Sun-woo’s claim. It was simply unbelievable. How could not one person out of tens of thousands own a home?
Probabilistically, statistically—it made no sense.
"It makes perfect sense, Elder."
"Then what is your evidence?!"
"Housing prices."
"Housing prices!?"
"The current housing prices in Jinan have reached a point where a common laborer could never afford one with their monthly salary. How, then, could a mere laborer possibly own a home?"
Sun-woo continued in a level tone.
Housing in Jinan was expensive. It was far too expensive. It had reached a level where a common worker wouldn't even dare to look at a listing.
The average monthly living expense for a commoner household was roughly seven silver taels. With that amount, one could manage to live without starving.
The average monthly salary for a contract laborer in Jinan was about ten silver taels. After living expenses, they could save three silver taels at most.
However, the average price of a house in Jinan far exceeded three thousand silver taels.
For an average commoner family, they would have to save every spare penny for over eighty years just to afford a home in Jinan.
Consequently, the laborers who came to Jinan for work ended up renting, paying monthly rent. This created yet another drain on their finances every month.
How could a contract laborer ever own a home under such conditions?
When housing prices were so absurdly high, it was an impossible dream.
Sun-woo could guarantee it. Not a single one of those laborers owned their own home.
"............What about those who... owned land in Jinan... before the prices rose?"
"Those people would have already sold their land and become wealthy," Sun-woo replied matter-of-factly.
If they were rich, why would they be performing manual labor? They could live off the monthly rent generated by their land and buildings.
".............."
Gye Sang-deuk fell silent. Sun-woo’s words were so logically sound that he couldn't find a single point to refute.
He knew it too. He knew that land prices in Jinan were transcendently high.
But he had never once looked at it from the perspective of a commoner. He was one of the pioneers who had snatched up land before the prices skyrocketed.
But today, he was forced to face the reality of the common people. Forced by Sun-woo.
In such a situation, what could he possibly say?
"When we announce the relocation of the Alliance, the ones who will protest the loudest are the landlords and building owners who hold the land and houses. Because if the Alliance moves, land and housing prices will plummet."
Sun-woo looked at Gye Sang-deuk as he continued.
"But I believe we must endure it. Only then can a proper self-purification process take place."
"Self-purification?"
"Yes. Currently, speculation in Jinan is far too overheated. And the commoners are the ones suffering the consequences. Because they can never buy a home no matter how hard they work, people have begun to feel a sense of deprivation. As a side effect, they turn to gambling with coins in hopes of a big break, or they head into the mountains to become monks or Taoists. Some even stick to a dangerous lifestyle of spending every cent they earn without any preparation for the future."
Sun-woo’s expression turned somber.
"And I believe the cause of all this is the Cheonmu Alliance. Since it has been rooted in Jinan for twenty years, there was no way for land and housing prices not to rise."
Sun-woo’s eyes flashed with a sharp light.
"................."
Gye Sang-deuk remained silent, his mouth tightly shut. He couldn't help but feel that Sun-woo was right.
"Paradoxically, the presence of the Cheonmu Alliance is what is impoverishing Jinan! The only ones satisfied with the current situation are the landlords and building owners."
Sun-woo looked at him with eyes full of conviction.
"That is why a correction is necessary. A self-purification that can stabilize the land and housing prices of Jinan."
"And you think... that correction will happen by relocating the Alliance?"
"I am certain of it. If the Alliance moves, many shops and merchant guilds will surely follow. The laborers employed by them will also move without hesitation. When that happens, a situation will arise in Jinan where supply exceeds demand."
"Supply exceeds demand?"
"Yes. If there are no jobs, laborers will have no reason to flock to Jinan... naturally, demand will drop. Only then can land and housing prices stabilize."
Sun-woo stared at Gye Sang-deuk with a confident gaze.
Ultimately, the reason land and housing prices had exploded was that demand had outstripped supply. The solution was simple: reduce demand until there was a surplus of supply.
"But Sword God! ...If that happens, the landlords and building owners will suffer extreme losses!" Gye Sang-deuk blurted out urgently.
"It is not a loss," Sun-woo said firmly.
"They have already gained astronomical market profits through the skyrocketing prices over the last twenty years. Even if prices plummet now, they will not suffer a devastating loss."
"..............."
Gye Sang-deuk fell silent once more. It was the truth. The landlords and building owners had already accumulated immense wealth through market appreciation. Even if prices dropped, their actual damage wouldn't be that severe.
"This is the first step toward a healthy self-correction. I ask for the elders' cooperation."
Sun-woo lowered his head slightly. He was asking them—requesting that they follow his lead.
The elders remained silent as they looked at Sun-woo. His words weren't wrong, but they weren't words they wanted to agree with either.
"If the Alliance relocates as you propose, a similar situation to Jinan will surely occur at the new site. Speculators will swarm, and land and housing prices will hit the ceiling. How do you intend to solve that?"
Lee Se-jin, who had been quiet until now, asked with a curious expression. He was actually in favor of the relocation, but he was curious if Sun-woo had a plan to prevent the same overheating of speculation.
"You are right. If word gets out that the Alliance is moving, speculators will undoubtedly swarm from all over, driving land and housing prices through the roof."
Sun-woo nodded in agreement. It was a valid point. It was only natural for speculators to flock to a redevelopment area. Where there is a large influx of money, there is a chance for large profits. In the worst-case scenario, prices could become as murderous as those in Jinan.
"That is why I have thought of a method."
"A method?"
Lee Se-jin asked back, his curiosity piqued. He wondered what kind of solution Sun-woo could have possibly devised.
"We will buy all the land in the vicinity of the Uicheon Alliance," Sun-woo said, a thick smile spreading across his lips.
"And then we will lease that land out. If we do that, at the very least, we can prevent speculation from overheating as it has now."
"That's impossible!"
Lee Se-jin immediately protested.
"To prevent speculation, you would have to buy all the prime real estate around the Uicheon Alliance! That area alone would be millions of pyeong! No matter how cheap the land is, purchasing such a vast territory is impossible!"
"We can buy it with public funds," Sun-woo said nonchalantly.
"That is an amount even the Alliance's public funds could never cover!"
"Then we can just borrow it, can't we?"
"Who on earth would lend such a massive sum?! Especially to a newly established organization that has just been formed!"
Lee Se-jin shouted, his face flushed. The Uicheon Alliance was a fledgling organization that hadn't even taken its first steps. No one knew how it would be managed in the future. What madman would lend such a fortune to such a place? It was absurd.
"The Sichuan Tang Clan."
Sun-woo spoke the name calmly.
"Wh... what?!"
Lee Se-jin asked back, his face filled with bewilderment.
"The Tang Clan will lend the money to the Uicheon Alliance."
A deep, dark smile began to form on Sun-woo’s lips—a smile so dangerous it made those watching feel a sense of vertigo.