Monopolizing Fortunes (18)
Monopolizing Fortunes (18)
"So you're saying all of this is Do Tong-dal's doing?"
"Yes. All I did was go talk to him, knowing that Tong-dal had saved the magistrate's life."
Jo Chi-un, who had been tapping the table with his index finger, spoke.
"Still, it was Branch Chief Wang who made use of it, so you could say he rendered the greatest service."
For whatever reason, Jo Chi-un did not want to reward Do Tong-dal. The humiliation he had suffered at Cheonsangru remained burned into him like a scar.
What made him angrier was that there was no way to repay that disgrace. Do Tong-dal was a master who had sent Hwang Seon-jung, the Red Tiger Society's greatest fighter, down in a single blow.
Unless he mobilized every thug in the Red Tiger Society, there was no way to subdue him. And he could not very well bring in a master from outside.
If he hired a master for a reason like that, he would clearly be pointed at and mocked.
'And it would be a waste of money.'
For now, burying the matter was the best course. Of course, he would not forget. When the time came, Jang Yu-seom and Do Tong-dal alike would pay the price.
So he could not allow Do Tong-dal's reputation to rise. If someone had to receive a reward, Wang Chil was the better choice.
The man had been stuck in the shabby Gwanghwa-ro Fixer Office and had only just climbed to the position of branch chief. Stagnant water with no freshness was easy to clear away later.
"At any rate, good work. Go have a drink or something."
The pouch Jo Chi-un tossed over contained two hundred coins. In silver, that came to one nyang.
He had saved members who had nearly gone to prison, and the reward was a single nyang.
'He really does reek of stinginess.'
Still, Wang Chil offered his thanks, then brought up an important matter.
"We've gotten our people out, but I think we ought to show our gratitude to the magistrate."
"Gratitude? Wasn't it the price of the magistrate's life? A few months of jail time for his underlings as the price of the magistrate's life. Is the magistrate's life worth that little?"
—To me, a few months of jail time for my people matters more than His Honor the Magistrate's life.
The words Do Tong-dal had said to the magistrate came back to him anew.
'Gangsters are all like that. Tong-dal is the special one.'
"Still, to maintain a good relationship, some token of gratitude......"
"If you saved the magistrate's life, you can keep a good relationship without any token. You should use that. Use your head, use your head."
In the end, Wang Chil could not pry a single coin beyond the one nyang of silver out of Jo Chi-un.
When Do Tong-dal heard the news, he let out a short laugh.
"I thought at least a few nyang of silver would come out."
Han Dong-san spoke.
"Didn't I tell you? There's no miser like him."
These days, Han Dong-san had been visiting the Baekdong Branch noticeably often. Even with no particular business, he would say, "Just stopped by on my way past," and sit drinking tea with Do Tong-dal or Wang Chil before leaving.
"It can't be helped. We'll have to get the money elsewhere."
Even if he gave Yang Su-pan no money, nothing would go wrong right away. But a gear that is never oiled will eventually rust and start to squeak.
Wang Chil asked.
"Do you have any money saved up?"
"I don't have money, and even if I did, I couldn't give it. It's not money that should come out of my own pocket, is it?"
"That's true, but...... I don't even have any land left to sell now."
"Don't worry. I'll get the money out of the Black Dragon Society."
"From the Black Dragon Society? How?"
* * *
"I didn't expect that wish for a drink together would come true this quickly."
He had been shattered at Manhwaru, but Hwang Chan-seok, meeting Do Tong-dal, did not wear an unpleasant face.
"Look at this nose that got hit by Squad Leader Do. I think it's bent a little to the left."
He even joked.
"Shall I hit it again and turn it back to the right?"
Do Tong-dal cheerfully played along with the joke.
"Let's not. I'll run the moment I see Squad Leader Do on a battlefield."
After the banter, Hwang Chan-seok slowly wiped the smile from his face.
"This isn't a time when our Black Dragon Society and the Red Tiger Society are on good terms. What is your reason for seeking me out?"
"I think it's about time to end the fighting."
"If you've come to request a truce, honestly, this doesn't seem like something Squad Leader Do should be handling."
As Hwang Chan-seok said, a mere squad leader was not in a position to represent anyone.
"Of course I haven't come to settle terms. I'm just here to open the conversation, so to speak."
Hwang Chan-seok stared at Do Tong-dal. By rank, he was at the very bottom of the organization.
But Do Tong-dal was absolutely not someone who could be regarded as a bottom-rung member. His martial skill was what it was, and the air he gave off was the same.
"As you know, even as hall master, I'm not in a position to decide anything."
"Does position matter when it comes to getting our people out of jail?"
Hwang Chan-seok's hand, holding his wine cup, trembled slightly. He knew that all the Red Tiger Society thugs had been released.
They had been freed with astonishing speed, so he had assumed it would be simple for the Black Dragon Society too. But it had been impossible. No official would even accept a bribe.
—Because His Honor the Magistrate is watching with eyes wide open.
That was the excuse every one of them gave. If that excuse was true, it meant the Red Tiger Society had a line directly connected to the magistrate.
'Could that line be Squad Leader Do?'
Perhaps because he had witnessed that astonishing martial skill, Do Tong-dal seemed capable of anything.
Hwang Chan-seok cautiously broached the subject.
"I've heard something too......"
"I can go straight to the magistrate."
Do Tong-dal struck in sharply.
"You're saying Squad Leader Do can meet the magistrate directly?"
It was only natural that the magistrate sat at the pinnacle of bribery. But the hand that accepted bribes had to be, at most, the head of the Six Bureaus.
In case of an inspection, the magistrate never accepted bribes personally.
"If that weren't the case, how would our people have been released so quickly?"
There was proof, so he could not help but believe it.
"Why show us this kindness? We are by no means friends."
"Do you really think this is kindness?"
Hwang Chan-seok thought for a moment, then realized with an "Ah!" Do Tong-dal was flaunting his connection to the magistrate.
The most troublesome opponent for the Underworld could only be the authorities. If the Red Tiger Society was close with the head of those authorities, no underworld group would be able to treat the Red Tiger Society recklessly.
Do Tong-dal intended to prove that by getting the Black Dragon Society thugs released.
Even knowing that, the Black Dragon Society could not refuse. If they refused, their people would go to prison; if they moved as demanded, they would be sticking their necks into a noose.
'A frightening fellow. Is he really eighteen?'
He seemed like a wily old politician with ten serpents coiled in his belly.
"I'll have to return to the society and discuss that matter."
"There isn't much time. I know the man somewhat, and he isn't very patient."
It was a warning not to commit the folly of letting something that could be stopped with a trowel grow until not even a spade could stop it.
'The wine tastes bitter.'
* * *
Two days later, word came, and money came with it. A full hundred nyang of silver.
It was such a large sum that the thought 'Should I just move to the Black Dragon Society?' even crossed his mind.
He also liked that they had given silver directly rather than a promissory note, leaving no trace.
The Black Dragon Society Leader's later seizure of half of Hangzhou had not come merely from drawing in martial artists.
'He has the virtues of a fine underworld leader.'
The boldness to hand over a hundred nyang of silver was one thing, but the fact that the money had come out even though Do Tong-dal might have been a swindler meant he trusted his subordinate's eye.
Do Tong-dal took the money straight to the magistrate's office. Yang Su-pan had not yet given an answer to the partnership proposal.
When Do Tong-dal announced his visit, he did not have to wait long before meeting Yang Su-pan.
He liked that Yang Su-pan did not waste energy and time on pointless push-and-pull.
"The partnership candidate has come calling."
"Is it because I'm a candidate that you won't even offer tea?"
"Being a candidate means you might turn out to be nothing. I'm not a man given to wastefulness."
Clank!
The pouch of silver was tossed onto the table between Do Tong-dal and Yang Su-pan.
"It's a hundred nyang of silver."
"Is it for me?"
"It becomes His Honor's money the moment the Black Dragon Society members are released."
"Treating me like a corrupt official."
"Are there officials who aren't corrupt?"
"There are still officials who haven't rotted yet."
"Then rot quickly. The later you are, the greater the loss."
"It's true that being late means a loss, but if I swallow it all at once, I might choke."
"Do you have a lot of money?"
"I'm the eldest son of a poor family. I have four younger siblings. I've been through all sorts of hardships, and as you know, I nearly died."
"Still, you must have studied well."
"That's why I passed the civil service examination."
"The highest position you can reach by studying well is exactly this far. To go higher, you need connections or a fortune. I trust you know that, having been through all sorts of hardships."
"The magistrate of Hangzhou, called heaven on earth, isn't bad either."
"You don't seem like the sort whose life motto is to live thin and long."
"It's better than thin and short. I've seen plenty of officials who grabbed too hastily and choked to death."
"That's what happens to fools who only studied well. That's why you need a partner like me."
"I can't readily grasp what a partner could do for me."
"Everything related to money."
"Everything related to money?"
"When there are many roads, there are naturally many people who know them. I can become His Honor's one and only secret passage."
"You mean all bribes will go through Squad Leader Do?"
"I'll even handle the management. On the surface, His Honor becomes a clean official who receives only his monthly salary. You'll become the very model of an official."
"You intend to receive, in my place, the bribes that come to me?"
"There are few places that know as much about corruption as the Underworld. I can also squeeze it out by force."
"At a glance it looks good for me, but it's a script perfectly suited to being swindled."
"You think I'll run off with His Honor's money?"
"You rounded up a few underworld types and a hundred nyang of silver came in, didn't it? If you collect for a year or so, it seems like you'd amass a fortune big enough to live on for three generations."
"Would the money I swindled from His Honor be more than what I'll earn by ruling the nights of Hangzhou?"
"Rule the nights of Hangzhou? You had ambitions like that?"
"If I didn't intend to, I wouldn't have taken on such troublesome work in the first place. We call it a partnership, but it's really a role like His Honor's steward."
"So you need my help to become the ruler of the night."
Do Tong-dal stared at Yang Su-pan. It was only a brief silence, but it felt unusually long.
"I'm simply taking a shortcut. With or without His Honor's help, I will rule the nights of Hangzhou."
If it were Do Tong-dal, it would be possible. No—it would be more accurate to say it was possible precisely because it was Do Tong-dal.
"Do it properly. If I become your enemy, the nights of Hangzhou will become a nightmare for you."
"Whenever you need money, just say the word."
* * *
As promised, the imprisoned Black Dragon Society thugs were released. And so the Black Dragon Society's worries deepened. Do Tong-dal's claim that he had a line to the magistrate had been proven.
The Red Tiger Society had seized the high ground, but it could not fight recklessly.
The authorities were still watching, and apart from Do Tong-dal and Jang Yu-seom, the Red Tiger Society's inferiority was obvious.
Because the interests of both sides aligned, the truce negotiations proceeded without a hitch.
After three days of negotiation, the Red Tiger Society was to receive one tavern and one gambling house in Black Dragon Society territory.
They had started the fight and had effectively lost, so that much was getting off cheaply.
When Do Tong-dal heard the news, he was disappointed.
"If it were me, I could have gotten two taverns and two gambling houses."
"It's not coming to us, so there's no point being sorry about it."
The newly acquired tavern and gambling house were to be managed directly by the headquarters. Since they did not have to share with branches or fixer offices, far more money went into Jo Chi-un's pocket.
Do Tong-dal and Wang Chil, who knew Jo Chi-un's character, felt nothing, but the actual discontent came from a good number of the Red Tiger Society's thugs.
"They say the bear does the tricks and someone else takes the money. This is exactly that."
"Who says it isn't? Honestly, if it weren't for Squad Leader Do, wouldn't our Red Tiger Society have been properly smashed?"
"Right. And Branch Chief Wang got us out. At the very least, one of the tavern or the gambling house should go to the Baekdong Branch. How can the Society Leader just gobble it all up by himself?"
It wasn't that they were taking sides out of fondness for Wang Chil and Do Tong-dal. It was discontent over the fact that rendering service earned them nothing.
On top of that, Wang Chil had even given consolation money to the injured members, so comparisons were inevitable.
Even if it seethed below, the visible surface remained calm. After a storm had swept through, peaceful days continued for a while.
"Bwahahaha—!"
Han Dong-san, entering the Baekdong Branch, burst into hearty laughter first. The thugs on the first floor greeted him and asked.
"Elder, it seems something good has happened."
"You bet it has. Where's Squad Leader Do?"
* * *