Chapter 128: The Lion Comes Begging
At Ugunai's glance, the accountant Wumubin took up where he left off.
"Even pooling every last coin left in our company, we couldn't cover half the balance we owe Merchant Hwang. And I say that assuming we scrape together the seed money our own caravans need for their next journey."
The Pushan Hadaru company had bent itself nearly to the breaking point furnishing three hundred bolts of silk, three hundred suits of leather armor, and three hundred helmets besides. It had gone so far as to dip into the joint fund of the Merchant Assembly.
And even that hadn't been enough—Pushan Hadaru had borrowed a fortune from Hwang Ga, all to curry favor with Lee Go-nap-hap.
Yet now, of all times, Lee Go-nap-hap had inexplicably shut himself away at his own stronghold, refusing to see a soul. Pushan Hadaru stamped about in anguish, but not even the smallest audience was granted him.
"Hmm. That we cannot do."
Pushan Hadaru muttered in a hollow voice. If Hwang Ga learned how cornered he was, the man would strip him to the bone without a shred of shame.
But before that, Pushan Hadaru could not bring himself to abandon his paltry pride.
"If he learns that I, of all people, have been driven into a corner by that whelp, what will he think of me?"
Ugunai let out a sigh.
"You must choose one or the other, my lord. You must ask Temusi-i for at least half of what he receives in trade. No—you must do exactly that."
"Otherwise this company won't survive the next month,"
Wumubin added. Inwardly, he was rather enjoying the situation.
He had worn his mouth ragged warning them that the company's constitution and finances needed overhauling, and Pushan Hadaru had brushed it all aside. Cutting off acquaintances and kin over falling profits might have been taken as loss of face in the outlaw world—fine there, perhaps, but for a merchant it was grounds for disqualification.
"...There's no guarantee Temusi-i will even listen to me."
Pushan Hadaru hung his head. If Hong-wi was no fool, he had surely noticed that Pushan Hadaru had quietly hoped for his failure and sent him to his death.
"He will listen,"
said Ugunai. Pushan Hadaru stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Why? Do you have some guarantee of that?"
"There can be no other way. My lord, I don't know by what means Temusi-i won the favor of Onyan Dae-chu, but his company is still small. He cannot possibly absorb the volume of trade requests pouring in on him right now."
"And so?"
Ugunai frowned. He was serving the negotiation strategy to the man on a spoon, and still he didn't grasp it?
"So what? However capable Temusi-i may be, he cannot do everything alone in the end. That is what we must use."
"Ah!"
Pushan Hadaru's face finally brightened.
"Then we need only wait, needn't we? Until that Temusi-i fellow comes to us on his own knees. Hold out long enough, endure long enough, and a way will open up."
"That is out of the question, my lord. Even if we cut back, we cannot say how long we will last—and..."
Ugunai could barely contain the sighs rising at the man's folly.
"Time is not on our side. If this drags on, some within our own company may defect to Temusi-i."
"What, impossible!"
Pushan Hadaru's face drained white.
"We have our pride! Who would stoop to place himself under Temusi-i!"
"...Pride doesn't feed a man, my lord. If this continues we will starve to death—do you truly believe no one will go over to him? And Temusi-i is bound to expand his company. We must negotiate now, while his power is still small. Do you understand?"
"Hmm."
Pushan Hadaru tore at his hair, but there was no other road open to him.
And so, with no choice left, Pushan Hadaru went to find Hong-wi. Even at a glance, it was plain how greatly Hong-wi's company had flourished in the meantime. They were already purchasing dozens of new pack horses—an unmistakable intent to expand. That settled it: Pushan Hadaru felt the situation in his bones.
I made light of that tiger cub far too much!
Pushan Hadaru groaned. The first time he'd seen him, he should have crushed him with everything he had, without the slightest care for Hwang Ga's face. But who could have known that this green Joseon boy, without a shred of experience, would come clawing up to his throat in less than a year?
Iharachi came out to receive him. Mirroring the company's daily prosperity, he himself had grown into a fine, sturdy figure by now.
"The master be busy, ye. What brings ye?"
Iharachi looked Pushan Hadaru up and down with open distaste. He knew well enough that this man had schemed to swallow his master whole. Now that he had become Hong-wi's loyal man, Iharachi could hardly look kindly on him.
For his part, Pushan Hadaru was nearly breathing fire inside.
"Iharachi,"
he said through gritted teeth. Iharachi, that doomed wretch... It had been none other than Pushan Hadaru himself who had introduced him to Temusi-i—Hong-wi. A man rough and savage in temper, and one who made no secret of disliking Joseon people. In short, a snake he had planted purely to torment Hong-wi.
How on earth did this fellow end up in Temusi-i's camp, living fat off him? Did I not hand wings to that tiger cub?
Pushan Hadaru barely smothered his fury. This was not the hour to throw his weight about.
"Urgent business. I must see Temusi-i."
Iharachi studied him for a long moment before finally nodding.
"Wait a bit."
Pushan Hadaru's blood boiled. To think he had to swallow humiliation even from the likes of this.
Meanwhile Ugunai and Wumubin, who had come along, kept glancing about them.
"Temusi-i's company seems to be growing even faster than we thought. The porters alone look to be more than double what they were. Look at those pack horses."
"I see them,"
Pushan Hadaru replied curtly, his heart already twisted with envy. Wumubin chimed in.
"By size alone he could swallow two or three mid-sized companies, he could. In this short a time, mind you..."
"Silence, Wumubin!"
When Pushan Hadaru barked, Wumubin fell quiet—though inwardly he sneered.
Hm. He still has some face left to protect, it seems. But go on like this, and not a single coin will remain to him before the year is out.
True to his Chinese pedigree, sharp as any at the game of wealth, Wumubin could see at a glance whose company was the rising sun over Hwangseongpyeong.
Just then Iharachi returned.
"Come in, ye."
Hong-wi was at that moment receiving envoys sent from the upper reaches of the Honeha River—the Hunni, in Jianzhou. They too had heard his name already, and praised him until their mouths ran dry. He could tell without asking who had arranged the introduction. A deal was struck on the spot.
"Master, the company can no longer keep pace with the trade coming in. The caravan schedules are booked solid for months ahead."
It was Utai who spoke—now, alongside Iharachi, another of Hong-wi's devoted men.
"Might it not be wise to hold back until we've secured more capable caravan masters, guides, and porters?"
"Hmm, quite right. Rush a meal and you'll choke on it."
Hong-wi nodded. A merchant company, however much one wished to grow it, did not swell overnight—least of all in these days when the peace of Jianzhou hung by a thread.
Just then, word came that Pushan Hadaru had come calling. Hong-wi gave no particular sign and simply told them to admit him.
From the moment he entered, Pushan Hadaru held himself low and humble.
"Well, you see... things between us didn't begin on the best of terms, I'll grant. I admit it freely."
His manner was a far cry indeed from the day he had first met Hong-wi.
"It did not,"
Hong-wi answered indifferently.
"But there's no need to be chained to old grievances, is there? That's the way of this world, no?"
"That is true enough."
"And seeing you today... why, I can see the sprouts of greatness in you, my boy."
"You flatter me. No one can say that good earnings today mean good earnings tomorrow."
"Exactly! Precisely so!"
Pushan Hadaru clapped his hands in delight. To Hong-wi, the sight was pitiable almost beyond bearing.
"So here is my thought... tell me, have you any mind to join hands with me?"
"You mean a partnership between yourself and me?"
Only after circling about at length did Pushan Hadaru come to the point—just as Hong-wi was beginning to tire of the empty talk. Pushan Hadaru nodded vigorously.
"Just so. What say you?"
"Did I not already join the Merchant Assembly at your good offices? I seem to recall paying no small entrance fee."
"Ah, that! I'll waive it for life, for you. Haven't you proven yourself worthy of such treatment through sheer results?"
Pushan Hadaru fussed and fluttered about him.
"I am grateful for your high regard. But as it stands, I have no particular need of it for my business."
"Now, now, what a sulky thing to say. I mean for us to do business together as partners. With full partner's treatment, mind you."
"I have no particular intention of that. I am content as I am."
Hong-wi gave nothing more than a careless shrug and moved to rise from his seat. Pushan Hadaru grew frantic.
"Come now, Temusi-i!"
His voice rose.
"You can't meet all this demand alone, can you? Join hands with me, and everything I possess becomes yours to use."
"I've the face of Merchant Hwang between us, and I've no wish to make an enemy of you, my lord Pushan."
At that reply, Pushan Hadaru's expression brightened somewhat. But Hong-wi went on, cool as ever.
"Still, I see no pressing reason to take on a partner."
"No, wait—Temusi-i, listen..."
"I will consider your proposal favorably, my lord. I must go now. We shall speak again later."
In the end, Pushan Hadaru had to return empty-handed.
Cha Gyeong-yeon broke into a grin.
"Bold of you, my lord. You could have played reluctant and let him win you over."
"Honestly, watching the man grovel so does stir some pity. But not enough to move me."
Hong-wi shrugged. What manner of man had Pushan Hadaru been when Hong-wi moved to save old Cheon-noin and his daughter?
"He reached beyond his means, and look where it's landed him. He meant to live fat off Lee Go-nap-hap, it seems. Had he not been so greedy, even had his business shrunk bit by bit, he would never have grown this desperate."
"He squandered the connections and the fortune handed down through generations of merchants far too carelessly."
Hong-wi felt a wave of disgust at the sight of Pushan Hadaru. Come to think of it—setting aside the faction of his adoptive uncle—had he ever so deeply loathed anyone before?
In truth, since his fall from the throne, Hong-wi's self-regard had lain low for so long that he'd had no room for disgust at all. The revulsion he now felt toward Pushan Hadaru... it might well have touched on a loathing for his own past self.
Disgust for a man born to the highest station, yet so utterly without ability that he lost everything.
Hong-wi shook his head and cast the thought away.
"That may be so,"
said Ho-in,
"but it's true that we can't meet all this demand in the short term either."
"Of course not. But we can leave that to unfold."
Hong-wi smiled faintly.
"The man's own flesh burns him—why should we be the ones to step forward first?"
At those words, Cha Gyeong-yeon smiled too.
"Truly, no one could match Your Highness's thinking. Splendid, my lord!"