The Boatman's Warning
"Do you remember when Master Hwang told us he once lived among the outlanders' villages in his younger days?"
"I remember. He beat some outlander boy half to death and crossed the Amnok River because of it, if I recall."
"Good memory, that's right. Well, that boy Master Hwang beat half to death was none other than Pushan Hadaru."
"Ha! The world really is a small place," Hong-wi marveled.
Jang Hui-sun gave a wry grin.
"Still, Pushan Hadaru can't afford to turn Master Hwang away, you see. His trading caravan is large enough, but the management is a complete mess, so he's always bleeding red ink. Now that Master Hwang has total control of the Amnok River waterways, he can't hold out forever. Then again, knowing his luck, he'll probably go under before he has to. Master Hwang knows that too."
Hong-wi and his companions nodded silently.
It was a classic case of two tigers fighting on one mountain.
"At any rate, this tug-of-war won't last long. Master Hwang wants to expand his business into Jianzhou, and Pushan Hadaru desperately needs the goods Master Hwang smuggles for him. But speaking of which — you said you were looking for work today, didn't you?"
"That's right."
Jang Hui-sun fell into thought for a moment.
"For Gyeong-yeon's little brother's sake, I'd love to set you up with something, but with things the way they are, I don't know if I can bring on new smugglers. And Young Master, you were a boatman once, long ago—"
"Ah, no — we're not after smuggling work. We want to go into business, but we're short on capital, so we were hoping to ask Hwang Ga for investment."
"Business?"
Jang Hui-sun blinked.
"Yes. Wasn't Master Hwang himself planning to expand his operations into Jianzhou?"
"I'm sure he's thought about it, but... no, wait — business, you say?"
Jang Hui-sun tilted his head, puzzled.
"You mean you want to establish a trading company?"
"That's right. Is there some problem with that?"
Something about Jang Hui-sun's manner struck Hong-wi as odd.
"So Master Hwang has no intention of founding a trading company of his own? Perhaps because of the outlander merchants..."
"Ah, no, it's not that. Honestly, considering how Pushan Hadaru's gang throws their weight around, he'd want a separate company just for that reason. But lately, the mood in Jianzhou has been rather... unsettled."
"I've heard the rumors. Something about the Tung clan of the Odoli, wasn't it?"
"'Unsettled' doesn't begin to cover it. Tung Pan-chya of the Jianzhou Right Guard has been wheezing on his deathbed, and once he's gone, the Jianzhou Left Guard won't sit still. Tungshan is already scheming to swallow the Right Guard whole the moment he's dead. If that happens, the Three Guards system will collapse completely, and bandits will run rampant. Frankly, they're already running wild in Jianzhou as it is."
"When has it ever been otherwise? Besides, everyone in Jianzhou knows the Three Guards' dudus are the ones backing those bandits."
At Cha Gyeong-yeon's words, Jang Hui-sun shook his head.
"Until now, the Three Guards at least went through the motions of cracking down. But they all know war is coming — Guard, Left Guard, Right Guard, doesn't matter — so right now they're all bloodshot-eyed trying to expand their armies. Instead of suppressing the bandits, they're recruiting them into their forces, openly abetting banditry. You know Kunaha, don't you?"
"Kunaha? You mean Lee Go-nap-hap? Lee Man-ju's eldest son?"
"That's the one."
"What, is he a bandit now too? And him the dudu of the Jianzhou Guard... though a hollow one, I'll grant, since his father won't step aside."
"No, not exactly. Though I can't say he's entirely innocent either. You're right that Kunaha has long been all shine and no fruit, but recently Lee Man-ju ordered him to establish a separate household and gave him forty cavalry."
"Ha, did he now?"
"It's not that Lee Man-ju dotes on his eldest son, mind you. With Ming and Joseon watching him from both sides, he's hit the limit of how much he can grow his own power, so he's building up strength under the pretext of setting his son up in his own branch. Either way, the one who inherits the Jianzhou Guard will be his son, whether he likes it or not. So Kunaha has been gathering chiefs and ragamuffins all across the Jianzhou Guard — by now he must have over a hundred men."
"Not bad. Lee Man-ju's using his head."
"The problem is, he didn't give Kunaha any means to actually feed all those followers. So what's Kunaha supposed to feed them with? Are those ruffians going to farm? Go into trade? It ends in banditry, plain and simple."
"He has the face of the Jianzhou Guard's dudu to maintain — he'd commit banditry that openly?"
"Of course not. Officially, the bandits and Kunaha have nothing to do with each other. But Kunaha lends them his authority and offers protection so long as they don't run too wild, and the bandits pay him a fixed tribute of their plunder. Where else would a livelihood come from?"
Nodding along to his own explanation, Jang Hui-sun stole a glance at Hong-wi.
"So then, Young Master — if you're set on going into business anyway... well, they say crisis breeds opportunity. But how many are you starting with?"
"As you can see, just the three of us."
"Three?"
Jang Hui-sun looked distinctly unconvinced. He shook his head slowly as he looked at Cha Gyeong-yeon.
"Gyeong-yeon, I know what you're capable of, but starting a trading company with three people is a bit much. Between the bandits' extortion and everything else, even the homegrown merchants here are giving up the trade."
"Well, that works out nicely, then. Fewer competitors."
"That's not what I mean!"
Jang Hui-sun frowned.
"And you, Young Master, you've never run a business before either..."
"True, but nobody is born a merchant — someone has to start sometime. And think about it: with the established merchants all hunkering down, isn't this exactly the moment for newcomers like us? Master Hwang himself jumped in the same way, didn't he? And now look at him, ruling the Amnok River waterways."
Hong-wi spoke in a tone that was gentle yet firm.
Jang Hui-sun scratched behind his ear.
"Well... seeing how you handled yourself with Master Hwang last time, Young Master, I'd say you do have the look of a man bound for great things. And you have Gyeong-yeon with you, besides... But persuading Master Hwang is another matter entirely. You're asking for investment, after all. Finding you work, I could manage on my own authority."
"Seongnime, all we need is for you to get us a meeting with Master Hwang. Do that much, and we'll handle the rest ourselves."
Cha Gyeong-yeon stepped in.
Jang Hui-sun shot him an exasperated look.
"You think that's as easy as flipping your hand over? Is Master Hwang some ordinary man? Do you have any idea how many people come begging him for investment every single day?"
"Well, even if the sky falls, there'll be a hole to crawl out of. The problem is only getting a meeting — once we're in the room, we'll find a way."
"You carefree devil, you!"
Jang Hui-sun shook his head back and forth.
"Can you at least get us in to see Hwang Ga?"
"I can, but..."
Jang Hui-sun sighed.
"If you go and get bitten like a stray dog for nothing, it puts me in an awkward position too."
"Seongnime, you don't trust me?"
"That's not the point, is it."
Jang Hui-sun gave a shrug.
"Hm. Well, I have to return to Manpo anyway... I'll go with you."
"There's truly no one like you, Seongnime."
Cha Gyeong-yeon flashed a grin. Jang Hui-sun glared at him.
"Only coming to find your Seongnime when you need something, are we? Oh — and speaking of which, Young Master... Master Hwang will surely remember you. But when I make the introduction, what name should I give? If you're coming to ask for investment, you must at least offer a name."
"Temusi-i. Tell him that."
"So you've gone and given yourself an outlander name while I wasn't looking."
Jang Hui-sun gazed at Hong-wi for a long moment, then nodded.
"Well, that'll be simpler, I suppose. Then let's leave tonight."
It had been months since he had last gazed upon the mountains and rivers of his homeland, and now here he was, returning to them.
Hong-wi felt an unexpected tightness in his chest. It grieved him only that he could not return openly in broad daylight — that he had to slip in like a thief in the night.
He glanced back at Jang Hui-sun, who was plying the oars. The man who commanded Master Hwang's smuggling fleet as its Chief Boatman was rowing them himself.
He smiled in the darkness.
"Don't you worry. Who am I, after all? Even Manpo's Song Yu-bin holds no fear for me."
He paused, then continued.
"Though I suppose you have nothing to worry about in any case, Young Master."
He too was recalling that day — the day Song Yu-bin had crossed paths with Hong-wi.
Cha Gyeong-yeon laughed.
"So he's treated you well ever since, has he, Seongnime?"
"Ridiculous!"
Jang Hui-sun grumbled.
"There's no man alive who draws the line between public duty and private matters as clean as a blade cut. It's true, I tell you — the very fact that my neck is still warm on my shoulders is miracle enough."
He focused on the current for a while before speaking again.
"Anyway, I haven't laid eyes on Song Yu-bin since. Truth be told, for the likes of us to be seen meeting Song Yu-bin at all is as good as baring our backsides for the world to see, no?"
Hong-wi made no answer. In his mind's eye, he was turning over the face of that upright, hard-edged warrior with the memorable beard.
It was because men like him still remained that border security held at all, even as discipline across the land had grown lax since Suyang seized power.
"Master Hwang still hasn't found a way around that man, either... but well, our livelihoods hang on it, so we manage somehow."
"So it would seem, judging by what's stockpiled at Hwangseongpyeong."
"Without Song Yu-bin, it'd be ten times that. Now — here we are."
Jang Hui-sun brought the boat alongside a dock hidden within a reed thicket. Only after passwords were exchanged in the darkness did Hong-wi's party step ashore.
They were led to a hut where the smugglers hid their goods and sometimes stayed for days at a time.
"Master Hwang recently built a manor near Manpoguja. I'll send word to him. If you wait here for a day or so, I'll return."
"Let's do that."
Jang Hui-sun showed them where the grain and liquor stored in the hut were kept, nodded once, and soon vanished into the darkness.
Cha Gyeong-yeon spoke up.
"Your Majesty, I'll be away for a short while as well."
"Where are you going?"
"I'll prepare a scheme that can win Hwang Ga over. I may be slower in returning than expected... but even if I don't come back, think nothing of it — go ahead and meet with Hwang Ga without me. I'll have everything arranged so nothing goes awry."
Even in the darkness, Cha Gyeong-yeon's eyes gleamed sharp and bright.
Hong-wi nodded.
"Then go, and return safely."
Cha Gyeong-yeon bowed his head briefly and melted into the shadows.
Ho-in murmured,
"What on earth could his plan be, I wonder?"
"How should I know? But he's not a man to speak empty words."
"That much is true."
Ho-in conceded the point. Come to think of it, it had been less than a year since they first met Cha Gyeong-yeon, and yet somewhere along the way the two of them had come to trust him completely.
The waiting hours drifted by in idleness. They spent the daytime wandering through the reed fields. It was not until the western sky had flushed red that Jang Hui-sun appeared.
"Good news. The master himself wishes to see this Temusi-i fellow."
"Excellent. Well done."
Jang Hui-sun glanced around.
"By the way — where's Cha Gyeong-yeon?"
"He said he had business and left. Told us to go on ahead without him even if he doesn't return."
"Hmm, that's..."
Jang Hui-sun scratched his head, looking flustered. Then he shrugged.
"Well, no helping it. Let's go now."
"Now? At this hour?"
The two of them exchanged bewildered looks. Jang Hui-sun nodded.
"He's an exceptionally busy man, you see."
"Then let's be off."
Hong-wi settled the matter, and the two followed Jang Hui-sun out.
Hwang Ga's manor was hidden in a remote spot even by the standards of the Manpoguja area. In the now-total darkness, Hong-wi could barely make out its ink-black silhouette.
"The manor is quite imposing... a good few dozen rooms, even at a glance? But didn't the inspectors say something about that?"
Truly, for all its secluded location, Hwang Ga's estate was splendidly grand. Jang Hui-sun grinned.
"He's always lived as if there were no law, you see."
Under Joseon law, even the size of a man's house was fixed by rank. A great prince might build sixty rooms, a royal prince or princess fifty; officials were allotted forty rooms at the second rank or above and thirty below. Hwang Ga, whatever his standing as a smuggling boss, had never held office — so by law his house could not exceed ten rooms.
"Most of those are warehouses."
"It's big, yes, but it looks more like a fortress."
Ho-in was astonished too. Palisades of hewn logs ringed the compound on all sides, and watchtowers stood at every corner — sentries were surely posted there.
It was less a manor than a small fortress. Its sturdiness was not inferior even to the Manpoguja they had once glimpsed from far away.
"I suppose one couldn't live in a place like this without it. You never know when the outlanders might raid. Remarkable that they managed to build such a fortress."
"This isn't a mere residence. It's one of Master Hwang's key business strongholds. In time, he plans to build manors like this not just here but at every major outpost. The one at Hwangseongpyeong is the first."
"Incredible."
Hong-wi and Ho-in could not stop marveling. In Joseon, perhaps — but among the outlanders, not even the chieftains possessed fortifications like this.
If Hwang Ga held not one but several such strongholds, he could never be a king, perhaps, but he could certainly play the part of a feudal lord.
"Still, it seems Cha Gyeong-yeon really isn't coming."
"He told us not to wait and to go in ahead of him. Maybe he guessed we'd be arriving in the dead of night like this. Or maybe not."
"I see. Well then, let's go in. Master Hwang does dislike being kept waiting."