The Two Visitors Worth Counting
Jang Hui-sun entered the main gate first.
The gatekeepers moved to block him.
"It's me, the Chief Boatman. These are guests here to see the Master—and the Master knows of their coming."
"Then show me your tally."
Entry into Hwang Ga's fortified compound was granted only to those who carried a royal tally or traveled in the company of someone who did.
A thorough body search came as a matter of course, and no one was exempt.
Hong-wi marveled once again at the rigor of the security and discipline.
*Compared to this, the walled town of Ganggye is laughably porous. A fortress of the state, outmatched by the stronghold of a mere smuggler.*
"You may enter."
They passed into the compound.
Every building wore a thatched roof, yet in sheer scale the estate was the equal of any great noble's mansion in Hanyang.
Several quarters housed live-in servants and laborers, and no fewer than four warehouses were visible—all of them as large as the ones they had seen at Hwangseongpyeong.
"Astonishing. You built all of this in a mere two years?"
"Not all of it belongs to Master Hwang alone. He stores goods on behalf of other smugglers as well—and naturally, not for free. Even so, half of it is his."
"Half of this would be remarkable enough."
"Hah. He was already a man of considerable wealth back when he served as Interpreter of Ganggye Prefecture. Every time the border market opened, it was Master Hwang's hand alone that decided what the Jurchens would buy and how much. You can see why he prospered."
"Not even a Vice Magistrate—how could a mere Interpreter wield such power?"
Ho-in asked, puzzled.
Jang Hui-sun gave a careless shrug.
"A Vice Magistrate's authority ends when his term does. It's the Interpreter who holds the real power."
Hong-wi took this as yet more evidence of the decayed discipline on the frontier.
Had the officials done their duty properly, no lowly Interpreter could ever have run rampant to this degree.
Yet when he considered the timing, the rot had begun showing its traces even in the halcyon days of that late Great King Sejong himself.
In the end, there had always been "ordinary folk" who craved some compensation for their harsh, grueling lives on the border—and the accumulated desires of such men had produced this.
Look at that corrupt military officer Yu at Ganggye's garrison—had he not arrived as an unspoiled, diligent officer in the beginning?
Men like Song Yu-bin, incapable of corruption under any circumstance, were rare in any age.
As the group stood looking around, a rough-faced man came swaggering out.
"The Chief Boatman's here, I see."
Hong-wi recognized him at once.
Mak-gae, who had once run the tavern in Ganggye.
Mak-gae seemed to recognize the party as well.
"Well, if it isn't the young master—first time seeing you in a long while. You've grown into quite a formidable figure. I'm Mak-gae. These days I serve as steward of Master Hwang's estate."
"I am called Temusii."
"Temusii."
Mak-gae bared his teeth in a grin.
"Not your real name, I'd wager."
Hong-wi only smiled and offered no answer.
"Truth is, men who use their real names in this place are the rare ones. No matter at all."
Hong-wi gave a silent nod.
Jang Hui-sun asked, "Is the Master inside?"
"He's in the annex—but hold on. Weren't there supposed to be three of you?"
"One of us is running late, so these two came ahead."
At Jang Hui-sun's answer, Mak-gae nodded.
"Understood. He's been waiting all the same. I'll carry word to him. You said Temusii, was it?"
"That's right. In case he doesn't recognize the name—tell him it's the one who crossed the Amnok River some time ago with..."
Hong-wi paused, then went on.
"Tell him to remember the ivory tally."
"As if he could forget that."
Mak-gae burst out laughing.
"It's because of that tally that the Master cleared this much time for you at all. Wait here. I'll be right back."
The group waited a short while.
Before long, Mak-gae returned.
"He says come in at once. Follow me."
Guided by Mak-gae, Hong-wi and his companions entered the inner grounds.
The annex left them astonished yet again by its refinement.
It would not have been out of place in the celebrated rear gardens of Hanyang's great households.
When they arrived before the annex, Mak-gae announced them.
"The guests the Chief Boatman spoke of have arrived."
"Show them in."
Mak-gae gestured for Hong-wi's party to enter.
Inside the annex, a handsome man in a scholar's robe was poring over a ledger.
Dark-complexioned, sharp-chinned, with a beard trimmed to match the point of that chin, and keen, piercing eyes.
The cold cast of his features had changed little since their first meeting in Ganggye.
Even after Hong-wi's party entered, Hwang Ga kept his eyes on the ledger for a long while.
It was, by any measure, a discourteous bearing.
At last he spoke, his gaze still fixed on the pages.
"The Chief Boatman may withdraw."
"Yes, Master."
Jang Hui-sun bowed his head to the group and withdrew.
Once he was gone, Hwang Ga addressed them without looking up from his ledger.
"It's been what, half a year since I saw you in Ganggye? My, my—you've managed to stay alive and well."
A thread of sardonic humor ran beneath the words.
Hong-wi gave a light nod.
"We've heard the gist of it from Hui-sun. You wish to do business."
"That is so. I've come to seek your investment."
"Investment? Investment, you say."
Still studying the ledger, Hwang Ga gave a shrug of his shoulders.
"You are hardly the first drifter to make such a request—in fact, you're one of so many that lately I've had Mak-gae turn them all away at the door, and even then we can hardly keep up. And what they all say, you know, sounds much the same."
He gave a cold snort.
"So. You've taken the name Temusii, have you?"
"That is so."
"Temusii—one who works iron and wood? Hmm, an amusing name."
With an air of indifference, Hwang Ga shrugged again.
"Hui-sun tells me you mean to establish a merchant company in Jianzhou."
"Correct."
Hong-wi nodded.
"And so you've come to ask me to be your backer."
"Correct."
"Hui-sun did tell me to see you out of respect for his name, but it seems I've wasted my time. You stepped over that threshold when you came in just now, did you not? Can you perhaps guess how many people cross that threshold in a single day, all hoping to meet with me?"
It was a careless question, tossed out without weight.
"How could I fail to guess?"
"How could you fail?"
For the first time, Hwang Ga lifted his eyes from the ledger.
Brows knitted, he asked, "Well then—how many?"
"Wouldn't it be two?"
"Two? Did you say two?"
Hwang Ga echoed the word and snorted through his nose.
"Surely more than that? Why on earth would it be only two?"
"Those who cross this threshold fall into two kinds: those of use to the Master, and those who are not. So there would be two classes."
"Hm. If you put it that way, I suppose so."
"But those who are of no use might as well not exist, however many of them there are—there'd be nothing to count. And so the answer is two: you and I."
Hong-wi's reply was crystalline.
A silence settled over the room.
After a moment, Hwang Ga let out a dry laugh.
"Oho."
He lifted the fan resting on the table.
With a snap, he opened it and studied Hong-wi with narrowed eyes.
"Fancy that—I'd quite forgotten what a silver tongue this young master has! Clever, very clever. But whether you are of use to me or not, Master, is something we shall have to wait and see."
"Handing you that tally alone proves I'm not without use. Have you found a use for it yet?"
Hwang Ga's eyes narrowed to slits.
He hesitated a moment, then snapped the fan shut.
"Not yet."
He shrugged once and went on.
"That thing is far too... precious, to be spending in a place like this."
He admitted it frankly.
"To speak plainly—after you young masters departed, I wondered for a very long time. Just who were you, to be carrying such a treasure? I ached to know your history."
"And yet you never asked."
"Why would a smuggler ask such things? Back then, I doubted you could survive a single day in the Jurchen lands."
Hwang Ga's words spared nothing.
Ho-in shifted uncomfortably.
"But if you want my investment now, then now you must tell me. Who are you, exactly? And what drove you to cross into the Jurchen lands?"
"A man of your caliber, Master, could hardly fail to guess."
At Hong-wi's riposte, Hwang Ga smiled thinly and swayed his fan.
Beyond the fan, a light flickered in his eyes.
"I did form my own guesses. But to invest in a man, one must be able to trust him, must one not? A man who cannot lay bare what is inside him is a difficult man to extend credit to."
"A fair point."
Hong-wi let the silence hang for a breath.
He already had his answer prepared.
"You remember the venerable Yi Jing-ok of Wonbong, of course."
"I know the name well. I never met the man personally, but living on this northern frontier, it is hard not to."
"I am something of a nephew to that venerable gentleman. I lost my parents early and was raised under his roof. He was a father to me. When he was unjustly accused and met his end, my own life fell into danger. I had no choice but to flee."
The lies flowed smoothly from Hong-wi's lips.
He had never once lied in his former life, yet exile from his throne and years of concealing his identity had made his tongue effortlessly fluent.
A lie works best when it is the sort of story the listener already half-expects—and therefore finds easy to believe.
All the more so when dealing with a suspicious man like Hwang Ga.
"That's how it was."
Hong-wi looked him straight in the eye.
Cha Gyeong-yeon's counsel came back to him.
*When you lie to a suspicious man, never avert your eyes. Look into his, rather.*
Their gazes met and held.
At length, Hwang Ga gave a shrug.
"I'd already guessed there was a story behind you... Well, it's a credible enough pedigree, I'll grant you."
"You don't believe it?"
"I wouldn't say that."
Hwang Ga nodded lightly and went on.
"I said *credible enough*. It is true that Yi Jing-ok's kin met an unjust death, and true that some slipped away to escape the fallout. But something still doesn't sit quite right with me."
He opened a book chest and drew out the tally to show it.
"The man who placed his cipher on this tally is none other than the reigning king. Let us say I believe your story—how, then, could a kinsman of the venerable Yi Jing-ok have come to possess so extraordinary an object?"
Hwang Ga's point was razor-sharp.
Hong-wi conceded it.
"Such suspicion is only natural. Of one thing I am certain: this was not given to me directly by Suyang."
"You stole it, then?"
"In effect, yes."
Hwang Ga laughed.
"Well, very good. Your tale has its gaps, young master, but it's convincing enough on the whole. Let's leave the past behind us here—I'm not a man who dwells on it. Yesterday's enemy becomes today's friend, and yesterday's friend today's enemy; that is the way of this trade."
A glint flashed in his eyes.
"What matters now is this: what profit can you bring me? Show me profit, and you'll have your investment. But from where I stand, I see none!"
"Why do you think so?"
"Why would I invest in a venture doomed to fail? What profit is there to expect?"
Hwang Ga snorted.
"Temusii, was it? You think that because you've taken a Jurchen name, the Jurchens will look on you as one of their own? Nonsense. Ten years from now, a hundred years, a thousand—you will still be a Joseon man to them, never one of their kin. Learn their tongue, learn their customs; it will avail you nothing. Open a trading company in Jianzhou, and I guarantee you'll be bankrupt within six months."
Hwang Ga's words were blunt and unvarnished.
"Why—do you disagree? You've never done business in your life. Don't deny it. You cannot fool my eyes. To succeed in trade, you must win the hearts of those you deal with. And the Jurchens never readily trust an outsider. What could you possibly accomplish, walking in overnight? Whether or not you have a head for business, you couldn't even open a single transaction—you'd fail, and fail you must."
"Undoubtedly it would be so—left to my own devices. But helping me would serve your interests as well, Master."
"How so?"
"Are things going smoothly with Pushan Hadaru?"
"Hmph. So you've heard something, have you?"
Hwang Ga's lips pursed.
"There's no reason to lie to you, so I'll be honest. Things are not going smoothly. But it's only a matter of time before they cave. I can wait as long as it takes—they cannot."
Hwang Ga grinned.
Grain could rot, salt could draw damp, cloth could mildew—true enough.
But stored with care, it would all keep comfortably for months on end.
"Perhaps. But you must still feed the people in your employ, and pay your tributes to the officials in Ganggye and beyond. Without revenue, how long can you truly afford to wait?"
"And what makes you think I'd have no revenue at all?"
Hwang Ga's rebuttal was sharp.
"My apologies. No, not none at all. The point is—how long can you wait?"
"Hmph."
Hwang Ga snapped his fan shut with a clack and tapped it against the table.
"I can wait rather longer than you imagine, young master. In any case, not a single grain of rice nor scrap of cloth crosses from Manpo to Hwangseongpyeong without my say-so. Even Pushan Hadaru's faction has its limits."
"No doubt. But the longer this contest of nerve drags on, the more both sides lose. Ending it quickly would be to everyone's benefit, would it not?"
"Get to the point—get to the point!"
Hwang Ga snapped his fan open with a flourish, impatient.
"Which is why you must help me organize my trading company."
"And just like that, you ask it...? Very well. But tell me—what do I gain by helping you build your company? A chance to let Pushan Hadaru's faction laugh while you commit obvious, wasteful suicide?"
"They will not be laughing."