If You’re Going to Do It, Do It Properly (1)
"Hmm."
A low murmur slipped from between Tang Gun-ak’s lips as he read the letter.
He went over the brief contents again and again, and before long, a smile touched his face. He nodded to himself.
"So it’s come to that after all."
Tang Pae, who had been standing quietly on guard nearby, caught sight of that expression and let a faint smirk tug at his mouth.
Tang Gun-ak was not the sort of man who smiled easily, no matter the circumstances. In the Tang Family, that was doubly true.
Of course, part of that was surely the weight of being the family head and the need to keep his feelings in check. But whenever he heard news from Mount Hua, Tang Gun-ak’s reactions were unmistakably different.
"I knew Mount Hua was stronger than people thought, but I never imagined they’d wipe out the Dae-byeol Bandit Band without so much as a scratch."
Tang Pae was one of the people who understood the Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s ability—and Mount Hua’s strength—better than most. Even so, the performance Mount Hua had shown this time had left him deeply shaken.
So what must it have done to those who barely knew anything about Mount Hua at all?
"They had to be that good. Only then would the old fools in the Nine Sects and One Gang, who still haven’t realized the world has changed and are busy guarding their own coffers, finally feel the fire at their heels."
Just imagining the faces of those old bastards when they heard the news made it hard for Tang Gun-ak to suppress a laugh.
That bastard really does have a ghostly instinct for this sort of thing.
Righteous obligation sounded grander than it really was, and it helped far less than people liked to pretend. Most of the time, it was nothing but a nuisance—more trouble than it was worth, an obligation that ate time and effort without offering much in return.
But that obligation was the very foundation of any sect that claimed to be righteous. Just as neglecting one’s fundamentals while chasing after flashy advanced martial arts would eventually make one’s skill regress, losing sight of duty in the pursuit of profit and wealth would inevitably cause one to forget what had to be protected.
There was something peculiar about public sentiment: in the end, it never missed that truth.
"The Nine Sects and One Gang will have plenty to say, I’m sure."
"Yes. They’ll likely be making quite a fuss. Truthfully, the suppression of the Dae-byeol Bandit Band is not something anyone in the current martial world could handle except Mount Hua."
"But that’s just an excuse."
Tang Gun-ak slowly shook his head.
"A single incident won’t change people’s hearts overnight. If this becomes an issue, it will only prove how long the orthodox sects have neglected what they were supposed to do."
"Yes, Lord."
"So remember that well yourself."
Tang Gun-ak’s eyes darkened slightly.
"The moment you begin taking for granted everything we enjoy under the name of the Sichuan Tang Family’s prestige, the family’s decline will begin. You must never stop thinking about what it is that truly holds all of this together."
"I’ll keep that in mind."
As he watched Tang Pae nod with a serious expression, Tang Gun-ak gave a slightly bitter smile.
In that sense, the Mount Hua Divine Dragon is a truly troublesome existence.
Whether through calculation or instinct, that brat could tell with uncanny accuracy what would irritate his opponent. And every so often, he would casually change plans in the middle and do something no one could possibly predict.
As an ally, he was entertaining. As an enemy, he’d be enough to make someone feel as if a red-hot stone had been dropped into their stomach.
"Anyway, he’s drawn attention faster than expected."
Tang Gun-ak pressed lightly at the corner of his eye.
He already had a good idea what Chung Myung would say next.
"We’ll have to hurry a little."
"What are you referring to?"
"We need to establish the Heavenly Alliance before Mount Hua’s name fades from people’s minds again."
His voice was light and calm.
But the weight carried by those words was anything but light.
"At the very least, the preparations must be finished before Mount Hua Sect returns to Mount Hua."
"...Isn’t that too tight a schedule?"
"Not really."
"Pardon? Even if the distance from Hubei to Shaanxi isn’t exactly short, they’re martial artists. It wouldn’t take them many days to—"
With a small sigh, Tang Gun-ak answered.
"You don’t think that Mount Hua Divine Dragon will just obediently return from Mount Dae-byeol to Mount Hua, do you?"
"...Ah."
"He’ll definitely do something else first. That’s just who he is."
"...Understood."
"He’ll run wild doing whatever he wants, then the moment he gets back to Mount Hua he’ll start barking about why preparations aren’t finished yet. Tch."
Tang Pae still couldn’t quite tell whether his father liked the Mount Hua Divine Dragon or hated him.
As if nothing unusual had been said, Tang Gun-ak continued, "I don’t want to hear him nagging at me, so hurry up. How are the preparations coming along?"
"Most of the other arrangements are already complete. However, we have not yet received responses from the influential smaller sects around us that we asked about joining the Heavenly Alliance."
"Then press them."
"...?"
Just as Tang Pae seemed about to say something, Tang Gun-ak raised a hand to cut him off.
"I didn’t say persuade them. I said press them. I don’t care what kind of answer they give."
"Ah..."
"We won’t get a favorable answer anyway. They may be unable to escape Sichuan’s influence, but they can’t simply ignore the order of the existing Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families."
"They did seem rather hesitant, yes."
"Then it’s enough to simply hear whether they will join or not. There’s no need for them to stand with us from the very beginning. Still, tell them to attend the founding ceremony and lend the occasion some dignity."
"That much should be possible."
"Better to hurry."
"Yes. Otherwise, I’ll have to listen to Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s nagging."
"Exactly. Move."
"Yes!"
Watching Tang Pae hurry outside, Tang Gun-ak let out a quiet laugh.
Nagging, huh.
The Sichuan Tang Family, of all people, had been reduced to rushing around because they were afraid of being scolded by a young Daoist.
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. But the bigger problem was that he didn’t exactly dislike this situation.
Well.
Compared to the Nine Sects and One Gang, who were probably trembling right now as if they’d swallowed needles because of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, this was hardly a bad position at all.
Tang Gun-ak glanced eastward with a smile still lingering on his face, then picked up his brush again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The largest merchant group in Wuhan, the Geum-seon Merchant Group.
Its leader, Song Tae-ak, was staring at the ledger with a face so sour it looked as if someone had fed him vinegar.
"...Why is this happening?"
"Pardon?"
"I said, why is this happening?"
Mo Wan, the chief administrator, answered with an awkward expression.
"Well... as a matter of fact, tea is the main business of our merchant group, isn’t it?"
"It is."
"For the past few years, tea has sold well, and we’ve made good money."
"Yes."
"Hehe. Especially the expensive tea sold to the upper class—that’s where the money was."
"And?"
Mo Wan frowned faintly and said bitterly, "And now that tea trade from Yunnan has resumed, that entire expensive-tea market has been stripped clean."
"..."
Song Tae-ak’s brow twitched.
"Yunnan tea wasn’t exactly unheard of before. It had just fallen out of circulation for a while and then started moving again, that’s all."
"That’s right."
"Then why are you saying the market got stripped clean? It didn’t just fall out of the sky."
"Ah, well... the market has its own strange ways, you know. As you know, Yunnan tea has long been the kind of tea that upper-class people drink."
"Yes."
"But when trade was blocked, it became scarce, and the price shot up absurdly high. Tea for the upper class became tea for the even more upper class—basically, something only people with money to burn could drink."
"..."
"At that point, it stops being just tea. It becomes a symbol of power and wealth."
"Well, of course it would. But that’s not what I’m asking! I asked why our sales have collapsed."
"What happened is that the Yunnan tea, having become a luxury for the rich, suddenly flooded the market at a much lower price than before."
"..."
"What’s more, those bastards now sell it in grades. The expensive tea is even more expensive, and the cheaper stuff is priced so that anyone who wants it can buy it. So now people who normally care about tea are throwing money around to get a higher grade, and even those who don’t care about tea are buying something decent just to try it."
"..."
"So the tea market got utterly smashed. The tea we used to sell can’t compete with Yunnan tea anymore. It’s all sitting in the warehouse, going moldy."
"Grrr..."
Song Tae-ak scratched at his head with both hands.
"So a luxury good has become reasonably priced, and now every Tom, Dick, and Harry is rushing in to try it, is that what you’re saying?"
"Exactly."
"Then what’s the solution?"
Mo Wan gave a thin smile.
"When a typhoon passes through, all you can do is cling to the pillar and pray you survive. The preference for Yunnan tea will settle down in a few years."
"...So the best goal is simply not going bankrupt for the next few years."
Song Tae-ak let out a long, stifled sigh.
Of course, the Geum-seon Merchant Group wasn’t so small that it would collapse just because it couldn’t make huge profits from tea for a few years. The wealth it had already accumulated would keep it alive for another century, easy.
After all, it was one of the ten largest merchant groups in the Central Plains.
"A few years is all it’ll take to sort itself out. That’s a short time."
"That’s not the issue, so why are you saying it like that?"
"Pardon?"
But Song Tae-ak clicked his tongue at Mo Wan.
"The way things are going, those bastards clearly know how to make money. Rather than dumping it out at a ridiculous price and making a huge profit right away, they lowered the price just enough to maximize profit. Sell one item for ten taels, or sell twenty items for one tael each—that’s the strategy."
"That’s right."
"Do you really think men like that wouldn’t know the price of Yunnan tea would eventually fall?"
"..."
"The real problem is what they’ll do with all that money they’ve made from tea! Grr. Maybe we should try to get in on that side..."
"Come now, we do still have the pride of being one of the ten largest merchant groups in the Central Plains."
"Pride is the least useful thing a merchant can have! As long as you make money, who cares about pride!"
"Even so, that’s impossible. The ones holding the exclusive rights to Yunnan tea are Mount Hua."
"..."
"For us, situated in Hubei, opening trade with them is practically impossible."
"Do you think I don’t know that? I’m just saying it makes my guts boil!"
Song Tae-ak snapped without thinking.
For a merchant, this was one of the hardest situations to endure: knowing full well that the flow of money had changed, yet having no way to reach that current.
And it’s not like we can just cut ties with Wudang.
They had no legitimate reason to do so, and there was no reason for Mount Hua to accept merchants who had been trading with Wudang. Why would the ones who were already thriving bother with that?
"Grr. I wonder if the martial world lot even realize what kind of situation this is."
In the end, it all came down to money.
A growing sect always seized money. It wasn’t that they grew and then made money—it was that they grew because they made money. The reason Shaolin became the greatest sect under heaven was that it was the richest sect in the world.
A sect that made money didn’t have to worry about every little thing. It could focus solely on training without needing to send disciples everywhere, and it could buy expensive elixirs without hesitation.
Between those who could devote their entire lives to training without worry and those who had to fret over tomorrow’s meals, who would become stronger?
And now that river of gold is flowing into Mount Hua.
In just ten years, that money would begin to show its effects.
"Tch. A dream I can’t reach. A dream I can’t reach."
Song Tae-ak sighed again and reached toward the ledger just then—
"H-Head of administration!"
"Hm?"
A frantic voice rang out. Mo Wan turned toward the door and asked, "What is it?"
"Y-you should come look. There are people here to do business, but the, the amount is unbelievable."
"...Unbelievable? Did they bring grain or something?"
"Th-that’s... no, it’s hard to explain in words. You have to see it for yourself."
Mo Wan tilted his head.
"Tch. Let’s go take a look."
Song Tae-ak brushed himself off and stood. His stomach was already about to burst from frustration, and at times like this, the best thing to do was look at something that could make money and calm his nerves.
"I wonder just how incredible it is."
He grinned and stepped outside with a light stride.
"..."
Something was coming in.
"..."
And something else kept coming in after it.
Wagons were rolling through the massive gates of the Geum-seon Merchant Group one after another. Each wagon was piled high with white sacks stacked taller than a grown man.
"W-what the hell is this?"
It didn’t look like grain.
And even if it were grain, the amount would already be outrageous. If it wasn’t grain, then what on earth was it?
"W-well..."
Clatter.
Then one of the sacks on a wagon toppled to the ground, and the contents spilled out.
"J-jewels?"
They were all gems and ornaments.
The valuable-looking trinkets had been tossed haphazardly into filthy sacks.
"Th-this... no, impossible, this can’t all be jewelry... no, it can’t be, but still, this is..."
If not jewelry, then something equally expensive. Otherwise they would have loaded the jewelry separately.
Then just how much was all this stuff worth?
Song Tae-ak began to hiccup uncontrollably. Whether this was a blessing or a curse, he couldn’t tell at all.
Then a young man strolled in lazily, spotted Song Tae-ak, and broke into a grin.
"Are you the head of the merchant group, sir?"
"Huh?"
"I heard this place has a lot of money. Could you check how much all this will go for once it’s sold?"
"..."
Cold sweat began to bead all over Song Tae-ak’s forehead.
The God of Wealth has arrived!
Of course.
Whether he was the God of Wealth or the God of Disaster remained to be seen.