Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 292
>Chapter Title: Transaction (3)
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Thanks to the men from the Majid House, Il-mok and his group were able to pass through the city gates smoothly once again.
“Ho.”
Entering the city of Merv, Il-mok let out a light exclamation of admiration.
It was the first place since crossing into the Western Regions that could truly be called a “city.”
The people coming and going on the streets all carried a vibrant energy, and conversations about buying, selling, and haggling could be heard from all directions.
It felt different from Samarkand or Bukhara, which had the appearance of cities but somehow exuded a desolate atmosphere.
‘At this level, we should be able to sell our goods for a fair price.’
Il-mok nodded in satisfaction and asked the man from the Majid House who was guiding them.
“Where should we go to sell our goods?”
“Since our Majid House often buys and sells goods here, I’ll guide you to the place we usually use.”
The man from the Majid House led them through the heart of the city, and before long, they entered the central district of Merv.
A bustling market teeming with countless residents. Though comparing was a bit tricky due to differences in clothing and language, Merv’s central district seemed no less impressive than Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu.
‘Hmm. Come to think of it, Lanzhou is quite underdeveloped even for a Central Plains city.’
Compared to Nanning in Guangxi Province, where he had briefly stopped to deal with the Hao Clan Lord, it had felt lacking.
Il-mok, recalling that even Guangxi Province was considered underdeveloped compared to the most prosperous areas of the Central Plains, asked the man guiding them.
“How prosperous is this Merv compared to other places in Huihui Church territory?”
“It’s one of the top three cities in the eastern region. In the past, when merchants from the east came seeking the Silk Road, it was one of the five greatest cities across the entire imperial domain, but now the western and central regions have amassed greater wealth.”
“Hmm. Even though trade has shifted to the west and center, this place still maintains a decent scale.”
At Il-mok’s words, the man from the Majid House gave a wry smile.
“Samarkand, where our Majid House is based, may seem relatively close to the Central Plains in terms of location, but within Huihui Church territory, it’s quite a remote frontier. At least places like Merv here or the largest eastern city, Nishapur, manage to keep their pulse as gateways connecting the central and eastern regions.”
“Hmm. So how far is that Nishapur from here?”
“You can reach it by heading southwest from here for about three days.”
Il-mok nodded at the man’s explanation and sorted out his thoughts.
‘Fortunately, there’s a major eastern city just three days from here.’
If they couldn’t get a fair price here, his final plan was to head to that Nishapur.
While gathering information about the Western Regions and thinking about follow-up matters, the guide leading them came to a stop.
“This is the place.”
Il-mok’s impression upon looking around where the guide had stopped was simple.
‘It’s in quite a subtle spot.’
It was a fine location for a central market, but within that market, it was practically on the outskirts.
Still, it seemed fine for conducting business, so Il-mok gave orders to the Black Tiger Squad members.
“Take out the goods from the crates and display them.”
Right after the Black Tiger Squad members unpacked and displayed the porcelain, silk, herbs, and so on atop the wooden platform at Il-mok’s command, the men from the Majid House began shouting in the Huihui Church language.
“Porcelain and silk from the distant East are for sale over here!!”
Watching their hawking, Il-mok soon turned to look at the Black Tiger Squad members.
‘Too many idle hands?’
Of course, they were also serving as guards to prevent theft or damage to the valuables, but with fifty men crammed into such a narrow space, it felt suffocating.
Moreover, they were blocking the view, making it hard to see the goods properly.
After pondering for a moment, Il-mok recalled a certain scene from the modern world.
Using O-hal-lak, he spoke to one of the Majid House men who was in the midst of hawking.
“Could you get some large wooden signboards from the market?”
The man from the Majid House tilted his head at the odd request and gave instructions to a few others.
And shortly after, when they returned with several large signboards from somewhere, Il-mok spoke again.
“Could you write in large letters on those signboards, in Huihui Church script, ‘Porcelain, herbs, and silk from the East for sale’?”
Seeming to catch on, the man from the Majid House wrote boldly in the Huihui Church language across the signboards.
With the necessary items prepared adequately, Il-mok gave orders to the Black Tiger Squad members.
“From now on, groups of five per signboard—take them and walk around the market.”
The modern scene Il-mok had recalled was picket signs.
Though commonly used in protests, they were also a frequent tool for hawking, and he had improvised them on the spot.
It was efficient in various ways, as he could put about half his idle manpower to use as hawkers.
“We’ll handle carrying those wooden signs ourselves, so assign one man per group to guide customers here.”
Additionally, Il-mok requested the Majid House men to serve as interpreters and guides.
And so, groups formed of four Black Tiger Squad members and one Majid House man—one per five—set off into various parts of the market.
Perhaps because the large letters on the big signboards caught the eye, before long, people curious about the Eastern goods began to appear.
“Ho. Goods from the East.”
Most of them just gawked out of novelty and left.
“But are you sure these are really from the East?”
“Just because they’re from the East doesn’t guarantee they’re good quality, does it?”
Some left after muttering distrustful nonsense.
“I’m not convinced this porcelain is from the East, so how about selling it for a reasonable 5 dirhams?”
Some even tried to haggle down to absurd prices.
In the modern world, dirhams were currency in certain Middle Eastern countries, but here, they were a unit of silver weight.
5 dirhams might be a large sum for common folk, but it was ridiculously low for porcelain brought from distant Central Plains.
Whenever such hagglers appeared, Dokgo Pae would glare fiercely and step forward.
“Young Master, let me handle this!”
Il-mok shook his head at Dokgo Pae’s eagerness to fight.
But he didn’t send Dokgo Pae away either.
‘If he glares at them so menacingly, they won’t dare cause trouble.’
Dokgo Pae served as a sort of face of intimidation.
He was an excellent man who could convey, with just his face, that he wouldn’t tolerate any damage to the goods or nonsense.
“We have no intention of selling at that price, so please leave.”
After sending away the hagglers and continuing business for a while.
“Ha. It was nice at first, Young Master. When the hell are we going to fight?”
As Il-mok shook his head at Dokgo Pae’s lament, missing the days of constant Huihui Church ambushes and traps, the crowded area around them suddenly cleared, and a middle-aged man approached them, accompanied by several men who looked like guards or retainers.
At their appearance, the man from the Majid House quietly informed Il-mok.
“They’re from the Molk House. The Molk House is one of the families in the council that governs Merv.”
Now, riding on the rumors spread by the small fish, the big fish were starting to bite.
According to information heard on the way to Merv, this city was governed by a council, just like Samarkand.
Like the fallen previous empire of Khwarezm, the current empire ruling Huihui Church territory maintained a semi-feudal system.
Local warlords governed the populace in their regions, and cities were mostly run by councils formed by alliances of powerful families.
‘There was a time they aimed for centralization, but recently the Sultan’s power has weakened considerably.’
If their forces ever concentrated and marched east, it would spell big trouble for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in many ways.
‘Hmm. Or maybe the desert makes it hard for them to reach the main headquarters?’
While Il-mok pondered the scenario of the Huihui Church uniting, families from the council governing Merv began appearing one by one, and transactions started in earnest.
“These are indeed from the East. They resemble the goods I’ve seen in Rey’s market.”
A man who scanned the displayed goods muttered something in the Huihui Church language, and the apparent leader nodded before speaking.
“I’ll buy this porcelain for seventy dirhams.”
While the Majid House man translated the words into the nomad language, and O-hal-lak then translated that into Central Plains tongue for Il-mok, a new group of men pushed through the crowd.
“You’re pricing too low. We’ll take it for seventy-five dirhams.”
As powerful families from the council appeared one after another, they began competing among themselves.
“Do you even have that much money left?”
“You’re the ones inflating the price of goods you can’t even buy.”
Il-mok let out a hollow laugh at the sight of them haggling in a language he couldn’t understand.
‘Well, if they’re raising the price among themselves, it’s nothing but good for us.’
Some, finding the porcelain prices too high, turned their interest to silk or herbs instead.
As deals for all the goods were proceeding satisfactorily.
“We’ll buy everything at a price with an additional fifty percent!”
A big-spending fool came their way.
Hearing the translation from O-hal-lak, Il-mok let out a “Ho” of admiration and asked through O-hal-lak.
“Who are those guys?”
O-hal-lak translated his words to the Majid House man, who cautiously replied to Il-mok.
“They’re from the Omar House, which boasts the greatest power even among the Merv council.”
* * *
Several wagons entered the mansion of the Omar House, which wielded the greatest power in the council governing Merv.
Arslan Omar, the head of the Omar House, smiled contentedly upon confirming the mysterious Eastern goods loaded there.
At that moment, a middle-aged man who had gone to the market with soldiers to buy the goods approached the house head.
“All of them are definitely from the East, House Head.”
“Hahaha. Well done, Azadi.”
At Arslan House Head’s praise, Azadi, regarded as the next house head, bowed his head in courtesy.
Having successfully completed the task assigned by the house head, Azadi cautiously posed a question.
“House Head, if you have a plan for disposing of these goods, please bestow your wisdom upon me.”
The reason for his question was simple.
No matter how expensively Eastern porcelain or silk sold, they had paid an outrageously large sum.
The Omar House, as the most powerful in Merv, was a family that traveled not only to the largest eastern city, Nishapur, but also to major central cities like Rey.
Naturally, they knew exactly the market rates for Eastern goods.
And the price paid by the Omar House was far above market value, with a hefty premium.
The reason Azadi had bought the goods at such absurd prices was precisely the command of House Head Arslan.
The reason they had arrived at the market latest was also because they had set out late upon receiving Arslan’s orders.
“Hahaha. No need to worry about trifles. We can simply sell them at Rey’s market prices.”
“Then how shall we make up for the loss?”
“What loss? We obtained Eastern goods without spending a single coin.”
As Azadi made a puzzled expression, Arslan House Head added, wearing a smile brimming with greed.
“Heh heh heh heh. We can’t let filthy heretics take our money, now can we?”
Azadi bowed his head toward the greed-filled house head and said.
“I am foolish and cannot fully grasp your grand intentions, House Head. Please enlighten me.”
“Very well. What troubles you so?”
“In my narrow view, simply letting them go and steadily acquiring Eastern goods to increase merchant traffic would benefit us more, but is there a special reason you wish to kill them right now?”
Azadi, who humbly lowered himself while pledging obedience to the house head yet carefully asked his question, was a man who could be said to have become heir thanks to that very attitude.
“Hahaha. As expected, you’re wise, Azadi. But wisdom alone is insufficient for a ruler.”
“Please bestow your wisdom.”
“Remember my words well.”
To receive the wisdom, Azadi lifted his head to meet the house head’s eyes.
“Wealth and power are not to be shared.”
Within that small circle, he confronted the massive blaze of greed swirling about.
.