The Merchant's Way
Yi Ja-saeng looked at the clerks and spoke in a calm, businesslike tone.
“You all should head back to the main house first.”
Having finished his official schedule, Yi Ja-saeng instructed the clerks to return to the headquarters of the Haedong Merchant Group ahead of him. He added that he would stop by the Wulin Alliance Headquarters to see his son and daughter before following.
“Then we’ll take our leave. Please travel safely.”
“I will. You too—be careful on the way back.”
Once the clerks had departed, Yi Ja-saeng took Yi Cheon-sang and Cheonhwa with him and headed for Dongling County, where the Yangtze River flowed.
The Yangtze was a long river that began in Jiangsu Province and stretched all the way to the Xiao River in Sichuan. Many cities had been built along its banks, and countless people lived their lives depending on its waters.
Dongling County was no different.
Four major docks lined the Yangtze as it passed through Anhui Province—Huaxian, Wuhe, Dongling, and Anqing. Among them, Dongling County was the closest to the provincial capital of Hefei.
Having passed the famous Xiao River of Anhui and arrived in Dongling County, Cheonhwa felt a lively energy as he watched the bustling crowds.
“Come take a look! Fresh fish straight from the Yangtze! I haven’t seen one this big in ten years. I’ll give you a good price—just come have a look!”
The merchants were busy calling out to passersby, each trying to sell even one more of their goods.
“Is that kind of aggressive hawking a good thing?” Cheonhwa asked.
“Well… it has its pros and cons.”
“Some dishonest merchants put out bad products and use those tactics to force sales,” Yi Cheon-sang explained. He had been following his father for years and now shared what he had observed with his cousin.
“Really?”
“Yeah. They usually target people who look naive. There are quite a few rotten merchants like that.”
“I see.”
“You should be careful too, Cheonhwa. Merchants will swindle you right to your face.”
At those words, Cheonhwa burst into laughter.
“Aren’t you a merchant yourself?”
“I’m a good merchant.”
Yi Ja-saeng’s lips curved into a warm smile as he listened to the two boys’ conversation.
I always felt sorry watching him follow me around alone all those years.
Now that Cheonhwa had come to the main house and become a friend to Cheon-sang, his son smiled far more often. It put his heart at ease.
“Then I guess I’ll have to be a bad merchant,” Cheonhwa declared.
“Why?”
“So that people will come buy from you, the good merchant.”
“Then you’d go out of business.”
“You can just buy my goods for me.”
“What?”
“We’ll buy the same items. I’ll sell them at double the price, and you sell them at only half that markup.”
Cheonhwa patiently explained the scheme to his cousin.
“Then people will buy from you.”
“Exactly. Because I’m cheaper. Then you take the goods from me and sell them again.”
“Hmm… isn’t that fraud?”
“I’m a bad merchant, remember? Isn’t that how business works?”
“Still… that doesn’t seem right.”
“Cheonhwa,” Yi Ja-saeng said, beginning to speak of the merchant’s path.
“The world is full of all kinds of people. Everyone strives to achieve what they believe is right, each in their own way. We call that the Dao.”
“The Dao? You mean the same Dao that the Daoists speak of?”
“Yes. The Orthodox faction calls it the Righteous Dao, the unorthodox call it the Demonic Dao, and the Demonic Cult calls it the Devilish Dao. We merchants have our own—the Merchant’s Way.”
“The Merchant’s Way?”
“That’s right. There are things a merchant must do, and things he must never do.”
While it was impossible to define the Merchant’s Way in a single phrase, in broad terms it meant this: pursue wealth, but never become its slave. Harbor greed, but never let it erase your humanity. Treat people not as disposable tools, but as precious beings.
“I will keep it in mind.”
“I hope the two of you will join forces and restore the Haedong Merchant Group to its former glory.”
“What about you, Uncle?”
“I will lay the foundation so that you two can spread your wings and chase your dreams as far as you wish.”
It only took an instant for a family to fall, but rebuilding it would take generations.
Thinking about it again, I still can’t forgive them.
The fact that the Wulin Alliance had abandoned the Haedong Merchant Group after using them—especially after what had happened to his sister—still grated on his nerves.
They must have received enormous sums of money from us all these years.
He even wondered whether the group’s current difficulties weren’t the direct result of pouring so much wealth into the Alliance.
“By the way, Uncle.”
“What is it?”
“The merchant group must have given quite a bit of money to the Wulin Alliance in the past, right?”
“Indeed.”
“How much was it?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.”
“One million gold taels per year.”
One million gold taels. The amount was so enormous that Cheonhwa couldn’t even picture it.
“For an ordinary household of four, monthly living expenses are around two gold taels.”
“So twenty-four taels a year… two hundred forty in ten years… two thousand four hundred in a hundred years… Huk. Even if the world ended, an ordinary family could never save that much.”
Yi Ja-saeng nodded.
“If we hadn’t given them that money, the family wouldn’t be struggling like this, would it?”
“That’s hindsight. There’s no way to know for sure. Something else would likely have come up and drained the funds anyway.”
Cheonhwa thought his uncle was truly a good-natured man for speaking that way.
Shouldn’t a merchant have a somewhat ruthless side?
Yet in all the time he had known him, Yi Ja-saeng had never once shown a cold or fiercely tenacious side.
Can someone that gentle really succeed as a merchant?
Still, Cheonhwa was in no position to lecture his uncle. While he might excel in martial arts, when it came to business, his uncle was clearly the superior.
When they arrived at the dock in Dongling County, numerous boats were already moored. Some were cargo ships laden with goods, while others were passenger vessels carrying only people.
“Well, if it isn’t the head of the Yi Merchant Group himself!”
A man on one of the boats recognized Yi Ja-saeng and called out. Yi Ja-saeng raised his hand in greeting.
“Captain Jin, you look as healthy as ever.”
“Haha, I wish that were true. As they say, no one escapes the passage of time. These days, even working on a boat feels a bit taxing.”
“Then why not sell the ship and enjoy a comfortable retirement?”
“I would love to, but once a working man sits still at home, he starts itching for something to do.”
“That’s how it is for all of us who work.”
“Are you heading somewhere far today?”
“Not too far. I’m thinking of going to Hubei Province to see my children at the Wulin Alliance. I need to make the trip quickly because of my schedule.”
“Then take our boat. We’re heading to Wuchang anyway. We’ll carry you there.”
“Haha, thank you.”
As Yi Ja-saeng and the boys boarded, the captain glanced at Cheonhwa and asked,
“Is this young warrior the bodyguard for our young master Cheon-sang?”
“No, not at all. He’s my cousin and a friend of the same age as Cheon-sang.”
“Ah, I see. If this is your first time on a boat, I’d advise you not to stand at the bow. The rocking can be quite severe and might cause seasickness.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
A short while later, once all the cargo was loaded, the boat left the dock and began sailing along the Yangtze’s current.
A river is different from the sea.
The motion was gentler than the ocean, but the river’s swift currents still made the boat sway in a familiar way.
Still, the sea is much rougher.
Having lived by the sea his entire life, Cheonhwa was completely unfazed by this level of rocking.
The boat cut swiftly through the wind, and in the blink of an eye they had crossed into the border region between Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi Provinces.
“We must be careful from here on. This is the territory of the Poyang Lake Stronghold.”
The Poyang Lake Stronghold was one of the many bandit groups that operated along the Yangtze. They had formed a blood alliance known as the Eighteen Yangtze Strongholds. After the Dongting Lake Stronghold in Hunan—where the overall leader resided—this was the second-largest group of river pirates.
“Poyang Lake Stronghold refers to the bandits of the Yangtze waterway, correct?”
“Yes. They’re vicious. If things go even slightly wrong, they won’t hesitate to kill.”
“Then what do people do?”
“Most merchants hire martial artists for protection. Larger merchant groups that run their own escort agencies bring along their own warriors.”
“I see. Then what about smaller merchant groups that can’t afford to hire anyone? What do they do when they encounter these bandits?”
Although the question might have seemed tiresome, Yi Ja-saeng explained slowly so that Cheonhwa could understand.
“They either pay up or have their goods taken.”
“They really are terrible people.”
“That’s why they’re called ‘water bandits’—because they’re thieves who live on the water.”
When Yi Cheon-sang spoke, Cheonhwa nodded with a laugh.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to teach them a lesson when we meet them.”
“Those people are dangerous. Don’t do anything reckless.”
Since he didn’t know how powerful Cheonhwa’s martial arts were, Yi Cheon-sang warned him to be cautious.
While they were talking, the boat crossed from Anhui into Jiangxi Province. The Yangtze’s course only lightly brushed Jiangxi before flowing into Hubei, so there was no avoiding it.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered Jiangxi, a fleet of Poyang Lake bandits appeared, leading a formation of five fairly large boats.
“Looks like the bandits make good money. They even have five ships.”
“There are more. They have to take turns robbing the boats that pass through here.”
“I see.”
“Stop right there!”
A loud, resonant voice rang out across the Yangtze.
At his command, the speeding boat slowed down. The sail was quickly lowered and the anchor dropped into the river, clearly signaling that they had no intention of trying to flee.
So they have their own set of rules.
“Why would such great heroes who rule the river bother paying attention to a small boat like ours?” Captain Jin called out toward the man standing at the bow of the bandit ship.
“Ah, it’s Captain Jin’s boat.”
“As you can see, we’re carrying cargo for a small merchant group on our way to Hubei. We barely make anything from the transport fees. Couldn’t you let us go just this once?”
Captain Jin pleaded, but the bandits simply replied that it was the same for them.
“Your boat has the ‘evil omen’ today. If we let you go, my luck will be terrible all day. We have to collect the toll.”
“We really are unlucky. To think we’d draw the evil omen.”
“Hahaha, I hope you understand, Captain Jin.”
“Then at least make it cheaper. There are twelve people on our boat. How about one silver tael each—twelve silver taels in total?”
“Twelve people for twelve silver taels…? Captain Jin, aren’t you trying to eat for free? We have many mouths to feed too. How about we settle it with one gold tael?”
“You want a whole gold tael?”
After listening to their exchange for a while, Cheonhwa turned to Yi Ja-saeng.
“Has no one ever beaten them up for demanding money so aggressively?”
“It happens occasionally. If a high-level martial artist is on board, they tuck their tails between their legs without a word.”
“I see. So because there’s no expert on our boat, they’re openly demanding money like this.”
“You could say that.”
Cheonhwa’s gaze turned toward the bandits. After thinking for a moment, he stood up.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to teach them a lesson.”
“You’ll get hurt. Those people are dangerous.”
“You said they tuck their tails when they see a martial expert.”
“Yes, but you’re not a martial expert.”
Worried that Cheonhwa might get injured, Yi Cheon-sang tried to stop him.
“I may not be an incredible expert, but I’m strong enough to handle them. So don’t worry.”
As Cheonhwa tried to step forward to reassure his cousin, Yi Ja-saeng stopped him.
“Cheonhwa.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll go talk to them nicely.”
“That’s not what I mean. Even if you are strong enough to defeat them, you must not do that.”
“Why not?”
“If they fail to earn any profit from this boat because of you, the loss will simply be passed on to the next boat.”
Yi Ja-saeng explained the bandits’ way of life. Cheonhwa found it difficult to understand.
“We’re already struggling to put food on our own table. Why should we care about others?”
Yi Ja-saeng was momentarily taken aback by the question, but he reminded himself that Cheonhwa had only ever lived on an island and was still inexperienced in dealing with people. He answered patiently.
“Don’t we have nothing to lose on this boat?”
“They’re asking for a gold tael.”
“Captain Jin will handle it. And if you get involved and something goes wrong, those bandits will harass him every time he passes through here from now on.”
“Then can’t we just kill them all? If they stay alive, they’ll only harm others.”
Yi Ja-saeng had to pause and think carefully at Cheonhwa’s words.
“How can you speak of killing people so easily?” Yi Cheon-sang scolded.
“I’m not speaking lightly. I thought it through and came to that conclusion.”
Yi Cheon-sang looked at him.
“For the people who live along this river, wouldn’t it be more helpful if those bandits were dead rather than alive?”
At Cheonhwa’s words, Yi Cheon-sang unconsciously nodded.
“Then that settles it. Later, when we run the merchant group and operate our own ships, we’ll run into them anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“So we should crush them now so they won’t dare touch our merchant group’s boats in the future.”
Yi Cheon-sang looked at his father. He also thought Cheonhwa’s words made sense, but Cheonhwa was only sixteen years old.
“Cheonhwa, let’s think about this matter again later. This isn’t a problem we should step into right now.”