A Web of Schemes
Cheonhwa was taking a rare moment of solitary rest in his own room. Now that he had set his sights on elevating the Haedong Merchant Group beyond the Ten Great Merchant Groups and into the realm of the world’s greatest trading power, there were far more things to consider.
“They say I inherited my parents’ intelligence and that my head is quite good, but seeing me struggle like this makes me think it might not be all that great after all.”
Cheonhwa retraced every step of the work he had begun since arriving at his maternal family’s home.
“Using the Untae Mountain Fortress to spread rumors about my father, drawing in the Black Wind Squad, and then leaking information about my mother through So-ryong and Jin-hwa to bring in the New Wind Squad—those moves were decent enough.”
Using them as allies to gradually chip away at the Gangso Merchant Group while rebuilding the Haedong Merchant Group was also proceeding rather smoothly.
“The New Wind Squad and Black Wind Squad claim their presence is too insignificant to matter, but there’s no way organizations as large as the Wulin Alliance or the Demonic Cult would be that careless.”
Even if it wasn’t a large number of people, the sudden disappearance of workers would certainly raise suspicions.
“By now, both the Demonic Cult and the Wulin Alliance may already be investigating my maternal family. If so, they’ll probably use the way I address my maternal uncle to make some educated guesses about me and my mother.”
He needed to prepare an excuse that would let him slip away cleanly.
“Among the people Mother mentioned, who was the one skilled in martial arts?”
Cheonhwa was thinking of laundering his identity.
Although he had left some clues about his identity with the Wulin Alliance, if he simply insisted it wasn’t him, there wasn’t much they could do. Creating a plausible cover story seemed like the right move for now.
“I’ll think about that later.”
Cheonhwa organized the current situation and his own thoughts, steering everything toward the most advantageous direction.
“Even if the Demonic Cult and the Wulin Alliance investigate me and my maternal family, they won’t make any immediate moves.”
The Wulin Alliance was divided by differing opinions between the Ten Great Families and the Nine Great Schools, so they would likely choose to observe for now. As for the Demonic Cult, with the Heavenly Demon’s disciples competing to become the next successor, they would probably limit themselves to investigation for the time being without taking direct action.
“They won’t pose an immediate threat, but they could still complicate the situation. It would be good to prepare for that. The real problem is that my maternal family lacks too much power.”
For the Haedong Merchant Group to withstand external pressure, it needed to at least dominate the commercial rights within Jiangsu Province.
“The Prince of Yeong’s reputation isn’t particularly good either. I’ve already joined hands with the Jiangsu Provincial Governor for now, but once we seize control of the province’s commerce, we’ll need the Prince of Yeong’s protection. So from now on, building a closer relationship with him is also necessary.”
Cheonhwa’s thoughts grew increasingly tangled. After pondering alone like that for a long time, he suddenly shook his head vigorously.
“There’s no need to complicate things. Let’s keep it simple and straightforward. Lately, someone has been watching me, but his martial arts are far too weak to be someone from the Wulin Alliance or the Demonic Cult. He must have been sent by either Wolyeongmun or the Gangso Merchant Group.”
Now that he thought about it, the Gangso Merchant Group, which had only been on the receiving end until now, must have also noticed something strange and decided it was time to move.
“Let’s set the Wulin Alliance and the Demonic Cult aside for now and clean up the Gangso Merchant Group and Wolyeongmun first.”
As he spoke, a sly grin spread across Cheonhwa’s face.
To him, the Gangso Merchant Group wasn’t particularly dangerous. That didn’t mean he would let his guard down, but they weren’t opponents who required him to carefully scheme and plot. Therefore, he didn’t think too deeply about dealing with them.
The real problem was Wolyeongmun.
“If I destroy Wolyeongmun in one go, things will only get more complicated. I need to secure another sect to replace them before making a move…”
If an unorthodox sect like Wolyeongmun—the most powerful in Jiangsu Province—decided to play dirty, even the Haedong Merchant Group would suffer losses.
“The Gangso Merchant Group can’t touch my maternal family directly because of the Wulin Alliance. That’s why they’ve been using all sorts of underhanded tricks to make things difficult for us. But once they realize the merchant group is slowly recovering, they will definitely use Wolyeongmun to pressure my maternal family. In that case, I need to make sure Wolyeongmun can’t afford to focus on my maternal family.”
Cheonhwa’s thoughts deepened once again. This time, the solution didn’t come easily. He pondered for a long while, and the longer he thought, the heavier the air in the room became.
“While I’m orchestrating things from the outside, if I have the New Wind Squad raid the Gangso Merchant Group’s illegal businesses and then absorb them, it might create a cash flow problem for the Gangso Merchant Group.”
Then the Gangso Merchant Group would struggle to provide financial support to both Wolyeongmun and the officials.
“If they can’t receive money, the officials will inevitably start neglecting the Gangso Merchant Group, even if Wolyeongmun doesn’t. Perhaps Wolyeongmun will end up in the same situation.”
In that case, the Gangso Merchant Group would have no choice but to move recklessly.
“The Gangso Merchant Group might pressure Wolyeongmun into attacking the New Wind Squad instead of my maternal family. No—I should make it happen that way.”
Cheonhwa visualized in his mind how events would unfold from here.
A few variables might appear, but it seemed he could diminish the Gangso Merchant Group’s influence and raise the Haedong Merchant Group’s without too much difficulty.
“Just in case, I should make some preparations of my own.”
When night fell, Nam Cha-seong sought out the Black Market.
He had learned through the Hao Sect that the lost smuggled goods were being sold again through the black market.
The Black Market was a place that only dealt in stolen goods. They bought items cheaply and sold them at high prices, making enormous profits.
At one point, Nam Cha-seong had shown interest in the Black Market and even considered investing so that his Gangso Merchant Group could take the lead in running it. However, the dark path refused to allow it.
Even with Wolyeongmun watching their back and the Warlord Alliance standing behind them, if the dark path exerted its power to pressure a merchant group, there was no way to endure.
Every time Nam Cha-seong visited the Black Market, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.
“What brings you here so late at night? The meat will be slaughtered tomorrow morning, so come back then.”
The Black Market was disguised as a slaughterhouse.
“I came out for a stroll because I thought there might be something interesting to see at night.”
“Is there anything worth seeing at night besides the moon?”
“What else would be worth seeing at night if not things sleeping in the darkness?”
Their exchange was a kind of coded dialogue, a passphrase that allowed entry into the Black Market.
“Ah, I see. Come inside.”
The door opened. As soon as he stepped into the slaughterhouse, the fishy smell of meat assaulted his nose.
After passing through the butcher shop where slaughtered meat hung in rows, they reached a warehouse. Inside the warehouse was a staircase leading underground.
Nam Cha-seong descended the stairs and found himself in a vast underground hall. Below, it was packed with stolen goods that had come from every corner of the Central Plains.
“What are you looking for?”
“Recently, some smuggled goods that entered from Haedong Kingdom were stolen. I heard a rumor that those items came here, so I came to see.”
“Ah, are you talking about those over there?”
The bundles were still tied up exactly as they had been when stolen. It seemed they still didn’t know what was inside.
“That appears to be them. I want to buy all of it. How much?”
“Well… let’s take a look at the goods first. Only then can I set an accurate price.”
Nam Cha-seong tried to say something, but the man had already begun opening the bundles.
“Oh my, isn’t this the precious wild ginseng from Haedong Kingdom? There’s quite a lot of it.”
The owner of the Black Market knew that Nam Cha-seong was the master of the Gangso Merchant Group and that these were the goods he had lost, yet he spoke as if teasing him.
“Wild ginseng… and oh, isn’t this a dog’s prick?”
Nam Cha-seong’s expression crumpled violently.
“Ah, so this is sea dog kidney. But to me, it looks no different from a dog’s prick. It seems the rumors floating around the streets aren’t entirely baseless.”
“Stop talking nonsense and just tell me the price.”
“Haha, let’s take a proper look.”
Besides the wild ginseng and sea dog kidney, there were also ceramics, calligraphy, paintings, and other artworks.
“Wild ginseng is one hundred gold taels, sea dog kidney is twenty gold taels, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy…”
The man calculated the value of the Gangso Merchant Group’s goods and then spoke to Nam Cha-seong.
“Give me three hundred and thirty-six gold taels and I’ll give you everything.”
“Isn’t that too much? Take off the thirty-six and sell it to me for three hundred.”
“This is gold, not silver. If we remove thirty-six gold taels, what are we supposed to eat? We also spent a lot of gold to acquire these.”
Nam Cha-seong knew very well that these were empty words.
“Just take off the thirty-six taels. You know who I am, and you know who the original owner of these goods is.”
At Nam Cha-seong’s words, the man let out a snort of laughter.
“Listen here. Did you come without knowing the rules of this place?”
The atmosphere changed in an instant. When killing intent rose from the man’s entire body, Nam Cha-seong flinched.
“I’m sorry. I was so frustrated and resentful that I made a mistake. I never meant to break the rules of this place. Please understand.”
“I know you’re a merchant. But this is not a place where you haggle over prices. If you don’t want to buy at that price, you can simply leave.”
“No. It was my fault, so please generously forgive me. I will buy everything for three hundred and thirty-six gold taels.”
Since this was the Black Market—where even Wolyeongmun could not interfere—he had no choice but to pay the amount they demanded to reclaim his own goods.
Damn it.
Nam Cha-seong immediately wrote a promissory note from the Gangso Merchant Group for three hundred and thirty-six gold taels.
“Send it to the Gangso Merchant Group.”
“I will. When we do business nicely like this, there’s no need for either side to get red in the face, is there?”
“I apologize. My heart was impatient and I spoke out of turn, so please don’t take it to heart. I hope that the next time we do business, we can do so with smiles.”
Perhaps feeling some pity for Nam Cha-seong who kept bowing his head, the man handed him a small handscroll that had been placed beside the goods.
“It’s a painting of a beauty from the Western Regions. The Oryong Merchant Group bought it for a high price, but a thief from the Hao Sect stole it. If you contact the Oryong Merchant Group and sell it back, you should be able to get at least thirty gold taels.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“The goods will be delivered by noon tomorrow, so you may leave now.”
“Understood. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
After making his request, Nam Cha-seong left the Black Market.
“Damn it…”
Having to lower his head to such insignificant bastards multiple times made rage boil up inside him.
The more he thought about how he was suffering like this because he lacked martial power, the more resentful he felt.
“If I don’t possess the three powers, I will forever have to bow my head beneath others. I must build strength.”
Authority, financial power, and military power—these three forces were the driving forces that moved the world.
Even if he couldn’t rule the world, in order to avoid being manipulated by others, he needed to possess at least a certain level of financial and military power.
The current Gangso Merchant Group had financial power but lacked both authority and military strength, so it had no choice but to suffer like this.
“Even if authority is difficult to obtain, military power can be raised.”
To cultivate military power, several conditions had to be met, but with the financial power he currently possessed, it was entirely possible.
The only problem was that although he had three sons and one daughter, not a single one of them showed any exceptional talent in martial arts.
Except for his eldest son, Nam Il, the other three children were learning martial arts at the Warlord Alliance, but none of them were being praised as outstanding compared to their peers.
“If it’s the spiritual medicine that came in from Haedong Kingdom this time, it should be able to increase the children’s internal energy a little more.”