The Merchant's Code - 3

Shangdao.

Among merchants, upholding mutual ethics and building credit was known as Shangdao—the merchant's way. It was the unspoken law and morality they shared so that no one would suspect another, allowing commerce to flow smoothly.

So why would anyone break the merchant's code?

In the end, it's always because of money.

When the profit from ignoring Shangdao outweighed the profit from keeping it, the human heart naturally leaned that way.

"Is there even a point in us going to that bookstore?"

Hwarin looked at me with a puzzled frown.

The method for forcing someone who had broken Shangdao for money back into line was surprisingly simple: show them what happened when chasing money led to total ruin.

In fact, the other bookstores had already suffered dearly for violating the code. I had used Hopil's letters to stir up attacks against every shop that had crossed the line.

Only one bookstore still refused to fold.

"We need to make them keep Shangdao."

"How?"

"Come with me and you'll see."

That last shop could be handled a different way.

When we arrived at the bookstore, stacks of Dangga Pungun were piled high right at the entrance.

Disappointingly bland advertising. Something more like "Joseon author unveils erotic Wuxia—Central Plains and Japan thrown into panic! Literati of the Central Plains trembling, scholars weeping!" would have been proper.

"Looking for Dangga Pungun? Please step inside and—" The bookstore owner spotted me browsing the entrance, wiped the business smile off his face, and immediately showed his true colors. "You're that Daseogak barbarian bastard!"

"Haha. Business seems to be going well."

I offered a polite smile and greeting for form's sake.

"Thanks to you, it's going great. Dangga Pungun is selling like crazy."

The owner pointed triumphantly at the stacks behind him. Even during our short exchange, customers were grabbing copies and heading for the counter.

How much money is that?

"I'm truly delighted that our Daseogak's Dangga Pungun continues to sell so well in this shop."

I deliberately laced the words with sarcasm.

"Came to pull another one of your dog tricks, did you? I've hired guards, so I'm not falling for your crap. Get the hell out of here, you barbarian mutt!"

"Haha. Such harsh language. The real dog-level scoundrel is the one doing things even a dog wouldn't, so how can you talk about dog tricks?"

"This bastard came looking for a fight first thing in the morning? Hey! Bring the salt!"

The owner bellowed for a clerk inside.

This was the problem bookstore.

Aside from Daseogak itself, it was the largest shop in Yichang. With deep pockets, it shrugged off ordinary damage and had been aggressive enough to act as the ringleader. Somehow it had even hired martial escorts with serious money, so every attempt at disruption slid right off. It also had enough regulars beyond the scholars that boycotts barely dented its profits.

I had made the other shops believe that breaking Shangdao meant certain ruin, forcing them to abandon Dangga Pungun. Only this one remained stubbornly selling it.

"Get out before I throw the salt!"

The owner appeared with a fistful of salt.

An arrogant bookstore owner and a large operation. Ordinary means would never force a place like this back onto the merchant's path.

"You! What do you think you're doing!"

Ordinary means, that is.

A carriage rolled to a stop in front of the bookstore that had recently become the center ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of controversy in Yichang.

It was built of luxurious materials and covered in elegant antique decorations. Even the horse pulling it had a mane that shone with health. Anyone with eyes could tell at a glance that someone of high station rode inside.

"You! What do you think you're doing!"

A white-haired old man stepped down from the carriage and roared at the bookstore owner still clutching salt.

"G-Guild Master, sir? Wh-what brings you here?"

The owner froze in shock, then scrambled forward, bowing and scraping.

"Isn't that the Guild Master of the Yichang Merchants' Association?"

"It's been ages—he still looks hale and hearty."

"What's a man we never see doing here of all places?"

The old man was the Guild Master of the Yichang Merchants' Association, the federation uniting the city's trading houses and shops. If a trading house was a company, then the association was the alliance, and the Guild Master its representative. Some associations gave their masters direct managerial power, but the Yichang Merchants' Association did not. That fact, however, did nothing to change that he was the single most influential man in Yichang commerce.

Listening to the whispers around him, the old man strode forward with his attendants and planted himself before the owner.

"What business brings our busy Guild Master to a humble bookstore?"

The owner bowed and scraped even lower as the old man approached with open anger. Why on earth had this heavy-bottomed Guild Master appeared here?

"I heard you were up to something amusing, so I came to see for myself. And sure enough, you're up to something extremely amusing."

The Guild Master's reproachful gaze fixed on the fistful of salt still clutched in the owner's hand.

"Haha. Elder, I've simply been living diligently and cheerfully these days."

The owner hastily flung the salt onto the ground and forced an awkward laugh.

"Do you think I came all this way to exchange jokes?"

I'm finished. The owner's face went pale as the Guild Master's expression hardened. The situation was turning deadly serious.

"Guild Master, if this is about Dangga Pungun, it is merely fair competition between bookstores."

"I've lived long enough to see everything, it seems. These days people call filthy swindling that tramples Shangdao 'fair competition,' do they?"

"Heh heh. There seems to be some misunderstanding, Guild Master."

"A misunderstanding? Then this is fair competition? These days, does a man have to hire assassins before people will say he's broken Shangdao?"

"Elder, your words are too harsh."

"Hahaha. The one being harsh is the man who repays kindness with enmity, don't you think?"

The Guild Master's incredulous laugh sent cold sweat trickling down the owner's spine.

"Guild Master…"

"Decades ago, when you were still suckling at your mother's breast, Baek Family Bookstore was a pillar of Yichang. Even when times were hard, it sponsored countless talented and passionate people. When you first opened your own shop, who helped you? Wasn't it Baek, that old friend of mine?"

"That was thirty years ago."

"Does kindness vanish after thirty years?! The longer a debt of gratitude sits, the greater it grows! When you were drowning in debt and nowhere else to turn, who lent you money? Who gave you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠permission to print the books that could only be printed at Baek Family Bookstore? Wasn't it Baek?"

"It's not Baek Family Bookstore anymore—it's Daseogak. And that black-haired barbarian is the one running it, Elder."

"And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠why pretend you don't know that the owner of Daseogak is Baek's only maternal granddaughter? She's in circumstances that make it hard to stand at the front, so she left management to a trusted friend."

"I know that, Elder. But because of the Daseogak that barbarian built, our bookstores have suffered no small losses."

"And did that young man inflict those losses by breaking Shangdao?"

"…No."

"Yet you repay a decades-old kindness with enmity, violate Shangdao, and muddy the waters of the Yichang Merchants' Association?"

"Elder, but—"

"Anyone who does not keep Shangdao no longer has a place in the Yichang Merchants' Association."

Expulsion from the Yichang Merchants' Association.

The owner clamped his mouth shut at that appalling declaration.

To be cast out of the association that every merchant with a base in Yichang belonged to was a catastrophe. Driven from that protective fence, one lost every privilege and safeguard, suffered disadvantages in every commercial activity, and could not even seek redress if someone inflicted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠serious harm. It would become the official signal that Shangdao need not be observed with that shop.

"Elder! I—I was blinded by money and forgot Shangdao. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

Trembling with fear, the owner dropped to his knees right there before the Guild Master.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

The Guild Master turned his gaze to the black-haired young man and the veiled woman who had been watching the entire scene. Still on his knees, the owner crawled over to the people of Daseogak and bowed his head to the dirt.

"I'm sorry. Truly sorry. I've committed a crime worthy of death. It will never happen again. I'll make good every loss. No—I'll repay it two times, three times over. So please, please, forgive me."

A declaration of surrender.

The bookstore owner who had built a coalition to attack Daseogak tucked his tail between his legs the moment a greater power spoke a single word.

With that apology, the affair of the counterfeit Dangga Pungun came to an end.

It went exactly as I planned.

How do you deal with the last bastard who still refuses to keep Shangdao?

In the end, it comes down to power.

Without copyright laws, you need coercive force to make people respect the merchant's code. The question was whose power to borrow.

I could have used Hwarin's strength, but that would only create new grudges. Better to borrow a third party's power—someone who already held authority in Yichang and could set the broken code right again.

Power born of authority is not something you can casually borrow. Especially not when you are an outsider and a barbarian like me.

So what to do?

Use Hwarin's blood ties and the Head Steward's connections.

I arranged a meal with the Head Steward together with Dang Hwarin, Baek Manor's only maternal granddaughter. We poured out our troubles, then used Hwarin's lineage, the steward's network, and the righteous banner of Shangdao to ask him to introduce us to other respected figures. Reaching the Merchants' Association was not difficult at all.

"When you said you drank last night… you drank with the Head Steward and the Guild Master?"

Hwarin had clearly figured it out.

"Yeah. I expected maybe an association officer, but the Guild Master himself showed up. Nearly gave me a heart attack."

From the start I had known Baek Manor's solid connections would make things easy, so I hadn't worried much. Still, the network they had built was stronger than I imagined. For the Guild Master to come in person…

The Guild Master of the Yichang Merchants' Association might not be a chaebol chairman, but he was no mere apartment housewives' club president either.

I had explained the blood ties, the connections, and every circumstance until I received a firm promise of help—yet I had not been able to relax once throughout the drinking session.

"You've had a hard time of it."

Having finished his dressing-down, the Guild Master walked over with a look of satisfaction.

"I expected you would send someone in your place. To trouble the Guild Master himself for a matter like this… I can only apologize."

"Hahaha. Young man, you arranged this entire stage yourself and now you offer empty words like that?"

The Guild Master had no interest in empty praise; he laughed heartily.

"Thank you, truly."

"An interesting young man. Twenty-one this year, was it? Using your own influence to shake the commercial world and then wielding other people's connections to exercise more power… At your age I was still foolishly charging in head-on or relying on cheap tricks. No wonder Old Master Jang of the Man'geum Emporium took notice of you."

He regarded me with genuine admiration.

"You flatter me."

"Do I look like a man who flatters? Whether it's Daseogak or the books you write yourself, you're a youth worth coveting. How about it? Give up scribbling and come learn trade under me. For someone like you I'd make a place right away."

"Hey… Yunho…"

Hwarin seized my sleeve at the sudden offer. I'm not going. I have to write and become famous.

"Haha. Such high praise leaves me nowhere to put myself. But I am merely a man who likes writing books in a bookstore."

"True enough—you already refused Old Master Jang's offer, so mine could hardly tempt you. Very well. Author Hopil, I'll be waiting for the next volume."

The Guild Master produced a copy of Dangga Pungun from somewhere and waved it.

"The moment Volume Two is finished I'll send it straight to you."

"Yunho, you really are…"

Once the Guild Master left, Hwarin stared at me, started to say something, then simply choked on admiration.

"What? Do I look different now?"

Alright, praise me. I planted my hands on my hips and puffed out my chest, ready for the shower of compliments.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing new to see. You're… just as amazing as you always are."

Hwarin gazed at me with warm eyes.

"It's really not that big a deal."

Way too high an evaluation. Feeling the weight of her gaze, I looked away.

"Ah! Author Hopil!"

The Guild Master, halfway into his carriage, turned and came back. What now?

"Yes, Elder?"

"That courtesan who sat beside you last night."

"Pardon?"

"She said if you put her name in Dangga Pungun as Hubei's Number One Courtesan, she'll treat you like royalty for free. Give it some thought."

"Haha. I've already decided on the name."

"She's one of the top courtesans in Yichang… Ah! I was being needlessly meddlesome. I'll be off."

Why cut himself off and leave in such a hurry? The Guild Master had been about to continue, then glanced behind me, startled, and fled.

"Hey. Kang Yunho."

Ah. A chilly voice rose from behind me.

"Huh? Uh-uh."

"You. Said. You. Didn't. Meet. Any. Women."

"I didn't go out to meet women—when a man works he inevitably… Ow! Hwarin, why are you kicking my shin?!"

"Spit out that honey water I gave you earlier!"

"Ow! Stop hitting me! Hwarin, next time I'll take you along too."

"Are you completely insane? Where the hell are you planning to take me?!"

"Aagh!"

Every illegally copied volume of Dangga Pungun was recovered.

The profits the bookstores had made by violating Shangdao were returned to us in thick stacks of notes. We even received an introduction to a supplier of high-quality type.

"Is it finally over?"

Hwarin finished organizing the recovered first volumes and asked me.

"Over? This is only the beginning. Look at this."

I pulled a thick sheaf of papers from my robes and held it out to her.

"What's that?"

"The rough draft of Dangga Pungun Volume Two. Once you and I finish the revisions, we can publish it right away."

The war had ended in victory.

Now it was time to release the second volume of Dangga Pungun.