Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: North by Northwest (2)
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Once it's named after Guan Yu, shouldn't it give something like "Guan Yu's Martial Prowess"?
Well, looking at the guy's record, he's not exactly someone you'd enshrine in a temple for his fighting skills. He couldn't even unify the Three Kingdoms.
He's great at deserting, but in that department, he's overshadowed by General Bae Seol from the East, who's far superior.
Anyway, I decided to activate this ridiculous skill. Since it's called "Endurance," it probably won't destroy anything.
Thankfully, no sudden hatred for rodents welled up inside me.
Nor did I feel an insane attraction to married women.
Se-hwa spoke up.
"Oh my. Is the medicine already working? You were writhing around so much, but now it doesn't hurt anymore, does it?"
There was a light smack, like she'd given me a gentle slap (isn't that too much?), but I truly felt no pain.
As I wondered if there was any anecdote about Guan Yu enduring pain, I suddenly recalled that famous surgery scene from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
When Guan Yu was hit in the arm by a poisoned arrow, he summoned Hua Tuo, who performed major surgery by slicing open the flesh and scraping the bone.
It was such a gruesome sight that those around him couldn't bear to watch, yet Guan Yu remained composed throughout, playing go with Ma Liang.
Does that even make sense?
It'd be more believable if he passed out sitting up and Ma Liang interpreted it as him pondering deeply over his moves.
Ma Liang probably cooperated with the testimony to avoid getting cleaved by the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Even if one arm was ruined, the other was still there.
Those three brothers came from gangster stock in the first place, so using kids to intimidate wasn't unusual. Roots matter. Like a refined scholar-official like me.
The tangent got away from me. Hmm. But is that really all there is to it?
I mentally listed all the skills I'd acquired so far.
Excluding items, there were five in total. One was Shin Sukju's Resolve from the pillory draw, and the other four came from the tutorial and completing the three core objectives.
Han Seokbong's Calligraphy.
Lee Seonggye's Archery.
Affinity with Ghost Blood.
And now, Guan Yu's Endurance.
Something felt off.
It stood apart from the first three in several ways. Pain blocking seemed less versatile compared to them, even if I set aside the others.
Of course, like Shin Sukju's Resolve, it might have other uses I didn't know about yet...
Wait.
No real basis for it—just a hunch—but this skill felt like something from the pillory gacha at the disorder or discipline level.
I recalled the status window's message from when it hurriedly "fixed" the bug earlier.
Maybe because I thought that, it felt like the kind of panic that would force a game company to make its devs pull all-nighters for a week.
'They didn't expect me to complete the quest this way, so things got messy, and they pulled this out from somewhere in a panic?'
Nah, no way. Skills aren't like unwanted giveaway junk piled in a warehouse.
I couldn't have ended up in Joseon because I fell for some fly-by-night company's mass spam voice phishing scam.
That'd be too pathetic. There must have been some grand plan from the status window.
But I couldn't dwell on that thought.
I felt eyes on me and turned my head while still prone. Se-hwa was staring at me intently.
Oh no, I'd been thinking too long.
"All done?"
I scrambled up and tried to straighten my clothes. Or at least, that's what I attempted.
But then Se-hwa's face lit up like she'd realized something.
"Oh, come on. You too. Why didn't you just say so? I was wondering why you stayed sprawled out like that long after it was over, without fixing your clothes. You've been so busy lately. Sorry for not noticing."
She gave me a little push. In my awkward half-standing, half-lying position, I lost balance and toppled over, clothes still disheveled.
Se-hwa leaned over me from above, wrapping me in an embrace.
"You said you wanted a daughter, right?"
As she spoke, she lightly nipped my lips with hers. She'd gotten a taste for it since that secret talk in Wangsimni last time.
"I want more sons, but you're right too. I-hwan takes after you and turned out so handsome, so a daughter would be a beauty. ...She'd be more than fit for the royal family."
A year ago, I would've opposed that plan outright.
But now, it was as alluring as Se-hwa herself before my eyes.
No matter how much of a self-made man I am, betting on talent and drive, every rags-to-riches type secretly wants to coast on a daughter's merits like Hong Bonghan, feasting on rank and status.
Use your child as a political pawn? Well, that depends on how you see it.
In the 21st century, is the only motive for parents drilling their kids mercilessly for med school "the honor of having a doctor kid"?
For a Joseon woman, there aren't many easier ways to live well. It's not bad for the kids either. And if my daughter took after Se-hwa, she'd love the success.
Even though I'd already made up my mind, I teased her once.
"Is that really why?"
Se-hwa let out a soft laugh, then buried her face in my neck.
"No. I was just making excuses because I'm embarrassed."
We didn't rush to douse the flames like newlyweds or secret lovers.
As Se-hwa melted into me slowly, pressing closer, I extinguished the lantern and deactivated the skill.
Pain returned, but it was bearable. Drawing on my shallow biology knowledge, pain is just a type of touch sensation. Can't give that up.
As that thought crossed my mind, an idea suddenly struck me.
So I put it into action.
Don't ask how. It's like demanding a step-by-step on arm movements.
Soon enough, I realized it.
As expected, this skill's potential went beyond mere pain blocking.
Now I knew it wasn't total garbage, so I'd figure out the rest later.
Right now, I had something else I wanted more.
I pressed my lips to Se-hwa's, which had begun to part slightly.
Aside from the trivial incident where Scholar Yi Se-hee, who'd misread the situation and flattered the king by petitioning to posthumously honor "Your Majesty's nursemaid mother" to humble the dowager queen—only to bear the brunt of Yi Geum's aimless rage and get beaten to death—nothing much happened until the end of January.
Kim Unhaeng resumed his money-making ventures.
It was still just a faint thread he was deliberately avoiding in his mind, but assuming the "worst-case scenario," Kim Unhaeng would need funds beyond comparison to what he'd amassed so far.
Fortunately, year-end meant booming business.
Just like how drunk driving crackdowns spike during holidays, Kim Unhaeng's Saheonbu Gold Orchid Office Season 2 seized massive quantities of illicit liquor. Chun-sik Delivery was thriving too.
Not long ago, when he came home and Se-hwa mentioned something important, he'd mistaken it for the Gold Orchid Office.
That meant her own feet were getting hot under the collar.
The court had temporarily found peace. The abdication wave had settled, and the crown prince was no longer defiant, with each faction adjusting their positions.
Thus, Kim Unhaeng paid New Year's greetings to Right Deputy Prime Minister Kim Sang-ro.
Of course, true to his self-proclaimed orthodox Neo-Confucian scholar roots, he observed propriety more meticulously than anyone.
As he'd boasted during Park Mun-su's last visit to Jang-dong, Kim Unhaeng had earned vast wealth, but little remained in storage.
That money hadn't been squandered. Currently, no one in the Noron faction hadn't received a share of Kim Unhaeng's cash or interests.
Even the Soron core figures had at least gotten meat (Park Mun-su wasn't so rigidly incorruptible as to refuse a holiday hanwoo gift set), and even Jo Jae-ho had gotten travel funds for his exile.
Kim Sang-ro wasn't receiving gifts for the first time either.
As a renowned scholar and high official even among Noron, he couldn't pretend ignorance of etiquette. He naturally showed benevolence to his juniors.
"Yes. I've heard you've been putting in a lot of effort lately. That's how it should be at your young age. Any difficulties?"
It wasn't empty flattery. Kim Unhaeng, once seen as a "slightly eccentric young talent," was riding high in reputation now.
Being close to the crown prince wasn't a major flaw. The only one who truly despised him in the palace was the king. Even his father-in-law Hong Bonghan was Noron.
He'd toppled Jo Jae-ho, head of an untouchable noble house, yet Park Mun-su and Yi Jong-seong inexplicably yielded a step when Kim Unhaeng's name came up.
Park Mun-su's reaction was especially surprising—he who insulted high officials and even the king as a once-in-a-generation genius.
No matter personal grudges with Jo Jae-ho, when someone from Yeongseong-gun suggested ousting Kim Unhaeng on the crown prince's behalf as Soron representative, Park Mun-su reportedly sneered coldly.
'The way for fools to seem even slightly wise is to shut up. Someone twice Kim Chun-sik's age with half the wisdom is four times more vile. Just stay quiet.'
That nameless Soron official was reportedly so shocked by Park Mun-su's mathematical rebuke that he retired to the countryside.
Thus, Kim Sang-ro was prepared to grant any reasonable favor.
But Kim Unhaeng didn't stoop to petty requests. Instead, he spoke like a passionate young bureaucrat devoted to national development.
"It's been quite some time since the alcohol ban was issued, yet Autumn Magistrates from the Ministry of Punishment and various clerks from Hanseongbu are arbitrarily setting up Gold Orchid Offices, collecting surtaxes and barging into private homes under the pretext of investigations, causing havoc. As a senior inspector of the Saheonbu, tasked with upholding the capital's customs, I cannot stand idly by. If Your Excellency would raise this matter at the State Affairs Council, it would be a great blessing."
Kim Sang-ro was deeply moved. He felt ashamed for having been tallying vacancies to promote Kim Unhaeng.
"That aligns perfectly with my own views. I shall do so."
Kim Sang-ro soon petitioned the king on the alcohol ban's harms.
The memorial aimed to repeal the ban if possible, or at least restore discipline if not. The king approved.
Minister of Punishment Yi Chang-ui, suddenly humiliated, unleashed furious discipline on his ministry's clerks. The Ministry of Punishment's Gold Orchid Offices—Kim Unhaeng's rivals bleeding the people dry under crime suppression pretexts—vanished into history's back alleys.
Now, in Seoul, Kim Unhaeng decided what was liquor and what was water.
Unlike the first Gold Orchid Office, he designed a sustainable operation this time. One that would endure even if he left the Saheonbu again.
He fully separated the Gold Orchid Office from the civil official posts that held little interest in it, entrusting it to his comrade Hwang Do-myeong, the low-ranking clerk who'd shared life-and-death perils with him in Hamgyeong Province during undercover inspections.
"You're the only one who can preserve the capital's fine customs."
"Leave it to me. Inspector... no, Senior Inspector. I'm just a chungin, but my family has served the Saheonbu for generations, so I know my duty."
As he said, long-term low-rank clerks rooted in one office were ideal for this.
Hwang Do-myeong, deeply loyal to Kim Unhaeng and aware of the Dog-Beating Stick faction's violence, wouldn't betray him.
In this Gang of Seoul, every office was a violent gang. The more traditional forces commanding those gangs were the low-rank clerks like Hwang Do-myeong. He adeptly led the Saheonbu Gold Orchid Office.
While Kim Unhaeng was away, the remnants of the old Seoul detective gangs had revived illicit liquor and forced overpriced booze deliveries—only to face another freezing blast. They ended up as corpses or worse under the Dog-Beating Stick faction's merciless violence.
The Dog-Beating Stick faction launched its second expansion in tandem.
Both Kim Unhaeng and Yi Jae-un hailed from scholar families.
Yi Jae-un knew the back alleys far better than Kim Unhaeng, but their fundamental mindsets were similar.
They didn't play by thug rules.
Like wild beasts avoiding reckless bites and settling for gentlemanly contests of strength—evolved over years to prevent mutual devastation—this industry had unwritten rules. They persisted even into the 21st century.
But Kim Unhaeng and Yi Jae-un simply killed anyone who proposed negotiations with rude bluster.
The well-bred heirs of yangban found the brutish threats from those scummy gangsters utterly terrifying. To avoid death, they had to kill.
Of course, no legal evidence existed.
"Murder" was an assumption; more precisely, they ensured permanent disappearance. No agency investigated where riffraff croaked.
This was why old-school dark forces like Mungseongguk had long feared Kim Unhaeng.
The Dog-Beating Stick faction operated like an army—opposite of thugs.
Unlike thugs who threatened much but only skirmished, they avoided public disturbances while quietly slitting throats from the shadows.
Thus, the capital seemed impeccably governed.
Reported crime rates plummeted. Liquor was indeed the root of all vices.
Yi Geum, depressed by repeated failures and his son's filial impiety, regained some zeal, at least crediting himself for the alcohol ban.
Seizing his renewed vigor, Yi Geum attempted "royal authority reinforcement" once more.
Joseon was a highly administrative state. Kim Unhaeng's Peacetime Inspectorate and Liberation Squadron "precedents" quickly solidified from one-offs into national protocols.
Bribery is hardest the first time; the second is easy. Yi Geum was a capable king in many ways, with ample adaptability.
He decreed that the Equal Tax Agency issue privateer licenses to the largest tax contributors.
"Henceforth, establish regulations to evaluate all Peacetime Inspectorates in each province, prioritizing contributions to the agency's ranks. The top contributor shall lead the provincial Liberation Squadron."
The key words here were "henceforth" and "province."
This proclaimed Peacetime Inspectorates and Liberation Squadrons not just for Seoul and Gyeonggi, but all provinces.
Yi Geum bundled sea blockades with Peacetime Inspectorates into an inseparable system.
As proven last time, invaders couldn't waltz in, arm bandits unchecked—blockades were essential.
And blockades required Liberation Squadrons.
Whose captains? Selected from Peacetime Inspectorates.
With flawless logic, Yi Geum laid the foundation for nationwide Inspectorates to collect commercial taxes.
These Liberation Squadrons went by various names nationwide: Liberation Army, Naval Detachments, etc. But the most widespread—close to official and intuitive—was one word.
Marines. It had become familiar even to coastal folk.
Of course, all this was just groundwork.
Even the originals in Han River and Hwanghae were far from complete. A less-than-year-old system entering stability that soon would be suspicious.
Yet Joseon's enterprising "do-it-and-see" spirit applied here too. And Yi Geum was king.
"We cannot rush implementation, but King Sejong's 'test and refine' legacy exists. Provincial governors and magistrates shall trial Peacetime Inspectorates and Liberation Squadrons as feasible, reporting merits and flaws. Especially heed seaboard magistrates in revenue-rich Haeseo, turbulent Yeongnam, and Hunan-Jeju coasts frequented by southern barbarians."
Anyone truly reporting "flaws" in Joseon lacked official qualifications.
Like undercover envoy Chae Je-gong—who, in original history and now, lavishly praised Equal Tax Law benefits—this demanded proof of Inspectorate merits.
Complaining about creating Liberation Squadrons sans navy? Unworthy of office.
Joseon's magistrates were nearly all exam-passed pro scholar-athletes. Self-reliance was child's play. They deftly siphoned ships and manpower from revived local constables to form ragtag privateer fleets.
Not all were motley crews, though.
Joseon troops barely differing from civilians wasn't purely a flaw—it meant anyone could join Marines.
Yi Geum imposed no restrictions on Marine recruits, so ambitious camp generals and captains eagerly deployed their men for profit.
Matching Kim Unhaeng's western feats, one man from the east launched a resolute voyage.
Wolsong Battalion Commander Han Jung-ryang (Wolsong being modern-day Ulsan in Gyeongbuk).
Everyone knows An Yong-bok's Sukjong-era feat confirming Ulleungdo and Dokdo sovereignty against Japan.
The government prioritized regime preservation over expansion, exiling the "overreaching" An Yong-bok, but his achievements influenced policy.
Thereafter, Joseon declared Ulleungdo and Dokdo formal territory, sending fleets every three years.
Capturing tax dodgers, busting Japanese poachers, and grabbing profitable extras. These searches-and-subduals persisted into the 19th century.
Gangwon Province's duty.
Samcheok camp generals and Wolsong battalion commanders (Uljin wasn't Gyeongsang then) alternated, mainly harvesting wild ginseng on Ulleungdo.
Mainland ginseng seeds depleted, artificial cultivation unsettled—this was necessity.
East Sea demanded excessive gale for galleys.
Usually, they weighed anchor April-July, timing ginseng season, winds, currents.
But in Yeongjo 29 Year 2nd month—earlier than usual—Han Jung-ryang braved risky winds with his Marines for a different aim.
He'd caught wind of illicit trade involving Joseon and Japanese in his jurisdiction.
Normally, thank providence for timely intel and nab them ashore hassle-free.
Japanese entanglement meant diplomatic paperwork with Waegwan or Tsushima—messy. Best settle beforehand.
But Han Jung-ryang, hearing of Kim Unhaeng slicing over thirty Japanese in Hwanghae, schemed.
Play it right: merits stacked, riches rolled in.
The shipping lanes Kim Unhaeng had reversed flowed north-northwest to east-southeast.