His and Her Circumstances (2)
If Mt. Hua had the Haegeomji, Shaolin Temple had the Chungmugak. Shaolin Temple of Songshan had once been neighbor to the Songshan Sect, one of the Five Great Sword Sects.
When the Songshan Sect was annihilated at the Battle of Yeonhwa Peak, the monks of Shaolin bore their remains home to Songshan. And within Shaolin itself they made a place for their cherished neighbors — that place was the Chungmugak.
The Chungmugak consisted of a manor where the graves of the Songshan Sect's disciples lay at rest, and a central pavilion. Around that pavilion stood many stone pagodas.
Among them, the largest and closest to the pavilion was unlike the rest. Where the others were hard and angular, this one had been shaped in graceful curves, its form resembling…
"You called it the Geumjatap?"
"That is correct."
The Nine Great Sects that upheld the Martial Alliance had treated the Donghwa Merchant Group, who had fought the war beside them, as comrades-in-arms. The Donghwa Merchant Group, in turn, had continued to extend all manner of aid to the Nine Great Sects even after the fighting ended. And the monument to that aid was… the Geumjatap.
"Hmm… Well, the appearance isn't bad, but… it does feel rather much for a place that honors the martyred dead."
"Considering what the Donghwa Merchant Group spent, I rather think it suits… Heh heh…"
Go Jinmyung was in conversation with Master Wongak, who oversaw the Chungmugak. Master Wonsaeng, abbot of Shaolin Temple, had not yet returned from the Mt. Hua Sword Debate.
In Master Wonsaeng's absence, Wongak bore responsibility for Shaolin — yet he did not seat himself in the Main Hall. Wongak had fought in the last war and had been especially close to the Songshan Sect. After the war, he spent more time at the Chungmugak than anywhere else, and so had naturally come to take charge of it.
It was for that reason that Jinmyung had sought him out here. At Jinmyung's request, Wongak had dispatched a messenger hawk to the Martial Alliance, and was just now relaying the reply he had received.
"Feels just like wartime, doesn't it — watching those messenger hawks fly about so fast."
"Deals can be as fierce as war, yes."
"Heh heh. What in this world isn't fierce? Well then — take a careful look."
"Ah, no. I'll examine it back at my quarters."
When Wongak rose, Jinmyung stood in haste. But Wongak only patted his shoulder and stepped out of the pavilion.
"The Chungmugak and the Geumjatap were raised with the Donghwa Merchant Group's support. Shaolin is merely borrowing them for a time. Make yourself at ease."
Jinmyung found the continued formal address burdensome. Yet with Wongak, master of the Chungmugak, having vacated his seat, to retreat to his own quarters would be to spurn the man's kindness — or so he reasoned.
Ak Jun, who had watched Wongak emerge from outside the pavilion, came in. Jinmyung passed him the letter he had skimmed.
"They're asking about the price. Shall we name double the profit margin, as you said last time?"
"Do you talk that bluntly to your fiancée, too?"
"Just how hard do you intend to work those messenger hawks?"
"In a negotiation, getting them to the table matters — but what matters most, in the end, is how much of what you want you can wring out of them."
Jinmyung grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself. Ak Jun watched the left corner of his lord's mouth dance, sighed, and asked,
"I feel sorry for the Martial Alliance."
"The Martial Alliance? Why?"
"Because they took your bait hook, line, and sinker."
Jinmyung turned on him as if the notion were absurd.
"What are you talking about. I feel sorry for you."
"Why?"
"Do you know how many people are in the Martial Alliance's Military Affairs Department? All those brilliant minds will be picking this deal apart. But we have to send a perfect reply with just two heads — mine and yours."
Ak Jun let out a long breath.
"I'll go fetch the brush, paper, and ink."
"What is this…"
The Military Affairs Department of the Martial Alliance answered directly to the Alliance Leader. In practice, however, it exercised influence over every department in the Alliance.
That authority stemmed from the role the office of Military Strategist had played in the war. The fighting was over, but the institution known as the Martial Alliance always prepared as though war might return. Thus the Military Strategist was, in effect, little different from a Vice Alliance Leader. Convening department heads under the pretext of needing to report to the Alliance Leader was something the Military Affairs Department did often.
But the department heads who heard of this particular meeting and its agenda could find no words. They had already been briefed on the venture called the Mt. Hua Reenactment. Acquiring that venture, however, was another matter entirely.
"Internally, the Military Affairs Department has concluded that this is an attractive proposal. But I am curious about the opinions of the other departments… particularly the Finance Department."
Chief Military Strategist Zhuge Yu put the question to San Muok, head of Finance. The Finance Department managed the Martial Alliance's household — setting the annual budget and monitoring every department's spending.
San Muok was no martial artist, only an ordinary person; yet with her sharp temperament and gift for numbers she ran the department, and many in the Martial Alliance placed unstinting trust in her.
She calculated for a moment, then spoke.
"Numbers that exist now are my concern. Numbers that project the future are not. Those, I believe, fall to Strategist Zhuge."
"The Military Affairs Department's view is the same as mine."
"Then the Finance Department's opinion would seem unnecessary."
"B-but—!"
The head of the Events Department, who oversaw the Mt. Hua Sword Debate, thrust himself into their exchange. Startled by his own sudden voice, he briefly composed himself and went on.
"My apologies. Extra work from cleaning up after the Sword Debate has left me quick to temper. I ask everyone's understanding."
"I understand. The people handling this matter in Military Affairs had much the same reaction."
Heo Gang, head of Events, offered a bitter smile. He had originally been a carpenter; during the war he had become a disciple of the Alliance Leader and so entered the Martial Alliance.
He was the sort of easily excited, simple-minded man one saw every day in the marketplace — yet no one disliked him, for Heo Gang was a man who grew heated on behalf of other people's troubles.
"The Mt. Hua Sword Debate is the event our Alliance holds most important. You can tell just by the rising number of spectators. And for that event, we need a larger budget."
Heo Gang looked at San Muok as though she were being cold. She answered with an expression empty of all feeling.
"As I always say, there is only one way to increase the budget. Either reduce expenditures, or increase revenue."
Then next year's budget will grow — that was what San Muok always told other departments when they complained.
"Does that even make sense? The more spectators there are, the more rent we pay the Mt. Hua Sect. But the fact that spectators keep increasing means things are peaceful, doesn't it!"
Heo Gang fumed. His face had flushed bright red; he snorted like an agitated bull. In wartime they had called that Heo Gang the Iron Ox and feared him, but…
"You two — take the marital spat home."
"I do not bring outside matters into the house."
San Muok answered Zhuge Yu's remark without a flicker of hesitation. The marriage between San Muok and Heo Gang was one of the Martial Alliance's standing mysteries.
"Ahem, ahem… So for now, the Events Department's position is that profit-sharing with the Donghwa Merchant Group is out of the question?"
"A man should just smash them with cash. How petty is it to propose splitting two-tenths of the profits every single Mt. Hua Sword Debate?"
"The Alliance fully bears the expenses every time, yet the merchant group wants to walk off with nothing but the profits… This is a personal opinion, but I find it rather distasteful."
San Muok, sipping her tea, backed Heo Gang. Zhuge Yu began to wonder whether he was the one being restrained by the pair of them.
"The reasons Military Affairs found this proposal attractive are twofold. First, that we can immediately hire the storytellers currently held by the Donghwa Merchant Group. Second, that we can monopolize the venture."
"That we can monopolize it, you mean. It is not certain."
San Muok corrected him.
"True. But it was also Young Master Go Jinmyung of the Donghwa Merchant Group who started this venture. Internally, we assess that if the Mt. Hua Sect were to enter the business, it would become a serious source of conflict."
On that point San Muok offered no rebuttal, merely drinking her tea. Heo Gang looked from one to the other in surprise.
"But if we acquire the venture from the Donghwa Merchant Group, we secure not only a detailed outline of the business but storytellers with actual experience as well."
"So we gain a competitive advantage."
Zhuge Yu nodded at San Muok's reply. Heo Gang only watched the two in silence.
San Muok tapped the table with her fingers as if running figures, then spoke.
"One-tenth of the profits. I will not concede more than that. And if competition arises, free consultation regarding it must be guaranteed."
She spoke with finality. Zhuge Yu nodded, satisfied. Heo Gang bobbed his head along in succession, and the meeting was closed.
Zhuge Yu went straight to the Alliance Leader's office. Perhaps because San Muok had agreed, the approval moved quickly. His steps were light.