Hogun Jang Yeong-sil
Covered in pitch-black soot, Jang Yeong-sil flew into a wild rage, hammering away at an innocent lump of iron. At his terrifying hammering, a clerk of the Type Casting Office who was carrying charcoal nearby trembled like an aspen leaf, his face a mask of tears.
"M-My Lord Hogun! Please, calm your anger! It is not that we do not wish to melt the metal. But there is not a single handful of copper left in the storehouse!"
"What? What about the five hundred geun of copper His Majesty bestowed upon us last month?!"
"T-That... Did you not smash and remelt them over thirty times because you said the gears did not mesh properly, My Lord? It has all evaporated into thin air!"
At the clerk's words, Jang Yeong-sil's hammer froze mid-air. Feeling sheepish, he quickly looked around with bloodshot eyes, searching for another excuse, and roared.
"Th-Then what about those bastards at the Gungigam! I stayed up all night drawing the perfect blueprints for their new cannon and handed them over! Did they not promise to allocate the highest-grade copper to our Type Casting Office so we could cast the prototype?!"
"The Gungigam snatched the blueprints and locked their gates tight, citing military secrecy! They will not let us get anywhere near the copper, let alone catch a whiff of it!"
"Those absolute scoundrels deserving of a thousand deaths! They steal my technology and pocket the materials?! I will march over there right now and dunk their heads into molten iron!"
It was at that moment, as Jang Yeong-sil, completely losing his mind, turned toward the door huffing and puffing with his hammer raised.
"Calm down, My Lord. Even if you march in there like a madman, they will simply play innocent and hide behind their 'military secrecy.'"
Standing leisurely at the open doorway with my hands clasped behind my back, I chuckled softly and stepped inside.
Jang Yeong-sil's brow furrowed at the sudden appearance of a stranger. The thick smoke billowing from the furnace seemed to obscure the color of my official robes.
"Who goes there?!"
I walked slowly toward him, stepping out of the haze. The crimson glow of the furnace vividly illuminated the red robes of a Senior Third Rank Dangsang-gwan draped over my shoulders.
"I am Kim Jinseong, the Cham-ui of the Ministry of Taxation."
Jang Yeong-sil's eyebrows twitched at the title. He scanned my red robes for a moment, then tossed his hammer aside with a dull thud and gave a reluctant, stiff nod. True to his reputation as the palace's greatest artisan favored by King Sejong, he showed not a shred of intimidation, even in the presence of a high-ranking Dangsang-gwan.
"What brings a stingy official from the Ministry of Taxation all the way here? Have you come to deliver news of yet another budget cut?"
I smiled warmly and waved my hand at his thorny remark.
"Not a budget cut. Quite the contrary, I came to see if I could help you find that very copper you were just screaming about."
At the word 'copper,' Jang Yeong-sil's slouching posture vanished as his head snapped up. His eyes, burning with a madness hotter than the furnace's flames, locked onto me.
"...What did you just say? Copper?"
"Twenty thousand geun of copper to cast the new cannons. The bastards at the Gungigam have manipulated the ledgers, claiming they already melted it all down to manufacture weapons. In truth, they have hidden and embezzled it."
I stepped right up to his nose and threw out the bait in a low, conspiratorial whisper.
"I am about to go shake them down. But it will be troublesome if those military officers play dumb and insist they have already melted it all. I need you to write a technical opinion proving their ledger is a fabrication."
Jang Yeong-sil's bloodshot eyes narrowed sharply.
"Even if you recover it, My Lord, that copper will only return to the state treasury in the Ministry of Taxation's storehouses. There is no way those stingy old ministers would willingly hand over weapon-grade copper to a mere artisan like me. What does finding someone else's treasure have to do with me?"
It was an accurate assessment. But I had already factored this in.
"That is why you must listen closely to my calculations."
I glanced around the room for dramatic effect, then leaned in, shielding my mouth with my hand.
"When melting copper to forge weapons, there is always a Casting Loss Rate due to splattering and dross, is there not? Usually, it is set at around ten percent."
"Y-Yes, that is correct."
"I will officially approve and record the Casting Loss Rate for your workshop in the Ministry of Taxation's ledgers at a generous twenty percent."
Jang Yeong-sil's pupils dilated wildly, shaking as if struck by an earthquake.
"T-Twenty percent?!"
"Two thousand geun of copper, legally 'evaporated.' Whether you use it at night to cast metal movable type or carve whatever you wish, I will completely turn a blind eye. On the Ministry's ledgers, it will be recorded as lost to the boiling furnace. A perfect slush fund you can use entirely at your own discretion, without having to answer to anyone. Well? Is that not a splendid deal?"
Instead of answering, Jang Yeong-sil stroked his beard with a rough, soot-stained hand. The wild madness from moments ago vanished, replaced by the silent, cold calculations of Joseon's greatest genius.
Two thousand geun. It was not merely the weight of the copper. It was unhindered freedom, a golden opportunity to perfect his inventions without bowing his head to anyone.
Jang Yeong-sil slowly raised his head and looked at me.
"...Did you say you were the Cham-ui of the Ministry of Taxation?"
He quietly set his hammer down on the workbench. The dull clink of metal sounded like a bell tolling the start of our contract.
"I took you for a mere scholar who does nothing but read books, but you are a merchant to the bone. A very wicked one at that."
"I shall take that as a compliment."
At my reply, a peculiar, twisted smile played on Jang Yeong-sil's lips. His shift in attitude was swift and decisive. He swept aside the cluttered blueprints on his workbench to clear a space, then leaned his hands on it.
"Show me. This fake ledger of yours."
"Have you already made up your mind?"
"I shall verify it myself."
I pulled the Gungigam's transaction records from my robes and placed them in his hand.
"You will not regret this."
"Now, let us see where these Gungigam bastards coordinated their lies."
Accepting the ledger, Jang Yeong-sil's eyes began to gleam with sharp intelligence.
"Ah, once you are finished reviewing the ledger, you must do me a favor as well. I shall pay you handsomely for it."
"A favor? Was our deal not concluded with the allocation of the two thousand geun of copper?"
As Jang Yeong-sil cast a wary glance, I grinned.
"I need you to make something for me."
The massive special operations fund granted by the Ministry of Taxation—two thousand five hundred nyang in silver ingots. The journey home after collecting the full amount was heavy. No, it was literally, physically heavy. It was a colossal mass of metal weighing nearly two hundred geun.
"Heave-ho!"
Jincheol followed behind me, carrying the massive wooden chest filled with silver ingots effortlessly on his shoulder without even breaking a sweat. Instead of his usual animal pelts, he was handsomely dressed in a deep navy cheolik that I had custom-ordered for him this morning from Hanyang's finest silk shop. His imposing and dashing figure was grand enough to make anyone believe he was the greatest warrior in all of Joseon.
"Those clothes suit you well, Jincheol. It must be heavy, so let us take it straight to the inner quarters."
"Hehe, wearing these new clothes you bought me, Brother, I feel light as a feather. A chest like this is nothing but a speck of dust."
Jincheol grinned good-naturedly and set the heavy chest down on the wooden veranda of the inner quarters. At the loud thud!, my wife, Lady Yi, who had been sewing inside the room, gasped in surprise and flung the door open.
"Husband! You have retur—gasp!"
Her eyes darted from Jincheol's smart attire to the massive chest resting on the veranda, which looked as if it might collapse under the weight. I sat down leisurely on the edge of the veranda and gave Jincheol a nod. Jincheol flung the lid of the chest wide open.
"W-What is all of this...?"
A mountain of silver ingots gleamed brilliantly under the moonlight. My wife's face turned pale, and she trembled, her breath catching in her throat. It was an astronomical fortune that the original Kim Jinseong could never have dreamed of touching in his entire lifetime.
"It is my operations fund, bestowed upon me by His Majesty."
I gently took my startled wife's hand and guided her to sit in front of the chest.
"My lady, do you remember what I said a few days ago? That I would convey a method of investing in a merchant group through Jincheol?"
At my question, my wife barely managed to tear her trembling gaze away from the silver and nodded. In the memories of the original Kim Jinseong, his wife, Lady Yi, though married into a ruined noble family, possessed an extraordinarily sharp mind. Even when her husband was drifting as a low-ranking official with a meager salary, she had managed to keep their debts at bay—she was, in truth, the real powerhouse of this household. She was a talent with a quicker grasp of numbers and a more decisive judgment than most corporate financial directors I had encountered during my days at the modern National Tax Service. It was only the era of Joseon that kept her confined within the narrow walls of the inner quarters.
"I need you to manage and grow this money, my lady."
"Pardon?! H-How could a mere woman like me manage such a vast fortune...!" Her pupils shook violently.
"I am not telling you to simply spend it. I want you to buy out the Daedong Merchant Group with this money tomorrow."