I've Come to Shake You Down, Legally
Military action was always the final card to play. In any hunt, you only unleash the hounds once you have blocked every single escape route. Gripping my horse's reins, I handed down the assignments to my two companions.
"Jincheol. Tonight, you slip into that estate."
"Infiltrate, brother?"
"Yes. Use your skills from your hunting days to scale the walls. Find out the exact number of private soldiers they have, their patrol rotation times, and the location of the most heavily guarded storehouse. Do not get caught."
"Understood, brother. I'll search every nook and cranny."
Jincheol's eyes gleamed like a predator cornering its prey. I turned my gaze toward Gaetdong-i, who was clinging tightly to his donkey.
"Gaetdong-i, you're coming with me to the largest marketplace nearby."
"The marketplace? Is there something you wish to purchase, sir?"
"No. We are going to seize the ledgers for the iron and salt flowing into that estate."
"Iron and salt?"
"The iron consumption of the blacksmiths making their farming tools, and the distribution volume of the salt the slaves eat. If we trace these two commodities back through the local merchants, we can estimate the exact acreage of the hidden estate and the number of slaves living beyond those walls."
Gaetdong-i's jaw dropped at my explanation. To a lowly clerk of Joseon, whose understanding of accounting was limited to blindly adding and subtracting figures on a page, the concept of reverse-calculating an invisible reality through the flow of physical goods was an entirely unimaginable realm of thinking.
"My lord! How on earth did you come up with such a brilliant idea?! Now that I hear it, those two items are commodities they absolutely must purchase, no matter how hard they try to hide, as long as they have people and land!"
"Exactly. You can starve a slave, but without sodium, they will collapse. And since they cannot till the earth with their bare hands, they must periodically purchase farming tools. Now, Jincheol."
At my call, Jincheol nodded and firmly tightened the strap of the heavy sword slung across his back.
"I'll keep that in mind, brother. I will thoroughly scout their troop strength and locate the storehouse where they likely keep their ledgers."
"There is no need to force a fight. Tonight, we only observe."
Jincheol gave a brief bow of respect, then melted silently into the darkening forest trail like a wild beast. I turned to Gaetdong-i.
"From this moment on, we are not officials of the Ministry of Taxation. We are a wealthy merchant from Hanyang and his chief clerk. Understood?"
"Yes, yes! I shall keep it in mind, Master Merchant!"
The quick-witted Gaetdong-i bowed deeply, instantly playing along. Before long, the sun dipped completely below the horizon, and the distant torches illuminating the bustling marketplace near the Chungcheong Provincial Office came into view.
We first made our way to a shabby blacksmith shop on the outskirts of the market, which was belching acrid smoke. When tracking prey, it is standard practice to sweep for information from the very bottom.
I tossed a pouch of silver coins onto the anvil of the blacksmith, who was drenched in sweat from working the bellows.
"You're working hard. My merchant group urgently needs a thousand sickles and five hundred plowshares. Can you meet that deadline?"
The blacksmith scoffed, looking at me as if I were absurd.
"Aigoo, you look like some scholar from Hanyang, but you've come to the wrong place! Our forge is fully booked for the next three months. We don't even have the time to make a single needle!"
"Three months? Did the Chungcheong Provincial Office place an order for military weapons?"
"Provincial office, my foot! That estate over the mountain swept up every single spring farming tool we had. Every scrap of iron from the forges in this area is being sucked straight into that place."
The blacksmith wiped the sweat from his brow and grumbled.
"No matter how hard small-timers like us hammer away day and night, that bastard Merchant Choi, the innkeeper, skims all the profit off the top. Those guys monopolize all the iron and salt going into the estate, leaving us to starve."
"Ho, Merchant Choi, is it?" A satisfied smile played on my lips as I slid the pouch of silver toward the blacksmith. "Thank you for the valuable information. Consider this some drinking money."
I snapped my fan open, looking back at Gaetdong-i, whose eyes had gone wide.
"Let's go. Time to steal the souls of these money-grubbing ghouls."
Stepping into the bustling merchant inn, I arrogantly took the seat of honor. I reached into my robes, pulled out a heavy pouch of silver ingots, and tossed it onto the table for all to see.
Clang!
At the heavy, clear ring of clashing silver, the noisy room fell silent, and every eye turned to me. The owner of the agency, dressed in fine silks, ran over with eyes sparkling.
"Aigoo, my lord! What brings such an esteemed guest to this humble establishment? I am Choi, the owner of this agency."
"This is my first time in Chungcheong Province. I run a fairly large mine and merchant group in Hanyang, and I am currently looking for a reliable supplier to provide the salt and iron needed to sustain our thousands of laborers."
"Th-thousands of laborers?! Aigoo, you have come to the right place! No one in Chungcheong Province can match our agency when it comes to supplying bulk goods!"
The owner began his pitch, practically spitting in his excitement. I snorted and snapped my fan open.
"I wonder. I heard that a place called the Yang Family Estate has a tight grip on this region, and that all your agency's goods are funneled there. Do you even have the capacity to handle the massive volume of a major merchant group like ours? If your operations are limited to supplying the Yang family, who only own about a hundred slaves, then I am afraid we cannot do business."
My provocation hooked the owner's pride perfectly.
"Aigu, my lord! You are completely misinformed! The Yang Family Estate may only have a hundred slaves on paper, but in reality, they have over a thousand hidden away! The salt delivered there alone exceeds a hundred seok a year, and they took over a thousand plowshares and sickles just this past spring! I am the very man who supplies that massive volume!"
To think he would blab his own trade secrets so easily. I furrowed my brow, pretending to remain skeptical.
"Anyone can talk a big game. I have not been in business for just a day or two. Only if my merchant group's bookkeeper personally verifies your transaction history can I trust you enough to leave these silver ingots as a deposit."
The owner's eyes were glued to the glittering pile of silver ingots on the table. He looked ready to sell his very soul on the spot to secure such a massive fortune.
"Ah, I will show you right away! Hey, you there! Bring out all the purchase and sales ledgers for our transactions with the Yang Family Estate over the past three years!"
A moment later, the owner himself grunted as he stacked dozens of handwritten ledgers in front of me. The secret transaction records of the Chief State Councillor's in-laws had rolled right into my lap with ridiculous ease.
I gestured to Gaetdong-i, who was standing behind me. "Go ahead and check. See if this man is bluffing or telling the truth."
"Yes, Master Merchant!" Gaetdong-i swallowed hard and opened the worn ledgers. He began flipping through the dozens of volumes at a frantic speed.
Rustle, rustle. The only sound echoing through the room was the rapid fluttering of pages.
After a short while, Gaetdong-i closed the ledgers, leaned in close, and whispered in my ear.
"Master Merchant. The agency owner's words are entirely true. The amount of salt they supplied is enough to sustain at least a thousand slaves. Furthermore, reverse-calculating based on the number of sickles and hoes procured from the forge... it is highly probable that the land hidden by the Yang Family Estate exceeds at least ten thousand majigi."
"......Perfect."
One could falsify government registries, but the physical transaction ledgers where merchants tracked their blood-earned money could never lie.
"Well, my lord? Was I not telling the truth?" I smirked at the agency owner, who was practically drooling over the silver ingots.
"Exemplary indeed. Gaetdong-i, pack it up."
"Yes, Master Merchant!" No sooner had the words left my mouth than Gaetdong-i pulled a thick wrapping cloth from his robes and began sweeping the dozens of ledgers concerning the Yang Family Estate into it, tying them up securely.
Startled, the agency owner reached out in a panic. "Wh-what are you doing, my lord?! Once you have verified them, you should close them! How can you just pack up another merchant group's ledgers and walk away with them?!"
"Shh." I caught the owner's wrist and subtly parted the front of my overcoat, revealing what lay beneath just enough for his eyes only. Inside my coat, a round medallion gleamed under the moonlight. It was the Special Royal Inspector Token bestowed by King Sejong himself.
"......!!"
Not even a scream could escape the agency owner's throat. I leaned in and whispered to the man, who was now trembling like a leaf in the wind.
"I am Kim Jinseong, the Right Assistant Minister of Taxation. As of this moment, these ledgers are seized by the Ministry of Taxation as evidence."
"My lord...! Please spare me! I-I was merely supplying goods...!"
"I know. That is why I am giving you a chance." I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close.
"If you run to the Yang Family Estate this very instant and tip them off about my arrival, you will be bound alongside the Yang family tomorrow morning and beheaded for high treason."
"Hieeeek!"
"But if you keep your mouth shut tonight, as quiet as a dead mouse, tomorrow you will be treated as an informant who cooperated with the state. You will save your life and keep your agency. Which path will you choose?"
"I-I will keep silent! Even if I must bite off my own tongue, I will not say a word!" Tears streamed down the owner's face as he nodded frantically.
Even so, I gestured to Gaetdong-i, who was waiting behind me. "Gaetdong-i, drag this man to the back storehouse of the agency. Bind his hands and feet tightly, and lock the door from the outside until sunrise tomorrow. Tell him that if he makes a sound, he will be handed over to the local magistrate immediately."
"Yes, my lord!"
"Ah, and take the silver ingots on the table. I was going to give them to him as a reward for handing over the ledgers, but we cannot possibly give money to an accomplice who concealed records of state embezzlement, can we?"
I slipped the silver ingots back into my robes with a cold smirk. Even as he was being dragged away, the agency owner swallowed a silent scream of agony at the sight of his "money" vanishing before his eyes.
A moment later, Gaetdong-i emerged, having fully secured the owner, with the bundle of ledgers slung over his shoulder. "Good work. Is it heavy?"
"Not at all, sir! I am perfectly fine!"
"Good. Bear with it just a little longer." I glared off into the distance, where the walls of the Chief State Councillor's in-laws loomed in the darkness like a massive fortress. "Once Jincheol returns with news of what lies beyond those walls, the perfect hunt will begin."
Heading to the Chungcheong Provincial Office.