Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 120

Jjangra

Hello, Bomb!

120. Made in Joseon. (3)

Once the evaluation of the horses was complete, Sejong examined the other goods. However, as he looked over the items Mansur had brought, Sejong’s expression grew increasingly dark.

“There are many luxury goods…”

Having heard Sejong’s words through Hassan, Mansur asked Hassan with a serious face,

“Does the King of Joseon not enjoy luxury?”

“The ministers of this country dislike the King indulging in excessive luxury. Of course…”

‘They indulged in luxury themselves and got a taste of their own medicine, though.’

Hassan barely suppressed the last part of his reply, and Mansur sank into contemplation. Most of the goods he had brought were spices like pepper and turmeric.

‘There are hardly any people who dislike spices, especially the nobles, who would buy them even at a high price…’

Continuing his calculations, Mansur asked Hassan,

“Do the people of this kingdom not eat spices like pepper and turmeric?”

“They eat native spices with similar effects. Imported spices like pepper are very expensive.”

“They don’t dislike pepper, then?”

“They can’t afford it because it’s expensive.”

“What is the usual price?”

“How much does the chief buy it for?”

At Hassan’s question, Mansur told him the price of pepper he had purchased in Aden. Hassan replied briefly after hearing Mansur’s answer.

“Multiply that by twenty. That’s the lowest price.”

“Gasp!”

Greatly surprised, Mansur suddenly had a brilliant idea.

‘If I buy pepper in bulk from Aden, I can get it cheaper than the market price! The Joseon people don’t dislike pepper either. If I don’t pass it on in the middle and accept a slightly smaller profit margin, I can monopolize the market! I can make up for the reduced profit by increasing sales! No, I can make even greater profits!’

The conclusion was that ‘selling small but selling a lot is the best strategy,’ but Mansur couldn’t easily make a decision.

He had an obstacle called ‘the Azram family merchants’.

“I have no choice. Hassan, can you get permission from the King of Joseon to give me some time?”

“Why is that?”

Mansur looked at the Azram family merchant behind him and replied,

“Because there is someone I need to successfully negotiate with first…”

At Mansur’s words, Hassan replied with a serious face,

“I will try, but I could become a criminal if I fail.”

“A criminal?”

“Would it be proper for a mere merchant to ask the King of a nation to postpone negotiations? Joseon is a country that values etiquette. If things go wrong, not only I but also the chief could be imprisoned.”

“Oh dear…”

Mansur, who suddenly found himself in a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat, looked embarrassed.

‘A mistake! I was so focused on making money that I didn’t do my research properly and rushed into things recklessly! This is a big mistake on my part!’

As Mansur reproached himself, this was indeed his blunder. He had only considered the cases of European and Chinese merchants, who would open their wallets without question when it came to spices, and bringing mainly spices was putting him in a crisis.

Meanwhile, Hyang, observing the situation, suggested to Sejong,

“Father, may I handle this negotiation?”

“The Crown Prince? Hmm…”

Sejong, who had been pondering Hyang’s request for a moment, asked with a worried expression,

“Even when you dealt with the merchants last time, there was a lot of talk behind the scenes—that the Crown Prince of a nation is stepping up to negotiate.”

“This is a matter of national interest. I would like to take on this task together with the Minister of Taxation.”

Kim Jeom, who was listening to Sejong and Hyang’s conversation from behind, cried out inwardly.

‘Why me! I still have a ton of documents to process!’

Whether he knew Kim Jeom’s feelings or not, Sejong turned to Kim Jeom after hearing Hyang’s words.

With a very benevolent smile.

“Minister of Taxation, can you help the Crown Prince?”

Although there was a smile on his face, Kim Jeom barely suppressed the words ‘No! I can’t!’ that were about to burst out in response to Sejong’s question disguised as an order.

“Y-yes, I will do my best!”

“I trust the Minister of Taxation.”

“I will do my best!”

Sejong, having entrusted the transaction to Kim Jeom and Hyang, said to Mansur through Hassan,

“This transaction involves the court, so I also participated. However, I am busy with state affairs, so I have entrusted the transaction to the Crown Prince and the Minister of Taxation. I hope a good deal will be made.”

“Thank you very much!”

Mansur, feeling a sense of relief after hearing Hassan’s words, expressed his sincere gratitude.

* * *

As Sejong and the ministers left, Mansur took a long breath.

“Whew~.”

Having relieved his stuffy feelings by taking a long breath, Mansur asked Hassan,

“Is that prince the one?”

“Yes, he is. And next to him is this country’s Minister of Finance.”

“I see. The Minister of Finance looks stern, but the prince still looks young, so they must have put the Minister of Finance next to him. I just need to be careful of that Minister of Finance.”

Hassan warned Mansur about his assessment based solely on Hyang’s face, which was still that of a boy.

“You will suffer a great loss if you think that way.”

“Huh?”

“I am also an official of this country, so I will not explain further, but if you relax even a little, you will suffer a great setback.”

At Hassan’s warning, Mansur once again examined Hyang’s face.

Seeing Hyang’s appearance, which still had traces of a boy, Mansur looked at Hassan once more. However, seeing Hassan’s expression, which was even more tense than when the King was present, Mansur muttered to himself without realizing it.

“Oh my…”

* * *

“Minister of Taxation, do you have the list of items they brought?”

“Yes.”

At the Minister of Taxation’s short reply, a Ministry of Taxation official who had been waiting quickly handed over a book in which the list was recorded.

Hyang, who received the book from the Minister of Taxation, examined the list.

“Let’s see… Pepper, turmeric… Turmeric?”

Hyang’s fingertip stopped at ‘turmeric’ written on the list, and his mind raced.

‘Turmeric means curry? Curry rice is good! Wait… there are no potatoes, no onions either… Wait, I think the history of onions is quite old?

Did Teacher Samcheopo say that? Unless it’s a vegetable from the New World, most vegetables had already entered China since the Tang Dynasty. Hmm… I should check that later.’

Having organized his thoughts on turmeric, Hyang continued to check the list.

“Most of them—no, everything except the horses are spices? Why?”

Hyang pondered to himself.

‘Hmm… according to the report, the ship they came on wasn’t that big, right? Then it’s certain that the horses and the hay they eat would have taken up most of the space, so spices, which are small in volume but high in value, would be perfect. Spices are expensive everywhere, East and West.’

Hyang nodded as he examined the list and stopped at the last item.

“Black Bean Tea? What is this? I’ve never heard of it before… Ha Hun-do!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“What is this Black Bean Tea?”

“Black Bean Tea? I’ve never heard of it either.”

Hassan paused for a moment and asked Mansur a question. Hassan answered Hyang after hearing Mansur’s reply.

“It is a material for making a drink called Qahwa.”

“Qahwa?”

“It is also called Kaffa.”

“Kaffa? Kaffa…”

Hyang, who had been thinking carefully about Hassan’s explanation, suddenly shouted.

“Coffee!”

Hyang’s face was full of joy.

‘It’s coffee! Hooray! I thought it would be impossible to taste it until at least the Yuan Yang Fleet was created!’

Like most Koreans living in the 21st century, Hyang was also addicted to caffeine.

Besides, it has good effects.

‘It would be a good gift for the ministers who are fighting sleepiness.’

Of course, green tea could be an alternative if you only think about caffeine, but the strong caffeine taste and unique aroma of coffee were irreplaceable.

Hassan, seeing Hyang’s joyful expression, asked Hyang with a questioning face.

“Your Highness, do you know Qahwa?”

‘Oops!’

At Hassan’s question, Hyang quickly composed his expression and replied.

“I learned about it through books. I was curious about the reality of it, as it is said to be a tea with various benefits, so how could I not be happy to see the real thing like this?”

“Is that so?”

Although curiosity still remained in his heart, Hassan stopped questioning there.

‘There will be a day when it is resolved someday…’

Hassan vowed to write it down in the book he secretly recorded, and Hassan devoted himself to translating the conversation between Hyang and Mansur.

* * *

It is a story of the distant future, but the book with the long title ‘Various Questions Regarding Crown Prince Yi Hyang’ recorded by Hassan became the beginning of all kinds of controversies and conspiracy theories among historians in the East and West as soon as it was discovered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mansur persuaded the merchants of the Azram family.

“…So, the situation is not good. Therefore, I would like to reduce the profit margin on these spices and sell them.”

“Reduce the profit margin…”

Rajab, who accompanied as the representative of the Azram family, had a difficult expression. Mansur continued to persuade him at that expression.

“If the number of people looking for it increases instead of reducing the profit margin, wouldn’t you be able to see even greater profits?”

“So how much will you cut it by?”

“The most I used to get was 10 times [the purchase price], but I want to make it about 6 times.”

“Hmm… okay! Let’s do that! However, I will attend the negotiations.”

Mansur pondered for a moment at Rajab’s words and accepted the opinion.

“Do that.”

“Chief! They say they want to negotiate the price.”

“I know. Let’s go.”

At Hassan’s words, Mansur walked towards Hyang with Rajab.

* * *

“Huh? The number of people has increased? Who is that person?”

Mansur, who heard Hyang’s question, said to Hassan.

“I borrowed some ships from the Azram family because there were not enough ships.”

Hassan slightly changed Mansur’s answer and reported to Hyang.

“He says he borrowed ships from other merchants because there were not enough ships.”

Hyang’s eyes sharpened at Hassan’s answer.

“It doesn’t seem like you only borrowed the ships? The trade license was only granted to the Ottabi family you belong to. Is this your first time doing a formal transaction, and you’re already thinking of cheating from the first transaction?”

“Ah, no!”

Hassan answered in a hurried voice, but Hyang continued in a cold voice.

“Tell the chief of your family clearly: What are you thinking, trying to cheat from the first transaction?”

Mansur, who heard Hyang’s words through Hassan, hurriedly offered excuses, and Hassan also desperately made excuses.

“He says it’s true that he only borrowed ships from other merchants because there were not enough ships!”

“If you only borrowed the ships, why is another merchant intervening in this place? The fact that that person is involved in this place means that he didn’t just lend the ships! Are you making fun of me? Does the person who is said to be the chief of your family make fun of me, and does he make fun of this country called Joseon!”

As Hyang pressed him, Mansur immediately knelt on the floor and replied.

“Absolutely not! It’s just that this business trip seemed like a big opportunity, so I overdid it and reached out to other merchants, and those merchants were also worried and followed along!”

Hyang, who heard Mansur’s answer through Hassan, crossed his arms and glared at Mansur with a fierce face.

Even Hassan knelt next to him and made excuses at the sight.

“Your Highness! The chief had no intention of deceiving Your Highness at all! He just got greedy to get a bigger profit!”

Hyang, who had been silently glaring at Hassan and Mansur, gestured.

“Okay! I’ll believe those words for now. Get up.”

“Thank you very much!”

As Mansur and Hassan got up, Hyang turned his body.

“Then, let’s talk about the transaction now. Minister, is there a suitable room in the Ministry of Taxation?”

“There is.”

Hyang, who heard the Minister of Taxation’s answer, ordered Hassan.

“Tell him to follow.”

“Yes.”