I Will Start Doing Business In Jungwon From Today [EN]: Chapter 28

“Are you talking about the Jo family from Shanxi Province?”

Jo Gwangyun didn’t know about the Jo family of Shanxi that the magistrate was talking about, but in situations like this, it wasn’t a bad idea to claim descent from a prominent family.

“While my roots trace back to them, I am merely from a branch line, so I hesitate to confirm it directly.”

The best way to avoid being caught in a lie was to claim to be from a secondary branch. Verifying a secondary branch’s lineage through the family tree would be nearly impossible.

“I see… Otherwise, I would likely know if a member of the Jo family of Shanxi resided here in Henan. So, what brings you to me?”

“I wasn’t intelligent enough to pursue scholarly studies, but fortunately, I realized I had a knack for business and started down this path early on.”

“Oh ho. A merchant.”

The magistrate’s face brightened, pleased that his intuition about potential wealth was correct.

“How unfortunate. I am a person who deals with national affairs, so I don’t believe I have much to discuss with a merchant like you.”

“How dare I speak of national affairs? I merely wish to make a small request of the magistrate.”

“Tell me. Isn’t it my duty to listen to the words of the people?”

To Jo Gwangyun, it sounded like he was saying he would listen to any story that involved money.

“I would like to try my hand at silk trading in Gaebong.”

The magistrate frowned as soon as the word silk was mentioned. This was due to his existing relationships with merchants to whom he had already granted trading permissions.

Silk was a luxury item that ordinary people could never afford, so silk merchants primarily dealt with high-ranking officials or the wealthy.

Trading with the wealthy generated significant profits, and if a small number of people monopolized that trade, they could amass considerable wealth.

To prevent just anyone from getting involved, they had to create a barrier using the power of the officials. Of course, the officials received a fee for the trouble of creating the barrier.

“Of course, as you well know… you must obtain permission to handle silk.”

“How could I not know? That is why I came to see you, Magistrate.”

The magistrate immediately waved his hand.

“Rice and silk require strict examination. The examination is not done by me alone; I must also consider the opinions of existing merchants. I cannot grant permission as I please.”

They had to manage everything amongst themselves, so there was no way they would accept a newcomer.

“Magistrate, I am not asking you to grant me permission right away.”

“Huh? What?”

“How could I not know that you are fair and just in handling your official duties?”

The magistrate’s face broke into a smile at Jo Gwangyun’s flattery.

“My request is not that, but that you remember me if a problem arises.”

“A problem? What kind of problem are you talking about?”

“You never know what might happen in the world, do you? If there is a flood and the Yangtze River overflows, the carts carrying silk will not be able to move…”

“Oh, my. It’s been a drought for years. A flood?”

“I was just giving an example. I mean that unexpected things could happen, causing disruptions in the supply of silk.”

Magistrate Jin Woo-sang’s eyes sharpened.

“It sounds like you’re implying something is going to happen.”

“Sir, what power do I, a mere commoner, have to create unexpected events? I am only seeking an opportunity. If you, Magistrate, have a very fair ‘reason’ to remember me, I will repay that ‘favor’ for a long time to come.”

When Jo Gwangyun emphasized the words “reason” and “favor,” the magistrate withdrew his sharp gaze and smiled again.

“A reason… I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Jo Gwangyun knelt down and bowed deeply before taking out a small wooden box from his pocket.

“This is a small token of my appreciation for taking valuable time out of your busy schedule for an insignificant person like me. Please, do not refuse it.”

Seeing him reach for the wooden box before Jo Gwangyun had even finished speaking, it was clear that he was not a man who would refuse.

“I will use this for my work. You may leave.”

The magistrate knew the moment he lifted the wooden box. It was definitely a gold ingot.

The heavy golden turtle firmly engraved the name Jo Gwangyun in the magistrate’s mind.

* * *

“Hey, Gwangyun. What on earth happened? No… what did you do?”

Woo-yang had rushed over with a pale face at first, but his face quickly turned red when he saw Jo Gwangyun’s nonchalant expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this all your doing? The merchants from the market are here causing a ruckus!”

“Are you talking about the silk merchants?”

“Yes!”

Woo-yang remembered it clearly. It was the very day that Jo Gwangyun had made a plan to delay the transport by about ten days in order to reduce the cost of the escort.

But it had been more than fifteen days, not ten. Usually, if an escort was delayed, they would send a fast messenger from the escort group to inform them of the reason for the delay and how many days it would take to arrive, but this time, there was no news at all.

“Didn’t you clearly say it would only be ten days at most? I couldn’t even lift my face to appease the angry merchants. But it’s been more than fifteen days. I can’t appease them anymore.”

“Then just pretend you don’t know.”

“What?”

“What can we do? We don’t know why it’s delayed either. They may have encountered bandits while crossing the mountains, or the river may have flooded, preventing the ships from sailing. All we can do is wait, right?”

“No, man! Does that make sense? Do you think there are any Green Forest bandits [bandits operating in mountainous areas] in Jungwon [the Central Plains of China] who would dare to touch our Gyeong-an Escort Agency? And the river flooded? It’s been a drought for three years already!”

The reason why Woo-yang was shouting like this was because he didn’t trust Jo Gwangyun.

“If we don’t appease them now, all our deals will be cut off. Our escort agency’s main clients…”

“Clients are bound to change. There are no permanent clients.”

Each word Jo Gwangyun casually threw out sounded like thunder to Woo-yang.

“What?”

“Tell them this: If they want, we will compensate them for the delayed silk. They can use that money to find another escort agency and start over, or they can go to Sichuan themselves. But their silk remains with us.”

Woo-yang and Jo Gwangyun both knew that the silk merchants could not do that in this situation. To buy silk again would take at least four months, or even five months if things went wrong.

Besides, it was almost the season when the cold wind would blow. The peak season for customers was only one month away, and if they missed this time, they might as well ruin this year’s business.

“Hey, Gwangyun. Are you really going to cut ties with them?”

“There’s no need to dwell on clients who are going to disappear anyway.”

Woo-yang was convinced by Jo Gwangyun’s firm words. He didn’t know why, but he was trying to ruin the silk merchants’ business in Gaebong.

Jo Gwangyun said to Woo-yang, who had a dumbfounded expression.

“You’ve been in a relationship with them for a long time, so you must know them well.”

“Of course.”

“Then please make a list for me.”

“A list? What list? You know the merchants, don’t you?”

“I only know their names and trading volume. What I want to know is their character. Who is diligent, who has a useful mind, who is quick with calculations, and so on.”

“Why do you want to know that now?”

“I have to be careful when choosing people to keep below me from the beginning. If I choose the wrong person, it will only be a headache for a long time.”

Woo-yang sighed. He couldn’t figure out what this young man was thinking.

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