1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 370



Only Noblemtl

370 – Barley Pass

In early May, Gijo headed to Honam carrying relief supplies.

Honam-do, known as the largest granary in Korea, could not avoid the barley pass and was suffering from severe damage.

The rich farmers were able to live comfortably because they had accumulated a lot of wealth, but there was no answer for the poor farmers and small farmers.

*Senong (細農) – Farmers who farm on a small scale.

Kijo arrived in Damyang County and inspected the overall situation of the rural area.

Unlike the Syngman Rhee government, Chairman Park’s revolutionary government was helpful in having detailed data on rural areas.

Villages classified as wealthy also had a source of income other than farming by creating bamboo forests and making bamboo crafts.

But there was no answer for the villages classified by the revolutionary government as poor peasant villages.

With the support of Namwon County Office, I visited Hyogiri (孝基里), which was classified as a poor farming village.

Half of the 60 households in Hyogiri were registered as grain-deprived farming households.*

*Farm households in desperate need of food – Farm households that eat less than average amounts of rice due to lack of rice.

We visited a farm under the guidance of village chief Hyogiri.

“Are there three thousand people at home?”

The village chief opened the thatched-roof gate of the collapsing thatched-roof house and asked loudly, but there was no answer.

Even though the floor was full of family members’ shoes, there was no sound.

“Please answer me. A guest has come, so why aren’t you responding? I can see your shoes too.”

When there was still no answer, the village chief spoke to Gijo.

“It’s mealtime now. It’s polite not to visit the barley field during mealtime, as they say that even dogs don’t bother you while you’re eating.”

The keynote seemed to know what he meant.

In the countryside where there is nothing to eat, if someone comes by during mealtime, you cannot ask them, “Have you eaten?” or “Please eat before you go.” So you just pretend like it doesn’t exist or that you don’t know.

It was a difficult time for Barley, where both dignity and humanity disappeared in the face of hunger.

After a while, the door opened and a man who looked like he had just hurriedly eaten his meal came out.

“Is the village chief here?”

The man was startled when he saw the military officials and the keynote speaker dressed in suits.

It seemed as if he was a tax collector coming to collect taxes or a banker coming to collect a debt.

The keynote speaker saw a child with his belly sticking out through an open door.

The youngest, Youngjun, looked to be around his age, but he only ate barley rice, so his stomach was protruding and his arms and legs were thin.

Then the faces of people who appeared to be Samman’s parents and wife appeared.

They all had dark complexions and looked very thin.

He was looking at the keynote with a worried face.

“It’s nothing else. The newspaper president who came down from Seoul brought me food to help me get through the barley harvest. There are nine of you in the family, right?”

“Yes, Chief. That’s right.”

“I told you to get this cheap.”

The village head handed over a box of ramen.

“What is this?”

“If you boil water in a pot and add the noodles, you can eat it right away. Try it. It’s really delicious.”

The man who received the ramen nodded his head at the keynote.

The keynote speaker bowed to the man.

The keynote was that one box of ramen would be insufficient for a large family of nine.

But I also thought it was important to satisfy my hunger even for just a day or two.

I also knew this because I experienced hunger.

When hunger continues, people become ruined. They tend to lose their will to live and become depressed beyond imagination.

If you eat well even just for one day, you will feel hopeful and motivated.

Go Wang-cheol, who was standing behind the keynote, asked the woman in the room.

“Madam, are you thinking of selling your hair? I’ll give you a special price this month. If you’re interested, go ahead and sell it.”

“How much will you charge?”

The woman was surprised when Wang Cheol glanced at her head and offered a price higher than the market price.

“Besides, we pay in cash right away. We don’t pay in barley rice, which is lethal.”

Wang Cheol looked around the room like a professional to see if there was anyone among the family members who wanted to sell hair.

“Would you like to buy an old man’s hair too?”

Samman’s mother, with her back bent, crawled out and asked.

Wang Cheol looked at Kijo, and when Kijo nodded, he said.

“Oh, of course, Grandma. If your hair is long, you can buy any gray hair. Anyway, when you make a wig, you bleach the hair once to make it white. Hahaha.”

A girl who appeared to be an elementary school student also stepped forward after hearing that Wang Cheol would buy her hair.

“Sir, can you sell your hair too?”

Wang Cheol’s eyes wavered at the girl’s words.

The girl’s hair was short, so in order to sell it, her hair had to be shaved almost to a level where it was short.

I hesitated, wondering if I could go to school with that kind of hair.

That’s when the keynote came out.

“Your hair is short. If you sell it, it will be too short. Won’t the kids tease you when you go to school?”

“It’s okay. I’m okay, so please accept my head.”

Behind the girl, children with their bellies sticking out could be seen.

It seemed like he did that because, as the eldest, he wanted to feed his younger siblings.

The child’s eyes were determined.

Kijo closed his mouth tightly for a moment and then spoke.

“Then let’s do this. I’ll give you money in advance, so you can grow out your hair and sell it sometime this fall?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Okay, I got it.”

Kijo smiled at the child and nodded to Wangcheol.

Wang Cheol cut off the heads of Samman’s wife and mother, wrapped them in paper, and put them in a bag.

Then he took out cash from the belt around his waist and paid it out right away.

Following the instructions of the keynote speaker, I charged twice the usual price, which reduced my profit significantly, but since wig exports to the U.S. were going well, I wasn’t completely at a loss.

“How much debt does Samman have?”

The village chief asked.

“A little over 20 thousand won.”

Dae-ik, who followed the keynote, stepped forward.

“Could you please tell me how much interest you owe and where you owe it?”

“Why is that…?”

“It’s called a refinancing loan. I’m thinking of switching your loan to a place with lower interest rates.”

When I told him that I could change my loan to a place with lower interest rates, the man actively talked to me.

Daeik wrote it down carefully in his notebook.

Daeik would record the level of difficulty and debt of each farming household and rank them, and he would also ask the village chief whether they were gamblers or honest people.

Once the candidates were selected, the foundation would provide them with interest-free loans out of its own pocket.

Although it was impossible to help all poor farmers, Gijo believed that it was important to give at least a few households hope of escaping poverty.

The keynote speaker was thinking that it was okay if he didn’t receive some of the money he spent.

When the work was over, the village chief said.

“Samman, fill your stomach with ramen today, and come to the well tomorrow before sunrise. The Namwon County Office said they’ll provide a water pump. Dig the waterway tomorrow.”

“Okay, Chief.”

After looking around the first house, the group headed to the next farm.

After visiting the 30 households of Hyogiri Jeollyang Farm, Gijo gave the village head the money for makgeolli.

“Oh my, thank you for this. You brought me food and do many good deeds, so I hope you will be blessed.”

The group toured two more villages in Namwon County and returned to Namwon Township.

Before going to the accommodation, I also gave money for makgeolli to the county office employee who guided us.

At that time, civil servant salaries were low and everyone was poor, so it was polite to give a small gift if someone helped you.

And I wanted to give back to you since you’ve been following the keynote all day and helping me out.

The civil servant who had declined once or twice took the money and said:

“The governor is said to be entertaining you at Gwanghanru. Please have dinner with the governor tonight.”

After hearing that, Kijo gently expressed his intention to refuse.

This was because if you went down to the countryside to do good work and were treated poorly, strange rumors could spread.

Then the civil servant expressed his discomfort.

“Oh my… If you do that, I’ll be a bit embarrassed… The people of Honam are originally very affectionate, so they can’t just let guests go. The governor wants to at least prepare a meal for you, so I’ll ask you earnestly on his behalf.”

Gijo had no choice but to go to the county office and meet the county mayor.

When I told the Namwon County Governor that they were distributing ramen with government support and that there were many people who had a hard time getting over the barley pass, it would be a bit odd to eat dinner at Gwanghallu, the county governor laughed.

“After listening to the president of Hankook Ilbo, I think I was mistaken.”

Perhaps because Cheongsan was less well-known in Honam than in Gyeongsang Province, or perhaps because the title of newspaper owner was more respectful than that of a businessman, everyone called him the president of the Hankook Ilbo.

“Where are you planning to go tomorrow?”

“I’m planning to visit Gokseong and Gurye.”

“Then I will contact you and make sure to tell the county governor about it.”

Meanwhile, the governor of Namwon County persistently requested that if people did not want to eat dinner at Gwanghanru, they should eat at a restaurant in town.

Finally, as we were eating at the restaurant at the governor’s request, the governor asked.

“I… I heard that stock prices are skyrocketing in Seoul these days. What do you think about that? It’s a rural area, but people with money are taking a bundle of money to Namwon Station and taking the train to Seoul. They’re buying stocks. Haha. You run a newspaper company and a company, so I think you have a lot of good news… I’d like to hear your opinion.”

As Kijo listened to the story carefully, it seemed that the military commander had also invested in stocks.

“I think it would be better to take it out right away. Even people in Seoul say that stock prices have gone up too much. Stock prices have become so expensive that there are no buyers.”

“Is that so?”

The governor was surprised, but his face brightened. He seemed to think that he had treated Gijo to dinner and gained some good information. He treated Gijo with great hospitality throughout the meal, with a bright face.

Kijo returned to his lodgings to sleep, and early in the morning, he headed to Gokseong and Gurye with Wangcheol and Daeik.

The road was bad and the conditions in the rural areas we visited were not good.

The truck carrying the ramen entered the village cautiously, fearing that it would tip over on the narrow farm road.

When Kijo returned to Seoul after completing his relief work in Honam, Seoul was in chaos.

At the end of April, Yoon Eung-sang, who had been manipulating stock prices together with Kim Jong-pil, pushed for a capital increase.

But when the subscription rate, contrary to expectations, stopped at 67%, people began to feel that the stock market had reached its peak.

Since the subscription was made at 14 Hwan 50 Jeon, which is 29 times the face value of the 50 Jeon shares, the subscription rate could not have been high.

However, Yoon Eung-sang, who was able to raise a large sum of money through subscription, pushed ahead recklessly.

At that time, the amount of money that Yoon Eung-sang sucked in through subscription to Daejeungju was 13.6 billion won. It was a huge amount equivalent to 20% of the government budget at the time.

The keynote speech was bitter at the thought that the funds in circulation that were supposed to be used for economic development would be sucked into the stock market and melt away.

In comparison, there was only a fly in the ointment when it came to raising private investment funds for steel mills, which would be a great help to the national economy and a surefire investment.

While the executive meeting was being held at the Cheongsan headquarters, Daeik, who had visited Myeongdong, brought urgent news.

“I’m sorry to interrupt the meeting. I’m here to inform you that the Myeongdong stock market is currently experiencing a major crash.”

As this was expected, Kijo was calm, but Ma-ryang, sitting next to him, turned pale.

The keynote speaker briefly interrupted the meeting and took Ma-ryang to a quiet place to ask him.

“Did you invest in stocks?”

“That’s almost… . So… .”

“It’s okay, just tell me quickly.”

The idea was that if Ma Ryang had invested in stocks, he would sell them immediately.

Even if you sell it now and lose money, you can still turn your stocks into money.

I held on, thinking it would go up again, but the securities company that traded more stocks than its equity capital by exploiting a loophole in the securities law went bankrupt, and I lost most of my investment money.

After not being able to sell for almost a year, he ended up selling it at a price that had plummeted 98% from its highest price.

“It wasn’t me, it was Soonyoung who invested some money.”

“how much?”

“I think it’s around 40 million won.”

“okay…?”

The amount was larger than expected, so even the keynote speaker was taken aback.

But he said with a smile, thinking that even if he lost money on stocks, he would still be able to make money in the future.

“After the meeting, contact your sister-in-law and go sell the stocks right away. Even if she insists on not selling, you have to somehow sell them all. You have to sell them.”

“Okay, I understand.”

After the conversation, we resumed the meeting, but Ma-ryang seemed to be having trouble concentrating. I was also worried about the situation, so I didn’t feel like continuing the meeting.

“Let’s postpone the meeting until later.”

The keynote speech was to send out the executives and call Ma Liang.

With a serious expression, Ma-ryang picked up the phone and called Cheongsan Confectionery.

“Oh, it’s me. What happened to that stock?”

Kijo also carefully observed Ma-ryang’s expression.

“Don’t worry about it. Didn’t you put all the money you earned from the company into stocks?”

Ma-Ryang’s expression as he listened to Sun-Young’s words was unusual.

Kijo said, reaching out to Ma-ryang.

“Let me talk. Hand me the receiver.”

Kijo, who had received the receiver, asked.

“Sister-in-law, you invested in stocks?”

-Oh, brother-in-law. Did Mr. Ma-ryang say that?

“Oh, okay. If you haven’t sold it yet, would you like to go to the brokerage with me?”

-I was planning to go see my brother-in-law anyway.

“Do you want to come here?”

-I’ll be there soon, brother-in-law.

The time waiting for Sunyoung passed too slowly.

Kijo and Ma-ryang were waiting anxiously, smoking a cigarette, when they saw Sun-young opening the door to the CEO’s office and coming in, they both jumped up from their seats.

“Let’s go to Nallae Securities.”

Ma-ryang grabbed Sun-young’s arm and tried to drag her away, but Sun-young refused.

“No! Why should I go to a securities firm?”

“Haven’t you heard the news? Didn’t you say there was chaos in Myeongdong? Didn’t you tell me to eat moderately and get out early this year?”

“I told you to eat moderately and then come out, so that’s why I didn’t come out!”

“What does that mean?”

Ma-ryang asked, frowning.

“I ate a lot! When a person invests, he or she should eat twenty times more!”

“what…?”

Ma-ryang looked at Ki-jo in confusion.

Kijo was also confused. He couldn’t believe that Soonyoung had invested 40 million won and earned 800 million won.

“Brother-in-law, I heard that I was going to subscribe to Daejeongju, so I sold all of my shares before the subscription because I thought it was bad luck.”

Sunyoung said proudly.

And he said, sticking out his bankbook and seal.

“Brother-in-law, I heard you’ve been making ramen and running a deficit these days. My husband was worried. I put 100 million won in the bank account, so use that to make up for the deficit.”

“One, one hundred million won…?”

“When you do good things in the future, don’t do them alone. Talk to me too. Brother-in-law. Our company also uses the same name, Cheongsan. I want you to treat me as a direct relative and not treat me as a collateral.”

“Oh, I see… .”

Kijo knew that Soonyoung had great luck and that she had the talent to seduce most men, but he couldn’t believe that she would just hand over 100 million won.

“I’m going to do good things with the money I make from stocks. I’m going to build an orphanage and kidnap children from the countryside who come up to Seoul Station to work as maids, and I’m going to feed them and educate them.”

At Sunyoung’s words, Kijo and Ma-ryang were speechless.

He made a huge amount of money and tried to spend it lavishly.

“Why aren’t you both saying anything? Shouldn’t you be praising each other at times like this?”

Kijo clapped at Sunyoung’s bold question. Then Ma-ryang also clapped and hugged Sunyoung tightly.

“This Amy didn’t listen to me because she was trying to do something good.”

“Oh, let go of this. I have something to tell my brother-in-law.”

Sunyoung, who had pushed the bar with difficulty, took out another bankbook.

“Brother-in-law, there’s 300 million won here. Please invest it in a steel mill that makes iron. I heard that steel mills are recruiting investors these days, but no one is coming.”

Kijo received a bankbook containing 300 million won.

“Thank you, sister-in-law. I will use it well. This is an official investment, so you will receive it as steel mill stocks later.”

“Oh, really? Okay. I’ll find out when I turn 60 and figure out what to do with it.”

Kijo couldn’t help but laugh out loud at Sunyoung’s words.

It was 1994 when Sunyoung turned 60.

It was also the year in which the KOSPI index reached its highest point in history.

I thought that there was nothing that could be done about people’s luck.

Ma-ryang asked with a brightened face.

“What do you want to eat today? I’ll buy today, so let’s go eat something delicious with your hyungs for the first time in a while.”

“You shoot? Alright! Brother-in-law, call your sister quickly. Tell her not to prepare food.”

“Okay, sister-in-law.”

Kijo returned the call with a happy heart.