Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 146



Only Noblemtl

146. Central Plains Merchants’ Association (1)

When I came back as an independent, things were a bit chaotic.

It couldn’t be helped. Suddenly, one of the footnotes left a note asking for excommunication and went down.

In addition, when I grabbed a nearby executioner and asked him, Cheongsu seemed to have honestly told me his story and the charges he was accused of. He was probably able to be so honest because he thought he was going to die.

Finally, Cheonghwa, who had met Cheongsu, was also said to be under investigation by the Jipbeopdang. As soon as I entered, I was also called to Samcheonggwan.

“Did you know?”

As soon as Cheong-ui saw me, he said that with a stern expression. He was completely different from Jang Moon-in, who usually greeted me and asked how I was doing when he came back from overseas.

I hesitated for a moment, then lowered my head. I had no choice.

“yes.”

Cheong-ui sighed as if she had known this would happen.

I don’t know exactly how much was written in Cheongsu’s note, and I don’t know how much Cheonghwa said while being investigated by the law enforcement agency. In this situation, hastily lying would only lead to more lies.

“Then do you know how far the Taegeuk Hye Sword has leaked?”

Cheong-ui asked again.

“Cheonghwa, who currently has a copy of the Taegeuk Hyegeom, is saying that he has no idea who obtained it or where it came from, or how far it has spread.”

I clicked my tongue. It seemed like he was keeping his mouth shut for fear of causing me harm when he could have simply said that he received it from me. However, it was clearly a groundless worry. Unlike Cheonghwa, I was able to explain how the Taegeuk Hye Sword came into my hands.

“I know. I gave the Master a copy of the Taegeuk Hyegum.”

“Depending on what you say, I may or may not subdue you.”

“Let me explain.”

Since things had gotten this messed up, there was nothing I could do. Originally, I had hoped that the Imperial Palace and the Heavenly Guardians would not be involved with the shaman faction, but now was not the time to think about such things. If I were to move, I would be writing a monologue about the leak of the Taegeuk Hye Sword.

I explained slowly. The King of Gansu is currently the source of the famous martial arts school in the Central Plains, and Cheonsu Shangdan was trying to sell the Taegeuk Hye Sword at the King’s request.

However, I retrieved the Taegeuk Hye Sword from the King and tried to catch Ganja with it. However, the Master knocked me out and took it away.

“I don’t think we need to talk about it anymore. I heard from Cheonghwa that Cheongsu sold the Taegeuk Hye Sword for his entire family, and Cheonghwa copied it and handed it over.”

Cheong-ui, who had been listening with a serious expression, interrupted.

“Yes.”

“Then you must have chased after Cheongsu.”

“yes.”

“Do you know where Cheongsu went?”

I hesitated to speak. This was not acting, but real hesitation. Even though it was a lie, the words did not come out easily. I forced myself to say them.

“He passed away.”

“……what?”

His eyes opened wide as if he had not expected this.

After that, I also explained about Cheongsu’s revenge. About the bad relationship with Bang Ga-jang.

Of course, the room was turned upside down once, but I didn’t forget to say that I finished it well.

“… … Yeah. I see.”

Cheong-ui, who had heard everything, closed his eyes. It was a heavy silence. He was a disciple who had known each other for at least several decades. No matter how deeply he practiced, he could not help but feel emotionally disturbed.

“So then, in the end, the Taegeuk Hye Sword didn’t leak to another place?”

“In the end, yes. Because I got it back.”

“I never thought the King of Gansu would do something like that. I knew that the people of the palace looked down on the martial arts world, but I didn’t know they would act like that.”

Cheong-ui sighed. As a senior member of the clan, it would be extremely burdensome to get involved with the royal family or the royal family. If you’re not careful, the pillars of the clan could be uprooted. Of course, if you try to do that to the Mudang clan, one of the old clans, it would cause a huge conflict between the martial arts world and the government.

“But why didn’t you tell me about it when you came back from Gansu? You must have had the Tai Chi Sword at that time.”

“……hmm.”

I hesitated and then opened my mouth.

“First of all, I didn’t want to involve the Imperial Palace or the Heavenly Guardians with the shaman faction. Since the contents of the Taegeuk Hyegeom itself weren’t leaked anyway, I tried to resolve it on my own.”

“Is that the end?”

“In fact, the biggest thing was that there was a possibility that Jang Moon-in was a liver transplant.”

“Yeah. Maybe it seemed that way. Still, it’s a shame. If I had known from the beginning… … .”

Cheong-ui kept her mouth shut. It seemed like it was about Cheong-su.

“If Master Cheongsu Sasuk had returned to the Mudangpa with me, what would you have done?”

“… … He must have been beheaded.”

Cheong-ui eventually let her expression of pain show. It seemed as if the confused emotions of the priest who was almost like a family member had died, the fact that he should have killed him if he had come back alive, and yet the hope that he would still be alive were sweeping through Cheong-ui’s mind.

“I lack self-cultivation.”

“no.”

I watched Cheong-ui’s expression. In fact, I had been curious about something else from the beginning. I kept watching her expression and was looking for an opportunity to ask.

“What will happen to my teacher then?”

“Hmm.”

I ended up asking anyway. As expected, Cheong-ui snorted as if she had a headache.

“Although Cheonghwa copied the Taegeuk Hye Sword and gave it to Cheongsu, she probably had no intention of letting it out.”

“I guess so.”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t be punished. Cheonghwa is also responsible for the leak of the Taegeuk Hye Sword, and privately teaching martial arts to other disciples of the same class is also a violation of discipline.”

I nodded. Whatever Cheonghwa’s intentions, it was true that she broke the rules.

Of course, it is not to the extent of being as severe as Cheongsu, but even so, Cheonghwa’s crime is by no means light.

“I guess I’ll probably be locked up in the repentance room.”

“How much?”

“We need to discuss that with the ruling party.”

I nodded. At that point, it seemed like a peaceful ending.

“Anyway, you did something really great. Not only did you stop the leak of the Taegeuk Hye Sword, you also caught the leaker.”

“I just did what I had to do as a non-partisan disciple.”

I shook my head. Cheong-ui shook her head.

“No. You have done a better job than any disciple of the non-partisan faction.”

Cheong-ui’s voice contained a firmness that did not allow for refutation. It seemed strange that I had to continue to deny it, so I just nodded my head. To be honest, I felt a little guilty about lying about Cheong-su’s death, so even that statement was uncomfortable.

“So, as the long-time writer, I’d like to give this to you.”

Cheong-ui took something out of the drawer. It was a rich blue and red silk bag.

The Songmun Sword has a small hole in the handle, which was used as a knot decoration.

And I knew what that meant.

“… … Isn’t that the symbol of the Taegeuk Sword?”

“Yes, I know.”

“How can I receive that? Isn’t it something that can be obtained by taking a test among the disciples of the main temple?”

I waved my hand. If you are the Taegeuk swordsman of the Mudang faction, it is an honor to sit with the plum blossom swordsman of the Hwasan faction and the eighteen arhats of the Shaolin Temple. Of course, that is a position that is only allowed to the disciples of the main temple.

“Do you know what we look for when selecting Taegeuk inspectors?”

“I guess it’s about seeing talent.”

“No. I’ll see how committed you are to the nonpartisan cause.”

Cheong-ui continued speaking.

“That is why we choose from among the disciples of the main temple. It is not easy for a lay disciple to devote himself to the shaman sect. However, it seems that you have already shown sufficient dedication.”

“Even so, that’s a bit much. I think there will be strong opposition from other Taegeuk swordsmen and elders.”

“Didn’t I tell you? The right to choose the Taegeuk Sword Master is solely that of the Jang Moon-in.”

“Isn’t it the rule to choose from among the disciples of the main temple?”

“Since you came, the rules of the non-partisan faction have been interpreted somewhat more flexibly.”

If you hang it on your nose, it’s a nose ring, and if you hang it on your ear, it’s an earring. Cheong-ui bent down, took out the sword from my waist, and put the water bottle that represented the Taegeuk symbol on the sword.

In fact, I could understand why Cheong-ui was pushing this hard. Cheong-su was going to die, and Cheong-hwa was going to be locked up in Cham-hoe-dong. If the situation was resolved like that, the atmosphere of the non-partisan faction would definitely become stagnant.

Even if it is forced, there needs to be a change in the atmosphere, a place to turn one’s gaze. It was a political judgment worthy of Jang Moon-in, and in my opinion, it was a judgment with political sense.

Of course, the position of Taegeuk Inspector was burdensome to me. At some point, it became bothersome to explain every day that I was a disciple of the shaman faction, but now, if I just show them the way, those who know will know to treat me as Taegeuk Inspector, so it seems to have become easier. In any case, it’s better than nothing.

“Okay, here it is.”

“What is this?”

Cheongsu handed me the box. It was a familiar box. When I opened it, a fragrant scent spread.

“Didn’t you know? Isn’t a Taegeuk swordsman given one Taecheongdan pill?”

“……ah.”

Even though he gave me the position based on political judgment, he said he would give me everything I wanted. I really had no reason to refuse, so I nodded.

“thank you.”

That’s how I became a Taegeuk inspector, and the situation ended with Cheonghwa being locked up in Chamhoe-dong for two years.

Before entering the last retreat, Cheonghwa spent dinner with her disciples, including me. It was Cheongui’s own consideration.

The children all cried because they hadn’t seen their father like Cheonghwa for two years, and I just smiled bitterly.

“Now you take on the role of teacher.”

When the children fell asleep from crying, Cheonghwa spoke to me quietly. I smiled.

“I’m the youngest?”

“You’re the youngest. In fact, the kids follow you around a lot these days.”

“That’s true.”

“Okay. Please take care of it.”

Cheonghwa hesitated and then asked me quietly.

“Is Cheongsu really dead?”

Cheonghwa’s face looked very anxious. I looked at Cheonghwa and then shook my head.

“No. But don’t try to find it. You’re trying to start a new life.”

“Haha. Well then, that’s good. Now I can finally sleep in comfort.”

So Cheonghwa entered Chamhoedong the next day.

I watched the scene with the executioners. Cheonghwa waved at us and went in. The worry that had been on her face had disappeared.

* * *

“You almost don’t care about the top.”

As soon as I entered the headquarters of the Whiyoung Corps, Jo Chung-heon started scolding me. Even in my opinion, I thought it was too extreme.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. As your reputation grows, our orders will also increase significantly.”

Jo Chung-heon nodded as if he had rationalized it. As expected, Jo Chung-heon was a great subordinate who took his superior’s circumstances into consideration.

“By the way, the person you brought is really good at getting things done.”

“Oh. Really? That’s good.”

As she had expressed her confidence, Yu Cha-ryeon was really good at handling things. She must have been smart, because she could understand all the procedures of handling things in the business world after hearing them once. Her daughter, Bang So-hwa, seemed to be learning a lot from Yu Cha-ryeon.

There, the top was really growing remarkably without me. After all, if we used the distribution network of Cheonsu Sangdan, we only had to prepare the goods and sell them. Considering the cost and difficulty of creating a distribution network, it was literally like making money by putting money into it.

So, even without me, money was piling up in the warehouse of the Whiyoung Group, and before I knew it, it had become a well-known group within Hubei Province.

“Oh, but Master Danju. A letter has arrived for you.”

“Is this a letter?”

“Yes. I am from the Central Plains Merchants Association.”

“Ah. Those old people.”

I sighed. I had thought that when the scale of the upper level grew, there would come a time when I would face them, but I had been so busy lately that I had forgotten.

The Central Plains Merchants’ Association. It was a conference in which all merchants of any rank in the Central Plains, including merchants from Huizhou and Shanxi, were members.

Of course, not everyone joined because they wanted to. Most of the nobles who held high positions at the meetings were the ones who had been in the past.

To put it simply, it was a place that sucked the blood of active merchants and was generally disliked by merchants. However, the reason such a place continued to exist was because the old people had connections that could harm merchants.

I clicked my tongue and opened the letter.

“It really is exactly as I expected.”

Naturally, the letter was a request to attend a meeting. The content of the meeting was to approve the membership of the Hwiyoungsangdan in the Central Plains Merchants’ Association.

The letter was written as if it was as if now that they had grown to a certain size, they were finally eligible to join the conference, which was extremely disgusting.

I read the letter all the way through. Of course, since it was a meeting where all the top members were registered, not everyone would come every time they were called. So I wrote down the names of the people who were expected to attend at the end of the letter.

So, this means that only those who are interested in this agenda item will attend.

“……what.”

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the letter again. There was only one agenda item: approval for the Hwiyoungsangdan to join the Central Plains Merchants Association. So I thought there wouldn’t be many people in attendance.

Cheonsoo Sangdan (Heavenly Gifted Merchant Group)

Janggyeongsangdan (Changgyeongsangdan)

Cheonhasangdan (World Merchant Group)

Yunjang Merchant Group

Qin Jin Merchant Group

Ohui Sangdan (Wooui Merchant Group)

…

The names of those attending this meeting were listed above. They were interested in the motion to join the Whiyoung Group and wanted to vote.

Not only the top of the 15 clans of Huizhou, but also the tops of the four clans of Shanxi, and other clans with a good reputation in the region, all expressed their intention to attend.