novelraw Chapter 66 : This and That (2)
Chapter 66 : This and That (2)
Jin Sangran's eyes changed. The price of horses would skyrocket?
Horses were different from necessities like rice or other luxury goods. There were very few things that would cause the price of horses to rise.
But if it wasn't just a rise, but a skyrocket, there was really only one thing.
"Is it war?"
Jang So-gil smiled. To approach the truth with just one word, 'skyrocket', she was indeed an excellent merchant.
He nodded his head in satisfaction.
"That's right."
"War, but there were no signs of it at all..."
Was war just war for nothing? The signs of war could be seen even half a year before it began.
A sharp rise in the price of rice and an increase in taxes. Officials running wild for collection and constables struggling to maintain public order.
They would seize property from merchants even by creating non-existent crimes, and events would increase sharply to establish internal discipline. Similarly, the training of military units would also increase, and expenditures on consumables and armaments would rise sharply.
Looking at the current situation in the Central Plains, Jang So-gil's words didn't make sense.
It was because in Jin Sangran's eyes, there were no signs of war at all.
She wondered if he had made a mistake, but she asked again, half in doubt.
"Is there really going to be a war?"
"Ten out of ten. A hundred out of a hundred. A thousand out of a thousand. Ten thousand out of ten thousand. A war will break out."
"Can I hear the basis for that?"
"It's not difficult. How much do you know about what I did in Yunnan?"
"I only know that you went to maintain public order in Yunnan."
She was a merchant, and knowing the importance of information, she listened to the news and information of the market. She must have mainly heard the stories from the small information networks Jang So-gil had set up in Luoyang, the beggars, servants, and merchants.
If she, who was quite interested, knew only that much, it was highly likely that the common people knew nothing of the detailed circumstances.
Jang So-gil narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"That's probably what's known to the common people..."
"Is it completely wrong?"
"It's not wrong, but it's not the whole story. If I were to tell you, it would be endless, but to cut to the chase and talk only about the war, I can summarize it like this. The remnants of the Yuan in Yunnan have been subjugated."
"The remnants of the Mongols? How on earth did you do that?!"
"It would be endless to explain, and it wouldn't be a good thing for you to hear either. Just know that that's what happened."
"My goodness, so those bastards were the kind that could be subjugated."
How much trouble had the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty caused since the founding of the Ming Dynasty?
What efforts had the founding emperor, Hongwu, made to pacify Yunnan with a 300,000-strong army?
And even after pacifying it, how much fierce resistance, rebellion, and conflict had been repeated?
With Jang So-gil's scheme, that last ember was extinguished.
Duan Sijin was dragged away by the Alliance Leader Gumen Long and imprisoned in a prison, and Yelu Ze was presented to the emperor.
The emperor resolutely ordered dismemberment by chariots, and thus the lineage of the prestigious Yelu family was cut off.
"Do you know what this means?"
"Doesn't it mean the world has become peaceful?"
"No. It means that a war will now begin."
"The enemy is dead, so why?"
"His Majesty the Emperor hates the remnants of the Yuan who fled beyond the Great Wall like scorpions."
The Yongle Emperor had already personally led three northern expeditions. The emperor himself had intended to cross the Great Wall and conquer the Mongol forces.
The emperor's personal campaign had a great meaning.
"I don't know if it's his desire to continue the task of destroying the Yuan that the founding emperor could not achieve, or if it's to ensure that the hoofprints of the Yuan are never left in the land of the Central Plains again, or if it's an expression of the heavenly will that His Majesty possesses. But all these actions show His Majesty's desire for war."
"So what you're saying, Sect Leader, is that since the trouble in the south has disappeared, he'll want to eliminate the north this time."
"That's right."
"But I heard that the imperial family's finances are not very good right now. Despite such finances, if the reason for forcibly carrying out an unreasonable northern expedition is just His Majesty's mood, the basis is insufficient."
"Do you know why the imperial family's finances are not good?"
"It's because of the three reckless northern expeditions in the past."
It was the emperor's personal campaign. The scale was beyond imagination.
The number of soldiers deployed during the first northern expedition alone was 500,000. Among them, the cavalry was a whopping 80,000, the military provisions exceeded 200,000 sacks, and the number of camels mobilized to supply drinking water alone was 10,000. They spent money like water.
Was that all? In the second northern expedition, the scale was reduced to 300,000, but the number of cavalry actually increased to 100,000. The number was increased because they had missed the enemy's leader they had targeted due to a lack of mobility. Similarly, a huge amount of money was used.
The third northern expedition this year was said to be less than that, but it was heard to be well over 100,000.
With such incessant wars, would the finances hold up?
War is fought with people, and to move people, you need money.
The financial state of the imperial family was swaying like a candle in the wind. The current Ming was in the poorest state of imperial finances since its founding.
According to the information secretly received from the Luoyang Inspector Kwon Cheonhui, the balance in the imperial treasury was only about 6,000 silver taels. For an imperial family, they were very poor.
"Your words are logical."
How on earth could they wage a war with that money? 6,000 silver taels was a huge sum for a single merchant or a group, but for the imperial family, it was an amount that was barely enough to maintain their dignity. Moving an army was of course impossible.
Jang So-gil, with a feigned smile, added nonchalantly.
"But during the second northern expedition, do you think the imperial family's finances were good?"
"...!"
"What's important to His Majesty is not the financial state. The will of heaven is the most important thing."
That was right. What was important to the emperor was not the imperial family's finances. If it was insufficient, he could just scrape it together. For a worker, money was something obtained as the value of labor after working, but for the emperor, it was something that was created just by ordering with the tip of his chin.
Originally, everything under the heavens belonged to the emperor. What was the problem with just taking it back?
"Money is not the problem. If His Majesty just beckons, money can be copied."
"Then is the current situation a reason for His Majesty to move?"
"That's right. Since there are no unstable elements in the south, he can focus on the northern expedition. His Majesty has no intention of enduring. And there is no need to endure."
"But even so, a war..."
"Turn your eyes to the north. The north is now ruled by the King of Hening, Arughtai. Do you think he will stand by after learning of the annihilation of the remnants of the Yuan? Even though his own justification will disappear if he stands by?"
Arughtai was a man who had taken power as a grand preceptor after his lord, Bunyashiri Khan, had died, so his justification for taking power was very weak. If he didn't move even after learning of the fall of the Southern Yuan, he would not be able to withstand the fierce nature and rebellious spirit of the Mongols and would be assassinated.
"Considering the distance between Yunnan and the Northern Yuan, the news will probably spread around the beginning of next year. Around that time, there will be a movement on that side as well. Arughtai, whom he couldn't capture even after three northern expeditions. Even though His Majesty personally enfeoffed him as the King of Hening, he is a monster who grew by using that as a weapon. The symbol of His Majesty's failure, which is hard to endure just by existing, is acting up in the north. Will he really..."
Would the current emperor, who was famous for his fiery and temperamental personality, endure it?
Since it was a crime of disrespect, Jang So-gil didn't finish his sentence, but Jin Sangran could also easily infer what he was trying to say.
"..."
After hearing the explanation, it seemed so to Jin Sangran as well.
A war would break out. Nine times out of ten, no, as Jang So-gil had said, ten times out of ten, a war was bound to break out.
And in the near future. Definitely.
Jang So-gil drank his tea as naturally as flowing water and said, as if admonishing a disciple.
"Have you seen the horse market in Luoyang?"
"I've been there to death while buying the horse ranch."
"Have any of the outstanding bloodline warhorses that came from Joseon last year come out?"
"...No."
"My guess is that all the horses that came from Joseon will be used as breeding stallions and breeding mares. It's to mass-produce warhorses."
"Then wouldn't it be hard to sell the horses from the ranch we bought this time as warhorses?"
"There is demand other than for warhorses. Because a war can't be established without horses. Horses to pull carts, horses to move cannons. If I were to go into detail, it would be endless. But the horses from the ranch I told you to buy will also have demand as warhorses."
"Ah!"
The horse ranch Jang So-gil had instructed her to buy was one that had gone bankrupt and was on the market. It was a place that handled a breed of large horses, not dwarf horses. Although they weren't famous horses, large and gutsy horses could become warhorses.
"Then we should start training those horses from now on."
"No, don't. Don't train them."
"...Why not that?"
"Let's say we gather our strength and put them through arduous training. Let's say we look around and hire a horse trainer and do all that crazy stuff. And so, a proper warhorse is produced. A very excellent warhorse with high commercial value. Then what do you think will happen?"
"What do you mean, what will happen? It will just sell well."
"If we try to get a proper price for a warhorse, the imperial family won't try to pay the price and will just take it away."
"Why..."
"The sword of treason is too sharp to be used often, but if it is drawn, it is a beheading sword that will surely cut off the opponent's head. It's better to wield a sharp sword than to spend too much money."
Gulp, Jin Sangran's Adam's apple moved greatly.
Being from Yunnan, she didn't know well the feeling of living under the emperor's sky.
It was because she hadn't been greatly exploited because she hadn't been protected, and because she had never properly felt the emperor's dignity.
As she couldn't continue her words, So clicked his tongue.
"Since I, an inspector of the Martial Alliance, am here, it won't go as far as treason."
"Then..."
"They could apply the crime of disrespect, saying how dare you train warhorses in large quantities. They might jump to the conclusion that you're planning a rebellion with some local influential person. Or they might deliberately frame you with a crime. It would be difficult to frame me, but it would be a piece of cake to frame you. Do you want to be dragged to the Eastern Depot?"
"...I have nothing to say."
"So you have to stop at selling large horses that have the potential to be trained as warhorses."
"I understand."
"The signal of war is when someone suddenly approaches you, saying they want to buy horses. You should refuse up to two times to raise the price, but you must sell on the third time."
The reason for refusing twice was to raise the price, and the reason for accepting on the third time was to not die. It was too common for a merchant to die from being overly greedy. Jang So-gil firmly set the line of that greed.
"The time to sell the horses is between the beginning and the middle of next year. The amount to invest in this work will be a little over seven thousand taels, and after properly disposing of the horses and the ranch, the net profit will be around ten thousand taels."
If he were to be greedy, he could earn twenty thousand or thirty thousand taels.
But he wouldn't be able to return alive after earning that money.
"Don't forget. Money is only truly a profit when you can bring it back without any trouble."
Jang So-gil accurately predicted the imperial family's patience, the market reaction, and the future, and calculated the amount.
Jin Sangran, who had heard the whole story, nodded her head with a firm expression.
"I understand."
There was no need to doubt. This man in front of her, Jang So-gil, was a genius.
His ability to read the flow of the times was outstanding, and his ability as a merchant far surpassed Jin Sangran's.
It was an uncomfortable truth, but surprisingly, it wasn't unpleasant.
'To earn ten thousand taels so easily...'
She knew that the reputation of being the number one merchant in Sichuan, called the 'Golden Ear', was not in vain. He was a man who had made a small merchant guild into a first-class merchant guild in one year and had made it the number one in Sichuan the next year. According to rumors, if you gave this man five years, he could even create the number one merchant guild in the world. Indeed, it was not an empty rumor.
And he was Jin Sangran's employer. She even felt grateful for the fact that there was much to learn.
That's why she had nodded her head humbly.
'Hmm. Not bad.'
He had thought of giving Jin Sangran various warnings out of excessive concern, but it seemed there was no need. In Jang So-gil's eyes, Jin Sangran was just a little lacking in experience, but she was a good merchant with the learning ability to learn quickly and the comprehension to learn two things even if taught only one.
"I believe you'll do well, so I won't nag you anymore."
"Thank you for believing in me. It would be even better for me if you would just help with the work."
"It's because there's a trustworthy person in Luoyang that I'm working outside."
"It's annoying to be praised so late, you know?"
Although she spoke bluntly, the corners of her mouth moved slightly.
Jang So-gil had never seen a person who was strong against praise in his life.
A person who was strong against praise could not exist, and especially a young person was weak to praise.
"Let me see the horse ranch purchase contract. Oh, you've handled it well. There's nothing to fault, so I'll pass on this too. Next is the operating status of the silk shop, and this is even better than what I did. You can just continue like this."
Flinch, flinch.
Jin Sangran's mouth kept twitching.
(End of Chapter)