Chapter 294: Taking the Plunge

“Is this kid reliable?” Jo Myeong-gwi asked.

“It’s alright. He’s taken the silver; he won’t be able to turn against us,” Hwang Un-u said, taking a sip of wine. “I can see he’s very greedy, and also very lecherous…”

“Lecherous? Then why didn’t he stay the night?”

“It’s his first time taking a hot potato of silver. His mind is probably in turmoil. He probably won’t be able to sleep tonight. You still expect him to get it up for a woman?” Hwang Un-u smiled. Although he was a lowly commoner before being demoted to a government slave, he looked down on the middle class, the yangban, and the scholar-gentry. He had seen too many of these “nobles” debase themselves in the face of money.

There was a saying in the Great Country: “Money makes the devil push the millstone.” What more a few “nobles”?

The three men laughed together.

Choe Hyeon-taek asked, “Master! The goods are one thing, but how will we transport them out? The Jeju pier and Jocheonpo are both in the hands of the Kunren Wokou. All ships are forbidden to go to sea, and there are no large ships in the forts.”

The nine forts on the island had now disintegrated. Because the military grain supply had been cut off, most of the officers and soldiers of the nine forts had scattered. Most were recruited by the Kunren Wokou, while some officers and soldiers had pledged allegiance to Master Kim.

“It’s alright,” Hwang Un-u said, picking up a piece of abalone with his chopsticks. “Master Kim from the household registry office told me that the Kunren are preparing to open the ports. All ships will have to be registered, and then they will issue some kind of ‘license’—probably something like a token or a pass. With this license, they can go to sea for trade. I hear they’re also going to set up large warehouses and trading houses here.”

Choe Hyeon-taek sighed, “This band of Wokou is really different!”

Hwang Un-u snorted coldly. “You think they’re really Wokou?”

“You’re right, master. They don’t really seem like it—they don’t speak Japanese. But they don’t seem to be from the Great Country either.”

“They speak Chinese—just a very strange dialect. And they can write Chinese characters.”

The men fell silent for a while. The origin of the Kunren Wokou, like their ships, weapons, and many strange things, remained a mystery. And they couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard they thought.

“We don’t need to care who they are. As for this license business, we can just put it on Park Deok-hwan. He’s helped us once, can he refuse to help a second time?” Hwang Un-u said with a smile.

Choe Hyeon-taek quickly flattered him, “Master has great insight.”

Jo Myeong-gwi, who had been quiet for a while, now spoke up. “The matter I mentioned to you last time, can it be done?”

“This matter cannot be rushed,” Hwang Un-u immediately changed his expression, squeezing out a fawning smile. “The Kunren are watching the weapons very closely…”

“There are so many weapons in the armory. The Kunren Wokou can’t use that many. Can’t you get some out? Is the armory clerk still the same person?”

“That’s the trouble. The armory clerk ran away when the Kunren broke into the city. We don’t know where he is now. The current head is a government slave promoted by the Kunren.”

“Oh? What’s his name? Where was he from originally?” Jo Myeong-gwi had come to Jeju town on a mission from his master. Firstly, to investigate the situation in Jeju town and probe the actions and intentions of the Kunren. Secondly, to connect with his old contacts in the city and maximize the profits from the property left behind by the Joseon.

“Master Jo should have seen him. His name is Kim Yong-ju—” Seeing Jo Myeong-gwi’s blank expression, he added, “He’s Kim O-sun’s father…”

“It’s him!” Jo Myeong-gwi had a sudden realization. “Kim O-sun is his daughter?”

Kim O-sun was notoriously ugly among the young, unmarried female government slaves in the Jeju Garrison. Everyone who had seen her had an impression. However, Kim O-sun was intelligent and eager to learn. She had learned excellent cooking skills from a former court lady who had been exiled to Jeju and was often summoned by the garrison’s head cook to help with the cooking.

Kim Yong-ju was from a hunter’s family. He had been caught poaching in the king’s hunting grounds and, after his sentence was reduced, was exiled to Jeju Island. He was a skilled martial artist and made a living by hunting on Jeju, and also had to hand over game to the garrison.

“An illiterate commoner, also a clerk?” Jo Myeong-gwi said. “I think this Kim Yong-ju looks a bit dim-witted. It won’t be easy to deal with him, will it?”

“Just an ignorant commoner who can’t even speak clearly. Besides, Park Deok-hwan’s younger brother, Park Deok-maeng, is his deputy, a so-called secretary.”

“I didn’t expect this matter to be related to Park Deok-hwan,” Jo Myeong-gwi said meaningfully. “Is the capital sufficient?”

“If it’s not enough, we’ll add more. We have to take it slow—”

Park Deok-hwan practically “floated” home. His younger brother, Park Deok-maeng, was already asleep. He checked the courtyard and made sure the main gate was securely bolted before returning to his bedroom. He lit a small oil lamp, trimmed the wick very low, and then took out the two silk pouches he had been carrying.

In the first silk pouch was a ten-tael ingot of silver, which made Park Deok-hwan’s jaw drop. This was a huge sum of money! Because the economy was very small, silver did not circulate widely in the Joseon Dynasty, and its value was much higher than in the Great Ming.

During the Wanli era’s aid to Korea, when Ma Gui recaptured Pyongyang, the silver reward given to him by the Joseon court was a mere fifty taels. The first soldier to scale the walls of Pyongyang received only a ten-tael reward from the Joseon.

Ten taels of silver was not a small sum even in the Great Ming—in a normal year, it was enough to cover the expenses of a middle-class family for a year. In Korea, it was even more extraordinary.

Park Deok-hwan’s hands trembled. Master Choe is so generous! I didn’t expect his merchant group to be so wealthy!

He then opened the second one. Although smaller, it still contained two taels of silver.

Twelve taels of silver was a huge sum on Jeju Island. For a former government slave like Park Deok-hwan who had just “escaped poverty,” this windfall was almost unimaginable.

However, he was also very uneasy. Park Deok-hwan was not stupid. The size of a bribe was directly proportional to the risk of the matter. The fact that the other party was willing to pay such a large “benefit” meant that the numbers involved in the bow and arrow business were not small.

If the Chiefs found out, his heart trembled. It seemed to be telling him that the Chiefs had promoted him and placed him in an important position. To do this was tantamount to betrayal…

Park Deok-hwan’s face changed constantly in the dim light, like a ghost. After a long time, he wrapped up the silver, thought for a moment, then re-wrapped it in the original silk pouches, wrapped it again in a piece of rag, and stuffed it into a hole in the unused heated kang.

The work of inventorying the bow and arrow stock and registering the bow and arrow shops began quickly. Before long, Park Deok-hwan submitted a very detailed report. Feng Zongze was very satisfied after reading it and ordered all the bow and arrow workshops to resume work immediately.

Feng Zongze had originally intended to turn the bow and arrow workshops that had belonged to the garrison into state-owned enterprises. But after careful consideration, he felt that this would place a heavy burden on the military administration committee. Once they became state-owned, he would have to appoint managers. Neither he nor the naturalized citizens under him had experience in managing such enterprises, which would inevitably lead to great waste and confusion. Moreover, the craftsmen and former government slaves working in the workshops would immediately become “financially supported personnel.” This was both unnecessary and a waste of resources.

So, in the end, he decided to outsource the garrison’s bow and arrow workshops to be contracted out to the local bow and arrow shops. The military administration committee would place orders, and the bows and arrows produced by the various shops would be inspected and purchased by the military administration committee after they met the standards. As for the raw materials, the bow and arrow shops would solve the problem themselves in the market. The military administration committee would sell a portion of the confiscated raw materials in the market as appropriate.

This avoided getting bogged down in too much management at the beginning. They only needed to control the final acceptance. After all, their main purpose on Jeju Island was to transport refugees, not to carry out socialist transformation.

To improve quality, Feng Zongze sent samples of the island’s bow-making materials and some finished products back to Lin’gao by transport ship, asking the technicians to improve the design and material ratios to produce cheaper and better bows and arrows. If possible, they should also improve the production process. Of course, he also had the industrial department check if any of these bow-making materials were needed in the Lin’gao industrial system.

The contracting of the bow and arrow workshops, on Park Deok-hwan’s introduction and recommendation, was outsourced to the largest local bow and arrow shop, “Myeongjeok Manor,” which was actually Master Kim’s bow and arrow shop.

In this way, the bow and arrow business, from raw materials to finished products, fell entirely into the hands of Kim Man-il. Park Deok-hwan once again received a “thank-you gift.”

This time, he was much more relaxed at the brothel. After eating and drinking, he happily went with Jo Ae-yun for a night of pleasure. The next day, he unapologetically slept with Yi Man-hui.

Hwang Un-u was even more fawning towards Park Deok-hwan. Not only were all his expenses at the brothel waived, but he also introduced him to a house for sale. Park Deok-hwan spent very little money. Although the seller was not Hwang Un-u, everyone knew what was going on. The house was already furnished with various daily necessities from the mainland that were difficult to buy locally—some were even imported from the Great Ming.

To put on airs, he also hired a few servants. Park Deok-hwan had been a young master before, and he quickly put on the airs of a man of some standing.

On the day he moved, many people sent housewarming gifts. Jo Myeong-gwi even specially sent a whole leg of beef, a delicacy that only officials and wealthy households could usually enjoy. The only thing that disappointed Park Deok-hwan was that the “Chiefs” made no gesture. But the Chiefs had always been like this. They never showed any favoritism to any of their local “officials” and never paid any attention to their private affairs. So he was not uneasy about it.

At the housewarming banquet, Park Deok-hwan got drunk and lost his composure, weeping in front of everyone. It’s rare in life to be so triumphant—especially for someone like him who had hit rock bottom and been in despair for over a decade. Now, he was finally living like a human being again, and rebuilding his family’s fortune was just a matter of time.

At the same time that Park Deok-hwan was drinking, crying, and laughing, a fleet of ships slowly sailed into Jocheonpo.

Of all the ports on Jeju Island at that time, Jocheonpo had the best conditions. Therefore, ships traveling to and from the Korean mainland basically used this port. In addition to the garrison troops, there was also a post station and a small market, like a small port town.

After D-Day on Jeju Island, it naturally became the main port controlled by the Jeju Island Forward Committee.