Chapter 263 Taemo Mountain Fortress (2)

Chapter 263: Taemo Mountain Fortress (2)

“Wh-what the hell are you talking about! A beggar’s life?!”

U Jung-cheon stammered at the unexpected harsh words.

It was only natural.

After all, the head of a martial arts sect holds absolute power within the sect.

And that applies equally to guests who come to the sect.

Even as the head of the Chungnyeolgong faction, I was still just a guest.

Barging in unannounced and demanding, ‘Your management style is wrong,’ was a gross breach of etiquette.

But there was no other way to persuade him.

“That’s right. He called it a beggar’s outfit.”

“Even if he is the current head of the Jin family, how could he utter such an outrageous remark!”

“Lord Sungju… no, Master Woo, face reality. Does that worthless mountain over there look like it’s worth ten thousand silver coins?!”

“Well, it’s said to have gold buried within…”

“Have you confirmed it?”

“Hm?”

“I asked if you’ve confirmed the gold is buried there.”

“Hmph, as if I wouldn’t have confirmed something like that.”

Woo Jung-cheon continued with a confident expression.

“I confirmed there’s gold dust in my stream.”

“No.”

With this level of intelligence, how did he become a master?

“Did you send out any prospectors?”

“Well, now that we’ve confirmed the gold dust…”

“You didn’t send it, then. So, do you still have the gold dust you said you’d checked?”

“I had my disciples retrieve it.”

Woo Jung-cheon pulled a finger-thick bundle of paper from the very bottom of the desk and unfolded it.

“……You’ve been had.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Have you ever actually seen the gold dust?”

“……This is my first time.”

As expected, someone struggling to make ends meet couldn’t possibly have seen gold dust.

The swindler must have targeted this very weakness.

“Gold isn’t this big. Even if you find a large piece, it’s usually mixed in among the small ones. Above all.”

I took out a single grain of gold and held it before Woo Jung-cheon’s eyes.

“It’s too angular. As if it were cut with something. Gold nuggets this size are usually round, not angular like sand.”

“Th-then?!”

“It’s definitely a fake. If we start developing this gold mine as is, that investment will go up in smoke too.”

“Gasp!”

Woo Jung-cheon’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

It seemed he was finally facing reality.

Having grasped everything, he slammed his fist down on the table.

CRASH!

The desk shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions under the force of the strike, while Woo Jung-cheon collapsed, clutching the back of his neck.

“You… you bastard! Gah!”

Truthfully, he wasn’t particularly surprised.

Modern people who eat too much greasy food might get so angry their blood pressure spikes, potentially leading to a stroke. But this was the martial arts world, where oil was scarce, and Wu Zhongtian was a master among masters, having reached the pinnacle of his art.

He was far removed from vascular diseases or the various adult diseases that cause strokes.

Well.

‘Still, I have to do what I must.’

I quickly ran over, supported Wuzhongtian, and shouted.

“Lord Seongju! Come to your senses! Is anyone here? Lord Seongju has collapsed!”

If I stay quiet, won’t they treat me like a psychopath?

* * *

That evening.

After all the commotion, I finally reunited with Woo Jung-cheon, who had a white cloth tied around his head.

“……Young Master Jin.”

“Yes.”

“I… blinded by greed, shattered the opportunity Jin Dangzhu created for me… Even knowing there’s no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme…”

The corners of the eyes of the Taemosan Fortress officers nearby twitched, and soon, loud wails burst forth from their mouths.

“No! The Lord of the Fortress… did his absolute best!”

“How can you say such a thing! This isn’t anyone else’s fault—it’s the fault of the scammer!”

“That’s right. We’ll catch the swindler, so please calm down and focus only on your recovery!”

“…….”

Typical of those beggars’ descendants, spouting nothing but comforting nonsense.

How could we possibly catch a swindler who’d already vanished into thin air?

In a world without CCTV, let alone resident registration cards.

“Quiet, everyone!”

Knowing this point well, Woo Jung-cheon barked at the executives.

“……”

As the room fell silent in an instant, he turned to me and asked.

“Help me.”

“I can’t catch a con artist either.”

“I’m not asking you to catch a swindler.”

“Then what?”

“I mean, help us rebuild Taemosan Fortress.”

“Hmm…”

As he hesitated, the man asked again.

“Is there no way?”

“There is a way, but…”

He deliberately paused before continuing.

“It’s just that if something like this happens again, it’ll all be for nothing.”

“What should I do?”

“Put it in writing. State that you’re entrusting the management of Taemosanseong to the person dispatched by the Seocheon Trading Company.”

From experience, he knew a man of Woo Jung-cheon’s caliber wouldn’t make empty promises.

Nevertheless, the reason for putting it in writing is simple.

‘Business fever is a scary thing.’

It was a precaution against business fever—that sudden, dizzying obsession that makes you squander not just your parents’ and siblings’ money, but even the bank’s.

In fact, in a past life, he had witnessed his cousin Joo-ha and his best friend Moon-gi squander their family’s entire fortune.

Woo Jung-cheon nodded solemnly.

“If it means saving our Taemosan Fortress from crisis, what can’t I do? So be it.”

“Lord Castle Master!”

“No! Lord Castle Master!”

“How can you entrust the fortress’s management to outsiders?!”

As the head of the Daemunpa, the decision was nothing short of a disgrace, and the surrounding executives cried out in shock.

“Shut up, all of you!”

Woo Jung-cheon didn’t bat an eyelid.

“I made the choice, but none of you saw through that scoundrel Yang. You were all fools, complete idiots. So how could seeking help from someone wise be shameful?”

‘Damn, he sure has a refreshing personality.’

A moment later.

Once the crowd settled, I grabbed Woo Jung-cheon and explained each clause of the contract one by one.

“Now, from this point forward, I shall be the principal, and Lord Seongju shall be the agent… The principal shall receive one-tenth of the profits earned by Taemosan Fortress as compensation for management advice, while the agent shall do their utmost to improve the financial health…”

“……”

A perfectly fair and clean contract, I tell you.

* * *

What began because I couldn’t bear to disappoint the clear eyes of those little ones has now grown into the task of normalizing the entire Taemosanseong’s finances.

I wondered if I’d gotten myself into unnecessary trouble by starting this during my honeymoon, but what could I do?

If I hadn’t started it, I wouldn’t know, but since I did, I’d better finish it cleanly and leave.

The first thing I did was summon the chief steward to review the financial statements.

After reviewing it, Myohyang and I tasted despair.

“You call this a ledger?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“No, this is just… Sigh, I see. Chief Accountant, you may leave now.”

What he called a ledger was nothing more than a list of how much money came in and how much went out.

Given this situation, we had no choice but to start managing the sect from scratch.

“No choice. Let’s count the remaining funds first. We’ll start keeping proper accounts from now on.”

“Excuse me… Madam.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I counted them earlier—there were exactly forty-two coins.”

“Hmm…”

A sigh escaped him involuntarily.

How on earth was she supposed to feed over five hundred disciples with this meager sum?

Miaoxiang shook her head helplessly.

“We’ll just have to sell what we have.”

“True, but… will these things even sell?”

The assets of Taemosan Fortress amounted to nothing more than the stone mountain where the sect resided, the adjacent stone mountain, and the tea fields below the mountain.

In the past, they could make a living by leasing out tea fields, but as Guizhou’s population declined, they could no longer find tenant farmers.

In other words, there was no demand.

“We’ll have to sell to the Xichuan Trading Company.”

“For ten thousand taels?”

“Are you crazy? Even as business partners, the math has to be right. Hmm… In my estimation, three hundred taels should be about right.”

“Master Woo would faint if he knew.”

After all, it was a loss of a whopping 9,700 nyang.

I couldn’t bring myself to say it, so I suggested another idea instead.

“How about this approach instead?”

“Hmm… That’s a bit… In that case… How about this…”

“That doesn’t seem like a sustainable way to run things…”

Myohyang and I continued our heated discussion, forgetting our fatigue.

Three hours passed like that, until dawn, just before sunrise.

“Forget it.”

“I agree.”

Myohyang and I couldn’t fight off the overwhelming sleepiness and headed straight for bed.

Commerce wasn’t thriving, and even if we tried to establish and run a trading post, the number of warriors was woefully insufficient due to the Chungnyeolgongpa faction’s affairs and the dispatch to Nanjing. Of course, there were no merchant groups nearby capable of taking on the work either.

The confidence that we’d always find a solution had long since vanished in this situation.

“Let’s just sleep for now.”

“Alright. It doesn’t seem like thinking about it more will help right now.”

“But… just sleep?”

“Oh dear, the morning sun will be rising soon.”

“Oh, is that so? Well, I guess we have no choice then.”

“…But it feels a bit sad to just sleep like that… Should I… just hug you?”

“Um, should we?”

Before long, warm air filled the room.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, the sun was high in the sky.

Snore… Snore…

Perhaps she was too exhausted; Myohyang still hadn’t regained her senses.

‘I need to teach her martial arts.’

For the sake of my health, I suppose I should get something suitable.

“Hmm… Are you awake?”

“Oh dear, I told you to be quiet, but I woke you up.”

“It’s okay. I had to get up anyway.”

“How about we eat breakfast and go for a walk?”

“But I have so much work to do?”

Following her gaze, he looked around the room. The documents he’d been poring over all night were scattered everywhere.

“Times like this are exactly when you need to get moving. We came all the way to Yurang, so it feels a bit pointless to just stay cooped up in the room, don’t you think?”

“Alright. Let’s do that, I guess.”

A short while later, Myohyang and I finished a simple meal and left Taemosanseong Fortress.

Well, even if you say you’re sightseeing, all there is is rocks and sand.

“Oh my! Look at this. This rock is really pretty.”

“Look, a bird is flying over there. How cute.”

“That rock looks just like a puppy.”

Still, Myohyang seemed satisfied, scurrying about and looking around here and there.

After walking for a while and looking around the tea fields of Taemosanseong Fortress, she voiced her thoughts.

“This place is a bit better, at least. It looks like you could farm here.”

“That’s true.”

It actually didn’t look too bad.

On one side, a stream flowed, and unlike the nearby sandy areas, it was covered in soil that looked somewhat moist.

The slope of the hillside was a drawback, though.

“Why not just farm? What’s the point of digging for gold…?”

“Exactly.”

Just as they sighed and started walking back, Myohyang suddenly lit up and dashed off.

She dug into the ground, and soon she was holding something in her hand, beaming with a huge smile.

“Look at this. It’s sorghum. Even without planting it separately, it’s growing so abundantly. I guess it suits this place well.”

Her pure expression made me burst out laughing without even realizing it.

And then, at that moment.

‘Wait a minute.’

A bolt of inspiration struck my mind.

If nothing else worked out, couldn’t he just farm the land?

I recalled a certain legend.

‘Guizhou Maotai.’

The legend of the sorghum liquor that would later ascend to the ranks of the world’s three great liquors.