****
"This truly is a marketplace."
"Because it is a market."
Arguments and shouts of protest were endless in the market.
It's a common occurrence.
After buying and eating two ice confections, we wandered around the market.
Cheong-su did nothing.
Talking with the merchants and looking at the goods was entirely my job.
"The quality is good."
I said while smelling the medicinal herbs.
The apothecary immediately followed me, rubbing his hands together.
"Of course. All the medicinal herbs we handle have been certified as top-quality by the Market Supervisor."
"I see. It would be alright if I take a look around elsewhere first, right?"
"Oh, of course. But even if you look around, you won't find anything better than ours."
I skillfully conversed with the merchant and came out.
I went into almost every guild's shop.
To be precise, I only went into exactly two places per guild.
The shop in the best location, and the shop in a bad location.
"Are you really just looking around?"
As if unable to hold it in, Cheong-su spoke to me.
He seemed angry because I was leaving him standing like a borrowed sack of barley and only talking with the merchants.
"If it's going to be like this, I'll go back to the lodging first and rest."
"What are you saying. I am showing it to you, Jinin."
"Showing what?"
"The market. A market is a living creature, you see."
I looked at Cheong-su arrogantly.
"So, did you feel anything?"
"Feel what?"
"Did you feel nothing at all?"
I spoke in a disappointed tone.
Cheong-su looked ready to subject me to acupoint-probing and blood-channeling at any moment, so I hurriedly added.
"If the quality of the goods wasn't 'middle', it was 'top'. The actual quality of the goods also matched that grade."
"Isn't that obvious?"
"It is not obvious. You know that even for the same item, the price is set by dividing the grade into top, middle, and bottom, right?"
"You take me for an ignorant person who knows nothing. Doesn't the Market Supervisor inspect them and attach the grades?"
The Market Supervisor is a market manager dispatched by the government.
All goods in the market must be inspected by the Market Supervisor and given a quality grade of top, middle, or bottom before they can be sold.
"That is correct. Therefore, the atmosphere of a market is starkly divided depending on who the Market Supervisor is. In some markets, goods that are of bottom quality but have a top-grade label attached can run rampant. Then it's one of two things. Either the person doesn't have the eye to discern goods, or they are a corrupt person who adjusts the quality after receiving a bribe."
"What are you trying to say?"
"That is why a market is alive. Even if they are all markets, they are not all the same. Today, we saw what kind of person the Market Supervisor is. Although we didn't see the person called the Market Supervisor directly, at least from the fact that they do not sell grades for money, we can tell they are fair and just, and that they have the eye to discern goods. In short, it means they are a competent person."
"So?"
"However, there was an anomalous part."
"An anomalous part?"
"Yes. A Market Supervisor usually gives the best spots to the merchants selling the most top-quality goods. Because that maximizes the profitability of the market."
"I suppose so."
"But this market was not like that. People occupying the best spots were selling goods of ambiguous grades, and people occupying bad spots were sometimes selling good products."
"Then did they sell the spots for money?"
"Then it should have been the opposite. People with good products would have more money, so the good spots should naturally go to the ones with good goods."
"Then they intentionally did something that harms the market? Even while going against reason?"
"Yes. That is correct."
At my words, Cheong-su's face turned puzzled.
It seemed the question I posed was quite difficult.
Just a moment ago, I had said the Market Supervisor was fair and just and competent, and now I was saying they were a person who arranged the spots strangely, so he seemed confused.
"I can't quite grasp what you're saying."
"I will give you a clue. The shops occupying the best spots had a commonality. It was that they had the mark of the Yichang Guild Hall."
"Are you saying the Market Supervisor is from Yichang, and they are giving preferential treatment to the people of Yichang?"
"Correct."
"Then you can't really say they are fair and just, can you?"
"The Market Supervisor is also human. This level of personal feeling goes into it for everyone. The other merchants probably don't have any complaints either. Because they would all receive that level of preferential treatment in their own hometowns."
At my words, Cheong-su made a puzzled face.
I was currently teaching him about the rules and vitality of the market.
"So what is it that you want to say?"
"Tomorrow, we will go visit the Market Supervisor. With a gift. We observed today what kind of person the Market Supervisor is in order to choose a gift."
"A gift? Are you talking about a bribe?"
"Doesn't it lower your dignity to speak like that. Let's just call it a small token of sincerity."
"As far as I know, that is a bribe."
Martial artists have a pointlessly upright side.
However, this kind of flexibility is the oil that keeps society running smoothly.
"As far as I can see, the Market Supervisor is someone who knows how to discern goods, so we should bring a highly valuable and precious item, and since they are a person with deep affection for their hometown, an item made by an artisan from Yichang would be good. Of course, we should avoid items that can be easily obtained right in Yichang. The reason we kept wandering around was also to look for a gift."
"Difficult. An item made by an artisan from Yichang, huh."
"Because ceramics and weapons have the maker's name engraved on them. It's not difficult to find."
"I mean, how do we know if they are a person from Yichang?"
"There is a famous blacksmith from Yichang. He is currently active in Beijing, but his goods are sold here as well. I think he will like it if we buy that and bring it to him."
"……You truly know the merchant world very well. I thought I knew more than other martial artists as the Pavilion Master of Gokjeongak."
No matter how much one handles money and finances, a martial artist has the limitations of a martial artist.
For commercial talent to grow, one must meet people and breathe with the world to find it.
Cheong-su, who had only been on Mount Wudang, naturally couldn't keep up with me.
"For now, tomorrow's schedule is also busy, so please go to sleep early. I will also go in and rest."
"Hmph. A martial artist doesn't necessarily need to sleep, as their fatigue is blown away by a single circulation of qi."
"Still, wouldn't it be better than sleeping?"
"Be quiet. If I say it is so, it is so."
Was his pride hurt because I seemed to be teaching him too much?
But a martial artist's knowledge of the merchant world could not possibly be higher than mine.
We woke up early the next day and moved as well.
The market opens at noon, but we had to check our movement paths by the hour and share the plan.
As soon as the market opened, I went to a weapons shop and bought a sword with the name Lee Wi-jong written on it.
Items like ceramics, bows, and swords had to have the maker's name engraved on them.
"But what is a Market Supervisor, who isn't even a martial artist, going to do with a sword?"
"It's an ornament. Ivory isn't sold expensively because it has a use, after all."
We took the sword and went straight to the center of the market.
The market office, where the Market Supervisor was, was located there.
Naturally, there were quite a few people at the market office.
Because if an argument broke out in the market, this was the only place to come to.
"Can we even meet them in this situation?"
"What's good about the Wudang Sect? Please lead the way, Jinin."
Cheong-su hesitated and entered the market office.
As we entered the market office, the atmosphere changed.
There was no way the people of Hubei wouldn't know the attire of Wudang Sect Daoists.
"What brings a Wudang Sect Daoist to the market office?"
"Aren't they people who hate places like this?"
Of course. They are people who hate it.
He only came in because he was Cheong-su, the Pavilion Master of Gokjeongak who handles money; if it were someone like Cheong-hwa, he wouldn't have even tried to enter, considering it an impure place.
"Ahem, ahem."
"What brings the Daoist of the Wudang Sect here?"
As Cheong-su cleared his throat, an official of the market office asked cautiously.
If it were a martial artist of the Nine Great Sects and One Union, it was bound to be uncomfortable.
"I would like to see the Market Supervisor for a moment."
"Ah, yes. I will inform them."
The official immediately slipped inside.
Cheong-su scratched his head as if embarrassed.
"Is it okay to just come right in like this without an appointment?"
"Yes. It wouldn't have worked if it were me, but the Pavilion Master of Gokjeongak of the Wudang Sect can."
The official we saw just a moment ago came running toward us.
"They say you may enter."
Naturally, it is good for a Market Supervisor to also establish relations with high-ranking people.
Especially since there is no greater connection than the Wudang Sect in Hubei, he would have told us to come in even if he had to push back what he was doing.
Because it would be rare for a person from the main mountain of the Wudang Sect to enter the market office.
Guided inside, a middle-aged man with a neat impression could be seen.
I don't completely believe in physiognomy, but he had an impression that suggested he would handle work cleanly.
"I am Jeon Ok-geun, the Market Supervisor of Yichang."
"I am Cheong-su, the Pavilion Master of Gokjeongak of the Wudang Sect."
"Hoh. To think it's the Pavilion Master of Gokjeongak. A precious person has come."
The Market Supervisor's servant immediately prepared tea.
Cheong-su tasted the tea and looked slightly surprised.
"This is quite a good tea."
"It is Liu'an Guapian from Anhui. I am only sorry that it might have sullied the mouth of a precious person."
As expected of an official, the Market Supervisor's tongue was well-oiled.
"So, what brings you here?"
"From now on, I will speak."
When I spoke, the Market Supervisor looked at me as if it were unexpected.
He seemed to have thought of me as nothing more than a servant.
"You may have heard, but the Shanxi merchants are trying to backstab the people of Jiangnan this time."
"……Oh, how did you know that? It was something conveyed secretly to me."
Of course I know, since I was the one who had it conveyed.
I had already told the Market Supervisor through the merchant guilds of the lay disciples.
"I have roughly heard what is going on. That the Open Transit Law is being abolished."
"Yes. That is correct."
As the Shanxi merchant said, openly revealing a secret of Beijing could lead to reprimand.
If so, instead of openly revealing it, it could just be revealed privately.
And through a trustworthy channel, at that.
"I have already spoken to the brokers."
I suppose so.
Brokers were intermediate introducers who connected local merchants with traveling merchants.
Even if they spoke the same language of the Central Plains, if they were from different regions, they might not understand each other's dialects, and their customs and weights and measures were also slightly different, so they played the role of coordinating that.
The Shanxi merchants were traveling merchants, and they had no choice but to trade through brokers unconditionally.
If the brokers put a spoke in the wheel in the middle, it meant that even the Shanxi merchants couldn't sell salt.
Cheong-su looked at me with surprised eyes.
He seemed to be asking when I had prepared such a thing.
However, since he had his own pride, he wouldn't be able to ask right here right now.
"Yes. The reason we came this time is to ask you to keep a close eye on the brokers. Since the Shanxi merchants have a lot of money, couldn't they try to buy them off with money?"
"Haha. To think a person from the Wudang Sect would even come to make such a request. I didn't know the Wudang Sect had this much interest in the merchant world."
The Market Supervisor laughed as if he were in a good mood.
It was bound to feel good that the noble Nine Great Sects and One Union in the martial world was paying attention to them.
"However, do not worry. All the brokers in our office are Yichang natives, and they are all people with strong affection for their hometown."
"That is a relief. This is a token of our sincerity."
I handed over the sword of the master craftsman Lee Wi-jong.
The Market Supervisor's eyes widened.
"Oho, this is."
The Market Supervisor examined the sword and let out an exclamation.
"It is an item from the master craftsman Lee Wi-jong! I also know him personally. Since he succeeded in Beijing, it must be expensive, for you to give such a precious thing……."
"Not at all. Since you are doing the dirty work, there should be at least this much token of sincerity."
"Haha. They wouldn't have done it anyway, but I will make sure to keep a closer eye on them."
The Market Supervisor and I let out good-natured laughs.
In the midst of that, Cheong-su had a blank expression.
This was exactly a conversation between merchants.
At that moment, the door suddenly swung open.
The Market Supervisor's eyes frowned sharply.
"There are precious guests here, how can you be so rude……."
"I apologize. A disturbance has broken out at the Shanxi merchants' salt business. It has gotten quite big, so I think you need to go see for yourself."
Cheong-su, the Market Supervisor, and I looked at each other.
And as if we had made a promise, we all stood up at the same time.