Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 120

Episode 120 Made in Joseon. (3)

After evaluating the horse, Sejong looked at other products. However, King Sejong’s expression became increasingly clouded as he examined the products Mansour had brought.

“There are a lot of luxuries…”

Mansour, who heard King Sejong’s words through Hassan, asked Hassan with a serious face.

“Doesn’t the King of Joseon like luxury?”

“The ministers of this country hate it when the king enjoys more luxury than this. Of course…”

‘They enjoyed luxury and got hit.’

Mansour was deep in thought at Hassan’s answer, which he had suppressed. Most of the products he brought were spices such as pepper and turmeric.

‘There are very few people who don’t like spices, especially nobles who buy them and eat them even if they pay a lot of money…’

Mansur, who continued calculating various things, asked Hassan.

“Don’t people in this kingdom eat spices like pepper and turmeric?”

“We eat indigenous spices that have similar effects. “Imported spices like pepper are very expensive.”

“You don’t hate pepper?”

“I can’t eat it because it’s expensive.”

“How much does it usually cost?”

“How much do you pay for the headdress?”

In response to Hassan’s question, Mansour told him the price of the pepper he purchased in Aden. After hearing Mansour’s answer, Hassan answered briefly.

“Multiply that by twenty times. That’s the lowest price.”

“omg!”

Mansur, who was greatly surprised, suddenly had a brilliant idea.

‘If you buy pepper in bulk from Aden, you can buy it cheaper than the market price! It was said that Koreans do not hate pepper either. If so, you can monopolize the market if you receive a little less information without handing it over in the middle! Reduced interest can be replaced by increased sales! No, you can get greater benefits!’

The conclusion was that ‘Bakridamae was the best option’, but Mansour could not come to that conclusion easily.

This was because there was an obstacle to him: the ‘merchants of the Azram family.’

“I can’t do it. Can you get permission from the King of Joseon, Hassan, to ask for some time?”

“Why are you doing that?”

Mansour answered, looking at the Azram family merchant behind him.

“There is someone I need to negotiate with first…”

Hassan responded with a serious expression to Mansour’s words.

“I will try my best, but if I do something wrong, I may become a sinner.”

“A sinner?”

“Is it polite for a mere merchant to ask the king of a country to postpone negotiations? Joseon is a country that values courtesy. “If I make a mistake, not only I but the leader can be imprisoned.”

“Oh my…”

Mansour suddenly found himself in a situation where he couldn’t do either this or that, and he looked embarrassed.

‘It’s a mistake! I thought I could make money, so I started working recklessly without doing any proper research! ‘This is my big mistake!’

As Mansour blamed himself, this incident was Mansour’s mistake. The fact that he only thought about the cases of European merchants and Chinese merchants, who opened their pockets without even asking questions when it came to spices, and brought products mainly containing spices was driving him into crisis.

Meanwhile, Hyang, who was watching the situation, made a suggestion to Sejong.

“Abama, is it okay for Soja to negotiate this time?”

“The Crown Prince? “Hmm…”

Sejong, who had been pondering for a moment about Hyang’s request, asked with an expression full of worry.

“The last time I dealt with the authors, there was a lot of talk behind their backs. “The crown prince of a country comes forward and bargains.”

“It is a matter of national interest. “I want Soja and Hopan to take on this task together.”

Kim Jeom, who was listening to the conversation between Sejong and Hyang from behind, cried out inwardly.

‘Why me! I still have a lot of documents to process!’

Sejong, who heard Hyang’s words, looked back at Kim Jeom, not sure if he knew how Kim Jeom felt.

And that too with a very kind smile.

“Can you help Crown Prince Hopan?”

There was a smile on his face, but in response to Sejong’s command disguised as a question, Kim Jeom said, ‘No! I can not!’ I answered, holding back the words that were about to come out.

“Oh, I’ll do my best!”

“I will trust Hopan.”

“I will do my best!”

Sejong, who entrusted the transaction to Kim Jeom and Hyang, spoke to Mansur through Hassan.

“This transaction involved coordination, so Gwain also participated. However, Gwain was busy with state affairs and left the transaction to the crown prince and the governor Hojo, so I hope that a good deal will be concluded.”

“Thank you so much!”

After hearing Hassan’s words, Mansour felt relieved and expressed his sincere gratitude.

* * *

When Sejong and the ministers left, Mansour took a long breath.

“Whoa~.”

Mansur, who took a long breath and relieved his tightness, asked Hassan.

“Is that prince that prince?”

“That’s right. And next to him is the country’s finance minister.”

“Right. The Minister of Finance’s face looks stern, but the Prince still looks young, so he must have been given the title Minister of Finance. “I just need to be careful with that finance minister.”

Hassan warned Mansour about his judgment based solely on the face of Hyang, who was still just a boy.

“If you think like that, you will suffer great loss.”

“huh?”

“I am also an official of this country, so I will not explain further, but if you relax even a little, you will be in big trouble.”

In response to Hassan’s warning, Mansur looked at the scent’s face once again.

Mansour looked at Hassan once again, seeing the boy’s scent still lingering in his scent. However, Mansur, seeing Hassan’s expression more nervous than when the king was present, muttered without realizing it.

“Huh….”

* * *

“Captain Hopan. “Do you have a list of the items they brought with them?”

“yes.”

At Hopan’s brief response, the Hojo official who was waiting quickly held out a book containing a list.

After receiving the book from Hopan, Hyang looked at the list.

“Let’s see… pepper, turmeric… turmeric?”

My mind was spinning furiously as my fingertips stopped at the ‘turmeric’ listed on the list.

‘If it’s turmeric, it’s curry? Curry rice is good! Wait… there are no potatoes. There are no onions… I know the history of onions is quite old, right?

Was Teacher Samcheonpo like that? Unless they are from the New World, most vegetables have been in China since the Tang Dynasty. Hmm… I’ll have to check later.’

After organizing the turmeric, Hyang continued to check the list.

“Are they all spices, except for most of them? why?”

Hyang thought to himself thoughtfully.

‘Hmm… According to the report, the ship they came on wasn’t that big, right? In that case, it is certain that the horses and the hay they eat would have taken up most of the space, and in that case, you would also need to pack small but valuable items, so spices would be perfect. Spices are expensive in both the East and the West.’

Scent nodded as he looked through the list and stopped at the last item.

“Black bean tea? What is this? This is my first time hearing it… Ha Hundo!”

“Yes sir!”

“What is this black bean tea?”

“Black bean tea? “This is my first time hearing it too.”

Hassan paused for a moment and asked Mansour a question. After hearing Mansur’s answer, Hassan responded to the incense.

“It is an ingredient for making a drink called Qahwa.”

“Kahwa?”

“It is also called Kappa.”

“kappa? “Kappa…”

Hyang, who had been thinking deeply about Hassan’s explanation, suddenly shouted.

“coffee!”

Hyang’s face was full of joy.

‘It’s coffee! Come on! I thought it would be impossible to taste it at least until the ocean fleet was built!’

Like most Koreans living in the 21st century, Hyang was a caffeine addict.

Besides, doesn’t it have a good effect?

‘It would be a good gift for ministers who struggle with drowsiness.’

Of course, considering only the caffeine, green tea could have been an alternative, but the strong taste of caffeine and the unique aroma of coffee were irreplaceable.

Hassan, who saw Hyang’s expression full of joy, asked Lohyang with a face full of doubts.

“Do you know Kahuwa?”

‘Oops!’

In response to Hassan’s question, Hyang hurriedly adjusted his expression and answered.

“I found out about it through a book. “I was curious about the true nature of tea as it has many health benefits, so how could I not be happy to see it in real life?”

“Is that so?”

There was still curiosity in his mind, but Hassan stopped asking questions there.

‘There will always be a day…’

Hassan pledged to write it down in the book he was secretly recording, and he devoted himself to interpreting the conversation between Hyang and Mansour.

**

_

* * *

Meanwhile, Mansur persuaded the merchants of the Azram family.

“… So the situation is not good. So, I would like to cut the name of this spice and sell it.”

“Cut this door down…”

Rajab, who accompanied him as the representative of the Azram family, looked embarrassed. Mansour continued to persuade with that expression.

“Wouldn’t we be able to see greater benefits if the number of people visiting this gate increased instead of cutting it down?”

“So how much are you going to cut it?”

“The most I received was 10 times the amount, but I want to make it about 6 times the amount.”

“Hmm… good! Let’s do it! But I will join you in the negotiations.”

Mansur thought about Rajab’s words for a moment and then accepted his opinion.

“Please do so.”

“stripe! “Let’s negotiate the price.”

“Okay. let’s go.”

At Hassan’s words, Mansur walked to the village with Rajab.

* * *

“huh? The number of people has increased? “Who is the author?”

Mansur, who heard the question about the incense, spoke to Hassan.

“I didn’t have enough ships, so I borrowed some ships from the Azram family.”

Hassan slightly changed Mansur’s answer and reported it to the governor.

“They say they were short on ships, so they borrowed ships from other merchants.”

Hyang’s eyes sharpened at Hassan’s answer.

“I don’t think you just rented a boat? The commercial license is only granted to the Otaibi family to which you belong? “This is your first time making a formal transaction. Are you planning on cheating from the first transaction?”

“Oh no!”

Hassan answered in an urgent voice, but Hyang continued speaking in a cold voice.

“Tell this clearly to the head of your family. “What were you thinking, trying to cheat from the very first transaction?”

Mansur, who heard Hyang’s words through Hassan, hastily came up with an excuse, and Hassan also desperately made an excuse.

“Truly, you say you only borrowed ships from other merchants because you didn’t have enough ships!”

“We just rented a boat, so why is another merchant joining us? The fact that the author was involved in this situation means that he did not just lend the boat! Are you looking down on yourself?! “Is the person who is the head of your family funny, and is this country called Joseon funny?”

When asked about the scent, Mansour immediately knelt down on the floor and responded.

“Absolutely not! “It’s just that I thought this commercial trip would be a big opportunity, so I overexerted myself and ended up reaching out to other merchants, and those merchants were also worried, so they followed me!”

After hearing Mansur’s answer through Hassan, Hyang folded his arms and glared at Mansur with a fierce face.

Seeing that, Hassan knelt down next to him and made an excuse.

“Lowering! The leader had no intention of deceiving you! “You’re just being greedy to get a bigger reputation!”

Hyang, who was glaring at Hassan and Mansour in silence, gestured.

“good night! For now, let’s just believe it. “Get up.”

“I am devastated!”

When Mansur and Hassan got up, the scent turned.

“Now then, let’s talk about the deal. Do you have a room suitable for you?”

“Yes.”

After hearing Hopan’s answer, Hyang ordered Hassan.

“Tell him to follow me.”

“yes.”

Mansur, who heard the incense order through Hassan, sighed and looked back at Rajab.

“It won’t be easy.”