Chapter 120: Made in Joseon (3)
Once the evaluation of the horses was finished, Sejong examined the other goods. However, Sejong's expression grew increasingly clouded as he inspected the items Mansur had brought.
"There are many luxury goods..."
Mansur, who heard Sejong's words through Hassan, asked Hassan with a serious face.
"Does the King of Joseon not enjoy luxury?"
"The ministers of this country dislike when the king enjoys luxury beyond what is proper. Of course..."
'Though they themselves enjoyed luxury and got slapped for it.'
Hassan forcibly held back his latter words, and Mansur fell into deep thought. Most of the goods he had brought were spices like pepper and turmeric.
'There are hardly any people who dislike spices. Especially nobles, who buy and eat them even at great expense...'
Mansur continued his calculations and asked Hassan.
"Do the people of this kingdom not eat spices like pepper and turmeric?"
"They consume native spices with similar effects. Imported spices like pepper are very expensive."
"They don't dislike pepper?"
"They can't eat it because it's expensive."
"What is the usual price?"
"How much does the Chief purchase it for?"
At Hassan's question, Mansur told him the price of pepper purchased in Aden. Hearing Mansur's answer, Hassan replied briefly.
"Multiply that by twenty times. That's the lowest price."
"Gasp!"
Greatly surprised, Mansur suddenly had a brilliant idea.
'If I purchase pepper in bulk from Aden, I can buy it cheaper than market price! The Joseon people also said they don't dislike pepper. Then, if I don't pass through middlemen and take a smaller profit margin, I can monopolize the market! The reduced profit can be offset by increased sales volume! No, I can gain even greater profits!'
The conclusion that 'small profit, large volume is the best approach' emerged, but Mansur couldn't easily reach a decision.
This was because he had an obstacle called 'the merchants of the Azram family.'
"It can't be helped. Hassan, can you ask the King of Joseon for a moment of time?"
"Why is that?"
Mansur looked at the Azram family merchant behind him and answered.
"There's someone I need to succeed in negotiating with first..."
At Mansur's words, Hassan answered with a serious face.
"I will try, but if it goes wrong, I could become a criminal."
"A criminal?"
"Would it be proper for a mere merchant to suggest postponing negotiations with a king of a nation? Joseon is a country that values propriety. If done incorrectly, not only I but even the Chief could be imprisoned."
"This is..."
Mansur's face became troubled as he suddenly found himself in a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat.
'A mistake! Driven by the thought of making money, I launched into this blindly without proper investigation! This is my great mistake!'
As Mansur blamed himself, this was indeed his mistake. He had brought mainly spices, thinking only of European and Chinese merchants who would open their purses without question at the mention of spices, and this was what was driving him into crisis.
Meanwhile, Hyang, who was observing the situation, proposed to Sejong.
"Father, may I handle this negotiation?"
"The Crown Prince? Hmm..."
Sejong, momentarily considering Hyang's request, asked with a worried expression.
"Even when you dealt with those merchants before, there was much talk behind the scenes. Saying that the Crown Prince of a nation came forward to negotiate."
"This is a matter of national interest. I wish to handle this together with the Minister of Taxation."
Kim Jeom, who was listening to the conversation between Sejong and Hyang from behind, cried out inwardly.
'Why me! Even now I have piles of documents to process!'
Whether he knew of Kim Jeom's feelings or not, Sejong, having heard Hyang's words, turned to look at Kim Jeom.
With a very benevolent smile filled to the brim.
"Minister, can you assist the Crown Prince?"
Though a smile hung on his face, at Sejong's command disguised as a question, Kim Jeom forcibly held back the words 'No! I can't!' from bursting out and answered.
"Ye-yes, I will do my best!"
"I trust you, Minister."
"I will do my best!"
Sejong, having entrusted the transaction to Kim Jeom and Hyang, spoke to Mansur through Hassan.
"This transaction is one in which the court is involved, so I participated as well. However, I am busy with state affairs and have entrusted the transaction to the Crown Prince and the Minister of Taxation, so I hope a good deal will be reached."
"I am truly grateful!"
Hearing Hassan's words, Mansur expressed sincere gratitude while feeling like he could finally breathe.
* * *
When Sejong and the ministers left their seats, Mansur let out a long breath.
"Hoo~."
Letting out a long breath and relieving his stifled heart, Mansur asked Hassan.
"Is that prince that prince?"
"That is correct. And beside him is this country's Minister of Finance."
"I see. The Minister of Finance looks stern, but the prince still looks young, so they must have attached the Minister. I just need to be careful of that Minister."
At Mansur's evaluation, made from looking only at Hyang's face which was still merely a boy, Hassan warned.
"If you think that way, you will suffer great losses."
"Hmm?"
"Since I am also an official of this country, I will not explain further, but if you relax even a little, you will suffer a great setback."
At Hassan's warning, Mansur examined Hyang's face once more.
Seeing Hyang's appearance that still retained traces of a boy, Mansur looked at Hassan again. However, seeing Hassan's expression even more tense than when the king was present, Mansur inadvertently muttered.
"Well, I never..."
* * *
"Minister. You have the list of items they brought, correct?"
"Yes."
At the Minister's brief gesture, a Taxation Ministry official who was waiting quickly presented a book with the recorded list.
Hyang, having received the book from the Minister, examined the list.
"Let's see... pepper, turmeric... turmeric?"
Hyang's fingertips stopped at 'turmeric' written on the list, and his mind spun rapidly.
'Turmeric means curry? Curry rice is good! Wait... there are no potatoes, and no onions either... Hold on, I thought the history of onions was quite old?
Did Teacher Sampo say that? Unless it's a vegetable from the New World, most vegetables had already come into China since the Tang Dynasty. Hmm... I'll have to check later.'
Having organized his thoughts on turmeric, Hyang continued checking the list.
"Most of them are... no, except for the horses, everything else is spices? Why?"
Hyang asked and answered himself in his head.
'Hmm... According to reports, the ship they rode wasn't that large, right? Then the horses and the hay for the horses to eat would have taken up most of the space, and in that case, they would need to bring items that are small in volume but large in value, so spices would indeed be perfect. Spices are expensive in both the East and West.'
Hyang, who was nodding while examining the list, stopped at the last item.
"Black bean tea? What is this? I've never heard of it... Ha, Tutor!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"What is this black bean tea?"
"Black bean tea? I'm hearing it for the first time as well."
Hassan, who paused briefly, asked Mansur a question. Hassan, having heard Mansur's answer, replied to Hyang.
"It is an ingredient for making a beverage called Qahwa."
"Qahwa?"
"It is also called Qahva."
"Qahva? Qahva-ra..."
Hyang, who was thinking deeply at Hassan's explanation, suddenly exclaimed.
"Coffee!"
Hyang's face was filled with joy.
'Coffee! Jackpot! I thought it would be impossible to taste it until at least the ocean-going fleet is built!'
Like most Koreans who lived in the 21st century, Hyang was also a caffeine addict.
Moreover, didn't it have good effects?
'It will be a good gift for the ministers who fight against sleepiness.'
Of course, if only caffeine was considered, green tea could be an alternative, but the taste of strong caffeine and the unique aroma of coffee were irreplaceable.
Seeing Hyang's expression full of joy, Hassan asked with a face full of doubt.
"Your Highness, do you know of Qahwa?"
'Oops!'
At Hassan's question, Hyang quickly straightened his expression and answered.
"I learned about it through books. I heard it is a tea with various effects, so I was curious about its true nature. How could I not be happy to see the actual thing like this?"
"Is that so?"
Though still curious, Hassan stopped his questioning there.
'There will be a day when I find out...'
Hassan, determined to write in the book he was secretly recording, dedicated himself to translating the conversation between Hyang and Mansur.
* * *
This is a story from the distant future, but the book with the long title 'Various Questions Regarding Crown Prince Lee Hyang,' recorded by Hassan, became the starting point that gave birth to all kinds of controversies and conspiracy theories among Eastern and Western historians as soon as it was discovered.
* * *
Meanwhile, Mansur persuaded the merchants of the Azram family.
"...So the situation is not good. Therefore, I want to sell these spices at a reduced profit margin."
"Reducing the profit margin..."
Rajab, who accompanied as the representative of the Azram family, had a troubled expression. At that expression, Mansur continued his persuasion.
"Instead of reducing the profit, if the number of buyers increases, won't we be able to gain greater profits?"
"So how much will you reduce it?"
"The most we received was 10 times, but I want to make it around 6 times."
"Hmm... Good! Let's do that! However, I will sit in on the negotiations."
At Rajab's words, Mansur thought for a moment and accepted his opinion.
"Let's do that."
"Chief! They say they want to negotiate the price."
"Understood. Let's go."
At Hassan's words, Mansur walked toward Hyang together with Rajab.
* * *
"Hmm? There are more people? Who is that?"
Hearing Hyang's question, Mansur said to Hassan.
"The ships were insufficient, so we borrowed some ships from the Azram family."
Hassan slightly modified Mansur's answer and reported to Hyang.
"He says the ships were insufficient, so they borrowed ships from other merchants."
At Hassan's answer, Hyang's eyes sharpened.
"It seems they didn't just borrow the ships? The trade license was granted only to the Otaiib family you belong to? This is the first official trade, and they intend to use deception from the very first transaction?"
"N-no, that's not it!"
Hassan answered with an urgent voice, but Hyang continued in a cold voice.
"Convey this clearly to the one who calls himself the head of your family. What kind of thinking makes them try to use deception from the very first transaction."
Mansur, who heard Hyang's words through Hassan, hurriedly made excuses, and Hassan also desperately made excuses.
"He says it is truly because the ships were insufficient that they only borrowed ships from other merchants!"
"If they only borrowed the ships, why does another merchant intervene in this occasion? That this person is present means they didn't just lend the ships! Do you take me lightly! Does the head of your family take himself lightly, and take this country of Joseon lightly!"
When Hyang pressed the matter, Mansur immediately knelt on the ground and answered.
"Absolutely not! It is only that this voyage seemed like a great opportunity, and in pushing forward recklessly, we reached out to other merchants, and those merchants followed along simply out of worry!"
Hearing Mansur's answer through Hassan, Hyang, with his arms crossed and a fierce face, glared at Mansur.
At that sight, even Hassan knelt beside him and made excuses.
"Your Highness! The Chief had absolutely no intention of deceiving Your Highness! He was simply being greedy to gain a larger profit margin!"
Hyang, who had been glaring at Hassan and Mansur without a word, made a gesture.
"Fine! I will believe those words for now. Rise."
"I am overwhelmed with gratitude!"
When Mansur and Hassan rose, Hyang turned his body.
"Then, let us now discuss the transaction. Minister, is there a suitable room in the Ministry of Taxation?"
"There is."
Hearing the Minister's answer, Hyang ordered Hassan.
"Convey to them to follow."
"Yes."
Mansur, who heard Hyang's command through Hassan, let out a sigh and looked back at Rajab.
"This won't be easy."