Episode 781 Let’s have some fun somewhere. (1)
“It means…!”
“….”
After hearing the entire explanation, Hyeonjong stared at Cheongmyeong with an expression that was difficult to explain.
“So…”
His eyes scanned the people sitting in front of him.
Cheongmyeong, Baekcheon, Baeksang, Yoo Yi-seol, Yoon Jong, Jo Geol, Dang So-so, and even Hye-yeon and Lim So-byeong.
“Occupy this island.”
“yes!”
“Are you going to do some hunting?”
“Oh my, Jangmunin! “I explained it to you that way, but you still don’t understand!”
Cheongmyeong pounded his chest in frustration.
“It’s not about stealing, it’s about collecting a fair toll, right?”
“…You collect tolls on the river?”
“yes!”
“Isn’t that the number?”
“….”
“….”
Cheongmyeong and Hyeonjong’s gazes intertwined in the air.
Of course, in the complex intersection of gazes, it was Cheongmyeong who turned his gaze first.
“No, well… if you say so, it depends on how you think about it…”
Grumble.
“Heeeeeeeek!”
“Why are you pulling out a long sword?”
“oh my! “Just calm down first!”
“Let go! “Aren’t you going to let this go?!”
Hyeonjong removed the disciples who were clinging to him. His eyes were bloodshot.
“Now I’m even hearing that Hwasa’s disciple is going to try his hand at stealing! “You should have cut that guy down before he saw me like this!”
“Do you have the skills to do that?”
“Hyeonyoung, whose side are you on, you bastard!”
“What are you doing I ask? Of course, I’m on Cheongmyeong’s side.”
Bubbles bubbled from Hyeonjong’s mouth.
I chose the wrong person to ask. Yes, Hyeonyoung, of course, is on Cheongmyeong’s side.
At that time, Hyeonyoung spoke in a slightly calmer voice.
“And depending on what you think, it’s not that wrong.”
“Don’t you think they charge a toll tax?”
“It doesn’t make sense to say that we are outnumbered just because we collect toll taxes. Then, are all the boatmen who take money for putting people on boats outnumbered?”
“….”
“So, if you think about it, everyone who drives a boat on the Yangtze River is outnumbered, so is the Yangtze River a lawless place?”
“…He’s like that too.”
Hyeonjong sits down again. After listening to it, I realized that it wasn’t really wrong.
“…No, I said the same thing…”
“Cheongmyeong.”
“yes?”
“Words inherently have different meanings and conveyance depending on who says them.”
“….”
Cheongmyeong thought that too and knew it wasn’t wrong, but he felt strangely bad.
Hyeonyoung glanced at the sullen face, smiled and spoke again to Hyeonjong.
“If you think about it, it’s not a bad idea. If the term toll tax bothers you, you can just collect the fare when you take people on a boat going to and from the island. “Let’s use the island for free.”
“Uhm….”
“More than anything, isn’t it true that there is no guarantee that something like this won’t happen again in the future? It is not possible to chase him this far and catch him every time. And volcanoes should also provide a safe route for galactic drift. “The losses are so great now.”
“Okay. “That’s true…”
Hyunjong thought for a moment and then nodded.
In the past, he might have quit his studies, but now he understands to some extent how to run a business. Thanks to you, I know how important this work is.
“But isn’t it possible for us to occupy this place? What about training? What about the headquarters?”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“huh?”
“Nokrim will take care of this. “I’m done talking with the Green Forest King.”
Hyeonjong blinked blankly and then looked away, and Lim So-byeong smiled and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“…You mean Green Forest?”
“yes.”
“The Yangtze River?”
“I didn’t become a bandit because I liked the mountains. I became a bandit because I wanted to make a living. “What does it matter whether it’s mountains or water, as long as you have money?”
Well… that’s true. Besides, whether they are bandits or enemies, they are thieves anyway.
“I know what Jang Moon-in is worried about. But now, Noklim is also following the will of Hwasan Shinryong and Cheonwoomaeng and increasing its legal business by charging only appropriate toll fees without harming the civilians.”
“…Isn’t collecting the toll itself a problem?”
“I provide escort instead. They provide perfect escort until you cross the mountain. “Those who previously suffered from violence or other petty thieves are welcoming us with open arms.”
Are you welcoming me with open arms?
Bandits?
“Do the bandits… no, do the Green Forest Islanders like that?”
“Some people feel stuffy and irritated, but what can you do? “If you don’t like the temple, you should leave the temple.”
“…I didn’t necessarily leave because I didn’t like it.”
Everyone turned to look at Hyeyeon at the sudden voice. Hyeyeon’s face, which had been stabbed for no reason, suddenly turned bright red.
“I didn’t like it.”
“It seems like he really hated it.”
“For some reason, even if you die from Shaolin, you won’t return.”
“Ah, Amitabha Buddha! Amitabha Buddha!”
“Just pay indefinitely.”
Cheongmyeong clicked his tongue and opened his mouth again.
“Anyway, it’s nothing bad. We are not here to kill, and the management is done by Green Forest. In return, we can safely cross the Galaxy Pass and collect half the toll fees from merchants passing by.”
ah. Oh Hal?
That’s a fair distribution of profits. Oh Hal.
If you think about it, the volcano doesn’t do anything… Yes, oh well…
At that time, the phenomenon that had been silently observing the situation opened its mouth.
“Cheongmyeong.”
“yes.”
“I understand what you were thinking when you did this. But I’m anxious. This is the Yangtze River. “You have already ruined two water channels, so if you occupy this place and sit down, will you stay still in that water tank?”
“Oh, that?”
“On the way, I saw you setting up artillery around the island and on the new bridge. However, the Yangtze River Passage is not an easy place to block with just a few artillery pieces. “You’re not looking down on the water taps just because you broke one or two of them, right?”
“no way. “No way?”
Cheongmyeong waved his hand.
If the Black Dragon King were to come with all his troops, this island would fall in less than half a day. To prevent that, all major troops, whether green or volcanic, must be stationed here.
But that is impossible.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“huh?”
“The Black Dragon King will not be able to attack here.”
“…Why?”
“Maybe soon this won’t be a big deal.”
“Yes?”
Cheongmyeong twitched the corner of his mouth.
“In the past, we would have attacked right away, but the Black Dragon King can’t move now.”
“why? “What’s going on with the Black Dragon King?”
“no. “It’s not that something happened, it’s that something will happen now.”
“…I have no idea what you mean.”
“You will soon find out.”
Cheongmyeong curled the corners of his mouth.
“If I’m right, things will start happening right now. So just wait a little while.”
Hyeonjong looked at Cheongmyeong with an expression of complete confusion.
“Did you do something with your hand?”
“It’s true that I used my hand. It will happen even if you don’t use your hands. “There are people other than me who can do something.”
“Who on earth?”
“I don’t know for sure about that. However…”
Cheongmyeong thought for a moment and then grinned.
“You can’t refuse when the plan is laid out for you, right? “Let’s have some fun somewhere.”
Unlike his brightly smiling mouth, his eyes were dark.
On the surface, there is nothing particularly conspiratorial about the situation. However, Cheongmyeong’s intuition did not miss the strange unnaturalness that flowed between these events.
Usually, when you get this feeling on the battlefield, there is a well-made trap in front of you.
In such a case, there are only three ways to escape the trap.
One is not going.
The other is to break through with skill.
And lastly….
‘Making matters bigger than the other person can handle through traps.’
If you have created a waterway, just take the waterway.
Instead, you will definitely reap the benefits. Not money or anything like that, but real benefit.
Cheongmyeong’s gaze went beyond Hyeonjong and headed somewhere far away. No one could guess what kind of scene they were looking at, but they could only guess that they were looking at a very distant place.
Hyeonjong sighed softly.
‘I don’t know.’
I already knew that this child’s thoughts were beyond him, so I had no choice but to trust him. However, Hyeonjong was worried that this would place another burden on Cheongmyeong.
“okay. First of all, I know what you think. “Then, can we just leave this place in the green forest and go back to Hwasan?”
“Oh, that’s right. That’s true, but…”
“Huh?”
“I was still waiting for you to come. “You brought a lot of disciples with you, right?”
“yes?”
Cheongmyeong clapped loudly and laughed like a child.
“Then let’s get started right away. “You just have to do one simple thing.”
“A simple thing?”
For some reason, those words made Hyeonjong feel even more uneasy.
* * *
A large ship came into the dock.
Soon, a large rope was thrown from the boat, firmly connecting the boat and the land. A large wooden bridge stretched between the ship and the land, and people began to get off the ship one by one.
But for some reason, the faces of everyone who got off the boat looked like they were about to die.
“Holy shit!”
One of the merchants who got off the ship was so angry that he threw the luggage he was carrying on the floor.
Normally, it would have been packed full of valuables and taken away like a shrine, but the man threw it on the ground without the slightest hesitation and let out an angry roar.
“Again again! “Holy shit!”
Then, other merchants who were waiting to board the ship approached and asked with pitiful faces.
“…Did you get robbed again?”
“Damn it! Everything was removed except for the inside! “What the hell are we supposed to eat for a living if this is the case?”
“Which watercolor is it?”
“I don’t know! These guys don’t even reveal where they are anymore! “They just approach in a small boat and steal everything that can make money!”
“Okay.”
“I’m going crazy.”
The merchants’ faces were filled with deep sorrow.
It may be surprising that the Yangtze River is running rampant, but the recent behavior has been unusual.
In the past, if you only paid the toll tax, they wouldn’t take away all your money or luggage, but now, these guys who don’t even reveal their accounts are stealing everything without leaving a single penny behind.
As this happened repeatedly, merchants became afraid to board boats traveling on the Yangtze River.
“How many times has this happened! this!”
“What on earth is the coffin doing? “Why are you leaving them alone?”
“Has the government ever done anything properly? “At the very least, I’m going to take money from those outnumbered and make a living!”
“Shh! “You man, lower your voice!”
“Did I say something wrong!”
Excited people began to have no choice but to say what they could not say.
“I’m going a long way to live just to feed my damn mouth, but if they get ripped off like this, how will I be able to feed my wife and children now? It would be better to bite your sword and die! The whole river is full of enemies! “It’s a public office, it’s a one-room club, and no one is interested!”
“Uh huh. “Not everyone is interested.”
“what?”
“Didn’t you hear? volcano!”
“A volcano?”
“I heard that Cheonwoomaeng’s volcanic wave destroyed Daegyeongchae. And in the meantime, didn’t they say that they also subjugated even a newly created watershed?”
“Hua volcano? “Why volcanoes?”
“Is there a reason for the volcano’s agreement? “Isn’t the volcano the place where bandits went on a rampage the other day, broke into the mountain, destroyed the main building, and robbed the storehouse to rescue the people?”
“…It did.”
“This time, after hearing that the enemy had captured the civilians, I was full of courage and came running all the way here!”
“Huh… oh my… is that true?”
“no way! It’s so late to hear news from a merchant! “You know Mr. Cheon, right?”
“I know.”
“Didn’t you say that he was kidnapped by a group of bandits and was rescued by Hwasan people? That guy tells that story fifteen times a day. “It’s going to be really hard on your ears.”
“Mr. Cheon is not the type of person to make up things that don’t exist.”
“That’s right! “It’s the old faction guys that are watching with their hands off, but it’s not Cheonwoo-maeng, that’s what I’m saying.”
“There is still no such document in the world….”
“Furthermore, it seems that Hwasan Jangmun-in has made a decision this time.”
“A decision?”
“They say they will occupy a place on the Yangtze River and launch boats so that merchants and those who want to cross the river can cross without problems.”
“Is that true?”
“That’s right. Besides, it’s not that far from here. So even if you can’t go by river, crossing it won’t be a problem, right?”
“Just that alone takes my breath away! But would Surochae just sit there and watch?”
“What if they don’t stay still? Cheonwoomaeng is a place where two of the Saeoeosagungs of Sacheondanga are located on that volcano! “I’m saying it’s not a place where things like Surochae can do anything.”
“…That’s what I heard.”
Those who were talking once again realized the power of Cheon Woo-maeng.
From their perspective, the most feared and grim reaper-like thing is the ditch. Since it was a place that even the famous Gupailbang couldn’t touch, there was no way to break through, so I couldn’t help but be even more afraid.
However, I am unable to do anything about the volcano that invades my living room and sets up camp.
“Was Cheon Yu-meng’s power this great?”
“I plan to use this opportunity to change my business partners as well.”
“Business partners?”
“Think about it. If the Yangtze River is blocked like this, isn’t it natural for merchants to suffer damage? However, if the volcano goes out and creates a road, merchants with connections to Cheonwoomaeng will be able to pass by that road without any problems.”
“…yes.”
“Then which will do better in the future? “This is so obvious.”
“Ah… But there’s still Gupa….”
“Tsk tsk tsk. A person called a merchant! If you wait like that, if Cheonwoo-maeng crosses the nine waves, you won’t have any bean powder! “You can make a lot of money by looking at the future and making moves in advance.”
“….”
“Anyway, I’m going to do it, so you should hurry and find out. “I heard that within 10 days, the volcano will have a complete road and traffic will begin.”
Each of the merchants rolled their heads and blinked.
‘Really?’
‘If it’s true…’
Some people were just surprised, while others were just amazed.
However, some astute people keenly realized that the world was changing.
It is not the volcano in Shaanxi, but the Cheonwu Meng to which it belongs has now begun to extend its influence all the way to the Yangtze River. It may be a small change now, but it was difficult to imagine how big of an impact this would have in the future.
“I hope the volcano goes well.”
“why?”
“Whether we came here looking for profit or following an agreement, isn’t the volcano the only one that helped us when we were having a hard time? “Those damned old-timers just talk about how to negotiate, but they’re actually doing nothing!”
“I know yeah!”
“That’s right, you damn bastards!”
“Destroy everything!”
Among those who threw their lives into the Yangtze River, admiration for Cheonwoo-Meng and Hwasan and disappointment in Gu-Pai-Ilbang gradually spread and grew in size.
And rumors about this situation also spread quickly and soon reached Shaolin and shamans.
The scale of what started as a small subjugation grew at an incredible rate.
Just like an ember burning in a dry forest.
