An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 49

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 49
Some time later.
As Yun had predicted, an emissary from Heisafang arrived at Ha Yun’s quarters.
“Wei Xiaoqiang requests that you rejoin negotiations. He’s invited you all to return.”
“Understood. You can go now.”
An answer that was neither yes nor no—deliberately vague.
The Heisafang subordinate pressed further.
“And your response is…?”
“Tell him we’ll discuss it among ourselves and get back to him.”
“Yes… I understand.”
The Heisafang man departed, his expression noticeably deflated.
Once he’d vanished entirely from sight, Yun spoke.
“What’s your thinking now?”
“Let’s wait a bit longer and see how things unfold.”
“And if they cancel the negotiations altogether?”
Ha Yun answered with casual indifference.
“Then they cancel. So be it.”
“What?”
“The advantage has shifted to us. They’re the ones pressed for time now, not us.”
The Ginseng Craze sweeping through Fenghuang City was now an open fact.
If this momentum continued, it might well spread beyond the city into the continent at large.
And if that happened, it would be over.
No amount of extra silver would secure ginseng.
On top of that, with Man Sang having purchased ginseng from Qing merchants as well, the profits they stood to gain were beyond calculation.
Yet despite this, Yun voiced his concern.
“But if we drag this out, they’ll devise other countermeasures…”
“You make a fair point.”
Song Do Hyun offered his thoughts from the side.
“Wei Xiaoqiang is cunning—skilled in strategy. Give him time, and there’s no telling what scheme he’ll concoct.”
“If you say so…”
Ha Yun regarded Song Do Hyun with eyes full of trust.
He gestured toward Song Do Hyun.
“Do Hyun. Prepare yourself.”
With that, Ha Yun rose from his seat.
“We’re going to them now. Before they can cook up any further schemes.”
***
Heisafang.
The conference room held the same people as before—all gathered in one place.
The setting and the faces were identical to last time, yet now not a trace of ease showed in their expressions.
“Long time no see.”
Wei Xiaoqiang greeted Ha Yun with a bitter smile.
“I trust you’ve been well?”
“Well enough.”
Ha Yun dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point.
“But why did you ask to see me? Last time you spoke as though we’d never meet again.”
His words were laced with barbs.
Yet Wei Xiaoqiang slipped past it smoothly, like the serpent he was.
“Our master still holds a grudge from before, I see.”
“I’m not one to forget old grievances easily.”
“As merchants, such things are commonplace. We move according to our interests, after all. Isn’t that what we are to each other?”
Wei Xiaoqiang placed particular emphasis on the word “merchants.”
“Yesterday’s enemy can be today’s ally. That’s the merchant’s way.”
“You certainly have a way with words.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Wei Xiaoqiang, his composure now fully restored, continued.
“So then—have you given the matter any thought?”
That smug expression made Ha Yun’s skin crawl.
He wanted nothing more than to unleash a torrent of curses on that grinning face.
But cheap tricks held no purchase against someone like Wei Xiaoqiang, who’d clawed his way up through shadow dealings.
To disturb the waters Wei Xiaoqiang inhabited, one needed the resolve to dive in directly.
No matter how filthy the muddy waters ran.
Ha Yun steeled himself and spoke.
“We’ve decided to withdraw as things stand.”
“What did you say?”
At last, even Wei Xiaoqiang’s composure began to crack.
“Do you truly intend not to sell the ginseng?”
Ha Yun answered without hesitation.
“We’ll sell it. Just not to you. To Arahsa instead.”
“Arahsa?”
Wei Xiaoqiang’s gaze wavered at the unexpected name.
Arahsa was the term used in this era to denote Russia.
‘Either way, I’ve burned my bridges.’
Once he’d crossed the Yalu River, returning to Joseon as things stood was impossible.
Yet he couldn’t sell the ginseng at a loss either.
So Ha Yun chose to forge a new trading channel.
Travel eastward from Fenghuang City for roughly another month, and the Russian border would appear.
The journey would be arduous, but if he could reach that destination, enormous profits awaited.
But that remained a last resort.
Ha Yun concealed this fact and brazenly wove his lie.
“The more I thought about it, the more five taels made no sense as a price. So I decided to establish trade with Arahsa instead, this time around.”
“So that means nothing’s confirmed yet.”
Wei Xiaoqiang was indeed no easy mark.
“Trade with Arahsa? Is such a thing even possible?”
He caught the flaw at once, his eyes narrowing in mockery.
“Even if you make the journey there, you won’t be able to converse with them at all.”
A thin, cruel smile played across Wei Xiaoqiang’s lips.
“And I doubt there’s anyone who even speaks the Arahsan tongue…….”
He’d struck a nerve.
Even across centuries, a clear line had been drawn between Russia and the Qing Dynasty.
Culture, customs, language.
Everything was fundamentally different.
So despite sharing borders for so long, it was safe to say that scarcely anyone could speak Arahsan.
Joseon was no exception.
“Who says no one speaks Arahsan?”
But Ha Yun scoffed at that assertion, immediately launching into fluent Arahsan.
“Spasibo, You have no idea what I’m saying, do you? Now you know how I feel. Idiot!”
(Spasibo — thank you; you have no idea what I’m saying, do you? Now you know how I feel. Idiot!)
More precisely, only the first word was Arahsan.
Everything after was merely English pronounced with a Russian lilt.
But that alone was enough to send a shock through the room.
“It’s Arahsan!”
“How could he speak the barbarian tongue!”
“Goodness, Arahsan spoken with such fluency…….”
There was no way people of this era could distinguish English from Russian.
And Song Do Hyun was no exception.
Song Do Hyun nudged Ha Yun in the ribs and whispered, “What’s this? How do you speak Arahsan?”
‘Keep quiet. I just made it up as I went. He might catch on, so stay back.’
‘I see.’
Having grasped the situation, Song Do Hyun stepped back a pace.
“Is that answer enough for you?”
Ha Yun settled back with an air of leisure, interlacing his fingers and resting his chin upon them—the very posture Wei Xiaoqiang had assumed moments before.
“Should I say the rest in Arahsan too? Spasibo?”
“Ugh……!”
Wei Xiaoqiang’s smile had vanished entirely.
Just as Ha Yun had invented the lie about Arahsa, Wei Xiaoqiang too had been holding a false hand.
All those crates of ginseng he’d displayed before.
By appearances, easily enough to supply years.
But the reality was otherwise.
Only the top few crates held genuine ginseng; beneath them lay nothing but boxes stuffed with straw.

It was a false show of strength.
By displaying such overwhelming quantities, they meant to break Ha Yun’s momentum.
But Ha Yun did not retreat.
Instead, he struck back.
The Ginseng Craze—a plan that made no sense.
Yet that senseless plan had become reality.
Ginseng was selling like wildfire even now, and what little stock remained was already depleted.
On top of that, some mysterious merchant had apparently begun hoarding ginseng some time ago.
By the time this truth became apparent, it was already too late.
He had fallen into the very trap he himself had laid.
‘Our trading house’s ginseng is completely gone.’
‘Ours too. At this rate, we won’t last even a week.’
‘If those fellows leave like this, we’ll be twiddling our thumbs for years.’
‘We need to resume negotiations, even if we have to raise the price a bit.’
Behind the scenes, the Qing Dynasty merchants continued to pressure Wei Xiaoqiang.
“Heh.”
Wei Xiaoqiang, standing before a dead end, let out a short sigh.
“Fine. Before I leave, I’ll make one last offer.”
Finally, Wei Xiaoqiang reopened the negotiations.
“If you wish, I’m willing to purchase all the ginseng you have at around ten taels.”
“Pardon? I didn’t quite catch that?”
Ha Yun scratched his ear and pretended not to hear.
If he had intended to accept such a sum, he would never have come here in the first place.
Wei Xiaoqiang’s expression hardened as he quoted a new price.
“Very well. I’ll go up to twelve taels. Surely that’s not a loss for you.”
“But it’s hardly a gain either.”
Ha Yun shook his head.
Wei Xiaoqiang’s expression grew steadily darker.
“Fifteen. That was the price when we first began trading ten years ago.”
“At that rate, I’d rather take my goods to Arahsa. What reason would I have to deal with you?”
Three offers had already been refused.
Wei Xiaoqiang began incrementally raising the amount.
“Sixteen.”
“Hmm.”
“Seventeen.”
“Yaaawn~”
Ha Yun yawned loudly, as if bored.
“Don’t be stingy like that. Call out a real number. Why is the great Wei so miserly?”
“What did you say?”
“If you had any conscience, you’d start from thirty taels—the old price, wouldn’t you?”
“Tch!”
Both hands were now fully revealed.
But the stakes were different.
In this negotiation, it was Ha Yun who held the majority of the ginseng—the prize at hand.
Wei Xiaoqiang raised the offer once more.
“Eighteen.”
“This won’t do. I’ll set the price myself.”
Ha Yun rolled up his sleeves as though dissatisfied.
And he named his own figure.
“Sixty taels.”
“……!”
With those words, the hall fell into sudden silence.
Even Song Do Hyun, standing just behind, visibly stiffened at the shock.
Double the previous trading price.
At the absurd figure, Wei Xiaoqiang’s face crumpled.
“…Are you serious?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Ha Yun leaned his face close to Wei Xiaoqiang.
“If you don’t like that price, then don’t buy. After all, it’s your decision whether to purchase or not, isn’t it?”
“Now, now—let’s be reasonable here?”
Wei Xiaoqiang’s gaze settled on Ha Yun with the killing intent of a predator. Ha Yun met those eyes unflinchingly.
“Who crossed the line first, then?”
Then Ha Yun abruptly thrust himself up from his seat.
He turned toward the Qing Dynasty merchants gathered behind Wei Xiaoqiang and spoke.
“Song Do Hyun. Deliver my message to them exactly as I say it.”
“Understood.”
Song Do Hyun began translating Ha Yun’s words directly to the Qing merchants.
“In two days, we will depart this place.”

“……!”
The merchants’ faces registered shock at those words.
“If anyone wishes to purchase ginseng in the meantime, seek us out individually. Not through him.”

Ha Yun pointed directly at Wei Xiaoqiang.
“When the time comes, we’ll offer a fresh price—a fair one.”

With that, Ha Yun turned on his heel.
“Let’s go, Song Do Hyun.”
Whoosh!
The moment Ha Yun and Song Do Hyun left, clamorous voices erupted behind them.
“Wei Xiaoqiang! What do we do now!”
“They said they’re heading to Arahsa!”
“We trusted your word for this—what is this disaster!”
That final threat had been the decisive blow.
Ha Yun had deliberately quoted an absurd price to shatter their collusion.
And he’d specifically urged them to seek him out individually.
Ordinarily, such a ploy would never have worked.
Ginseng was commodity sold with an eye toward years of profit.
If not this year, then the next.
Or the year after.
All that mattered was hoarding the goods.
But now the situation was urgent in a way a year’s patience couldn’t solve—less than a week’s worth of ginseng remained.
If the supply truly ran dry, they might be forced to pay far steeper prices next year than they did today.
“Wei Xiaoqiang! If you bungle this deal, we won’t stay quiet!”
“Resume negotiations by tomorrow! Turn their heads around, by whatever means!”
“Should negotiations fail by tomorrow, Yang Sang Hoe will proceed with independent action.”
Signs of fracture were already appearing among the Qing merchants.
The alliance didn’t look shattered—not yet—but there was no telling what each man was truly thinking.
“Ahem.”
“Hem, hem.”
Uncomfortable coughs echoed through the room.
From now on, it was a race against time.
After time ran out, it would become a test of wills.
Or perhaps that test had already begun.
“In any case, you’ve been warned. By tomorrow.”
With that, the Qing merchants filed out in a rush.
Bang!
Alone in the empty conference room, Wei Xiaoqiang brought his palm down hard on the table. A short sword buried itself deep in the wood.
“Ha Yun…!”
He ground out the name, syllable by syllable, as though chewing it to dust.
This was his first taste of such one-sided defeat.
The border garrison.
The banquet hall.
The counterfeit ginseng.
Watching Ha Yun neutralize all three of his carefully laid stratagems, Wei Xiaoqiang felt as though he’d struck an immovable wall.
If brains alone wouldn’t win the day, then only one option remained.
“We’ll see about that.”
The corner of Wei Xiaoqiang’s mouth twisted slightly.
“Let’s see if you can afford such composure tomorrow.”
Even as he spoke, his hand continued to caress the hilt of the short sword.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————