Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 469

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 469
The next day.
Four teacups settled into the conference room.
Yoo Ho, Muyue, Jegalling, and I, Jin Cheon-hee.
We sat in four directions like the Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Vermillion Bird, discussing the matters ahead.
“Well, Baesong Dangju-nim has already made it clear he won’t do this sort of thing, but the other four Guild Masters aren’t showing up either.”
Yoo Ho answered.
“In the old days, there was no one to delegate to, so we had no choice. But now that we finally have a slave to do the work for us, they can focus entirely on medicine.”
Muyue sipped his tea with a stung expression.
“You can speak your mind freely, Chief Manager.”
At my words, Muyue glanced at Jegalling before continuing hesitantly.
“No, but still… treating people like slaves…”
His true nature as a middle manager couldn’t completely suppress his timid, shrinking self.
I answered with a soft laugh.
“That’s precisely because they trust you so much, Chief Manager Muyue. If it were the old days, they would have simply attended the meeting themselves.”
“Well, there was even a time when I was suspected of being a spy. Though I’m not, of course.”
“Of course not! You’re the Chief Manager of Baekrin Medical Guild’s External Affairs! You’ve worked yourself to death handling all those duties alone! During the war, it was you who sent medical supplies from Baekrin Medical Guild to the field camps, and after the war, it was you who provided provisions including potatoes!”
I patted his back enthusiastically, boosting his spirits.
Yet he was already feeling himself wither away day by day.
Was the workload of Baekrin Medical Guild really this much?
Damn it… no, wait… my benefactor, Soggakju, launches new ventures constantly, Yoo Ho handles the budgeting for those new projects, and he himself recruits personnel and surveys land.
But… the work never decreases!
“I went to ask the four Guild Masters to help with some work, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.”
“Baekrin Medical Guild is like a labyrinth by nature. I understand how you might lose your way, Chief Manager.”
“Every time I go, they say they’re making rounds somewhere.”
“Rounds are important work, after all.”
“So when I try to follow the path of their rounds, they disappear again.”
“Haha, the paths are quite complicated. Since patients shouldn’t run into each other face to face, you see.”
“No… well… I sometimes wonder if they’re deliberately avoiding me because they know I’m about to dump work on them…”
“How could that be? Haha. You’re just overthinking it.”
In a month or two, he’d probably convince himself it was because he wasn’t skilled at finding his way.
In the first few months after arriving here, the four Guild Masters were quite visible.
He encountered them so frequently that he wondered if they were actually monitoring him.
But at some point, they became invisible.
Whenever he tried to assign them work, they vanished as if they didn’t exist at all.
Was this the legendary lightness technique of the Wannonsan assassins he’d only heard about?
‘Indeed, the Jegallim Family. One cannot survive without skill.’
Though they weren’t strategists, they were masters of the art of survival.
Or perhaps it wasn’t a problem unique to the Jegallim Family.
They were people who had lived under Jegalling’s command all this time.
Working under that foul-tempered Medical Guild Master and scrounging for budgets would be impossible with ordinary tactics.
So the moment he judged that Muyue, who had been a newcomer under surveillance, had grown trustworthy enough, he vanished like a ghost.
‘But still… all four of them disappearing at once seems excessive, doesn’t it?’
At least the Herb Guild Master Manpagok could be met with about a fifty percent chance.
She was truly a symbol of benevolence.
With a Buddha-like generous expression, she very occasionally shared work and dispensed tonics.
Since Muyue came from the heterodox sects, he had once habitually examined the ingredients, and they were just ordinary tonics and stimulants.
The message was clear: work instead of sleeping.
The most difficult to meet was Acupuncture Hall Master Sima Bing.
Recently the Bone-Setting Hall had become the busiest department, but until then it had been the Acupuncture Hall.
Whether then or now, the Acupuncture Hall never assigned any work.
He was already difficult to find originally, but now he deliberately runs away. This damned old fool.
Next was Chuuna Clan Leader Joo Dan-ha.
There were rumors he had lived in the Southern Barbarian lands in the past, but it wasn’t certain.
He loved alcohol and was bold… but he disappeared frequently.
He appeared with about a ten percent probability.
In the past, the former Chief Manager Yoo Ho had offered some subtle advice.
‘If it’s urgent, open a wine bottle. Then he’ll say the Medical Guild came to confiscate it.’
She had a ghostly sense of smell.
Only her stomach knew where the confiscated alcohol went.
Next was Martial Arts Guild Master Dokgo Junghu.
He constantly spoke of wanting to retire, but he was still relatively easy to meet.
Of course, he didn’t accept any work assignments.
He simply didn’t have the mind for paperwork.
‘That’s right. In the end, everything comes down to survival of the fittest. Whether in the heterodox sects or the Medical Guild, nothing changes. What matters is whether you can survive on your own strength.’
Foolish Muyue.
When did you start relying on others’ strength?
Humans are born alone and die alone, after all.
He felt his mind slightly spinning from the excessive work of Baekrin Medical Guild.
He took a deep breath and inhaled the fragrance of the jade well tea deeply.
Soon he opened his mouth.
“First, the Medical Guild’s revenue has increased roughly threefold compared to half a year ago. Here are the bamboo slips first.”
He laid down several bamboo slips and paper documents before Jin Cheon-hee and Jegalling.
The two men quickly scanned through Muyue’s report with keen eyes.
Jin Cheon-hee was the first to speak.
“The retained funds have increased considerably.”
“At this rate, it would exceed the combined holdings of three of the top twenty merchant houses in the Central Plains. In other words, looking at retained funds alone, we could be considered a major player among the top ten merchant houses of the Central Plains.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Muyue continued with a bright expression.
“The revenue products are the luxury goods, green jade and red jade, along with Baekrin Divine Pills,
Gold
protective elixirs and other medicinal products, logistics distribution and Baekrin convenience stores, and finally the Martial Arts Training City.”
“The Martial Arts Training City is surprising. It’s such a money-devouring enterprise, yet you’ve expanded it this much.”
“In that regard, what if we raised the entrance fees and tuition for the Martial Arts Training City a bit?”
At those words, I shook my head firmly.
“That won’t do.”
Strangely, this young man absolutely refused to raise prices at the Martial Arts Training City.
There seemed to be some reason behind it, though it didn’t appear to be simply about money.
‘However, Master must have his own reasons for thinking that way.’
All things considered, it was good for the martial artists.
Eventually their turn would come if they waited. At least there would be no cases where people couldn’t enter due to financial constraints.
Muyue spoke.
“Money alone doesn’t help simply by possessing it. What matters is using it appropriately.”
At those words, I asked.
“How do you think it would be best to utilize it, Chief Manager?”
“I believe expanding influence is the way to go. Of course, it’s embarrassing that I’m contradicting my own advice about raising the Martial Arts Training City fees. But looking purely at expanding influence, I see that as a good method as well.”
‘Hmm. Influence, then.’
I suddenly turned to look at Jegalling, and he seemed lost in thought.
Soon after, he snapped his fan shut with a sharp sound and continued.
“It’s been quite some time since we started operating the Baekrin Academy. By now, quite a number of graduates should have accumulated. How are they doing?”
Yoo Ho answered quickly.
“They’ve advanced into various fields. Some have entered military service and gained official positions, many have become doctors in the Medical Guild, and some have learned martial arts and joined the martial forces. It’s somewhat unique, but there’s even one who became interested in craftsmanship and entered the blacksmith workshop.”
“The blacksmith workshop…? That’s unexpected.”
“Yes. He apparently became interested after selling wood to the smithy. Since Baekrin Medical Guild exchanges various techniques with the Sichuan Tang Family, we can produce items of sufficient quality even if not quite at the Sichuan Tang Family’s level.”
“Good.”
Master said so, then spoke something unexpected.
“It’s time to lay the next foundation. We’ll begin earnest expansion into Zhejiang.”
“Pardon?”
At those words, both I and Muyue were startled simultaneously.
Only Yoo Ho poured tea calmly without any sign of surprise.
I asked again.
“M… Master? Why suddenly expand into Zhejiang…?”
“Zhejiang has the Bota Clan, but their base is in Zhushan County—an island. Therefore, they cannot control all of Zhejiang or hold its influence under their feet. Moreover, the Bota Clan reveres the Buddhist path rather than the way of tyrants, so they actually exclude worldly matters.”
I suddenly remembered the Abbot.
She had given me a half-bow with her wrinkled face.
She had fought the Namgung Family Patriarch to become the Sword Emperor.
Only the Namgung Patriarch and the Abbot would know the result.
The fact that it wasn’t spoken aloud meant—
‘Perhaps… they drew, or the Abbot likely won.’
The Namgung Family, who had reigned as the Imperial Sword all this time.
I have always prided myself on never losing to anyone when it comes to the sword.
They had established themselves in the heart of the Central Plains, expanded their power, and ruled through martial prowess.
From the perspective of the Namgung Family, the Bota Clan was merely a rural Buddhist sect tucked away in a corner.
Even if Zhushan County was their stronghold, from the Namgung Family’s standpoint—expanding their influence along the river in the heart of the Central Plains—they were too insignificant to even rank among the Eight Great Sects or Ten Great Clans.
To have one’s sword matched by an elderly nun from such a place was a blow to one’s pride.
‘The Abbot, by nature, would focus solely on his own martial cultivation. He likely has little interest in the martial reputation of the Central Plains.’
When cholera had spread in the past, they had chosen to seal their gates without a moment’s hesitation.
Human lives were worth more than such petty pride.
Though people say the way of Gangho has fallen to the ground, true chivalry existed in the Bota Clan.
Amitabha Buddha.
I should send our affiliated doctors to visit and take their pulses soon.
My master continued speaking.
“Zhejiang Province is a region where both heterodox and orthodox sects have entered and stand in chaos—truly like the Spring and Autumn period. Now that the Baekrin Medical Guild’s finances have become abundant, controlling that region and placing it under our influence should not be difficult.”
“Hmm….”
I fell into thought. Soon, I gestured to Muyue.
Muyue spoke.
“Since the war has just ended, most sects must retrain the warriors who have returned from battle, whereas our Baekrin Medical Guild’s forces remain intact, so the timing is favorable.”
“Well… the doctors who returned are resting, though.”
“Yes. They’re on rotating leave.”
However, from this point forward, it becomes a matter of how those who wield the sword conduct their business.
It is not a battle of doctors, so the Baekrin Medical Guild held the advantage.
I spoke.
“Moreover, if we coordinate with the Bota Clan and share profits with them, wouldn’t it become even smoother?”
“That seems like a judgment clouded by emotion.”
“Well, the Bota Clan is trustworthy, isn’t it?”
“If you mean it in the sense of trust, that is not a bad thing either.”
I nodded and replied.
“If I must invest in Zhejiang Province, I believe the Bota Clan, with whom we have a connection, is the better choice. Of course, one could argue that the Dosan Sword Forest and the Bota Clan are run by people, so they could betray us at any moment….”
Slurp—
I took a sip of tea and exhaled deeply.
Then, with eyes that did not waver even slightly, I continued.
“The chivalrous spirit of those people I have experienced was genuine.”

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