The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 113

“I had the fortune to serve in the military and achieved a small merit before retiring. So I’m not exactly an imperial person.”

“…Ah.”

“Oh my, how can you put it so simply? This person may look like this, but he’s a retired soldier who achieved merit under His Highness the Crown Prince and earned the rank of Gaseondaebu. He was separately ordered to serve as a personal guard, and last year he even saved the life of Prince Zhou. It’s no different from saying he receives the imperial court’s favor.”

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Though they each held a bottle of alcohol in their hands, only now did proper conversation begin.

Seolmujin, who had initially been repulsed by the smell of alcohol, realized that the drink wasn’t particularly strong and had only a pleasant aroma, so he began to sip it little by little.

A few more cups and he might develop a taste for alcohol, but the drinks he was sampling were excessively expensive and fine, making him worry about the future.

Speaking of which, “may look like this”? If Hee-mae had heard that, a kick would have come flying his way.

Xie Baowei shot a sideways glance at Seolmujin.

This young guard from a Taoist background really had no sense of the situation.

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“The imperial court’s… favor?”

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Immediately, Yan Wugang’s reaction became uncomfortable.

The seals behind him were also fidgeting around, clearly looking for an escape route.

This despite having committed treason together just the night before.

Yan Wugang pondered for a moment, then nodded as if he had realized something.

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“Actually, that’s even better. Come to think of it, doesn’t that mean what we’re doing can be considered as having received His Highness the Crown Prince’s approval?”

“Ooh.”

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The seals who had been scooting away on their bottoms approached with admiration.

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“…That doesn’t mean you can kill indiscriminately.”

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In fact, it was thanks to this that he had first begun thinking about the Taesan Mangui.

After returning to the Hwangbo Family, while he was lounging around receiving visits from relatives, the visit from the commander of Jenam Guard had been quite a shock.

A commander of a guard post personally visiting a mere retired military officer? In person?

Moreover, the commander of Jenam Guard was one of the inland power holders guarding the location of Shandong’s Bureau of Civil Administration, wasn’t he?

Although currently the second elder of the Hwangbo Family—that is, Huangbo Enxiang, father of Hwangbo Yeontak and Huangbo Lüli—served as commander of Liaodong’s Jinzhou Guard, the status of that frontier post couldn’t compare to a military commander right next to the imperial court.

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The words he brought were also shocking: it seems the Provincial Military Commissioner of Shandong would like to see you, so take some gifts and pay him a visit. Don’t forget to mention my name.

That was the content.

That wasn’t all. Well, would only the Provincial Military Commissioner want to see him? The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner and the Provincial Administration Commissioner had also sent people indirectly.

The thought occurred to him: if done well, this might actually work.

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Of course, a disbanded gathering wouldn’t be easily reformed.

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“Will the main sect stay quiet?”

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Surprisingly, Taesanpa, Ak Ga, the deputy leader of Dongpyeong, and Geoyamaeng welcomed it with open arms.

In a way, it was natural. In fact, they wagged their tails so enthusiastically that it was why Seolmujin followed around like a subordinate.

The merchant groups were the same.

Once word spread, somehow even a small trader from Penglai at the northern edge came to visit.

The problem was Pahosamun.

One of the sect’s core members had died and one elder was injured. They had been publicly humiliated too.

Though they had forced a reconciliation, there was no way Pahosamun, which prided itself as the foremost sect in Jiaodong, would participate in a gathering led by the Hwangbo Family, especially one headed by Xie Baowei.

They neither came to meet nor agreed to meet.

Pahosamun was flourishing enough to establish a branch in Jinan.

They couldn’t proceed while ignoring them.

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“So, I came here instead.”

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Xie Baowei grinned.

Yan Wugang nodded as if he finally understood.

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“They called you a cunning fox… indeed, what a shallow scheme.”

“Haha. You never run out of things to say to my face.”

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Xie Baowei said with a vein bulging on his forehead.

Yan Wugang shook his head.

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“Though we’re nominally still disciples of Pahosamun, we’re clearly separated from them now.”

“I know.”

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It was content he was well aware of. It was also content he had gone to hear directly.

Haegu Ridge is a branch of the main sect but has been separated for a long time. If you can gain even them, then gain them.

But you won’t gain the main sect’s heart.

When he heard those words, Xie Baowei thought: that’s fine.

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“I heard this directly from Pahosamun.”

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Though he couldn’t meet the sect leader, since some deputy sect leader had said it directly, they couldn’t take back their words.

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“Hah. What use is this inadequate body.”

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Yan Wugang muttered.

Xie Baowei shook his head.

There was no one more perfect than him.

Yan Wugang had joined Haegu at the age of twenty.

It was after losing his parents and brothers above, and his beloved wife and two newborns below.

For twenty-three years since then, he had slept on cold stone floors and chewed fish entrails while pursuing only pirates.

At the end of that, two years ago, he made his name by completely eliminating the notorious pirate Blood Shark Gang Leader Dokumeojeo Gwakdo who had been rampaging in Jiaodong, along with fifteen Japanese mercenaries called Gwimenyoe.

It was such a brutal massacre that even Yan Wugang himself took a full year to move again, and they say he lost thirty percent of his martial prowess.

Even so, what he brought from that treasure den was just one orphaned child.

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Gaining him meant gaining Jiaodong’s heart.

No, it meant gaining the justification of all of Shandong.

Among the followers of Taesan Mangui who had gathered purely for profit, he alone qualified to add the character for ‘righteousness.’

Thus, there was only one righteous leader in this Shandong.

The heart of Pahosamun was nothing compared to Yan Wugang alone.

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“But I am…”

“No need for long words. I’ll establish a main base for you in Jiaodong. Here is fine, or multiple locations would be fine too.”

“Haha. We don’t need something like a main base…”

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Yan Wugang declined as if embarrassed. Their life was no different from pirates anyway.

Since most of them had no families, their ships were both their resting place and workplace.

Of course, they did have something like a base where they trained newly recruited sea guards, but being an eyesore to both pirates and imperial troops, they moved frequently.

Building a grand main camp on such a topic? It was meaningless talk.

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“I will send rice and silver coins every month. The amount won’t be much, but it should be enough to feed the members of Haeguyeong.”

“Uh… actually, we’re not really lacking that much either…”

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What was taken from the pirates was redistributed to the villagers of Jiaozhou.

Even using just a portion of that, there was enough for the sea bandits to eat and clothe themselves. As evidence, the clothes they wore, the weapons they held, and the alcohol they drank were all quite good quality items.

So if it was just rice and silver coins to sustain them…

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“When the Taishan Alliance is formed, I will create a group of warriors. Some of them will be sent to Jiaozhou in shifts. As long as it’s not wasteful deployment, I won’t mind if people die or get injured. I’m planning for at least a few hundred.”

“…What?”

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What. This is quite serious talk.

Yan Wugang picked his ear as if he had misheard something.

His eyes widened.

People – what could be more lacking than people? These barely fifty or so individuals couldn’t possibly defend all this vast land of Jiaozhou.

The imperial troops were useless, and the pirates targeting smuggling ships were no mere rabble.

Especially those Waegu groups were practically no different from an invasion force.

Since the levels of the sea bandits were also inconsistent, sending trained warriors from Shandong? It was something he couldn’t have hoped for more, but.

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“It’s dangerous work. We also risk our lives every time we go out. Moreover, when the opponent is the government…”

“I will reduce the tyranny of the imperial troops.”

“What?”

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Yan Wugang shot up from his seat.

The warriors of Haeguyeong did the same.

Fierce killing intent emanated from them.

It wasn’t directed at Xie Baowei.

It was their resentment.

The sorrow of people who had lived their entire lives without protection from the nation.

No, rather it was the injustice of a life exploited and oppressed by them.

It was human nature to harbor more resentment toward betraying allies than toward enemies.

So how could they not be stirred?

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“I have already petitioned the Douzhuishi and Fuchengsi and received confirmation.”

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It was a thorough transaction.

In fact, for the current imperial army, defending the sea was nothing but empty pretense.

Officers embezzled land that should have been given to soldiers to fill their own bellies, and starving low-ranking soldiers survived by robbing fishing villages or taking bribes from smugglers.

When truly fierce Waegu and pirates appeared, they were busy running away, yet had long been obsessed only with squeezing the lifeblood from powerless common people.

Even when they occasionally plundered smuggling ships or pirates, those gold and silver treasures only went up the chain and never came down, so officers and soldiers alike were only eager to hide whatever they could, big or small.

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What Xie Baowei offered to provide was simple.

What do smuggling merchants want most?

Paradoxically, wouldn’t it be safe trading?

Safe trading on seas free of pirates, under strict military discipline.

Merchant groups were fully willing to share profits if that were possible.

Instead, they agreed to share the fighting with martial artists.

If the military just bought time, the martial artists would handle the combat.

From the government’s perspective, it was a deal with absolutely no losses.

The troublesome Waegu subjugation would be handled by martial artists shedding their own blood, while they could sit back and collect money and achievements.

Shandong’s merchant groups secured safe money sources under government acquiescence, and the government gained bribes and public order.

Of course, they couldn’t openly overlook smuggling that the nation strictly prohibited, so with all the roundabout political language used to hide and speak indirectly, it was boring to death for Xie Baowei, but somehow it worked out well.

Thus it became a deal good for Shandong’s merchants, good for the government, good for fishing villages, and good for the Taishan Alliance. The merchant associations, knowing they’d get backstabbed if they relied only on the government, secured another lifeline with the Taishan Alliance, while the mountain righteous expanded their money source significantly – a good thing indeed.

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“What will you do?”

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Yan Wugang and the sea bandits trembled.

It was neither elation nor anger. Unknown emotions swirled within them.

A single tear rolled down Yan Wugang’s eye.

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“How truly futile.”

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Something that someone couldn’t prevent even after dedicating their entire life and rolling their foolish existence.

When that foolish life reaches thirty, fifty, and goes up generation after generation, it becomes countless.

That futile life.

Yan Wugang closed his eyes and opened them.

Come to think of it.

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“We, we can build the main camp?”

“You can build them big, multiple ones.”

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This wasn’t ordinary important talk.

The sea bandits looked at each other intently.

Yan Wugang nodded.

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“I’ll do it. Let me do it. What, should we make a written agreement or something?”

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Xie Baowei grinned.

It was done.

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Thus the Taishan Alliance came to be established.

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***

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Pahosanmun came out belatedly and made pitiful struggles, but they couldn’t stop the tide.

Let’s see if you can do it without us!

They shouted, but they’d come crawling back on their own before long.

With such massive profits at stake, there was no one who wouldn’t be greedy. In fact, contrary to their words, people regarded Haeguyeong as a faction of Pahosanmun.

Pahosanmun had also subtly enjoyed the benefits of that reputation, and they probably never imagined that Yan Wugang would accept such a worldly proposal.

But what was done was done, and only a month remained until the first gathering of the Taishan Alliance.

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“…No, why are they coming there too.”

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I’m already dying from too much work… Xie Baowei pressed his forehead.

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“Why is the Moyong Family coming here?”

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