abcnovels
Chapter 346
Chapter 346
Chapter 346
Near Hyogyeong Bridge in Cheonggyecheon (currently near Sewoon Plaza).
Around the bridge, also called the Blind Bridge due to the many blind people living nearby, small and large thatched houses were clustered together. It was one of the few remaining lower-class residential areas that had survived a previous great fire and avoided reconstruction.
But now, many soldiers were flocking to this place. They were bailiffs and constables from the State Tribunal and the Hanseong Police Bureau.
“We must completely seal off the perimeter.”
The investigator from the State Tribunal commanded, and the bailiffs from the Police Bureau bowed their heads and answered.
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t forget that His Majesty and the ministers are all watching. If we let even one slip through, we’ll have to face His Majesty’s wrath.”
Sweating profusely at the investigator’s warning, the Police Bureau bailiffs responded.
“We won’t let even a mouse escape!”
After thoroughly surrounding the neighborhood’s perimeter, the State Tribunal bailiffs began raiding and searching the houses.Bailiffs wielding clubs and iron whips formed groups of four or five and started ransacking the thatched houses.
Bang!
Crash!
“Mother!”
“Oh my goodness!”
The sounds of doors breaking and women screaming began to erupt from all directions, and soon after, men’s shouts started to burst out here and there.
“Hey, run!”
“Catch him!”
“Halt!”
“Stop right there! Stop!”
“Would you stop if you were me?”
“Shit! Catch that bastard who just ran by no matter what!”
After this chaotic scene, it wasn’t long before men who had been beaten by the bailiffs and constables were dragged out with their faces in a mess.
The men, tied up with ropes like dried croaker fish, trudged along under the strict surveillance of the bailiffs and constables.
Among these men being marched along, one looked around and tilted his head in confusion.
“This… isn’t the direction of the Police Bureau? Excuse me, sir. Where are we going?”
“The State Tribunal.”
“Gasp!”
At the bailiff’s nonchalant answer, all the men being dragged along turned pale.
“Sir! We only played some dice and domino games. The State Tribunal is too much! Isn’t this excessive?”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
As the voices of those being dragged away grew louder, a bailiff shouted angrily.
“You lot who set up gambling dens forbidden by the state have a lot to say! Shut your mouths and walk!”
***
Thus, all those who were dragged away were imprisoned in the State Tribunal’s jail.
The moment they entered the State Tribunal’s jail, most were extremely intimidated and only darted their eyes left and right, but there were a few who seemed bold.
Whether they were truly brave or just putting on a front to hide their fear was unclear, but these few addressed the jailer with half-joking, half-serious words.
“Even in the State Tribunal’s jail where high-ranking officials are imprisoned, there’s nothing special, is there?”
Hearing this, the jailer smirked and replied.
“What, did you expect silk bedding instead of straw, and gisaengs serving you instead of hairy jailers?”
“It’s just a jail, but why does it feel so chilly?”
“This is a place where more people come out crippled than those who leave unscathed, and even becoming crippled is considered lucky. Isn’t that natural? When various serious crimes occur, hundreds enter and leave as corpses. Did you think it would be pleasant? When I’m on night duty, it’s not once or twice that chills run down my spine.”
At the jailer’s words, those imprisoned in the jail looked around unconsciously with terrified expressions.
The stains scattered on the floor and walls of the jail suddenly seemed suspicious.
As the imprisoned men were feeling scared, an investigator from the State Tribunal entered the jail.
The investigator, observing the imprisoned men through the bars, spoke softly.
“Who is Im Dae-su?”
At the investigator’s question, the imprisoned men looked at each other in confusion.
“Im Dae-su? Who’s that?”
“I don’t know either. Who could it be?”
While most of those who heard the name ‘Im Dae-su’ were tilting their heads in confusion, a commotion broke out in one corner.
“This fucking idiot! I thought his spending habits were strange lately!”
“This moron has brought doom upon us all!”
“Ugh! Argh!”
In the area where the commotion occurred, a group of men were collectively beating one man.
Seeing this, the State Tribunal investigator ordered the jailers.
“Bring those men out!”
“Yes, sir!”
***
Thus, Im Dae-su and those who were beating him were dragged out of the jail and moved to the front yard of the State Tribunal.
“You damn fool!”
“I thought you were acting suspiciously, and sure enough, you’ve caused trouble!”
“Damn idiot!”
Even during the move, the men continued to hurl insults at Im Dae-su. Not just insults, they kicked him whenever they got the chance.
“Ugh! Argh!”
“Can’t you walk properly!”
As they arrived at the front yard of the State Tribunal, battered and bruised, they were greeted by various torture instruments.
“Hmm… What should we start with?”
Seeing Im Dae-su’s terrified expression, the State Tribunal investigator shouted loudly with exaggerated gestures and intonation.
“Should we start with the Juripul? Or should we begin with pressing the legs? Or perhaps we should start with branding with hot irons?”
“Hic! Hic!”
Each time the investigator mentioned a type of torture, Im Dae-su turned pale and hiccupped.
“I think it’s best to start with pressing the legs. Hey! Tie the criminal Im Dae-su to the torture frame!”
“Yes, sir!”
As the constables on both sides grabbed Im Dae-su at the command, Im Dae-su wet himself and shouted.
“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!”
***
Terrified, Im Dae-su spilled everything he knew fluently. After recording all of Im Dae-su’s confession, the investigator reported to the Chief State Tribunal Officer.
“We have identified the person who instigated Im Dae-su.”
“Who is it?”
“It’s Jo Han-tae, the manager of the Western Sea Trading Company.”
“Where is this Western Sea Trading Company located?”
“They have a warehouse in Jemulpo and their main office is at Mapo Port.”
“Send people to Mapo Port and Jemulpo immediately! Tell them to bring in Jo Han-tae, all the employees, and all the documents! Word might have already spread in Mapo Port! Acting first and reporting later is the best course of action!”
“Yes, sir!”
“And throw those men back in jail!”
“Yes, sir!”
Soon, a large cavalry force departed from the State Tribunal. Their destinations were Mapo Port and Jemulpo.
****
The State Tribunal investigator and bailiffs who arrived at Mapo Port rode their horses in all directions to find the Western Sea Trading Company.
“Your Excellency, sir Investigator! That’s the Western Sea Trading Company!”
At the bailiff’s shout, who had found the main office of the Western Sea Trading Company a little distance from the port, the investigator pulled on his horse’s reins.
“Charge in immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
Neigh!
With a loud horse neigh, the investigator and bailiffs, along with their horses, jumped over the main gate of the Western Sea Trading Company.
Crash! Clang!
“Ugh!”
“What’s all this commotion!”
Amidst the chaos as people dodged the horses suddenly leaping over the gate’s threshold, investigator Oh Ji-ho, who led the bailiffs, shouted.
“Arrest the traitors!”
“Yes, sir!”
“You may execute them if they resist!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Oh Ji-ho’s orders, the bailiffs drew their heavy iron clubs and swords, herding the employees of the main office into one place.
Overwhelmed by the imposing presence of the bailiffs mounted on huge horses bred from Western stock, and cowed by the word ‘traitor’, the people of the Western Sea Trading Company scattered and were driven into one place.
Meanwhile, Jo Han-tae, hearing the commotion from the inner quarters, let out a long sigh.
“Sigh~. So it ends like this after all.”
“Manager.”
At Jo Han-tae’s words, the clerk standing beside him called out with a gloomy face. He was one of the few who knew about this affair along with Jo Han-tae.
Looking at the clerk calling him, Jo Han-tae’s expression turned sorrowful.
“I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”
“It was my mistake. Even though it was to grow our company, it was too dangerous.”
***
Jo Han-tae and the Western Sea Trading Company were one of the new companies that had benefited from the Reformation.
Jo Han-tae, who had learned his trade from river merchants, thought this was the perfect time to grow his company. After leaving the river merchant business, he invested all his assets to open a trading company.
Since he hadn’t parted ways badly with the river merchants, the Western Sea Trading Company grew slowly but steadily with some help from them.
“This isn’t enough! At this rate, we can’t grow quickly!”
Judging that it was impossible to grow rapidly with the profits from transporting and selling goods by boat throughout Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces, Jo Han-tae sold his existing transport ships and mobilized all available funds to purchase one large cargo ship capable of crossing the West Sea, venturing into trade with Ming.
However, the trade between Jemulpo and Shandong basically required a lot of capital.
It was a challenging task for the Western Sea Trading Company, which had been established just over two years ago and had only one large cargo ship.
Eventually, as Jo Han-tae and the Western Sea Trading Company fell into crisis due to financial strain, the Eastern Depot approached them.
“If you can provide craftsmen related to the iron horses, we’ll give you the right to supply goods to the imperial household.”
“How many, and what’s the deadline? And for how long can we supply?”
“The more people, the better, and the sooner, the better. We’ll give you 3 years of supply rights for each craftsman.”
The Eastern Depot’s offer was dangerous but sweet.
The clerk of the Western Sea Trading Company strongly opposed, but Jo Han-tae accepted the Eastern Depot’s proposal.
“It’s all or nothing! At this rate, we’ll go bankrupt due to financial issues anyway! Just one person will do! If we can supply to the Ming imperial household for 3 years, we can rise greatly! 3 years is enough! Let’s do it!”
But the result turned out to be nothing rather than all.
***
As the noise from outside the door grew closer, Jo Han-tae pulled out a small dagger from his breast.
After staring at the dagger in his hand for a moment, Jo Han-tae unsheathed it and brought it to his neck.
Just then, the door was violently torn off, and Oh Ji-ho and the bailiffs rushed in.
Oh Ji-ho struck Jo Han-tae’s hand with the back of his sword, knocking away the dagger, and then kicked Jo Han-tae down.
Placing his foot on the fallen Jo Han-tae’s chest, Oh Ji-ho pointed his sword and shouted.
“That’s enough!”
***
On the night that Im Dae-su and Jo Han-tae were arrested by the State Tribunal, a group was hurriedly walking along the night road towards Jemulpo.
As they were walking by moonlight, their steps were very cautious.
In the middle of the group, Jang Seok-il was sweating profusely as he spoke to an old man in Chinese.
“Sir, I’m sorry.”
“As they say, man proposes, God disposes. It was close to gambling, so we must accept the consequences.”
At the old man’s words, Jang Seok-il’s expression showed some relief.
‘Thank goodness. How did we even make it this far!’
However, his face stiffened at the old man’s next words.
“Of course, you should be prepared to face the Chief Eunuch’s displeasure. The costs incurred were not insignificant.”
“I will create another opportunity.”
“You’d better.”
As Jang Seok-il and the old man were having this conversation, the man at the very front scouting the road suddenly raised his hand to stop the movement.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s a man blocking the road ahead, sir.”
“Huh?”
Hearing the answer, the old man raised his head to look ahead.
A man wearing a wide-brimmed hat stood blocking the road, holding a long staff in his arms.
“Who goes there!”
To the question asking for identification in broken Korean, the man blocking the road muttered quietly and pulled out a horn from his breast.
“Found them properly.”
Tweet!
As the loud noise echoed through the night sky, the men guarding the old man and Jang Seok-il all looked around and drew their weapons.
Clang! Click!
As sword-canes were drawn from their waists and spear tips popped out from the ends of staffs, the guards prepared for battle and watched their surroundings.
Soon after, dozens of men appeared from the surroundings. Men dressed all in black from their wide-brimmed hats to their boots surrounded Jang Seok-il’s group.
“Who are you!”
As they asked for identification once again, the man blocking the road answered briefly.
“Grim reaper.”
“What?”
“If they ask who sent you in the afterlife, tell them the Secret Police sent you.”
“What?”
Slash!
In an instant, the Secret Police members drew their swords and began attacking the guard unit.
***
The battle that broke out between the Eastern Depot’s guards and the Secret Police was fierce, but soon the Secret Police began to gain the upper hand.
They were superior in numbers, and their combat ability was also better. It was a moment when all the training they had endured under the captain of the Inner Palace Guard was paying off.
“Ugh!”
The battle ended as the last warrior fell to the ground with his heart pierced.
The only ones left from Jang Seok-il’s group were Jang Seok-il himself and the old man.
In this situation, the old man stepped forward and began to speak in broken Korean.
“I am from the Eastern Dep—”
Before he could finish revealing his affiliation, a Secret Police sword pierced the old man’s heart. Then, the Secret Police sword turned towards Jang Seok-il.
“P-please spa—”
After killing the old man and Jang Seok-il, the Secret Police agents soon brought carriages and loaded their wounded comrades and the bodies of their fallen comrades. Then, loading the bodies of Jang Seok-il’s group into another carriage, the Secret Police agents quietly disappeared.