Breaking the Cartel (4)

A rumor was circulating through Hanyang's sijeon.

It said that the wealthy sijeon merchants were trying to gobble everything up for themselves.

The rumor had originated with those who had received Kim Man-seok's patronage, but since that fact was of no interest to the sijeon merchants, no one paid it any attention.

Like the specter of communism, the rumor stirred 'hot fury' among the small and midsize sijeon merchants.

Those burning with anger, jealousy, and resentment had gathered in one place today.

At the gathering, one sijeon merchant broke the silence.

"Can this possibly be right? Master Bong-sang, although it is only natural for the ways of the world to be unfair and unjust, this truly must not be allowed to happen."

The oldest merchant among those gathered, who was called Master Bong-sang, let out a sigh.

He himself sympathized with the man's anger a hundred, a thousand times over, but what could he do?

He could not possibly defy the cartel order led by merchant magnates who had far more money than he did and stood much closer to power...