Chapter 23
I didn't have a house in Hanyang, so when I first came here to take the gwageo, I paid to stay in a private home.
If I had been sure I'd pass the exam, that would be one thing, but as an eighteen-year-old brat going to take the civil service exam, I saw it as nothing more than experience.
When it came time for me to take the exam, my family said there was no need to buy a house in Hanyang, so I stayed at someone else's place.
"Aigo, Kim Suchan-nari. What do you think of this house? Do you like it? It's about seventy kan in size, and because it's in Gwanwangbang, the advantage is that it's not hard to get to the Six Ministries, Jiphyeonjeon, and the palace for work."
"Seventy kan... isn't that a bit too big a house for me?"
"But you're the sort of Suchan-nari who may well become a future prime minister. I worry this might actually be too small a house for you, sir."
"What are you talking about? Even if I were to marry someday and keep a few more servants to help with the household, I feel like this is still too large..."
Seventy kan came out to about 130 pyeong. In Gwanwangbang, that would be like some prime district in Gangnam, Seoul.
Even if I was only a sixth-rank official, I couldn't tell whether getting a 130-pyeong house here, yard included, was proper or simply too much for me. It seemed like I should probably look for something smaller.
After all, a house like this was, without exaggeration, like buying a 100-pyeong apartment in Gangnam.
Even if property prices in early Joseon Hanyang were cheaper than in twenty-first-century Korea, a house this size still felt like too much for me.
While I was agonizing over it, Kim Mandeok, who was beside me, whispered to me.
"If you sold the gifts Suchan-nari received from Jinhae County, you could buy four houses like this. So don't be stingy about spending money."
"Even so, I'm still alone, aren't I? I don't have a wife or children yet, and the only servants I brought along are Deolsoe over there and one maid to cook."
"With your fame and wealth, sir, honestly you ought to have a house of around 150 kan in Gwanwangbang, not 70. And as for marriage, if you wanted to, you could choose any daughter from a distinguished family and take her as your wife, and beauties wanting to become your concubines are lining up... How can you call a house of only 70 kan big?"
Honestly, I just didn't like the idea of an arranged marriage, and at nineteen now, I'd been putting marriage off and off.
In Joseon, marriage was decided more by the parents' wishes than by the couple's own. In other words, if my father made the decision, I'd have to marry even a woman twenty years older than me.
But I had won first place in the gwageo at eighteen, and my father had never even held a post above rank nine, so uncharacteristically for Joseon, he was indulging my stubbornness and letting me get away with not marrying.
At my age, it wouldn't be strange to already have one or two children.
When Kim Mandeok gave a signal, Kim Gyeoul beside him chimed in.
"Even integrity and purity can be a bad thing if taken too far."
"...... All right. I'll take this house."
Honestly, I was flabbergasted. Of course, our family home in the provinces was much larger than this... but that was because it was in the provinces.
This was Seoul, after all—more specifically, Bukchon's Gwanwangbang, famous for its sky-high land prices. I hadn't expected to buy a house here.
Once I decided to buy the house, the broker hustled over to me.
"Aigo, you've made a wise choice. As expected, Suchan-nari has a sharp eye. This house was once where Lord Uheonnap Kim Jeoljae (Kim Jongseo), famed as an upright official, lived for a time after passing the gwageo."
At this point in history, Kim Jongseo would only be one of the capable men on the rise, yet the broker was boasting about that to me as if it were something to brag about... Apparently, who used to live in a house matters a great deal when it's being sold.
Come to think of it, I'd heard that even in real estate, if it's the same apartment, a place once occupied by someone who got into Seoul National University could sell for ten million won more. In this civil-service-exam-crazed Joseon, something like that might affect the price of a house too.
"Gwanwangbang itself is near the palace and near Unjongga (the market district), so land is a bit expensive. Even for seventy kan, you'll need to pay four hundred seom of white rice."
...... Four hundred seom of white rice was a huge sum, but not so much that I couldn't afford it. If I converted only what I'd received during my term as magistrate into rice, it would probably come to around two thousand seom.
It had a good location and plenty of space, so this much was reasonable enough.
"All right. Though it looks like it may take me some time to exchange the gifts I've received for rice at the market..."
"Oh, then I'll introduce you to some merchants I know in the market. That'll let you exchange it in no time."
I didn't have much in the way of connections in Seoul. Still, that broker wouldn't dare rip off a sixth-rank Jiphyeonjeon official too badly... At most, he'd skim off twenty to twenty-five percent.
Still, I had never planned to let that bastard handle the gifts in the first place. I had Kim Mandeok, my fate-bound comrade.
When I gave Kim Mandeok a look, he chuckled and gripped both of the broker's shoulders tightly.
"Hey there."
"What do you think you're doing? I'm in the middle of a conversation with Suchan-nari right now..."
"You really don't know who our Suchan-nari is? He's the one who came first in the gwageo."
"And so what?"
"He's the man who came first in the gwageo, and when he served as a local magistrate, he built up so much merit that he was even honored with a merit stele. If you're even a merchant doing a little business in Hanyang, you must know at least the story of how His Majesty the Retired King wore a black gonryongpo and smashed the head of some fellow named Jeong Hakso in Jinhae County, right?"
"Who in all of Hanyang wouldn't know that..."
Kim Mandeok pointed at me and curled one corner of his mouth into a grin.
"Do you know what His Majesty the Retired King said when he ordered Jeong Hakso killed? 'Joseon must be a nation that gives hope to its people. The magistrate of Jinhae was like that.' And the gentleman you're trying to sell this house to is the former magistrate of Jinhae, sir."
The smile vanished from the broker's face. Then he began pouring sweat.
I didn't think he'd tremble that badly even if a maiden ghost who'd never even held a man's hand before jumped him in his sleep.
"I, too, was a merchant who'd run a pretty big business in Jinhae County, so I know all too well about your little trick of jacking up the price and skimming the difference... But you should pick your targets before you try to cheat them."
"...... Are you threatening me right now?"
The broker's tone changed. That bastard had already been cornered by Kim Mandeok.
"No, I'm just saying that's how it is. Let's not shed blood between merchants."
If you look at the Annals of King Seongjong and the other annals, one of the reasons listed for not opening markets was that 'bands of thieves' would show up.
The word bandit can also refer to the monster-like 'mountain bandits' you see in fantasy games, but merchants were also called bandits in the sense of knife-less swindlers, since what they did was no different from mountain bandits...
Since Kim Mandeok was also a merchant hardened by years in Jinhae County, his talent for intimidating people was no joke.
"So how much?"
"Three hundred and fifty seom of white rice. No, three hundred seom! Three hundred seom is enough!"
"And if I include furniture?"
"Oh, if you include furniture too, 350—no, 340 seom will be enough."
Kim Mandeok grinned at me.
"Suchan-nari, I think this price is about right."
"I know, but didn't we squeeze him too hard?"
"That guy's a merchant too. He wouldn't make a deal that loses him money as badly as a knife held to his throat. That was probably the proper price from the start."
"You're quite ruthless yourself."
"Since Hanyang is full of hardened merchants, I've heard the market merchants even hire ruffians to start brawls."
During the reigns of Sukjong and Yeongjo, there were even groups called the Geomgye who went around stabbing people like gangsters, and the court had to mobilize the Military Training Office to crush them with full force.
It wasn't as though such armed groups didn't exist at all in early Joseon. And on top of that, Joseon was full of the notion that commerce was base and had to be suppressed...
'No wonder the place is full of thug-like bastards selling computers in Yongsan.'
If they were trying to fleece even an official like me, then against ordinary commoners they'd go all the way to threatening them with clubs. 'Customer, if you don't buy this, you're going to have a nasty surprise today,' and all that.
These bastards will all have to be 'reformed' someday.
"How long would it take if I paid 340 seom of white rice and had the furniture brought in as well?"
"Oh, Suchan-nari. We can have everything, including the cleaning, taken care of within a week."
"I'll leave it to you."
And just like that, I could leave even the cleaning to them.
Then we drew up the sale deed (contract).
Once Kim Mandeok confirmed the deed of sale had been written, he immediately tried to leave.
"I’ll join the merchant guild first, then go sell the gifts Suchan-nari brought to the market. And Gyeoul..."
"Yes, Father."
"It won't be easy for Suchan-nari to take care of the household matters, so you should help him."
"Don't worry. I'll do my best."
And with that, Kim Mandeok left in a flash, leaving behind Deolsoe, one maid in her forties who cooked, and Gyeoul.
No, wait. He also left behind a few of his own servants to help with the cleaning.
Kim Gyeoul quickly began gathering the bare minimum of household goods we needed instead of me.
“Mama Jangdeok, start cooking rice right away. Deolsoe and the other servants, go to the market and buy some side dishes.”
...... She seemed almost like the one running our household.
Thinking of her as the household manager stirred something a little... suggestive in me. Damn, with my body still only nineteen, even the slightest wandering thought feels off.
After assigning all the work, Kim Gyeoul turned to me and whispered in a small voice.
"On a day like today, it's best to let the servants have their fill of meat and liquor."
"Ah, right. Today is a happy occasion for the household, so we can't have everyone go without a proper meal."
“The furniture hasn't been brought in yet, so we can't live here right away... but today is the happy day I've gotten a house in Hanyang, so I'll make sure everyone can eat meat and drink to their hearts' content. You've all worked hard.”
Once I gave the order, everyone hurried to get moving.
"Thank you. I can understand Mandeok, but I never expected to get help from you as well."
"My father ordered me to value Suchan-nari's affairs more than our own family's. I merely obeyed that command."
"I see. It's not like in some drama where people fall in love and all that..."
"But I am truly glad to be able to help Suchan-nari, who is virtuous and upright. Please continue to take care of us."
The phrase 'from now on too' sounded especially ticklish.
Kim Mandeok and Kim Gyeoul continued to come by our house from time to time to help with the work. Thanks to them, I was able to finish the big job of moving without much trouble.
After finishing the move and resting for a few days, before I knew it, it was my first day at Jiphyeonjeon.
I arrived at Jiphyeonjeon feeling nervous because it was my first day.
There, the Deputy Chief Scholar of Jiphyeonjeon welcomed me very warmly.
"Our Kim Suchan, welcome. There's quite a lot you need to do."
"...... Send me back to Jinhae County."