Deals

Duman Junhe explained as they made their way out from the Lower Western Palace and out onto the streets of the Inner Ring itself. Everything seemed muted and dull, compared to the sights that they had just seen. The colors were still there, but less vibrant. And the decor seemed more ... discordant than it had been, in the West Court Palace. And there were more people, bustling about them as though they had their coats on fire. That was how Junhe had described them, and Wuying hid a laugh as he agreed with the man.

They were headed towards Gold Street, closer to the South of the Ring. That place was famous for its rich businesses. Powerful businesses. And it seemed that the young man's tale was not too far out of the ordinary either. At least, not at the beginning: he described his father - who was in a bit of trouble due to his spending more than he had, and his mother, a third rank noblewoman who was hampered by family debts. That was a rather more common situation in the South, apparently.

Well, his grandfather had been more than pleased with the deal that he had struck. But it soon became evident that there was no sign that a child was on the way, even after three years of marriage. That was when the infamous merchant, Wei Longjia, started to grumble at his own son. Which was how Duman Junhe's father made a deal with the same.

"Basically, he told yeye that getting married to my mother was an exchange for the old man covering his debts. And her family's as well. But if he wanted grandchildren, it was another addendum to the contract. In short, he was going to have to pay an additional premium. One that covered our education and care. Along with the necessary social niceties. Well, yeye agreed in the end, and one year later, I was born."

"So basically, your parents gouged your grandfather to have children?"

"Yes, that was about it. They managed to do it twice too. Once for me, and once for my younger brother. I somehow managed to get into grandfather's good books and stayed there, ever since I was young. Which was how I got my rather lavish allowance. Younger brother, on the other hand, gained more than just that. He inherited yeye's business sense as well, and so he went to work as an investment agent. Well, an apprentice to to one, to tell the truth. If there is anything happening in the financial world, I'm sure that he has got a good grasp of it!"

That seemed to match what they were looking for, in Wuying's opinion. Yet, he could not help by wonder, why hasn't anyone learned about the young man? Or his rather embarrassing secret? The Duman scandal wasn't exactly a secret, in the merchant circles, was it?

"Oh. And when we meet him later, don't be too surprised. He goes by the name Lei Dongsu at the Exchange. It keeps people from learning that we are brothers. And the whole family is supposedly in disgrace and all that, you know? He doesn't want it to splash onto him."

Well, that answered the question! And of course, led to a great many more. But Wuying decided to keep his mouth closed. Junhe looked a little embarrassed by the whole thing, so it seemed to be the best thing to do. There would be other opportunities to talk, after all.

Then, at long last, they were there!

Gold Street, supposedly where most of the rich and the famous businesses close to the support of the Palace City and the Inner Ring held their own Court, was very different from the Western Palace Court which they had just exited. The street was narrower than he had expected, and there were more people there, dressed as clerks and simple servants. No one seemed bothered to see the trio walk in there, except for a smattering of more richly dressed folk. Those seemed to look like they had an interest in the businesses that were run there themselves. And the buildings themselves looked nothing like what Wuying had expected them to.

But Duman Junhe avoided the larger of the businesses, and even the middle-sized shops. Instead, he took one of the alleyways off the major streets. And finally entered into a nondescript little building that did not look as thought it was a place where rich merchants and wealthy traders would frequent.

He did not offer an explanation, of course. And since Wumu Qian did not bother to ask any questions of the man, neither did Wuying. Although he was wondering just what sort of merchant apprentice Duman Junhe's brother was. Or was this the way that they did business? Here in the Capital City?

Once inside the building, it soon became clear that the place was a veritable maze of small offices. And had Junhe not been leading them, Wuying had no doubt that he would have been utterly lost in the maze! How different things were, back in Kongmin Town!

Junhe's brother, when the richly dressed nobleman pulled open the office door, seemed too young to be working. At least, that was Wuying's first impression of the young boy, as he bowed obsequiously at the trio, and tendered a most convincing merchant-agent's greeting. There was a shrewdness in his gaze that was a little off-putting all the same, although he could see a certain resemblance to the Southerner. His choice of clothes, however, were more staid and un-intimidating, made of fine cotton. Just the sort of garb that a wealthy merchant would wear.

And for all that Lei Dongsu held himself well in public, he did not bother with his facade the moment that the door closed behind Duman Junhe and his friends!

"You should know better, brother!" he hissed as he checked the doors that led to his antechamber as he scowled at his older sibling, "We look too much alike and people will start to notice if we are seen together! What is it this time? You've overdrawn your allowance again?"

The younger brother's tone was a little caustic, but Junhe ignored it with a smile. Instead he dropped into the younger man's hands the piece of paper that bore the notes that he had drawn from the clerk earlier, back at the Lower Western Palace. The younger man snatched it up at once and started to read.

From the sounds that led deeper into the office, there was an another meeting going on in the rooms deeper inside. Probably a more important one too. And involving Dongsu's master, Wuying thought, as he considered what that would mean. It made sense, in a way. And Junhe had said that he was an assistant to a more famous trader. Clearly, that meant that he was in-charge of handling the records, which covered almost an entire wall in the small office space.

"I think you owe me a word of praise for my efforts," Junhe told the younger man then, as he glanced at his fingernails almost haughtily, "I thought it best that you be the first to know, after all. You should know how to play this up to grandfather, so that yeye ends up coughing up more funds for the family."

"You actually made it through? And into the Royal Guard, no less? What happened? Were the judges all blind or half-asleep?" the boy scoffed, although Wuying sensed a smile trying to make itself known on his lips.

"Perhaps a bit of both?" laughed the older brother. Then he waved a hand at the other candidates. "Or it might be that I had help. These are Wumu Qian of Yexing Ya, and Yue Wuying of Kongmin Town. They have also been accepted into the Guard and all three of us shall be serving at White Tiger Gate together shortly."

The younger man tendered a very proper bow to each of the pair - a merchant's bow, before he sat down again and turned to his brother with a scowl. "White Tiger Gate? That's bloody half-way across the Kingdom! You are intent on avoiding our doddering parents then? Although yeye will probably have a month of boasting over this news!"

Then he sighed. "And I suppose that you wish me to make the necessary arrangements for the ... handling of your pay too? Along with that of your friends? That's smarter than I had expected, big brother. The larger the principal sum, the more profit that you'll gain. If the venture is successful, of course."

"I had already warned them about that, little brother. So, what is the best option for these poor soldiers, hmm? We are going to be new, and there might be complications at first."

The boy snorted, and tapped the notes that he had just been handed. "Standard arrangements for the most part, with additional clauses for ... certain allowances. If you maximise that, and I recommend that you do, it will come up some additional coin as well. Offhand, I would estimate your monthly allowance to be in the region of fifty to fifty-five gold coins. That's a good deal more than your old allowance to be sure," he declared firmly.

"That much? Well, what can we do with it?"

But the younger man shook his head at his older brother. "No, no. It won't do to throw the whole amount into one pot. You'll need some coin at hand for some of the essentials that you might need. There are always other items that are required in your job, and expenses that are not written down. Like uniforms and the like. It is already the middle of summer, and the colder seasons are on their way. While the weather is mild for the most part, you'll still need warmer, woollen coats unless I miss my guess. And winter socks and blankets! So you'll need to have some spending coin set aside."

Then he paused, and slowly tapped the paper in front of him. "If all three of you are agreeable, I can make arrangements for you to participate in ... the movement of some essential goods from the Hinterlands of the Dragon Sector into the major cities of the South. Those are always in need of supply - call it stockpiling for the winter. The profit margin isn't much, but it is almost a guaranteed profit. Once you have built up more funds - say, half a year's worth, we can move on to more lucrative, higher risk ventures."

Wuying nodded as he heard that. "So we need to build up our ... capital first. Is that it?"

"Yes. Now, given what you are getting, I would suggest that you put half of that - well, half your pay, really! That's about twenty-five gold pieces, into the initial fund. And the same for every moon following. That should give you seventy-five pieces of gold to work with over the first moon, and an additional seventy-five every moon thereafter. If you keep that up, it will come up to about nine hundred gold pieces in a year. Without throwing in the possible profit that these ventures will likely produce. That seems to be an adequate amount, no?"

"Not quite."

Qian spoke up then, surprising the other two Guards, as well as the young merchant. "I have need of some two hundred gold as soon as possible. Preferably, before the new year."

Dongsu scowled, then a thought seemed to strike him, and he nodded at the man. "Ah! Yes. Yexing Ya. Nightstar Cliff. I have heard about that. If I am not mistaken, your family has put some lands down as collateral, I think. And this sum must be repaid - in full, of course! By the Spring of next year? Or a partial payment of two hundred gold pieces, to offset the debt within the same time frame. Am I correct?"

"You are. Hence I am willing to commit a sum of forty gold a moon instead. That should bring me closer to my target of two hundred much quicker, wouldn't it? Even if we were to stick to safer investments."

The younger man's eyes were wide when he heard that. "That is true. But ... you will limiting yourself, and the weather of the coming seasons may prove ... bothersome in the West," he pointed out.

"Then I shall have to make certain that I gain the prizes that Lieutenant Ah Man had mentioned earlier," he replied, turning to Wuying with a smile as he did so, "The prizes that would gain me substantial bits of coin across the field of battle. It is not as if I have much a choice. Not if I wish to redeem that debt this year."

The door to the inner office opened then, interrupting their conversation. But all three of them were not too surprised, given Dongsu's position. So all of them bowed courteously, at the rather young-looking girl in a bright red dress stepped through the same. She looked no more than twelve or thirteen, judging from her height, and her underdeveloped feminine build. Her face was hidden, save for her large, bright eyes, behind a large folding fan, decorated by two lines of verse, written in a rather elaborate, floral style.

"Oho! It seems we have stumbled on your assistant in the midst of advising some friends of his. Nobles with debts, perhaps? How embarrassing," chuckled the girl as she moved through the doorway. The bite in her tone of voice bordered on insult, and Wuying wondered at that. Why was she picking on them? And at their first meeting too!

But Qian did not appear to redden at all. Instead, he merely nodded back, gravely. "That is true. It is embarrassing. But one does what one must, to save one's family's lands," he replied in his quiet, no-nonsense voice. Since he was the last one to speak, he stood up to take responsibility, as it were, for the last words of the conversation.

"Ah! There is much simpler solution, isn't there? Given that you are noble-born. A wealthy merchant's daughter, taken as a wife or concubine, should settle all of your debts, no?"

The sarcasm in her tone was more pronounced then, and Wuying had the impression that she was deliberately trying to provoke a response from Qian. He frowned at that. This was hardly the sort of behavior that he come to expect from a respectable merchant.

But all of that appeared to pass Qian by. The young man merely nodded again, as though he had considered her advice. "That is an option, but one that had already been tried. I trust that you are aware of a merchant named Sen Kongwa? And his ill fortune on the road? His daughter is married to my older brother."

Wuying heard the surprised inhalation of Junhe at his side, and noted as well the raising of eyebrows that accompanied the sharp look of the grey-haired merchant standing behind the girl in the red dress. Clearly, this was a name of significance.

The girl, on the other hand, appeared to maintain her composure. "Ah! Master Sen! It was a terrible thing. My condolences, belated though they may be. And my best wishes for your attempt to ... reclaim your lands. It shall not be easy though, I fear."

"Nothing worth doing is ever easy. But I thank you for your good wishes, on my brother's behalf. I seek only to support him, as a scion of the same House."

To that, the girl appeared to have no answer. So she inclined her head at the young nobleman's words, before she turned back to whisper her farewell to the older man at her back. "I suppose that is my cue to leave, Master Wenchang. But I shall be back tomorrow morning to finish the necessary documentation. The tenth hour, perhaps?"

The old man merely bowed, and continued to escort her out in silence. Leaving the quartet along in the outer office once more. Junhe looked as if he could hardly contain himself, and almost blurted out his question - the obvious question, the moment that they were out the door. But Dongsu held up a hand, and waited a tencount, before he spoke again:

"That, in case you were wondering, was the Chairwoman of the Red Peony Group. She handles most of the trade dealings involving the women-headed businesses and such, throughout the Kingdom. And there are more of those than you might imagine! The amount of wealth that she has in her hands is ... quite unimaginable. Suffice to say, you do not wish her as your enemy."

Then he sighed. "But that has little to do with us. And I doubt that she is entirely unsympathetic as to what happened to Master Sen. It was a terrible business. And I think, rather well known. Although few are aware of his ties to your family," he added, with a nod at Wumu Qian, who merely nodded back.

Wuying looked blankly at the other three then. "I am sorry. But I do not believe that I am aware of the details. What had happened? Qian di?"

"He was attacked, while travelling on one of his trade missions to the East. His band was entirely wiped out, and he was found dead two days later. The other investors came demanding reparations, of course, and so we were left in worse straits than before. It is a rather well-known tragic tale, in the merchant circles."

Qian's voice was still even, which said a lot for his famous Northern stoicism. But there was a slight tightening about his eyes, which Wuying noted. The latter apologized at once, but the Northerner merely shook his head.

"It is better that you know this now, brother Wuying. So that you are not caught unaware. I should point out that it has nothing to do with me, since I am not directly tied to Master Sen. But I do feel somewhat responsible. And I should take on some of my brother's responsibilities, at least. I owe him that much, surely."

Then he turned back to Dongsu, and held out his own papers. Which the younger man accepted. "That is part of the reason why I must not miss the payment date, you see? So you will agree that my proposal, to increase my share to forty gold coins a moon, is acceptable?" he asked then.

"Well, if Junhe is willing, we can raise our shares to thirty gold pieces each as well. That will give you a nice, round number to deal with," added Wuying before the other young man could reply, "It is not as if there is much that we can spend our coin on, apart from weapons and armor. It is rather empty out there, you know, which is why they call it the bleak West."

"Ah. That will leave us about twenty gold a moon as spending money. It's not very much," Junhe sighed, "But you know the place better than I do, so I'll take your word for it. And I daresay the clause about us earning our way for each enemy slain still holds. I trust that it is not an empty promise, that one?"

Wuying nodded as he smiled. "From what I know, the Beasts that have overtaken the Old White Tiger Trade Town do drop those small crystal shards when they are killed. And Lieutenant Ah Man wasn't lying when he told you that they were worth their weight in gold. The Pristine Order - that's the proper name of the Gray Robes! They like to buy over the same. And so do some of the Crafters. I can't tell you what they do with them though. I had never bothered to ask. And Lieutenant Ah Man had already told us the current prices. But it seems to give us another source of coin."

"So we just redouble our efforts in the field if we need more money, is that it?"

"Yes. And I think the price of our bowl of noodles this afternoon is a good gauge of how much we'll be needing. That's if we choose not to eat in the Mess. And you have heard what he thinks about the cooking there!" Wuying added with a chuckle, "I think that we can agree that twenty gold pieces a moon is rather luxurious, if you ask me."

Junhe seemed more convinced by then. "Then I agree. Dongsu, you can write me up for the arrangement too," he said then, turning to his younger brother.

Who had already completed a rough draft and was snorting at his older brother. He tsked then, as he nodded at the other two men. "Now, since this is a three year posting, you're likely to be at it for a while. Taking thirty-six moon stretch, your total investment, as a trio, will be three thousand six hundred gold pieces. Just to clarify, Master Wumu Qian will be contributing one thousand four hundred and forty gold pieces, while the other two will be putting in a thousand and eighty gold pieces. That should be enough to allow you to qualify for most ventures that we participate in."

Then he smiled as he tapped the papers that he had scribbled on earlier. "If you care to make good on that loan, Master Wumu - which comes to only six hundred and eighty-two gold, by the way. That is according to the original document that has been filed at the North Lake Bank. Well, I am certain that the Company can stand you the necessary amount up front. At a slight interest, of course. If you wish it, I can handle that myself."

Qian looked surprise and agreed to it at once. "I would greatly appreciate that."

"It is merely a gesture, since you are helping to keep my brother's miserable hide intact, out there in the West. There is only one small issue left, and that is my commission. I will be charging you five gold pieces each, for every one hundred pieces invested. Before you complain, I should point out that this is very much below the market rate."

Qian nodded again, and bowed deeply at the younger man. "It is true. I had heard that such commissions can go as high as a quarter of the trade price, although most would settle for a tenth. Five parts in a hundred is dreadfully low," he pointed out, "You will be losing money."

"Ah! But I wish something else in return, of course! Between the two of you, you should be able to make certain that my brother writes me every moon! Me, and only me, mind you! And not the other members of our family! That should give me the excuse to ... share your experiences with yeye at his club, no? And entrance into that place would greatly enhance my prestige."

"Here! Every moon?"

But the other two men laughed and agreed to his terms at once, ignoring Junhe's protests. "We shall see that it is done," Wuying laughed, as he nodded his agreement to the terms, "It is a small thing, really, for such a prodigious discount!"

* * *

BTW, yeye indicates one's paternal grandfather - the father of one's father. JIC clarification is needed.