An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era – Chapter 13

Author: Cireng

Chapter 13

The next morning.

Hayun had been unable to sleep properly since before dawn.

The unfamiliar bed, the unfamiliar ceiling, and the strange sounds coming from outside the window had kept her wide awake.

‘Ugh, my first day at work… I don’t want to go.’

Going to work was something she had experienced countless times even in the twenty-first century.

But this time, everything was different.

“Was I supposed to tie my hair like this?”

Hayun got up and stood in front of the mirror. And there, standing before her, was an unfamiliar man with his hair tied into a sangtu.

“Ah, hello.”

Hayun lowered her voice and began her final check.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Im Ha-seong.”

“Greetings. I’m Im Ha-seong, and I’ll be working with you starting today.”

“Greetings. I am Im Ha-seong.”

After practicing all day yesterday, her voice had become quite natural. She had also changed her clothes, so the length fit her perfectly.

‘Good. This is perfect.’

Hayun took a deep breath and stepped out of her room.

Even in the early morning, many people were already busily coming and going.

Watching them, Hayun walked forward with nervous steps.

‘They said the meeting is held in the main hall, right?’

According to what she had heard yesterday, there was a meeting every Monday morning. And today was Monday.

The participants in the meeting were all the haengsu, including Daebang Im Sang-ok.

In other words, everyone who handled the actual operations of Man-sang would be gathering there.

‘I’m a little nervous.’

Hiding her nervousness, Hayun entered the main hall.

Creeeak.

Around thirty people were already gathered inside the main hall. Hayun politely greeted them.

“Greetings.”

“……”

The silence made her greeting seem almost pointless.

Not a single person returned Hayun’s greeting. An awkward atmosphere hung in the main hall.

‘So this is how you’re going to play it?’

Despite the blatant disregard, Hayun didn’t change her expression even slightly and calmly stood in an empty spot.

‘I expected this much.’

The uncomfortable silence continued for some time.

A little later the door to the main hall opened, and Daebang Im Sang-ok appeared.

“Are you all well?”

“We greet the Daebang.”

The great merchant who had elevated Man-sang into the largest merchant guild in Joseon.

At the appearance of Im Sang-ok, all the haengsu bowed in unison. It was a stark contrast to the reaction they had shown Hayun just moments before.

“You’re all here already.”

Im Sang-ok looked around at the familiar faces before turning his gaze.

His eyes stopped on Hayun.

“Oh, right. I had someone to introduce first. Haengsu Im, come this way.”

At Im Sang-ok’s call, Hayun stepped forward.

Then Im Sang-ok introduced her.

“This is the person who will be working with us starting today–”

That was when it happened.

A booming voice came from one side of the main hall.

“We already know.”

The haengsu spoke mockingly.

“Isn’t he the Gukbap Haengsu?”

“Gukbap Haengsu?”

“I hear he used to work at a tavern. Apparently, he sold gukbap so well that he became a haengsu.”

“Heh-heh. Gukbap, huh? Gukbap.”

Snickering laughter erupted from here and there.

Among those who had risen through the ranks by following the proper procedures, Hayun was practically a parachute hire.

There was no way they were going to look favorably upon her.

Blatant criticism poured toward Hayun.

“How well could she possibly have sold gukbap to become a haengsu? Ten bowls? No, twenty?”

“Come on, even if she was terrible, she should have sold at least a hundred bowls a day.”

“Would that make about ten nyang?”

“Pfft. Even so, that’s not even the price of a single ginseng root.”

“That’s all it amounts to?”

“I thought she’d at least made enough selling gukbap to buy a building.”

“Wahahaha! What a joker!”

In an instant, the main hall became a sea of laughter.

Blatant ridicule.

The rumors about Hayun had already spread far and wide. And there was obviously only one person who could have spread such rumors.

‘Song Do-hyeon…!’

Hayun glared at Song Do-hyeon. But he merely covered his mouth with his fan and quietly laughed.

“Everyone, quiet down.”

At the excessive mockery, Im Sang-ok stepped in to mediate.

“It is true that Haengsu Im worked at a tavern.”

Im Sang-ok, who already knew Hayun’s abilities, defended her.

“But the reason I brought Haengsu Im here is not simply because she was good at selling gukbap.”

“Then what is it?”

“It is because Haengsu Im took a tavern that was going under with absolutely no capital and turned it into the best tavern in Mungyeong Saejae.”

As Im Sang-ok said this, he looked around at Haengsu, who had been mocking her moments ago.

“Selling a large quantity of goods is not particularly difficult. You can lower the price, or secure a location in a good spot. But do you know how difficult it is to revive a place whose fortunes have already declined?”

“Hmm……!”

The haengsu could not easily refute Im Sang-ok’s words.

“Once a place has been branded as a failure, no one goes there anymore. The gloomy atmosphere makes people reluctant to visit for no particular reason. Rather than reviving such a place, it is several times easier to simply open a new tavern.”

Some of the haengsu nodded. They agreed with him.

“But Haengsu Im did it. A tavern where flies had been the only visitors every day became packed with customers after Haengsu Im got involved. Eventually, there wasn’t even enough room, and people had to take waiting tickets and stand in line for hours.”

“Is that really true?”

Someone asked cautiously.

Im Sang-ok answered firmly.

“I saw it with my own two eyes.”

“The Daebang personally…!”

The expressions of the haengsu changed subtly.

But that was only a small portion of them. The majority of the haengsu still looked at Hayun with crooked, disapproving gazes.

“Hmph. Even so, it was just gukbap.”

As though agreeing with those words, the others chimed in one after another.

“Is selling gukbap the same as selling the goods we sell?”

“Exactly. Selling food and selling goods are worlds apart. Ginseng, silk, medicinal herbs… How can you possibly compare those things to gukbap?”

“Customers will come into a tavern even if you just sit there, but we have to go around selling our goods one by one. It’s an entirely different kind of work.”

Despite the continued mockery, Im Sang-ok no longer tried to persuade them.

He already knew. There was no way to convince merchants with words.

“You’ll see in time. You’ll find out what kind of ability Haengsu Im can demonstrate.”

In the end, the only way to silence merchants was through results.

Knowing that, Im Sang-ok sent Hayun back to her place.

“Haengsu Im. I think that’s enough of an introduction, so please return to your place.”

“Yes, sir.”

And so Hayun’s introduction, full of words and trouble, came to an end, and the actual meeting began.

“Reception Chief Yoon.”

Im Sang-ok turned his head and called Reception Chief Yoon, who was standing to one side of the main hall.

“Yes, Daebang.”

Reception Chief Yoon approached with a ledger in hand.

The ledger he held was densely filled with the goods Man-sang possessed and their quantities.

Im Sang-ok looked at the ledger and asked.

“What goods need to be dealt with urgently right now?”

“Gulbi.”

“Gulbi?”

At the unexpected item, the haengsu asked in puzzlement.

“Why gulbi? The holidays are still a long way off.”

“Gulbi can be stored for a long time, so why is it urgent?”

“I remember it hasn’t even been three months since the gulbi came in… Is there something wrong with the ledger?”

In response to the haengsu’s questions, Reception Chief Yoon explained the reason.

“We’ve heard that an unusually large amount of yellow croaker has been caught this year in the waters off Chilsan.”

“So?”

“Within two months at the latest, that quantity will reach this area as well. When that happens, the price of yellow croaker will inevitably plummet. Before then, we have to somehow dispose of the gulbi we currently have in stock.”

“Hmm……”

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Im Sang-ok asked with a serious expression.

“How much gulbi do we currently have?”

“About three thousand dureum.”

“Three thousand dureum?”

The main hall became noisy.

“At five nyang per dureum……”

“That means more than fifteen thousand nyang?”

The haengsu who finished calculating were startled.

Fifteen thousand nyang was worth well over one billion won in modern terms. Considering the characteristics of the era as well, that amount of money was worth several times more.

With one billion won on the verge of disappearing into thin air, everyone gathered there looked different.

“You all heard that, yes?”

“Yes.”

“For the time being, we will focus on selling gulbi.”

Im Sang-ok spoke in a firm voice.

“The person who sells the most gulbi during this period will receive a reward befitting their achievement, so I expect everyone to work hard.”

“Yes, Daebang!”

The eyes of the haengsu sparkled as they answered.

If they managed to wrap up this matter successfully, it might even become the perfect opportunity to aim for the currently vacant position of Daehangsu.

The haengsu, unwilling to let this opportunity slip away, quickly sprang into action.

“I need to go to the marketplace first!”

“I’ll take care of the fish market!”

“Then I’ll contact Gaeseong!”

And so, as the haengsu each departed to sell gulbi, Hayun, whose first day at work it was, was the only one left standing there blankly.

Reception Chief Yoon approached Hayun with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you standing there instead of going?”

“Where am I supposed to go?”

“What do you mean, where?”

Hayun shrugged.

“I haven’t received any training yet. At the very least, shouldn’t you tell me what I’m supposed to do?”

Reception Chief Yoon sighed as though she were hopeless.

“This is not a place where someone teaches you what to do.”

“Ah…!”

“Selling goods is a basic qualification for a haengsu. If you’ve been given the title of haengsu, you’re supposed to know how to do at least that much on your own.”

His tone carried the mocking implication of ‘You became a haengsu without even knowing that?’

‘So I have to go out and do the legwork myself. Like a salesperson.’

As the haengsu had said, selling gukbap and selling goods were completely different things.

No matter how brilliant a plan she came up with, simply sitting around would accomplish nothing.

Given the era, if she wanted to sell goods, she ultimately had to step forward and do the work herself.

‘So I have to find my own business contacts too?’

This was an era in which the value of information mattered more than ever.

She couldn’t expect anything like sharing or searching.

Business contacts, the location of markets, the dates on which markets were held. Everything stored inside one’s head was an asset.

There was no way the haengsu would share such valuable information, acquired through decades of running around on their own feet, with Hayun, whom they already disliked.

Having belatedly grasped the situation, Hayun asked.

“Before that, could I take a look at the condition of the gulbi first?”

“The condition of the gulbi?”

Reception Chief Yoon asked back with an expression of surprise.

At a time when she should be rushing outside as quickly as possible, she wanted to check the gulbi?

“Of course. I need to know what condition the goods are in if I’m going to sell them properly.”

“Hmm… Please come this way.”

Seeing that Hayun’s opinion did have some merit, Reception Chief Yoon led her to the warehouse where the gulbi was stored.

A little later.

Upon arriving at the warehouse where the gulbi was kept, Hayun couldn’t close her mouth.

“Wow…… How much is all of this worth?”

‘Hanging here and there.’

Thousands of gulbi hung from strings throughout the warehouse. A savory aroma wafted gently from the well-dried gulbi.

“Fortunately, they seem to be in good condition.”

After roughly checking the condition of the gulbi, Hayun asked.

“Where is this gulbi from?”

“Yeonggwang.”

“Yeonggwang?”

Yeonggwang gulbi.

The finest gulbi of the Joseon era, a specialty delicacy that was even served on the king’s royal table.

Among them, Yeonggwang gulbi, famous for its excellent quality, remained highly popular even in the twenty-first century.

Once Hayun confirmed that the gulbi was from Yeonggwang, her mind began racing.

“How much should I sell this for?”

“We bought it for four nyang, so it needs to be at least five nyang.”

“Five nyang…”

Five nyang was roughly equivalent to the price of an entire sack of rice.

In other words, it was an expensive food that commoners couldn’t even dream of buying.

It was no wonder there was even a term for a miser who couldn’t afford to buy gulbi and would hang it from the ceiling just to stare at it.

“It’s more expensive than I thought.”

“It takes that much time to make, so there’s no helping it.”

Reception Chief Yoon explained why gulbi was so expensive.

“To make proper gulbi, you have to catch the yellow croaker, salt it, dry it, season it again, and so on… It takes at least a month.”

“I see.”

“And there aren’t actually that many customers who buy gulbi. Most people only buy it for ancestral rites or special occasions.”

“Then why did you buy this much?”

Hayun asked while looking around the warehouse.

Three thousand dureum in total. In terms of individual fish, that amounted to sixty thousand. It was an enormous quantity.

“We have to sell it throughout the entire year. And that means all across the country.”

Reception Chief Yoon sighed as he spoke.

“Normally, we could sell it slowly. Even if we only sold three hundred dureum a month, we would sell it all within a year and have some left over.”

“Ah-ha.”

“But this year, twice as many yellow croaker were caught as usual, which threw our plans off. That’s why we have to dispose of it quickly. If things continue like this, the losses will be enormous.”

“I see.”

Having learned the circumstances, Hayun examined the gulbi again.

As expected from something made in Yeonggwang, its quality was flawless. The sizes were uniform, and the fish had been cleaned neatly.

“Yeonggwang gulbi…”

Hayun muttered to herself for a moment.

“Ah…! Then that’ll work!”

Then, as though something had occurred to her, she clapped her hands and exclaimed.

Hayun looked at Reception Chief Yoon and asked.

“Do you happen to know where I can find a skilled woodworker around here?”

“A woodworker?”

Reception Chief Yoon tilted his head.

“Why do you suddenly need a woodworker…?”

“Because I need one to sell the gulbi.”

“A woodworker is going to buy gulbi?”

Reception Chief Yoon looked at Hayun strangely.

‘Even if he’s a complete beginner, isn’t this going a little too far?’

He had had some expectations because the Daebang himself had brought him here, but everything he was doing seemed thoroughly untrustworthy.

Reception Chief Yoon gave a short sigh before answering.

“If you go down below the mountain, there’s a carpenter named Hwang. He’s the most skilled around these parts. If it’s something made of wood, he can make just about anything.”

“Thank you.”

Hayun bowed her head.

“And there’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Could you tell me about the most influential yangban household around here?”

“The yangban household? Why do you need to know that?”

“I’m going to sell gulbi to them.”

Upon hearing the answer, Reception Chief Yoon clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘He’ll probably go around wasting his time and not even sell that much……’

Of course, just because they were a yangban household didn’t mean they ate gulbi every day. At most, they would buy one dureum every two or three months.

And even that was based on the standards of a relatively wealthy yangban household.

Even if she visited every yangban household in Uiju, she obviously wouldn’t be able to sell even thirty dureum.

That was far below the average of two hundred dureum that each haengsu was expected to sell.

‘Tsk, tsk. I can already see exactly how this is going to turn out…’

With the foreseeable future already clear to him, Reception Chief Yoon answered as though he couldn’t be bothered.

“In Uiju, the Min family is the most prominent.”

“The Min family?”

“Yes. The household of Minister Min. They’re the wealthiest family in Uiju, and their influence is considerable as well.”

“Minister Min…”

Hayun repeated the name to herself.

“Understood. Then I’ll be going now.”

Having obtained all the information she wanted, Hayun slung one dureum of gulbi over her shoulder.