"Haha, don’t you still have those new square ships? These small rchant ships, sell them to just like last ti! Twenty jin of gold for each!"
"Chief! This... these are my last three rchant ships..."
"Sen, co on, sell two ships! I’ll add another ten jin! Fifty jin of gold for two ships, cash on delivery!"
"Buddha! Fifty jin of gold?!..."
Facing such a "sincere" price increase, Mori no Kiyoshi trembled all over, and his expression changed. He opened his mouth, and the words of refusal reached his lips, but he couldn’t utter them. At that mont, he didn’t seem like a seasoned rchant from Kansai, but like an indecisive lady who had never left ho. After a while, looking at the "earnest-faced" Golden Chief, he let out a long sigh with a complex expression.
"Alas! Chief, my friend... I can only sell you one ship, and it’s not even a good one... do you still want it?"
"Hmm? Only one? Chief Divine is my witness, that works too! Sen, be quick about it, give both the ship and the cargo!"
Under Zuwaro’s watchful gaze, Mori no Kiyoshi finally took a deep breath, nodded, and agreed with a bitter smile.
"Alright, alright! Buddha bless, I’ll sell you one ship with all its cargo!... One of our rchant ships got damaged on our way here, so it sails slower... but as long as it’s towed by other ships to the port and repaired properly for seven or eight days, it should be ready before the freeze..."
"Oh yes! Among the craftsn we brought this ti, two are capable Omi Shipwrights. Once they reach your port with sufficient timber, they should manage fine... Hmm, among the craftsn, there’s also a carpenter, skilled in board-making, and they’ve all co with a full set of tools. Although I charge high prices for the craftsn, the tools are free for you..."
Mori no Kiyoshi rambled on for a while before taking a deep breath, calming his emotions, and looking toward Zuwaro. At this mont, he once again raised a smile on his face, and his voice was much steadier, as he gently and naturally asked.
"Chief, my respectable Shandan Chieftain! This ti, we have brought a lot of goods! Especially the craftsn you need, all are genuine Kansai craftsn, without any filler family mbers... if you want them all, I’m afraid the amount of gold needed will be quite substantial!"
"Additionally, Chief, according to your request last ti, I’ve collected for a long ti... and finally brought a remarkable Han Fang Great dical Master for you! A real one from Jisheng Hospital, who specifically treats nobility from the Lee Dynasty—the ’Korean dical Woman’!"
"...? Korean dical Woman?!"
"Indeed! Chief, whether in our Japan or in Korea to the west, dical craftsn hold a very high status. Outstanding Great dical Masters and Great dical Officers have close ties with local nobles, equivalent to the nobility and Martial Family! They are not easy to ’invite’, and forcibly ’inviting’ them carries high post-risks... Fortunately, my connections with Tiantai Sect always hold weight in the West Country Kyushu among various clans..."
"Buddha bless! After countless twists and turns, I found two brokers to guarantee, only then did I ’exchange for a heavy sum’ a ’Korean dical Woman’ from the Matsuura Party! This dical Woman possesses the skill level of a Great dical Master! She was captured with great difficulty over four years ago when Matsuura Party ventured deep into Gyeongsang South Province to raid Juchang County. It’s said she served the Princess of Yanshan Jun, Juchang County Lady Shen Shi... She truly cos from the Korean royal dical background, her skills are comparable to the Great dical Officers in the Capital City’s public house!..."
Mori no Kiyoshi boasted wildly, speaking of this Korean dical Woman’s skills as almost equivalent to "dical Ancestor" Danbo Kanglai. Of course, he did not tell Zuwaro, that in the rigid, male-oriented Korean Kingdom, so-called dical won, no matter how good their dical skills, couldn’t change their low status. Even though they were trained by official dical academies, in Li’s Korea, they couldn’t compare to male doctors at all. More often than not, their work wasn’t about treating nobles, but being used as dical courtesans for nobles. The newly ascendant King of Korea, Yanshan Jun, known for his hedonism, had a penchant for this...
"Ahem! Before Buddha, no false words! The reason why the Matsuura Party took this Korean dical Woman during the raid wasn’t due to her dical skills, but because of her youth and exceptional beauty... To make the Family Head of the Matsuura Party, Matsuura Toyohisa, reluctantly part with her, I indeed gave him two... ahem... ten jin of gold!... And both brokers who guaranteed it, they each needed a share, yes, each one was... hmm... ten jin of gold! Not to ntion, I transported her from the southernmost Kyushu to the Northern Country’s Ezo land over long distances..."
"Sen! As long as this respected dical Master has real skills, knows the ’Miracle Technique’ of smallpox vaccination... whether a man or a woman, Chief Divine will bless her! Let her co and demonstrate her dical skills!... As for the price, I rember I’ve already given you a deposit of twenty jin of gold, right?..."
"Well, Chief, my respected Golden Chief!... We agreed then, twenty jin of gold as the deposit. But this ti, my expenses are already two or thirty jin of gold... you must let earn sothing..."
"Enough! Bring the person here first! I need to ask whether this Korean dical Woman, can indeed perform smallpox vaccination, and can resist the wicked smallpox epidemic!..."
Zuwaro’s eyebrows rose, interrupting Mori no Kiyoshi’s price hike. At this mont, his face showed unprecedented seriousness. This was a paramount matter, prophesied by His Majesty and specially emphasized in a letter by him; no amount of gold was too much to spend!
"Chief Divine as my witness! Sen, if she truly has excellent dical skills... don’t just talk about twenty or thirty gold talismans... I’ll directly give you fifty this ti, fifty jin of gold! And as for this Korean dical Woman, I want them all!..."
"Hiss! Fifty jin of gold? Six thousand eight hundred stones of rice? The annual inco of two hundred lower-ranked samurai?!..."
Hearing such an incredible price, Mori no Kiyoshi gasped. At that mont, the words he had prepared were stuck in his throat for quite so ti. After a while, he spoke with a slight pant, his eyes slightly reddened, asking as if naturally, a question he had been preparing for so ti.
"Chief! Do you really have that much gold? The goods we brought this ti, ranging from books, craftsn, rice and salt, military supplies to ships, are two or three tis more than the last transaction, it’s likely amounting to several hundred gold talismans!..."
"Buddha bless! If you don’t have enough gold, we could trade a portion first... then we’ll wait here for you to send ships back to fetch more gold..."
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