It wasn’t just the Manager, Adolf Dattan, who was startled when the heavy gold lump rolled onto the table with a thud.
Fridolf Gek and Yuli Briner, who had come with me, were also shocked.
Fridolf and Yuli asked at the same time, “Where did you get this?”
When I take gold and silver out of my Subspace, I can bring them out as gold or silver coins, gold bars, gold dust, or even as a moderately crushed lump mixed with copper from the Subspace, like I did just now.
“It’s gold dust I collected and bought in Joseon, then melted down into a lump.”
“And how did you get the gold dust?”
“In Joseon, if you have money, it’s easy for officials to take it from you.
So every time I had money, I bought and collected gold dust.
I did it so that if an emergency happened, I could just grab this and run.”
Hearing my words, not only Fridolf and Yuli but even Manager Dattan nodded.
The fact that officials in Joseon or China exploited the people was well known even here in Russia.
Most of the Koryo-saram who crossed over here were people fleeing the exploitation of those officials.
Manager Adolf Dattan looked at the gold and said, “This is so significant that I can’t make the decision alone. I’ll have to call the President.”
A moment later, Gustav Albers, one of the Presidents of the Kunst and Albers company, came rushing out.
Upon seeing the gold, Gustav Albers said, “I will call someone to inspect the purity and weight, and then we will purchase it.”
In this era, the method for inspecting gold purity was simply to melt it down and have an expert rub it against a Shigumseok.
Right before our eyes, the gold was melted and underwent the Shigumseok test, and it was recognized as having a value of 11,000 Rubles.
I knew the amount of gold I had taken out; it seemed they calculated it at approximately 1.2g of pure gold per Ruble.
Considering the market prices at the time, it was a fairly honest transaction, aside from the small commission they took.
I had now become a VIP of Kunst and Albers.
Manager Adolf Dattan personally brought out the agricultural machinery I was looking for from the warehouse to show me.
“This is an agricultural plow. As you can see, there are models with one blade and models with three. The single-blade one can be easily pulled by one or two horses, but the three-blade plow requires at least three horses, and ideally four. And this narrow, long plow is specifically for land reclamation. As you can see, it’s much longer and narrower, so it can overturn grass roots entirely. This one has a single blade, but it’s difficult to use with only one or two horses; it needs to be pulled by three or four.”
Fridolf Gek and Yuli Briner looked at these items with curiosity, as if it was their first time seeing such things.
Fridolf Gek said, “Even back in my hometown, I never saw things like this being used for farming. Well, maybe it’s because Sweden is a bit of a backwater compared to the rest of Europe.”
Yuli Briner added, “Well, Switzerland isn’t exactly a wealthy neighborhood either, so I haven’t seen these. Actually, I pride myself on having traveled quite a bit through European lands, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”
I said, “That’s because these are things used in the United States, and they’re hard to find in Europe. The United States has much more land compared to Europe, so they developed and used these kinds of machines.”
Fridolf Gek, Yuli Briner, and the people from Kunst and Albers all looked at me as if I were some strange animal.
Fridolf said, “How do you know so much when you were born and raised in Joseon? Do they teach things like this in Joseon?”
“How could that be? I just learned various things here and there while following my Father around. Isn’t my Russian excellent right now? How could I speak Russian like this if I hadn’t read books and studied properly?”
At those words, everyone looking at me nodded.
Since these people didn’t know what I had done while following my father, they had no choice but to believe me when I said so.
In an instant, despite the many disadvantages of being from Joseon and being young, I became a bright and promising kid who never neglected his learning.
While Kunst and Albers had brought several samples of agricultural machinery from the United States, there were many types they didn’t have.
President Gustav Albers and Manager Adolf Dattan showed me a catalog from the American McCormick company and said, “If you order the products in this catalog, we can have them here within six months at the latest. Kunst and Albers’ cargo ships stop in the United States regularly, so we can bring them as quickly as possible.”
In this era, being able to receive goods ordered from Europe or the United States within six months was incredibly fast.
This was the secret behind how Kunst and Albers dominated the Vladivostok market.
They had their own cargo ships starting from Germany and stopping at various parts of Europe and the United States to bring and sell the necessary supplies for this region.
Merchants who brought goods in small quantities from places like Hong Kong or Shanghai simply couldn’t compete.
It wasn’t just civilians; even the military reached a point where operations were nearly impossible without Kunst and Albers.
Although the Russian mainland occasionally sent supplies by ship, there was no way the military supply line could run smoothly with just that.
Honestly, have you ever seen the military send everything that’s needed? Sometimes matches didn’t come, sometimes soap didn’t come—the limitations of the Russian Empire’s backward bureaucratic system—excluding countries like Joseon or the Qing Dynasty that couldn’t even be placed on a level—were too clear.
So the military couldn’t function without Kunst and Albers either.
It was no exaggeration to say they were responsible for the supply of goods to the city of Vladivostok and the entire Primorsky Krai region.
I ordered several pieces of agricultural machinery I needed from the catalog. I also ordered woodworking tools like hammers and saws that I needed immediately, hardware like tongs and pliers, and a blacksmith system including a hammer and an anvil.
In this era, there were many instances where you had to make the things you needed, so these were essential.
Beyond that, I purchased an American Singer Sewing Machine, twenty rifles, and a large quantity of ammunition to match.
Adolf Dattan said, “We only have 14 of the Springfield M1866 rifles you mentioned in stock. Should I give you those for now?”
“Are there no other rifles?”
“Those are the only breech-loading rifles at 20 Rubles. There is a Mauser Rifle made in Germany, but unlike the government surplus like the Springfield, these are brand new and expensive. They are 60 Rubles per rifle.”
I asked to see the guns and purchased six Mauser Gewehr 1871 rifles and four double-barrel shotguns in addition.
As I purchased a large number of guns, Yuli Briner asked suspiciously, “Why are you buying so many guns? Are you planning to start an army?”
“The news that I bought many things here will spread quickly. Naturally, the news will reach the Honghuzi bastards as well. Up until now, they didn’t come because there was nothing to steal, but once rumors spread that I’ve purchased a lot of supplies, they will definitely raid.”
When I said it was to prepare for an invasion by the Honghuzi Ma-jeok, Fridolf Gek and Yuli Briner both showed surprised expressions.
They hadn’t worried about the Honghuzi until now, but my words certainly made them wary.
The Honghuzi Ma-jeok in this region were not only incredibly cruel and vicious, but they were also well-informed and moved quickly on horseback.
Since they were originally peasants who turned into bandits seasonally, it was impossible to distinguish them from ordinary Chinese farmers.
If rumors spread that the Sidimi ranch was wealthy, there was no telling when they might descend upon Sidimi.
Fridolf Gek agreed with me and said, “We’ll definitely need a lot of rifles. And we’ll need to build a new house too.”
I turned to Adolf Dattan and said, “So you can also provide the materials to build a house that’s close to a fortress, right?”
“Of course. Our company has plenty of cement and we also manufacture and sell bricks. We can provide the materials and labor to build a house in whatever shape you desire.”
Kunst and Albers originally did business in Shanghai, but seeing that it was difficult to beat the British or French merchants who had established themselves first with massive capital, they changed their minds and came here to trade in Vladivostok, which no one cared about at the time.
They said that when they first set foot here, it was so desolate that there were only 44 buildings, including military barracks.
So from the beginning, they had loaded construction materials like cement and timber onto their ships to build their trading post, and because of that connection, they were personally operating a brick factory here.
They were also closely connected with timber merchants and contractors, so it was quite good to entrust them with building a house.
Adolf Dattan shook his head after hearing the details of my order.
“If you build a mansion as sturdy as a fortress, it might cost over 2,000 Rubles.”
“First of all, a house like that is a must. And I also need a large stable and a warehouse to store feed and hay. Those don’t necessarily need to be built like a fortress; we can just build them out of wood.”
Adolf Dattan spread out a piece of paper, wrote down each necessary item and its cost, and then spoke.
“Adding up all the materials like the necessary bricks, timber, and cement, plus the wages for bricklayers and carpenters, and the rental fee for a ship to carry the materials and personnel… the total will definitely exceed 2,500 Rubles, and it might even go up to 3,000 Rubles.”
“Please handle it as long as it doesn’t exceed 3,500 Rubles. It’ll be possible starting tomorrow, right?”
3,500 Rubles was enough money to build a mansion of considerable scale.
Adolf Dattan nodded and said it was definitely possible.
In times like these, the secret to reducing costs was to reduce labor wages, and since it was currently the off-season for farming, I could hire the Joseon people in Sidimi.
“I don’t need general laborers other than the bricklayers and carpenters, because I can hire the Koryo-saram living in Sidimi.”
“In that case, I will prepare the bricklayers and carpenters you mentioned and send them along with the materials tomorrow.”
I also purchased one farm cart.
Yuli asked, “We already have one cart.”
“One cart won’t be enough. We’ll be doing both farming and ranching in the future, so one cart won’t be nearly enough.”
We hitched the four horses we had brought to the purchased cart.
Since they were horses that had both carried people and luggage, they followed orders well without much complaint even when hitched to a cart.
My Animal Handling Skill was used slightly here.
I requested that the items I purchased be loaded onto the cart and delivered to the port where we were anchored, and finally, I made a request to Adolf Dattan.
“Right now, I’m wearing Joseon-style clothes, and it’s very inconvenient. I’d like to cut my hair and buy a suit, if possible.”
Adolf Dattan laughed and said, “Of course. I’ll prepare it as quickly as possible.”
Before going to the barbershop, I first called a tailor to take measurements and choose the fabric.
In this era, there was almost no ready-made clothing, so if you placed an order, they had to take measurements and make it from scratch.
“While you are getting your haircut, I will make the suit as quickly as I can. I will put all other orders aside and make this first.”
Adolf Dattan guided us to the barbershop, and I cut off my ponytail and got a new Western-style haircut.
Fridolf Gek and Yuli Briner also got their hair cut since they were at the barbershop anyway.
After finishing the haircuts, we went to the horse market.
Since Vladivostok was so small in those days, the horse market wasn’t far.
Even though it was called a horse market, they didn’t just sell horses; they sold cattle and horses together, but we didn’t need cattle for the moment. If we needed cattle, we could come back and buy them later.
When we bought four good farm mares and headed to the port, the cart carrying the luggage sent by Kunst and Albers was already waiting.
We unloaded the luggage from the cart and loaded it onto the schooner, but the problem was the horses.
The Joseon and Manchurian horses we had brought from Sidimi were such ill-tempered beasts that when they saw the newly purchased Western farm horses, they tried to charge at them while foaming at the mouth, even though the new horses were much larger.
Fridolf Gek and Yuli Briner, having never seen such a sight before, shouted in surprise.
Fridolf shouted, “What’s wrong with these guys all of a sudden? Why are they being so aggressive?”
Yuli Briner also shouted, “These guys were gentle and had no problems until now, so why are they picking a fight and attacking horses bigger than themselves?”
Originally, horses in this region were less domesticated and retained much more wildness compared to Western horses.
They would stay quiet once a hierarchy was established among themselves, but when they met new horses, they frequently bit and fought each other.
They only become quiet once a hierarchy is settled through such fighting.
As the Manchurian horses bared their teeth and lunged while foaming, the newly purchased Western horses backed away in fear, despite being much larger.
I tried to use my Animal Handling Skill to make them behave, but it didn’t work at all.
My Animal Handling Skill is about clearly conveying my commands to the animals and finding out what their intentions are; it is not about forcing commands.
Even after hearing my command, they conveyed to me that establishing their hierarchy was much more important, and they tried to fiercely attack the Western horses.
If they hadn’t been tied to the cart by their reins, it felt like a real brawl would have broken out.
In the end, we were only able to stop the fighting after driving the groups of horses to opposite ends of the schooner and placing the goods in the middle of the ship.
Fridolf Gek sighed and said, “What exactly are those things, wild beasts? That’s the first time in my life I’ve seen such foul-tempered ones.”
Thinking about the even more aggressive Joseon horses waiting back in Sidimi, a sigh escaped me as well.***