Chapter 60

Chapter 60:  Gambling.

Although there were extreme and evil plays in the empire, and countless imperial citizens flocked every weekend, they were not the most popular.

They could never surpass the glory of the sword-fighting matches that had been held since the establishment of the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire.

“Ah! You can’t fall there!”

“Stab him! Stick your sword in his neck!”

Inside the circular arena.

There was madness of countless imperial citizens overflowing.

The naked convicts inflicted wounds on each other’s flesh, and admiration and sighs burst out from the audience seats every time they spilled their bloody blood on the floor.

The beginning of the sword-fighting matches was certainly aimed at soaking human blood on the ground.

But as the spirit faith became universal in the empire, this tendency decreased day by day.

However, the popularity of sword-fighting matches did not decrease, but rather increased.

The convicts were not given any decent armor at all.

They only swung their swords to kill their opponents.

Therefore, the gladiators died brutally in the arena.

The audience felt a great catharsis as they watched them get hurt and die.

This thrill awakened the primal instinct of humans.

“Damn it! Why do I lose every time I bet money?”

“Hahaha! Yeah, it’s time for me to win. Ahh!”

There, gambling on match predictions that started secretly acted as a factor that increased the popularity of sword-fighting matches.

It was very different from just watching a slaughter and cheering for one side by betting money and hoping that the gladiator would win.

Gambling increased the immersion of the audience.

‘Huh, really. Is it all the same where people live?’

Kim Ki-woo laughed bitterly when he heard the news that sports gambling had emerged.

Of course, there was no betting culture in the empire, but this kind of collective gambling was the first.

‘Gambling is a shortcut to ruin.’

This was an immutable truth.

Before arrival, how many people became penniless in casinos or illegal gambling houses in modern times?

And once you get addicted to this kind of gambling, it was not easy to get out.

The addictiveness of gambling was very strong.

‘I can already see those cases.’

Kim Ki-woo’s worries were not unfounded.

In fact, imperial citizens who lost their entire fortunes in sword-fighting matches began to appear one after another.

‘I can’t just watch.’

It was their own responsibility to lose their hard-earned wealth so vainly.

But as these cases increased, there was enough room to have a negative impact on the empire.

Of course, banning gambling altogether was a bad idea.

People who want to do it will do it anyway. It’s just that gambling houses would hide in the underworld.

Rather than letting them grow in scale in this way, it was much better to control gambling in daylight.

Kim Ki-woo immediately proceeded with regulations related to gambling.

“Are you the owner of this gambling house?”

“Well, yes… What are you doing here from the Security Agency?”

As soon as word got out that gambling business made money, gambling houses sprang up like mushrooms in each city.

Security soldiers from the Security Agency rushed into these numerous gambling houses.

Usually, when security soldiers rush in without saying anything, it’s not a good sign.

That was also true this time.

“Bring out the imperial decree!”

“Huh!”

At the word ‘imperial decree’, the owner of the gambling house quickly lay flat on the floor.

The security soldier didn’t care whether he was startled or not.

He just unfolded a paper with an imperial decree written on it and read it straight down.

A long speech began from his mouth.

To summarize it, it was to ban private gambling houses from operating as of now.

“No, what is this…”

Naturally, those who heard this news were shocked by this decision.

“How can you say such a law? You’re telling me to close my business overnight!”

The owners of gambling houses complained to security soldiers, but they couldn’t do anything about it.

They were just owners of private gambling houses who couldn’t go against Kim Ki-woo’s will.

“No, why did they ban this fun thing all of a sudden?”

“Hmm… I’m sorry too, but it’s His Majesty’s will. What can we do?”

Because security soldiers rushed into private gambling houses so noisily, news related to this spread quickly.

Imperial citizens who had already tasted gambling did not welcome this decision very much.

But when their attention turned to sword-fighting matches,

Their regret was somewhat relieved.

“What is that?”

“Why are people gathering there?”

A corner of the sword-fighting arena.

Strangely enough, people were crowded there.

Humans have crowd psychology.

As people gathered on one side, countless spectators who came to watch sword-fighting matches began to flock continuously.

It was none other than a match prediction place.

“Welcome.”

As soon as an employee smiled kindly, a man who had been waiting for a long time asked a question.

“Is it really okay to bet money?”

“Of course. This is not a private gambling house. It is run by the state, so please use it with confidence.”

“Oh! I thought I couldn’t make any more money…”

The man was about to bet money on the gladiator who was playing today.

But he couldn’t achieve his intention.

The employee immediately stopped him.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but you can’t bet that much money.”

“No, why?”

“There is a limit to how much money you can bet on match predictions. Can you look here?”

“Hmm…”

The employee pushed a paper with the maximum betting limit written on it.

Sure enough, the money the man offered exceeded that limit by far.

“Well, then I’ll just bet this much.”

“Accepted. I hope your match prediction is correct.”

That’s how the state-owned gambling house revealed its appearance.

Of course, some people who wanted to bet big money were sorry that there was a limit, but compared to private gambling houses, the commission was very cheap, so the imperial citizens didn’t complain much.

Kim Ki-woo didn’t intend to make a big profit from such gambling.

Of course, even though he lowered the commission drastically, the amount of money coming in from the match prediction place was considerable, and it increased more and more over time.

“Should I try betting some money too?”

“It’s not bad to have some fun.”

The match prediction place was located in a corner of the sword-fighting arena, making it very easy to access.

As a result, even imperial citizens who had not bothered to go to private gambling houses started to bet small amounts of money.

This outcome was reported to Kim Ki-woo right away.

‘It’s better to have gambling at a moderate level like this.’

At least he prevented people from losing big money at once.

Losing and winning a reasonable amount of money was a personal choice.

‘In fact, I want to get rid of sword-fighting matches altogether.’

He didn’t like the idea of ​​making entertainment out of people killing people.

Unlike before, there was much less reason to soak blood on the ground.

Of course, he could ban sword-fighting matches by force.

He had enough power to do that now.

But if he banned them when their popularity was so high, the imperial citizens would surely rebel.

He didn’t need to take that risk.

‘But I have to prepare for it.’

Sword-fighting was also a sport.

That is, if there was a sport that could replace it, he could dilute the backlash a lot when he banned sword-fighting someday.

‘Every popular sport has its own reason.’

Popular sports have been improved and developed over a long period of time to attract more people’s interest.

And Kim Ki-woo knew the history and final form of those sports.

Of course, it took a long time for these sports to take root, so he just drew a sketch for now.

‘While I’m at it, let’s spread the entertainment I know too.’

He made not only ball sports that many people could play together, such as soccer, basketball, and baseball, but also things that could be done one-on-one.

Things like Go, chess, and janggi.

***

As various cultures and arts of the empire matured, civil engineering projects that had started a long time ago also began to show visible results.

Of course, the mainstay of transportation was ships rather than wagons.

Transport ships could carry loads that were incomparable to wagons, and the transportation cost was much cheaper.

However, people lived on land.

That is, all the loads transported by ship eventually had to be transported by land in the end.

“Wow. The paved road has already been laid here.”

“Isn’t that good for us? It’s better to pull a wagon than to carry a load on your back.”

“That’s true.”

At this moment, paved roads were being laid all over the empire.

However, if before only major cities had paved roads, now even medium-sized cities had some degree of road paving completed.

Thanks to this, many people, including transporters, felt the effects of paved roads.

When there were no paved roads, it took days to transport loads that could be transported in less than a day by using wagons and llamas effectively.

As logistics became easier, the market naturally became more active.

That is, paved roads were the driving force behind the explosive growth of the empire’s economy.

‘It was worth pouring money into it.’

Road construction was a typical money-eating hippo. He had to face the threat of financial collapse because of it.

Of course, civil engineering was delayed from time to time, but Kim Ki-woo persevered in laying paved roads.

The result was very sweet.

And this was just the beginning.

Having laid this foundation, he could enjoy its benefits for a long time.

In addition, public water supply facilities in major cities were finally completed recently.

The first place where water supply facilities were opened was none other than the capital of the empire.

It was the place with the highest population density and the most severe water shortage, but this problem disappeared at once when water was supplied through water pipes.

‘Now I can make bathhouses too.’

To maintain hygiene, you have to wash well first.

And the best way to achieve this was to make public bathhouses.

He couldn’t even think about it until now because of water shortage, but he thought he could execute this plan now that he had plenty of water.

‘Of course, I’ll have to start making sewers soon.’

If public bathhouses became popularized, large amounts of wastewater would be generated every day.

The more water you use, the more wastewater increases. 

This was a very natural thing.

And as industry progressed more and more, industrial wastewater would also increase rapidly.

He couldn’t just discharge these wastewaters into the river.

So today in the empire, various constructions were going on without rest.

< Gambling. > The end