Chapter 127
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 127
Chapter 127. The Apricot Blossom Academy (3)
“Huh? Hyung-nim Seon-il?”
“Huh? Isn't that Seo-ho? What are you doing at the Imperial Palace at this hour? Oh! It must be about the writing brush you mentioned earlier.”
“That's right. I'm on my way back from seeing His Majesty the Emperor.”
“How nice to see you here!”
“Me too.”
Seon-il said to the eunuch who was guiding me.
“This is my younger cousin. To commemorate our meeting at the Imperial Palace, I would like to show him around the garden. I will see you out, so you may go now.”
“I will do that.”
The eunuch bowed and left.
Seon-il smiled and said, “Follow me. I will show you around the Imperial Palace garden.”
I cautiously asked, “Can I go too?”
I asked Sun-il cautiously.
“Can I go there too?”
“Isn't the pass around your waist just for show?”
Indeed, with a pass, you could go anywhere in the Imperial Palace unless it was a place specially guarded by the Imperial Guards.
“And that's the most interesting place in the Imperial Palace.”
The imperial palace gardens, which I visited with Sun-il, were filled with all kinds of rare plants and strange rocks arranged in a mysterious pattern, making them a delight to behold.
“How is it? Isn't it wonderful?”
“It's really wonderful.”
“Actually, since I work at the imperial palace, I really enjoy walking around here with my family.”
I thought I understood what Sun-il meant.
Not just anyone can enter the imperial palace.
Of course, you need an access pass to enter the imperial palace.
Those in official positions have permanent access passes, while those who enter irregularly are issued passes for a specific period.
In other words, Sun-il was saying that he envied the wealthy father and son, or other siblings, who had access to the imperial palace and could stroll through the gardens together.
“If you were jealous, why didn't you tell me?”
“I wasn't jealous.”
In any case, since he had given me such a wonderful sight to see, I decided to spend the day with him.
As we talked about this and that, we ended up talking about the child I had saved yesterday.
“I see.”
“Yes, Hyung-nim.”
“They were playing in the river at that time of day? It doesn't sound like they come from wealthy families.”
“Huh?”
“Children from wealthy families would be studying at school or learning martial arts at a martial arts academy at that time of day.”
“Ah! Now that you mention it, that's true.”
Seon-il was right.
“That's why officials like us need to work harder, but to be honest, it's not enough.”
“...”
“Even among those who are poor and cannot study, there must be talented people that the royal court wants.”
As I was looking around the garden, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
It was a good thing that we had prevented the Martial Alliance from putting someone in the imperial palace.
Not only did we stop the Martial Alliance's ambitions, but Sun-il's face was full of vitality.
It was as if he was a fish in water.
But will the Martial Alliance really stop trying to infiltrate the imperial palace?
No.
For the Martial Alliance, the imperial palace is the place they must guard most closely.
They will never stop trying to gain power in the Imperial Palace.
In that case, I also had to plant my own people in the Imperial Palace. That way, I could keep the Martial Alliance in check when they tried to make a move.
Not only that.
Information about the Imperial Palace is extremely valuable to me, as I dream of becoming the world's best trading company.
The reason I was able to gain access to the Imperial Palace was because I already knew about the salt distribution law.
In other words, I used information.
However, I don't know much about the Imperial Palace.
Although the emperor trusts me, it is only as someone from a trading company.
How reassuring would it be to have a high-ranking official who would share information about the Imperial Palace and support me and my company?
However, it is extremely difficult to make the people in the imperial palace my allies.
The higher their position, the more greedy they are, and they won't budge for a small amount of money.
Furthermore, they have to watch the emperor's every move, so they won't take the bait easily.
But recruiting lower-ranking officials would not be very useful, as the information they could provide would not be very valuable.
Then he remembered what Sun-il had said earlier that day.
“Even among those who are poor and uneducated, there must be talented individuals who would be welcome in the royal court.”
He had a good idea.
In that case, he would use the money of the Eunhae Trading Company to buy their loyalty from the beginning.
In other words, we would establish a school to train talented people and send them to the imperial court in a fair manner.
And we would sponsor those who were poor but smart or talented.
There was a very good reason for this.
It would show that the Trading Company was not just making money for itself, but was working hard for the country.
Seon-il looked at me and tilted his head.
“Why are you acting so strange?”
“Nothing. The scenery is so beautiful that I was lost in thought for a moment.”
“Don't be silly.”
After viewing the garden, Hyung-nim Seonil walked me to the entrance of the imperial palace.
“See you later tonight.”
“Yes, Hyung-nim.”
Pal-gap and the bodyguards who were waiting in front approached me, and I headed for the Yeonjoon Trading Company with them.
.
.
.
When I returned to my room, I immediately wrote a letter to my father.
Then I called the gold coin in my sleeve.
“Geum-ryeong.”
“Kui?”
“Can you do something for me?”
“Kui?”
“Will you deliver this letter to my father? I'll give you this in return.”
I took a silver coin out of my wallet and shook it. Seeing the coin, Geum-ryong jumped up and quickly grabbed it from my hand.
Then he swallowed it.
Now that you've been paid, it's time to get to work, right?
I tied the letter to Geum-ryeong's tail, and she flew out the window like a bullet.
The next day
Geum-ryeong returned with my father's reply tied to her tail.
I untied the letter and opened it.
The reply was simple.
“The results of the meeting were quite positive. We need to discuss this and decide on the details.”
Just as I expected.
By the way, the deadline I gave Bo-wook is tomorrow.
But I wasn't too worried.
He would definitely come.
* * *
Bo-wook raised his head.
It was dawn.
He hadn't slept a wink the night before.
It was because of the young man who helped him save a child who had fallen into the river.
The young man's name was Eun Seo-ho.
He offered Bo-wook a decent monthly salary and a job at his trading company.
But Bo-wook couldn't believe it.
What did he see in Bo-wook that made him want to hire him and offer him such a high salary?
To be honest, he was angry at first.
He thought they were making fun of him for failing the civil service exam five times in a row.
It was a kind of inferiority complex.
Seeing that the man who saved the child with him would never do such a thing, he realized that the five years of preparation must have worn him down.
However, seeing Eun-seo-ho's serious expression as he continued to speak, he realized that he wasn't making fun of him, but he still couldn't believe it.
It was embarrassing, but he had been cheated many times in the past.
He paid a large amount of money to take a class taught by a former high-ranking official who had written the questions for the exam, but it turned out to be a scam.
He also paid a large amount of money to buy a pill that was supposed to make him smarter, but it was also a scam.
After being scammed several times, he couldn't believe Eun Seo-ho's words.
Eun Seo-ho handed him a coin and said, “This is for meeting you, Master.
”I will give this to you first as a token of our meeting. If you learn more about me and think you can trust me, please come to the Yeonjoon Trading Company. I am busy and must leave here in three days, so please come before then."
He even told him to find out about him for himself.
Eun Seo-ho exuded confidence, and for some reason, he seemed to shine brighter than the waves glistening in the sunlight.
From that day on, Bo-wook began to find out about Eun Seo-ho from those around him.
“Oh, you mean the Captain? He's the one who made the martial artist dolls.”
“You know the style, right? That was made by the governor of Hyungpung.
”After he became Captain, the Eunhae Trading Company grew rapidly.“
”Huh? What's the connection with the Yeonjoon Trading Company? The mother of Hong Seon-il, who passed the imperial examination this time, is the Captain's aunt."
“Even though he's a young merchant, he says he meets with His Majesty the Emperor regularly. He has a bright future ahead of him.”
Putting all that information together, it was truly amazing.
He was the youngest son of the Eunhae Trading Company, a salt retailer in Hubei Province, and was the captain of the company and the head of the Hyungpung Kingdom.
And in just a few years, he developed and sold the Zimu doll and the Zaku guitar.
Even if you disregard the other things, those three items are still selling extremely well.
He was also the cousin of Hong Seon-il, who was recently highly praised by the emperor and passed the imperial examination with the highest rank.
In other words, he is a trustworthy person.
That made it even more difficult to understand what he saw in him and why he wanted to hire him.
He spent the entire night worrying about it.
Gurgle
At that moment, a loud noise came from the boat, and he patted the boat with an embarrassed look on his face.
“Even though I ate a big meal the other day, I'm still hungry when it's time to eat.”
Muttering to himself, he looked for the wallet he had put in his luggage to eat breakfast.
However, the wallet was light.
He shook it in his palm, but all he found was the silver coin Eun Seo-ho had given him.
“Ah, I spent all the money I earned on lodging and food.”
However, he couldn't bring himself to use the silver coin Eun Seo-ho had given him, so he left it there.
Perhaps because he was so hungry, the silver coin seemed to shine brighter than usual.
He felt sad about his situation.
He was already wondering whether he should continue preparing for the civil service examination because of his mother and older brother, who were supporting him in the countryside.
He made up his mind.
No matter what happened, he didn't want to be hungry.
That was the biggest reason for his decision.
Bo-wook got up from his seat and headed for Yeonjoon Trading Company.
* *
I packed my belongings to return to the main branch of Eunhae Trading Company.
By the way, when will Bo-wook arrive?
I gave him a coin and asked him to investigate me because I was confident in my reputation.
Once he realizes that I am trustworthy, he will start to worry.
What is it about me that makes him want to work for the Trading Company, even offering such a large monthly salary?
But
honestly, it's a meaningless worry.
The more I worry, the more painful the reality of having no money in my pocket, the reality of hunger, and the reality of a bleak future with no hope for the future becomes.
And in the end
“Young master, the giant Bo-wook you met before has come to see you.”
I would choose to leave in search of new possibilities.
I smiled slightly to myself.
“Take him to the reception room.”
“Yes, sir.”
.
.
.
A moment later, I met Bo-wook in the reception room. He was trembling slightly, looking anxious.
“You're finally here.”
“Ah!”
When he saw me, he quickly stood up.
“There's no need to be so formal.”
“No, it's just that you're even more impressive than I thought.”
“Hahaha.”
I said with a smile.
“As I mentioned before, I would like to hire you as a master for eight taels of silver a month. Would you accept my offer?”
He nodded in response to my question.
“I accept.”
“Then let's go over the details.”
Eun Seo-ho looked at Pal-gap, and Pal-gap laid the wide writing board he was holding on the table.
And he placed two documents on top of it.
“What is this?”
“This is a contract. As you know, I am a merchant, and merchants act according to contracts.”
“But I will not betray my trust.”
"I understand. This can be considered a restriction on me. Without this, how can I pay you your monthly salary on time?“
He said it indirectly, but honestly, a contract binds both parties, not just one.
After thinking for a moment, the young man Bo-wook began to read the contract in front of him.
It was a basic contract used by the members of Eunhaesang Trading Company when hiring employees, so there were no particular problems.
”All right. I'll sign it."
“Are you sure you won't regret it?”
“Yes.”
I smiled at his affirmative answer.
“Welcome to Eunhae Trading Company. We look forward to working with you for the next ten years, as stated in the contract.”
Eunhae Trading Company's employment contracts are for ten years.
However, no one has ever refused to renew their contract after ten years.
No matter how you look at it, there is no place with better benefits than Eunhae Trading Company.
“We are leaving tomorrow. Please pack your belongings and be here by tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
The next day, we left Beijing and headed for Hubei, where Eunhae Trading Company was located.
Compared to when we came, there was one more person in our group.
When we arrived at the Eunhae Trading Company headquarters, I said to Bo-wook, the giant, or rather, Bo-wook, the clerk.
“This is the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“Wow, this is amazing. I'm glad I came.”
I said to him, who was impressed.
“I will show you to your room. Get some rest today, and you can go to work in Hyungpung-guk tomorrow morning.”