Chapter 128
The Youngest Son of Eunhaesang Trading Company Chapter 128
Chapter 128. Hyeonghwa Academy (4)
After handing over the secretary to Pal-gap, I immediately headed for my father.
I had to report on my trip and also tell him about the letter I had received the other day.
“I had a good trip to Beijing.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
“On my way here, I brought back a talented person who would be suitable for working in Hyungpung. I have agreed to give him a monthly salary of eight nyang.”
“That is quite a large salary.”
“He is talented enough to earn that much and more.”
“If you say so, then it must be true. Hyungpung is your responsibility, so do your best.”
After reporting on my meeting with the emperor, I took a moment to catch my breath.
“Father. Did Eunwolgak approve of establishing a school in Beijing?”
“As I wrote in my letter, the response was positive, so we can consider it approved. You will hear the details at tomorrow's meeting.”
“Yes.”
After leaving my father's presence, I headed for Hyunpungguk.
* *
Bo-wook couldn't collect his thoughts.
While investigating Eunseoho, he had heard that Eunhaesang was a large trading company.
However, the Eunhaesang he saw with his own eyes was much more impressive than he had imagined.
Pal-gap showed him around the trading company.
“This is the deputy manager's office. This is where the trading day begins and ends.”
“I see.”
“This is Eunryongjeon. This is where the important members of the trading company are. Hyungpungguk is also there.”
“It's quite magnificent.”
“That is where Eunpungdae, the guards of our trading company, are stationed. There is also a training ground for martial arts training.”
“Wow! That's cool!”
As he was shown around, his heart began to race with excitement.
It seemed like he had made the right decision to work for Eunhae Trading Company.
On top of that, his monthly salary was eight nyang.
With that money, he could live comfortably not only for himself but also for his mother and brother and his wife.
After touring Eunhae Trading Company, they arrived in front of a building.
In front of the five-story building hung a sign that read, “Plum Blossom Dormitory.”
“This is where you will be staying.”
Pal-gap greeted a middle-aged man sitting at a table inside the door.
“Hello.”
“Ah! Pal-gap!”
The man greeted him with a bright smile.
He was Pal-gap, Eun Seo-ho's attendant.
It was safe to say that everyone in the Eunhae Trading Company knew him.
“This is Secretary Bo-wook, who will be working in Hyungpung. Please show him to his room.”
“I understand.”
The middle-aged man said with a friendly smile.
“Nice to meet you. I am Song Min, the manager of the Plum Blossom Inn. You can call me ‘officer’ when addressing me and the other managers of the inn.”
“My name is Bo-wook. Nice to meet you, Officer Song.”
“There are also non-commissioned officers, but I will introduce them to you later. Please follow me.”
Pal-gap greeted Bo-wook and left the dormitory, and Song Min took Bo-wook to the third floor.
It looked like an inn.
“This is where you will be staying, Bo-wook.”
It looked small from the outside, but once inside, it was more spacious than expected.
It was several times larger than the inn he had stayed at before, and there were not one but two rooms.
It was equipped with all the basic necessities, such as beds and writing desks.
Bo-wook couldn't help but admire it.
“This is a very nice place to stay.”
"This dormitory system is one of the welfare benefits that our Trading Company is proud of. There are four dormitories like this, and they are strictly separated by gender.“
”I see. So all the employees of the Trading Company live here?“
”Not exactly. If they want, they can live outside and commute to work, but since each person has their own room, unless they get married, almost none of the single employees want to leave here.“
”I see."
“As a result, employees working for the Trading Company compete fiercely to get into the dormitory, but those working in Hyungpung-guk are assigned rooms without any competition.”
“What?”
If that was true, it meant that he had stayed here through a loophole.
“I didn't think Mister Eunseo-ho was like that... To give such a benefit through a loophole to someone belonging to Hyungpung-guk, where he is the governor.”
From the perspective of Song Min, the official in charge of managing this place, this must be an annoying situation.
However, for some reason, Song Min did not seem to mind.
“Is that okay?”
In response to Bo-wook's question, Song Min replied as if it were a matter of course.
“Yes, that's fine.”
“Why is that?”
“That's because...”
However, he only mumbled and did not answer.
“That's not important. Let me explain the rules of this place.”
Song Min explained the rules of the dormitory.
“If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.”
Bo-wook tilted his head.
Something seemed strange, but he decided to let it go.
“By the way, I feel bad for the others for getting to stay in such a nice place through a loophole.”
That evening, he headed to the communal dining hall.
That was because he could get a meal there at a very reasonable price.
When he went there, he found that the price was one-third of the market price.
Tonight's dinner was meat dumplings and hot noodles.
He took his food, found a place to sit, and began to eat, but a group of people gathered around him.
“May we join you?”
“Sure.”
The people sitting around him asked Bo-wook.
“By the way, we haven't met you before.”
“I'm new here. I started working for Eunhae Trading Company today.”
“I see. Nice to meet you. Where are you stationed?”
“Hyungpungguk.”
“What?”
“Did you say Hyungpungguk?”
But there was something strange about their reaction.
“Are you okay?”
“What?”
Not understanding the question, he nodded.
“What's wrong?”
“...
One of the group asked.
”Are you still before work?“
”I'm scheduled to start tomorrow.“
”I see! That makes sense.“
”...
“Are you married?”
“No, I'm still single.”
“Then you must be staying at the dormitory.”
“I'll be staying at the Maehwa Dormitory.”
“I'm staying at the Plum Blossom Dormitory too.”
Hearing that, Bo-wook hesitated and said.
“I'm sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing all of a sudden?”
“I heard that I was given special treatment to stay at the Plum Blossom Dormitory just because I work for Hyungpung. Many people compete fiercely to get into that dormitory...”
At his words, everyone sitting next to him smiled bitterly. Then one of the employees said,
“We don't care if Bo-gong is staying at the Plum Blossom Dormitory as a privilege. At Eunhae Trading Company, we only give privileges when we think it's deserved.”
Another nodded and continued,
“No matter how outstanding Hyungpung-gukju is, there are other members of Eunwolgak. If it were unnecessary privilege, they would have sanctioned it.”
That made sense.
However, Bo-wook's question remained unanswered.
“Then why do they give such privileges to those who work for Hyungpung-guk?”
Another person replied, “I heard it means that you shouldn't collapse and sleep on the street on your way home.”
“From what I heard, it's so that they don't collapse on the street on their way home and fall asleep…”
“I heard it was to prevent talented people from running away.”
Bo-wook had no idea what was going on.
“Anyway, don't feel sorry or anything like that. In four days, you won't feel that way at all.”
“So don't think about anything tonight and just get a good night's sleep! It's better if you just sleep soundly.”
“Why?”
“Because the work in Hyungpung-guk is... really tough.”
Until then, he had wondered how hard the work could be.
However, it didn't take him long to realize that
There was a good reason why they assigned dormitories without competition.
* * *
It was morning.
I woke up early, washed my face with Pal-gap's help, and went out to the courtyard.
The bodyguards were already awake and stretching.
What an energetic morning.
“Good morning.”
“Yes, Liege. Good morning.”
We exchanged greetings and did breathing exercises.
My inner arts, which resembled the coolness of winter, rose up, and my drowsy mind became clear.
Today is individual training.
This is because my Master has gone on a trip.
A trip in winter... It must be hard.
.
.
.
After breakfast, I headed to Eunwol Hall for a meeting.
When I arrived, Clan Chief Seung-cheol and Clan Chief Yeon-hae-mi were already there.
I exchanged light greetings with them.
“I heard you returned from Beijing yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“You must have thought we would be bored, so you sent us a big case from Beijing! Hahaha. I didn't expect that.”
“I apologize.”
I scratched my head at Captain Jik's words.
Then Captain Yeon smiled and said,
“Captain Jik, you are not being honest. At the last meeting, you only praised Captain Eun Seo-ho.”
“Ahem!”
At her words, the enemy commander cleared his throat.
Seeing him embarrassed, it seemed that Yeon's words were true.
At that moment, others began to enter, and soon the meeting began.
Various matters were discussed.
“Finally, let's talk about the proposal Seoho made. Seoho.”
“Yes, Father.”
“This is your proposal. I'm sure you have a plan for it, right?”
“Of course.”
No matter what the proposal was, it was important to conduct thorough research so that it wouldn't end up being pie in the sky.
To that end, I had to work not only in Beijing but also here in the main office.
I laid out the plan I had prepared.
“If you look here, the academy in Beijing...”
Although it was a matter of planting people from Eunhae Trading Company in the imperial palace, the academy was also a serious business.
At first, people would praise us for not just making money for ourselves, but for carrying out an educational project for the good of the country.
However, they also know that merchants are merchants.
They know that merchants never do business at a loss.
If this educational project were to run at a loss, people would suspect that there was something fishy going on.
Therefore, it was necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of the commercial district.
Would they just stand by and watch?
Even if it was just a cover-up, it had to look plausible on the surface.
That is why a thorough analysis of the commercial district was necessary.
“Therefore, I think it would be best to start with a small academy that can accommodate about 100 students.”
“That sounds just right.”
“The location is here, a little away from the bookstore district...”
“Please feel free to share your thoughts.”
The others responded with various opinions, and I answered and revised my plan.
When they pointed out things I hadn't thought of, I realized that the saying “old ginger is spicy” was true.
That was based on their years of experience.
Even now, I regret that I was unable to learn from their experience before my father and they retired.
But this time will be different.
“It's getting cold all of a sudden.”
“Yes, it is.”
“We need to add some more charcoal to the fire.”
“The most important thing is the name of the academy...”
Hearing that, I said to my father, “I think it would be best if your father named it.”
“I think it would be best if you named it, Father.”
“I agree.”
“The Captain should name it.”
After thinking for a moment, my father said,
“I suddenly have a good name. How about Hyeonghwa Academy?”
Hyeonghwa.
It means apricot blossom.
“Since ancient times, when the imperial examination was held, apricot flowers would bloom, and it was called ‘gyup-gyup-hwa-ga-ra’ (a phrase meaning ‘pass the exam’).
”It means 'be successful in your studies.
“That too, but apricots are also used as a cure-all medicine, so it means that I hope the knowledge learned at the academy will not be dead knowledge, but will be used as a cure-all medicine.”
“That makes more sense.”
You suddenly thought of that?
My father is so funny.
He must have been thinking about it since I sent him a letter about the academy.
If I hadn't asked him to name the academy, he would have been disappointed.
Thus, the name of the academy to be established by Eunhae Trading Company was decided as Hwagwa Academy.
The more I think about it, the better the name sounds.
“Then we must return to Beijing.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“As soon as we finish our work here, we will go to Beijing and begin establishing the academy.”
When we returned to Hyungpung-guk after the meeting, Secretary Bo-wook was already at work.
I introduced him to everyone.
“This is Bo-wook, the secretary. He will be working with us in Hyungpung-guk starting today.”
“Finally! We finally have a new member!”
“Hurray!”
Not only Ye-chang's aides, but also other Hyungpung-guk employees welcomed Bo-wook warmly.
It seemed that their reasons for welcoming him were a little different, but...
What did it matter?