Chapter 15
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 15
Chapter 15. An Unexpected Journey (4)
Of course, he would know if he watched him closely, but he couldn't help being curious.
Especially since he had been feeling that his son was extraordinary lately.
Even though he was only fifteen years old.
In any case, with such exceptional abilities, he couldn't possibly not know that the road to Jiangxi Province was dangerous.
“It will be difficult with all the snow on the road to Jiangxi Province, won't it?”
“It's okay. Driving on snowy roads is also an experience.”
“No matter how much martial arts you have learned, snowy roads have their own dangers.”
“But if I don't go on vacation now, when will I ever get to go to Jiangxi?”
“It won't be that long. Even if you go to Jiangxi, you'll only be able to stay for a day or so, right?”
“That's enough for me.”
Eun Gil-sang sensed that his son wasn't telling him the real reason.
So, he thought of something and said to his son.
“Then let's do this.”
“What?”
“There is a trade mission going to Jiangxi Province to deliver goods for our Eunhae Trading Company. I want you to accompany them.”
* *
I was taken aback by my father's words.
Accompany a trade mission?
I made up an excuse that I wanted to look around the market in Jiangxi Province without revealing my purpose because I had no way of explaining that I knew where the palm print craftsmen were.
So, I planned to make up a story that I went to the market in Jiangxi Province, happened to meet a skilled craftsman, and recruited him.
However, my father told me to accompany the courier since I was going there anyway.
“Is that okay? Yeon Gak-ju?”
Yeon Gak-ju of Sangyugak nodded in response to my father's question.
“Of course. The negotiations have already been finalized, so it's just a matter of delivering the goods.”
As soon as Yeon Gak-ju finished speaking, I interjected.
“But I haven't been working for very long.”
“I know. But you have already proven your talent, and Chief Administrator Yu has recognized you. So you don't have to worry about that.”
I tried to give another reason.
“A business trip will take several times longer than my vacation. Then what about my work?”
Hearing my words, Chief Administrator Yu, who was sitting next to me, said.
“Go ahead.”
“What?”
“Thanks to your help, we have enough manpower to cover for you. Besides, it's about time you gained some experience in official business.”
“But I'm only fifteen...”
Yeon Gak-joo continued.
“You can't truly understand official business until you've experienced it for yourself.”
Chief Administrator Yu smiled and added.
“Don't worry, just go.”
My father continued.
“Actually, the reason I asked you to accompany the escort is for your safety.”
“...”
I couldn't argue with that.
Many escorts accompany the escort to protect the goods.
“But father, I'm using my vacation to go. Using the Trading Company for my vacation is...”
My father smiled and said,
“I'm sending you to work.”
I tilted my head at his words, but my father just smiled and said,
“I'll give you your vacation later, so go ahead.”
“Ah!”
Those words suddenly made me feel better.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed that I had to sacrifice my vacation to bring the Palm print master here, but now my father said he would give me time off later.
Then something suddenly occurred to me.
“But isn't the journey tomorrow?”
Yeon Gak-joo said.
“To be exact, we're leaving early tomorrow morning.”
There was no time to waste.
.
.
.
Early the next morning.
I finished my breathing exercises.
My master said he was leaving on a trip today.
He told me to review what I learned yesterday on my own and to bring one of the Eunpungdae warriors to train with me.
However, since he was leaving early in the morning, there was no martial arts training today.
After eating the simple breakfast that Pal-gap brought me, I told my grandfather and parents that I was leaving, and then headed to the station with Pal-gap.
“It's your first official mission! I'm so nervous and excited!”
I chuckled at Pal-gap's words.
“I'm the one going on the mission, why are you so nervous?”
“Because it's my first time assisting you on a business trip.”
“Don't be nervous. Business trips are long. If you get nervous and collapse, I'll have to take care of you.”
“No, that won't do!”
“I'm not a child. You don't have to take care of me.”
Pal-gap stared at me blankly.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Lately, you seem to forget that you are a young master. You are only fifteen, and although you are considered an adult in the country, you are still young. The young masters of other families are immature and cause problems, but...”
Pal-gap continued.
“You don't have to become an adult already.”
“Hahaha.”
I laughed awkwardly.
It was true, but I couldn't help it.
I may be fifteen years old, but my mind is already thirty-nine.
“I just wanted to tell you to go with a light heart, as if you were going for a walk.”
Soon we arrived at the station.
It was a building with only a roof to block the snow and rain, and it was also a place to keep the goods loaded on the carriages from getting wet.
It was called a station because carriages were always coming and going, and it was also the place where goods departed and arrived.
When we arrived at the place where the goods departing for Jiangxi Province were loaded, the porters who were busily loading the goods quickly bowed their heads.
“Greetings, young master.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I accepted their greetings and went to the Jaegyeonggak to find the person I was supposed to meet.
The name of the person at the Jaegyeonggak was Lim Kyung-bin.
He was an unpaid official and one of the officials I often encountered at the Jaegyeonggak.
He was an experienced official with a fairly high rank.
“I'm a little late.”
“Ah! Young master, you're here? I came early. Don't worry about it.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“I have been assigned to assist you.”
“I trust you, Lim. Please take good care of me.”
There were several other familiar faces besides Lim.
They were from the Seungpung Hall and Sangyu Hall.
“Greetings, young master.”
“Nice to meet you.”
After exchanging greetings with them, I headed toward the place where the goods bound for Jiangxi Province were piled up.
Lim Gak-won said to those who questioned my appearance.
“Young Master Eunseoho will also be accompanying us on this trip.”
“What?”
Those around me were surprised by my words, but they soon understood.
“Come to think of it, it's about time Young Master Seoho accompanied us on a trip.”
“It seems like just yesterday that he was taking his first steps...”
“He's grown up so fast!”
Seeing the workers' emotional expressions, I felt a little embarrassed.
Lim Gak-won, who was standing next to me, said,
“Ah, here come the Head Escort and the escorts who will be accompanying us.”
This time, I was slightly surprised.
This was because the Head Escort for this mission was my Master.
I quickly clasped my hands together in a greeting.
I was about to greet him, but my master greeted him first.
“I am Kwak Myeong-hyun, Head Escort of Changin Escort Agency. Please call me Kwak Head Escort.”
My master's intention was clear.
He didn't want me to reveal that I was his disciple.
I had to follow his lead.
“I am Eun Seo-ho, the third son of the Eunhae Trading Company. I am currently working at the Ministry of Finance, so you can call me Eun Gakwon.”
“Yes, sir. Eun Gakwon.”
I said to everyone.
“Please call me Eun Gakwon as well.”
“Yes.”
I asked Lim Gakwon.
“Then shall we begin the inspection?”
“Yes? Oh, yes. That's right. Dao...”
“I am Eun Gakwon.”
“Yes, Eun Gakwon.”
I looked at the documents I was holding and began to assess the situation.
“A delivery...”
My father told me to gain experience, but I already had a lot of experience with deliveries.
When the Trading Company asked the escort agency to transport goods, I didn't just hand over the goods and stand around watching.
Of course, someone from the Trading Company accompanied me.
Two people were assigned to Seungpunggak to handle various miscellaneous tasks, two people were assigned to Sangyugak to manage the goods and handle transactions, and two people were assigned to the Finance Department to handle administrative procedures and document preparation and financial accounting.
And two people from Jaegyeonggak were in charge of administrative procedures, document preparation, and financial transactions.
Six people were essential.
In addition, two warriors from Eunpungdae were selected as my bodyguards, and a team from Eunpungdae joined to protect the goods.
The Eunpungdae that participated in the escort this time was the third team led by Team Leader Jeong Chung.
Usually, only a few warriors participated as bodyguards for the Trading Company, but this time, an entire team was assigned.
I think it was to protect me, the son of the Trading Company's owner.
Originally, the deputy leader was supposed to lead half of the team, but considering that Jung-chung's participation was suddenly decided yesterday, my guess seemed to be correct.
Jeong-chung was in the final stages of discussing the trip with his master.
Meanwhile, we did a final inspection of the goods.
The goods going to Jiangxi Province this time were silk brought from Sichuan Province.
Upon arriving in Jiangxi Province, they would be exchanged for tea from Fujian Province and candy from Guangxi Province.
The silk was sensitive to sunlight, so it had to be packed in boxes for transport.
It was also sensitive to moisture, so it had to be wrapped in paper to absorb any moisture.
After confirming that everything was in order, Sang-yu-gak ordered his subordinates to close the boxes.
Lim Gak-won said to Jeong-chung Jo.
“The inspection of the goods is complete. We are ready to depart.”
“Understood. We will load the goods and depart in an hour.”
At that moment, the people who had been bustling about began to greet someone in a certain direction.
“Greetings, second and third young masters.”
I turned around to see what the commotion was about and saw my first and second older brothers standing there.
I had already told them last night that I would be leaving, so I wondered why they had come all the way here.
“What are you doing here?”
“We came to see you off on your first journey.”
I smiled at my second brother's words.
“Thank you.”
My first brother handed me something.
“Take this.”
It was a small, sharp dagger.
“We thought you might need a weapon to protect yourself, so your second brother and I got this for you.”
“Um... thank you.”
I expressed my gratitude and fiddled with the dagger.
The feel of it was familiar.
My first Head Escort was a few months later in the spring, and my two brothers gave me this dagger as a gift then as well.
At that time, I thought it was too precious to use, so I hid it in my room.
Later, I found out that my two brothers were upset that I had hidden it.
They thought I didn't like the dagger and didn't carry it with me.
Now, I plan to carry this dagger with me every day. That will make my brothers happy.
I put the dagger safely in my pocket.
“I'll take good care of it.”
“Yes, have a safe trip.”
And so, I left on my first journey earlier than I had planned.
.
.
.
Winter journeys had clear advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was that the narrow rivers froze over, allowing us to travel without boats or bridges.
However, the disadvantages were too great.
There were no problems in areas where the snow had been compacted by people, but in order for the carts to move forward on roads covered with snow up to our knees, we had to clear the snow from the road.
And most of those roads were mountain roads.
When there was a lot of snow on mountain roads, it was impossible to tell where the road was.
We had to clear the snow just to find the road.
So, the escort agency's porters went ahead with shovels and cleared the snow roughly to guide the carts.
This naturally slowed us down, but there was no other choice. It was better than rushing and losing the goods or having casualties.
“Ugh...”
Seeing that, I couldn't help but sigh.
Seeing the porters clearing the snow in front of me, I realized that I had returned to the past.
After traveling for a while,
“Long time no see.”
I looked up at the unexpected voice and saw two burly men in thick fur coats in front of me.
In front of me were two burly men wearing thick fur coats.
They were bandits, or rather, the Green Forest Bandits.
Even with their appearance, Master and Jung-chung did not panic at all and approached them.
“It's been a long time.”
“Are you going to Jiangxi Province?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Then one of the Green Forest Bandits said,
“It must be hard walking on the snowy mountain road. Our boss says you should go to the mountain keep and have a cup of warm tea before you go.”
It was a completely unexpected offer.