Chapter 167
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 167
Chapter 167. A Guest in the Middle of the Night (4)
The carriage we were riding in quickly arrived in Beijing.
Originally, I had no intention of meeting His Majesty the Emperor this time, so I asked the Elder to speak to him on my behalf...
It is difficult to meet him quickly without going through the proper procedures.
But as they say, you never know what will happen in this world, and that was exactly the situation we found ourselves in.
“Please come in.”
Jeong Taegam, who served the emperor closely, came to greet me personally.
“Thank you for coming to greet me personally, Taegam.”
Jeong Taegam smiled faintly in response to my greeting.
“Please come this way. His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for you.”
I followed Jeong Taegam through the imperial palace.
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
Then I came face to face with someone I didn't expect to see.
It was my aunt's son, Hyung-nim Sun-il.
“Hyung-nim Sun-il, are you leaving now?”
“Long time no see. By the way, what are you doing in the imperial palace without contacting me?”
Hyung-nim greeted me with a mixture of joy and confusion.
Jeong Taegam answered for me.
“His Majesty the Emperor has summoned you.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“That's why I sent someone to your house in a hurry. I'll see you later.”
“Okay, see you later.”
After parting ways with Sun-il, I was walking down the street when Jeong Taegam spoke to me.
“I heard that you two are second cousins.”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Hong Su-chan is also a talented man who passed the imperial examination with top honors. Your family is truly blessed with good people.”
“Hahaha.”
I just laughed at his words.
It wasn't that I was embarrassed to call myself talented, but rather that I had to be careful of what I said.
Jeong Taegam was one of the emperor's most trusted confidants.
If I made a mistake, I could be dragged away to become a slave for the emperor.
Soon, we arrived at the emperor's office.
I quickly straightened my clothes, and Jeong Taegam announced our arrival.
“Your Majesty, Captain Eunseoho has arrived.”
“Let him enter.”
The door opened, and I entered the office.
“Your Majesty, Emperor Eunseoho is here. Long live the emperor!”
I prostrated myself before him, and I heard the emperor's voice.
“You may rise.”
“I am deeply honored.”
When I cautiously stood up, the emperor stared intently at me.
Did I do something wrong? Why is he staring at me like that?
After staring at me for a long time, the emperor opened his mouth.
“Those you reported were members of the Hwancheondan. They were traitors who sought to usurp my throne.”
“It was fortunate that they were suppressed early.”
“Yes. By the way, as you said, they were trying to use the corpses. How did you find out?”
“I found out by chance. During my journey, I met a Daoist priest from the Mosan sect, and...”
I explained what had happened to me.
There was no need to hide anything.
“Yes, I heard about that. It is a noble thing to do, allowing the bodies of those who died in a foreign land to be laid to rest in their homeland.”
The emperor continued.
“So you followed the clues to find them in order to fulfill the request of the Daoist who was attacked.”
“That is correct.”
“Well, in a way, this is typical of you. You didn't handle it yourself but reported it to me instead.”
I tilted my head, and the emperor laughed heartily.
“You don't do anything that doesn't benefit you. It was difficult to refuse the Taoist priest's request, but you couldn't just rush at them because you knew you couldn't handle them. You found another way out of a difficult situation. Isn't that right?”
How did you know?
As expected, the emperor is not just anyone.
“Anyway, thank you. If they had continued to grow in power, it would have been quite a headache.”
“As a subject who lives under the grace of His Majesty the Emperor, it was my duty.”
“So, you're going to the North Sea?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“It doesn't look like you're going on a business trip, though.”
As he said, my journey this time was not for trade, but at the request of my Master.
However, I couldn't tell the emperor the truth.
If I did, he would inevitably bring up the destruction of the Seolpung Palace.
“You cannot become a great merchant by settling for the status quo.”
“Is that so?”
Fortunately, the emperor seemed to accept my vague explanation.
“By the way, I understand that you will soon be turning twenty.”
“That is correct.”
I bowed my head and tensed up.
I realized that this was the reason he had called me here.
“What do you think? When you turn twenty, would you like to help me and work in the imperial palace?”
I broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.
It sounded like a gentle suggestion, but it was actually an order.
I cautiously raised my head and asked.
“Your Majesty. It would be the honor of my life to serve you. Therefore, I dare to ask, where do you intend to employ me?”
“I like your ambition, drive, and your unwillingness to lose. Therefore, I intend to put you in the cabinet.”
The cabinet served as the emperor's secretariat, coordinating between departments and relaying the emperor's orders to each department.
Actually, I had expected it.
There was nowhere else to put someone with no experience.
Ha, the cabinet... You mean the cabinet?
That means it's a place where people are divided between the emperor and each department.
Of course, I'll have power in my hands.
But with all the infighting, my revenge on the Baekcheon Trading Company and the Martial Alliance will be a distant dream.
Furthermore, my goal is to create the world's best trading company, not to join the court and gain power.
More importantly, I will have no freedom.
Being tied down to one place is not for me. I want to come and go as I please and do as I wish.
That is why I refused to become the captain of the Trading Company.
I took a deep breath and said to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, I apologize, but I am not a suitable person for the cabinet.”
“What?”
“I would like to be assigned to another task.”
I couldn't just say, “I am not good enough to take on such an important task.”
The emperor would say, “You are not lacking in any way, so stop talking and get to work.”
“The abilities that His Majesty the Emperor has highly praised will shine in the cabinet. However, I already have a very respectable and wonderful job in the eyes of others.”
“Um, continue.”
“I am the captain of the Purple Mist Pills Trading Company, the ruler of Hyungpung Kingdom, and, although I am proud to say so, I am known as the ‘Gentleman of the West.’”
It's embarrassing to call myself by my title, but I have no choice.
“If I do as His Majesty wishes, I will have no choice but to give up these precious things.”
“Certainly. That's true. Even if other things are easy to obtain, a title is not something that can be easily acquired.”
“Therefore, I would like to keep these things and serve His Majesty.”
“...”
There was a moment of silence that made me feel uneasy.
The emperor must know that it is to his advantage to accept my proposal...
“Where is this brat thinking right now?”
I looked up at him, surprised by his sudden harsh words, which seemed strangely fitting for an emperor.
“So you don't want to work hard by my side, but you want to continue riding on my coattails?”
He caught me.
“But you're not wrong, so I find you despicable.”
“....”
“Fine. I will give you the position of seventh-rank inspector general. From now on, you must faithfully serve as my eyes and ears. If you don't...”
The emperor pointed at the floor with his finger and said.
“I will have your bones buried in the imperial palace.”
The emperor knew how to threaten people. His words, saying that he would make me work so hard that I would be buried in the imperial palace, were the words I feared the most.
“But the problem is that if you slip away like a loach, there will be no one left to work in the imperial palace.”
I quickly said to the emperor.
“I don't think you need to worry too much. Soon, talented people will graduate from the Hyeonghak Academy.”
“Ah! That's right. How are the students at the Hyeonghak Academy? How many of them do you think will pass the exam this time?”
“More than half of the graduating class will pass.”
“More than half?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. Most of the teachers there are university professors whom you personally invited.”
“Ah! That's right! You brought those lazy people who didn't want to work to the Hyeonghak Academy.”
The emperor looked satisfied.
“I have high hopes for this. Since it is a school established by the Eunhae Trading Company, of which you are the captain, I am sure you will not produce any dunces.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I hope they are good at arithmetic. Why are there so many kids who can't even do basic arithmetic?”
“...I will keep that in mind.”
I must reinforce the arithmetic teachers at the Hyeonghak Academy immediately.
In a way, it may seem as if I am handing these students over to the Hyeonghak Academy, but their goal is to pass the civil service examination and serve in the royal court anyway.
Because of me, the emperor will pay a little more attention to them.
I am sorry. But I have a lot of work to do.
* * *
Jeong Taegam, who had accompanied Eun Seo-ho to the palace gate, returned and reported to the emperor.
“I have seen Eun Seo-ho off.”
“Yes, he is staying at his relative's house?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The emperor smiled slightly at Jeong Taegam's reply.
“The more I think about it, the more I think he is a reckless boy.”
Jeong Taegam cautiously replied,
“It seems that you like Captain Eun Seo-ho.”
“Isn't he too bold?”
The emperor did not answer, but Jeong Taegam realized that the emperor liked Eun Seo-ho very much.
“If you like him so much, why don't you make him your son-in-law?”
At Jeong Taegam's words, the emperor's expression changed completely.
“Am I crazy? Why would I make that boy my son-in-law?”
“....”
“If I make him my son-in-law, I won't be able to use him as an inspector, so I'll have to keep him in the palace. Then he won't be able to go home, and the princess will come looking for me, whining that she's afraid our relationship will end. Then I'll have no choice but to send him home early, and then what would be the point of making him my son-in-law?”
“That is true. I was short-sighted.”
“I understand that you speak from your heart.”
“I am deeply grateful.”
The emperor turned away from Jeong Taegam and fell into deep thought.
“The North Sea... I must go to the warehouse and see if there is anything suitable.”
* *
As I left the palace gate, Palgak and the guards approached me with happy faces.
“I'm glad you came out safely.”
I smiled wryly at Pal-gap's words.
“What could have gone wrong?”
“Isn't reporting treason like walking on a tightrope? One wrong step and you're dead.”
As Pal-gap said, reporting treason was indeed a dangerous thing to do.
“That's true, but I'm very good at walking on a tightrope.”
Pal-gap looked at me with a look that said he had a lot to say.
Seo Woo smiled and said, “Shall we go to Yeonjoon Trading Company?”
“Yes.”
When we arrived at Yeonjoon Trading Company, my aunt came out and greeted us warmly.
“Welcome. How have you been?”
“Yes. How have you been, Aunt?”
“I'm always fine. Sun-il told me that he saw you at the imperial palace earlier.”
“Yes. I had some business to attend to. I will tell you the details later.”
“Okay.”
A moment later, I explained everything to my aunt.
“So you were summoned by His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“He said thank you.”
Hearing my answer, my aunt's face brightened. Now that I had heard that, there would be no further problems.
My aunt lived in Beijing and had sent her son to work for the court, so she couldn't help but worry about things like this.
I was grateful for her concern.
.
.
.
The next day, Pal-gap called me.
“Young master, there is a guest here to see you.”
“A guest?”
Did I have a guest?
I got up from my seat and headed to the reception room where the guest was waiting.
“Ah!”
The guest was someone familiar, but not someone I was happy to see.
It was Master Jin of the Royal Guards, who had come to deal with Hwan Cheon Dan.
“Master, it is an honor to see you.”
“I have come with a message from His Majesty the Emperor.”
At those words, I quickly bowed before him. I thought I knew what the sacred letter was for.
He quietly took a scroll and an identity card from his robe and handed them to me.
Normally, presenting a sacred letter is a grand affair, but given my position, it would be better if others didn't know about it.
“I am deeply honored.”
I bowed in respect, accepted the sacred item, put it in my bosom, and said to him.
“I will bring you some tea.”
“Yes, I will have a cup since I am here.”
If I visited as a guest and left without even having a cup of tea, some people might think it strange.
So we passed the time with small talk.
After talking for about an hour, Master Jin-yeong took a small box out of his sleeve and handed it to me.
“Take this. It is a gift from His Majesty.”
“Huh?”
“He said to give this to you along with it. ‘This will be useful to you. Every time you use it, remember that you are my loyal servant.’”
“....”
Wow, he's really persistent.