Chapter 197
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 197
Chapter 197. Jin-ho Hyung's Spring (1)
The next day, I headed to the imperial palace.
Someone who wanted to see me was working there, and I had to submit some documents for a silk delivery anyway.
After submitting the documents to the court official, I headed to the garden where I had been with Hyung-nim Sun-il before.
As I was walking around the garden and enjoying the scenery, I heard someone calling my name.
“Mister Eunseoho.”
I turned around and saw a man in official attire approaching me.
He had a familiar face.
It was Jihyeon, who had written the report on the incident at the flower market.
The emperor recognized him as a talented individual as soon as he saw the report I submitted.
Was his name Gun-sung?
“Long time no see.”
“Long time no see.”
We exchanged brief greetings.
“You said you wanted to see me?”
“Yes.”
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
“Thanks to you, I was promoted to the central government, and I wanted to express my gratitude.”
As expected...
The emperor's drive is frightening.
How long has it been since he was called to the court?
“By the way, I heard that working at the imperial palace is hard. Are you okay?”
I asked him casually because he was at the imperial palace because of the report I submitted.
Fortunately, he replied with a cheerful smile.
“I was prepared for this. Considering how hard I worked as a provincial governor, it's nothing compared to working at the Imperial Palace, isn't it?”
“Hahaha, is that so?”
I'm glad he likes it.
I heard that the position he received at the Imperial Palace was as a career official in charge of petitions and imperial decrees.
It was a good fit for him, as it was a position responsible for record keeping.
It was a sixth-rank official position, higher than the seventh-rank Inspector General, but perhaps because of the special nature of the Inspector General's position, he still treated me with respect.
“I heard that you participated in the imperial silk competition. Was it on his orders?”
He meant to ask if it was part of the Inspector General's duties.
Of course not, but he wouldn't believe me if I said no.
So I just smiled.
“...I see.”
After chatting about this and that, we parted ways, promising to meet again.
We had both taken time out of our busy schedules to meet.
.
.
.
When evening came, I headed for a tea house near the imperial palace.
The person who had asked to see me had not yet arrived, so I entered a quiet room on the third floor and enjoyed my tea.
Just as I was finishing my cup, I heard a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
“We meet again.”
It was Hwang Bon-ji, the scholar.
“I heard that you were selected as the Trading Company for the delivery of silk to the royal family. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. I heard that you have also returned to the court.”
“Yes, by the grace of His Majesty the Emperor, I have been appointed as a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue.”
“I am honored.”
A senior official in the Ministry of Revenue is a high-ranking official with the rank of third rank, equivalent to a vice minister.
However, if the emperor remembers him, it means that he is quite competent, so it is a fitting appointment.
By the way, the Ministry of Revenue...
In that case, I should take this opportunity to convey a message to His Majesty the Emperor through Hwang Dae-in, or rather, Hwang Dae-in.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Please speak. You saved my son's life, so I will do whatever I can.”
“As a merchant, I have many opportunities to travel throughout the Central Plains. I have learned that there has been a bumper crop throughout the country.”
“I have heard that. Everyone is happy because they will have plenty of money.”
Yes, that is what everyone thought.
As a result, the subsequent famine was even worse.
Recalling that memory, he spoke cautiously.
“That... I think there will be a severe famine starting next year and continuing for some time.”
“What? Are you saying that a famine will suddenly come?”
“Yes, but... I was wondering whether to tell you, since it is based on my prophetic dream.”
“You said it was a prophetic dream?”
“Yes.”
It is certain that there will be a severe famine for the next five years.
Even if I change things, the climate will not change.
But the problem is that I have no solid evidence.
Who could have predicted that such a famine would suddenly follow an unprecedented windfall?
But His Majesty the Emperor will surely find evidence.
That is why I am covering it up with a “prophetic dream.”
And there is a suitable excuse to back it up.
“In fact, it was thanks to a prophetic dream that I was able to save the son of Lord Hwang. I saw the scene in my dream, so I was able to go out on a boat and save everyone.”
At those words, Lord Hwang's expression darkened.
As an official of the Ministry of Revenue, responsible for collecting taxes to run the country during a famine, it was only natural for him to be worried.
“What I want to say is that you should store as much grain as possible during this harvest.”
“But we cannot collect more than the fixed tax revenue.”
“That is true. But isn't it possible for the government to purchase it? With a bumper crop, the price of grain will be lower than usual, and if you offer a little more than the market price, everyone will sell their grain.”
This is the best solution in reality.
You cannot force the people not to waste grain.
If the country stores grain in this way, at least there won't be a flood of people starving to death or living in poverty as they did in the past.
“You must spend the national treasury as much as possible to store as much grain as possible.”
I am saying this because I am certain that what I said to Grand Minister Hwang will reach the emperor's ears.
Unlike Grand Minister Gun, he is in a high position.
Therefore, given the timing, it would have been difficult for him to come see me without the emperor's permission.
He must have come to see me because he was ordered by the emperor.
Dao's congratulatory remarks were sincere, but they also contained the emperor's congratulations.
I knew about the coming famine, but I didn't tell the emperor in advance because the time wasn't right.
It was only recently that I began to gain the emperor's trust, and before that, I was in no position to say such things.
And until last year, the harvest was average, so even if I had told them to stockpile grain, it would have been difficult to do so.
Running a country is always difficult.
But now the emperor will listen to me.
He knows that I do not speak nonsense.
Furthermore, this time there is a huge harvest, so it will be easier to store grain.
Even though the time has come when I can speak about these things, I am not telling the emperor myself because...
Facing the emperor is not good for my heart.
And if I'm not careful, he'll say, “You seem to be the right person for the job, so get to work,” and I'll end up with shackles on my ankles.
And there's one more thing I want to say.
“If a famine strikes later and the situation worsens, consider bringing grain from foreign countries.”
“From a foreign country?”
“For example, a place like Daewook or the plains beyond the North Sea.”
Hwang Dae-in's expression changed for the worse.
“Are you telling me to beg for food?”
“Are you joking? Begging? There are much better ways.”
“...?”
I smiled wryly.
“Isn't there a way to import food legitimately through merchants?”
If the first proposal was for everyone, the second proposal was for the merchant guild, including our Eunhae Trading Company.
* *
Hwang Bon-ji watched Eun Seo-ho walk away.
“There was a reason why His Majesty was interested in him.”
He recalled when the emperor had summoned him yesterday.
“I hear that the Eunhae Trading Company has become a silk supplier. And I hear that the representative of that company is Eun Seo-ho, who is your son's benefactor?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Then I will meet with him to offer my congratulations.”
The emperor's intention was clear.
He wanted him to meet with Eun Seo-ho and offer his congratulations.
So he made an appointment through Eun Seo-ho's cousin.
At first, he was happy to see him, but he was a little disappointed when Eun Seo-ho immediately asked him for a favor after mentioning that he had become the deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
He thought, “He is a merchant after all.”
However, since he was his son's benefactor, he planned to listen to him and politely refuse any unreasonable requests, but his expectations were completely wrong.
Eun Seo-ho's request was not for himself.
He asked him to stockpile grain in preparation for a famine.
“He is a noble man! Eun Seo-ho, the captain of the royal guard, is indeed a noble man!”
He was ashamed of himself for misunderstanding Eun Seo-ho.
“By the way, a premonitory dream...”
Others might laugh if they heard it, but he had no choice but to believe it.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have appeared at such an opportune moment to save everyone who had fallen into Dongting Lake.
Hwang Bon-ji returned to the imperial palace and requested an audience with the emperor.
“So, you met with Captain Eun Seo-ho?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After reporting on various matters, he hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“And Captain Eunseoho made a strange request at the end.”
“A strange request? What was it?”
“Well…”
Hwang Bon-ji told the emperor what Eunseoho had said.
The emperor nodded.
“A great disaster will strike next year, and he said it was based on a prophetic dream... He must have been certain that you would report this to me, right?”
“He said it was thanks to the prophetic dream that he was able to save his son.”
“Then why didn't he tell me directly...?”
Hwang Bon-ji cautiously tried to explain the reason.
“I think it's because he just became a silk trading company and is conscious of what others think.”
“Is that so? Let's think of it that way.”
The emperor nodded and muttered to himself.
“He is very quick-witted. If he had told me directly, I would have entrusted him with this task.”
However, because he had relayed the message through someone else, he had to assign the task to someone else.
He couldn't proceed with the task based on a premonition alone.
“If I search through the imperial documents, I'm sure I'll find something I can use as evidence.”
The emperor trusted Eun Seo-ho's words quite a lot.
He thought he could mobilize the princesses to do the task.
If he could somehow convince them that Eun Seo-ho was pitiful, his influence over them would still be effective.
* *
The next day, we prepared to leave for Hubei.
I said goodbye to my aunt and Sun-mi.
Then, when my aunt was saying goodbye to the other officials, my uncle approached me and whispered, “I've already told them about the servant who was watching you.”
“I took care of him.”
I had told my aunt's husband about the servant who was watching me.
When I bowed my head slightly, my aunt's husband softened his expression and said goodbye.
“Be careful on your way. We'll see each other again, so there's no need for a long farewell.”
“Yes. Goodbye.”
With that, we left Beijing and headed for Hubei Province.
* * *
Baekcheon Trading Company.
Captain Namgung Kang was listening to a report on the competition to supply silk to the imperial court.
“So, Eunhaesang Trading Company won the competition after all... And our Baekcheon Trading Company is under investigation for bribing court officials? What a bunch of idiots!”
He blamed Namgung Bo, who led Baekcheon Trading Company.
“You handled the matter so poorly that we are now under investigation by the imperial court! What a disgrace!”
“What should we do? He is your nephew, so we should try to get him out...”
Namgung Kang thought for a moment and asked.
“You said he lost an arm, right?”
“Yes, his right arm was cut off... He's not in good condition, probably due to mental shock.”
Namgung Kang quickly grasped the situation.
If he wasn't careful, Baekcheon Trading Company would also be investigated and arouse the suspicion of the imperial palace.
If that happened, his superiors would not be pleased.
He came to a conclusion.
He would cut off the tail.
“This was all the fault of that guy Bo. Our Baekcheon Trading Company knew nothing about it.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“By the way... Eunhae Trading Company...”
He remembered it as a trading company that was at the bottom of the Baekdae Trading Companies just a few years ago, but it had rapidly grown to become one of the middle-ranked companies.
It was remarkable growth.
He remembered Eun Seo-ho, whom he had seen at the last banquet.
He had just thought he was a handsome young man...
“I'll have to keep an eye on him.”
* *
Finally, he arrived home.
“Come in!”
“I'm home.”
“Thank you for your hard work in the competition.”
My father welcomed me with a smile. And Jung-ho's eyes were red with emotion.
“Thank you so much.”
“It's nothing.”
“Haha, yeah.”
“You should see the look on Gun-hyeok and Bo-yeon's faces.”
On the day Eunhaesang Trading Company's victory in the royal silk delivery competition was confirmed, I immediately sent a message to my father through Geumryeong.
I wanted to share the good news with my family as soon as possible.
I had to give Geumryeong a silver coin, but it was well worth it.
My grandfather even came out to praise the efforts of the trading company employees who had achieved such a great success.
While my grandfather, father, and Hyung-nim gave words of encouragement to the three leaders and the members of the Trading Company, I approached my mother and sister-in-law.
“I'm back.”
“You must have worked hard.”
“Thank you so much. Young master. My husband was very happy to hear the news.”
“I was happy too.”
“Are you tired? Go inside and rest.”
“Yes.”
I thanked Song Head Escort, who had accompanied us, and headed for the annex.
This cozy smell is also what I love about home.
Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I don't see Jin-ho. Is he busy?