Chapter 203
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 203
Chapter 203. Yangyang Martial Arts Academy (2)
I asked my Master.
“Then who owns that building?”
“Of course, it was built with our money.”
“...Then will you compensate them for the building?”
My master shook his head.
I guess he must have had a lot to think about.
“He said that if they had lived well on their own land, that was enough, and there was no need to compensate them for the building.”
“What about the rent for the land?”
“Of course, we paid it every year on time.”
“Did you give them permission to build the building?”
“Of course. The chairman's father at the time gave his consent.”
“Are you saying that you don't know because it happened during your father's time?”
Master nodded with a surprised look on his face.
“That's right... How did you know?”
“I just had a feeling.”
To be honest, it was obvious.
There must be more than one person like that in the world.
Wait a minute.
It is a place where children born to the women of the Northern Sea Ice Palace are cared for. In that case, the Northern Sea Ice Palace must provide some support.
When I asked about that, Master sighed softly and replied.
“Of course, we receive support. However, raising children is not cheap, so we don't have much financial leeway.”
That's why you shed tears when you saw the large amount of activity funds left behind by the former investigator.
As the leader of an organization, there is nothing sadder than not having enough money.
“If I had known this would happen, I should have pushed myself to buy the land in the first place.”
“...”
“At the time, we didn't have enough money to build a building, so we didn't buy the land, but now that things have turned out like this, I regret it.”
“That was the best choice you could have made at the time. Don't blame yourself too much.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
Master sighed and said.
“In any case, we have to move to another place... The problem is that we haven't found a place to move to yet.”
“That's definitely a big problem.”
Probably in my previous life, Yangyang Martial Arts Academy would have had to move to another place.
At that time, I didn't have any of the funds that I had donated, nor did I have any of the funds that Master had left behind.
So the situation must have been even more difficult.
As I was thinking about that, a question came to mind.
The Yangyang Martial Arts Academy is a place where children from the Northern Sea Ice Palace are raised.
Then wouldn't it be better to be closer to the Northern Sea Ice Palace?
Why did you establish the Yangyang Martial Arts Academy in Zhejiang, which is far from the North Sea?
“Master, I have a question.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Is there a reason why Yangyang Martial Arts Academy was built in Zhejiang Province?”
“Yes, it was because it was far away from Seolpung Palace, but it was a good environment for us.”
“I don't understand what you mean...”
“We couldn't let the murderers who destroyed our Seolpung Palace be connected to Yangyang Martial Arts Academy. At the same time, it had to serve as another base for Seolpung Palace.”
Then it made sense.
Zhejiang is where Hangzhou is located.
It is such a pleasant place to live that there is a saying that “there is heaven in the sky and Hangzhou and Young Master in the earth.”
In addition, it is a transportation hub where numerous goods come and go.
This means that it is a place with ideal conditions for the remaining members of Seolpung Palace to operate.
“But isn't it too warm?”
“That's because it's humid.”
“I see, because it's surrounded by the sea and rivers.”
“That's right. Looking around the entire Central Plains, there is no other place with such a strong water energy. The martial arts of Seolpung Palace are ice martial arts, and ice martial arts are yin martial arts. If we can't be in a cold and icy place, we need to be in a place with a lot of water.”
“I see, that would be good for the children to learn the martial arts of Seolpung Palace.”
Hearing his words, I understood.
In any case, it must have cost a lot of money to leave such a place and move to another.
Land in Zhejiang is quite expensive.
In my previous life, my bodyguard, Kwak Joon-ha, who was the second son of my Master, used to send more than half of his salary somewhere.
He lived a very frugal life.
I remembered a conversation between a father and son that I happened to overhear at the time.
“Did you send money to Zhejiang again?”
“I wanted to help you.”
“Thank you.”
At the time, I thought it was a personal matter and didn't think much of it.
I didn't want to pry into the personal affairs of my bodyguard.
Looking back now, Kwak Joon-ha was supporting the Yangyang Martial Arts Academy.
“What is your master worried about now? Where should you move?”
“Yes. That's true, but I'm trying not to leave Zhejiang Province if possible. To be honest, there is no better place than there to learn the martial arts of Seolpung Palace.”
My master looked bitter.
“It would be better if you didn't move from there, but that's impossible.”
"...
It seemed that I would have to go there myself.
The investigator of Seolpung Palace had asked me to rebuild Seolpung Palace, and the children of Yangyang Martial Arts Academy were the future of Seolpung Palace.
In other words, those children were important talents for the reconstruction of Seolpung Palace.
It was winter, so I had some free time, and I could afford to visit Zhejiang Province.
“Master, I will go to Zhejiang Province.”
“Did the King say so himself?”
“Yes.”
“It's fine. We can take care of this ourselves.”
“I promised Master Yeom that we would provide further support in the future, so I think we should keep our promise. Also, I think there may be something I can do to help.”
“If you say so... I understand. And...”
My master clasped his hands together and said to me.
“I am grateful for your concern.”
I waved my hand and said.
“You are too kind. They are like my Senior Brothers. Please allow me to be involved in the matters there.”
“I grant you permission.”
.
.
.
I immediately went to my father and asked for permission to go on a business trip to Zhejiang.
He was worried that the road would be dangerous because of the snow, but I assured him that it would be fine.
There hasn't been much snow this year.
However, as a disciple of Seolpungung, I felt a little disappointed that there would be no snow to boost my qi.
A few days later.
We left for Zhejiang Province.
Originally, I had planned to take only my bodyguards with me, but I ended up being accompanied by Hao Biao and the escorts from the Changyin Escort Agency.
To be honest, I didn't know where the Yangyang Martial Arts Academy was, and I needed someone to vouch for me.
My master wanted to come with me, but he had something come up and couldn't leave.
So I have been given full authority to go, but...
Why did he give me full authority? There is Ha Head Escort, who is a few years senior to me as an escort.
And why is Ha Head Escort following me obediently without any resistance?
I had many questions, but I put them aside for the time being.
Then Ha Head Escort called me.
“Captain.”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever been to Hangzhou?”
Of course, I had been there dozens of times in my past life.
It is a truly beautiful place, and Hangzhou's West Lake is so spectacular that it deserves to be called a scenic spot.
It is beautiful not only during the day but also at night.
It was also a land of opportunity for merchants.
However, I had never been there in this life.
“This is my first time. I hope you will take good care of me.”
“Of course. It was his request.”
He must be referring to my Master.
“Then, may I lead the way?”
“Yes, please do.”
Ha Head Escort led the way, and I followed behind him.
Actually, it was easier to just follow him.
The chairman who ordered the eviction of the Yangyang Martial Arts Academy was one of the influential figures in Hangzhou.
By the way, a tavern...
Knowing that there would be a prohibition on alcohol for the next five years, I thought that the tavern business was nothing but a waste of money.
The Yeonhwa-ru, run by our Eunhae Trading Company, was also busy preparing entertainment that could be enjoyed without alcohol, following my instructions.
That Chairman was too greedy.
He probably felt sick seeing the taverns raking in money.
But he chose the wrong time.
The reason taverns in Hangzhou make so much money is because people from other places come to Hangzhou to spend their money.
The beautiful scenery of Hangzhou attracts many people.
It was also recognized as a place that patrons must visit at least once before they die.
As a result, entertainment was very well developed.
However, with food becoming scarce due to a poor harvest and civil unrest breaking out everywhere, how many people would visit Hangzhou?
Although Hangzhou suffered relatively little damage from the poor harvest, with a prohibition on alcohol in place, what fun would there be in visiting taverns?
As the prohibition continued for some time, taverns that sold alcohol secretly began to appear.
Although they conspired with local officials to keep it quiet, rumors spread quickly.
Eventually, an inspector was sent to investigate, and the taverns and officials were punished severely.
After that, the taverns could no longer sell alcohol, and sales plummeted.
Although they had made a lot of money, the taverns that had expanded their businesses recklessly or spent their money recklessly could not survive this period and were forced to put their businesses up for sale.
Of course, the emperor and the central government officials must have anticipated this situation when they imposed the prohibition on alcohol.
However, it must have been an unavoidable measure.
Most of the alcohol was Valley Leader made from grains, so banning it would allow them to secure even a little more food.
It was also a measure to appease the people, who were in such a state of unrest that civil unrest was breaking out everywhere.
The country is making such an effort that it has even imposed a prohibition on alcohol, so please be patient.
However, a few years later, exceptions to the prohibition were made.
This was to purchase grain from countries outside the Central Plains.
Trading is essentially a form of barter.
One side sells what the other side needs and buys what it needs from the other side.
Among the goods they wanted was alcohol.
So the government asked some trading companies to make alcohol, and they started making it right away.
But the prohibition lasted for a long time, and many brewers left.
So the quality of the alcohol went down a lot, and they couldn't make much of it.
This means that this bad harvest is a big chance for me.
It is an opportunity to make the famous taverns of Hangzhou and the brewers who make delicious sake belong to the Eunhae Trading Company.
The Eunhae Trading Company will provide them with a way to make a living, and we will reap the profits.
In other words, it is a win-win situation.
By the way, the cause of the five years of famine is abnormal weather.
Sudden downpours are followed by droughts, and then unexpected frosts.
First, it would be good to build a reservoir to store water during heavy rains...
My thoughts continued to flow until I stopped to eat lunch.
As I was resting after eating dumplings I bought at an inn, Head Escort Ha called me.
“Captain.”
“Yes.”
“How much do you know about the Yangyang Martial Arts Academy?”
I smiled lightly and replied.
“Not much. Just that Master Yeom is the principal and acts as the head of the academy, and that you were recently told to vacate the premises by the landowner.”
“You know more than I thought.”
“Is that so?”
He glanced around and whispered softly.
“The others think it's just a regular martial arts academy.”
“...”
“Actually, all of the escorts accompanying me are from there. It's a very special place. So please take good care of us.”
By the way, Head Escort Ha has quite a personality.
He speaks softly, but his words carry more weight than they seem.
You could say he's quite assertive.
Then again, in the escort agency business, it's better for the head escort to be assertive to avoid losses.
If you let yourself be swayed by others, you'll end up with nothing.
It seems like he didn't become Head Escort for nothing.
Thanks to him, I felt a little more at ease.
His daughter is Miss Ha.
I'm sure he'll take good care of Jin-ho.
And most people like him have one thing in common.
They appear strong on the outside, but they are actually quite sensitive.
The way to gain their trust is simple.
I just need to show them my true feelings.
I smiled faintly and said with conviction.
“I will do my best.”
Ha Head Escort nodded at my words, stood up, and shouted to everyone.
“Let's go!”
*
Ha Cheol-du looked at the young man riding beside him.
He was Eun Seo-ho, the youngest captain of the Eunhae Trading Company and the current governor of Hyungpung.
“Is this young man the deputy palace head that the Palace Head appointed?”
He was also the one who noticed his daughter's illness, which even he had failed to notice.
“Hmm...”
He recalled what his daughter had said.
“Actually, it is thanks to Captain Eun Seo-ho that things worked out well between me and Captain Jin-ho. So I think you can trust him.”
He knew that Eun Seo-ho was highly capable.
His past deeds and reputation proved it.
However, he wanted to see for himself.
Only then would he be able to fully acknowledge him.
For the sake of Seolpung Palace's future.