Chapter 255
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 255
Chapter 255. Completely Destroyed (2)
Pirates?
“Did you say pirates?”
“Yes.”
He is the father of Yoon-byeok, who has lived in this fishing village for a long time as a ship owner.
If he thought so, it must be true.
I wonder why.
The way those men searched the house of Man-sook's uncle, the former owner of the ship, and their mannerisms seemed unfamiliar yet familiar...
Now I understand.
Pirates have their own unique mannerisms and behavior.
Anyway, pirates...
Although the situation has become more serious than expected, we cannot remain idle.
Pirates are a thorn in the side of us merchants.
Especially when I think back on my past life... Ah, it makes me cringe.
When transporting large quantities of goods, it is easier to use waterways such as rivers and oceans.
That is why pirates once ran rampant on the Yangtze River.
They only disappeared because of a large-scale crackdown by the imperial court.
However, we are unable to touch the pirates along the coast.
That's why the pirates have been such a headache.
Considering who they are, the best course of action is to destroy them completely.
Of course, no matter how many we eliminate, they will continue to appear, but we must eliminate them as soon as we see them to reduce our suffering.
Having made up my mind, I looked at Man-sook and Yoon-byeok.
They flinched at my gaze.
“Why are you looking at us like that?”
“Do you want something from us?”
“I think the pirates are planning to enslave the people of this village. Gambling is just a cover.”
“...!”
“I can't just stand by and watch this happen. So, what do you two think?”
The two replied with determined expressions.
“Even if we have to fight the pirates, we want to protect this village.”
“That's right. This village is where we were born and raised. It is our duty to protect it.”
“How dare they try to destroy this village!”
“It's unforgivable.”
I calmed them down as they reacted violently.
“You're too excited. If you fight the pirates, you'll be killed in one blow.”
“....”
“So leave that to others. Instead, there is something you must do.”
“What is it?”
“Deliver this letter I am giving you to another place.”
The two looked puzzled at my words.
“You think we can help you with something so easy?”
“Are you sure it's that easy?”
“What?”
“They must have already heard about you and me. They're probably watching us.”
“...
”Therefore, delivering my letter will not be easy. However, it is something that you are capable of doing.“
I looked at them and asked.
”What do you say? Can you do it?“
They looked at each other and nodded.
”We understand.“
”Let's do it!"
Actually, there is another way to deliver the letter to Jung-ho, which is to issue a royal decree.
However, the reason for going through such a complicated procedure is because those two government officials need to earn credit for this task.
It is also to avoid all the attention being focused on me.
The two government officials will succeed in their task.
No matter how closely they watch us, there will always be loopholes.
They were born and raised in this village, so they would know the geography well.
I gave them a letter describing the situation here.
“Please take care of it.”
“Yes!”
This was also a test for the two students.
* *
Dawn.
Mansook and Yoon-byeok met at a nearby government-run cemetery.
They pretended to return home, but they had already agreed to meet here.
They didn't need to make any promises.
When they were children, they had learned sign language at the village school to communicate without being seen by their teacher.
They greeted each other with a nod and quickly left the village.
Rustling.
At that moment, they sensed someone approaching and quickly hid in an alley.
Even at dawn, people were coming to such a deserted place.
“I wonder why Hyung-nim is so worried that he told us to watch them...”
“I'm sleepy... Let's go somewhere and get some sleep.”
“No, we can't. If Hyung-nim finds us, we'll be killed.”
“....”
Mansook and Yoon-buk looked at each other.
“Captain Eun Seo-ho was right.”
“There really were people watching us.”
They hid there for a while, and when the men disappeared, they moved.
The path they chose was a kind of dog hole that most of the villagers did not know about.
It was a place where they used to escape from the village when they were children to avoid the eyes of adults.
It was not a path that people usually used, so it was very narrow and rough.
As a result, their clothes were torn and their skin was scratched and bleeding, but they did not give up.
They could not allow the village where they were born and raised to be destroyed, so they gritted their teeth and escaped from the village.
Finally, they ran all night and came across a trading company the next morning.
Man-sook looked at their clothes and said to Yoon-byeok, “I have a good idea.”
He approached the trading company and greeted them cautiously.
“Excuse me.”
“What is it?”
“We are students at the Bukgyeong Hwagak Academy. We were on our way back from our hometown, but we slipped and fell off a cliff and ended up here.”
“Oh no! Are you all right?”
“Fortunately, we are not seriously injured, but we must hurry back to the academy to prepare for our exams, so we took the liberty of stopping your procession.”
Hearing this, the person in charge of the procession examined the clothes of the two students. They were definitely clothes of students from the Hyeonghak Academy.
There was no one in Beijing who did business and did not know about the Hyeonghak Academy.
Therefore, he decided to believe what the student said.
Furthermore, if they were lucky enough to pass the exam, it would be a good connection that could be helpful in the future.
“People should help each other. However, there is no room in the carriage, so you will have to ride in the luggage cart. Is that okay?”
“We are grateful for anything.”
“Get in the carriage.”
“Thank you.”
And so, they got a ride in the carriage.
Thanks to that, they were able to travel in two days what would have taken more than four days on foot.
As soon as they arrived in Beijing, they cleaned up their clothes and headed straight for the house of a man named Master Jin.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Is anyone there?”
The door opened and a burly man came out.
“Who are you?”
The two officials looked around and said cautiously to him.
“We have been asked to deliver a message from the captain of the Eunseoho.”
“He asked us to deliver this to Master Jinyeong.”
At that moment.
“Did you say the captain of the Eunseoho?”
A man approached the gate, and the man with the sword quickly bowed his head.
The two officials nodded.
“Yes, that's right.”
“Give it to me.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the Master Jin-yeong you mentioned.”
“Here you are.”
Mansuk quickly handed the letter to Jin-yeong.
Jin-yeong's face turned serious as he read the letter.
“Is this true? Are pirates forcing villagers into debt through gambling and selling them as slaves?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Even though my father requested an investigation, they refused to budge, so I looked into it myself... They said it seemed like pirates were involved.”
“So, Captain Eun Seo-ho conducted his own investigation... He also said they were pirates.”
“If Captain Eunseoho said so, then it must be true.”
Jin-yeong said.
“We must go to the imperial palace. Give these young masters a place to rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
* *
I was walking along the beach.
Perhaps it was because I hadn't walked by the sea in a long time, but I felt a new sense of emotion.
The reason I am walking by the sea is not to enjoy the breeze.
There are no large ships around, but if it has something to do with pirates, there is a high possibility that their hideout is somewhere along the coast.
In my previous life, our Eunhae Trading Company was involved in maritime trade, and we encountered many pirates.
As a result, I learned about their ways.
They mainly traveled on large ships, but when they came ashore to plan something, they would hide in caves along the coast.
I'm sure that's what they're doing now.
- Liege, those who are watching us are still following us. What should we do?
I shook my head at Seo Woo's telepathy.
- You seem very curious.
That's understandable.
Their plan was now just a few steps away from success. In this situation, my existence was a kind of variable.
We are just here on a sightseeing trip. Act accordingly.
Yes, sir.
We traveled around the seaside, and soon I sensed a sickening aura.
Seo Woo and Jin Yu must have felt the same thing, because they sent me telepathy.
- I found it.
- It's over there.
Now that we've found the place, all we have to do is wait for Master Jin to lead the imperial army.
By the way, why are those pirates doing this here in Hebei?
Hebei Province is not far from Beijing.
That means there is a high possibility of being caught.
After thinking carefully, I came up with the most plausible hypothesis.
Were they pushed out by other pirates?
The reason for doing this to healthy men... Could it be to increase the number of pirates?
Thinking so, I chuckled.
No, that can't be...
Turning people who are living normal lives into pirates! Then they are truly evil bastards who deserve to be killed.
Anyway, it has been four days since the two students left.
They should have arrived in Beijing by now.
As I waited, thinking about that, I sensed something.
What is this?
It was the aura of those who had mastered the martial arts of the Imperial Palace.
If they had already arrived, that meant the two students had reached Beijing in just two days.
A satisfied smile appeared on my face without me realizing it.
They were much smarter than I had thought.
That meant they could be useful in many ways.
“Let's go.”
“Yes!”
We immediately headed for the village entrance and saw the imperial guards passing through the gate.
In front of them was the Master of the Imperial Guard in armor. I approached him and greeted him with a clasped hands greeting.
“You arrived sooner than I expected.”
“His Majesty the Emperor said it was urgent, so I was ordered to hurry.”
“I see.”
“And since they may have noticed that we are coming here, I have stationed soldiers at places where they are likely to escape.”
As expected, he is a talented man worthy of serving His Majesty.
“Then I will tell you where to raid.”
I told him about the gambling den and the caves near the coast, and Master Jin immediately divided his soldiers and ordered them to clear those areas.
The situation was quickly resolved.
The pirates hiding in the caves along the coast were wiped out.
No matter how accustomed they were to fighting on ships, this was land, and they were no match for the well-trained imperial guards who had mastered the martial arts of the imperial palace.
“Let go! Won't you let go?”
“What crime have we committed?”
The owner of the gambling den and others were tied up and thrown into prison.
Ji-hyun was also unable to escape punishment.
I also learned something new on this occasion.
The Royal Guards were much more skilled at torture than I had thought.
In the end, the gambling den owner confessed everything.
“Well... I wanted to make the men of this village into slaves. We lost a lot of men in a battle with other pirates, so...”
“That's why you wanted to sell them as slaves?”
“No. We planned to train them as slaves and make them fight for us.”
“...”
I was stunned by his statement.
Could it be true?
Sighing at his statement, Master Han swung his fist at him.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
Oh, I wanted to hit him too, but you did it for me.
“Did you really intend to draw only the strong men?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Don't you think I know you guys? It seems like you're hiding something.”
“No, we don't.”
“Bring me a branding iron.”
“Yes!”
“Kuh! I'll tell you everything! Actually, we also took the wives and children of those who owe us money as slaves... Kuh!”
I knew it.
After hearing the story of the female student, I had a reason to come here.
.
.
.
“Good job again.”
After the incident was over, Master Jin praised me.
“No, I didn't do anything. The two students who brought you the news were the ones who did all the work.”
“Yes, they deserve credit. In fact, they were instrumental in blocking their escape route.”
Fortunately, as I had expected, they were getting more attention than me.
“But sending me two cadets instead of your bodyguards... It seems intentional, doesn't it?”
Damn. Did he figure it out?
This guy is pretty sharp.
I forced a smile and said,
“They wanted to do whatever they could for the village where they were born and raised. I was afraid that they would take up arms in the heat of the moment and sacrifice themselves for nothing, so I did what I did.”
Master Jin-yeong smiled wryly.
“I'll take your word for it.”
“By the way, what happened to Jihyeon?”
Master Jin-yeong replied casually.
“He's hanging upside down right now.”
“What?”
“His Majesty the Emperor said to transport him upside down if he took a bribe.”
“....”