Chapter 354
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 354
Chapter 354. What Will Happen (5)
The Clan Head of the Kyung family nodded at my proposal.
“I understand. If you refuse my proposal, I don't think you will be able to leave here today.”
I immediately wrote two investment agreements and handed one to him.
After finishing the deal to my satisfaction, I asked him while drinking tea.
“By the way, who did you commission to build that house?”
“Oh, it was Oh Geol-geon Construction.”
That was the company that had hired the talent I was looking for.
“May I ask how much it cost to build?”
“I commissioned them for 500 nyang.”
Gasp!
I almost spit out my tea.
What a bunch of thieves!
Huh? The first price they quoted me was 400 nyang.
But I gave them 1,000 nyang because they asked me to vacate the house quickly.
“Then why did you want to sell it for 400 nyang?”
“It's not a new house, it's an old house. It's ten years old. How could I ask for the price of a new house?”
Huh...
I was impressed for the second time.
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That night.
Master Jin-yeong visited me to teach me the martial arts of the imperial palace.
After the training, Master Jin-yeong looked at me with a satisfied expression.
“You definitely have a talent for martial arts. Has your master ever told you that?”
“My master has said that before, but I thought he was just encouraging me.”
"No. You are truly talented. As you may not know, most of those who learn the Imperial Martial Arts are people who already know martial arts.“
That makes sense.
The Imperial Martial Arts were created to unite people who had learned different martial arts.
”And you are the first person to progress so quickly in the Imperial Martial Arts.“
”Hahaha."
I smiled shyly.
“In a few more months, you won't need to learn from me anymore.”
“Then I'll have to slow down my learning.”
“Huh?”
“I want to continue seeing you, Master.”
Master Jin-yeong smiled warmly at my words.
“As your teacher, I should scold you, but I'm happy to hear that.”
That's what I said.
“That's why His Majesty cherishes you. That's enough training for today.”
“Thank you for your teaching.”
I quickly clasped my hands together in a bow.
“To explain the situation, first, the captain of the Trading Company, Oh Geol-geon, was trying to escape through a secret passage, just as you said.”
“Just as I expected.”
“Yes. Thanks to your tip, we were able to track him down in time.”
“I'm so glad. To be honest, he should be punished for his crimes, but if he had escaped and lived a life of luxury, I would have felt very uneasy.”
I asked him.
“So where is he now?”
“He is imprisoned in a prison. And all those who conducted the completion inspection when those houses were built ten years ago are being brought in.”
Usually, when something happens, a summons is sent to give the person a chance to explain themselves.
However, when the guilt is certain, a royal guard is sent to arrest the person.
That is why I used the expression “brought in.”
In their previous lives, when the situation was not understood until it was too late, those who committed crimes at that time were taken to the imperial palace and suffered severe hardship.
When they were taken to the imperial palace, they were dragged there on foot, but when they were released, they were carried out on stretchers.
Of course, more than half of their property was confiscated.
I'm sure it will be no different this time.
“The Daocha Office is conducting a thorough investigation, and it's worse than I thought.”
I smiled bitterly to myself.
Did the higher-ups really not know about the corruption in the Daocha Office?
That couldn't be true.
They must have known.
They just turned a blind eye and received something in return.
Corruption is a chain reaction.
And I think the emperor knew about the corruption in the study.
He was just waiting for the right moment.
That's why he jumped in as soon as this happened and is dealing with it like a storm.
“Anyway, all the study officials are under investigation.”
I nodded and said.
“That must be worrisome.”
“Huh?”
“Your Majesty must want to execute all the officials of the Ministry of Education or sentence them to hard labor. But if you do that, the work of the Ministry of Education will come to a standstill, so you can't do that either.”
That is the gap between ideal and reality.
Master Jin looked at me with admiration.
“As expected, you are amazing. You accurately pointed out what His Majesty is worried about. Your loyalty to His Majesty is truly sincere.”
“I am embarrassed.”
“So, would you handle this matter?”
I chuckled.
“Honestly, does hard labor necessarily mean working in a place like a mine?”
“Huh?”
“Keep the rank the same, but pay only one-fifth of the salary. And make them pay the rest as a fine.”
“Then won't high-ranking officials be finished too quickly?”
I shook my head.
“The higher the position, the more corruption they would have committed, so they can be fined more.”
“That's a clever idea!”
“And if they neglect their duties, tell them that their families will be sent to places like mines to perform hard labor. Then they will all work hard.”
Master Jin-yeong tilted his head at my words.
“It was their fathers who committed the crimes, so why should their families suffer? Isn't that too cruel?”
“They lived well with that money, didn't they?”
“Ah... I see.”
“And if someone was living in a collapsed house, they would become widows or orphans, and if you say that's unreasonable, they will resent you.”
“I guess so...”
“And if the person who committed the crime works hard, his family won't have to do hard labor.”
Master Jin-yeong nodded at my words. And the look in his eyes as he looked at me was as if he were looking at gold...
Oh no!
I quickly bowed my head and said, “This is just my humble opinion.
Please don't take it too seriously.”
However, Master Jin-yeong already seemed to have heard everything I said. Damn it.
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A month passed after that.
Before I knew it, it was already mid-October.
There was a lot of talk among the people about this incident.
Among those who sold their houses to me, the only one who came to me and offered to return part of the sale price was the Clan Head of the Kyung family.
Actually, this is what normal people would do.
That's why I was so impressed by him.
Honestly, whether he knew or not, he sold a house with a defect, so it was only right to return part of the money.
However, there are not as many people as you might think who would uphold morality in the face of profit.
That's not to say that I would just take the money.
At the very least, they should have thanked me for saving their lives...
“Young master. Isn't it about time we started looking for a new building?”
I nodded at Pal-gap's words.
“Yes, but we'll do that later. It's almost winter, so we can't start construction now anyway.”
“That's true.”
“And I don't intend to spend more of my own money to build a building. I plan to use the compensation money to build it.”
“That's just like you, young master. By the way, when will the verdict be announced?”
Pal-gap's question reminded me of what Master Jin-yeong had told me a few days ago.
“Probably within five days.”
That was because he said that the imperial palace would summon me within five days to hear my opinion.
Then
“My lord, someone from the imperial palace is here.”
I heard the voice of Chang-woon, one of my bodyguards.
They called me sooner than I expected.
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The next day, I headed for the Imperial Palace.
When I informed them of my arrival through the guard, someone came to pick me up.
“Are you Captain Eun Seo-ho?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I am Kang Eul-jin of the Daocha Won. First of all, please accept my deepest condolences.”
Judging from his polite manner, he seemed to be a low-ranking official.
No matter how famous I was, a high-ranking official would not be so polite.
“Thank you.”
“Please follow me.”
“Yes.”
I followed him to the Daocha Won. There, I saw a familiar face.
It was Hwang Bon-ji, who was now the left chief secretary.
He was the third highest-ranking official in the Daocha Won.
Instead of greeting him warmly, I just nodded slightly.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
Following his instructions, I waited in the reception room for a while, then followed him to a separate building.
There were several people dressed as high-ranking officials sitting there.
I bowed politely with my hands clasped in front of me.
“I am So-sang, reporting for duty.”
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
I sat down and looked around at the people staring at me.
They seemed to be high-ranking officials from the Royal Guard and other departments.
They must be the ones who will decide on this matter.
In such important matters, five people appointed by the emperor discuss and decide.
“We have called you here because we would like to hear your opinion on this matter.”
The man in the center spoke first.
“First of all, did you know that there were defects in those houses when you purchased them?”
“What? How could that be? If we had known about the defects, we would not have paid more than double the market price.”
Of course, I knew about the defects, but I couldn't say that.
“We paid a thousand pieces of silver for each house.”
“Huh!”
They were stunned by my answer.
“That means six thousand pieces of silver...”
“I bought ten houses in total, so it was 10,000 nyang.”
“...”
“I heard that the remaining four houses also have defects. This is no small loss.”
They nodded at my words.
Then someone raised a question.
“But why did you pay so much? As you said earlier, the list price of those houses is only about half that, right?”
“Because I wanted to vacate the houses quickly. I was planning to start renovations before winter.”
I continued.
“Then the owners of those houses also needed to find new homes quickly, so they just added a little extra to the price.”
“I see.”
“It's a relief that no one was hurt. Don't you agree?”
“Well, yes...”
I asked them.
“As far as I know, if you suffer financial damage due to a defect in a building, you can demand compensation from the person responsible for the defect.”
I looked it up in the law book beforehand.
It is important to know the law well in order to avoid losses, so the Trading Company always has a copy of the law on hand.
Of course, I already knew this much.
“That's true.”
“Then, may I demand compensation for the damage I have suffered?”
They asked me in response to my words.
“How much compensation are you demanding?”
“I have made a list here.”
I took a scroll from my sleeve and handed it to them.
It was a list of compensation demands that I had carefully prepared.
"...
Those who read it were speechless, uttering only muffled sounds.
However, they couldn't raise any objections.
The list was within the bounds of common sense and the law.
Compensation for the buildings Compensation for the cost of clearing away the collapsed buildings Compensation for the cost of rebuilding the buildings, etc....
Three thousand nyang for each building.
There were six collapsed buildings, so the total is 18,000 nyang.
On top of that, we had to demolish the houses that weren't destroyed and rebuild them, so we added that as well.
Three thousand five hundred nyang per house.
There were four houses that weren't destroyed, so that's 10,400 nyang.
That's a total of 32,000 nyang.
“To be honest, rumors are spreading among the people that we have been cursed or punished by God because of this incident. However, that amount does not include the actual damages we suffered. If you include that, we are still short 5,000 nyang per house.”
I continued.
“I request compensation for the damages I have suffered.”
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A few days later.
The final verdict was handed down.
First, the officials who committed the corruption were sentenced to labor.
This is a new form of punishment established by the emperor's decree, where they must work hard to pay off their fines.
It reflects the punishment I proposed exactly.
Thinking about how much the emperor must have laughed, I suddenly feel a pang of regret.
In my previous life, except for those who committed serious crimes, most of the study administrators were given only light fines. That was because of the gap between the ideal and reality.
However, with the labor punishment, they were made to pay for their sins.
It will probably take at least ten years of backbreaking work to pay off the fines.
Those who were involved in the corruption of the Trading Company were sentenced to hard labor.
In my previous life, they couldn't escape the death penalty, but this time, no one died, so they were sentenced to hard labor.
Still, they will probably have to rot in a mine for the rest of their lives.
I don't feel particularly sorry for them.
They brought this upon themselves.
They enjoyed a luxurious life with the wealth they gained through corruption, so they have to pay the price.
In addition, all of the Trading Company's property was confiscated, and most of it was used to pay my compensation.
The rest went to those who built the defective houses as compensation, but the amount was not very much.
This reflects the fact that they had already sold their houses and doubled their profits in the process.
However, the Clan Head of the Kyung family received 500 nyang in compensation because I told him that he should return the money to me.
In the process, the corruption of other merchants was also exposed, and those who committed corruption paid huge compensation and fell into ruin.
In any case, through this incident, I invested ten thousand nyang and earned an additional twenty-two thousand nyang.
To be honest, the reason I received the full amount I demanded is probably because the emperor is behind me.
As expected, His Majesty the Emperor is the best.
However... I must be careful.
I don't know when I might be dragged off to become a slave laborer.