Chapter 474
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 474
Chapter 474. Gung-shin (1)
As planned, I joined forces with other merchants and submitted a petition requesting that the prohibition on alcohol be limited.
Then, I waited for the results while continuing my work.
The new employee I hired seemed to be fed up with something at first, but now he seemed to have given up and was silently going about his work.
Once he gets used to it, I plan to make him my official assistant.
He was sentenced to ten years of hard labor.
Right now, he is a slave, but after that, I plan to sign a contract with him and use him... I mean, hire him.
In any case, thanks to his hard work, Miss Seo Hyang's complexion has improved greatly.
The same goes for me.
That night, Master Jin came to see me.
“You're here?”
“Are you doing well?”
“Thanks to you, I'm doing well.”
He smiled at me.
“You seem to have a lot of questions.”
“Oh! You caught me.”
“I did it on purpose. So, what are you most curious about?”
I asked him as if I had been waiting for this moment.
“Did the funeral for the two Royal Guards, who were guided by the Master of the Mosan Sect, go well?”
He looked surprised at my question.
He didn't seem to expect that I would ask that first.
The truth was that it was what I wanted to know the most.
I still couldn't forget the look in the eyes of the two masters who had become corpses.
And I was also concerned about the master's words that they wanted to go to the imperial palace, which was not their hometown.
Master Jin closed his eyes for a moment and said, “Thanks to you, the two warriors were able to come to Beijing safely.
I am grateful to you once again.”
“I just followed the unspoken rules of merchants, as I always do.”
“Still, it is thanks to you. Their funerals were held properly, and their bodies were sent back to their hometowns. His Majesty the Emperor himself paid his respects to the bodies.”
Since the emperor himself paid his respects to the bodies, the two masters must have been released.
“I am glad to hear that. My second question is, what happened to the renegade Royal Guards and their classmates?”
“They, too, are hanging upside down in a secret place, their limbs severed, just like those who were hanged in the open space in front of the Imperial Palace.”
“I see.”
Master Jin-yeong said with a bitter expression.
“That's what they said during interrogation. They said they hated their identity as Royal Guards. They said there was nothing more useless than honor...”
I finally understood why the two masters, who had been guided by Master Mosan, had carved out the tattoos that identified them as Royal Guards so deeply.
It was because they hated their position as Royal Guards.
“That's funny.”
“Huh?”
“If that's how they felt, they shouldn't have become Royal Guards in the first place. Because of that, innocent people lost their lives... They are truly evil. And what? Nothing is as useless as honor? Even though they enjoyed all kinds of power thanks to that honor.”
“Hahahaha!”
Master Jin laughed loudly at my words.
That's good.
His expression looked so bitter that I deliberately raised my voice.
“You're right. Yes, those guys are bad guys.”
“Next, I have another question. How is the Martial Alliance responding to the man named Gongho?”
“Ah, you mean him. There's no answer yet. I think they're discussing countermeasures.”
Of course, the Martial Alliance wouldn't just say, “It's our fault. We apologize.”
I wonder what the Martial Alliance will do.
Will they cut off the tail?
Or...
“Be careful for the time being. The night visitor may be after Gongho.”
“Don't worry. I'm already on my guard.”
Then you'll know what to do.
“One last thing…”
Before I could finish, Master Jin took a scroll from his robe and handed it to me.
“You must be curious about this.”
“Yes?”
“Open it.”
At his words, I opened the scroll and was shocked. It was a license for manufacturing alcoholic beverages for overseas trade.
It was only yesterday that I submitted the petition.
How could it have already been approved?
“Did the ministers accept the petition?”
“They were very supportive.”
That can't be...
What did the emperor do to get them to approve it so readily?
Seeing my expression, Master Jin smiled and said,
“We helped a little. We got a list of the ministers who brewed the liquor.”
“Ah...”
I don't know when liquor was first made, but I think it is the most desirable food created by humans.
I don't enjoy alcohol myself, but I hear that those who do find it difficult to live without it.
If that's the case, it's no surprise that those with Fist power and wealth would make their own.
And the emperor found out and used it to blackmail them.
“You need that permit to brew alcohol for overseas trade. I've sent word to the other trading companies to get theirs as well.”
Master Jin continued.
“I brought it to you myself so I could see your face.”
“Thank you.”
Thanks to him, I gained some time.
This is why connections are important.
Now I must go to the main branch in Hubei Province.
I had to tell my father about this and start brewing alcohol in earnest.
“Master, I'm going to Hubei Province for a while.”
“You'll be busy for a while. Be careful on your trip.”
.
.
.
The next morning.
I called the deputy governor of Yeochang and said,
“I think I have to leave again tomorrow. I'm going to the headquarters in Hubei Province. Please take good care of Hyungpung Province while I'm away.”
“Don't worry.”
“I plan to go with Lieutenant Gwak. Please take good care of him.”
“You don't need to worry about that either.”
Our preparations for the trip to the main branch of the Eunha Trading Company went smoothly.
This was because both Palgak and my bodyguards were well-versed in packing for a journey.
First, I plan to recruit Gung-shin on the way.
As the limited liquor manufacturing permit must be announced as soon as possible, I already informed my father through a royal decree last night.
Therefore, there is no need to rush.
So, I plan to recruit Gung-shin on the way.
Fortunately, at this time of year, Gung-shin should still be alive.
Seeing that I remembered something I had completely forgotten, it seems that even the heavens feel sorry for him.
Mid-November.
We set out on our journey.
***
A village south of Mount Tai in Shandong Province.
A loud voice rang out from the village.
“Get out! You bastard!”
“Please, I beg you! Please lend me five nyang!”
“You haven't even paid back what you borrowed last time!”
“Please, sir, I beg you.”
“You should have some shame!”
Hearing those words, the young man who was begging in front of the Chairman squirmed.
Shame...
He knew what shame was. But wasn't human life more important than shame?
It had already been five years since his father collapsed.
During that time, he had spent all his money on his father's medical treatment.
He sold his land, his household goods, and his house...
He even worked as a day laborer.
Even so, his father did not recover, and he was still short of money.
On top of that, it was a year of poor harvest.
That made it even more difficult to earn money.
“Get out!”
“Yes!”
Bang!
In the end, he collapsed in front of the Chairman's house.
He clenched his fists and closed his eyes.
With his strength, he could kill them all and take their money.
That temptation came to him several times a day.
However, he remembered his father and resisted the temptation.
If he became a black-hearted person, the spirit of his family, which his father had worked so hard to protect, would be destroyed.
Unable to borrow money, he headed for the physician's house. He wanted to postpone the repayment date.
“Are you there?”
“Who... Oh, it's you.”
A man came out in response to his call.
“I... I haven't been able to get the money yet. So, I was wondering if you could wait a little longer.”
The young man bowed his head and the physician clicked his tongue.
“It's already been a month.”
“I'm truly sorry.”
"Wait another half month. But I can't do any more than that. The medicine for your father's treatment is very expensive.“
”Thank you. I will definitely get the money within a fortnight."
He was truly grateful to the physician.
When everyone else had given up, he had offered to treat his father.
He even made house calls every other day for his father.
That was why he felt so sorry that he couldn't pay him for the medicine.
“Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to tell you when you came. You're good at archery, aren't you?”
“Yes. My family has been archers for generations...”
“A friend of mine asked me to introduce him to a skilled archer. He said he would pay quite well. So I recommended you.”
“What? Is that true?”
“Yes. If you do well, you'll be able to keep working.”
He returned home after talking with the physician.
It was a small house he had moved into after selling his previous large house.
It was much smaller, but he was satisfied because it had enough space for his father to lie down.
Even though he had to sleep leaning against the wall.
“Father. I'm home.”
“...
”I'm sorry for being away from home so often. Oh, I got a good job. The physician recommended me. He recommended a job for me... He seems like a really nice person."
His father, who was lying on his sickbed, moved his lips, but his voice did not come out.
The next day came.
The young man headed to the place the physician had told him.
After waiting for a while, someone approached him.
“Are you Man-jeong?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I received a recommendation, but I need to see your skills for myself. Follow me.”
“Yes.”
He took Man-jeong to a field and pointed to a tree in the distance.
“There is a white pine cone hanging there. Can you see it?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Try to hit it.”
Man-jeong felt the wind, estimated the distance, and calmly released the bowstring.
Swoosh!
The arrow flew at tremendous speed and hit the white pine cone far away with perfect accuracy.
He went there to check and smiled with satisfaction.
“Good! Very good!”
Then he handed him a wallet.
“This is a deposit. Ten pieces of silver.”
“What?”
“It's quite a difficult job, so I'm giving you a generous reward. But if you refuse the job after receiving this deposit, you'll have to pay me ten times the amount.”
“I understand.”
Ten silver coins would be more than enough to pay his father's medical bills.
“But what kind of job will I be doing?”
“Hunting. It's quite a difficult hunt.”
He immediately ran to the physician and paid the overdue medicine bill.
On his way back, he saw some dangho, but he resisted the urge to buy any.
He didn't know how much more he would have to pay for medicine.
He had loved sweets since he was a child.
Before his father collapsed, he used to eat dangho every winter, but now it was a luxury he couldn't afford.
He returned home and told his father with a bright smile.
“Father, fortunately, we don't have to worry about medicine for a while. I got a good job. It's hunting, so it seems to be quite hard work. That's why they gave me ten nyang as a deposit.”
Hearing this, his father's eyes flickered.
However, Man-jeong was busy with housework and didn't notice.
He was just happy that he would be able to pay his father's medicine.
Finally, the day of the appointment arrived.
On his way to the appointment, the streets were unusually noisy. Man-jeong asked a passerby,
“What's going on today? Why are there so many people?”
“Don't you know? The commander of the Shandong military police is coming here today!”
The Shandong military police are famous for their spear arts.
The members of the military police are known for their hot-blooded and straightforward personalities, which many people admire.
The commander of the military police was respected by the people of Shandong for his fair and impartial work.
The same was true for Man-jeong.
“Is that true?”
“Yes, it is!”
“But why is he coming all the way here?”
“We don't know either. We only know that he is coming.”
He also wanted to see Akyung-gyeong up close, but he had an appointment first.
Soon, he arrived at the meeting place.
The person who had requested his services was waiting there.
“You're right on time. Follow me.”
“Yes.”
Mangyeong followed him to the top floor of a tavern.
Only then did he tell Mangyeong what he had to do.
“Your target for today is Akyung-gyeong.”
“What?”
He couldn't believe his ears.
But the other man repeated himself as if he hadn't heard him wrong.
“Akyung. Kill him.”
“I can't do that.”
“If you don't want to do it, pay ten times the contract fee.”
“...”
Ten times the contract fee was a hundred silver coins. There was no way he had that kind of money.
“Your father is on his deathbed, isn't he? Are you in a position to be choosy?”
“...”
“And one more thing. You already know our plan. If you refuse to do this, we will have no choice but to silence you. Then what will happen to your father?”
He could feel the killing intent surrounding him.
He had no choice but to bite his lip.
“What are you going to do?”
In the end, he had no choice but to pick up the bow.
There was no way out.
“Good decision.”
He raised the bow, aimed at the evil spirit approaching from afar, and cursed his fate.
He held his breath and carefully released the bowstring.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
The arrow flew toward Akuei.
But
Thud!
Someone suddenly jumped into the air and caught the arrow.
The man in the colorful clothes ran toward Manjo and jumped over the railing of the pavilion to stand in front of him.
“You were almost too late.”