Chapter 51
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 51
Chapter 51. Rumors Like This (1)
In a village in Sichuan Province.
The Dan Trading Company was located there.
They mainly made decorative dolls to sell.
The dolls they made were quite beautiful and recognized for their artistic value.
Therefore, high-ranking officials and wealthy people decorated their display cabinets with dolls from the Tan family.
However, the Tan family's income had been rapidly declining for some time.
The cause was a martial artist doll released by the Silver Sea Trading Company based in Hubei Province.
It was a limited edition of 1,000 dolls, and strangely, they could dance on their own.
What's more, the clothes worn by the dolls were so beautiful that it became fashionable among courtesans to make clothes similar to those worn by the dolls.
Curious about what kind of dolls they were, the Dan Trading Company managed to get their hands on a Zimu doll.
Even they found it truly amazing.
When they turned the wheel behind the doll, it actually danced.
Furthermore, the colors of the clothes were colorful yet not excessive, and they were arranged in a harmonious manner.
The craftsmanship was so amazing that it was tempting.
That was not all.
The faces of the dolls were also so well made that they looked like real people.
This made him greedy, so he ordered a replica of the doll, but the answer he received was “impossible.”
He then called the Palm print himself and asked him.
“You can't make a replica?”
“Yes, that's right. I don't know who made this doll, but with this level of craftsmanship, it must be the work of a master craftsman.”
The craftsman shook his head.
“To be honest, I can imitate everything else. But the key is to connect these wheels so that they work together, and no matter what materials I use, I can't do it.”
“Is that so?”
He asked other craftsmen, but they all refused.
Meanwhile, the doll broke.
This was to be expected, as he had repeatedly broken and reassembled it countless times to study it.
“Come to think of it, they said they would repair it for free if I brought the product warranty.”
He decided that he had nothing to lose, so he took the product warranty to the store where he bought the doll.
Exactly fifteen days later, he received the repaired Zamu doll.
Seeing this, the captain of the Dan Trading Company felt fear.
It was a skill that could not be imitated.
It was aesthetically pleasing.
And the after-sales service was perfect.
If this continued, Dan's Trading Company's doll business would be swallowed up by Eunhae Trading Company.
He couldn't let this happen.
He had to find a way.
* * *
I've been happy lately.
Yesterday was especially good.
That's because I received a report on yesterday's earnings from the Eight Herbs Pharmacy.
Palin Yakbang decided to settle accounts twice a month, once every half month.
At that time, my share is also calculated.
And the net profit I heard yesterday and my share were more than I expected.
Palin Yakbang is doing very well.
These days, physicians put up posters at Palin Yakbang to promote themselves.
Therefore, the Palin Pharmacy made a bulletin board where physicians could post advertisements, and customers could choose a physician by looking at the board.
Actually, that was my idea.
That way, they would help each other, and the physicians would not be able to abuse their power.
People from other provinces also came to visit after hearing about the pharmacy.
My goal is to open Palin Yakbang in the Central Plains.
The number of people suffering from minor illnesses will decrease, and I will earn money.
What a beautiful and wonderful thing!
The money I earn little by little will become a great source of strength in the future.
Come to think of it, a new martial artist doll will go on sale soon.
Following the Seo Shi doll, the next Zhamu doll will be Chao Xian.
Chao Xian, who shook the hearts of two men, Yue Fei and Dong Zhuo, at the same time.
Even I thought the Chao Xian doll, which imitated her beauty, was truly beautiful.
Zhamu dolls are a business that will bring in a steady income along with the Palin Pharmacy.
So I need to pay more attention to it.
It is dangerous to settle for the status quo. The moment you settle for the status quo, profits turn into losses.
That is the truth I have learned through my life experiences.
By the way, is my father on his way home?
My father went to visit the Grand Master of the Hubei Province with the first-class dolls.
He was supposed to return the day before yesterday, but he hasn't arrived yet.
What could be the matter?
At that moment, I sensed someone approaching.
It was Lieutenant Cho Young-young.
Soon, I heard her voice.
“This is Captain Cho Young-young.”
Chief Administrator Yoo nodded, and I replied.
“Come in.”
She entered, greeted us with a slight clasped hands greeting, and immediately stated her business.
“The Trading Company Chief has returned. He is calling for a meeting immediately. You must go to Eunwol Hall.”
“Understood.”
At Chief Administrator Yoo's words, she looked at me and said, “Young-ho, you must come too.”
“Young Master Eunseoho must also come.”
“...Me too?”
A moment later.
I arrived at Eunwolgak with Chief Administrator Yu.
The other captains were already there, as well as Hyung-nim, who had just become a junior captain.
By becoming a junior captain, he had gained the right to formally attend meetings at Eunwolgak.
“You're here. Please take your seats. Seo-ho, you sit down too.”
At my father's words, we quickly sat down. My father's expression was serious.
“Everyone is here. I called this meeting because there are some disturbing rumors going around.”
“Rumors?”
My father continued in response to my brother Jeong-ho's question.
“When I met with His Excellency Po-Jeongsa, he mentioned rumors about the Jamo-in. I was late coming home because I was investigating those rumors.”
“...”
I thought I knew why I had been called here.
The employer of the creator of the Jamo-in was my father, and he was deeply involved in this matter.
“The rumor is that the soul of a human being is trapped inside the Jamo-in.”
“What?”
I asked without thinking.
I was confused because it was something that had never happened in my previous life.
No, more than that, the soul of a human being?
That's ridiculous.
“The soul of a human being? There's no such thing.”
“Yes, there isn't.”
My father nodded and continued.
“However, such rumors were spreading, and I confirmed this through the Hao Clan.”
“Where are these rumors spreading?”
In response to my question, my father spread out a map and pointed to various areas as he explained.
This... It's spreading everywhere?
No matter how I think about it, it's strange.
Rumors usually start in one place and spread from there. They don't spread in multiple places at the same time like this.
That means someone is behind it.
As expected, Yeon Gak-ju immediately understood what that meant.
“I don't know who this guy is, but it seems like he's sick of selling martial artist dolls.”
“I agree.”
“But Captain.”
Yeon Gak-ju continued.
“We anticipated interference from other trading companies and kept them under surveillance, but there were no unusual movements.”
Jeong Ho responded to her words.
“That means they moved very secretly.”
Se-poong-gak, who had been listening quietly, said,
“It's more likely that our surveillance network was breached.”
“I agree.”
Chief administrator Yoo responded to their comments.
“What's more urgent is to consider the expected impact and prepare countermeasures in advance.”
“That is precisely why I called this meeting.”
We immediately began a meeting to discuss countermeasures.
This rumor was clearly spread intentionally by someone. In other words, we had to consider the worst-case scenario.
The rumor could lead to a flood of refund requests for the martial artist dolls that had been sold, and the imperial court could order an investigation.
Then this business would be ruined.
That cannot be allowed to happen.
I've worked so hard for this business!
That thought suddenly crossed my mind.
If I had known about this in advance, I could have dealt with it more effectively.
Usually, trading companies request information from the Hao Clan or the Beggars Sect when they need it.
However, that method is only used for post-incident response.
It is impossible to gather information in advance when no incident has occurred.
In order to gather information related to trading companies from various places for the purpose of preventing incidents, it is necessary to operate a private information network. And the information obtained in this way can be used to earn even more money.
However, this is not easy in reality because it requires a huge amount of money.
A trading company ranked among the top ten in the world would have had the financial resources to operate its own information network.
In the future I experienced, when Eunhae Trading Company had enough funds, it operated a separate information network. And that laid the foundation for it to become one of the three largest trading companies in the world.
I really needed the information network that was operated at that time.
But I didn't have the funds yet.
Will I be able to operate an information network once I have more money in my pocket?
In any case, today's meeting concluded with the establishment of several measures.
However, it was not a clear conclusion, as we still did not know the extent of the damage caused by the rumors.
Three days later.
I realized once again that people are more easily swayed by rumors than I had thought.
Of the thousand Choseon dolls, only 230 were sold.
.
.
.
I was in the author's seat.
To be precise, I was sitting in the old man's general store, and the old man clicked his tongue at me.
“Why are you sitting here all day long?”
“Well...”
I smiled sheepishly.
“Because I feel comfortable here.”
“In all my years, I've never seen anyone who finds it comfortable to sit next to me.”
Despite his harsh words, the old man did not tell me to leave.
“So what is it?”
“What?”
“What is troubling you to make you look so sad?”
The truth is, I don't show my emotions very well. That was because of the education I received while growing up in a merchant family and the habits I developed as a result.
But the old man saw right through me.
The reputation of the old man with the iron face was not an empty one.
“The truth is...”
I explained the whole story, and the old man chuckled as he listened.
“People are easily swayed by rumors. Do you have a plan?”
“Well, I'm kind of in shock because this happened so suddenly.”
“Tsk, tsk...”
The old man clicked his tongue at my words.
“You are truly mysterious. Sometimes you seem like a merchant who has been through many trials and tribulations, but other times you seem like an ordinary boy.”
“Hahaha.”
I had no words to respond.
Perhaps it was because I had lived for thirty-nine years and was about to die.
“And right now, all I see is an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy sitting in front of me.”
I turned my head and looked at myself in the mirror.
Although I looked fifteen, inside I was thirty-nine, with the world's best Trading Company right in front of me.
At that moment, it felt like something had hit me in the back of the head.
How could I have lost my mind and made such a fool of myself because of a mere obstacle like this!
The impact was even greater because it was something that had never happened in the future I had experienced.
The Jin-Gyeon Trading Company sold the Zhamu dolls without any interference.
However, no matter what business you are in, there is bound to be interference from other trading companies.
Just as the Eight Herbal Medicine Shop faced various forms of interference in the beginning.
The captain of the Jin-Gyeon Trading Company must have been checked too. And if he's the captain I know, he would have warned them in a drastic way.
Like assassination or an attack...
In this life, I brought the Zamu doll business with me, so other trading companies will try to stop me in ways that suit me.
This is something I have to accept to some extent.
By the way, that's a bit harsh, isn't it?
Does that mean you think highly of our Trading Company?
I appreciate that.
Then the old man with the mask looked at me and smiled.
“Now, a merchant who has been through many trials and tribulations is sitting in front of me.”
Hearing his words, I bowed my hands together in a clasped hands greeting.
“Thanks to you, Elder, I realized something important. Thank you very much.”
“What did I do? Let me ask you again. Do you have a plan?”
“Yes, Elder.”
I smiled.
“We must fight rumors with rumors.”
“Is that ‘using the enemy's tactics against them’?”
“It's similar to that.”
I was determined to prevent anyone from attacking me with a wooden dummy again.
I got up from my seat and headed for the Trading Company. I had to look into the situation and figure out how to deal with it.
Then, a group of children caught my eye.
They passed by me, chatting loudly, and I stopped in my tracks.
“That's it!”
“What? Why are you acting so strange?”
I smiled at Pal-gap's question.
“I just had a great idea.”
The method I had just thought of was one I had used in my previous life.
I don't know who planned this yet, but
you're dead, you bastard.