Chapter 92
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 92
Chapter 92. For My Aunt (4)
The emperor's words caused a commotion in the examination hall.
“Quiet!”
“....”
“Until now, the exam has been conducted by writing your opinions on paper and submitting them. However, this matter of court administration cannot be done through writing alone. I also believe it is necessary to select the right people for each department directly. Therefore, you will give oral presentations and debate in front of me and my ministers.”
“....”
“Furthermore, consistency in your opinions is also important, so I will refer to the answers you have written in previous exams and ask you questions about them as well.”
At the emperor's words, the faces of those who had come to take the exam turned pale.
It was nerve-wracking enough to write answers in front of the emperor and his officials, but to speak and debate in front of them!
Among the hundred or so people who came to take the exam, there were some whose faces turned pale for other reasons.
They were Song Chi and Go Seong-il.
“Damn it!”
“We're screwed.”
In fact, they had studied the past. However, their skills were not good enough to pass the exam.
The reason they had passed the exam in the past was because someone else had taken the exam for them.
They had entered the exam hall.
However, someone else had taken the exam in their place and written their names on the answer sheets.
Because of this, the emperor's words were like a bolt from the blue.
To be honest, they had no idea what was written on the exam papers submitted in their names.
“Let the exam begin.”
“Yes.”
“Present your topic.”
At that, the officials of the Ministry of Rites spread out a large piece of silk with the topic written on it.
“The order will be random. Jeong Naegwan.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The man called Jeong Naegwan brought a box. The emperor reached into the box and picked up a small wooden board.
“The commoner from Giju, come forward.”
At the emperor's command, a man came forward trembling and bowed.
The emperor waved his hand.
“Stand up. Those who come before me for the exam should bow once and stand up as a sign of respect. This is to save time.”
“Yes.”
“Now, send them into the hall at random.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The emperor entered the hall, and the commoners whose names were called followed him.
The test went more smoothly than expected.
Even though they were trembling in front of the emperor, they were the ones who had passed the exam through fierce competition and a battle of wits.
The court official in front shouted,
“Song Chi from Shandong! Song Chi from Shandong, come forward.”
“...!”
Song Chi's face turned pale.
It was his turn.
There was no way to escape.
Feeling like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse, Song Chi advanced to the hall.
“Are you Song Chi?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Then discuss this topic.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He began to discuss the topic with a trembling voice.
However, the emperor and his ministers looked dissatisfied.
“So...”
“Enough. In this provincial examination, you wrote...”
At that moment, the emperor's expression hardened. He looked up at Songchi.
The emperor quickly flipped through the exam papers in his hand and sighed.
“Are your past exams a joke?”
“What?”
Hearing this, the cabinet secretary asked.
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
“This is the answer sheet that the author wrote. Take a look.”
Upon hearing this, the cabinet minister took the exam paper and began to read it. All of the answers were excellent.
“I have to find out what the problem is. If I don't, I'll lose my position.”
As he was frantically searching, he noticed something strange.
“Huh?”
He quickly realized that something was wrong, as he had won his position as chief cabinet minister in a drinking contest.
“The handwriting is different.”
Hearing this, the ministers looked at Song with shocked expressions.
How could the handwriting of the answers written by the same person be different?
“Have you ever seen such an insolent man? How dare he try to deceive me with cheating?”
The ministers spoke in unison.
“I thought something was strange.”
“This man has insulted His Majesty. He should be punished for treason.”
“Punish him for treason and restore discipline.”
Hearing their words, Song Chi quickly prostrated himself on the floor and begged for mercy.
“Please spare my life, Your Majesty!”
“Imprison him immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
Song-chi was dragged away by the imperial guards. He pointed to the answer sheets piled up beside him and said, “Look through these answer sheets and find the ones with different handwriting.”
“Yes, sir!”
The eunuchs searched through the answer sheets and found several with different handwriting.
The eunuchs quickly searched through the answer sheets and found one with different handwriting.
“Here is another suspicious answer.”
“Whose is it?”
“It is from a man named Go Seong-il from Gyeonggi Province.”
“Arrest him too.”
“Yes, sir!”
After the commotion, the examinees proceeded with the exam, feeling as if they were walking on thin ice.
“Next is Hong Sun-il from Beijing.”
“Yes!”
Hong Sun-il entered the Taehwajeon Hall with a trembling heart.
The name he had written on his answer sheet was Song Chi.
And Song Chi had been taken away by the imperial guards and imprisoned. The man named Go Seong-il was also imprisoned.
In this situation, he did not know what to do.
He bowed and stood up.
“Now, let's move on to the topic for today…”
“Wait a moment.”
“…?”
“I found your answer to the question in the civil service examination interesting, so I would like to ask you about it…”
Before listening to the discussion on the topic, the emperor asked Hong Sun-il about the answer he had submitted in the civil service examination.
Hong Sun-il answered the question tremulously but coherently.
“It is...”
His answer was very clear.
It couldn't be otherwise.
He had written the answer himself.
“Then, in this answer, you...”
As the dialogue between the emperor and Hong Seon-il continued, the ministers looked at Hong Seon-il with increasing greed in their eyes.
“If this continues, he will definitely be the top candidate.”
“He is definitely a talented person! He is a talent!”
“He is the talent our department needs.”
“The six ministries are already taking our talented people, we can't let them take the talent from the Hanlin Academy.”
Meanwhile, the emperor thought of the person who had boldly requested a private audience and sneaked in disguised.
Eun Seo-ho.
At first, he was the one who saved the life of Jin Woo-rim, the head of the Trading Company, who had helped him become emperor.
However, the more he met him, the more he saw his true colors.
Hong Sun-il in front of him was also talented, but in the emperor's eyes, Eun Seo-ho was the real talent.
“Thanks to him, I was able to catch the one who tried to become an official through foul means.”
He recalled what Eun Seo-ho had said.
“If you look at the answers submitted by the candidates for this exhibition, it will help you select talented people.”
He couldn't help but think that Eun Seo-ho must have known this when he said that.
“I have to call him in and ask him about it sometime.”
* * *
Seon-il came home.
His aunt and family encouraged him, saying he had worked hard.
Hyung-nim smiled brightly at me.
“Just as you said.”
“...?”
“Just as you said, something good happened today. Maybe it's because the weather is nice.”
Looking at Hyung-nim's face, it seemed that my plan had worked.
“I'm glad.”
Two days later.
Someone came out of the imperial palace and read the emperor's proclamation.
It was a proclamation congratulating Jangwon.
It worked out well.
I don't know what will happen to Sun-il while he is working at the imperial palace.
But if he remembers this incident, he won't become cynical and unmotivated like I was in my life.
In fact, the biggest gain from this incident was that I was able to thwart the Martial Alliance's plan.
Of course, I will not give up on my plan to infiltrate the Imperial Palace and will continue to try.
However, because of this incident, the emperor has become more vigilant.
So it won't be easy.
* * *
A man wearing a martial arts uniform and carrying a sword was walking quickly.
Soon, he arrived at a magnificent but unostentatious pavilion and said to the guards in front of him.
“I have something to report to the Alliance Leader.”
The guards reported inside, and a reply came back immediately.
“Let him in.”
“Yes.”
He opened the door and entered.
Then he immediately knelt down.
“I have news for the Alliance Leader. It is a report from Beijing.”
Hearing this, the Alliance Leader, who was arranging flowers in a vase, nodded.
“Yes, things are progressing in Beijing.”
The task was to plant a member of the Martial Alliance in the imperial palace.
This was to prevent the imperial palace from interfering with the affairs of the Martial Alliance in the future, so the Alliance Leader was also watching the situation with great interest.
“How did it go?”
“It failed.”
“...What? Failed?”
“Yes.”
In an instant, the Alliance Leader's aura swept through the office, and his subordinates broke out in a cold sweat.
“Explain in detail.”
“Yes, sir!”
The subordinate explained the situation in detail.
“So, we are currently investigating those who are involved, but it seems that Songchi and Goseongil, whom we were planning to send to the Imperial Palace, will not be able to escape Senior Brother's punishment. And it seems that we will have to give up some of the places we have prepared.”
“Is that so?”
The Alliance Leader stared at the flowers in the vase, then swung the dagger in his hand.
The flowers were cut and fell to the floor.
“It can't be helped. Let's get rid of them before they expose us.”
“Yes, sir.”
The subordinate left, and the Alliance Leader stared at the vase.
If the emperor hadn't changed his plan, everything would have gone as planned.
“But why did he suddenly change his plan?”
He felt he needed to find out more about this matter.
* * *
Now that we had finished our business, we decided to return to the main building.
“Why don't you stay a little longer?”
I shook my head at my aunt's words.
“I'd like to, but I have a lot of work to do.”
“I suppose you do, as the ruler of Hyungpung Kingdom.”
I turned my head and saw them saying their goodbyes with regret.
It was Hyung-nim, Hyung-nim, and Seok-il-song.
“Continue to devote yourselves to your studies. I am confident that with your abilities, you will be able to pass the imperial examination.”
“We will keep your words in mind, Hyung-nim.”
“We will remember your words.”
I think I made the right decision in bringing those two with me.
“Let's get going.”
“Yes!”
My grandfather and the two boys got into the carriage. As I was about to get in, Sun-il called me.
“Seo-ho.”
“Yes, Hyung-nim.”
“Thank you for helping our trading company.”
The Yeonjoon Trading Company had suddenly lost a major client.
So I connected them with another client.
I just used my connections in Beijing and the connections of Captain Jin Woo-rim.
My brother Sun-il handed me a pouch.
It felt heavy.
“...?”
“Buy something delicious to eat on your way.”
“Ah! Thank you.”
I'm not going to turn down pocket money.
“Take good care of these two.”
“Yes.”
I think he wants us to buy something delicious to eat.
“I hope we can see you again at the Imperial Palace next time.”
“Yes, I will.”
I got into the carriage. Then I headed for the main office of Eunhae Trading Company.
Now I really have to go back.
.
.
.
On the way back to Hubei Province.
I was looking at some documents.
I had a lot of work to do, so I had to work even while traveling.
The automatic cart made by Gongmil will be released soon.
In my previous life, the small toy carts that moved on their own were quite popular not only among boys but also among adults.
I plan to apply the same method used for the martial artist dolls to the automatic carts. I want to collect automatic carts of different shapes.
The automatic carts were too good to be a one-time product.
With that, the carriage headed for Hubei.
.
.
.
Finally, they arrived at Eunhae Trading Company.
They were home.
Since they were traveling with their grandfather, they sent a messenger ahead to let them know of their arrival time.
When they arrived at the Trading Company and got off the carriage, their father, mother, and Hyung-nim and his wife were there to greet them.
“Did you have a comfortable journey?”
“We had a good trip. Oh, I have to tell you this first. Sun-il passed the civil service exam with top honors.”
“That's wonderful news.”
But I noticed that my family's expressions were somehow gloomy.
“Jeong-ho, is something wrong?”
“Huh?”
“Something feels off. Something's definitely wrong.”
In response to my question, Jung-ho sighed.
“Well... Jin-ho hasn't come back yet.”
“What do you mean Jin-ho hasn't come back yet?”
When I returned from Shaanxi, Jin-ho was not at Eunhae Trading Company.
He had gone to Yunnan to get some pu-erh tea.
Considering the time, he should have already returned.
“So, I sent someone to find out what happened, and they just brought back some news.”
My grandfather urged Jung-ho to continue.
“So what happened?”
My father sighed and said.
“It seems that Jin-ho is missing.”
I had just finished dealing with my aunt's business, and now something had happened at my house.