The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 131

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company – Chapter 131

Chapter 131. As You Sow, So Shall You Reap (1)

Bright May is a month beloved by warriors who move their bodies in training.
When practicing outdoors, neither heat nor cold makes the work unbearable.
But for those like me who sit before a wooden table laboring away, this season is nothing short of torment.
The reason is the uninvited guest of May—spring lethargy.
However, this does not concern me.
Since I am cultivating the Ice Palm technique, I suffer from insomnia rather than spring drowsiness.
I lifted my head and surveyed my surroundings.
It was already the Hour of the Sheep—between one and three in the afternoon.
Watching the staff nod off like sickly chickens, brushes still in hand, I felt a pang of sympathy.
“Vice-Commander Yeo, your brush is dripping ink.”
“Oh! I-I apologize!”
“Think nothing of it.”
I rose from my seat and clapped my hands together.
Clap, clap!
“Let’s have some tea and stretch our bodies before we continue working.”
The staff of Hyun Pung Bureau all stood and extended their limbs with a satisfying stretch.
At that moment, someone came looking for me.
It was Cho Young-young, one of Father’s deputy officers.
“Ah, Deputy Officer Cho.”
“The Merchant Guild Leader requests your presence. Please go to the Eun Wol Pavilion.”
“Understood.”
A sudden summons to the Eun Wol Pavilion meant something unexpected had occurred.
And in such cases, nine times out of ten, it was something unpleasant.
.
.
.
A short while later,
I entered the Eun Wol Pavilion.
Jin-ho, who had arrived before me, raised his right hand slightly in greeting.
“You got here quickly.”
“You arrived first and now you’re saying that?”
Jin-ho had recently become a formal Small Merchant Guild Leader, earning the right to enter the Eun Wol Pavilion.
As the Merchant Guild Leader’s son, he should have been gaining experience by managing a shop, but that was not the case for Jin-ho.

“What do you think, External Chief Manager, about entrusting one of our shops to Jin-ho?”
“The Second Merchant Guild Leader is the one who will succeed you.”
“Still, as a Merchant Guild Leader, shouldn’t he gain some experience in trading operations? That’s why I was thinking of giving him one shop to manage….”
“Is money rotting away?”

As a result of the External Chief Manager’s vigorous objection, Jin-ho became one of the squad leaders of the Eunpung Corps.
Even I had to admit that Jin-ho suited the Eunpung Corps well.
I took my seat and spoke.
“But why was this meeting suddenly called?”
“I don’t know either. I was at the Training Ground when someone came to fetch me.”
Soon people began arriving one by one, and the meeting commenced.

* * *

The atmosphere inside the Eun Wol Pavilion was heavy.
Naturally so.
The reason Eun Gil-sang gave for convening this meeting was not good news.
“Today, a letter arrived from the Merchant Guild Leader of Eun Jo San in Guizhou. He says the situation there is not favorable.”
Guizhou Province has long been a place where forestry thrived.
Not only cedar but also various medicinal herbs are produced there in abundance, making it an important location for the Eunhae Trading Company, which has grown through the medicinal herb business.
In Guizhou Province, there is an intermediary merchant who supplies medicinal herbs to the Eunhae Trading Company.
The name of that establishment is the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild, and the Merchant Guild Leader’s name is Eun Jo-san.
As evidenced by their shared surname, they are blood relatives of the Eunhae Trading Company.
After losing the competition to become Eun Gil-sang’s Merchant Guild Leader, his uncle did not become a branch manager of a branch, but instead received funding to establish a new merchant guild in Guizhou Province.
He earned money by conducting medicinal herb brokerage with the Eunhae Trading Company as his primary customer, and repaid all the funds he had received.
When Eun Jo-san, who was also Eun Gil-sang’s cousin, became the Merchant Guild Leader of the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild, their finances were completely separated.
Thus, currently the Eunhae Trading Company and the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild are merely friendly merchant guilds with good relations, but are clearly separate entities.
“So he’s asking to borrow some money.”
“A loan request?”
At Yu Chief Manager’s words, Eun Gil-sang nodded.
“For that proud Eun Jo-san to send such a letter, things must be truly difficult.”
At his words, the two Chief Managers and two Officers nodded.
They had known Eun Jo-san since their youth and understood his character well.
Then Eun Jung-ho asked.
“Father, did the letter from Merchant Guild Leader Eun Jo-san not contain an explanation of why things are difficult?”
“Right, there were no detailed explanations—only that competition with other merchant guilds has intensified and circumstances have become difficult.”
Eun Gil-sang continued.
“Then how much support should we provide?”
“He didn’t specify how much he wanted to borrow?”
At Yu So-ak’s question, Eun Gil-sang nodded.
“You’re right about that.”
“Then wouldn’t it be appropriate to lend one thousand silver taels? Lending more than that might actually wound the pride of the Eun Jo San Merchant Guild Leader, and I’m concerned about that.”
It was then that they noticed Eun Seo-ho had grown unusually quiet today.

* * *

I was lost in thought, recalling events from my past life.
The Eun Jo San Merchant Guild Leader… the incident where my uncle took his own life.
Back then, I hadn’t known that the Eun Jo San Merchant Guild Leader had sent a letter requesting a loan.
I hadn’t yet become a Small Merchant Guild Leader at that time.
And roughly a year from now, my uncle would take his own life.
The mention in his letter of fierce competition with other merchant guilds and difficult circumstances was merely a fraction of the truth, constrained by my uncle’s pride.
The reality was far more dire than that.
I later learned that when a newcomer medicinal herb broker entered the market with a willingness to engage in cutthroat competition, most of those who had dealt with the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild switched over to them.
In the end, even though only the Eunhae Trading Company remained as a trading partner, my uncle concealed this fact because of his pride.
And the reason the amount of money requested in my uncle’s letter wasn’t specified was because the losses were already catastrophic.
One thousand silver taels?
That would be nowhere near enough.
Even in my previous life, I would have decided to lend one thousand taels.
Yet despite that, my uncle still took his own life.
At the time, news of my uncle’s suicide dealt a tremendous shock to our family.
Grandfather in particular grieved deeply.
First his brother had passed, and now his nephew had left this world prematurely.
And from the company’s perspective, it was also a significant loss.
The broker who had reliably supplied medicinal herbs had vanished.
Yet to conduct business with another broker in Guizhou would mean dealing with those responsible for my uncle’s death.
In the end, we invested considerable capital and time to establish a branch in Guizhou, and managed to resolve the situation by purchasing more medicinal herbs from other sources.
“Seo-ho.”
At Father’s call, I lifted my head.
“Yes.”
“You’re unusually quiet today. It’s not like you—normally your eyes would be gleaming as you offered your thoughts. Is something wrong with your health?”
I shook my head at Father’s question.
“No, sir. I was simply preoccupied with something for a moment.”
Then I turned my attention to Yeon Dami Officer.
“Officer Yeon.”
“Yes, Small Merchant Guild Leader.”
“Have you heard anything about the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild?”
“Well…”
“I’d like to hear from the attendants who went to Guizhou Province this time. It’s more reliable to ask directly from those who saw and heard things firsthand.”
Father nodded at my words.
“Something seems to be bothering you.”
“Yes.”
Father instructed Yeon Gak-ju to summon the clerks who had recently returned from Guizhou.
Shortly after, one head clerk and four clerks entered the Eun Wol Pavilion.
“You called for us?”
As they arrived, Father nodded toward me.
It was his way of entrusting this matter to me.
“I’ve summoned you because I have questions. I understand you recently visited the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild in Guizhou.”
“That’s correct.”
“Did you notice anything different compared to before, or anything that troubled you?”
“….”
“Even the smallest detail would be helpful.”
The head clerk pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.
“Now that you mention it, the number of employees at the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild had noticeably decreased. There were quite a few clerks who were no longer there.”
As I suspected—they had reduced their workforce.
When facing financial pressure, the first measure any merchant takes is cutting labor costs.
Following the head clerk’s account, the other clerks each shared their own observations.
“The roof that was damaged last time still hasn’t been repaired.”
“I saw the Merchant Guild Leader, and I noticed something odd about the decorations on his belt. Usually, they change every time I see him, but recently he’s been wearing the same one.”
The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavier.
Their testimonies suggested the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild’s situation was far worse than expected.
After the clerks left, Father released a heavy sigh.
“So they’re in dire straits. Yet why do they insist on hiding it?”
Jeok Gak-ju spoke at those words.
“It’s their pride, I suspect. I worry something grave may happen because of it.”
Jeok Gak-ju’s words, spoken from years of observing the Eunhae Trading Company and its people, rang true.
Indeed, something grave had already happened.
Thanks to my memories from my previous life, I knew what had occurred.
But since I couldn’t reveal that knowledge, I had summoned the clerks to verify the situation through their observations.
What was now afflicting the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild was their rival medicinal broker, the Namho Trading Company.
And they had brought down the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild through cowardly and petty methods.
But this time, things would be different.
I would not allow events to unfold that way.
“Father, I believe I should travel to Guizhou.”
“To Guizhou?”
“Yes. I need to ascertain exactly what’s happening there. If the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild collapses, wouldn’t it cause tremendous losses for our company?”
I continued.
“We supply medicinal materials to many establishments. The Palgap Pharmacy itself receives its medicinal materials from our company. If our supply chain were disrupted in such circumstances, it would prove quite troublesome.”
“That’s true.”
“However, since the others are currently occupied, I believe it would be best if I went myself.”
From the start, Hyun Pung Bureau was established to handle sudden emergencies.
As I expected, Father nodded in agreement.
“Very well. Go and return safely.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Since you’re going anyway, take Jin-ho with you.”
“Pardon? Me, too?”
I hadn’t anticipated traveling with Jin-ho.
.
.
.
Two days later, early morning.
I made my way to Cha-jang.
“You’re here?”
Jin-ho had arrived at Cha-jang even earlier than I had.
“You came quickly?”
“If we’re going anyway, we should move fast.”
Jin-ho had taken command of the Sixth Unit of the Eunpung Corps, and so the arrangement was made for him to lead all six units on this mission.
It seemed Father had sent Jin-ho partly to train the coordination between the unit commander and the group members, as their movements needed to be perfectly synchronized.
“I apologize for my tardiness.”
At that moment, someone entered Cha-jang.
I recognized him from before.
He was one of the senior merchants who regularly handled transactions with the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild regarding medicinal herbs.
His name was Jong Gil-dae, if I recalled correctly.
“Jong Gil-dae, that’s correct, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. My rank is Ding Grade.”
Since the Chief Senior Merchant held the Bing Grade, this meant he ranked directly below them.
It appeared Father had taken considerable care in assigning a guide to accompany us.

We completed our preparations and departed swiftly.
Since Guizhou lacked major waterways, we had to travel by land rather than by water routes.
Along the way, we would need to cross Hyungmun Mountain, and during that passage, we would encounter the Green Forest Bandits and need to pay them passage fees.
However,

“The Eunhae Trading Company? Could it be where Seon Hyeop Mi-rang is… Gasp! W-Seon Hyeop Mi-rang herself!”
“What? You’re saying that’s Seon Hyeop Mi-rang?”
“To meet Seon Hyeop Mi-rang in person! What an honor.”
“Here is the toll….”
“Oh! A toll, you say! Why speak of such unpleasantness?”
“We owe our lives to the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“No matter how much we engage in banditry from our mountain stronghold, we remember kindness.”
“Please, pass freely.”
“What are you all doing? Clear the road!”

We passed through without paying the toll.
When plague had swept through Uichang before, the Eunhae Trading Company had conducted relief efforts here.
The impact of those actions still lingered.
It was gratifying that we had chosen to remain in Hubei Province and work diligently rather than flee the plague.
Thus we pressed forward without hindrance, and finally arrived in Guizhou.

The Mi Gwa Merchant Guild was operated by my uncle, so we could have imposed upon them, but we chose not to.
Given the current difficult circumstances, it would surely be a burden.
Moreover, we had not come here for trade—we had come to investigate the affairs of the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild.
Thus we lodged at an inn situated at a distance from the Mi Gwa Merchant Guild.
“Will you be dining this evening, sir?”
At Palgap’s question, I nodded.
“Let’s go down.”

We descended to the first floor and finished our meal.
Then I called over the Shop Attendant and probed gently.
“We’ve come to trade in medicinal herbs. Which is the most renowned establishment in this area?”
The Shop Attendant surveyed our appearance and replied.
“If you’re looking for a merchant guild of considerable scale, I’d recommend visiting the Namho Trading Company.”
“The Namho Trading Company… you say?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you in confidence—the Namho Trading Company is currently selling medicinal herbs at fifty percent or less of standard prices.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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