The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 197

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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 197

Chapter 197. Jin-ho’s Spring (1)

The next day, I set out for the Imperial Palace.
Someone working at the Imperial Palace wished to meet me, and besides, I needed to submit the documents required for the silk delivery.
After submitting the documents to the Eunuch Official, I made my way to the garden I had visited before with Seon-il Elder Brother.
As I strolled through the garden admiring the scenery, I heard someone calling my name.
“Young Master Eun Seo-ho.”
Turning my head, I saw a man in official robes approaching me.
A face I recognized well enough.
It was Jihyeon, the one who had written the report about the Hwari Ship Shop.
He was also a talented individual whom the Emperor had recognized upon seeing the report I submitted.
His name was Gun Seong, if I recalled correctly.
“It has been quite some time.”
“Indeed, it has.”
We exchanged brief greetings.
“I understand you wished to see me?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
A gentle smile played across his face.
“I wanted to express my gratitude for helping me advance to the capital.”
As I suspected.
The Emperor’s momentum is truly formidable.
How little time had passed, and yet he was already summoned to the Court.
“By the way, I heard that working at the Imperial Palace is quite demanding. Are you managing well?”
I asked somewhat casually, since his arrival at the Imperial Palace was partly due to the report I had submitted.
Fortunately, he laughed heartily in response.
“I was prepared for this much. Compared to the intensity of work at the Hwari Ship Shop, wouldn’t working at the Imperial Palace be far less demanding?”
“Ha ha, is that so?”
Well, since he seemed satisfied, that was fortunate.
I heard that the official position he received upon entering the Imperial Palace was as a Clerk at the Bureau of Edicts, which handles memorials and imperial edicts.
Since it was a place responsible for records, it was a fitting appointment.
It was a rank seven position, higher than my rank eight as Imperial Inspector, yet he still showed me proper respect, perhaps due to the special nature of the Imperial Inspector’s duties.
“I heard you participated in the Imperial Silk Delivery Competition this time. Was that by the Emperor’s command?”
He was asking whether it was related to my duties as Imperial Inspector.
Of course it wasn’t, but even if I denied it, he wouldn’t believe me.
So I simply smiled.
“…I see.”
We exchanged various pleasantries and parted ways, promising to meet again.
After all, we had both carved time from our busy schedules to meet.
.
.
.
As evening fell, I made my way to a tea house near the Imperial Palace.
Since the person who had asked to see me had not yet arrived, I entered a quiet room on the third floor and savored some tea.
Just as I was finishing my first cup, I heard a knock at the door.
“Please, come in.”
“We meet again.”
The one who entered was none other than Scholar Hwang Bon-ji.
“I heard you were selected as the Imperial Palace’s official silk supplier. My congratulations.”
“Thank you. I also heard that you have returned to the Court.”
“Yes, by the Emperor’s grace, I have been appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.”
“Oh, my sincere congratulations.”
Vice Minister was a senior position of rank three—the second-highest post in one of the Six Ministries.
If the Emperor remembered him well enough to appoint him, it spoke volumes of his competence.
Still, the Ministry of Household Affairs…
This was the perfect opportunity to relay a message to the Emperor through Scholar Hwang—or rather, Minister Hwang Dae-in.
“There is one thing I must ask of you.”
“Please, speak freely. You saved my son’s life, so I should do my best to grant your request.”
“As a merchant, I have many opportunities to travel throughout the Central Plains. Through my travels, I have learned that the entire nation is experiencing an unprecedented harvest.”
“So I have heard. Everyone is pleased, as the tax revenues are expected to be abundant.”
Yes, that was what everyone had thought.
And because of that complacency, the catastrophe of the great famine that followed became all the more devastating.
Recalling that memory, I spoke carefully.
“However… I fear that starting next year, severe famines will strike for some time.”
“What? You say famines will suddenly come?”
“Yes, but… since my knowledge comes from a prophetic dream, I hesitated before telling you.”
“A prophetic dream, you say?”
“Indeed.”
I am certain that great famines will continue for the next five years.
Even if some things have changed because of my actions, the climate will not.
But the problem is the lack of concrete evidence.
Who would have predicted such a terrible famine following an unprecedented harvest?
But the Emperor would surely be capable of finding the evidence himself.
That is why I am conveniently attributing it to a prophetic dream.
And I have an appropriate justification to support this claim.
“In fact, I was able to save your son precisely because of a prophetic dream. I saw that scene in a dream, so I personally took a boat out and was able to rescue everyone.”
At those words, Minister Hwang Dae-in’s expression darkened.
If a famine comes, it’s natural for a Ministry of Household Affairs official like myself to be concerned about how to sustain the nation’s finances by collecting taxes.
“What I wish to propose is that you accumulate as much grain as possible during this harvest.”
“But we cannot collect more than the fixed tax revenue.”
“That’s true. However, couldn’t the state itself purchase grain? With this bumper crop, grain prices will fall below normal levels, and if we offer slightly higher prices than market rates, people will sell their grain without hesitation.”
This is the most practical solution available.
After all, we cannot force the people to avoid wasting grain.
If the state stockpiles grain this way, at minimum, we won’t see masses of people starving or begging in the streets as happened in my previous life.
“You must accumulate as much as possible, even if it means stretching the state’s finances.”
I’m speaking this way because what I tell Hwang Dae-in will certainly reach the Emperor’s ears.
Unlike Gunseong Dae-in, he holds a high position.
Given the current circumstances, it would have been difficult for him to meet with me without the Emperor’s permission.
He came to meet me because the Emperor commanded it.
Hwang Dae-in’s congratulations contain his genuine sentiments, but they also carry the Emperor’s blessing.
The reason I’m speaking now about the famine that will come in the future, rather than telling the Emperor beforehand, is that the timing wasn’t right then.
I only recently began earning the Emperor’s trust, and before that, I was in no position to presume to speak of such matters.
Moreover, until last year, harvests were only average, so implementing grain stockpiling would have been difficult.
The state’s finances are naturally strained.
But now the Emperor will listen to my words.
He knows I don’t speak carelessly.
Furthermore, this time we have an extraordinary bumper crop, so the burden of stockpiling grain will be lighter.
Even though the time has come to speak of these matters, I’m not telling the Emperor directly because….
Facing the Emperor isn’t particularly good for my heart.
And if I’m not careful, he’ll say, “You seem like the right person for this, so get to work,” and I’ll find myself shackled in place.
And there’s one more thing I want to say.
“If a famine comes later and circumstances become difficult, then consider bringing grain from foreign lands.”
“From foreign lands?”
“Places like the Dae-Wol Kingdom or the plains beyond the Northern Sea, for instance.”
Hwang Dae-in’s expression darkened.
“Are you suggesting we beg for food?”
“Are you joking? Begging, suddenly? There’s a far better method available.”
“…?”
I smiled slightly.
“Why not import grain legitimately through merchants?”
If the first proposal benefits everyone, the second proposal benefits the Merchant Guild, including our Eun Hae Trading Company.

* * *

Scholar Hwang Bon-ji watched Eun Seo-ho’s retreating figure disappear into the distance.
‘So there was a reason His Majesty took an interest in him.’
He recalled the moment yesterday when the Emperor had summoned him.

“I hear the Eun Hae Trading Company has become the silk supplier for this competition. And the representative of that company is Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master—he is your son’s benefactor, is he not?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Then I shall meet with him to offer my congratulations.”

The Emperor’s intent was unmistakable.
Meet with him and convey congratulations.
So he had arranged a meeting through Eun Seo-ho’s cousin.
At first he was pleased, but when Eun Seo-ho immediately made a request upon hearing that he had become Vice Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he felt somewhat disappointed.
He had thought, after all, a merchant is merely a merchant.
But since Eun Seo-ho was his son’s benefactor, he had intended to accommodate reasonable requests or politely decline excessive ones, yet his assumptions proved entirely wrong.
What Eun Seo-ho requested was not for his own benefit.
It was to stockpile grain in preparation for a famine.
‘A man of noble character! Truly, Eun Seo-ho is a man of noble character!’
He felt ashamed of having misunderstood him.
‘And this premonitory dream…’
Others might scoff if they heard of it, but he could not help but believe.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have appeared so opportunely at that moment and saved everyone who had fallen into Dongjeong Lake.

Hwang Bon-ji returned to the Imperial Palace and requested an audience with the Emperor.
“So, you’ve met with Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He delivered his various reports, then hesitated before continuing.
“And at the end, Small Guild Master Eun Seo-ho made a rather unusual request.”
“An unusual request? What was it?”
“Well….”
Hwang Bon-ji recounted to the Emperor what Eun Seo-ho had said.
The Emperor nodded slowly.
“A great calamity will befall us starting next year, and his evidence is a prophetic dream… Clearly, knowing that his words would reach my ears, he spoke with such conviction, didn’t he?”
“He said that he was able to save his son thanks to a prophetic dream.”
“But why didn’t he tell me this directly….”
Hwang Bon-ji carefully offered an explanation.
“Perhaps, having only recently become a silk delivery merchant, he was conscious of others’ scrutiny.”
“Is that so? Well, let us think of it that way.”
The Emperor nodded slowly, muttering to himself.
‘Truly, he has keen perception. Had he told me directly, I would have entrusted this matter to him.’
But because he had conveyed his message through another, the Emperor now had to handle the matter himself.
He could not proceed based solely on the mention of a prophetic dream.
‘If I search through the Imperial Palace’s records, I should find something to use as evidence.’
The Emperor placed considerable trust in Eun Seo-ho’s words.
He thought he could mobilize the Princesses as the workforce for this task.
If he spoke well about how pitiful Eun Seo-ho was, his influence over the young man would still be effective.

* * *

The next day, we prepared to depart for Hubei Province.
I exchanged farewells with my Aunt and Seon-mi.
And while my Aunt was saying goodbye to the other attendants, my Uncle approached me and whispered softly.
“That person has been taken care of.”
I had briefly mentioned to my Uncle the servant who had been watching me.
As I lowered my head slightly, my Uncle’s expression softened and he offered his farewell.
“Travel safely. We shall meet again, so let us not linger with long goodbyes.”
“Yes. Farewell to you.”
Thus we departed Beijing and headed toward Hubei Province.

* * *

Baekcheon Trading Company.
Merchant Guild Leader Namgung Kang was listening to a report about the Imperial Silk Delivery Competition.
“So Eun Hae Trading Company won the competition after all… and our Baekcheon Trading Company is under investigation for allegedly bribing palace officials? What an idiotic fool!”
He condemned Namgung Bo, who had led Baekcheon Trading Company.
“Handling matters in such a reckless manner and drawing the Imperial Palace’s scrutiny! There’s no greater shame than this!”
“What should we do? He is your nephew after all, so we should try to extract him somehow….”
Namgung Kang pondered for a moment before asking.
“His arm was severed, correct?”
“Yes, his right arm was severed… it seems he’s suffered considerable psychological trauma, and his condition is not good.”
Namgung Kang quickly grasped the situation.
If things went wrong, Baekcheon Trading Company itself could come under investigation and draw the Imperial Palace’s suspicion.
If that happened, the higher authorities would be displeased.
He reached a conclusion.
To sever the tail.
“This entire matter was the result of that fool Bo’s independent actions. Our Baekcheon Trading Company knew nothing of it whatsoever.”
“Ah, understood.”
“But setting that aside… Eun Hae Trading Company….”
Just a few years ago, I remembered them as a merchant guild ranked at the very bottom of the Top Hundred Merchant Guilds, yet they had already undergone remarkable rapid growth to reach the middle ranks.
Truly noteworthy growth.
He recalled Eun Seo-ho, whom he had seen at the last banquet.
I had thought of him as merely a handsome young man….
‘I should observe him carefully from now on.’

* * *

I had finally arrived home.
“Welcome back!”
“I’m home.”
“You worked hard in this competition.”
Father greeted me with a warm smile, and Eun Jung-ho’s eyes grew red with emotion.
“I’m truly grateful.”
“What are you saying? This is just the basics.”
“Ha, that’s right.”
“Your expression, brother—Geon-hyuk and Bo-yeon should see it too.”
On the day the Eun Hae Trading Company’s victory in the Imperial Silk Delivery Competition was confirmed, I immediately sent word to Father through Geumryeong.
I wanted to share this joyous news with my family as quickly as possible.
So I had to give Geumryeong a silver coin, but it was well worth it.
Even Grandfather came out to commend the efforts of the company members who had achieved this great victory.
While Grandfather, Father, and Eun Jung-ho offered words of encouragement to the three managers and the company staff, I approached Mother and my sister-in-law.
“I’m home, Mother.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Thank you so much, Young Master. When he heard the news, my husband was absolutely delighted.”
“I was delighted as well.”
“You must be exhausted. Go inside and rest.”
“Yes.”
I offered my thanks to Han Song Pyobdu, who had worked alongside us, and headed toward the separate pavilion.
This familiar, comforting scent—home truly is the best.
Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I hadn’t seen Jin-ho around. Was he very busy?

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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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