“Anyway.”
At the Emperor’s next words, I quickly pushed my stray thoughts away.
Spacing out in front of the Emperor? Get it together, focus!
You never know when he might eat you alive.
“This famine is dragging on for quite a while.”
“Still, thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, many people are enduring it quite well.”
“Enough flattery!”
“…”
“Honestly, if you hadn’t given me advance warning through Left Censorate Inspector Hwang, how could I have prepared in time, even if it came from one of your prophetic dreams?”
Having him acknowledge my contribution like this made me feel a bit embarrassed.
Still, to think Scholar Hwang Bon-ji is now the Left Censorate Inspector.
The Left and Right Censorate Inspectors are fourth-rank officials who serve as aides in the Censorate. And the Censorate is the office in charge of investigations and oversight.
He used to be in the Ministry of Revenue… looks like he got promoted.
The Emperor let out a sigh.
“But the famine still isn’t over, and what lies ahead worries me.”
“Your Majesty will surely be able to overcome this calamity.”
“Tsk, tsk, I told you to keep the flattery to that level.”
“I’m not flattering you, Your Majesty.”
“Enough. Anyway, with things turning out like this, I recalled what you said before through Left Censorate Inspector Hwang – about bringing in from outside what we don’t have here.”
Just as I expected.
“Are you talking about trading with other countries?”
The Emperor nodded.
“Yes. To get grain from them, we need to sell what they want. In your opinion, what should we be selling?”
I pretended to mull it over for a moment.
I had already thought it all through, of course, but I still had to at least act like I was thinking…
“You’ve already decided everything… you’re really putting on a show.”
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat, embarrassed that he’d seen right through me.
“There are several options, but I think the three most important trade goods are these.”
“Three, huh… let’s hear them.”
“First is pottery.”
“You mean porcelain?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“And tea and liquor would also make excellent trade goods.”
Porcelain, tea, and liquor.
The neighboring countries used to go absolutely crazy for these.
That was how the Baekcheon Merchant Group raked in enormous profits.
Ah, just thinking about that time suddenly makes my blood boil. But I’m standing in front of the Emperor right now.
Gotta hold it in.
After discussing foreign trade with the Emperor for a while, I returned to the Beijing Branch.
Two days passed like that.
“Deputy Merchant Lord, should I do it like this?”
Lady Seohyang’s voice came from beside me as we worked together in my office.
When I turned my head, Lady Jaryeong – no, Lady Seohyang – was holding out a document to me as she asked.
Ever since she formally signed an employment contract with me, she had been coming in every day like this to help with my work.
Thanks to how capable she was, handling everything had become much easier for me.
“Yes, that’s how you do it. By the way, do you happen to have time this evening?”
“Is there something going on?”
“Nothing serious, it’s just that now that you’ve joined the Eunhae Merchant Group’s family, I thought we should have a little get–together to introduce you.”
That way the people at the Beijing Branch would know who she was and be less likely to slip up around her.
And since she would be working as my deputy from now on, she needed a chance to make an impression on everyone she would be cooperating with.
That evening.
I headed to a nearby tavern where I’d made a reservation.
“Is this your first time at a tavern?”
At my question, she shook her head.
“No. I’ve been a few times with my brothers before. They would pool their allowance and treat me to good food.”
You don’t come to a tavern just to drink. It’s a place where people gather to unwind, so all kinds of delicacies are a must.
The alcohol is really just there to back up the food.
Besides, with the prohibition order dragging on, taverns had started promoting themselves by focusing even more on their food.
They were competing fiercely to hire famous chefs.
Taverns could still draw customers with their cooking, so things were bearable for them, but the pleasure houses had to be having a miserable time.
When we went up to the third floor, the people from the Beijing Branch who had arrived early stood up to greet us.
“Deputy Merchant Lord, you’ve arrived.”
“Yes. Sorry we’re late.”
“Not at all, it’s still before the appointed time. I just came early because if I was late, the others would eat everything first. Hahaha.”
At the branch chief’s words, I laughed and said,
“For today, I’ve already told them to prepare plenty of food so that doesn’t happen.”
“Oh! Then that’s a relief.”
I addressed everyone gathered there.
“We’re here today so I can introduce the new deputy who’s joined me.”
Everyone’s attention turned to me and Lady Seohyang.
“Her name is Gwak Seohyang. Some of you will know my teacher… Escort Chief Gwak.”
At my words, everyone nodded along in recognition.
“Do you mean Escort Chief Gwak from the Changin Escort Bureau?”
“I heard he’s a descendant of the great hero Extreme Heaven Sword Gwak Hoon.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I nodded.
“She’s a relative of his, and quite talented, so I’ve taken her on as my deputy.”
She bowed her head in greeting.
“Please take good care of me.”
Seeing the men staring blankly at Lady Seohyang, I let out a sigh.
Good grief, at least their eyes work.
“Just in case anyone misunderstands, Deputy Gwak is my person. If anyone dares treat her carelessly or harass her, you’ll get to find out firsthand how scary I can be.”
“…”
A heavy silence fell for a moment, and they all dropped their gazes.
Uh… what’s with this reaction?
I’m really not that scary.
Clap, clap!
I clapped my hands twice and said,
“All right then, let’s enjoy the food!”
It turned into a pretty cheerful, lively little welcome party.
.
.
.
A few days passed after that.
During that time, I kept buying up the houses around the first ones I’d purchased.
In total, I had bought ten houses.
Six of those were the ones that were going to collapse this time.
Those six houses would collapse at three–day intervals, and they all shared one thing in common – they had been built by the same contractor at the same time.
It all went back to the great fire that had broken out in this area a little over ten years ago.
Because of it, all the surrounding houses had burned down, and they had to rebuild many of them at once.
The corruption happened in the middle of that rush.
If they’d faithfully followed the construction plans, those buildings would have lasted hundreds of years.
Well, since the buildings just happened to be clustered near the Beijing Branch, no one would have any reason to suspect anything.
Creak.
Right then, my door opened and Palgap walked in.
“Young Master, aren’t you going in to work today?”
“Ah… I have some separate business today. So only Lady Seohyang is in my office.”
At that, Palgap grinned and said,
“Ah, do you know about this?”
“Know about what?”
“There’s a rumor all over the Beijing Branch that Lady Seohyang and you are lovers, Young Master.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“At the introduction party the other day, didn’t you say so yourself? That Lady Seohyang was your person.”
“I did.”
“I guess they took that to mean something else.”
“…”
I let out a sigh.
What I meant was that they should look out for Lady Seohyang that much…
But trying to correct it now with, ‘That’s not what I meant… I was saying she works under me,’ would just be ridiculous.
Whatever, it’s better to just leave it alone.
Rumors always die down sooner or later.
And if it keeps Lady Seohyang safer in the meantime, all the better.
“By the way, Young Master, why have you been buying up so many mansions around here? Do you know all the merchant groups in Beijing are on edge right now?”
“Ah… you mean that rumor?”
Because I’d bought so many mansions in the area, rumors were going around that the Eunhae Merchant Group was moving its base to Beijing.
That was how large–scale my purchases had been.
On top of that, those mansions were all located near the Beijing Branch.
So yesterday, my uncle, the Merchant Lord of the Yeonjun Merchant Group, personally came to ask if the rumor was true.
I denied it without hesitation.
The Eunhae Merchant Group’s base is Sunyang County in Hubei.
We started there and grew thanks to the people of Hubei – where else would we go, abandoning that place?
“It’s really not true, right?”
“Yeah. It’s not.”
Palgap scratched his head.
“I thought I was finally starting to understand your intentions, Young Master, but I guess I’m still far off. I really can’t figure out what’s going on in your head.”
I could only give a wry smile.
I trusted Palgap deeply, but I couldn’t tell him about this.
If I told him the houses were going to collapse and I intended to profit from it, he’d run off to call a physician on the spot.
After all, more than half of the buildings I’d bought collapsing soon was something I’d already experienced in my previous life.
Well, Jaryeong… no, Lady Seohyang might know about it.
I gave a faint chuckle and made up an excuse.
“It’s just an investment for the future. As the Eunhae Merchant Group keeps growing, the land prices around the Beijing Branch will skyrocket.”
“That does make sense. There’ll be people expecting the Beijing Branch to expand.”
“Exactly. That’s why I bought them in advance. And I also thought it would be nice to have mansions ready for my family to stay in comfortably when they come up to Beijing.”
Palgap seemed to accept my hastily made–up excuse and nodded obediently.
About two more days passed like that.
While eating breakfast, I calculated the date, then rose to my feet.
If things went the same way as in my previous life, the buildings would collapse today.
Thankfully, I’d already made sure every building was completely emptied so no one would be inside, and I’d even nailed the doors shut so no one could enter.
I also secured the cooperation of the Eunpoong Division at the Beijing Branch so they would patrol around those buildings.
Maybe because of that earlier incident caused by their negligence, the Eunpoong members patrolled with their eyes practically burning.
Of course, someone might still sneak in over a wall. But I couldn’t control everything that far.
I’d prefer nothing like that happened, but if someone still went in after all that and ended up hurt or dead, that would truly be their own damn fault.
I handled my duties as usual and ate lunch at the cafeteria.
Normally, if I didn’t have any appointments, I ate lunch at the Beijing Branch’s cafeteria – it was cheap, convenient, and fast.
Today’s lunch was a simple bowl of noodles and some dumplings.
“Does the food suit your taste?”
At my question, Lady Seohyang nodded.
“Yes. It’s a bit on the salty side, but the flavors are really varied.”
While we were eating, something brushed against my senses.
It felt like the ground was trembling from a heavy impact. The other escort guards must have sensed it too, because they flinched.
“My lord!”
“Yes.”
I stood up from my seat and hurried toward my office.
If someone was going to report what was happening, they’d come to my office.
Just as I’d thought, one of the Eunpoong Division’s warriors came running, out of breath.
“D–Deputy Merchant Lord!”
“What is it?”
“The building… one of the mansions you bought this time has collapsed.”
Right then, another warrior came running up from behind.
“Deputy Merchant Lord! Another building has collapsed!”
“…”
I pressed my fingers against the bridge of my nose.
So that’s why the houses collapsed one after another… that impact I felt earlier explained everything.
One building had fallen, and the shock had brought down the neighboring one.
Then that shock had affected the other buildings…
It was a kind of chain reaction.
“Are the nearby common houses all right?”
At my question, they nodded.
“Yes.”
“The other houses in the area are intact.”
The fact that the common houses were fine while the huge mansions collapsed was suspicious in itself.
I spoke to my escort guards.
“Get ready to head out.”
“Yes.”
We immediately headed for the site of the collapse.
I was the owner in name, after all, so of course I had to go inspect the ruins.
The first building to fall was the second mansion I’d purchased. Its pillars lay in a pathetic heap, and the roof had completely caved in.
Whether from the impact or not, half of the other buildings had collapsed as well. The stone walls had toppled too.
The first building I’d bought, right next to it, was in almost the same state.
“Um, are you all right?”
Branch Chief Eun, who had come along when he heard I was personally going to see the collapsed buildings, asked carefully.
“Phew… no, I’m not.”
Seeing the wreckage like this made my anger surge up.
It wasn’t anger over my own losses, but at those who had skimmed on building materials for illicit profit, and at the Ministry of Works officials who had taken bribes and turned a blind eye.
At the same time, the hellish scene I’d witnessed back then came to mind.
In my previous life, I had been running a cloth shop at the time and had just arrived in Beijing to deliver silk to a branch caravan of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
After finishing moving the silk into the Beijing Branch and just as I was about to have a late lunch, a horrifying roar rang out and the ground shook.
Startled, we rushed out into the street, only to realize that the large roof that had been in front of us moments ago had vanished.
Cries and screams came from that direction.
“Waaah! Father!”
“My lady!”
“Ugh, it hurts! It hurts!”
“Save me! Please… someone, please save me!”
People, covered in blood, were buried under the building’s rubble.
And we ran in to pull them out.
But barely half an hour later, the neighboring building also collapsed.
The filthy feeling from that moment is something only those who’ve experienced it can truly understand.
I shook my head to clear away the memories and said,
“Let’s go to the Imperial Palace and the Ministry of Works.”
–TL Notes–
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