The Emperor cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Fine. Very well, I’ll grant your request.”
“Thank you, Father.”
The Emperor waved a hand at So Un.
“I have matters to discuss with these men, so you may go now.”
“Yes.”
With that, So Un left the office, and the Emperor smirked as he watched him go.
“To think words like that would ever come out of his mouth. I was planning to name him Prince Seongbo this time, but I suppose that’ll have to wait until next year.”
Then he looked at Jin Yeong and Gwon Jik.
“Still, it seems that boy Eun Seo-ho handled himself quite well this time.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. If not for him, even our lives might have been in danger.”
“Then I would have lost two sons.”
At those words, the two Embroidered Guards immediately bowed their heads.
“Forgive us, Your Majesty! We were incompetent and failed you…”
“No. The fault is mine.”
Just then, the eunuch outside spoke up.
“Your Majesty, an urgent report has just arrived.”
“Let them in.”
A moment later, the door opened, and the eunuch entered to relay the message to the Grand Eunuch.
The Grand Eunuch nodded, then reported to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, the ships that left for the overseas trade voyage have just arrived.”
I was trapped in document hell.
If I had to spend all day staring at paperwork, then yeah, this was document hell. Seriously.
Thank goodness Lady Seohyang was helping me. If she weren’t, I might really have had to stay up all night.
At this rate, I was going to have to hire more deputies.
With all the things I’d started setting in motion, it was obvious even Lady Seohyang was getting stretched thin.
Besides, I couldn’t keep her as my deputy forever.
I was working with a sigh when the office door suddenly slammed open and Palgap came rushing in.
“Young Master! Young Master!”
“What is it? Why are you making such a fuss?”
“The ships that left on the overseas trade voyage just got in!”
“What?”
I shot to my feet.
“Get everything ready. Now!”
“Yes, sir!”
Then I sat right back down. I still had work left to finish.
Lady Seohyang held out another stack of papers to me and said,
“Hang in there. You only have ten more to go.”
“…”
Right as I picked up my brush to deal with them, I heard Escort Guard Seo Wu’s voice from outside.
“My lord, Warrior Jin Yeong has arrived.”
Ha… damn it.
.
.
.
The preparations were finished in a single day, and we headed for Nanjing.
Which meant that as soon as I wrapped everything up, I left without getting much sleep at all.
To make matters worse, the Emperor had summoned me the day before, so that took even more time out of my hands.
Still, thanks to the River-Crossing Horse, we reached Nanjing far faster than anyone else could have.
As we neared the harbor, I could see ships anchored a short distance away from the port.
They still hadn’t been granted permission to dock.
Since they were bringing in a massive shipment of grain this time, the Emperor had ordered them to wait until the Imperial Guard arrived before entering port.
And because we’d ridden in on the River-Crossing Horse, it would still be quite a while before the Imperial Guard got here.
Even so, I’d hurried here for one reason.
I wanted to see the ships with my own eyes and greet them before anyone else did.
It might seem like a small thing, but sometimes it’s little things like this that move people the most.
Besides, if my guess was right, Captain Yong Eung-wan hadn’t come alone.
And there was also the matter the Emperor had ordered handled.
After reserving the best inns and taverns near Nanjing Harbor in advance, I waited until the Imperial Guard finally arrived.
The man sent as the person in charge of this operation was the Left Vice Minister of Rites.
Whew, His Majesty really had sent someone important.
Wasn’t it an Assistant Director from one of the ministries last time?
Then again, this matter was extremely important from the Empire’s perspective too.
After having the Imperial Guard clear the area, he waited until everything was in order, then gave his order to the flag signalman.
“Send the docking approval signal.”
“Yes, sir!”
At once, five blasts of a horn rang out, and a large green flag unfurled in the air.
The signal granting permission to dock.
A moment later, the ships anchored in the distance began to move.
Then they started docking one by one at the harbor.
Let’s see, where are our ships?
“There they are!”
Palgap really did have sharp eyes.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
We ran toward them.
Two large ships marked [Eunhae].
So none had been lost.
Before long, temporary gangplanks were lowered, and people started disembarking.
They were darker than before from the ocean sun, but everyone looked healthy.
I quickly looked over the people from our merchant group, then first greeted the officials who’d gone along with them.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“Thank you for coming to greet us in person.”
“Not at all. I should be the one thanking you for looking after the people from the the Eunhae Merchant Group so well. Lord Left Vice Minister of Rites is here as the official in charge of this matter.”
“What? The Left Vice Minister himself?”
“Yes. You should go at once.”
“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
They hurried off toward the Left Vice Minister of Rites. Then I stepped up to the people coming down from the ship and said,
“You’ve all done well.”
“Deputy Merchant Lord!”
“You came all the way here to greet us yourself, Deputy Merchant Lord? It’s not like we did anything all that amazing…”
“Returning safely like this is more than enough. That’s already an amazing accomplishment.”
At my words, their faces lit up with emotion.
Among the group were a few people who looked slightly foreign. Maybe because they’d noticed my gaze, one of the employees explained.
“They’re Captain Yong’s family.”
“I see. Then where is Captain Yong?”
At my question, he answered,
“The captain said the captain of a ship should always be the first to board and the last to leave.”
Just as he said, after everyone else had disembarked, Captain Yong Eung-wan finally came down last.
“Captain, I’m glad you made it back safely.”
At my greeting, he cupped his fists and reported to me.
“Yong Eung-wan, captain of [Eunhae], a vessel of the the Eunhae Merchant Group fleet, has returned after completing the voyage.”
I patted him on the shoulder and said,
“That report should go to my father, not me.”
“But my master is you, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
Since I knew exactly how he felt, I only smiled.
“It looks like you brought others with you. Aren’t you going to introduce them?”
“Ah, of course.”
Yong Eung-wan called over the people in foreign clothing.
“My mother, my younger sister, and my older brother.”
I nodded, then greeted them with a bright smile.
“I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the the Eunhae Merchant Group. Welcome.”
Yong Eung-wan translated my words for them. Then they said to me,
“Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”
Their speech was a little awkward, but they could still speak the imperial language.
Yong Eung-wan added an explanation.
“They’ll be living in the Empire from now on, so they started learning the language on the way here.”
“I see.”
Their imperial language still wasn’t strong enough yet, so Yong Eung-wan translated what they said in Daewol Kingdom’s language.
“They say thank you for paying the redemption price and giving them their freedom.”
“Tell them they should thank their son for being such a good one.”
At my words, he grew embarrassed as he translated for his family.
It wasn’t wrong, though.
Looking at them, I couldn’t help thinking how fortunate this was. In my previous life, when Yong Eung-wan scraped together the redemption money and returned home, his family had already died.
“Was the redemption money enough?”
At my question, Yong Eung-wan nodded.
“More than enough. And thanks to the officials who went with us, the negotiations went smoothly. Because of that, even the surviving members of my extended family were able to win their freedom.”
He continued.
“They chose to remain there, while my family said they wanted to come with me, so they came here together.”
“I understand. For now, tell them to focus on learning the imperial language. Once they do, I’ll find suitable work for them.”
“Thank you.”
Now for the real point.
“So, was it a success?”
“Absolutely.”
He grinned.
“The people of Daewol Kingdom went absolutely crazy for the tea and porcelain we brought this time.”
Then he pointed toward the ship.
“Everything in there is grain.”
So the goods covered under those wide sheets were the grain.
At that amount, this was a huge success.
Just as I’d expected, this trade mission had produced outstanding results.
Not only our ships, but every ship had returned loaded to the brim with grain.
There was so much of it that unloading alone would take days.
“And the plums you gave us were incredibly useful. Thanks to them, we didn’t suffer from bleeding disease.”
Good. So the plums really had helped.
“And the sailors on the other ships benefited a lot from them too. Just like you said, we handed them out for free.”
So that was why they’d all been looking at me with gratitude earlier.
Of course, I had my own motives for doing that too…
“You’ve all worked hard. I’ve prepared an inn for you, so go and get some rest.”
Captain Yong and the sailors who’d suffered through the long voyage headed off to the inn I’d arranged.
Meanwhile, the sailors from the other merchant ships were about to head for the Regional Military Commission.
I walked over to them.
“Don’t do that. Stay at the lodging I’ve arranged instead.”
“Pardon?”
“Two people per room.”
At those words, their eyes widened.
At the Regional Military Commission, more than ten people would have had to cram into a single room.
“And the laundry will be handled by people I’ve hired. Just give it to them.”
“What?”
“Y, you’re serious?”
“But our clothes are filthy, and there’s a lot of it…”
“That’s fine.”
I’d already taken that into account and paid generously to hire enough people.
“But in exchange, for the next three days, you are not to leave the inn. Stay quietly inside and get some sleep.”
I continued.
“I’ve also had a proper dinner prepared, so make sure every last one of you comes and enjoys the food.”
“Thank you!”
By evening, the dining hall of the tavern I’d rented was packed with sailors.
The cost was going to be ugly, but that was fine.
It wasn’t coming out of my money.
To be exact, this was all on His Majesty’s orders.
I smiled as I watched them enthusiastically eat and drink the food laid out before them.
Maybe an hour or two passed like that before they started falling asleep one by one.
They had to be exhausted.
I’d told them to stay inside the inn and sleep for the next three days, but there were always people who wouldn’t listen.
So once the meal had been underway for a while, I had a sleeping draught mixed into the tea being served.
That too was by His Majesty’s orders.
Though honestly, even without that order, I’d already been planning to knock them out.
I knew, because I’d just had the chance to experience it for myself.
When you’re worn out from a long journey, the best cure is sleep.
Why do you think people say sleep is the best medicine?
And these were all hot-blooded men. With the joy of finally returning home and bodies dead tired enough to cloud their judgment, if they went outside now, there was absolutely no way they wouldn’t cause trouble.
And if they did, who would have to clean up after that mess?
Once you started assigning responsibility, it became a headache fast.
A few of them seemed to realize they’d been drugged and muttered with resentful eyes.
“Th, that’s just cruel.”
“I, I was going to burn the night white…”
“Chunwol… your big brother is sorry…”
Hearing that, I was once again reminded that I’d made the right call.
I’d drugged them and put them to sleep partly to stop them from causing trouble, sure, but that wasn’t the biggest reason.
I did feel bad for them, but right now, there was no way I could let them satisfy those urges.
With a bitter smile, I recalled my conversation with the Emperor.
“While interrogating that wretch Gong Ho, we learned something. There isn’t a single place the Murim Alliance’s hands haven’t reached.”
“…”
“Once the merchant ships that went overseas dock, they’ll naturally try to gather information. They couldn’t join the trade voyage because they lacked ships, but they’ll still want to pick up whatever scraps fall from the table.”
“I think the same, Your Majesty.”
“Then how do you suppose they’ll get that information? Speak.”
“Isn’t it obvious? Information will leak through restaurant servers and brothel courtesans.”
“Then do you have a good solution?”
“Just put them all to sleep.”
“Hm?”
“Gather them in one place, feed them, knock them out, and that’s the end of it.”
“Hahahahaha! Now that is a clever idea!”
The Emperor had really laughed hard that time.
Anyway, we had no idea how far the Murim Alliance’s reach extended. We couldn’t exactly let these men end up drunk in women’s arms, babbling out vital information.
So please bear with it just a little longer.
Three days.
After that, it wouldn’t matter anymore if information reached the Murim Alliance.
By then, the people who needed to know would already know.
In the meantime, every last sailor fell asleep, and the Embroidered Guard and Imperial Guard came in and carried them to the inn rooms.
From a security standpoint, the Regional Military Commission would have been better, but the beds at the inn were far more comfortable.
If they were going to sleep anyway, they might as well sleep well.
.
.
.
After about two days, the representatives from each merchant group arrived. When they saw the men sleeping soundly, they let out relieved sighs.
“Whew, thank goodness!”
“I was worried sick over what might happen if they caused trouble.”
“If the details of this matter had leaked to someone else, it would’ve been infuriating.”
Of course it would.
This was the Empire’s first large-scale trade with a foreign country. There was bound to be a huge amount of valuable information involved.
But most sailors had no idea what counted as important information.
Or even if they did, bragging about their adventures might matter more to them in the moment.
The men who’d been operating merchant ships for years knew that from experience, which was why they’d been so anxious.
“You’ve done us a great kindness.”
“This wasn’t my doing. It was by His Majesty’s order.”
“R, really?”
“Which means His Majesty is taking a very keen interest in this matter. So let’s all work hard and make sure the next trade voyage brings in even greater profits.”
The reason I was even borrowing the Emperor’s name like this was for my own sake and for the sake of the the Eunhae Merchant Group.
If they got fired up, our merchant group would profit too.
Your Majesty, aren’t I one of your favored loyal men?
So I trust you’ll overlook me borrowing your name a little.
–TL Notes–
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