Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 71

Hoarding.

Or cornering the market.

It refers to the act of buying a large quantity or exclusively purchasing specific goods and selling them when demand surges and prices rise.

‘It’s a bad deed that disrupts the market.’

And thanks to the disregard for commerce and industry, economic development was slow, making the market size small in Joseon [the last kingdom of Korea, lasting from 1392 to 1897], so it was quite an impactful act.

And that meant.

It was also a means to easily make a lot of money.

“Ongju [a princess title], did I hear correctly that you just said ‘hoarding’?”

“Yeah.”

“Where on earth did you learn such a word?”

“I heard it at the tavern last time. That there’s a rich man who made a lot of money by hoarding.”

“!”

This is true.

I wasn’t sure about the economic level here, but thanks to that, I remembered.

The essential reading for Korean test-takers, *The Story of Heo Saeng* [a classic Korean short story that critiques social and economic issues of the Joseon period].

‘Heo Saeng hoarded fruits for ancestral rites and horsehair, which were mainly consumed by the nobles. Luxury goods that would not impact the lives of ordinary people as much as possible.’

I don’t like hoarding, but… if it’s limited to luxury goods, it wasn’t a method that bothered my conscience much.

Mr. Park Ji-won’s book, I will verify it.

But hoarding is bad, everyone.

‘The system here is still a mess. They’re not even properly preventing hoarding.’

Is it similar to the late Joseon period after all?

In the Joseon Dynasty, if you weren’t someone with extraordinary talent, the way to become rich can be summarized simply as follows.

1. Engage in intermediary trade with China or Japan.

2. Hoard.

Intermediary trade is mainly possible for interpreters or those who have connections to interpreters.

It is said that Byeon, the wealthiest man in Hanyang [old name for Seoul] who lends money to Heo Saeng in *The Story of Heo Saeng*, was also modeled after an actual interpreter (*Byeon Seung-eop) of that era.

Of course, if you didn’t have such talent, there were cases where you risked your life doing smuggling, which was prohibited by the state.

‘It comes out quite often in historical dramas.’

The protagonist, who mainly suffers from the barriers of social status, dreams of reversing their life through smuggling, but generally provides spectacle with action scenes as they are chased by government troops at the smuggling site, emphasizing the person’s desperation, boldness, and competence.

After all, if the protagonist’s life is too easy in historical dramas, it’s not fun.

But that’s what protagonists or their mentors, who are at the peak of their abilities to overcome hardships and adversities, do.

I, who was born with the life of an extra that should have disappeared, decided to just live an easy life.

I was born with a good status, why would I do such a difficult thing?

I should make a competent subordinate do it.

“Ongju, you are asking too much of me.”

“Sorry. But who else can I trust to entrust this to besides Gai?”

“But if I fail, how can I handle this great sum of money…?”

“Then it’s my fault, so I’ll have to tighten my belt, I guess.”

As I passed the buck while feeling sorry, Gai sighed but didn’t say he didn’t want to.

That’s how I handed over the full authority regarding the matter, along with a large sum of money, to Gai, who is my close aide and also my asset manager. Since it was a luxury item, the basic amount was a bit large.

I guess it seems like I’m being too much as Gai said, but in fact, I had no choice but to entrust it to Gai.

Because… in the original work, Gai, who had gained Youngbin’s trust and was attached as a close aide, secretly managed and grew Youngbin’s assets.

And he also subtly leaked the flow of Youngbin’s black money to the protagonist, making things difficult for Youngbin and Grand Prince Gyeong’eon.

‘Why would I look for someone else when such a proven capable person is even my close aide?’

Of course, the environment and circumstances are different from then, but somehow I felt like Gai could do it.

Some time later, Gai really used people as he was told and made money.

Of course, he didn’t go alone, but accompanied by burly men from Seong Gyeomsa-bok or Siyeongwon.

In fact, I wondered if hoarding would really be as easy as in the novels.

It works.

“As Ongju said, when I exclusively purchased horsehair, I really made a lot of money in a short period of time.”

After calming Gai, who was flashing his eyes, I decided to stop hoarding there after making money one more time with another item.

Seeing that there are already Dogos (都庫: merchants or merchant organizations that accumulated wealth through hoarding) in this era, it seems that everyone knows, but they can’t enter the market due to the initial capital problem or existing Dogos.

I have money. I also have security personnel from Chetam-in.

In fact, I also have some power.

“If the tail is too long, it will be caught, so let’s stop at this point.”

“Yes, Ongju.”

In fact, after looking into it, it wasn’t that there was no law regarding hoarding at all.

It’s just that they’re not applying it properly. They have to crack down on it, but since they don’t, the law is meaningless.

‘Hmm. I did it with luxury goods because I was worried about the impact on the people, but if the nobles are affected, they might start cracking down instead.’

I thought it wouldn’t be good to overdo it, so I pulled out appropriately, but after a while, even the Crown Prince mentioned the rising price of horsehair.

“There’s a fuss because the price of horsehair has risen recently.”

“Has it risen a lot?”

“It seemed to rise a little at first because there were no goods, but now it seems to have risen more than several times.”

We didn’t do it that excessively?

I was unnecessarily pricked and asked more questions.

“Has the quantity decreased?”

“It seems that the quantity coming from Jeju Island is insufficient due to the storm. That’s something that can’t be helped by human power.”

It wasn’t because of me. I was relieved and changed the subject.

“Really? Horsehair is used to make manggeon (網巾) [a type of traditional Korean headband], right?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm. Horsehair is the tail of a horse. So, are they cutting off the horse’s tail?”

“Well, wouldn’t they?”

Surprisingly, the horses seem to stay still even when their tails are cut off.

“When I think about it, manggeon or gat [traditional Korean hat] are… luxury goods.”

“Aren’t they essential items for the Sadaebu [scholar-official class]?”

“Gwanja (貫子: small ring attached to manggeon. Made of gold, jade, etc. depending on status) is also a luxury item.”

“Why are you suddenly picking a fight with me?”

The Crown Prince fiddled with the jade gwanja that was well attached to his temple.

Because one of the things I hoarded was jade, which is the material for gwanja?

“It reminded me of you telling me off for collecting ceramics.”

“Well, ceramics… you don’t even use them. And aren’t you collecting antiques besides ceramics?”

“What’s wrong with antiques? They’re important, you know?”

Do you know the importance of historical materials? I’m going to keep them well and leave them for posterity??

When I glared with a fierce look, the Crown Prince shook his head.

“Okay, okay. I understand. It’s just that a child has a unique hobby.”

“It’s better than the Crown Prince, who has no hobbies.”

“Why don’t I have hobbies?”

“Yeah. You’re a born Crown Prince whose hobby is studying.”

“Are you treating your older brother like a bookworm?”

“Yes, yes. You are the Crown Prince (國本: the foundation of the country, meaning the Crown Prince) who is both literary and martial. You’re an uninteresting person who has never read a popular novel.”

“You use strange words sometimes.”

I can’t call him a no-jam human.

“Oh, but about antiques and ceramics, these days, rather than collecting them, things keep coming in as gifts because it’s rumored that I like them.”

These days, I’m busy running Siyeongwon and expanding my business, so I don’t have the energy to spend money on other things, but things keep coming in.

“But is it okay for me to receive them?”

“I want to tell you not to pay much attention to what the Jongchin [royal relatives] send since you’re still young, but…”

The Crown Prince trailed off with an ambiguous look, just like me.

For now, they are relatives, but the reason why the Jongchin, whom I see only a few times a year, are trying to win the favor of the still young Ongju was obvious.

As the children of the cold-hearted King and the flawless Queen, the Crown Prince doesn’t show his inner thoughts to others. Moreover, since the poisoning incident, everyone has been defending even the palace servants, so there were people who had no room to squeeze in.

I should have taken care of them when they were young. It seemed that not many Jongchin were friendly to Grand Prince Gyeong’won, who was young and sickly and whose mother’s family was humble, because there were the Crown Prince and Grand Prince Gyeong’eon above him.

In comparison, I am still young and a bit easygoing, and I am receiving the King and Crown Prince’s favor, so they want to win my favor. That way, they can get help when something happens later.

‘It seems like it will be even worse when I go out to Saga [a separate residence granted to royal family members] later.’

Now, only the Jongchin can barely meet me, but anyone can come to Saga.

And there is another reason why the Jongchin are suddenly doing this, and it was because of the person the Jongchin had been most concerned about.

It was a natural thing. Thanks to that, the story naturally flowed in that direction.

“Yes. Is the Yeonlanggo [a type of Korean dessert, similar to pudding] to be given to the Queen Dowager all prepared?”

“Yeah. It’s cold these days, so it cools down quickly even if I just leave it alone. Songbi is making the French toast, so it seems like it will be ready when we go out.”

For reference, French toast is called French toast.

The Crown Prince was waiting for a while to go greet the Queen Dowager with me.

I was originally banned from entering the Queen Dowager’s Palace for a while, but that was not important now.

‘The Queen Dowager, who learned that Grand Prince Gyeong’eon had received the death penalty, eventually fell ill.’

When they said she had lost consciousness, everyone was worried that something big was going to happen, but fortunately, the Queen Dowager opened her eyes before long.

At the time, I was worried that going to see her would be counterproductive, but I couldn’t not go in that situation as a granddaughter.

So, I prepared pudding, no, Yeonlanggo, and visited the Queen Dowager’s Palace with the Crown Prince. It had been a long time since she had not turned me away and let me in, and unexpectedly, the Queen Dowager suddenly grabbed my hand and cried.

‘Ongju, now the only ones left for His Majesty are the Crown Prince and Ongju. Please protect His Majesty’s side. This old woman is now…’

‘Grandma?!’

The Queen Dowager set the mood like that and made everyone nervous, but she just fell asleep again.

It seemed that she had become very weak due to the shock.

Anyway, after that, she accepted greetings well, but I accompanied the Crown Prince as much as possible to avoid unnecessarily stimulating her.

“Oh, the Crown Prince and Ongju have come.”

“Grandma.”

“Grandma.”

The Queen Dowager, who regained consciousness after a while, was able to have a conversation, but she had difficulty getting up from her seat, so she preferred liquid meals.

This was not a good sign, so everyone was worried. Besides, her appetite was not the same as before.

But sometimes she wanted to eat the food that I had made and sent when I sent greetings, so I often made it and visited her like this.

“Grandson has been foolish and has not been able to visit Grandma for a while.”

“What are you saying? It is natural for the Crown Prince to be busy. Did you come with Ongju today?”

“Yes, Grandma. Ongju has made food for Grandma, so you must eat it.”

“The food that Ongju brings is sweet and soft, so it is easy to eat.”

“Didn’t the royal physician also say that you need to eat well to regain your strength and get up?”

“Crown Prince…”

“If there is anything that Grandma wants to eat, please tell me anytime. I will definitely get it for you.”

In such a warm atmosphere, I quietly thought about other things next to the grandparents.

‘You’re not the one who gets it.’

It’s all subordinates.

I wonder if it’s okay to make empty promises like that without doing it yourself.

‘Of course, the Crown Prince of a country can’t go into the mountains to pick wild strawberries in the middle of winter like in a filial piety tale.’

Still, this is the palace, so they use fresh and good ingredients even in winter, which would be good for patients.

Fruits may be too much, but they use fresh vegetables, not dried vegetables, even in winter, because they do greenhouse cultivation.

Greenhouse cultivation has been around since the time of King Sejong of Joseon, but somehow it has been historically lost.

However, the contents related to a certain ancient book (*Sanga Yorok (山家要錄) discovered in 2001) discovered in modern times have revealed the principle and form.

The reason why good technology was lost is probably because Confucian scholars didn’t like it, saying it was against the order of nature. Anyway, greenhouse cultivation was still being done here.

Of course, in a form that is only consumed within the royal family.

‘It would be nice if other people could eat fresh vegetables in winter.’

It’s good to eat seasonal food, but wouldn’t it be hard to eat only dried or pickled vegetables in the middle of winter?

It’s not an environment where you can eat a lot of meat.

‘…Shall I try it? Greenhouse cultivation?’

Should I get permission? Or should I just go for it?

I, who was quietly lowering my eyes in front of the Queen Dowager, was soon able to find a suitable excuse.