I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

32 – Next steps

I devoted myself to my daily life while entrusting the practical work to Noh Goo-cheon.

Life was manageable. It was thanks to family members who were looking for work to somehow make ends meet. It seemed that Jo Nara had no intention of stopping him from doing such chores.

On the contrary, he seemed to be more satisfied with the way we bowed our heads to the people of Cho Nara and tried to get work. It was the original plan to take care of Jo Nara’s shattered pride by suppressing us, so in the end, it must have worked out as they intended.

In any case, it became impossible to lead a luxurious life like when receiving the patronage of Pyeongwon-gun.

Let alone high-quality lamb dishes and hot rice made with rice from the country of Cho, millet rice, which is not adapted to the environment, and bland soup because it is not properly seasoned, are all, but I still live with sticking to my mouth.

It took more time to reap profits from the exchange scheme he was plotting with Nogucheon. In the meantime, I had nothing to do, so I was thinking of helping out, but my family members actively discouraged me from doing so.

As a noble member of the royal family, doing chores like this is rather an act of destroying their pride, which is enduring with a sense of mission to support the royal family.

So I focused on the classes with Hankyung.

There was no time to be late. In order to survive in the country of Jo, to get money, it was necessary to learn at least the letters of the country of Jo.

Learning the sutras and the anecdotes of the past Queen Huangsang was postponed for a while, and I prioritized studying the letters.

With that happening, Jung’s position floated. My family members are busy, and I can’t take care of my affection because I’m in class with Hankyung.

“So let’s do it together.”

“Studying letters?”

Jung looked at me with a slightly subtle expression.

What is it? Are you really studying letters? The eyes seemed to look down on me.

“Yeah…you know, Dan. By any chance, can’t you read?”

“Huh?”

“Ah! I know letters, so I’ll teach you Dan. That’ll do.”

Jung stuck out her chest, angry that she had found something she could do.

‘Is it true… Maybe I was more ignorant than Jung.’

Of course, I admit that there is no age for learning. Because I also went to Pyeongwon-gun and claimed the same.

But no matter how hard it is, learning letters from Jung is something I’m afraid of.

Even though I want to be my husband, it always feels a bit bland that a reversal in the relationship occurs at least in part with the person I have to take care of.

“That wouldn’t be bad either. Learning together with your peers will be new again.”

Hankyung Even you….

Hankyung had many things to do besides teaching me. It is correct to increase efficiency by letting Hankyung go with Jeong as the character teacher.

“Before that, I’ll check if Yeongjeong-nim really has enough knowledge to teach Young master.”

I brought it myself, but in the eyes of others, Jung would be just a military family member, but Hankyung always used honorific words for Jeong.

No matter how much Jeong is a collateral, the royal family is the royal family, and they are treated accordingly. Coming from an aristocratic family with a long history, he was very proud of Hankyung.

“Okay. As much as you like.”

Jung was confident. She really did look like she was writing.

The test method was simple dictation. If Hankyung says something, he writes it down.

Whenever Hankyung spoke, Yeongjeong’s hands moved without hesitation. Jeong, who is still holding a brush tightly with his tiny hand and writing letters.

When Hankyung finally stopped talking, Jeong immediately put down the brush and looked at me triumphantly.

“Hmm, how is it?”

Jeongi said proudly to Hankyung, who was looking at the letters she had written.

However, Hankyung’s words on his return were very resolute.

“Unsuitable.”

“What? Why!”

As if to ask Hankyung to see it for himself, he spread out a piece of bamboo written by Jeong on the floor.

“Aren’t all these letters from the Qin Dynasty? This is the Zhao Dynasty. All the characters used are also from the Zhao Dynasty. But how do you know the Qin Dynasty characters to use them?”

“Ah…”

Hankyung let out a small sigh and grumbled.

“Young master also knows Yan characters. Oh, by the way, Young master also wrote Qin characters the other day. The two of them really look alike, very much.”

Anyone can see that it was a sarcastic remark, but Jung didn’t protest, hee-hehehe, as if he didn’t feel bad.

But she was embarrassed, but she defended herself in a low voice.

“It’s because I only looked at the books I had at home…”

Since Jung’s father is an official hostage from the Qin Dynasty, he must have felt no need to learn the characters of the Zhao Dynasty.

He didn’t learn any other way than that, he was learning letters by himself. I knew he was smart, but this is more than I imagined.

“Did you learn the letters by yourself? That’s great.”

“That’s about it. I think it’s even more amazing that Dan knows not only Yan but also Qin characters.”

We exchange compliments as if we were bowing down to each other.

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It must have been difficult to watch that situation any longer, so Hankyung quickly took out a book with Jo Na-ra written on it and opened it.

“Now that it’s done, let’s both of you study letters from now on.”

I know the necessity, but I always hate studying. However, following Hankyung’s words, Jung and I’s attitudes changed in an instant.

“As far as I can see, if the person who crosses the passing mark first comes along, I will hand over the role of teaching to that person.”

Afterwards, Hankyung said that my learning attitude that day was more amazing than ever.

§

Time passed, and finally, the long-awaited news hit Handan.

Zhao and Wei made an alliance and promised to fight together against the Qin Dynasty.

Soon after, a support plan for the Wei Dynasty was proposed in the Zhao Dynasty. There was little direct support such as sending troops, and most of them were focused on sending supplies and weapons.

‘It’s a natural result.’

The alliance between Zhao and Wei is to satisfy each other’s deficiencies.

First of all, Jo Nara lacked manpower. Of course, it was because of the Jangpyeong War. Jo Nara, who lost an active population of 400,000, wanted an alliance to cover their insufficient troops.

Although the Wei Dynasty was very weak and the available troops were not much different from the Zhao Dynasty, the biggest problem was the absence of high-quality manpower.

At present, when Baekgi died, unlike Jo Nara, who had Yeompa, the best general in the world recognized by all nations, there was no general in the Wei Dynasty at present.

Because of this, unlike the Zhao Nara, which did not take a particularly low attitude against the Qin Dynasty despite its lack of power, the Wei Dynasty had to bow its head to the Qin Dynasty because of this defeat.

It was a humiliation that would never happen again for the Wei Dynasty, which once dominated the world as the strongest country in the country like the present Qin Dynasty.

‘So, it is a rescue that the Zhao Nara cannot help but want the Nara Wei to replenish the reduced troops due to the disastrous defeat of Jangpyeong, and the Nara Wi to fill the vacant position of the great general who will properly lead their forces.”

My guess could be wrong, but in the end, things went as I expected.

When word was heard that he had joined hands with Jo and Wi, the shaken Wei quickly regained stability.

There was a series of good news.

News of the death of Qin general Gyu (樛) came.

Samjin was enthusiastic about Kyu’s death. In the kingdoms of Wei, Cho, and Han, a longevity named Gyu was a formidable adversary whose teeth trembled as much as the white flag.

His performance was so great that even after Baekgi’s death, Gyu was considered the best general in the Jin Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty was defeated and 40,000 were killed, and the Zhao Dynasty was also defeated and 90,000 were killed. Is this all there is to it? Zhou Zhou completely destroyed it and took the nine-headed dragon (九鼎), the symbol of the Son of Heaven. Even that was not enough, so Kyu invaded the country of Wei and occupied Oseong.

Such an undefeated masterpiece was such a sudden death.

Anyway, since the alliance was secured and Gyu, who was thought to be the worst enemy, died, the country of Wei has become a country full of vitality after a long time.

And in proportion to that, the vitality of Nogucheon also skyrocketed.

“Young master! Young master’ words have been fulfilled! Profits are over 40%. hahahahaha! This is the first time in my life that I have made such a large profit in such a short period of time. I will!”

There was no sign that the smile would disappear from Nogucheon’s lips.

Even the serious nogucheon seemed to have difficulty controlling his emotions when he made a fortune.

“This time, rumors are circulating that this man from Wei, Jeokjang, is great, but from my point of view, he will not be able to reach Young master. Who in the world would come up with the same idea as Young master? Wouldn’t it be?”

“How could this be my own achievement? It was only possible because of your skill.”

I was able to achieve this level of success not because of my usual modesty, but because of No Gu-cheon’s skill. Even though the time given was not so long as expected, Gucheon Noh maximized his profit by exchanging a considerable amount.

“hahahaha, that’s too much praise. But how can I give you the proceeds from this time?”

“Ah, that’s what you mean.”

The reason I watched Nogucheon today was simply to make money, but the real purpose was different.

“There’s something I’d like to discuss about the use of my proceeds.”