Chapter 7

Summer, 1860 — Servants’ Quarters, Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s Residence, Hanseong

It was the morning of the third day when I called Gwidong and had him sit down.

No one in the residence had collapsed, and Gwidong already seemed to have guessed why I had called him.

“Go to the market and see how things are going. Find out whether people are boiling their water before drinking it and how many people have died. And if you hear anyone talking about this residence, keep your ears open.”

“Yes, Young Master. May I ask you one thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Some of the servants still don’t believe you. How are you so certain?”

“If no one in the residence collapses after three days, that will be the proof. Do you believe what you see with your own eyes, or do you believe in ghosts?”

“I believe what I see.”

“Then that’s enough.”

Gwidong nodded and left.

Kang-soe, one of the residence’s servants, had been standing beside the door.

“Young Master, should I go with him?”

“It’s better for Gwidong to go alone. No one pays attention to a child wandering around the market. If someone as big as you follows him around, people will notice.”

Kang-soe nodded and stepped back.

Gwidong returned around sunset.

Thud!

The moment he opened the door to the servants’ quarters, he collapsed onto the floor.

He must have run a long way.

“Young Master, the market is in chaos. They say twelve people collapsed today alone. Everyone is terrified, and there were shamanic rituals being held in three different places.”

“Did anyone mention this residence?”

“Not yet. But there was one strange thing.”

Gwidong’s eyes gleamed.

“What?”

“There was a stranger standing at the entrance to the market. He wasn’t buying anything or meeting anyone. But when I passed nearby, I noticed that he kept looking toward our residence.”

“What did he look like?”

“He didn’t look like a yangban. But he didn’t seem like an ordinary commoner either. He wasn’t wearing a gat, only a paeraengi hat, but his hands weren’t rough.”

Hands that weren’t rough.

Someone who did not do manual labor.

It could have been a coincidence.

But I had already spent more than half a year gathering rumors from the market through Gaksim.

It was entirely possible that someone had begun to notice us.

“If you see that man again, follow him and find out where he goes. But don’t let him notice you.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Gwidong stepped away.

Kang-soe spoke quietly.

“Young Master, could this be dangerous?”

“Not yet. But don’t let your guard down.”

Summer, 1860 — Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s Residence, Hanseong

As people continued collapsing from the epidemic throughout Hanseong, hundreds were dying every day.

The government was still performing shamanic rituals, while physicians were helpless to do anything.

But not a single person in this residence had fallen ill.

Gaksim came running in, gasping for breath.

“Young Master, someone from a neighboring yangban household came to ask us something. They want to know why no one here has fallen ill.”

“What did you tell them?”

“That we boil our water before drinking it.”

“And?”

“At first, they were skeptical. But they said they would try it as a last resort. There are already five households doing the same.”

“If more people come, tell them the same thing. Boil the water, wash their hands, and stay away from the streams.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

After Gaksim left, I muttered to myself.

It’s done. Even if the government doesn’t act, the knowledge will spread.

If our residence survived first, people would follow.

The results would speak for themselves.

Two days later, someone came from Changdeokgung Palace.

Summer, 1860 — Daejojeon Hall, Changdeokgung Palace

Queen Sinjeong Jo was seated in Daejojeon.

The way she looked at me was different.

Before, she had looked at me as though I were a clever child.

Now, she looked as though she were measuring something.

Her eyes have changed.

“I heard that not a single person in your residence has died.”

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

“How did you know? That boiling water could prevent the epidemic?”

I thought for a moment.

I could not tell her I had come from the future.

But I could not pretend I knew nothing either.

“Your Majesty, while going back and forth to the market, I came to realize something.”

“What?”

“There was something all the people who died from the epidemic had in common. They had all drunk water from a well near a stream. Human waste was flowing into that stream. No one who did not use that well had died.”

Queen Sinjeong Jo slowly nodded.

“You thought that water was the cause?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I thought that if we prevented people from drinking contaminated water, we could prevent the disease as well. Just as I proved the principle of salt with a plate, I proved the cause of the epidemic with the well.”

Queen Sinjeong Jo stared at me for a long time.

Then she slowly set down her teacup.

“You are saying that a thirteen-year-old knew something even the physicians of the royal court did not?”

I did not answer.

Queen Sinjeong Jo called for the court lady of Daejojeon.

“From this moment on, have all the wells inside the palace boiled before the water is used. Reexamine the disposal of waste from the latrines as well. Prohibit access to the areas near the streams.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The court ladies of Daejojeon hurried into action.

Queen Sinjeong Jo looked at me again.

“The eldest son of Heungseon-gun.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You may be able to save the people of this country.”

“It is Your Majesty who saves them. I merely told you what I knew.”

Queen Sinjeong Jo narrowed her eyes slightly before giving a small laugh.

I lowered my head while smiling inwardly.

This is only the beginning, Your Majesty.

Queen Sinjeong Jo had begun to see me as someone she could use.

The plate of salt had been the first pillar.

Today’s cholera outbreak was the second.

A few days later, Gwidong quietly entered the room.

“Young Master, I saw the man wearing the paeraengi hat again.”

“Where did he go?”

“He went toward Bukchon and entered the grounds of the Haedong Kim Clan.”

I was silent for a moment.

As I thought.

“Did you see anything else?”

“He came back out about an hour later. He was holding something in his hand. It looked like a letter.”

“Well done. From now on, whenever that man appears, make sure you tell me.”

“Yes, Young Master. But, Young Master, if he is one of Kim Ja-geun’s men, couldn’t he have noticed me?”

“That’s why you’re not to follow him anymore. If he appears again, just confirm his face and come back.”

Gwidong nodded and withdrew.

The leader of the Haedong Kim Clan, Kim Ja-geun, had begun watching me.

For now, he was merely observing.

There would probably be an underlying assumption that a thirteen-year-old could not do much.

I need to move before that complacency disappears.

I opened the drawer and took out the land deed for Gahak-ri.

I unfolded it, looked at it briefly, then folded it again and put it away.

Three years remained until King Cheoljong’s death.

Within those three years, I had to find Kim Ja-geun’s weakness.

But I still could not see where that weakness lay.

Don’t rush.

Wait until it reveals itself.

Summer, 1860 — Servants’ Quarters, Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s Residence, Hanseong

Gwidong returned the following evening.

He came in wiping the sweat from his face.

He did not even take time to catch his breath before speaking.

“Young Master, I found out.”

“Sit down and tell me.”

Thud!

Gwidong dropped onto the floor.

“That man wearing the paeraengi went to the market again yesterday. I followed him from a distance. He went toward Sajikgol and entered a tiled-roof house.”

“Which house?”

“I saw the nameplate. It was a house belonging to someone with the surname Kim. The people coming and going were dressed strangely. I asked one of the servants who the owner was. He said the man was connected to the leader of the Haedong Kim Clan, His Excellency Kim Ja-geun.”

I quietly set down my teacup.

It had not even been a month.

It had been less than a month since the fact that no one in our residence had fallen ill had become known.

And already, Kim Ja-geun had sent someone to watch the residence.

“Well done.”

“Young Master, aren’t you afraid?”

Gwidong asked the question directly.

“Why should I be?”

“Isn’t the most powerful family in Joseon beginning to take notice of you?”

“Yes.”

“Then aren’t you afraid?”

I looked at Gwidong.

“It’s more dangerous when an enemy doesn’t know about me. Once an enemy knows about me, I can see the enemy too.”

Gwidong thought about that for a moment before nodding.

“Should I tell Kang-soe as well?”

“Tell him. And both of you be careful. If you see that man at the market, stay away from him. Right now, the most important thing is not getting caught.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Gwidong withdrew.

I remained seated alone, thinking.

The fact that Kim Ja-geun had begun taking notice of me meant that he did not consider me a threat yet.

A thirteen-year-old royal relative ordering the servants to boil their water was not enough to make him wary.

He probably just regarded me as a strange child.

That’s enough.

I haven’t even drawn my real weapon yet.

Autumn, 1860 — Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s Residence, Hanseong

Kang-soe returned from the western coast when autumn was deepening.

He had clearly spent several days on the road.

“Young Master.”

“You’re back? Sit down.”

Kang-soe did not sit.

He was not the sort of person who usually sat down in the first place.

“Salt has been produced by the Pungyeon Jo Clan.”

I closed my book and asked,

“How much?”

“It wasn’t much because it was the first harvest. Fifteen sacks. But the clan elders are in an uproar. They simply let seawater dry, and salt came out of it. They can’t believe it.”

“They’ll believe it once they see salt piling up before their eyes.”

It was the first harvest.

They had obtained salt using nothing but sunlight and wind, without consuming a single piece of fuel.

Until now, Joseon had relied almost entirely on the jayeom method, boiling seawater to produce salt.

That meant fuel and labor costs were directly reflected in the production cost.

Solar salt fields were different.

When production costs fell, prices could fall.

When prices fell, the market could be captured.

The Haedong Kim Clan controlled a considerable portion of Joseon’s salt trade.

If the Pungyeon Jo Clan gained control of the solar salt fields along the western coast, the balance would change.

By next spring, production could double.

The following year, it could quadruple.

The larger the salt fields became, the greater the production.

And the greater the production, the more the Haedong Kim Clan’s boiled salt would lose its price competitiveness.

The Haedong Kim Clan’s control over the salt trade is beginning to shake.

“Send word to Her Majesty Queen Sinjeong through Gaksim.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Kang-soe withdrew.

Autumn, 1860 — Daejojeon Hall, Changdeokgung Palace

The moment Queen Sinjeong Jo saw me, her face brightened.

Only one court lady of Daejojeon remained standing by the wall.

Queen Sinjeong Jo spoke first.

“I heard that salt has been produced.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It was only the first harvest, so the quantity is small, but production will increase from next year onward.”

“Does it taste different from salt produced using the jayeom method?”

“No, Your Majesty. The method of production is simply different. Since no fuel is required, the production cost is lower.”

Queen Sinjeong Jo slowly nodded as she picked up her teacup.

It had been less than half a year since the elders of the Pungyeon Jo Clan had begun buying land along the western coast.

Yet already, salt had been produced.

Everything this child had predicted after beginning with a single plate was coming true.

“The eldest son of Heungseon-gun.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“There is something I wish to ask you.”

I placed both hands neatly on my knees and lowered my gaze.

“What do you think will happen to this country in the future?”

Was this a test?

Or was she genuinely asking?

Probably both.

I lowered my head.

“I dare not presume to speak about matters of the state, Your Majesty.”

“I grant you permission. Speak.”

I pretended to think for a moment.

“Qing is shaking. It has not been long since news arrived that Beijing was occupied by the Western barbarians. Japan has also had Western ships arriving at its shores for some time. How long can Joseon continue keeping its doors closed?”

Queen Sinjeong Jo set down her teacup and looked at me.

“Inside the country, the Three Policies are in disorder, while foreign ships roam the seas outside. I believe what the court must endure now is not the displeasure of the Haedong Kim Clan, but the will of the people.”

Queen Sinjeong Jo’s eyes narrowed.

“Is that something a thirteen-year-old should be saying?”

“Your Majesty gave me permission.”

Silence followed for a moment.

Then Queen Sinjeong Jo let out a small laugh.

“Yes. I did give you permission.”

Queen Sinjeong Jo turned toward the court lady standing by the wall.

“Inform His Majesty. Tell him that tomorrow morning, I have someone I wish to introduce to him.”

The court lady bowed deeply.

I kept my head lowered, suppressing the pounding of my heart.

Finally.

I’m going to stand before King Cheoljong.