Chapter 1072: Peace Talks

When Pan Yun heard that Korea had prepared a birthday gift for her, she immediately rummaged through her private treasury, scraped together a sum of money, and gave it to a merchant house that frequently traded with Korea, instructing them to buy five ships of grain and send them to Korea.

Then, in casual conversation, she sighed: "It's a pity Korea is at war; otherwise, their ginseng is excellent. Though I'm not a Pill Cultivator, my two senior disciples are—they use Korean herbs extensively for alchemy and formula research."

Upon hearing this, the merchant house owner's heart stirred.

If there was one person in Great Ming right now most eager to curry favor with, besides the Emperor, it was the State Tutor.

The Emperor resided deep within the palace; ordinary folk like them rarely saw him, but the State Tutor occasionally left the palace—they might actually reach him.

Unfortunately, her desires were few, and when she did need something, she mostly approached the Ministry of Works; everyone wanted to help but had no way in.

Now the State Tutor herself had laid out a path—even if Korea was at war, he would go.

And now, on this path lay a door that might forever lead to the State Tutor—Korean herbs.

Without hesitation, the merchant house owner decided to go to Korea himself: not only must the grain be delivered safely, but he must also bring back the finest Korean ginseng.

If he could please the State Tutor's two senior disciples, wasn't that indirectly pleasing the State Tutor?

The merchant house owner immediately kept the matter secret and quietly prepared his fleet.

He intended to monopolize this opportunity and not let word leak out—but the moment Pan Yun stepped out, rumors spread like wildfire.

What else could it mean for her to personally leave the palace to arrange grain purchases and deliveries?

Was it truly just for these five ships of grain?

Since she intended to do good, she would do it thoroughly; this batch of donated grain was merely a side effect, at best a stepping stone—her true gift to Korea was the endless stream of merchant houses.

These merchant houses would bring vast quantities of grain, cloth, and other basic supplies, then return with Korea's specialty goods—herbs, minerals, and more.

Indeed, many merchants in Jingcheng learned that Pan Yun greatly favored Korean herbs, especially ginseng, and was distressed by the difficulty of obtaining good Korean ginseng due to the war; they immediately resolved to solve this problem for her.

The Japanese pirates were but a minor nuisance—Great Ming had already dispatched troops to aid Korea; victory was merely a matter of time.

Moreover, it was said the Japanese pirates had been driven entirely into a city called Busan; they could not hold out much longer.

Now, the danger of going there had dropped sharply.

Besides, wealth and honor come from risk—how could one seek fortune without taking any risk?

So everyone prepared their fleets and set sail.

Over the past two years, shipyards had built countless ocean-going vessels; not only old merchant houses bought ships, but many others had formed new merchant houses for maritime trade, each with their own ships.

Korea lay in ruins—what did it need most right now?

The merchants knew well: they purchased vast quantities of grain, cloth, porcelain, and more from Shuntian Prefecture, San Bao Ding, Zhen Ding, and Hejian Prefecture, loaded them onto ships, and departed from Tianjin Port.

Of course, before departure, they jointly petitioned the imperial court's navy to escort them for part of the journey, mainly fearing that Japanese stragglers might turn to piracy at sea.

Yet now, there were few stragglers at sea, and even fewer who could form a threat; when encountered, their own crew could handle them without needing the navy's intervention.

The voyage from Tianjin Port to Korea was not far; if they stuck to the designated route and didn't wander, they could arrive in as little as three days.

It was very fast.

Korea suddenly discovered so much cargo arriving by sea—all from Great Ming—and burst into tears; when they learned one merchant house had specifically delivered donated grain for the State Tutor, they were moved even more.

Overcome with emotion, they staggered off to report to the King of Korea.

King Lee Yip wept uncontrollably, sent officials to take possession of the five donated ships of grain, and organized local grain merchants and gentry to buy grain; he even generously allowed these Great Ming grain merchants to form caravans and enter Korea's interior to sell grain, waiving all customs duties and taxes.

But he set a price range: their grain prices must stay within this interval; any excess was illegal.

Upon hearing the price range, the grain merchants quickly calculated and found they could still make substantial profits; they immediately agreed happily.