The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 25



< Great Earthquake (3) >

There are three things I must do in this great earthquake.

First increase your wealth.

The second as everyone knows is to improve the image of Koreans.

‘And the third is….’

It’s about creating an even more upgraded relationship with the person who is coming right now.

“Whoa- Whoa-”

My group and I were touring downtown San Francisco clearing the roads first.

Because there were still remains of collapsed buildings on the road.

“this….”

Because the road was not yet repaired carriages coming this way had no choice but to slow down.

The men began to get out of the carriage frowning.

They had guns in their hands.

Our group is also heavily armed for safety.

As the standoff continued I cautiously stepped forward and greeted the leader who was gathering.

“See you again.”

The person I absolutely had to meet in this plan was someone I had already met once before.

“Huh… It’s been a while. I never thought I’d see you here again Prince.”

Giannini looked at me with a surprised expression.

‘Hello you’re finally here.’

I waited for Giannini.

Why?

It’s to build a stronger bond with him.

‘I am a shareholder holding 100 common shares of Bank of Italy.’

We may invest in preferred stocks in the future but for now it’s just a business relationship that we’re just getting to know each other.

But I didn’t want to be satisfied with a general partnership with Giannini.

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So we planned this meeting to coincide with the chaos that followed the great earthquake.

Because I am sure that if we become closer through this incident our relationship will become even closer.

‘They’re Italians. Unlike the Nordics they take good care of their people.’

Memories of when I lived as Park Byung-jun flashed through my mind.

When I was a kid I went to my friend Johansson’s house to play and had to stay alone in his room for a while.

My friend left me alone and went down to the dining room saying he was going to eat with his family.

‘Unlike those rotten Swedes Italians and Irish people are very affectionate.’

Repaying kindness twice over and taking revenge on enemies tenfold is a characteristic of Southern European immigrants.

I spoke to Giannini reminding him of this point again.

“We are going around the city with our fellow citizens putting out fires and clearing roads. Where are you going in such a hurry? Is it urgent enough to cut through this hell?”

“that is….”

Giannini looked embarrassed.

He was reluctant to reveal his final destination.

“Haha… Why are you scared? Do you think I’ll eat you up? Aren’t we partners now?”

As I said that I carefully put the gun I was holding in my hand into my waistband.

But Giannini and others did not budge.

Of course the Korean residents who were escorting me also continued to confront me with their guns drawn.

“You’re not trying to plunder our group are you? From the looks of it there are ten times more of us…”

As I squinted my eyes and glared at Giannini Giannini carefully lowered the rifle he was holding.

Then he carefully turned his head and gave orders to his subordinates.

“Pablo Bugatti. This prince here is a shareholder of our bank. He is also someone who will soon make a big investment. Everyone put down your guns.”

oh!

At Giannini’s words his group began to move quickly.

As I nodded my companions also immediately disarmed themselves.

“You must have trust in these people. They move immediately at your word.”

Giannini shrugged his shoulders and made a face as if nothing was wrong.

I approached Giannini and asked him.

“Are you heading north? The road over there is still unlit and dangerous. If you want to go to your bank go west.”

Giannini’s eyes widened in surprise at those words and he took a half step back.

“Your Majesty are you learning mind reading? How the hell did you know?”

He was so surprised that he used foul language even in an urgent situation.

As expected from someone who came from the bottom Giannini’s words and actions were truly consistent.

I shrugged my shoulders and answered Giannini’s question.

“It’s obvious. Aren’t you a proper bank president now? You’re no longer a fruit vendor.”

“….”

“The reason you’re stopping by downtown in such a hurry at this time is probably to protect your customers’ property.”

“her….”

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“Wouldn’t customers try to get their deposits back because of this fire? They’ll need cash to respond to this…”

Giannini took a deep breath and shook his head.

“Is that really written all over my face?”

“okay.”

“FXXX. I’m practicing hiding my emotions. But I’m no match for the prince.”

Giannini put both hands on his waist with a defeated expression on his face.

Then he looked at me with a slightly resigned look in his eyes.

“Yes that’s right. I’m going to take all the bank assets. I have to prepare for that damn bank run just like the prince said.”

Giannini kept spewing foul language and complaining that the ground was collapsing.

“Your Majesty you must be worried. Haven’t you invested in various places in the city? The heavens are also heartless. Why on earth would a great earthquake come at this time?”

I looked around with an expression that said I wasn’t particularly worried.

“Who among the people living in this city says that without worries?”

“Is that so? Well everyone is making a fuss. But I feel like I’ve become X. I can’t see a future.”

“It’s too early to give up. Don’t you think so too? That’s why you came all the way across downtown San Francisco like a madman.”

“Damn it. The prince lost.”

At my one word Giannini raised both hands and reacted violently again.

“That’s right. I haven’t given up hope yet. I can’t just sit by and watch this golden tower I built crumble so easily.”

I looked around Giannini and snorted.

“But… you’re not trying to find money with just that many people are you?”

Giannini answered my question biting his lower lip hard.

“If you don’t have teeth shouldn’t you protect yourself with your gums? This is all I can mobilize for now. Everyone is busy because of the earthquake. Don’t the lives of my family members come before money?”

Yes human life comes before money.

Giannini also has a family.

Even if you go to the bank now you will probably have someone set aside to protect your family and keep watch over your house.

So there must be less than five people here.

I quickly unfolded the map and pointed Giannini to another location.

“Let’s go west first and then towards the docks. My people are waiting there.”

“Your Majesty I need to go to my bank. If you go that way it’s on the other side.”

“This won’t do. We need to prepare thoroughly before we go.”

“Ready?”

“Yeah. That’s the problem after I find the cash.”

I tilted my head as I looked at the path Giannini had trodden through.

“You’re not going to wander around like this are you? If you do you’ll end up in a fight with a highway robber.”

If there was gold and cash rolling around in a wagon would robbers just sit by and do nothing?

Giannini nodded quickly in agreement with my prediction of the future.

“Do you have any brilliant solutions?”

“Well then. That money is your money but isn’t it also my investment? I’m not lying.”

Giannini took a deep breath and followed me.

“Ah… I understand. I will trust you and go. But I can’t stay long. If the fire spreads any further the vault doors installed in our bank may be completely closed.”

Safes are usually made of iron.

This means that it is very vulnerable to heat.

If a fire breaks out in a bank building and the vault door melts the vault door will be unopenable for a week or even a month.

“Okay. Let’s move quickly. Over there over there. Turn right and then immediately left. No no no. Ah! Stop here.”

The wagon stopped near the dock.

I instructed the Korean residents to say the following:

“Bring out the items stored at window number 9.”

“Yes Your Majesty!”

There were still a few warehouses on the dock that had not yet been burned down.

One of them was mine and the locals brought in a cart full of fish.

“Aren’t these mackerel?”

Giannini asked me holding his nose.

I nodded.

“Yeah. I bought it in a hurry. The city was burning so it was really cheap.”

The docks were full of mackerel that had not been sold in the past.

I bought all of these just for this meeting.

“The price of food is going through the roof so I bought some for the Koreans. Our people like you eat pickled fish to make ends meet.”

Giannini looked at the Koreans with curiosity.

I was surprised to find that they had the same eating habits despite their different skin colors.

Leaving Giannini behind I looked at the people and gave orders.

“Load these mackerels on the wagon. After that you can hide your bank’s assets down here.”

Who would rummage through a pile of stinking sardines?

If stored at room temperature it spoils easily and gives off a bad smell.

The looters will be busy stealing valuable assets so they won’t pay attention to this.

“Hey. What are you doing? Why aren’t you helping me right away?”

He gestured to Pablo who had his gun pointed at me until the end.

I’m a man with a lasting impression.

Come taste some mackerel kid.

“I came up with the idea but do I have to do it myself?”

As I nodded and called out to him Giannini who was next to me quickly interrupted me.

“What is Pablo doing? He is not listening to the prince.”

“Yes I understand.”

If you look at it this way Giannini and his group are like the mafia.

I completely obey Giannini’s words.

“You’ve loaded everything. It’s done now. Then I pray for your protection. I hope you have a safe trip.”

* * *

After about three hours Giannini returned to the dock.

“This prince!”

As soon as he got out of the carriage he came up to me and hugged me tightly.

‘What’s wrong with this kid?’

The smell of mackerel is even worse.

I quickly pulled Giannini away from my body.

He expressed his gratitude to me with tears in his eyes.

“If it weren’t for the prince’s advice I would have been in big trouble.”

Giannini told me what happened three hours ago.

When he arrived at the Bank of Italy fortunately the building was not in flames.

Because it was a very small bank it was still safe from the clutches of looters.

“So? Did you find the money?”

“Yes. Fortunately we were able to safely retrieve the customers’ assets from the vault.”

The problem came next.

On the way back here Giannini’s wagon was caught in the sights of looters.

“Well those rascals are blocking the road aren’t they?”

Giannini began to speak passionately as if he was being wronged.

“He resisted shouting ‘You fucking kids. Did you rent a car on the road? Where are you going to get off?’”

Fortunately no gunfight broke out because there were similar numbers of people holding guns.

The man who appeared to be the leader of the looters looked around cautiously and spoke to Giannini.

“He threatened our group by ordering them to ‘take off the cover and see what’s inside.’ So I hid behind the carriage and shouted at them loudly ‘It’s anchovies.’”

At Giannini’s eye signal his right-hand man Pablo is said to have carefully moved next to the wagon and removed the cover.

The looters reportedly reacted to this.

“They ridiculed our group by saying ‘Are those Italian bastards still eating sardines in these times?’ If it were normal they would have drilled holes in our heads. Ha…”

After that it is said that the looters began to retreat little by little.

I’m sick of the fishy smell of mackerel.

“I didn’t miss this moment. Damn it. You little bastards. Why don’t you get out of the way? Why don’t you fight me? I said showing off my guts.”

It is said that the looters began to calculate something and slowly backed away due to Giannini’s hard-line stance.

Because plundering mackerel is of no use.

There are plenty of things to rob all over the city so there’s no need to take a chance and steal a wagon full of rotten fish.

“Thank you Prince. Thanks to your insight we were able to protect our bank’s assets.”

“No.”

What is gratitude?

That was your plan originally.

If I hadn’t been there I probably would have gone to the nearby fruit stand and bought a bunch of oranges after arriving at the bank.

I don’t think about it right now because of the current situation.

‘What? Where did you save time?’

My conscience was not pricked.

Because from the moment I intervened in history things started to get a little distorted.

Even in Giannini’s biography there was no mention of meeting looters.

It must have been because of my intervention in this world that I met them here.

‘If it had been orange the authors might have searched the wagon. It’s less disgusting than mackerel.’

It’s a bit disappointing.

If I had gone with them we would have made a stronger bond.

‘Arthur.’

If I make a mistake I could get a bullet in my head.

Therefore it can be said that the best course of action is to ensure my own safety as much as possible while at the same time building a friendship with Giannini.

“Ah! Are you going to go to your house? Or to my house? Shouldn’t you keep the gold and cash you brought in somewhere safe? There’s a boat I borrowed over there. You can use that boat and return it later.”

“Thank you Your Majesty.”

Giannini sat down with a thud.

I guess it’s because the tension has been relieved.

“By the way do we have anything else to say? How did that investment go?”

I need to end the story when the tension has eased.

“Are you talking about the preferred stock I mentioned before?”

“Yes. I have written down the relevant information here again.”

“Conditions have changed. Phew… They say the rich are more poisonous and so is your Majesty the Prince.”

Giannini is throwing a tantrum.

But soon he quickly signed.

This incident has brought our relationship closer together and at the same time his bank needs a lot of money right now.

“Damn I should have signed the contract back then.”

Giannini looks regretful.

But since I owed him a great favor today he didn’t look particularly resentful.

“We are now perfect partners. You will do your best for the Bank of Italy.”

“Don’t worry. Even if my body breaks I will make this bank grow.”

For the time being there are many places where money will come in but nowhere will it go out.

That’s why I’m thinking of temporarily depositing the cash and gold I have at home at the Bank of Italy.

Then Giannini can make more loans and grow the size of the bank.

“Oh by the way.”

“yes?”

“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“Just ask.”

I opened my mouth very carefully.

“That… woman named Viola.”

“Huh? You mean my wife’s youngest sister?”

“okay.”

Actually I didn’t want to ask but maybe it’s because of the influence of Lee Kang the original owner of this body but just looking at Giannini makes me crazy curious.

“Is it pretty?”

“yes?”

“He asked if I was pretty.”

When we first met he said I was pretty.

At that time I couldn’t bring myself to ask about becoming a business partner with Izawa.

Since it wasn’t like that anymore I finally asked Giannini about Viola’s existence.

“Hahaha. The prince is a man after all.”

Then you’re a man.

Am I a woman?

I opened my eyes wide and waited for him to say something.

Then Giannini snapped his fingers.

“She’s pretty. She’s truly a peerless beauty.”

“Hmm… really?”

Giannini looked at me slightly at my reaction.

“Shall I introduce you? I think Viola would be happy to introduce you too.”

I scratched my head and hesitated.

“Well I’ll think about it next time I get the chance. I’m a fatalist.”

“Oh yes… I see.”

Then suddenly Giannini turned his head and shouted loudly.

“Huh? There’s a viola over there. Viola! Viola!”

I too was taken aback by Giannini’s actions.

He looked very expectant but there wasn’t a single woman on the dock.

“Hahaha. I’m lying. I’m lying.”

Oh you little Giannini.

Slap this!

“Your face is red. Hahaha.”

I just want to hit him once even though he’s a co-worker or something.

sincerely.

< Great Earthquake (3) > End