European Financial Emperor

chapter 2



002 Reincarnation (2)

The year 1818 was indeed a period of turbulence, an age of passion.

When Napoleon’s France was defeated by the Great French Allied Forces, Britain, the leading power, seized European hegemony.

And a few years later, the Third Anglo-Maratha War came to an end when they overthrew the Indian Maratha Empire with the forces of the East India Company, giving Britain complete control of the vast Indian subcontinent.

Taken from NovelNext.com

Meanwhile, the United States was in the heyday of territorial expansion by establishing the United States-Canada border in London after the purchase of Louisiana in 1805.

The heyday of Britain, the world’s most powerful power, and the pursuit of the holy United States.

Now, the battle for supremacy at sea in the modern age was starting to become more and more serious.

Around that time, ‘Benheren’, a Dutch carpenter, returned from a trip to the Qing Dynasty, accumulating enormous wealth.

Richard Frederick von Holland Benheren, a nobleman from northern Holland, was a direct descendant of Dirk I, Count of Holland, and was one of the few who could claim the legitimacy of the Count of Holland.

At the beginning of the 19th century, when Napoleon’s France trampled all of Europe, the northern region of Holland was engulfed in war, and the Ben-Herren family was on the verge of collapse.

Even in 1799, the Dutch East India Company, in which the Benheren family made a large investment, went bankrupt and faced a major crisis.

However, Ben Heren was desperate.

Richard made money by continuing his expedition to the East, starting with Java, a Dutch trading hub in the 17th century.

Now, he was concentrating on rebuilding the prestige of the family that had nearly fallen, and consolidating his position as the orthodox heir of the Count of Holland.

Kick, tick… … .

Inside the cabin of “East Stella”, the flagship of the shaking Ben Heren Guild fleet.

There was a boy lying haphazardly on a pile of turnips on the floor of the cabin, swaying from side to side like a ponytail.

He was a black-haired boy on a European merchant ship, even wearing a topcoat, creating a foreign feeling like red pepper powder in his teeth.

Then a man in a black priesthood came up to him and grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

“… … Master, Master!”

“Uh… … .”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

When the boy woke up, he was just staring blankly at the wall like an idiot with no focus in his eyes.

It was as if the soul had run away far away.

“… … Damn, was the injury from the fall too bad?”

The priest took the bottle and sprinkled it on the boy’s face.

👌👌👌👌👌

“Ike!”

The sweet scent of cheap moonshine pierced the boy’s nose.

Then his pupils widened in all directions and then constricted.

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“… … ?”

“This is a merchant ship going to Hwaran. Do you remember how you got here?”

The boy seemed to think for a moment.

Then, out of nowhere, he said:

“… … Where are we going now?”

***

Taken from NovelNext.com

Memories and experiences shook Yun-woo’s brain like a delusion.

Some were doctors, some were soldiers, and some were scholars.

It seemed that Yun-woo’s memories, experiences, and even memories he had never experienced were completely becoming his.

‘… … what? Am I going crazy?’

At that moment, a black shadow began to seep into Yun-woo’s brain.

‘That shadow of that time!’

A shadow, or perhaps someone’s soul, made me think that it was a crystal.

In that way, memories and experiences were steadily absorbed into Yun-woo.

Soon, Yun-woo opened his eyes.

Pot!

It felt like my brain was tied to a rope and spinning around.

“Huh!”

It was already a week.

A few days ago, he drank soju on the way home from the IRS investigation.

But after that, the film was cut off and the memory was erased very clearly.

The point in time when the deleted memories were attached is strangely the Joseon Dynasty.

“It’s reincarnation. That’s right, this is reincarnation.”

The human brain reacts chemically to both reality and delusion.

That is why Yun-woo thought that this was simply a dream he had drunkenly or an endless delusion.

But this was clearly the reality.

Yun-woo got up from his seat and started painting with charcoal on the floor of the cabin based on the memories he had taken from the deep abyss of his dream.

swish… … .

A map of the world was drawn and dots began to be stamped on it.

To his knowledge, this marked the location of the oilfields of the future oil companies.

Taken from NovelNext.com

Most of them were common knowledge for those who lived in the 21st century, including the location of oil fields concentrated in the Middle East, as well as Russia, North America, Africa, and parts of Asia.

One important thing is that you can get accurate latitude and longitude.

“Do the memories and experiences of the dead become mine?”

Yun-woo dares to say that the master of memories and experiences is the dead because his memory says that the owner of the world map is dead.

Yun-woo, who was able to absorb the memories of the dead, was now a walking encyclopedia.

But now it was definitely the Joseon Dynasty.

“… … Damn, if I had this knowledge in the 2020s, I would have made a ton of money.”

He could have become a new conglomerate wielding the business world.

Unfortunately, he’s gone back in time, so should he say he’s missed the opportunity of a lifetime?

Confused, he went out to the deck.

🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 … !

The deck, where the dusk had slowly descended, made me realize that it was now the 19th century.

Standing on the deck of a non-motorized ship without a single light bulb made me fall into the illusion of being in a TV historical drama.

“My grandmother told me that building a boat out of wood is not as easy as I thought, but the Dutch are really amazing.”

It was a strange catharsis to cross the vast sea on a Dutch flute ship in the 19th century.

The flute was one of the important factors that led to the heyday of the Netherlands in the 17th century as a merchant ship that could produce the highest efficiency with the minimum number of personnel.

The Netherlands was originally a country of fishermen who made a living by catching herring, but in the 17th century, commerce developed.

“Since we used so many boats to catch herring, shipbuilding developed naturally, and in the 17th century, when the Netherlands was at its heyday, we had a tremendous amount of technology that could produce 2,000 boats a year. Indeed, it is the accumulation of great technological prowess.”

The number of ships they had at the time was ten times that of Britain and nearly equal to the number of ships all over Europe.

The flute was a representative ship of the 17th century, which can be seen as the essence of such Dutch merchant ships.

From Yun-woo’s point of view, perhaps this ship was a slightly harder and more efficient weighing of such a flute.

“How can you measure that famous fish flute like this? I don’t know who it is, but I think the designer’s brain is good. If the mast is designed like this, the number of crews required will probably be reduced, and even if the number of cabins is increased, there is no difficulty in balancing it.”

This is someone’s memory.

The strange thing was that we didn’t know who the owner of the memory was.

In any case, there was no doubt that these fragments of memories scattered like fragments made Yun-woo a highly knowledgeable and excellent human being.

Andre approached him as he came out to the deck and looked at the ship.

“Master, are you okay with your hair?”

“Yeah, what… … .”

With a bushy beard, short curly hair, and a majestic body that makes you think that you are born without bones.

I wondered if this person was really a bride or not.

However, without this person, Yun-woo might have dried up and died by now.

“You must get your memory back.”

He laughed bitterly.

‘I found the search. It’s just that I don’t know who I am.’

Yun-woo, no, Lee Hwan completely forgot the memories the former owner of this body had.

There was nothing left other than the memories Yun-woo had in his previous life. Even that of ‘Lee Hwan’, the present body.

However, he is only aware of what the present moment is because he heard from the priest Andrew that it has been 18 years since Sunjo reigned, and that Gagyeong has been in power in the Qing Dynasty for 23 years.

It was not even clear what family he was from or if his name was really Lee Hwan.

Even if I asked Andre, who is now a temporary guardian, he only told me that Lee Hwan was the son of a noble family and that one day he would do something big.

Here, Hwan Lee has one doubt.

What the heck did he do to escape to Europe during the Joseon Dynasty?

‘He must have committed a very serious crime or had been involved in some kind of antagonism. You can’t just run away to China or Japan, so you have to flee to the Netherlands at all.’

The fortunate thing was that, in Lee Hwan’s subconscious mind, the fact that Andre was a person he could absolutely trust was imprinted on him.

In other words, there is no one to trust except Andrew.

However, he also had one question.

Why the hell did Andre have to take Lee Hwan all the way to Europe?

“Uncle, why are you going to Europe with me?”

“Because there is no one in Europe to catch and kill the catholic. And I’m thinking of going on a pilgrimage in Europe. In the future, I would like to explore places like the Wailing Wall or Golgotha Hill. If that happens, not only will my sins be forgiven, but everyone around me will be forgiven of their sins.”

How the hell did this man become a priest?

No, perhaps, being a bride is just an identity for camouflage, and in fact, there may have been other hidden truths.

Just like Lee Hwan from his previous life worked as a lobbyist in the guise of an accountant.

Lee Hwan burst into laughter.

“It’s the same with the priest and me and the eldest.”

“Are the sellers fierce?”

“I don’t know what the priest was doing in the past, but just by taking me to Europe, the answer is right there, right? They don’t usually turn their back on their hometown like this.”

“Hmm, well, that’s it.”

It was the same with Yoon Woo, who lost his parents and even framed himself as a lobbyist, and Hwan Lee, who went into exile in Europe after getting a boat from someone else.

Also, Andrew, a dark-haired Asian who became a Western religious priest and went to Europe, was equally ferocious.

Andre said with a smile.

“The seller can fix it. Some said Destiny is what you make for yourself. Did you just ask? Why are you going to Europe?”

“It was.”

“Actually, to be more honest than I answered earlier, I am also going to Europe to fix my nephew.”

“Ugh!”

“If a person can foretell the future, it could be a little easier to fix the sell-off. You won’t have to suffer like this. But those who work hard can change their destiny. Just like us today.”

What if humans could know their future?

At least, even if you know how the world will change in the future, you will be able to decide your own destiny.

In an instant, Lee Hwan felt something flash in his mind.

‘You don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but you know how the world will change. Even if it’s not the knowledge I’ve been trying to get.’

The memory of the dead was imprinted on him.

Taken from NovelNext.com

Memories of the dead are usually awakened in dreams, but sometimes they are awakened in a timely manner as needed.

As if Yun-woo was ignorant of ships, but as soon as he saw the flute, knowledge about it jumped out.

Lee Hwan laughed out loud inwardly.

‘… … haha! Now that I see, I won the lottery?!’

He decided to change his life.

“Father, I have decided.”

“What?”

“I want to become a chaebol.”

“Are you a chaebol?”

***

How to become a chaebol is surprisingly simple.

You just need to have a lot of gold in the ground.

So, how do you get the most gold in the world?

The answer was already in Lee Hwan’s head.

Taking advantage of the relative value, that is, doing business.

Since ancient times, money has been won by people who are very sensitive to changes in value.

Taking Korea as an example, chaebols have always been born amid national crises.

The founder of Company H, who is called the king of the business world and left the famous saying ‘Have you tried it?’, created a myth in the land of the martyrs.

When oil prices went high due to the oil crisis, everyone suffered.

Paradoxically, the Middle East became rich, and Korean builders who entered the Middle East were rejected.

When the Middle East, which was called the Third World, was rejected, it began to develop barren land, and Korea followed him.

In the 1970s, when the flow of money strangled Western countries and fattened the Middle East, Korea was able to grow into an economic powerhouse that changed quickly in response to this relative change in value.

The method of using relative values was one of the sports that Lee Hwan did best without having to remember the dead.

“This is a God-given opportunity! Damn it, let me live a little more splendidly in this life too.”

he decided

Now, I decided to live a good life by earning so much that I would not be swayed by bastards like centurions and corrupt officials.

“Then let’s start with the real estate, shall we?”

From now on, what Lee Hwan has to do is to raise enough money to develop a gold mine.

I know all the locations of gold mines that make a lot of money just by developing them, so there is no reason not to.

Then, Lee Hwan will have to study how to earn money from now on and put it into practice.

It is said that a journey of a thousand li starts with one step, so Lee Hwan decided to learn business first.

Even the head of a large corporation would not have been the one who started the business from the beginning.

In order to achieve a large corporation, one has to climb all the way from the bottom to establish a foundation, and demonstrate innate resourcefulness and agility to seize opportunities.

In a word, it was said that it would be difficult to put it in your mouth, let alone success, without knowing the physiological cycle of the business floor.

“By the way, I think I said this ship was the top ship.”

If I had learned business, there would have been no better opportunity than now.

However, I wondered if there was anyone who could teach Lee Hwan, who came from the outskirts of Asia, to trade.

He went to Andre first.

It seemed that Andre could find the answer.

Andre, who had come out to the deck and was surveying, greeted Lee Hwan.

“Did the master come out?”

“Do you know how to survey?”

Andre was using a ruler to measure the baseline distance.

They were doing triangulation used for navigation.

They both shook their heads at the same time.

“When did the priest learn to triangulate?

“No, how do you know triangulation?”

“Yeah… … .”

The two kept their mouths shut.

‘How did you explain this?’

I know how to survey, but if you ask me how I learned it, I can’t answer.

To be honest, even Lee Hwan doesn’t know that well.


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