“Hmm...”
My breath scattered white in the air.
The instant I opened the window, a blade-like wind struck my face.
The Sondol Wind.
It was the fierce wind that drove away late autumn’s last warmth and announced that General Winter had arrived in earnest.
Frost coated the reed fields of the marshland white.
Back when I had lived in a shack, a single gust like this would have chilled me to the bone. I would have wrapped myself in blankets, shivering as I waited for the sun to rise.
But things were different now.
“Big Brother, close the door. Cold air’s coming in.”
Chilbok grumbled from behind me. Wearing only a short-sleeved hemp undershirt, he was sprawled facedown on the floor.
The room was sweltering.
The heat from the firewood burning in the firebox had remained trapped inside all night thanks to the double walls and circulating heated-floor channels.
“I don’t want to go out...”
Manseok squirmed beneath his blanket.
The room was large enough for three men as huge as him to lie down comfortably. The floor was hot, the air was warm, and it felt like heaven itself.
“Get up, you slugs. We have a lot to do today.”
I forcibly woke the two of them.
For everyone else, winter meant a season of rest. For us, it marked the beginning of our busiest season.
After breakfast, I went out into the courtyard.
Compared to a month ago, the Great Peace Domain had changed beyond recognition.
The sturdy Great Peace House stood at its center, while white smoke rose from the brewery chimney beside it.
The forge had been ringing with the sound of iron being hammered since morning, and a mountain of firewood stood piled in front of the storehouse.
“Sir, you are up.”
Master Carpenter Gong greeted me, dressed in thick padded clothes.
What he wore was a prototype quilted coat I had made with duck down.
“Master Gong, are you not cold?”
“Cold? Thanks to the clothes you gave me, Sir, I am sweating. The stuffing is so light and warm that I feel as though I could fly away.”
Master Gong fondly rubbed the hem of his coat.
In Goryeo, winter clothes generally meant simply wearing several layers. Cotton was rare enough that only the wealthy could wear it, while commoners stuffed their clothes with straw or lined them with dog hide.
But the insulation we had made from the feathers of ducks and geese hunted by the river was even warmer than cotton.
“Have the workers all received their clothes?”
“Yes. Chilbok distributed them all yesterday. Everyone was crying and making a great fuss.”
I could imagine it.
Their wages were already high, and their employer even made sure they would not freeze to death during the winter.
Their loyalty was bound to hit max.
I headed toward the forge.
“Old Man Yeonam, how is your leg?”
Old Man Yeonam was warming himself before the brazier.
“Thanks to you, Sir, I believe I will survive this winter. I have feared winter my entire life, but this is the first time I have ever spent one in such warmth.”
A thick blanket covered his legs.
I had given him the warmest part of the room, and I had also placed a brazier in the workshop. Cold was poison to someone whose arthritis was as severe as his.
“Here. Please take this.”
I handed him a small jar.
“What is this?”
“Badger oil. It is good for burns and aching joints.”
“Good heavens... Something so precious...”
Old Man Yeonam’s eyes reddened.
Treating skilled craftsmen well.
That was the shortest path toward technological progress.
Knowing how much I valued him, the old man had been studying blueprints through the night despite his aching legs.
Just then, a booming voice rang out from the kitchen.
“Make way! Firewood coming through!”
It was Beodeuri.
She was carrying five or six logs on one shoulder at once.
It was strength enough to make anyone who saw it faint.
Yet her expression was utterly cheerful.
“Beodeuri, did you eat?”
“Yes! I had five bowls this morning!”
Beodeuri answered energetically.
She wore a specially made oversized padded coat. Since no clothes sold in the market would fit her, Chilbok had sewn several pieces of cloth together to make it.
“Is it warm?”
“It’s hot! Why is winter so hot?”
Beodeuri was sweating profusely.
Now that she was eating well, dressing well, and sleeping warmly, her wild vitality was bursting forth.
I watched them with satisfaction.
An old man, a disabled man, a woman, and a giant.
People others had cast aside for their flaws were shining here as irreplaceable treasures.
By afternoon, the sky had clouded over, and snowflakes began to fall.
The villagers looked up at the sky with worried expressions.
“They say this winter will be especially cold...”
“We have barely any firewood. This is a disaster.”
“Our food is running low too...”
The village was gloomy.
The harvest was over, and with no work left to do, they could only shut themselves inside and endure their hunger—the beginning of the lean spring season.
But the atmosphere in the Great Peace Domain was the complete opposite.
“Tofu! The tofu is ready!”
An enormous cauldron had been hung in the courtyard.
Soft white tofu curds floated in the boiling pot beneath clouds of steam.
“Waaaaah!”
The workers and household members rushed over with spoons in hand.
Today’s special meal was freshly made tofu.
We had ground the soybeans left over from last autumn’s harvest with a millstone, then added brine and boiled them.
I placed the freshly made, piping-hot tofu on a cutting board.
Steam rose from it.
I cut it into thick slices and arranged them on plates.
Then I served it with white kimchi stir-fried in precious perilla oil.
“Here, eat. It is meat that grows in the fields.”
“Thank you for the meal!”
Manseok grabbed an entire block of tofu and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Ah, hot! Hot! Hoo, hoo...”
Even as he rolled the hot tofu around in his mouth, he refused to spit it out.
Its soft, nutty flavor filled his mouth.
“Big Brother, this really tastes like meat. No, it is even softer than meat!”
Chilbok also marveled as he ate tofu topped with stir-fried kimchi.
Soybeans were an excellent source of protein, which tended to become scarce during the winter.
“Eat as much as you want. The storehouse is full of soybeans.”
The workers ate their tofu with happy expressions.
Warm clothes, filling food, and the sound of laughter.
It was like a prosperous island cut off from the outside world.
As I chewed my tofu, I called Siyeol over.
“Siyeol.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Siyeol held a ledger in one hand and tofu in the other. He had filled out a little too and now looked rather refined.
“Have you finished checking the storehouse inventory?”
“Yes. We have three hundred seok of rice, fifty seok of soybeans, one hundred geun of dried vegetables, and twelve hundred bundles of firewood... More than enough for a hundred people to eat until next spring.”
“What about the liquor?”
“We have five hundred bottles currently aging and another three hundred awaiting bottling. Even excluding what Manager Park has taken, we have more than enough.”
“And the money?”
“We have three hundred and eighty nyang in silver remaining. That is after all construction costs and wages.”
Perfect.
At this rate, we would have no trouble getting through the winter.
An ordinary lord or landowner would have been satisfied at this point, spending the winter sleeping in a warm room with a full belly.
But I was a farmer.
For a farmer, winter was not a time to rest. It was the time to prepare for the next windfall.
“Siyeol, add one more item to the ledger.”
“What?”
“Projected profit. One thousand nyang in silver.”
“One thousand nyang?! Are you planning to sell that much more liquor...?”
“Not liquor.”
I set down my tofu and stood up.
“Come. Let’s inspect the treasure vault.”
We headed toward the southern fields.
The snow was falling more heavily now.
Three enormous silkworm cocoons crouched atop the white field.
Oil-paper greenhouses built over bamboo frames.
“What did the villagers say when they saw those?”
When I asked, Chilbok snickered.
“They say you’ve gone mad. They ask why you would build something like that in a field during winter. Some even asked whether they were tombs.”
“Tombs, huh...”
I lifted the straw-mat door at the greenhouse entrance.
“Let’s go in.”
The moment we entered, my vision fogged over.
A blast of heat.
And a scent that rushed into my nose.
It was the scent of soil.
The scent of life.
“Wow...”
Siyeol gasped.
Outside was a black-and-white world, but this place was a world of green.
A fifty-meter-long tunnel stretched before us.
Fresh green sprouts grew densely across the ground.
“What... is this?”
“Lettuce, spinach, mallow greens. And cucumbers at the far end.”
“In winter? You are not even burning a fire. How is it this warm?”
As though unable to believe it, Siyeol touched the ground.
The soil was warm.
“There is no fire. We use fermentation instead.”
I grabbed a handful of soil.
“Under this soil, I laid down a thick layer of compost made from cow dung, chicken dung, and straw. Then I covered it with soil. As the compost decomposes, it produces heat. That heat warms the earth and the air.”
This was a traditional fermentation-heated hotbed.
Without fossil fuels, it could maintain a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius using only geothermal heat, fermentation heat, and sunlight.
Furthermore, the carbon dioxide released by the decomposing compost was a tonic that helped the plants photosynthesize.
“Look over there.”
I pointed to the cucumber vines planted in the corner.
Yellow flowers had bloomed, and tiny cucumbers no bigger than fingers hung beneath them.
“Cucumbers...!”
Manseok swallowed.
“Big Brother, when can we eat those?”
“Fifteen days. We will harvest them in fifteen days.”
In fifteen days, it would be the middle of winter.
By then, the nobles of Gaegyeong would be desperate for the taste of fresh vegetables.
What would happen if I offered them these crisp, fresh cucumbers and lettuce then?
“How much do you think we can charge, Siyeol?”
Siyeol’s mind began turning rapidly.
Winter vegetables could be sold for whatever price one named.
No, even money could not buy them.
They were difficult to place even on the king’s royal table.
“They may cost... even more than Great Peace Liquor, which sells for three nyang per bottle.”
“Exactly. This is different from liquor, which disappears once people drink it. We are selling health and status.”
A noble serving fresh chilled cucumber soup and lettuce wraps at a midwinter banquet.
How imposing would his authority appear?
To satisfy their vanity, they would gladly hand over gold.
“Big Brother... You really are a genius. I never knew farming could make money until I saw you do it.”
Chilbok gave me a thumbs-up.
“Farming is science. And timing.”
I brushed my hand over the growing lettuce leaves.
Soft and tender leaves.
But every single one would turn into silver.
“Take good care of them. If the temperature drops, cover them with straw mats. During the day, uncover them so they can receive sunlight. Chilbok, you are the greenhouse supervisor.”
“Do not worry! I will cherish them even more than my own children!”
‘A man without children says that...’
Night fell deep.
The snow turned into a blizzard, covering the world in white.
I sat on the wooden porch of the main house, sipping warm citron tea as I watched the snow fall.
The storehouses were full of rice and meat.
The safe was full of silver.
My people slept inside warm rooms, snoring peacefully.
And within the greenhouses in the fields, green treasures were growing strong.
“Phew...”
I exhaled a white breath.
I was happy.
The sorrow of living quietly for ten years while pretending to be a fool melted away like snow.
“Are you watching, Father?”
My father, who had driven me away. My older brothers, who had mocked me.
They were likely sharpening their blades amid Gaegyeong’s cold struggle for power.
Living in fear, never knowing when their heads might roll.
But I was different.
In my own kingdom, I was spending winter more safely and more prosperously than anyone.
“You will soon find out who the true winner is.”
I set down my teacup and rose.
“Manseok, are you asleep?”
Snoring came from beyond the door.
I could not help but smile.
“Sleep well. Tomorrow will be even busier.”
Tomorrow, I planned to build another greenhouse.
And I needed to transplant Korean melon seedlings.
When everyone else was resting, that was when real money was made.