As Prophet - Chapter 76
Only Krnovel
Episode 76. Audience
“I don’t think Mr. Cheolmuwoong is the type of person who can be manipulated this way or that.”
“Yes.”
“Mother, don’t look at the world with so much worry. Those who instigated the assassination have been dealt with.”
“I really appreciate that. It really puts my mind at ease.”
Dalcheon tilted his head.
“I have a question.”
“Please speak.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to stay inside the castle to avoid assassins?”
The general shrugged his shoulders.
“Even if I die, I at least thought of dying while fighting. A place where I could prepare for it and fight to my death. In fact, the private family of Wonrim came here looking for a place to die.”
“So that’s why your expression wasn’t so good when I first saw you.”
“What did the main army look like?”
“He was crouching down as if he was carrying all the world’s worries on his shoulders.”
The general touched his face.
“I didn’t even know that. What about now?”
“She’s relaxed a lot. She has a gentle smile. And she laughs a lot.”
“Thank you. Thank you again.”
* * *
There is a time to meet with His Majesty before taking office. The king personally gives instructions on about ten items that the local officials must work hard on. The local officials dispatched to about 330 counties are in a heavy position of caring for the people on behalf of the king.
The first was to focus on agriculture and sericulture [Nongsangseong (農桑盛)], the second was to increase the number of households [Hogujeung (戶口增)]. Schools should be established [Hakgyoheung (學校興)], the fourth was to reorganize the military administration [Gunjeongsu (軍政修)]. The fifth was to equalize the distribution of corvée [Buyeokgyun (賦役均)], and the sixth was to quickly resolve legal disputes with Sasonggan (詞訟簡). The seventh responsibility was Ganhwalsik (奸猾息), which meant to stop cunning and treacherous habits. This may seem like a somewhat abstract article, but in reality it meant sanctions against hyangni (鄕吏) and pumgwan (品官) who had roots in the region and controlled administrative practices.
I memorized the virtues that a local government official should strive for, and prepared several real-life examples. There would be questions, and I would check once again whether I was qualified to be a local government official.
It was the first palace I had ever entered since I was born. I couldn’t remember how I got to the main hall. I was completely out of my mind until I fell prostrate in the main hall.
But the content of the question was different.
“Oh! Only after looking back at the past can I see the heroes who suppressed the Japanese invasion.”
“I am so grateful.”
I couldn’t raise my head and stared at the floor. The texture of the floor, polished to a shine, was truly beautiful. I suddenly decided that when I returned home, I would polish my house to a shine like that.
“Hmm, raise your head!”
“majesty!”
I slowly raised my head and saw the king in his fifties smiling brightly and turning around on his throne.
“The White Knight gave all the credit to you and your priest.”
“This is an absolutely absurd explanation, Your Majesty.”
“Haha. There’s no way that old-fashioned Baek Sa-ban would have lied. I really wanted to see it sometime.”
“Your kindness is truly infinite.”
It was hard to find a response every time the king spoke. It was not necessary to answer every word, but it was considered rude not to answer, so I answered after every sentence, which ended up interrupting the king.
The chief secretary, who was on the side of the throne, approached and comforted the confused and anxious new provincial official.
“Your Majesty seems to have something to say, so please just listen.”
It was a wide battle where no sound could be heard even though it was said quietly. It was heard clearly by everyone.
“yes.”
Baek Ui-hyeong bowed several times and repeated to himself that he was sorry.
“So, after the Imjin War, a document detailing his achievements was submitted. I was so happy that I read it over and over again dozens of times.”
Baek Ui-hyeong was about to say something else but covered his mouth with his hand.
“About a hundred cavalrymen from Gyeongsan County who had rushed to the south gate rushed west.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
This time, he couldn’t stop the answer from coming out without him knowing. He glanced at Do Seung-ji and covered his mouth with his hand.
“The ones who came out through the west gate at that time were their remaining troops.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“They tried to bypass and go behind the main force.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“It says that you were planning to attack there first before the South Gate bridgehead for the conquest.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“So, can you tell me what happens next?”
Baek Ui-hyeong said that this was what Dal-cheon had claimed, and he explained in detail how he had rushed under Dal-cheon’s command, harassed the men with archery, and then charged. The word Dal-cheon appeared several times during the explanation.
“But, that Confucius named Dalcheon, why isn’t he on the list of meritorious subjects?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Dalcheon was a priest when Sojik was studying in the mountains. He is a mountain man who came down to help me in my secret life and to study the world. He asked that his name not be recorded and that his achievements be omitted from the records.”
“Why? Are you humble?”
I have never seen anyone like that before. No one ever asked to be excluded, instead of trying to show off by writing down achievements that they did not have.
“Dalcheon is still young. He was 15 years old at the time. He does everything in the name of adults and works silently in the shadows… … .”
The words are tangled. This is not something that should be explained like this, but it’s a bad start.
“I’m sorry. I’m just talking nonsense because I’m so scared and trembling.”
“Say it slowly. About that mountain man part.”
“In the past, they treated the unarmed and invited the mountain people to hold the Palgwanhoe. Nowadays, they are criticized by many people and are treated as traitors who led the Jeonjo to ruin. That is why they do not want to come out into the world.”
“But your priest, and why did you come out?”
“Sogak was a means of study. He had a chance to study for a while, but strictly speaking, he was not a mountain person. However, a priest is a mountain person who studied in the mountains when he was young, and came out to learn about the world for a while. He didn’t learn much, but he was still a disciple, so he came to Gyeongsan-hyeon where I was a secret agent. From then on, I took him around and taught him things. He is a very smart guy who knows ten things when you tell him one thing, and when you teach him about the world, he realizes the wisdom of the world outside of it. He reached the peak of his studies in the mountains, but since he entered the mountains at a very young age and knew nothing about the world, his master thought that it could be poisonous to him later, so he came down from the mountains and learned about the world. He will soon return to the mountains again.”
“Oh, it sounds like a fairy tale.”
“… … .”
“That kid repelled the enemy troops that came out through the west gate?”
“Yes, we did, but most of the credit went to him.”
“Oh my, my goodness! And yet you didn’t even mention a single name… … . And that’s what happened to Yu Damnyeon, who was appointed as the Udo Defense Commander. It’s not written in the royal decree, but it’s said that he climbed over the southern wall and opened the gate to let the main force of our army in.”
“Yes, he is very good at strategy and tactics.”
“Wouldn’t it be beneficial to the well-being of our country if we had a child like that in our military?”
This is the important part. Baek Ui-hyung hit his head on the floor.
“He is a mountain man who thinks worldly ranks are useless. However, when the country is in danger, he is a great young man who will come down and fight the enemy in white.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“And because he has little experience in the world, he will encounter many conflicts in an organized society. That is why his social intelligence is inferior to that of a child in an alley. They say that he has been holding a sword since he was five. He studied well and reached the peak when he was young, and now there is no way to measure his level. What the teacher was worried about was the social aspect. That is why he was sent down to study the world. He will never do well in the military and in an organized society. If you give authority and responsibility to a child who is only strong, things can become very dangerous. He has the will to clearly distinguish right from wrong when it comes to matters that need to be embraced gently. What can you do? Right and wrong are important, but in a society where we live together, you have to teach him that the time to forgive gently is more important. He knows this, so he is stepping back, humbling himself, and looking at the world with a learning attitude. Please understand.”
The king changed the subject. It was curiosity.
“You say it has reached the extreme? How extreme is that?”
“It’s very difficult to explain. It is said that when I, a master, reach the extreme of my internal energy and reach the state of Hwa-gyeong, I reach the point where almost no one can reach. There are very few people in the world who have reached the state of Hwa-gyeong. However, he easily passed the state of Hwa-gyeong when he was young. However, I heard that he passed another state after that.”
“Oh! Then how much is it now?”
“Your Majesty, there used to be something called the Best Sword of the Three Kingdoms.”
“That’s right.”
“The Master said that he had surpassed him.”
“Oh, no way… … Then that kid is the best swordsman in the Three Kingdoms.”
“The master said that even in the Central Plains, there would be no one who could stand up to that child.”
“Wow, that’s really absurd.”
“I answered honestly because it was Your Majesty’s question. If someone else asked me, I would usually say that it was not true.”
The king was impressed.
“How can we use such talent?”
“Your Majesty, it is similar to how you use genius.”
“… … .”
“First, we should not impose our society’s standards.”
“Oh, it sounds like you’re telling me to understand even if I do something weird.”
“Yes. If you measure up to our standards, would that be genius? It’s dull. We call someone a genius because they exceed our standards.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Second, we must not break his genius with the logic of the organization. We must use his genius to our advantage, but we lose the opportunity to do so.”
The king nodded. When I explained the extreme of the unmanned situation in light of the case of a genius, the king easily understood.
“What should I do if I want to keep it by my side?”
“He has a strange charm that draws people in. He is pure, so people like him. He is curious, and his actions are really cute. However, he is very stubborn in his principles, polite, and a role model for others. He is humble despite his ability, so people follow him and like him. I wonder what kind of form he can take by Your Majesty’s side, but I can’t imagine it. I can’t keep those who have transcended the realm of humanity, such as eunuchs, officials, soldiers, and bodyguards.”
“Tell me the room.”
“I run a school not far away. I teach children from nearby villages and teach subjects for the military service examination to adults. I also learned from him and passed the military service examination this time.”
“Ahem, that’s right. Three people from that school passed. That’s amazing.”
“I think this distance is the closest distance right now. That child also knows that the military administration of the country is difficult, so he established the academy to train officers and military officers to prepare for the country’s turmoil. He may not be able to do anything about the institutional aspects right away, but he seems to think that if he has generals, he can quickly conscript the people in times of war and turn them into troops.”
“Oh, there really is no such thing as loyalty. So you created three people like that in the first place?”
“I once said this. Out of the 300 or so local officials, about 100 are military officers. They are stationed in strategic military locations in the south and north. All of them have the outstanding ability to command troops as generals, and if you can form a 625-man troop under them, you will have 60,000 regular soldiers. You need military supplies, weapons, and horses, but if you have a military officer who can prepare and train and lead 600 men to the battlefield in case of emergency, you will never be in danger. That’s what he said.”
“So, you’re saying that you trained three people to begin with?”
“Yes. There was an education system to train military officers from the time of the whales, but there is none in Joseon. I intend to take on that role myself. If you acknowledge my loyalty to the country at that level, I think it would be the same as having you by my side, Your Majesty.”
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