As Prophet - Chapter 158



Only Noblemtl

Episode 158. They’re Coming Down on Purpose

Because he had experienced it up close, Cheolmuwoong knew the situation of the army better than anyone else. From a distance, it seemed like a comedy, but to the people involved, it was a bloody fight where their lives were at stake.

“I wonder? I thought so too, so I helped, but looking back, I think maybe I saved your life on purpose.”

“Why? Why would you leave it behind, then?”

“The great opponent!”

“No way.”

“That would have put pressure on the Crown Prince.”

“It’s just a plausible story.”

Dalcheon is a person who has no worries. His free imagination runs wild, and it points out the limitations of those who live in reality. It is reality because they cannot acknowledge and accept it. Dalcheon sighed.

“Ah, if you leave it, it would be the second plan. Another force that blocks the national foundation from ascending to the throne. Ahaha, this is really fun.”

The audience hid their tired faces at Dalcheon’s expression of amusement. This is because it is a reasoning that can never be fun for officials. It is an alternative when Plan 1 and Plan 2 work, but in this case, it is a scary and tragic thing where the faction is blown away.

“No, there is a country, and there is a person who wants to be king. There are officials who want to enjoy fame after him. Isn’t that natural? There is no right or wrong in the pursuit of power.”

The governor-general raised an objection.

“You can’t justify crime by saying everyone is the same.”

“Is that so? They all look the same to me… … That’s really useless. Power is like riding a tiger. It’s called ‘riding a tiger’s back’. You can’t stay on it forever, and you can’t get off. No matter what, you’ll probably die. There are few people in power who don’t want to step down. The desire to step down is sweet, but the catastrophe that will come is scary. What can you do? You think you have no choice but to hold on tight and not let go, and you rush toward catastrophe.”

* Symbol of danger: Like riding a tiger and getting off halfway, a desperate situation where you cannot stop halfway. Rather than talking about the decision itself, it expresses the danger of the situation created by the decision itself.

Dalcheon paused for a moment and looked around. Everyone seemed to be hoping for a movie and trying to live off someone’s power.

“If you really want to discuss right and wrong, you should ask the people. The people are heaven.”

“Huh? Why are you saying that… … .”

The audience was shocked because of Dalcheon’s revolutionary statement. How can the people become heaven? The people are heaven… … Heaven is giving the throne, but that heaven cannot be the people.

Long ago, some Confucian scholars thought so. They thought that the emperor was sent down by heaven, but that heaven was the people. However, they did not dare to say anything because they were afraid of the king at the end of the world where superiors and inferiors were clearly defined.

I did not think of the office as a role that ruled over the people below, but rather as a role that served them. It was a title that was created within a clear distinction between superiors and inferiors, although it was right to serve the people.

“What did you say that you couldn’t? That’s what it looked like from afar on the mountain. Your salaries come from the people, and I don’t like seeing you talking about giving them persimmons and pears. Oh, the conversation keeps going astray. How can we be together when our thoughts are so different? Once this is over, I will quickly return to the mountain and not come down again.”

Then, Yoo Seok-do spoke as if he was gently stroking her. The words are innovative, but I don’t want to lead the situation that way.

“Still, it would be better to refrain from using rude words.”

“Oh, you have to live by saying what you want to say. Why are you living without saying what you think because you’re so scared?”

I’m careful because he’s the kind of person who’ll leave if you make a fuss. If that actually happens, I’ll be in trouble.

“Oh, now is not the time to talk about that.”

Dalcheon scratched the back of his head at Yoo Seok-do’s words.

“Then what shall we talk about? The battle is over. Is there anything more important than finding the leader of the great order, Yeo-ui? A commander must always be able to think of the next thing. All lower-ranking officers believe and follow orders from above as if they were gold and jade. You must have foresight for the future.

If they respond within Hanyang, we will easily be trampled by the hooves of the Jurchen cavalry. It will not be an easy fight. We may end up having to move the capital like we did in the previous days.”

“What is Cheondo?”

“Didn’t we move the capital to Ganghwa Island and fight for 30 years?”

The crowd did not agree. There was a perception that they were not something to be afraid of, as they came down dozens of times every year and disturbed the border. There was a strong perception that they had never worked at the border and that even if they did come down, they would return right away, so there was no problem.

“If they decide to come down, it will be a problem.”

As the conversation took hold, the Commander-in-Chief asked. He was something of an expert in this type of discussion.

“If you decide to come?”

“One of the dozens of tribes comes down and causes trouble. But if they unite or a unified force appears, it’s a different story. And up until now, their reason has been necessities. But now that they’ve joined forces with those who want to overthrow this country, if those who have unified the tribes come down as an army, the situation is serious. These are the people who overthrew the Song Dynasty in the past. They’re not peasant soldiers, they’re military aristocrats. They’re trained through hunting, and when they form a military formation, they’re the world’s strongest cavalry that has nothing to fear.”

“Oh, oh, oh, aren’t you overestimating it?”

It is really hard to turn back someone who cannot be persuaded. Dalcheon did not want to do that. It was because it only hurt his mouth.

“I’ll just give you the bottom line. They’ll come in a few days. Would you still say that it’s impossible?”

The Commander-in-Chief frowned. As you grow older, there are many things you don’t want to hear. You don’t want to hear that the enemy is strong, and you hate it even more when you hear that we are losing.

“I dare not say no because it has been as the True Man said so far, but will they really come down and will they really be that strong?”

“They are even interfering with Hanyang. Half of the officials are in collusion with the enemy. We may not be able to maintain the national system. Our existence is at stake.”

The room was silent. Most of them shared the same opinion as the commander-in-chief. The word “savage” connotes the belief that they are ignorant, lacking in strategy, and incapable of fighting in the military.

“Oh my! Phew. Your Majesty knows too?”

“You may know, but you may not feel a great threat. It is because you underestimate them. Because you underestimate the enemy you should fight with all your might, the Song Dynasty was also destroyed. The emperor was taken to Liaodong. It is called the ‘Jingang Incident.’* We must conscript and train them, and prepare for invasion.”

* The Jinjiang Incident: An incident in 1126 in which the Song Dynasty was defeated by the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, losing North China, the political and ideological center of China, and Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong being captured by the Jin Dynasty by Emperor Taizong of the Jin Dynasty.

The crowd was dumbfounded, unable to answer. They knew that they had crossed the border. However, they thought that they would come down for a while, get what they needed, and then go back. They secretly hoped that would happen. They just waited, hoping that nothing would happen.

It was Yuseokdo who put an end to the situation. He suddenly stepped forward and waved his hand.

“That’s right. Everything happens as the wise man says. It was like that when the chief was a fool, and it was even worse when he came to his senses. Now that I understand, it would be best for us to discuss this matter with Your Majesty and come up with a solution.”

He paused for a moment, looked around, then politely placed his waving hand in front of him and continued speaking.

“A true person is someone who hears news that we do not know. We just pray and hope that nothing happens, but a true person must hear news separately at times like this, and he feels and knows what we cannot feel.

“It’s the words of a person who is right, but if you bring it up, I think you have the answer. So don’t worry too much, don’t rush to judgment, and if you prepare diligently, there won’t be any danger. Right, Jinin?”

Dalcheon made a sound. It was not easy for him to say no because of his stake in Yu Seok-do. It is human nature to have responsibilities that are equal to one’s stake.

Yu Seok-do glanced at the king’s tent far away. It was not polite to discuss state affairs in a different place than the king.

“Let us go to His Majesty.”

“Now that you are king, I don’t really want to get close to you.”

“Oh, you’re the King’s disciple. I heard you were planning to call him Grand Master.”

Yu Seok-do led Dal-cheon to the king’s tent, followed by the generals who had fought in the battlefield.

* * *

Mukhyeong stands silently behind the king.

“Hey, what are you doing there? Where have you been the whole time?”

The silent man shrugs his shoulders, and the king looks away.

“No, where were you and what were you doing when you desperately needed a hand?”

I know. It’s annoying to ask when you know. He was hiding in the shadow of the new king and was in charge of guarding him. He had the perception that no matter what happened, the king was the only one who was safe. I wonder if he would have been the same even if he lost the war.

“Oh, I was the only one running around. What’s the use of learning martial arts? Shouldn’t you use them to fight enemies?”

Mukhyeong lowered his head. The new king’s face turned red. It was clear that he had kept Mukhyeong as his escort.

“Yes, I am sorry.”

Yoo Seok-do, who was planning to have a meeting in front of the king, was dumbfounded by Dal-cheon’s sudden behavior. Wasn’t he blaming the new king for not sending Mukhyeong to the court?

“People are dying, but no matter how much I look around, I can’t see them.”

“I’m sorry. I will try harder.”

“Once I get my life together, he’ll leave in peace.”

Now the word of leaving is on his lips. Everyone remembers how the political situation was greatly shaken by his one departure. He must not leave. Only by supporting him with a strong support from behind can the unstable political situation be properly established. The king looked into the distance where he had been looking from earlier.

“I heard from people that the man named Yeo-ui, the leader of the silver-faced clan, is Your Majesty’s uncle. They say that he is not of the Lee clan because he was born to Your Majesty’s mother from an affair with another man.”

The new king held his knees tightly. There had been such suspicions for some time. No, when you tie together suspicions that were separate from each other and say them as if they were natural, it sounds like the truth.

“There was a similar suspicion. His Majesty the King had difficulty ascending to the throne and had difficulty governing his officials. To put it in a way that the true man can understand, he does not listen to the advice of his officials at all.”

“Oh, and you left it alone? You said it was the highest position in the universe.”

“It’s similar to how Jim is now observing the true man’s face. He has to listen to what the true man says and watch out for any discomfort.”

“why?”

“I thought that if I didn’t do that, I would find it annoying and just leave.”

“Oh, what am I? Socially, I am nothing more than a useless, twisted tree.”

“No one thinks so. In any case, that’s why the throne wasn’t secure. A better person could have ascended to the throne, but everyone knew and acknowledged that the king ascended to the throne for some other reason. So I think there was an invisible pressure to at least do a good job and take good care of the people.”

“I wondered why it was called ‘reverse heaven’, but it seems that it was true that their surnames were different. The king’s mother… … Hmm, I don’t know what to call her, so I call her this. So, it is a slogan acknowledging that she had a son through an affair with another man. It is really pathetic and old-fashioned, but I don’t know why people live like that, but that’s how it is.”

In the midst of a normal conversation, there is a mixture of language that disparages people from the lower world. However, the words are not entirely wrong, so no clear rebuttal is possible.