Joseon Needs a Coup

Only Noblemtl

#Part 2 Episode 14. The protagonist of an unwanted play (3)

“Director, we are urgently looking for you in Yongsan. I think you should leave and go back.”

“What’s going on? I don’t know why you’re calling me back when I’m just getting off work and having a nice meal.”

“I don’t know the details, but it seemed like a rather urgent matter. The Director of Records contacted you personally.”

If Captain Cho Dong-yoon called, it meant that it was not an ordinary matter. This gentleman did not move at night for simple matters. After all, he was a father and husband of a family, so he said that he had to faithfully fulfill his duty, and he led the division of labor by entrusting the simple tasks to his capable subordinates.

But if he called me at the hotel I was in, it meant that something was seriously wrong. And the fact that the head of the military intelligence agency called me in the middle of the night could be for two reasons. One was an urgent report about the war, and the other was an attempt at an incident due to internal discontent. … … Either way, it was not a pleasant thing.

“Okay. Tell the driver to get the car ready quickly.”

“All right.”

The adjutant hurried out. I hoped that the driver would finish his meal and come back on time. If he was even a little late, the poor driver would surely be robbed by the superiors in an unimaginable way.

“Is something urgent coming up?”

“Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. This damn military service won’t let me rest.”

I smiled awkwardly at the craftsman and reached out to Roha next to me. She seemed to be used to this kind of thing, and she sighed but stood up as if she had no choice.

“… Then, after you’re discharged from the military, how about you run Hongik together with me-”

“I respectfully decline your offer.”

I rejected my father-in-law’s proposal outright. He had been teasing me in this way before, but his reaction was the same as today. I have almost no business aptitude, and if I were to leave the military now, I didn’t know what would happen. The power struggles between the imperial family, the cabinet, and the Marshal’s Office were inevitably having a serious impact on the officer corps in the military, and no one could be sure how this would explode.

‘There’s a reason I turned down the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Marshal’s Office and the position of Minister of the Army.’

I thought to myself. After the war, he was promoted to Army General, and even while the Marshal’s Office was being reorganized, he remained as an active-duty director with General Cho Dong-yoon for no other reason. The public suspected that they had not been properly promoted or had been treated poorly compared to their achievements during the war, but to be exact, both of them were close to refusing promotions.

This was because, since the Gapsin Coup, there was always the possibility that there would be adventurous and immature people who, under the pretense of “saving the country,” would try to resolve the current chaos with guns and swords, or that they would be deceived by the emperor’s temptations and commit foolish acts such as a coup d’état as a reactionary act.

Since the Emperor ascended the throne in the 1860s, the military organization of this country has operated in this way. If it had been done once, there was nothing it could not have done twice, or even three times.

‘Of course, I also feel responsible for setting such a wonderful precedent twice… … .’

After all, it was my responsibility to sow the seeds, and it was my responsibility to take care of them. That is why, if there was someone who could actually exercise physical force, that is, someone who could directly exercise military command and properly control the intelligence agency, the military could be freed from such empty hopes, even if only a little.

The first military tradition that a modern Korean army should have was to start with acknowledging the supremacy of the military. And my solidarity with General Cho Dong-yoon, who can be called a symbolic commander of the last war, has also been of great help in maintaining the current system.

At least under this system, the young and ambitious ‘coup d’état wannabes’ would think twice before putting their plans into action. That was the logic, in a nutshell. It was a kind of demonstration effect that armed police officers patrolling the streets could greatly reduce the likelihood of crime, showing any potential ambitious people in the country.

Perhaps even further, to the cabinet and the imperial family.

“I said that because I felt like you were being treated poorly since the war.”

“This is still my place, Master.”

Above all… the ‘subordination of the cabinet to civilian supremacy’ that the Marshal’s Office is currently taking may be nothing more than a hypocritical justification, but it was absolutely necessary to walk the ‘road not taken’ going forward. As long as I remain in this position, the pretense of civilian control will last for more than a dozen years, and if the military mechanically maintains neutrality based on that justification, someday even hypocrisy will solidify into a tradition of true civilian control.

Someone once said that hypocrisy is civilization, and honesty is barbarism. And if the military starts to show its fangs of honesty at a time like now, towards the civilian government and the royal family… it will never look good.

“At a time like this, we must each be faithful to our own work. You, my father-in-law, must focus on the economy of this country, and I must focus on protecting the land and the lives and property of the people. I will visit you later with Minjeong. Okay.”

I bowed my head and greeted him, and then followed the adjutant who had just run up to the second floor and went out to the entrance. Surprisingly, he must have eaten on time, because the driver was waiting in front of me and saluting me while his car was waiting. And next to him were the staff members of the Records Investigation Office 1, who looked a little disheveled, as if they had just finished a fight.

“We came because you said there was something urgent.”

“You came at a good time. Is there room for me and my adjutant in your vehicle? It looks like you’ve had a blast.”

“The flies that were trying to interrupt the director’s meal got swarmed. Please wait a moment.”

The man who seemed to be the leader answered with a sly smile, then dragged out several men in suits who were tied up with ropes from the car. He then released the ropes and ordered them to get out of there immediately, then looked at me again and gestured.

“Director, there will be a seat now.”

“Those guys… … .”

“Well, you’re used to them now, aren’t you? They’re ‘strange people.’”

“That’s a common occurrence. They don’t even take you to the police station anymore… … .”

“They told me not to bring him to the police intelligence department because everyone knows his face now. Man, I’m going to die because everyone’s faces are sold out.”

I nodded to the leader’s words and said. It was something that happened often, but it was not something that should be taken seriously. In the current situation where we are experiencing the mild flavor of interwar Imperial Japanese politics, if we look at the way each side investigates the other, and even if they are caught, they report that they caught the ‘odd person’ and secretly let it go, we can get a sense of how twisted and tangled this political situation is.

I sighed secretly and looked at Roha behind me, then spoke in a voice so that only she could hear.

“Madam, you go home first in the car. I have something to do in Yongsan.”

“… Don’t come home after a long night. Your clothes will be ruined.”

Lohan nodded slightly at me, then kissed my cheek as if she was looking at me, and quickly got into the back of the car that the driver had opened for me. Her face seemed a little red, but she waved as if nothing had happened, and slowly headed back the way she had come.

I watched the vehicle for a moment until it disappeared into the darkness, then got into the vehicle right away. I had no idea why Captain Cho Dong-yoon was calling me so urgently, and an inexplicable sense of anxiety began to creep into my heart.

***

“No, what are you talking about? Is everything you just said true?”

“You may not believe it, but it’s true. Read it. Oh, the Director of Operations is here. Come here quickly.”

Thanks to the friends of Records Bureau 1, who showed off their incredible driving skills – driving so roughly that the adjutant, who had enjoyed a decent meal at the Sontag Hotel, got carsick – the distance that would have taken at least 20 minutes by car was reached in just 10 minutes, causing some very ridiculous noises to be heard at the Marshal’s Office.

As soon as I arrived, what caught my eye was the expression of General Cho Dong-yoon with his pale face, and the figures of Army Minister Min Yeong-hwan and Chief of Staff of the Marshal’s Office Lee Gyu-tae, who were silently smoking cigarettes and sighing deeply. For some reason, everyone’s eyes seemed to be moist.

As soon as I entered the conference room, I was a little embarrassed because people were looking at me as if a problem solver had appeared.

“First of all, let’s talk about what’s going on. Why is everyone so confused?”

“My throat hurts a lot because I couldn’t control my anger and talked too much earlier. Instead, if you look at this, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

Everyone showed their courage and bravery in holding on even in the midst of the horrific battle situation during the last war. I couldn’t figure out what was happening at first, but after hearing the briefing that followed, I had no choice but to join their ranks.

The telegram and the translation, half-crumpled as they read and expressed their emotions, returned to my hands. And the telegram could not avoid being crumpled in my hands either. However, I tried my best not to show it on the outside, and just sighed deeply while carrying my luggage behind my back. Between the rustling sounds of paper, I clenched my teeth.

Oh my, I don’t know what the hell happened, but Russia must have been in a fit of rage, sending a telegram to the Emperor expressing its intention to sell the entire Kwantung Province to Japan. Perhaps the situation on the Eastern Front was so bad that they had lost their sense of reason to make a proper judgment.

‘Hey, this is totally fucked up. Those stupid bear cubs are going overboard instead of braking and falling over.’

This sound was so loud that it almost reached my throat. Of course, my reasoning was not enough to say it out loud, so I put a glass candy in my mouth on the table in front of me and rolled it with my tongue, thinking for a moment. No matter how I looked at it, this seemed like an ultimatum from Russia to us, or more precisely, to our cabinet and military, who were still maintaining neutrality.

“This is a message from the Tsar himself, Chief of Operations… … .”

“I understand after reading the end of the text.”

Come to think of it, the telegram itself was not sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry in St. Petersburg, with which he had been frequently in contact, but by the Tsar himself. The fact that it was sent secretly by the Tsar himself, not by the Foreign Ministry, meant that the content contained a great deal of weight. It also meant that he would be notified officially of the content soon. He would give a brief summary in the meantime, so you could make your own judgment.