Who threatened Cheonma Hara with a knife - Chapter 397



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Who threatened to call me Cheonmahara with a knife? Episode 397

Propaganda (5)

At dawn.

The warriors of the Heavenly Demon Sect were scattered throughout Nanzhou, Gansu Province.

They were each given a piece of paper with a person’s name written on it.

In particular, in cases where the person whose name was written on the paper was of high rank, it was often handled by masters such as Ilmok, Jin Ha-yeon, and Baek Un-hak.

Among them, the person written on the paper that Ilmok was in charge of was the head of the Jehyeong Anchal Sa Sa (提刑按察使司), which was in charge of inspection and punishment for a province, and was a third-rank Anchal Sa.

When I asked the commander of the left wing, Cheon Ryang, and the commander of the right wing, Yang Gwang, I found out that he was a writer who was close to Taekong Gong’s lackey from the beginning.

He was a person who carried out inspections, but changed the punishments according to the eunuchs’ taste.

Ilmok, who arrived at the inspector’s office in the dark, easily reached the room where the inspector was sleeping.

Ilmok clicked his tongue inwardly at the sight of the man sleeping with several women around him, then approached him without making a sound. He simply touched the bleeding spot with his finger and dealt with it.

He didn’t even bother to deal with the women who were with him.

This was because it was still unknown whether she was a woman who had been forcibly taken by the inspector or whether she had willingly joined him out of a lust for power.

Such things happened all over Nanju in a short period of time.

And just as dawn was breaking, a fierce typhoon blew into Nanju.

The government troops of the Dojihwisa and the soldiers of the Anchalsa and Seungseonpojeongsa began to stir up trouble all over Nanju.

The places they visited were all places that the Cheonmasingyo cult’s unmanned members had secretly visited the night before.

“Elder!!”

“Get up, sir!!”

While the family members were screaming and searching for their father, who would not wake up no matter how much they called, they suddenly raided each manor and pavilion.

“Recover all the wealth of those corrupt officials who have exploited the people!”

Following the commander’s instructions, government troops and constables ransacked the manors and palaces wherever they came across.

Some were terrified or simply stood back and watched, but others drew their weapons and fought back.

“Hey you guys! How dare you think this place is safe!!”

But their end was not so good.

“Tsk.”

Because the warriors of the Cheonmasin Sect, accompanied by soldiers and constables, would easily punish those who resisted.

In the first place, since it was an event involving the leaders of the boarding and escorting officers and the commanding officers, it was difficult to properly resist.

In the case of the Jehyeong Anchalsa, the Anchalsa lost his life to Ilmok, but Cheonryang persuaded one of the vice-ministers (4th rank) of each department to give him full authority.

Moreover, the situation became even more one-sided because the top officials who had to directly confront them had already passed away that night.

In that way, the task of cleaning up the mess was somewhat completed in just an hour or so.

The lower-ranking officials below the 7th rank had little idea what was going on. They were simply following orders from their superiors.

Among the mid-level and high-ranking officials of the rank above, about three-tenths were swept away in a single day. About five-tenths were definitely those who had boarded the same boat as the Left Commander and the Commander of the Province, and the remaining two-tenths were, strictly speaking, those who were close to being neutral.

Anyway, now that the purge was over, all that was left was to raid the granaries of those who had been executed.

Strangely enough, the constables and government officials gathered all the treasures from the granaries and brought them to a certain estate.

In the past, it was the scripture of the Maitreya Buddhism, but now it is called the scripture of the Cheonmasingyo.

Ilmok was watching the scene through the window in the main hall of the scriptures.

“Confucius.”

At Jin Ha-yeon’s call from behind, Ilmok turned his head and looked at the servants.

“Left-winged dictator. Do you truly trust him?”

As if he knew what I was asking for, Ichimoku asked back.

“Is it because of his favoritism?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We have taken turns watching and observing him. Among those he has recruited, there are certainly those who rebel against the imperial will, as Your Majesty said, and many upright officials, but there are also many close associates of the Left Secretary.”

As if to testify to her words, the three maids nodded and looked at each other.

“It is as Chief Jin said, Your Majesty!”

“Also, the Left Pojeongsa is originally an old man with a strong desire for power, isn’t he?”

“If you tell me to cut off his head right now, I will send the girl there.”

Knowing their worries, Ichimoku smiled gently and answered.

“I think you’ve all heard this saying: Fish can’t live in water that’s too clear.”

“… So, did you calculate it up to here and deliberately ask that person to write the list?”

In response to Jin Ha-yeon’s question, Ilmok nodded and added.

“As stated in our doctrine, all humans have greed. Of course, our doctrine tells us to suppress that greed unconditionally, but this is not easy even for sincere believers. How much more so for the majority of people?”

“It seems like it will be an increasingly difficult task.”

“Yes. That is why I entrusted this job to him, Cheonryang. He is humane. He knows how to be a little greedy, so he can deal with those with rebellious tendencies, honest officials, and corrupt people. And I will turn a blind eye to greed that is just enough to get his share.”

“… Ma, if that guy goes beyond his share and covets other people’s things, then, what do you plan to do?”

To Jeong-hyeon’s questions that occasionally got to the point, Ilmok answered coldly.

“Of course I’ll have to kick you out then. But not right away.”

“???”

As the women looked puzzled, Ilmok continued his explanation.

“If we are to be exact, he is the first official to surrender to us. He is a symbol of sorts. If we were to immediately execute him because his purpose has been fulfilled, who would accept our offer of surrender?”

To say that there would be no surrender meant, conversely, that the enemies would fight to the death every time.

No matter how powerful the Cheonmasingyo’s military force was, each time they had to break through such resistance, they would inevitably become increasingly powerless.

“At least we need a reason to punish such a person. I intend to execute him when he becomes that greedy.”

Even as he spoke these words to the women, Ichimoku was thinking of something else.

‘At least, I don’t think that will happen until the war is over.’

It wasn’t just because of the purpose or the author’s usage.

‘I guess you have a keen eye for detail.’

Is it because he survived for decades in a world where being picky is more important than anything else and rose to the position of a left-wing politician?

He may have been greedy, but he knew how to see the big picture.

Moreover, it seemed that his desire for power and promotion was stronger than his desire for material wealth.

Now that I’m already on the same boat as the traitor, I’m not the kind of man who’d fill his own boat before the rebellion even succeeds.

Then, the moment the rebellion fails, it means that he is not so stupid as to not know that the ship will break apart and he will die anyway.

After answering the women’s questions, Ichimoku turned his head again and looked out the window.

The scriptures that are accumulating enormous amounts of wealth in real time.

“Hehehehe.”

However, if you look at it only from the perspective of material wealth, it would seem that the amount of money is greater than the amount of money.

However, it was not greed to monopolize the wealth.

‘Now let’s start preparing in earnest with that money.’

Those treasures were merely the materials needed for the next stage: to prepare for the full-scale war and stabilize the rear.

Did you read my mind like that?

The next morning, a letter arrived from Pyeongryang-hyeon. A letter sent by Baekcheon.

* * *

A few days ago.

The Baek family moved to carry out the mission instructed by Ilmok.

Baek Woon-hak and the eldest son, and the youngest son, went to the scriptures of Cheonmasingyo, where they created new songs and plays and began to teach them to the women of Yegi.

In Baekcheon’s case, he went to Pyeongnyang-hyeon as instructed by Ilmok, revived the art hall, and invited calligraphers and painters to hold a kind of contest.

As expected, many people gave up because it was a competition that would bring shame to the royal family.

“Ahem. I’m sorry, but I just can’t bring myself to write.”

“Excuse me, can we leave now?”

However, there were some who were willing to play with their brushes and curse at those who ran away.

“Hey. You guys are like cowards!”

“Do you think I’ve seen you guys criticize the way the world works behind your back once or twice?”

These were people who were deeply engrossed in the doctrines of Maitreya Buddhism or were dissatisfied with the existing system.

They wrote down the grievances that had built up throughout their lives through writing and drawing.

The story Baekcheon told was nothing more than seasoning to them.

More touching than the story of the imperial family massacring thousands of innocent civilians in Guizhou Province were the absurdities they had endured throughout their lives.

Words and pictures filled with the anger and emotions that had permeated life came out one after another, and Baekcheon willingly gave rewards to those who drew the works.

“Now! Send these to Gansu quickly!”

Bai Qian had sent those works to Gansu, and they had just now arrived at Ilmok.

Ilmok immediately relayed it to the Baek family.

And soon after, the Baek family’s prepared people began to copy the works.

Completely handmade.

“Are you saying that if I just follow this and write it down, you will give me rice and food?”

“Hahaha. Isn’t that obvious? We in the Cheonma Sect never lie!”

What Baek Woon-hak, who had boasted so much, was pointing to was the wealth piled up like a mountain in a corner of the estate.

A woman and a child looking at the mountain of wealth following Baekunhak’s gesture. The old man worked hard to earn a living by imitating the words and pictures on paper.

Since the time when he was active under the name of Mireukmyeonggyo, he had been consistently teaching letters to the common people, so the number of people participating in the work was considerable.

In addition, those who were of noble birth or who painted as a hobby could make a considerable profit by imitating the paintings of painters.

The workers who were watching this scene couldn’t help but roll their eyes.

“Starting today, let’s go home and practice drawing.”

“What is this handwriting? It’s not working. I guess I’ll have to practice my handwriting more from today!”

Those who participated in the project began practicing calligraphy and drawing every day from that day on when they returned home at night, even though no one forced them to do so.

As their hard work produced countless propaganda leaflets and posters, Ilmok gave new instructions to the Baek trio.

“First of all, please spread these posters and leaflets throughout Gansu.”

“Hmm? Isn’t Gansu Province already our territory? Is there really a need to show them these posters and leaflets?”

“The manpower of Nanju alone is not enough to spread these throughout the Central Plains. We should spread the doctrines of the new religion widely with these, and also assign similar tasks to believers in other regions.”

“Huh. So Confucius was going to entrust this matter to the entire Gansu Province!”

When Baekwoonhak reacted with admiration, Ilmok shook his head.

“It’s not just Gansu. After spreading it throughout Gansu and increasing the number, we plan to spread it again to all regions that believe in our new religion.”

Xinjiang and northern Sichuan. To Qinghai and the West Tibet.

“After spreading it out to all regions and increasing the number of leaflets and posters by thousands of times, we plan to start spreading it out in earnest throughout the Central Plains.”

The plan was to combine the power of pseudo-spreading with a multi-level marketing strategy.

* * *

At a time when the production of propaganda posters and leaflets was in full swing in Nanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province.

Once again, a letter arrived for Ilmok.

It was a letter from Shaanxi Province, sent by Wei Jinhe, who had left to punish Huashan and Zhongnan.