The Statue's Dream (2)
The capital of Hanseong was burning hot from the mutiny of the army, but the palace surrounded by low walls was filled only with cold air.
“Submit to His Majesty!”
The palace maids, eunuchs, and guards who should have been on duty had disappeared without a trace.
“Submit to His Majesty!”
The gate guards of the Geumwiyeong, which foreign envoys had once admired, were gone, and in their place were soldiers from the military camp heading into the palace, not outside the wall, with sharp spears.
Oh my god.
For King Gojong of Joseon, this was truly a terrifying and tragic night that even in a dream he could never have imagined.
“What is this...”
“Your Majesty.”
At that moment, the frightened king was trembling on the throne when an old man with a brazen face, like a villain, approached the throne with his shoulders held by his followers and said to the throne.
“Your Majesty.”
Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung.
His own father to King Gojong.
“...”
King Gojong glared at him and replied.
“Speak.”
Then, the Daewongun looked sharply at the Chief State Councillor Hong Sun-mok, who was the only one keeping his seat on both sides of King Gojong, and the palace officials who had been forced to stand in the court for duty, and opened his mouth.
“In the previous memorial to me, there were some who had already pulled out the problem and couldn't speak in detail. Therefore, looking at the current situation, it was some officials who had acted rashly relying on His Majesty's grace and favor.”
“...”
Indeed, Father orchestrated them.
Realizing the seriousness of the incident that had been dismissed as unpaid salaries had become close to a military rebellion due to the Daewongun's actions, King Gojong gritted his teeth.
Imperial coup? It was enough for ten years! How dare they to the military king of this country!
Yet, anger was seeping from his clenched jaw.
The Daewongun, ignoring the king's anger, lowered his head and said.
“Before I resigned and retired, the peaceful court was full of disputes, and after the joint memorial of the great ministers, the problem of the Dobong soldiers arose, and the three provincial offices' officials jointly submitted a memorial condemning the in-laws. I sent people to the palace and the provinces to investigate their situation, and they were not simple rioters.”
They were not simple rioters. He sent people to the provinces to investigate their situation. He stated his position through the three provincial offices and joint memorial.
In short
“Warnings were given three times.”
Ultimately, it indirectly told the king that the forces of the crowd that started the rebellion and turned into rioters were all moved by the Daewongun's own hand.
And King Gojong was not a fool who couldn't understand that it was a threat from the Daewongun to himself.
He no longer hides his greed to return to the court.
For a long time, silence filled the court.
The more so, the Chief State Councillor Hong Sun-mok, who had barely kept his seat, twisted left and right, and the palace officials who had been forced to stand for duty trembled.
It was because the Daewongun's subordinates, who had entered the palace armed, were looking at them with meaningful eyes, which was greatly frightening.
Ultimately, the king sighed at the brazen threat of the Daewongun.
Were all the concubines of the queen dead?
He was also worried about the safety of the queen. Was she safe now?
He looked at the wide court behind the Daewongun, which was unusually empty today.
And he realized.
I lost.
He lost. Anyone could see that even a three-year-old child could see.
Unlike the father who was filling the back like a villain, there was no one by his side.
Even seeing the Chief State Councillor Hong Sun-mok and some enlightenment officials standing by his side now, he realized that there were too many eyes and ears of Unhyeongung in the palace, and that his hastily built sand castle had ultimately been bought with money and status.
Should I not have placed the love of the heavenly relationship in my hands?
King Gojong briefly reflected on his past choice and shook his head slightly.
Sighs and regrets end here. Now, the military king of Joseon was himself, and would continue to be, so first, it was the best strategy to avoid the crisis at hand.
“That matter was already in the secondary audience, and I told the Chief State Councillor to personally investigate it.”
“However, those who occupied the four towns and even set fire to the warehouses of the high officials are still together with the rebel army. They continuously demand the dismissal of the former Chief State Councillor Heungin-gun and the beheading of the Seonhyecheong upper official Min Gyeom-ho, so the old minister could not help but tremble with fear at their arrogance and excessive demands.”
“...I have heard that too.”
When the Daewongun expressed his desire to dismiss Heungin-gun, the royal relative who had been restraining him in the court, King Gojong accepted that wish.
“What should I do with it?”
Dispose! Ultimately, this meant the military king was delegating responsibility to his subjects.
“I lost. So, handle the riot outside.”
When the king humbly accepted the defeat, the Daewongun, who had barely lowered his rising lips, lowered his head even more and declared solemnly as if he was the king's envoy.
“The words His Majesty spoke when I was about to retire, 'You cannot express your worries about some officials who seek to be honest and upright while holding the grace and favor,' were said. However, that fear has become reality, and I am truly overwhelmed.”
“Worries...”
This guy is now criticizing Chief State Councillor Choe Ik-hyeon.
King Gojong was greatly displeased with the demand to discard even his own ax, but he was not a person who abandoned the right for personal feelings from the past.
“Yes, the words were too harsh from the young friend.”
However, regardless of responsibility, King Gojong, who feared being resented by the sharp scholar who believed in him completely and openly confronted the Daewongun's headquarters with five characters, remained silent and supported his stance, turning the subject.
“Daewongun, can you handle them?”
“The old minister, who is now old and hard of hearing, cannot bear such heavy responsibilities.”
“...Even if I issue an order.”
This is nonsense.
When the Daewongun first expressed refusal, King Gojong, who knew clearly that it was not a sincere word, barely endured his irritation and issued the order again.
“I was played by the tongues of some officials who sought to be honest and upright while having me by their side. So, even now, thinking of the past friendship with me, shouldn't we return everything to its place and govern the rebellion?”
“Some officials who use some partisan arguments over my impeachment wrote a letter condemning me with the eight characters 'Rebellion against the old system and the corruption of ethics and morals' like a sword. How tragic is this? I earnestly beg that Your Majesty revoke the decree you were about to issue, realizing your own measure, and make the public instrument peaceful. That would be the greatest blessing.”
“Huh.”
“Rebellion against the old system and the corruption of ethics and morals,” King Gojong remembered that this was the phrase Choe Ik-hyeon had used when driving the Daewongun out of the court, and clicked his tongue.
I thought he only had greed for power in his belly, but he was narrow-minded. How did he endure the world's filth for so long?
It was the fact that his own father was a person who contained everything in his belly and chewed it over for a long time.
The king, who completely accepted Choe Ik-hyeon and his faction, and even the in-laws of the queen, and ordered them all to be expelled, finally surrendered.
“Very well. Dismiss the Chief State Councillor Choe Ik-hyeon and dismiss the former Chief State Councillor Heungin-gun as well.”
“Long live!”
Then, the Daewongun shouted “long live” and prostrated himself on the floor, and the old officials who had entered the palace followed him, rolling their feet and bowing, and chanted three times.
“Ah! The ancestors who corrected the righteousness and lifted the tradition in such a profound way, and led the way with self-example to make the people peaceful. The original cause of the current military rebellion was the corrupt officials of the court who colluded with some scoundrels of the Seonhyecheong. How could you think of it as difficult? With this relationship, if Your Majesty, who thinks of the people first, deeply stores the loyalty of the ministers and people who swore loyalty to this dynasty first, the joint memorial written by the Confucian ministers and the righteousness of the scholars nationwide will surely be accepted in the court, I do not doubt.”
Long live! Long live! Long live!
The three chants of long live echoed beyond the palace walls and calmed the entire Hanseong, enough to calm the night when the rebel army was making noise 'wa wa!'
Thus, the victory of the military rebellion was to end with the morning of the Daewongun, with only the king's surrender and the splendid return remaining.
After finishing all the necessary formalities, the Daewongun, pretending to have returned to the gentle old man, was about to leave the palace with his followers when he suddenly turned his head towards the throne as if he had forgotten something and declared to King Gojong.
“Wait, Your Majesty.”
“Listen.”
King Gojong, who had no idea what the old man would demand next, reacted coolly, and the Daewongun declared in an even more pleading voice.
It was as if it was a very important statement.
“Looking at my current situation, even if I am an age where I cannot guard the night even with one door, if Your Majesty revokes the edict issued once, the old minister's gratitude will be beyond words.”
“Now...”
King Gojong, who was about to kick the throne and stand up at the brazen tone, barely bent his flexible waist like the spring of a foreign envoy from before to preserve his seat.
But the anger rose to the top of his head.
How dare you tease the military king!!!
It was because he had requested the revocation of the order issued by the king that severed all transportation to Unhyeongung and took charge of national affairs, the order of the Secretary of State Affairs.
He wants to reverse everything.
This was the demand to completely break the political compromise of 'restore everything' that the old faction had used against the Daewongun.
Staring at the head of this greedy old man for a long time with the words to cut off hands and feet and offer the heart, King Gojong finally sighed.
Because there was no way now.
...It will be what it will be.
“Very well.”
Thus, the victor was his biological father and a minister who had obtained the monstrous power, and King Gojong, who had barely endured the anger until the end, forced a smile and declared.
“Do it.”
“Your grace is overwhelming.”
Thus, the Daewongun, enjoying the joy not befitting his age with cautious steps, paid respects to King Gojong and retired from the court.
“Phew.”
King Gojong, who had wanted to punch the white head of the disappearing father in the heart, finally sighed.
In the empty court, only he remained.
And the next morning, it would definitely be full of the Daewongun's people.
*****
“Now, order the soldiers of each military camp to be disbanded.”
It should have ended like that.
As the victor, the Daewongun, who had prepared to return to Unhyeongung, the center of power, was stopped by his loyal subjects with troubled faces.
“That, it seems difficult now.”
“...What did you say just now?”
“I report respectfully...”
The one who grabbed the Daewongun's foot was Baek Won-sin Jae-hyo, whom he trusted, and the Daewongun, who found it serious, urged him.
“Why aren't you speaking!”
“It is that former military Yu Chun-man and Kim Jang-son, who commanded the military camp soldiers, have captured Min Gyeom-ho, the upper official of Seonhyecheong, and his followers, and are holding out at Gwanghwamun.”
“What kind of nonsense is holding out! Who is holding out against whom? And was the upper official of Seonhyecheong still alive?”
In this situation where he had taken over the full power from the king, how could this be a rebellion?
And how was Min Gyeom-ho alive?
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
When he was at a loss, the attendants explained.
“However, it seems not something to ignore.”
“It is said that the common people who were scattered everywhere in Hanseong have joined them, and the situation is getting worse.”
“Moreover, most of the military camp soldiers who support us are in sympathy with them, so it seems not just a matter of handling it aggressively.”
“So, who exactly, no, stop.”
When reports came one after another that unexpected people had pushed carts to Gwanghwamun in a betrayal that was not betrayal, occupying the civilian areas and holding out, King Gojong, whose anger reached the top of his head, asked his long-time subordinate Cheon Hui-yeon.
“How exactly are they acting?”
To this, Janghan, who lowered his head, answered.
“From what the children heard, they want to immediately behead Min Gyeom-ho and finish off the corrupt officials tonight.”
“Is that the end?”
“They released Baek Nak-gwan, who was imprisoned in Uigeumbu, and informed the Confucian students of Seokgyun-gwan about their situation.”
“Why are you telling me this now!”
“Yes...?”
“The fact that those guys are moving the language road means that they will act without me and directly report to Your Majesty! What kind of mess have you made them turn around!”
“I, I am just...”
When Cheon Hui-yeon's answer came, the Daewongun was furious more than anything else and turned his head towards Gwanghwamun.
And his mind began to become more complicated, as if it would burst.
Oh my god! Those stupid guys thought about the language road!
It was a truly terrifying thing that he hadn't even thought of.
The army that started the rebellion was deviating from his control!
Who is it! What kind of guy blew wind to the soldiers...!
History began to twist.