The National Declaration
“Well, it seems you’ll have to relinquish that position now.”
“Please. I beg you. At the very least, spare my reign from being the one that brings ruin.”
Of course he would be terrified. After all, as long as he remained emperor, that much resolve would linger in him. Not quite responsibility, but something close. I’m the emperor. If I’m forced to abdicate or the dynasty collapses, I’ll be the one cursed for it! He would at least possess that much instinct. That was why he stared at me with such desperate eyes.
I had considered keeping someone like him around. But precisely because he was that sort of man, if he decided to dig in his heels, it would become troublesome. How many countries in the world still operated under absolute monarchy at this point in history? The answer was obvious.
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. This is not ruin. There are not many absolute monarchies left in the world. And those that remain are mostly weak, half-mad states.”
“What nonsense are you— what are you saying?”
“This is simply the flow of the times. The more educated the people become, the more they naturally question absolute rule.”
Once the masses awakened from ignorance, why would they quietly obey an emperor’s command? How many citizens would still follow a monarch who had grown incompetent in his later years and was consumed only by the hunger for imperial authority? The people would never forgive a royal house that cared nothing for them and sought only to strengthen the throne in the name of preserving “the nation.”
“Then you’re saying collapse is inevitable?”
“It is not collapse. It is merely returning the power you have held until now to the people.”
I scooped up a handful of soil from a nearby flowerpot and let it trickle through my fingers. It was nothing more than returning the authority that an incompetent imperial family had monopolized back to the nation. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Then… could we not keep the monarchy, like England?”
Keep the monarchy. Yes, I had considered that possibility if the imperial family tried to endure somehow. But Lady Eom had ruined everything.
“We intended to. But Lady Eom’s actions made it impossible. Now that the people have turned their backs on the throne, even preserving it as a symbol would be difficult.”
I shook my head lightly, as if regretful. I laid all the blame at Lady Eom’s feet. The people’s will had already abandoned the imperial house.
“Then… what becomes of me?”
Prince Yeong tried to keep his expression steady, but his voice trembled.
“The French emperor once lost his head to the guillotine. You know what a guillotine is, don’t you? It simply… severs the neck.”
I drew a casual line across my own throat. Choose wisely. People would struggle to survive if given the chance. I judged that even our dear Prince Yeong possessed at least as much self-preservation instinct as Yi Wan-yong.
“S-surely not…”
“Of course, if Your Majesty makes the right choice, you will be remembered as the last emperor who honorably returned power to the people.”
At the very least, he would avoid the fate of England’s Charles or Louis XVI. A guillotine ending would also look barbaric to the outside world. I had no desire for that outcome.
“Then what will happen to the palace?”
“Seokjojeon will become the new government’s administrative building, and the palaces will be opened as tourist sites.”
“In that case, where am I supposed to—”
If he was asking where he would live, there was only one answer. Honestly, I could provide him with something far more comfortable than a palace. In this era, nothing beat a Western-style building. Though perhaps not quite as grand as Seokjojeon.
“Even so, we will prepare a modern residence more comfortable than the palace, along with a pension. There is no need to worry.”
“To suddenly abandon the palace like this…”
“Of course, you may remain in the palace for the time being. But eventually you will have to leave.”
This was already more than generous. I was being as considerate as possible. Therefore, he needed to properly let go of everything now. The palace issue would resolve itself anyway. The Japanese had failed to extinguish the fire last time, leaving few buildings standing. It almost seemed deliberate. Still, there were enough structures left. I intended to let Yi Cheok stay until a suitable house could be prepared.
“Is that truly so?”
“Yes. We will also assign guards.”
They would be little more than wardens, but he would accept them as protection. After all, there would still be factions hoping to restore the Korean Empire for some time.
With that, persuading Yi Cheok was finished. All that remained was to close the door on the imperial house.
In Hanseong of the Korean Empire, Emperor Yi Cheok stood upon the podium wearing the royal crown. Before him, those who had once been his subjects waited in solemn silence for his words. This would be his final address as Emperor of the Korean Empire. He began the speech we had prepared for him.
“The ancestral shrines and state altars of this nation were a lie.”
He began with denial. He was rejecting the very foundation of five hundred years of dynastic rule. Surely Gojong and all the previous kings of Joseon would have wanted to silence him. Yet if we wished to uproot every remaining pro-monarchy force, the emperor himself had to deliver the blow.
“King U of the preceding Goryeo dynasty stepped forward to reclaim Liaodong, knowing full well it was impossible, all to protect the Arirang people’s right to survival and to resist foreign domination. He did so even though he knew the Joseon that would rise from the Wihwado Rebellion would serve the Ming as its parent state.”
Now came the full glorification of Goryeo. King U’s reckless northern expedition was reframed as something he had to attempt.
“However, the ambitious Taejo Go Hwangje—my ancestor, Yi Seong-gye—turned his army back at Wihwado to seize the throne. As a result, Goryeo fell. For five hundred years we called the Ming our parent state and offered tribute and palace women. Even after declaring ourselves an empire, we took pride in succeeding the Ming. Joseon and the Korean Empire were nothing more than the private domain of the Yi clan. For the Korean people—and by extension the Arirang people—it was no different from hell. It was simply tragic. Yes, the Korean people who lived as subjects of the Korean Empire were essentially colonized by the Yi family. Not content with that, we squeezed the people’s lifeblood to offer it to the Ming we called our parent. That was no different from betraying the nation. This is treason against the people. Now, as the final emperor of the Yi clan, I wish to relinquish everything and return to my proper place.”
Even the remaining Confucian scholars hiding in the crowd would be shocked. The emperor was personally denying the Yi imperial house. He was stripping away any justification they might have used to rally.
“This recent coup was no different! Lady Eom launched the coup to use me as a tool to suck the marrow from the people!”
He betrayed even Lady Eom, who had tried to protect him until the very end. Of course, Lady Eom had only wanted to preserve Yi Cheok so she could install Prince Yeong as heir. Still, she had acted to protect him. Now Yi Cheok was cutting everyone away to save himself. From a personal standpoint, this was the best decision his mind could reach. To survive, one had to do anything. Whether offering one’s body or betraying others, as long as one lived, the future remained possible. Having lived in such a world myself, I judged that Prince Yeong had acted with commendable prudence.
“I, Yi Cheok, Emperor of the Korean Empire, hereby transfer all authority held by the imperial house to the people as of today. From this day forward, I, Yi Cheok, shall live as an ordinary citizen of the new nation! This is the National Declaration!”
The emperor’s National Declaration. It was both the closing of the five-hundred-year Joseon dynasty and the Korean Empire, and the moment the emperor became merely another citizen whom the people no longer had to revere.
Thunderous applause erupted. By personally denying the imperial house, he had made the citizens’ suppression of the coup seem entirely justified. I clapped enthusiastically beside him. Startled, Yi Cheok glanced around nervously before removing his royal crown and handing it to me.
“Your Imperial Majesty has made a statesmanlike decision. No—Citizen Yi Cheok. Through your choice, a new millennium for the Korean people has begun.”
“Thank you.”
Thus Yi Cheok stepped down from emperor to ordinary citizen. It was the natural ending. At least he had avoided being shot like his father or facing an actual guillotine. That was fortunate enough.
“The shackles that once bound the Korean people are now in my hands! If I burn them, this world will become one without the chains of a Son of Heaven!”
I swept my gaze across the crowd. There were people in hanbok, in Western suits, and in traditional overcoats. Even a few curious foreigners watching from afar. Among those wearing overcoats and horsehair hats, the elderly wept loudly as though the nation itself had fallen. Ah, so those were the ones. But they no longer possessed the strength to oppose us. They could only watch in powerless despair. They must have already sensed that the imperial house was finished. Perhaps some still hoped I would establish a new dynasty.
“Even the Qing dynasty of China has fully ceded the title of Son of Heaven to us. Now that this outdated position has vanished, what a glorious day this is!”
I tossed the royal crown I held into the prepared brazier.
“With this, monarchy is completely abolished in this nation! Long live the Arirang people! Long live Hongikism!”
“““Long live the Arirang people! Long live Hongikism!”””
Thus the Korean Empire came to an end. In the history I would leave behind, I would portray it somewhat favorably: the emperor who relinquished power because maintaining the throne had become impossible against the people’s will.
Following the National Declaration, the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction decided Yi Cheok’s treatment.
“Although he has abdicated and closed the empire’s doors, Yi Cheok was once emperor. Would it not be proper to bestow a posthumous title upon him?”
Bestowing a posthumous title was customary, but doing so now felt rather like rubbing salt in the wound. You’re the imperial family of a fallen state now—useless. In truth, that was the only meaning such titles held at present. Even I, devil though I was, would not go that far. We would simply grant him the temple name Sunjong, while he lived he would be called Iwang. That would suffice.
“Let us record him as Sunjong, and while he lives, refer to him as Iwang.”
“Iwang… Not bad.”
It had originally been a title granted by Japan, but now everything had changed.
“Now then, it is time to try the traitors as well.”
The imperial house was truly finished. As if to prove it, the execution dates for the leaders of the recent coup were set.
“Shall we borrow a guillotine?”
The French seemed eager to lend one. They were acting rather friendly, as though they believed we were the same sort. Of course, I had once claimed we would become the France of Asia, but that had been mere lip service. To secure our survival rights, we needed to become a war machine like Germany. In any case, Lady Eom was definitely sentenced to hanging. Min Yeong-hwan and Bak Seung-hwan would follow her to the gallows. I had been tempted to behead Lady Eom, but it would have been unseemly to do so in front of Prince Yeong. He had been outside at the time, and we could not apply guilt by association. Besides, he genuinely seemed unaware of the details, so we could not touch him. However—
“Please, Governor of Southern Manchuria. I beg you. Is there truly no way?”
Prince Yeong came to me and pleaded. He begged me to spare his mother.
“Many people died because of this incident, Your Highness. They turned the people into enemies. The citizens demand Lady Eom’s head.”
It was impossible. No matter how much leniency we showed, some things could not be overlooked. If we did not deal with them during this purge, when would we? Especially Lady Eom—she would surely continue trying to repay the debt she owed to the military until her dying breath. The people were no longer fools enough to be swayed by agitation, but it was best to avoid unnecessary trouble. Prince Yeong, you only survived because Prince Ui negotiated for you.
“I will beg like this. She is still a royal consort. Can nothing be done?”
What could I say? I found that ugly woman repulsive. She had obstructed me at every turn and insisted on remaining loyal to the imperial house until death. How could I possibly leave her alive?
“Haa… I did not wish to say this, but Your Highness was also in danger.”
You were in danger too. So be quiet. You should understand exactly why I have tolerated you until now.
“What do you mean?”
“When news of Lady Eom’s execution spread, there were calls to arrest Prince Yeong under guilt by association. They claimed you must have known.”
“That is absurd! I have no interest in the throne! I even tried to dissuade my mother on a regular basis!”
Prince Yeong vehemently denied it. I did not know everything, of course. Honestly, I had considered imprisoning him, but upon investigation I found not even the smallest pretext to do so. If there had been any reasonable justification, it might have been different.