There Must Be a Reason for This - 2: Do You Know the Pitiful Inspector Captured by Gu Gangwang?
There had to be a reason for it, right? Do you know the pitiful Gamchal Eo-sa—Inspector Escort—captured by Gi Gangwang? Not even someone of royal blood like me, yet he ends up boating with Gi Gangwang. Even I, the eldest grandson of my grandfather and crown prince of the Giwang household, find it overwhelming to attend to him at his side. No matter that I'm the next Giwang in line— he's a reigning king, after all. And not just any Iseongwang; excluding Grandfather, he's the one who stands out with his particular brand of madness and eccentricity.
That's why, the moment I saw the Inspector's report, I scribbled a reply and sent it off—via one of the fastest messenger birds among the jeonseo-eung.
'He'll at least consider letting him go if I ask.'
The Inspector currently with Gi Gangwang isn't just handling Gu Gang territory—he covers all of northern Jiangxi too. If it were only Gu Gang, boating with the king wouldn't be a big deal, but sadly, that's not the case. While he's held captive by Gi Gangwang, investigations in northern Jiangxi are indefinitely postponed. So I begged Gi Gangwang to please release the Inspector, let him disembark and carry out the Emperor's orders. Who knows how many weeks or months it'd take if Gi Gangwang got serious about sweeping the water bandits clean.
'Why the hell is he even keeping him around in the first place?'
I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Why had Gi Gangwang brought an innocent Inspector onto his fleet? Why drag him along on a water bandit extermination? Even racking my brains for some motive, I couldn't guess it. At the same time, a nagging doubt crept in: with Gi Gangwang, maybe there wasn't a reason—maybe he was just bored. But I couldn't resolve the question. Our relationship was strictly hierarchical. A subordinate can make requests of a superior, but not interrogate him about "why the hell did you do that?"
'Get too close, and it'll just wear me out.'
Decisively, my gut screamed that prying would trigger some new event. Hearing Gi Gangwang's backstory would force a fresh incident on me—that kind of instinct. Usually, you follow those hunches. So I shoved aside the trivial curiosity and focused on getting the Inspector back to duty.
'Thank goodness I'm in the capital.'
I breathed a genuine sigh of relief. If I'd been touring the provinces, I'd be the one captured by Gi Gangwang. "Hey, it's Han Un again!" he'd say, and naturally drag me onto the fleet. No doubt about it. So for this incident, just focus on getting the Inspector off the boat. Gi Gangwang pulling stunts like this wasn't new, anyway.
A few days later, Gi Gangwang's reply arrived.
The Emperor's order to assess murim's forces is for more efficient control of murim. Water bandits can be counted among the unorthodox murim factions that the state must govern. Thus, scouting and subduing them fulfills the imperial command.
The unorthodox murim, led by water bandits, unlike the orthodox sects, lack permanent bases. To show the Inspector in charge of the Yangtze region the smooth process of scouting and subduing them—that is my intent. Han Un, you needn't worry.
"Ah."
It was a fairly long reply, but boiled down, it meant he was keeping the Inspector aboard. I squeezed my eyes shut. In the end, I couldn't save the poor guy from his wretched fate. He'd spend at least a few weeks living on that boat before finally disembarking.
'It's not wrong, technically...'
The real problem was how plausible Gi Gangwang's justification sounded. Personally, I questioned if water bandits even qualified as murim folk, but traditionally, river or mountain bandits trained in martial arts were treated as unorthodox murim. If you interpreted the Emperor's orders broadly and proactively, scouting bandits counted as fulfilling them. And he even framed dragging the Inspector around as "demonstrating the scouting and subjugation process."
Water bandits were like bugs that cropped up even in peaceful times. Eventually, others besides Gi Gangwang would have to hunt them down, and he'd apparently chosen this Inspector as one potential successor.
'Hard to argue against that.'
Of course, I couldn't know if he was purely grooming a successor or just bored and making excuses to avoid admitting it. Digging deeper would only tire me out, so accepting his rationale was best for everyone.
'Gotta delegate to another inspector.'
After some thought, I drafted a new letter. With the northern Jiangxi Inspector temporarily unavailable, assign it to another nearby. Waiting for him to disembark was a waste of time. But ordering a bureaucrat to handle someone else's turf on top of his own was harsh. Toss in some support funds or a few days' leave to keep complaints down.
Not that complaints mattered much. Bureaucrats grumble, but they do what they're told from above. I'd toured the Central Plains on those orders myself. Northern Jiangxi was a neighborhood stroll compared to that. If they dared complain instead of being grateful, smash their heads in.
After sending my reply to Han Un, there'd been no further word. He'd either bought my logic or decided it was easier to pretend he had—and given up asking more. Thanks to that, the Inspector behind me gazed wistfully at the Yangtze, a bitter look on his face. He must feel guilty for shirking imperial duty while aboard. What an outstanding, diligent fellow. With more bureaucrats like him, Daesong's future was bright.
"Don't worry too much. With Han Un's personality, he's probably sent someone to cover for you. Just relax here until you can disembark."
"...Truly, Your Highness, your words humble me."
Overwhelmed with emotion, the Inspector bowed with a trembling voice.
'This is experience too.'
I gave the Inspector a satisfied look, then turned back to the Yangtze. Even Hwagyeong masters eventually heed heaven's call and depart this world. When that day came, someone had to fill my shoes—and no single person seemed up to it, no matter how I pondered. What could I do? Start steadily training the lads around the Yangtze now. If one couldn't fill the gap, several could share it. Let multiple bureaucrats shoulder my burden.
'This too is the Emperor's will.'
With the founding merits aging—the heroes who'd built Daesong alongside Emperor Taizu—the Emperor ordered a full murim survey. Beyond just exterminating the realm's parasites, it carried another intent: entrust murim not to us doddering old guards, but to young, vigorous officials. Teach the youth how to handle murim. For a new era, for the pillars of tomorrow—that was the imperial command. This old man had no choice but to uphold it. That was a king's duty—
"Your Highness."
"What is it?"
I turned to my deputy, who approached at a brisk pace.
"The water bandits we captured yesterday said something odd."
"Odd, you say?"
That piqued my interest. My deputy usually filtered routine intel; if he was reporting directly, it had to be truly unusual.
"Well..."
The deputy glanced at the Inspector, then came close and whispered in my ear.
"They say there's a hidden bandit base nearby—an alleged tomb of Huinam Wang."
"Eh?"
I was genuinely stunned. I hadn't expected that level of peculiarity.
Huinam Wang, Yeongpo. During Han Taizu's struggle with the Xichu Overlord for Central Plains hegemony, he'd defected from the Overlord's service to Taizu's. A brilliant strategist, he'd racked up merits, and after unification, was enfeoffed as Duke of Huinan—a founding hero. But he'd rebelled with ambitions of emperorship himself, only to be crushed and meet a wretched end as a traitor.
"That bastard's tomb is around here?"
"That's their claim, Your Highness. And Huinam Wang's homeland is Gu Gang, isn't it? They say whoever recovered his body secretly built a tomb back in his native soil."
"Hah."
Hard to believe. He wasn't just accused of treason—he'd actually rebelled. How'd they even recover the body, let alone build a tomb?
'Of all places, buried here.'
And a traitor's tomb in Gu Gang rubbed me the wrong way. Huinam Wang's former title had been Gu Gangwang too, which already made me twitchy. The rebellion happened under Huinam, but the guy who'd been called Gu Gangwang revolting soured the name for me.
"We have to check it out, right?"
"Yes. Whether it's truly Huinam Wang's tomb is secondary—the bandits' claim of it being a base is solid."
"Tch. Can't bandits just stick to drifting the Yangtze like proper bandits? Why dig up graves and cause trouble."
We didn't know the exact location yet, but no sane tomb-builder would put it on the river. Probably near some narrow tributary—too shallow for the fleet. Our ships could blockade the entrance, but ground access went to the land forces.
"We'll approach overland. Prepare accordingly."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Inspector. Come here a moment."
Once my deputy withdrew on my orders, I beckoned the Inspector, who'd kept his distance.
Details could wait until we confirmed it was Huinam Wang's tomb. Raising a fuss over a false alarm would be embarrassing. Still, if Gu Gangwang's troops mobilized en masse without warning, Dochalwon would freak. A vague heads-up about a search was the right call.
A few days later again. The Inspector with Gi Gangwang sent word. Not just the fleet—Gi Gangwang was mobilizing his army too.
'What the hell.'
My head throbbed. What on earth was he doing that required the water bandit slayer to deploy ground troops? It was frightening. If things kept escalating, a massive event would roll my way whether I wanted it or not.