Beijing Calls Me
The emperor who ruled Daegyeong, Emperor Sungui, was young.
For a man who threw himself into state affairs with such tireless energy, it was only natural that reports of the upheavals in Sichuan would eventually reach his ears.
He simply chose not to let anyone know that he already knew.
“So they’re still burying it, are they?”
A smile full of killing intent curved Emperor Sungui’s lips. The Grand Eunuch bowed low.
“Yes, Your Majesty. A report on the new means of transport in Sichuan Province did reach the Grand Secretariat… yet it vanished somewhere along the way and was never presented.”
“Hmm… this one is rather large.”
The emperor tapped the armrest of the dragon throne with a fingertip.
“Transport is the single most critical factor one must weigh in any military campaign. A major change has taken place in the roads of a province, and they hid it from me. Does that not amount to harboring treasonous intent?”
In plain language it was a chilling declaration that he intended to use the affair as a pretext to brand his ministers rebels and stage a grand bloodletting. The Grand Eunuch kept his head lowered.
“I tremble to speak so boldly, yet I fear that the mere construction of new roads provides insufficient justification for a charge of treason. We might strike down a few factions at once, but a thorough purging would be impossible. Might Your Majesty wait a little longer…?”
“Tch. What a waste.”
Emperor Sungui released a short sigh, then his eyes glittered as he scanned the report again.
“I took notice when they built the State-run Ironworks two years ago. I was impressed when they stopped the locust plague last year. This time I simply cannot look the other way. What in heaven’s name has been happening in Sichuan that they keep producing results so utterly unlike anything before?”
“Your Majesty, from what this servant has ascertained, every single change in Sichuan Province springs from one man: the legitimate heir of the Dang Family of Sichuan, a youth named Dang Hui-yeom.”
“The Dang Family?”
“An old local clan that once held the vested interests of the entire Sichuan region. At present they have no high officials serving in court. As a martial family, however, their roots run deep. Thirty-three years ago they were nearly ruined defending against the Demonic Cult’s invasion; yet in the last decade or so their fortunes have risen with dazzling speed. According to the reports submitted by agents of the Dongchang, from the very first spark of that recovery to the present day there is nothing in which this Hui-yeom has not had a hand.”
“…A young prodigy who raised a collapsing house with his own hands.”
The corners of Emperor Sungui’s mouth lifted.
“I want to see him. And I want to have him.”
“It shall be so.”
The Grand Eunuch bent even lower.
And that was how Dang Hui-yeom came to receive an imperial summons stamped with Emperor Sungui’s jade seal.
Once an imperial summons arrived, refusal was not an option.
After kneeling and performing the full rites before the overbearing messenger and receiving the decree, Hui-yeom had no choice but to prepare for the journey to Beijing.
“Why would the imperial court suddenly summon you…? Surely they are angry about the mountain we bored through?”
Hui-yeom smiled at Dang Un-sang’s worry.
“If His Majesty were angry he would have sent ropes, not a summons. Most likely he finds it curious that someone out in the provinces has been cheerfully hammering out construction projects no one has ever heard of.”
“…Isn’t that dangerous in its own right? What if they drag every last secret of our family’s enterprises out of you once you’re up there…?”
“Well, it isn’t as though we can resist, is it? We’ll simply have to find the profitable path between the rocks.”
I’ve never dealt with an emperor’s tantrum before, but the tantrums of twenty-first-century shareholders, or the national-level tantrums of America, Europe, and China when they decided to play protectionist, weren’t exactly gentle either.
Hui-yeom felt no particular tension.
As long as the emperor was not sending troops with the message “You dog, vomit up everything you know if you want to live!” but was summoning him through proper channels, the man was willing to bargain.
Dang Un-sang clicked his tongue at his son’s fearless composure.
“I’ve never been called a coward among martial men, yet I truly wonder what your guts are made of…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take the chance to breathe a little Beijing air and come back.”
It was unavoidable in any case.
Anyone aiming to become the foremost family of the Central Plains would inevitably collide and negotiate with the center. Taking the temperature of the capital now was important.
“…So that’s how it is. Please look after everything while I’m away.”
“…Ghk… y-yes…”
Dang Un-sang answered in the strangled voice of a man whose throat was being crushed.
Elder Bak Chang-eon had been giggling like a madman for some time.
“Heehee! Heeheeheehee! You start roadworks in every direction and then run away by yourself! Heeheehee!”
“…Or would you like to go meet His Majesty in my place?”
“Safe travels, Young Master. May your martial fortune be everlasting.”
Yes—being crushed under a mountain of work was still preferable to an audience with the emperor.
Everyone present shared that thought.
“Ye-eun.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“You’re my other self. You’re coming with me. Select three capable agents from the Minjeongwon.”
The Minjeongwon was not composed solely of ordinary commoners—deliverymen, soap-sellers, debt collectors. Once the organization had taken solid shape, Ye-eun, with the approval of both Hui-yeom and Dang Un-sang, had begun training special agents drawn from veterans of the Sakpungdae and from the orphans raised by the Dang Family at Jiju-so. These so-called black agents had endured years of training harsh enough to rival anything the Military Affairs Bureau or the Dongchang could offer.
Ye-eun bowed.
“As you command.”
“Lee Jinmyeong.”
“Yes!”
“Make sure the hand-over is flawless so the Inner Court keeps running smoothly while you’re gone.”
“…I’m going as well?”
“You’re my secretary. I can’t leave you out of the most important experience of all.”
“…It is an honor.”
Even while wearing the pained expression of a man drowning in unfinished work and transfer duties, Lee Jinmyeong nodded as though genuinely moved.
“Captain Dang Su-jeong.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Will you protect me?”
“Of course. I would have been hurt if you’d asked anyone else.”
Dang Su-jeong answered with the bright smile of someone who had been waiting for exactly this.
“Besides, it’s the perfect chance to field-test the newly modified Hagyeongchong, isn’t it?”
“Ah. True enough.”
Hui-yeom himself was curious about the performance of a proper pepperbox revolver that used a spring mechanism.
“Paper cartridges! Please, please test the paper cartridges as well, little brother!! No—I’ll go too! I’m coming toooooo!!”
“No.” “Absolutely not.” “Get lost.”
Dang Unhwa let out a roaring Kwaaaaah! only to wilt like a desiccated jellyfish when Hui-yeom, Dang Un-sang, and Dang Su-jeong cut him off in perfect unison.
Watching a fully grown adult snivel and whine was… deeply unappealing.
“Khuhuhuuk… I wanted to see them used in real combat…”
“You’ve already done endless test firings—why are you like this…?”
“But it’s different in real combat!! Even if the reload speed has improved, I need to know whether it reloads cleanly and fires properly while moving roughly!! I’m dying of curiosityyyyy!!”
The paper cartridge was the next-generation round Dang Unhwa had developed under Hui-yeom’s direction.
The concept was simple. Instead of the old matchlock method of pouring black powder and a ball then applying fire (Dang Su-jeong’s Hagyeongchong was different—it used Explosive Poison converted from her internal energy rather than powder), they had jumped straight to a unitary cartridge combining bullet and propellant.
In the original history it had taken a long time for such cartridges to appear, mainly because the development of fulminate of mercury lagged. The production method itself, however, was not difficult at all: nitric acid, mercury, sulfur, and ethanol were all that was required. Of those, nitric acid was the hardest to obtain in the Central Plains—except for the Sichuan Dang Family. As a house of poison, the Dangs already possessed the techniques to research and manufacture acids such as nitric and sulfuric acid.
Of course, to Dang clansmen who had always thought of acids merely as substances for burning and dissolving things, the idea that Hui-yeom could turn those same acids into explosives was still rather miraculous.
In any case, they packed paper casings with fulminate of mercury and black powder, then seated a bullet in the nose. The stiff, wax-impregnated paper casings completely sealed out moisture—the eternal enemy of black powder. This was the breech-loading paper cartridge used even into the American Civil War: a bullet whose case was made of paper.
Watching Dang Unhwa thrash about on the floor in a blood-pressure-raising display that screamed “I’m going out too! The marten is going out!”, Hui-yeom sighed.
“Director Dang Unhwa.”
“I’m going! Me too! I’m going to shoot paper bullets bang-bang! At bandits!!”
“Shall we just toss him onto Green Mountain?”
“…Leave it. I’m afraid Green Mountain would take it as a declaration of war.”
Dang Un-sang clicked his tongue at Dang Su-jeong’s remark.
We’ve formed an alliance with a bandit group, unofficial though it may be—watch your mouths a little! Be careful!
“Director Dang Unhwa, if you keep this up I won’t tell you about the new explosives.”
The password that shut Dang Unhwa up was not some string of numbers; it was the promise of new explosives.
As if by magic the rampage stopped. Dang Unhwa’s eyes spun as he stared at Hui-yeom.
“New… explosives?”
“I think it’s about time we prepared explosives for base defense. I’ve been sketching something suitable for outposts or the approaches to mountain tunnels… not interested?”
“I am! I am! Hand over the blueprints right now and there will be no bloodshed.”
“If you don’t shut up and sit quietly I’ll bury you forever in a department that never even smells gunpowder, so be quiet.”
“Hup.”
Instead of scolding Hui-yeom for using vulgar language toward his uncle, Dang Un-sang wore the expression of a man whose headache had just lifted.
“When is that one ever going to grow up? At least he still listens to you—thank heaven for small mercies.”
“If we leave the new explosives development to him he’ll stay quiet until I return.”
“Good.”
Hui-yeom handed over the scroll containing the information he had organized on the new explosives. Dang Unhwa instantly transformed into an English gentleman.
Given that he threw tantrums and wrecked the place whenever he didn’t get what he wanted, the phrase “English gentleman” felt remarkably apt.
Hui-yeom then turned his gaze to Sama Yun.
“Having you along makes me feel secure, Yun-mae.”
Sama Yun smiled sweetly.
“If our in-laws set off for Beijing and we simply sat on our hands, the name of the Sama Clan would weep. Don’t worry. Our blood relatives in the capital are already moving to assist the Dang Family.”
“The checks will be no joke, I assume?”
At Hui-yeom’s question Sama Yun let out a small sigh.
“I’ll explain on the way. It turns out the Minister of Justice has rather more bad karma than expected.”
“Bad karma? Ah, I understand.”
When a nobody suddenly starts succeeding, people whose stomachs hurt always appear.
Hui-yeom gave a short laugh. Sama Yun watched his profile for a moment, then spoke.
“Dang-gaga, I have a question. Are you completely uninterested in the seat that stands above all others yet beneath only one?”
“Chief Grand Secretary of the Cabinet? You’re telling me to enter the Grand Secretariat and aim for the top post?”
The Chief Grand Secretary—formally Grand Academician of the Cabinet—was, for all the fine distinctions, roughly equivalent to a modern prime minister.
“I think you could manage it, Dang-gaga. With the help of our Sama Clan we could push aside the interference of the Eight Great Families of the Empire and—”
“Hey now, let’s call things by their proper names. If the Sama Clan already had that kind of power they would have produced a Chief Grand Secretary long ago. Trying to stick a straw into your son-in-law’s ability and then acting as if you’re doing him a favor by saying ‘We’re willing to invest’ is a little…”
“Wow. Is that any way to speak of your wife’s family? Maybe I should just leave you to face the fierce waves of Beijing politics alone.”
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me. The Sama Clan is the foremost house under heaven; this is recorded even on the oracle bones of the Zhou Dynasty…”
“Oh, honestly.”
Sama Yun shot him a pretty glare and lightly slapped his forearm.
“Well, speaking seriously, I have a family to succeed.”
“A pity. I really thought we could make one Chief Grand Secretary.”
“Before we talk about the Chief Grand Secretary, let’s start by having the Dang Family and the Sama Clan knock aside the center’s checks. So—who exactly is our enemy?”
Sama Yun dropped the sidelong look and put on her usual radiant smile.
“Why, the Jegal Family, of course.”