The Secret Pact
Hui-yeom felt his conjecture solidifying into certainty.
No matter how exalted an emperor might be, even he could not browbeat the Chief Eunuch of the realm into silence.
Bowing his head, Hui-yeom continued.
"I thought that if we strengthened the Embroidered Uniform Guard instead, Your Majesty might worry that their power would grow too bloated.
Above all, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is a place where the influence of the two great houses of Beijing runs strong."
"Hmm."
"The easiest way to reduce the influence of a martial group is not to leave them as irreplaceable firefighters, but to instill in them the awareness that they are mere watchdogs who can be replaced at any moment.
And gunpowder, I dare say, can become the most effective club for beating those dogs."
"A club for beating dogs."
"Yes! A club. A club has no school, no sect, no master-disciple bond. It has no thoughts of its own.
Unlike martial artists—those hunting dogs who would throw even their lives away for family or master-disciple ties—gunpowder does not choose its targets.
It requires only two things.
Can you monopolize the secret of gunpowder?
Can you project that power solely against your enemies?
I guarantee that if you arm the personal guards who protect Your Majesty with gunpowder weapons, they will transform into a powerful armed force capable of replacing the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Not that we need to eliminate the Guard, of course.
Simply sending a signal is enough.
I can boil you alive whenever I please, so don't get any funny ideas and stick to your duty as a watchdog… that sort of thing."
"A rather savage theory."
"Is it? If one could tame the vested interests with the sayings of Confucius and Mencius, that would indeed be a magnificent achievement… but even Confucius himself gave up on that, did he not?"
At Hui-yeom's words, Hwangsa stared fixedly at him for a moment.
And a short while later—
"Keh, kehkehkeh."
He burst into laughter so loud it seemed the room itself would collapse.
"Kehahahahahahaha!!!"
After laughing for a long while, Hwangsa glared at Hui-yeom and said,
"Since when did you know?"
"I knew from the beginning, but as Your Majesty seemed to wish to conceal your identity, I sought to divine that intent and pretended not to know. Please forgive this ignorant one's rudeness. Long live, long live, long long live!"
As Hui-yeom prostrated himself fully and offered the triple cheer of "manse" reserved solely for the emperor, Hwangsa—no, Emperor Sungui—smirked.
"Bold! Truly a bold one!
Fine, let me ask one more thing. You said you would pass the secret of gunpowder to me, did you not?
What if I were to say that now only the imperial family and the Dang Family know the secret of gunpowder in this world, so the Dang Family should disappear—what then would you do?"
"I would dare call that an unnecessary worry."
"An unnecessary worry? Why?"
"If Your Majesty lacked such a grand vision, you would already have become a mere puppet whose initiative had been stolen by the Eight Great Families of the Empire."
Even as he spoke, Hui-yeom felt a chill at the nape of his neck.
Though still only Chief Eunuch Jang-in, Emperor Sungui, and himself were present, a murderous aura that seemed ready to take his head at any moment washed over him.
Yet Hui-yeom instead wore a calm smile as he continued.
"Do you think gunpowder is the only thing I can create? Roads linking all of Sichuan, railways, trains and other new products, pesticides and fertilizers that drastically raise agricultural yields—have you not considered the impact when such things spread throughout the Central Plains?
And would that even be the end?
I am only seventeen years old.
If you insist on cutting open the goose that lays the golden eggs, well, I would simply laugh aloud at the misfortune of being born in this country and quietly let my belly be slit.
But a wise sovereign like Your Majesty would never make such a shortsighted choice."
"Kehahat, kehahaha! Getting better and better!"
Emperor Sungui slapped his knee as he spoke.
"I shall prepare a seat for you in the cabinet. Starting as a Grand Secretary, why not oust the Grand Councilor and take that position for yourself?
Having a fellow with guts as thick as yours and a head stuffed full of ideas sitting as Grand Councilor would make my politics much easier—that is why I say this."
"I am truly overwhelmed by your words, but I am the eldest grandson. I have a duty to succeed the family, so I must tearfully decline."
"Mmm… a pity. A real pity."
Emperor Sungui said,
"What do you want?"
"Due to its location in the provinces, the Sichuan Dang Family would find it difficult to become Your Majesty's limbs and the sword that cuts down the Eight Great Families of the Empire.
However, we will wholeheartedly offer everything necessary for that purpose.
Moreover, please use the Sama Clan as Your Majesty's finest blade.
We would be content merely to hear the words that we will not be boiled after the hunt is over."
"How could I refuse such words? Rather, I wish to ask you. Twisting words to one's advantage is a virtue of politicians, yet can you trust my mere verbal promise?"
"This humble one and the Dang Family are ultimately subjects of Gyeong. If Your Majesty bids us live, we will return alive even from the jaws of death; if you bid us die, we will humbly accept death."
"Enough with the unnecessary empty formalities. Speak your true heart honestly."
"If I may earnestly request one thing: entrust the production and supply of gunpowder entirely to our Dang Family.
This will give us the conviction that as long as we make gunpowder, Your Majesty will not cast us aside, and it will prevent the secrets of gunpowder from spreading to other unscrupulous parties."
"Hoho, but those words mean the Dang Family can monopolize gunpowder, which could also be heard as saying that if things go wrong, they could raise a rebellion?"
"You may keep hostages or pledges within the palace. Or station Dongchang supervisors permanently at the Dang Family. Do as Your Majesty wishes."
"Treating us like the feudal lords of old, is it. Hmm… very well. I shall consider it deeply."
"Your imperial grace is boundless."
"Finally, what is your goal?"
At Emperor Sungui's words, Hui-yeom smiled brightly.
"To aid Your Majesty in creating a world where all under heaven laugh, eat well and live well, and to live receiving benefits within that world."
"In the end, is that not saying you will become a parasite leeching off the empire's glory?"
"Please call me a bluebird in the barley field. One that pecks at the planthoppers devouring the barley, and sings in a beautiful voice of peace under heaven and Your Majesty's sagely virtue."
"Hahat! Hahahaha! Truly a tongue worth ten thousand gold! Excellent!"
Emperor Sungui said,
"Begin the mass production of gunpowder. The goal is first to arm one thousand of my personal guards."
Hui-yeom bowed his head.
"I receive the imperial command. Long live, long live, long long live!"
After Hui-yeom had left the guesthouse, Emperor Sungui sat in Chief Eunuch Jang-in's seat of honor, sipping wine and ruminating on the earlier conversation.
Noticing Chief Eunuch Jang-in's hesitation as he watched him, Emperor Sungui turned his head and asked,
"Do you think I was rash, Jang-in?"
Chief Eunuch Jang-in refilled the empty cup and said,
"How could this humble servant dare speak of Your Majesty's decisive judgment?"
"If you have something to say, say it."
"…Then, though it is presumptuous to report…"
Taking a deep breath, Chief Eunuch Jang-in poured out his inner thoughts.
"Granting the Dang Family a monopoly on gunpowder production risks excessively strengthening their power.
If they were to arm themselves with that gunpowder and rise in rebellion, I fear we would find ourselves in a difficult position."
"Ah, that matter."
Emperor Sungui nodded.
"I admit it. I too have not failed to consider that possibility."
"But…"
"Earlier that fellow expressed gunpowder as a club for beating dogs. Besides the fact that a club, unlike a dog, cannot bite its master, there is another difference between a club and a dog. What do you think that is?"
"…I am sorry that I cannot yet fathom Your Majesty's lofty intent."
"Kehkehkeh, it is that a club necessarily requires someone to swing it."
Emperor Sungui laughed heartily as he spoke.
"Making enemies of the Eight Great Families in the central government and making an enemy of the Sichuan Dang Family are entirely different matters.
The Eight Great Families have influence stretching here and there. What does that mean? Even if I resolve to root out the rebellious Eight Great Families, it is impossible for me to mobilize the empire's million-strong golden army entirely.
Those who follow my orders, those loyal only to the Eight Great Families, those walking the tightrope between, those playing politics, those raising armies to seize a position amid the chaos—every sort of chaos would break out.
But once I have cleaned up the central government, checking a single Dang Family becomes all too easy.
In terms of location as well, it is not a position that can stab the empire's heart, but a far-off corner, is it not?
No matter how they arm themselves with weapons made from that gunpowder, they will have no choice but to kneel before the million-strong army I mobilize.
In the end, a shortage of people is the Dang Family's greatest weakness."
"I see… this humble one was shortsighted."
"In the first place, Sichuan has long been under the constant check of the Central Plains.
The Central Plains dislike the fellows from the Bashu region, and Bashu has a sense of victimhood toward that Central Plains.
Isolating them is as easy as turning over one's hand.
So it is fine to empower them. Well, as long as they do not betray first, as a privilege of a loyal subject, I might generously overlook them playing king in the countryside.
If they tried the same thing in Beijing or Luoyang, I would have crushed them, of course."
"Your Majesty's wisdom is so brilliant; this is a great blessing for the empire!"
"Well, since it has come to this, for the time being we must empower the Dang Family and the Sama Family.
However, until sufficient gunpowder has been gathered, power has been built, and a pretext to strike first has arisen, this must not be revealed outwardly.
I shall issue secret imperial edicts separately to the Dang Family and the Sama Family as well.
Outwardly, we will consistently act as if we know nothing.
Anyway, the collaborators of the Eight Great Families also seem to want to hide Sichuan's advances from me somehow, so they will grit their teeth and play dumb about weapons for strengthening my personal guards being developed there.
Falling for one's own scheme—this is exactly that. Kehahaha."
"Long live, long live, long long live."
Emperor Sungui laughed heartily. He could not remember the last time he had laughed so cheerfully in years.
He could sense it after speaking with Hui-yeom.
Hui-yeom had no greed for power.
That was why he could trust him all the more.
…I do really want him, but forcing a guy who refuses to work into a seat would just lead to sabotage.
He smacked his lips with regret.
While Emperor Sungui fretted over whether to transform into the Sack Grandfather and catch and lock him up,
Hui-yeom, who had returned to Sama Seung's house, recounted what had happened there before Sama Seung and Sama Yun.
Sama Seung's mouth fell open.
"…Did His Majesty truly say such things?"
"Yes."
"…And you answered like that?"
"Yes."
"…Do you have about seven spare lives or something? Why did you act so rashly?"
Sama Seung said, pressing his heating forehead.
"If you had even slightly offended His Majesty's mood, everything could have collapsed right then and there!"
"Vice Minister, I understand my words may sound arrogant, but I had certainty.
I have an exceptional eye for reading people, you see."
Having run a multinational corporation, he had conversed with the presidents of the United States and Korea, the chairman of China, and the czar… no, president of Russia, and had frequently entered the parliamentary hearings of leading nations.
In particular, conducting under-the-table negotiations before the slugfests in hearings could be said to be his main duty without exaggeration.
The vibe arising from that experience told him, This emperor needs the Dang Family.
But knowing that saying so would only get him called a madman, Hui-yeom had to soothe Sama Seung with great difficulty.
In the end, Sama Seung sighed and looked at Sama Yun.
"Yun-ah, your husband will need you to stay by his side and hold the center so he doesn't run wild."
"Don't worry. I will properly control this person."
"Hey, what do you mean treating me like a problem child… Oof!"
Sama Yun pinched the flesh of Hui-yeom's side deeply.
"Running your mouth so freely in front of the emperor—did you want to make me a widow before I even get married?!"
"No, the situation just wasn't one where I could do otherwise!"
"Even gamblers who ruin their families all say that the cards at that time weren't a situation where they should have come out!"
When Sama Yun, who normally fawned like the tongue in one's mouth, put on a straight face and nagged, the power was astonishing.
In the end, only after Hui-yeom declared surrender and promised never to do it again did Sama Yun stop her barrage of scolding toward him.
Hui-yeom seventeen years old, Sama Yun sixteen years old. That autumn.
It was the day the secret pact between the Dang Family and the imperial family, which would be responsible for the empire's next hundred years, was first forged.
Meanwhile, while Hui-yeom had gone up to Beijing and struck a deal with the emperor,
in Sichuan and Yunnan, other interesting things were happening.