The Emperor's Will and Hwi-yeom's Plan
The leadership of the Dang Family was thrown into turmoil.
They could not shake the suspicion that the Emperor meant to break his pledge and cast the family aside.
Yet Dang Un-sang, who had convened the emergency council with a face full of dismay, felt the tension drain out of him the moment he saw his son smiling lightly.
“…Looking at that face, I take it this is nothing serious?”
“Yes. One might even call it good news.”
At Hwi-yeom’s words the elders and the direct-line officers all let out long, weary sighs.
“Then you might have told us sooner instead of—”
“Young Master truly has a wicked streak.”
“Well then, what exactly is going on?”
It was not Hwi-yeom who answered Dang Un-sang’s question, but Great Master Bang Un.
“It is the procedure of evaluating merit and dispensing reward, Family Head.”
“Evaluating merit and dispensing reward?”
The process of weighing achievements, bestowing honors, rebuking faults, and meting out punishment was known as the reckoning of merit and reward.
Having once been a high official himself, Bang Un saw straight through the discussions that must have been flying back and forth in Beijing.
“Look carefully at what has happened. The Regional Military Commission, whose duty it was to repel foreign invaders, failed completely in that duty and only managed to defeat the enemy with the aid of a single powerful clan—the Sichuan Dang Family—and its subordinate trading house, Noksan.
Under ordinary circumstances this would be cause to summon the Regional Military Commissioner, rebuke him severely, and censure him.”
“‘Under ordinary circumstances’—meaning the present situation is not ordinary?”
Bang Un answered Dang Un-sang’s question.
“His Majesty is wary of the provincial armies, yet at the same time he wishes to use their strength to check the central-army faction of the Byeongjong Pi Clan.
Censuring the Regional Military Commission would weaken the provincial forces—precisely the opposite of what His Majesty desires.”
“I understand that much. But why drag our family into it when we have nothing to do with the matter? Is it common to punish a general who has just won a victory?”
“It is not punishment. They have demanded an explanation.”
“Is that not the same thing?”
“Father, allow me to answer that question.”
Hwi-yeom stepped forward.
“His Majesty intends to explain that the Regional Military Commission was not incompetent—rather, that the new weapons introduced by our family performed far too well. In doing so he will indirectly shield the Commission. And furthermore…”
He gave a sly smile.
“It also serves as direct advertising for our family’s weapons. His Majesty means to use this incident to publicize the performance of our arms and then introduce them into the government forces.”
In his previous life Hwi-yeom had founded a big-tech defense contractor. As a man who sold weapons for a living, he could hardly be displeased by the way events were unfolding now.
Dang Un-sang’s face, however, hardened. He sent a sound transmission to his son.
Are you certain this is acceptable? If every weapon of our house is laid bare…
It is fine. Everything we will reveal to the outside is at least one full grade inferior to the weapons the family actually possesses.
The government troops still knew nothing of the Dreyse needle gun, the Gatling, or TNT. The long years of camouflage work and the extra care taken during this campaign had borne fruit.
Soldiers watching from a distance could not distinguish the Dokwadae and Sakpungdae using Dreyse needle guns from ordinary flintlock muskets; those who saw them up close simply accepted the explanation that they were Dang-chong and thought no more of it. The Gatlings had been carried only by small detached units and used solely where no witnesses remained. TNT itself had never been exposed to the outside world; the Cheon-gyeong-suroe that employed it had already been shown to the Emperor in a degraded version containing neither TNT nor mercury fulminate, successfully deceiving him.
Thus the only items the ministers might take issue with now were the flamethrowers and the poison gas.
Hwi-yeom continued.
“The army that once remained ignorant of, and contemptuous toward, guns and gunpowder has finally realized how useful these weapons truly are. The same goes for the poison-mist cannons, the Dabal-shingijeon, and the flamethrowers.
They will now have to answer two questions: ‘Can we tolerate a single family possessing such power?’ and ‘Can we tolerate Sichuan, of all places, possessing such power?’
The Emperor will pose those questions to me as if speaking for his ministers, and I will answer thus:
‘If the weapons I have created frighten you, then let everyone purchase them and arm themselves.’”
“Brilliant!”
Dang Un-sang slapped his knee.
“Hide the family’s weapons away and you look like a traitor nursing rebellious intent; offer them up eagerly so that the nation’s armies grow strong and you become a loyal subject! You truly see a thousand li while sitting still!”
Hwi-yeom, who had approached the matter through pure capitalist political logic, smiled faintly at his father reading the situation through a Confucian lens. The court officials would almost certainly do the same, and he could barely suppress a wicked grin.
With this, the Sichuan Dang Family has secured the colossal markets of the Gyeong imperial house and its armies. Even if the entire Nine Great Noble Families—not merely the Namgung Clan—came at us together, they would be unable to obstruct the Dang Family’s enterprises.
“And political logic favorable to His Majesty will be layered on top of this.”
“Political logic?”
“The techniques for manufacturing these weapons, gunpowder included, are extremely difficult and demand the strictest secrecy. One cannot casually expand the number of craftsmen.
We petitioned long ago for a monopoly on gunpowder production, and His Majesty granted it—yet that pledge will now be revoked. Everyone has seen the power of gunpowder with their own eyes.”
“That much is inevitable… The great ministers are not fools. And no matter how much the Emperor favors us, it is only natural.”
The Dang family members smacked their lips with regret. Hwi-yeom pressed on.
“In all likelihood, master craftsmen carefully selected by the imperial house will become the recipients of the technology transfer.
I cannot say how long that transfer will take, but until it is complete only our Dang Family will still be able to manufacture the weapons… and that is where the political logic comes into play.”
“What do you mean? Speak plainly.”
At Dang Un-sang’s impatient urging, Hwi-yeom answered.
“Many desire the weapons, yet production remains limited. Moreover, these arms were originally supplied only to His Majesty’s personal guard. That being the case…”
Hwi-yeom’s pure-white smile shook every mind in the room; rarely had a smile looked so thoroughly wicked.
“Is it not obvious that the weapons will first be placed in the hands of those who best read ‘His Majesty the Emperor’s’ intentions?”
“…Ah!”
Once the explanation reached this point, the elders and direct-line officers of the Dang Family fully grasped the direction of events.
Asymmetric military power was itself authority; the sole family capable of producing it and the sole sovereign capable of distributing it had become allies.
What would follow was all too clear.
“There will be a great upheaval of power.”
“I dare guarantee… His Majesty will use this affair to erode the authority of the Pi Clan still further.
To do so, he cannot allow our family’s position as exclusive supplier to be shaken for long—that would put His Majesty himself in difficulty.”
In short: with the ministers watching, he would make a show of striking the Dang Family and stripping its monopoly, yet in reality he would not take the monopoly away until the Byeongjong Pi Clan and its followers had been thoroughly crushed.
‘They claim the technology transfer is too difficult—what can one do? What? You say you will learn it yourself to test whether it is truly that hard? You little bastard, nursing dreams of treason, are you?’
The moment such logic held, Emperor Sungui possessed an indefinite pretext for delaying the seizure of the Dang Family’s gunpowder technology. From the Emperor’s perspective, even after dismantling the prestige of the Eight Great Families of the Empire he could take the technology at leisure; there was no hurry.
And the story did not end there.
“But even when coaxing a child one at least offers a piece of candy. If one strips those who have rendered great service of rights they already held, corresponding compensation must of course follow. That is why I can smile.”
“What sort of compensation? A thousand gold? Official posts?”
“Rather, rights and protections for various enterprises.”
“Specifically?”
“…Well now…”
Hwi-yeom, who until then had spoken with complete candor, brought a finger to his lips as though suddenly coy and murmured,
“I am considering several possibilities.”
Though he spoke that way, Dang Un-sang could guess well enough. It would be connected to the countless business proposals that had been sent up to Beijing.
Especially—
The Great China Connectivity Project! Merely hearing the name tells you it is a national-scale undertaking whose rights or execution can be claimed only in a moment such as this, when the family has rendered the nation great service through war. Heaven itself is aiding our house!
Dang Un-sang had to exert every ounce of dignity merely to keep the corners of his mouth from splitting into a grin.
And so Hwi-yeom found himself preparing for his third journey to Beijing.
Eun Seol-ran wept bitterly that he would mark his twenty-first birthday on the road.
“Hic… sob… Even His Majesty is heartless… What wrong have you done…?”
Having no interest in complicated affairs, Eun Seol-ran simply worried that he was being summoned for something unpleasant and let tears fall freely.
Hwi-yeom soothed her and said,
“Think of it as taking the honeymoon Yun-mae and I never managed to have, and come along.”
“Honeymoon?”
“A tour of mountains and rivers.”
Eun Seol-ran, a woman of an age that knew nothing of honeymoons, tilted her head in puzzlement, then broke into a broad smile at the mention of a scenic tour.
“Yes, yes—you have worked yourself far too hard all this time. The war is over now, and you have such a lovely, well-behaved wife; go rest your body and spirit while touring the mountains and rivers. And when you return… it would be wonderful if you brought a grandchild with you.”
“Mother.”
Hwi-yeom gave a rare cough of embarrassment. His beloved wife Sama Yun had only just turned twenty. By the standards of a modern mind she had barely escaped the cradle; she was still little more than a child, and the notion of bringing back a baby left him thoroughly flustered.
Sama Yun, however, kindled fire in her large eyes and firmed her resolve.
“Do not worry, Mother! I shall most certainly return having conceived a jade-like son who will carry the future of the Dang Family—one the very image of my husband!”
“Aigoo, how splendid! Yes—only our Yun could say such a thing!”
“Mother!”
“My child!”
The beautiful middle-aged woman and the beauty flung their arms around each other and stroked each other’s backs; the scene was like a painting. Hwi-yeom felt a mild wave of dizziness and shook his head.
Of course, though they called it a tour of mountains and rivers, a closer look at the true itinerary was enough to make one’s head spin with the sheer volume of work waiting.
Even on the tight schedule that demanded the swiftest possible arrival in Beijing he would have to inspect the construction status of the docks, ferry landings, and supporting facilities at Anjiang, as well as the Yangtze patrols.
Once in Beijing there would be the delicate political fencing and tightrope-walking against the Byeongjong Pi Clan, who were certain to raise a furious uproar; a check on the long-neglected preparations for the opening of Caffe the One’s Beijing flagship; and then the nationwide tour needed to extract compensation from the Emperor and to advance the enterprises that compensation would fund.
Even while seated in the carriage chatting with Sama Yun and watching the scenery outside, Hwi-yeom’s mind ranged across the eighteen thousand li of the Central Plains, spanning ten years, thirty years, and beyond.
That endlessly expanding sphere of thought burst like a balloon the moment Sama Yun lifted a slender jade finger and poked him sharply between the brows.
“Again—thinking about work again. Isn’t it a little cruel to ignore a peerless beauty of a bride sitting right in front of you?”
When Sama Yun shot him a pretty sidelong glance, Hwi-yeom offered a wry smile.
“Sorry.”
“If you know you’re sorry, put the work thoughts down for a while. Let’s catch up on all the talk we’ve put off.”
“All right. Let’s do that.”
“Oh my, look over there.”
Sama Yun pointed past the carriage window to the tip of a tree branch. Though it was still the boundary between late winter and spring, before the Beginning of Spring had even arrived, a branch was already putting forth new buds.
“It looks as if spring is coming.”
Hwi-yeom answered with a smile.
“So it does. Spring is on its way.”
To the Dang Family, and to the Central Plains.
Swallowing the rest of the thought, Hwi-yeom drew Sama Yun lightly into his arms.
“Oh my.”
Sama Yun’s eyes widened a fraction, yet she did not pull away.
While the new buds watched shyly, the lips of the man and woman met in a light kiss.