Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Rebel Hunter (3)
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Han Seongbu's foremost expert in torture, the miraculous statistician whose victim count was skyrocketing exponentially—Jangyong Battalion's Pa Chong Yi Pilhup—kicked open the barracks door.
The door splintered with a crack, and the officers bowed their heads. Being a spare unit borrowed gratis from the Training Command, they didn't seem too upset about it.
"It's because you lot can't catch the traitors properly that we're getting looked down on by that senile old commander's camp!"
His interrogation-style rhetoric, ramping up as if he'd nabbed some lowly grunts, soon hit a wall.
Overdoing the indiscriminate beatings on the flimsy excuse of "treason" had turned people against the military.
They were quick to vouch for each other's alibis and actively hide anyone suspicious. The Training Command's conspiracy theory YouTube channel, boasting 200,000 subscribers, had played a big part too.
Some even went so far as to beat up soldiers in dark alleys. Jangyong Battalion troops no longer ventured out in groups smaller than five.
What's more, most of the Jangyong Battalion's core personnel were provincial troops that Kim Unhaeng had disbanded under the three cardinal rules for governing officials.
This had the advantage of making them easy for the king to control, with no ties to Seoul—but the downside was that, being mostly outsiders, they struggled to get local cooperation.
The Gyeonggi Patrol Command, meant to fill that gap, was no help either.
Its current Left Patrol Commander, Won Pilgyu, was the very man who'd once served as Chungcheong Province's Military Commander, received a "greeting" from Kim Unhaeng, and boosted the Inner Army Training results to the top.
After being ousted for being old and muddle-headed, he'd shifted to Gyeonggi Investigator—only to get booted again for the same reason. Whispers that Won Gyun had reincarnated through his lineage never ceased.
His family name was prestigious enough that they'd made him Left Patrol Commander anyway. With a man like that in charge, it was no wonder investigations were stymied rather than aided.
As Yi Pilhup's tantrum escalated, one junior officer administered a sedative.
"Actually, there are rumors circulating about those traitors."
"Rumors?"
"Yes. Isn't it strangely hard to find them, despite claims of hundreds in their band? Sure, the locals are hiding them, but they must have a separate lair. A big place would be needed to gather them all."
"You fool, don't spout nonsense. In this capital so cramped there's barely room for a needle, where could such a spot...?"
Yi Pilhup sucked in a breath, trailing off.
There was one place.
A derelict palace, built to over half the size of the Forbidden City despite Joseon's economy being a tenth of Ming China's—and now little more than ruins.
At the same time, Royal Guard Commander Yi Uipung had stepped outside, eyes fixed on Gyeongbok Palace.
(Not having much to do) the Royal Guard's mood was far warmer than the Jangyong Battalion's. Even the adjutant ventured to suggest this to the commander:
"The winter wind bites deep. It might harm your aged body—please, go inside."
Yi Uipung ignored him.
"Having suffered such humiliation and risen to command an army, how can I even hope to survive?"
Like an average guy with no looks or charm whining, "I'm single because I'm ugly," it was the kind of self-deprecation no one could easily refute—leaving only awkward silence.
Luckily, the adjutant didn't have to stew long. Yi Uipung raised the sword he'd been leaning on like a cane and pointed at Gyeongbok Palace.
"A flock of birds suddenly bursts from Gyeongbok Palace."
"Y-Yes, indeed. Most peculiar. Could it be tigers again?"
"There might be worse than tigers. Flocks rising signal ambush; beasts fleeing mean a search is afoot.[Birds rising mean ambush; beasts startled mean pursuit—Sun Tzu's Art of War]"
The adjutant, already privy to the rumors, finally grasped his commander's intent and expressed admiration.
He'd looked down on the man himself, but Yi Uipung had taken a sword to the hip, not the head. No wonder—a sharper fellow wouldn't have earned Park Mun-su's endorsement.
Still, the adjutant had to point out one issue.
"The order to hunt rebels went to the Jangyong Battalion. If we intervene, we'll overstep our jurisdiction."
Yi Uipung didn't lower the sword to lean on it again. Instead, he buckled it to his waist himself.
"I'll go personally. Then any reprimand falls on me. They scatter by day and gather at night, I hear."
Both the Royal Guard and Jangyong Battalion arrived at the same rational conclusion.
The court still crawled with Soron faction spies. Reports must follow the "first strike, then report" protocol to prevent leaks—treason demanded swift handling.
Plus, sending a few by day would just spook them all into flight.
Best to feign ignorance, then strike at night with every available man in a blitz.
Thus, it was no coincidence but inevitability that the full might of both units collided head-on at Gyeongbok Palace that night.
Finding traces of the fire from 150 years ago, when the palace was offered as sacrifice to the Swift Sovereign, was no easy task.
At present, decay overshadowed the blaze. Skeletal trees pierced roof tiles like shattered bones; scattered foundation stones belonged more to archaeology than architecture.
In those eerie ruins, the first to spot a "rebel" among the patrolling troops was Jangyong Battalion junior officer Byeon Jeongwan.
That summer, he'd bagged a tiger with his idle playboy friends, earning a special royal appointment as a soldier despite his ne'er-do-well status—and a spot in the Jangyong Battalion. Small wonder.
Byeon Jeongwan held his breath like when stalking a tiger, glaring at the rebels' shadows.
Then he whispered to his men:
"Approach quietly, no noise. When I shout, we swarm them all at once."
But someone there outranked a mere junior officer.
"Found them? Good. Let our Patrol Command troops lead the charge!"
With vigor unbelievable for 68, the Left Patrol Commander Won Pilgyu—who'd been strong-armed into joining despite being mere Pa Chong—emerged from the shadows.
Byeon Jeongwan felt Admiral Yi Sun-sin's spirit descending upon him. The urge to beat that Won Gyun spawn to death confirmed it.
Too late, though. The rebels had noticed and begun raising a racket.
As Patrol troops charged, Byeon Jeongwan—denied his prize hound—yelled desperately:
"Us too! Charge!"
Royal Guard junior officer Jeong Su-yeong swiftly gripped his musket.
"Rebels!"
He couldn't charge with Jangyong or Patrol gusto—not with their commander here.
The man's swordsmanship was worse than a woman's; he couldn't be left alone.
Besides, the Royal Guard had a storied reputation for elite marksmen.
Shrunken now, it had once been Joseon's finest unit, meticulously built by King Hyojong.
He'd professed hatred for the Manchus but trained crack riflemen in bulk, ready to hurl at Russia's conquests anytime.
Those marksmen formed ranks at their junior officer's command in seconds.
The rebels seemed panicked at discovery, but such open noise made night shooting viable.
Now those boar-like traitors would taste the skill of "big-head snipers" even Russians feared.
Jeong Su-yeong, granted field command over the commander's bodyguard, issued the order without hesitation:
"Fire!"
Thunder ripped through Gyeongbok Palace—and the rebels' heads should've shattered.
But they didn't.
Not because of darkness.
No shots fired at all.
"Fire, I said!"
"J-Junior officer! The guns are jammed!"
"Gah, give it here!"
As with all firearm mishaps, it discharged the instant the junior officer grabbed it.
Boom! No one hit, but Jeong Su-yeong's ears rang and his head spun as he collapsed.
The others' guns failed similarly—not powder, but the weapons themselves. Panicked trigger pulls yielded sporadic shots, useless for hits.
Byeon Jeongwan bellowed for Jangyong Battalion:
"They're panicking and firing wildly! We don't need guns! Like when this elder hunted tigers, thrust with spears and swords—"
That hope dashed too.
Closing boldly on the flustered Royal Guardsmen, Byeon Jeongwan swung his sword—only to nearly tumble forward.
"The, the blade's loose?"
Not just that. Spearmen found shafts snapping; shield-bashers saw theirs sag and deflate. Too light, all of it.
"What in blazes is going on?!"
The obvious answer to that question stemmed from an unexpected commonality between the two units.
Both borrowed inspection weapons from the same place: Wangsimni's Chun Sik Ranch.
And those weapons? B-grade gear provincial troops brought when Jangyong formed—confiscated by Kim Unhaeng on flimsy pretexts, polished superficially, then loaned out.
Thanks to ex-officer Pyo Cheolju's "maintenance secrets" at Chun Sik Ranch, they were beloved across the camps.
Tricks like grinding rust off musket barrels or scrubbing swords in water were mere basics.
The de facto field commanders, Byeon Jeongwan and Jeong Su-yeong, reached the same verdict:
"Just beat 'em to death! We can't let them escape here!"
The armies tangled in millennium-old brawling.
So heated, no one noticed Royal Guard Commander Yi Uipung stumbling into a rifle butt to the temple and crumpling.
Given the cause, the fight should've ended at dawn.
Yet even as pale morning light revealed each other as fellow troops, it raged on.
Worse, it intensified.
"You bastards! Know what you've done? This is the Royal Guard Commander!"
"What good's a scrawny-assed commander like that? You barged into the old palace without orders, unlike our Jangyong Battalion—admit you're the rebels!"
"Shut that trap before I smash it!"
"Try it if you... Gah! You actually hit me!"
"Damn right! You dared me!"
Stray units from both sides converged, swelling the melee.
At this scale, clubs or fists could kill aplenty—like the Royal Guard Commander Yi Uipung, prime candidate for first fatality.
Fortunately, the brawl ended as the sun crested fully.
Three cannon blasts like sunbeams rang out; Jangyong and Royal Guard troops froze, still gripping collars, and turned toward Gwanghwamun.
I stepped forward and bellowed:
"The Crown Prince graces us in person—how dare you stand tall?!"
Third-rank Military Armory Justice doing wall duty screamed "prince-level." Troops knelt as one.
Behind came the imposing Training Command cavalry. The prince, of course, snug in the center.
The sloppy lot quailed before the Training Command elites.
Why so elite, unlike other Joseon troops?
Sharp question.
Officers cherry-picked, brutal new-weapon drills forming discipline... but above all, the prince's presence. Platoon pep-talks versus division ones? Worlds apart.
Defying his drill sergeant's pleas, the prince spurred forward himself.
His gaze swept the troops like a father eyeing wayward sons: You're all dead meat.
"I rushed here fearing plague from the old palace uproar—what madness is this? Move the wounded first."
"Y-Your Highness! If I may..."
Oh— that's Yi Pilhup, Jangyong Battalion's head. Our prime target.
Pa Chong daring address the prince? Insane. Truly brazen.
Thankfully, Kim Sung-eung judged normally. Yi Pilhup got lightning-struck and dragged off before uttering more.
The prince, showing no pity, declared:
"Bind the rest. We'll interrogate strictly. Jangyong Battalion especially—rumors of brutality against the people demand thorough scrutiny."
I scanned for familiar Patrol officers, wondering if that Left Patrol Commander Won Pilgyu would pipe up. Absent—either skipped or fled.
No other troops dared presumption now.
The prince slowly wheeled his horse.
True kingly poise.
Media loved forgiving kings reining in frothing ministers over hero rudeness—but that's republican fluff.
The sovereign differs from subjects; that's sovereignty. Equals? Elections, not monarchy.
And sovereigns must affirm subjects' faith in the system.
Advice beyond me—I'm no king.
In that light, the prince's ad-lib handling today was heartening.
The king's pet Jangyong Battalion and storied Royal Guard had brawled idiotically in the capital. Casualties overflowed two hands.
Amid rampant rebels, nothing eroded authority more.
Royal Guard Commander Yi Uipung died on the spot. I hadn't expected the commander himself. Off-script.
Next highest, absent Left Patrol Commander Won Pilgyu, denied involvement after fleeing—then nabbed.
Public fury boiled.
"Those vicious dogs wielded the king's name to slaughter freely—now the prince shows, and they freeze!"
Jangyong Battalion erred underestimating Han Seongbu folk's savvy.
Like Pyongyang in the North, many had official kin; they grasped political dynamics easily.
Yi Uipung's death sealed Jangyong's doom—no excuses.
Enter Training Command's YouTube Shorts.
"But our king despises that prince so much he washes his ears after every meeting?"
"Heard he kept palace girls close during his daughter-in-law's mourning..."
"Not just then. That ginseng keeps his vigor raging—no woman a day, and he can't sleep."
"Chun Armor daily, huh? Palace booze flows despite our prohibition."
"For real? Lately he admonished the prince against debauchery."
"You tell your kids to study at home too."
"You punk—what's that mean?"
Panicked, the king first berated the prince:
"What right have you to lead Training Command troops rampaging the capital? Where do your loyalties lie?"
Linking to Hun-guk for treason charges? Worst blunder.
One slip, and purge Joseon's strongest legion—prince and allies amid rebellion.
But the king had no choice.
Next order unavoidable:
"Release the captured Jangyong and Royal Guard troops at once!"
Now even fools saw the king's favoritism toward his Zero Battalion.
Watching it unfold per my script, the prince recited his line:
"This subject has committed grave sin. I shall obey and reflect in seclusion."
'Two battalions brawling in the capital—who but Training Command stops them? You and Royal Guard missed it entirely?' No need for the prince to say it.
Loyal retainers like me would handle it.
I swiftly packed gift bundles.
Just await news of Yunji's savage slaughter wiping her main rebel force.
Due any moment. Even a parachute Chungcheong Military Commander wouldn't fail with my backroom work—unless a Won Gyun.
Then, Training Command nabs the "well-hidden" rebels whose lair I know. Jangyong's neutered.
Humiliate Yeongjo for failing his own guard—'Rebel Hunt' goal achieved.
All smooth sailing.
Author's Note
1. Gyeongbok Palace vs. Forbidden City: area comparison only—construction/maintenance costs incomparable. "Tenth the economy" rough pop. proxy for Ming vs. Joseon.
2. Playboy Byeon Jeongwan did hunt that tiger with his idle friends at the mentioned time—but didn't enlist. Royal Guard junior Jeong Su-yeong real too.
3. Royal Guard Commander Yi Uipung dies around then (natural causes) in real history. Left Patrol Won Pilgyu gets axed here, shifts to Gold Army Commander—axed again... Per court diaries, ~15 years later at 84, still bouncing high military posts.
4. Around story's Yeongjo 30th year 10th month, Junior Secretary Jo Eom bluntly warns: "Old body, that booze and women—gonna make it?" Yeongjo was under prohibition, but records note "frequent drinking and inner favorites (women) excessive."
Yeongjo replies: "Admirable candor. Don't fear—admonish the prince face-to-face regularly." (Prince beside him).
Jo Eom spoke plainly to the king, yet Yeongjo slyly frames it as prince-scolding. Feigning open speech too.