Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Iron Emperor — Chapter 57
Chapter 16 — The People of Gauri, and the People's Sovereign
The population of Gauri had surpassed ten thousand and was approaching thirteen thousand. Unlike before, hunters were now being dispatched continuously between the slash-and-burn farming villages, and persuasion efforts targeting the smaller hamlets were underway.
As a result, the population was still growing, and the fact that there remained slash-and-burn villages they had not yet located left Gauri's commanders with no choice but to shake their heads.
And as their numbers increased, work piled up more and more, which meant a growing shortage of capable men. There were enough martial officers to trip over, but the problem was the complete absence of civil officials.
For now, Dae Mu-deok, Yeon Hwi-garam, and Risel were handling the duties of civil officials, but that number was nowhere near sufficient to build the framework of a state going forward. Furthermore, forming a true state structure remained difficult because, while the offices existed, there were no suitable men to fill them.
The ranks they had decided upon were taken directly from Gauri's own hierarchy.
Daedaero (大對盧)
Taedaehyeong (太大兄)
Uljeol (鬱折)
Taedaesaja (太大使者)
Joui-du Daehyeong (早衣頭大兄)
Daesaja (大使者)
Daehyeong (大兄)
Balwisaja (拔位使者)
Sohyeong (小兄)
Jehyeong (諸兄)
Gwajeol (過節)
Bujeol (不節)
Seonin (先人)
But the problem was...
"...."
"...."
A silence hung over the Imperial Hall.
Even Dae Mu-deok, who had been the first to argue forcefully that the ranks must be properly organized and a foundation laid, had shut his mouth like a clam.
Go Jin-cheon's glare from the Throne of Yeolje, Eulji Buru and Uru's awkward grins, and Yeon Hwi-garam's expression as though he were pointedly pretending to pay no attention all mingled together inside the hall. These men, at least, were trusted enough to be considered the Yeolje's own hands and feet, but the rest of the commanders were hanging their heads as if guilty of capital crimes.
"Mu-deok."
"Yes."
"What are you going to do?"
"A-as Your Majesty wishes."
Mu-deok's trembling voice resonated through the hall. He had made the proposal, but the solution had been dumped right back onto Jin-cheon. The deep-set furrows already carved between Jin-cheon's brows now resembled a bottomless abyss.
In other words, he was on the verge of exploding.
"Dae Mu-deok."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I appoint you to the office of Daedaero (大對盧)."
"Huk!"
A choked sound burst from Mu-deok's lips, as if breath itself were being squeezed from him.
Daedaero was the highest rank in the Gauri hierarchy, an office comparable to a chief minister who oversaw all state affairs. Originally, it had been a representative position elected by the Five Tribes of the Gauri imperial house. Now, however, such a process was impossible, so Jin-cheon had bestowed the rank by decree. The issue, if it could be called one, was that Mu-deok's nerve was not quite that large.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to withdraw this command. Such a weighty office is beyond this servant's capacity to bear."
"You said to do as I wish."
"...."
"Then shall I make you Mangniji instead?"
In the closing era of Gauri, offices like Mangniji and Daedaero were much the same. When no further words emerged from Mu-deok's mouth, voices shook the Imperial Hall.
"Your Majesty! Let it be done according to your will!"
"Mm."
Hwi-garam and the other commanders' voices shook the chamber.
In truth, anyone other than Mu-deok would have struggled. He had at least observed the workings of state affairs over a long period, so among those present, there was no one who would actually object.
"Furthermore, I appoint Yeon Hwi-garam as Taedaehyeong (太大兄), concurrently holding the office of Commander-in-Chief (大模達)."
"Yes. It shall be done according to your will."
As he received the highest military office of Commander-in-Chief alongside the Taedaehyeong rank, Yeon Hwi-garam bowed low in a long salute and lowered his head. Without pausing for breath, Jin-cheon turned his head at once.
"Furthermore, I appoint Siaron Risel as Uljeol (鬱折). He shall assist the Daedaero in guiding state affairs."
"Yes. It shall be done according to your will."
"Eulji Buru and Eulji Uru are appointed Taedaesaja (太大使者). They shall serve under the Commander-in-Chief, strengthen military authority, and devote their full efforts to improving combat power."
"Yes. It shall be done according to yer will."
"Phillian Gerard is appointed Daesaja. He shall receive the Taedaesaja's orders and serve as the vanguard in battle."
"Yes. It shall be done according to your will."
"...."
Jin-cheon's mouth, which had been reciting the appointments at length, stopped. At the sudden silence, the remaining commanders could not hide their puzzlement.
"The rest... shall be decided by the Daedaero, Dae Mu-deok. That is all!"
"Yo— Your Majesty!"
"Just as I thought..."
With those final words, Jin-cheon swept out of the Imperial Hall, and Dae Mu-deok's plaintive voice trailed after his back. Because now came the real problem.
Dazed men blinked with wide, round eyes. All of them were field commanders. They cursed Jin-cheon for issuing, by proxy, an order that men who wielded swords should now pick up a brush on their own—and then running away. The solution had evaporated, and the chaos of state administration loomed as an immediate reality before Dae Mu-deok's eyes.
As time passed, the soldiers' training grew more intense by the day. During this period, a difference began to emerge from the original state of affairs, where there had been no distinction between the people and the slaves—or rather, when slaves had even been perceived as having the easier lot because they were not subjected to military training or conscription.
A single point of difference.
Military training, precisely. At first, those called slaves had only to farm or labor as ordered, whereas the people farmed when farming was required, trained when training was required, learned swordsmanship and archery—even the children carried wooden bows around. And it was here that a decisive difference began to take shape.
A difference in consciousness.
By enduring grueling training and being deployed on missions, the people gradually came to internalize the conviction that they themselves protected their families, while their gaze toward those who bore no duties at all grew increasingly cold.
The initial sense of shared suffering was already fading, and discrimination began to set in step by step. Even for the limited supply of daily necessities, priority went to the people, and once the circulation of currency began, modest though it was, this pattern accelerated.
This was, in part, intentionally cultivated by Gauri's leadership. If a discriminatory system were imposed from the very start, those who had once shared the same circumstances might develop some degree of resentment.
'We who train are suffering, but they are being oppressed, so they're suffering just as much!'
Such thinking could easily take root. But the outcome of steering matters as they had now was a resounding success.
'We're striving to defend the country, and yet they're even more comfortable than we are!'
This consciousness directly provoked cold indifference toward them, and Gauri's leadership, except in extreme cases, left that discrimination unchecked. In short, a release valve had been created for the frustration built up through training and the like.
Deliberate scapegoats.
Eulji Buru, who had been strolling with Sara through the village centered around a calm lake, came to a halt at the sound of children shouting. The main pastime of the noticeably livelier children was, plainly, war games.
"Attack!"
"Yaaaaah!"
Tak! Thwack!
"Uwaaang!"
Gauri's form of government had yet to break significantly free of military rule. With the commanders' avoidance of civil offices at its peak, they had been forced to conscript people from among the slash-and-burn farmers—mainly merchants and members of fallen noble houses who possessed surnames—and make do with them as a temporary stopgap.
Perhaps because of this, from the children's perspective, absorbing everything they saw as they grew, their world was filled entirely with soldiers and the sight of training. And this showed most clearly in their play. Buru, too, was nodding his head at the phenomenon and enjoying himself.
"General!"
"Hmph!"
Amid cheers from one group of children, a boy a full head taller than the rest arrogantly strutted out, a wooden sword tucked at his side. And on the opposing side, not to be outdone, a boy who appeared to be their general tightened his grip on his own wooden sword and stepped forward.
"Look at the little bastards playin' so nicely."
"Honestly, Mister Buru."
"Heh heh heh."
At Buru's warm murmur, Sara let out a soft laugh and nudged his side, and a pleased chuckle slipped from Buru's mouth. Meanwhile, the children had begun cheering fervently, shouting their general's name.
"Helion of the Storm!"
"Helion of the Storm, win!"
"Jek the Invincible Sword! Win!"
"Invincible Sword!"
At the children's shouts, Buru stared with puzzled eyes. One side was shouting "Helion of the Storm," and the other was shouting "Invincible Sword."
"What's this storm an' what's this invincible sword?"
Buru, gawking with a blank expression, muttered the words aloud. It was the fancy nicknames attached to such grand names that had caught his interest. At that, Sara smiled with her eyes, amused.
"Huhu, you don't know?"
"Know what, now?"
"Epithets."
"Epithets?"
"Yes."
When Buru questioned back, Sara nodded in confirmation and began to explain.
"Swordsmen on the continent have names they are known by besides their real names. Those are epithets. Like how Mister Gerard is called 'Gerard of Lightning' or the Lightning Sword. For famous people, the epithet can become better known than the name itself."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
Buru's eyes sparkled.
"I like it."
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. Let's go on, now."
"Okaaay~."
Buru's steps as he turned back, leading Sara, were lighter than when they had come, and he hurried forward as though suddenly busy with something.
While heading to the Imperial Hall, Yeon Hwi-garam spotted Eulji Uru walking alone and opened his mouth in puzzlement.
"Where's Buru?"
"Ya mean Buru?"
"Yes."
"Haven't seen 'im at all since yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
At Uru's answer, Hwi-garam tilted his head. He himself had not seen Buru since the morning of the previous day. Still, thinking nothing serious could be amiss, he entered the Imperial Hall together with Uru.
"Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens who embraces all people and all things, your servant Taedaehyeong Yeon Hwi-garam pays his respects."
"Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens who embraces all people and all things, your servant Taedaesaja Eulji Uru pays his respects."
The moment they entered the hall and bowed low in grand salute, Go Jin-cheon's drained voice reached them.
"Sit..."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As he moved to his place, Hwi-garam stole a glance at Jin-cheon and saw how haggard he had become in a single day. At the sight, Hwi-garam sent him a sympathetic look.
For good reason. Despite having assumed the new seat of Yeolje, Jin-cheon had not yet chosen an era name. Jin-cheon could not bring himself to foist even this one task onto Dae Mu-deok, and after agonizing for days, he had shut himself away the entire previous day in order to announce it now.
But even a cursory glance made it obvious what kind of mental suffering he had endured. Still, the fact that he had gathered his officials here probably meant he had settled on an era name.
"I don't see Taedaesaja Eulji."
"I have arrived."
"...Buru."
"Ah..."
Just then, the door of the Imperial Hall opened and Buru came barreling in.
"Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens who embraces all people and all things, your servant Taedaesaja Eulji Buru pays his respects!"
"Mm."
Buru, despite being the last to arrive, stepped inside sporting the brightest face of them all. That point, combined with Jin-cheon's fatigue from the day before, only stoked his irritation.
"Why are ya so late?"
"Heh heh heh heh."
"For a bastard to grin like a fool..."
Eulji Uru, in a scolding tone, addressed Eulji Buru as he headed for his place, but Buru simply wore a foolish grin. Finding the sight strange, Uru sensed something was up and jabbed Buru's side.
"Got some good news?"
"Take a look at this."
Still grinning like a fool, Buru pulled something written from his belt and handed it to Uru.
"What's this, then?"
"This here is..."
"Taedaesaja!"
"Hik."
Accustomed to the free and easy atmosphere, they had grown in the habit of chatting away without any hesitation even in front of the Yeolje. Granted, they themselves thought they kept their voices low and hunched down—but were bodies that size something mere hunching could conceal?
Of course, Dae Mu-deok's sharp reprimand came flying.
"How dare you engage in idle chatter in His Majesty's presence!"
"Enough."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
With a stern expression, Go Jin-cheon might have restrained Mu-deok, but he lifted his right hand and beckoned with a flick of his fingers.
"...?"
"Bring it here."
"...!"
Buru and Uru, who had been drawing question marks across their faces at Jin-cheon's gesture, twisted their expressions at the follow-up words.
They were caught.
Like convicts, the two men bowed low and approached the front of Jin-cheon. Even then, they hesitated, unable to hand over the written note readily. Then a low command fell once more.
"Hand it over."
"Y-yes, Your Majesty..."
When Uru placed the item he had received from Buru onto Jin-cheon's empty palm, Jin-cheon, chin propped on his hand, silently passed it to Yeon Hwi-garam beside him. His expression, as though everything were an annoyance, was thick with irritation. Hwi-garam, receiving it from the side, unfolded the scrap of leather.
"What is it?"
"Well... Buru. What is the meaning of this?"
Unable to answer Jin-cheon's question about the contents outright, Hwi-garam tilted his head, then directed the question at the man responsible, Buru. After hesitating briefly, Buru suddenly puffed out his chest and opened his mouth.
"It's my epithet."
"Epithet?"
Jin-cheon questioned back at Buru's answer.
"Indeed. On this continent, they say famous folk are known by their epithets more than their names."
"So?"
"So I've gone and settled on an epithet. Ain't it impressive?"
"Pfft."
Listening to the exchange between Buru and Jin-cheon, Hwi-garam burst out laughing at Buru's last remark, the laugh he had been holding in finally escaping. When Jin-cheon turned to look at him, Hwi-garam bowed his head low.
"I have committed an unforgivable act in Your Majesty's presence."
"Why did you laugh like that?"
Rather than rebuke him, however, Jin-cheon merely wanted to satisfy his curiosity. Instead of answering, Hwi-garam turned toward Buru.
"So, is that what you settled on, General?"
"Indeed! It means upright wisdom and upright martial power."
"According to whom?"
"Accordin' to me, of course."
At Buru's brazen pronouncement, Hwi-garam looked down at the paper once more. The characters written on it were 端, meaning upright, 武, meaning martial, and 智, meaning wisdom.
'Danmuji (端武智)...'
Shaking his head, Hwi-garam passed the paper to Jin-cheon and then drove the verbal dagger into Buru.
"More like simple ignorance."
"Huk!"
With that single merciless line from Hwi-garam, the emotionally wounded Buru had no choice but to retreat to his place. And as Jin-cheon silently stared down at the word "Danmuji" written on the paper, a killing aura began to seep out around him.
The Imperial Hall fell quiet.
Buru braced himself for the rebuke about to descend. But the rebuke never came, and Jin-cheon silently turned his back and walked out of the hall. No one had dared to so much as ask him to name the era, and Buru was left to endure the stares of everyone present.