The Art of Governance
Outside the main gate of Wongak-jeong, the lingering heat of summer still clung to the air, drawing a sticky sweat from every brow.
Yet the moment they stepped through and set foot upon the forest path, a startlingly cool breeze swept over them and dried that sweat in a single breath.
"…Hoh."
"…Hmm."
The old veterans of the War Department and the swordsmen of the Sword Forest, who knew nothing but the blade — none of them could help themselves. Murmurs of wonder escaped them unbidden.
…As expected.
Towering trees whose ages no mere human could hope to reckon stood packed so densely the eye could scarcely find a gap between them.
…So this is Wongak-jeong.
Through the canopy of that dense forest, the vast river of the Milky Way glittered so fiercely it seemed ready to writhe to life and pour down a flood of stars at any moment.
It was nothing less than a secret realm. A true immortal's paradise.
And beneath that sky, the sight of Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon strolling ahead with his hands clasped lightly behind his back felt like a forbidden glimpse of a being who had already cast off the dust of the mortal world and taken his place among the immortals.
Even the battle-hardened warriors, tempered through a hundred campaigns on every field of blood, found themselves cowed by a strange and quiet majesty.
In the midst of that hush—
"…Ahem."
A warrior of rebellious temper cleared his throat. Geumgwi-heun, Deputy Leader of the Sword Forest, opened his mouth.
"Eldest Young Master. The reason this Geumgwi-heun has come all the way to Wongak-jeong is—"
But the words he was struggling to force out under the weight of every surrounding gaze were cut short.
"Deputy Leader of the Sword Forest."
Yeon So-hyeon had interrupted him.
"You have devoted your entire life to the pursuit of the highest martial arts."
"…That is so, but what does that—"
"And that is precisely why you—"
As though he had no intention of granting the man leave to speak just yet, Yeon So-hyeon cut him off a second time.
The interruption was so blatantly deliberate that even those who had been lost in the scenery of Wongak-jeong felt a sudden, sharp tension and fixed their attention upon the two of them.
"You must find it intolerable that the War Department, instead of purely revering the martial path, has planted one foot in the filth of political power."
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and glanced back as he continued.
"Every year that same War Department sweeps up nearly every gifted talent available…"
The old veterans of the War Department flinched as his cold, transparent gaze brushed over them.
"…while they themselves, lost in political games for the sake of reclaiming their seats in the Elder Council, do not even notice the axe handle rotting away in their hands as they play at immortality."
For a man who had just silenced him, the Eldest Young Master's words were surprisingly sympathetic to the Sword Forest's position. Geumgwi-heun's expression brightened at once.
"Ahem."
"Khmm."
The War Department veterans flushed, averted their eyes, and made a show of clearing their throats over nothing.
"Precisely so, Eldest Young Master!"
The one-eyed old master, swollen with sudden confidence, cried out.
"That is exactly this deputy's contention! And it is the very reason the Sword Forest denounces the War Department and presses for its absorption!"
"However."
Yeon So-hyeon's words were not finished.
"How could swordsmen who understand nothing beyond small-scale combat possibly possess the capacity to take responsibility for war?"
"No, Eldest Young Master!"
Deputy Leader Geumgwi-heun raised his voice in immediate rebuttal.
"Victory and defeat in war are decided by the accumulation of large and small victories in individual battles. And in the end, those battles are fought by the warriors on the ground!"
It was the argument of men who had lived their lives moving from one battlefield to the next.
"And the outcome of a fight is always decided in favor of the one whose martial skill is superior!"
It was a question the swordsmen of the Sword Forest had asked themselves countless times. Even a man as poor with words as Geumgwi-heun could declare it without hesitation.
"Therefore, the warriors charged with fighting need only devote themselves to the martial arts, while the scholars faithfully support those warriors — that is all that is required!"
"Martial and scholarly. Each side need only fulfill its own role?"
Yeon So-hyeon asked the question as though merely confirming it.
"Exactly so!"
A smile touched the Eldest Young Master's lips.
It was the smile of an adult watching a child throw a tantrum, and Geumgwi-heun's face darkened with open displeasure.
"Do you believe," the Eldest Young Master asked, "that a scholar who knows nothing of fighting can, simply by doing his best, properly fulfill a support role?"
"There are strategists and military advisors among the scholars, are there not?"
Geumgwi-heun shook his head stubbornly.
"Let those men take on the responsibility of support!"
"Is that so? Then…"
Yeon So-hyeon continued without pause.
"Strategists and military advisors may be familiar with the field, but they are equally ignorant and powerless when it comes to the politics of the center."
At the Eldest Young Master's words, the staff officers of the War Department nodded in quiet agreement.
"Can such men draw the appropriate level of support from the central government?"
"…In that case—"
Driven onto the defensive, Geumgwi-heun's words seemed to curl back into his throat.
"Then we simply place scholars who understand war in key posts at the center as well, do we not…?"
"Is that so? But."
Yeon So-hyeon spoke at once.
"As you yourself said — in the end, is it not the warriors who fight on the field and earn the merit?"
"Th-that is…"
As his own logic turned back upon him, Geumgwi-heun's single eye wavered.
"What, then, of men who are no more than support staff rising to positions of authority at the center — over those who actually fight?"
Holding that unsteady gaze without mercy, Yeon So-hyeon piled question upon question.
"On the field, the warriors who deserve recognition for their merit would see their morale crash to the ground."
His eyes clung relentlessly to Geumgwi-heun's, which kept trying to look away, while his mouth continued without the slightest pause.
"And at the center, would a man of insufficient merit who has risen to a position of responsibility not find his authority questioned at every turn?"
"…Th-then!"
Reason upon reason. Not a single sophistry. Under the Eldest Young Master's simple, airtight pressure, Geumgwi-heun cried out as though thrashing for air.
"Then we simply raise a warrior of proven merit to a position of central authority!"
"And is that not precisely what the Sword House martial officers of the War Department are?"
A perfect strike to the heart.
Geumgwi-heun's mouth fell open in a blank stare.
"…!"
Those who had been walking behind and listening in silence were little different in their reaction.
"…B-but still!"
Shaking his head roughly, Geumgwi-heun tried somehow to seize back the initiative and shout once more.
"Nearly every martial officer of the War Department was driven out of the Elder Council, were they not?! Has the Eldest Young Master's own argument not already failed in reality?!"
A return to the origin of the debate.
"And those old men of the War Department are not even thinking about war — they are obsessed only with clawing their way back into the Elder Council!"
For a Sword Forest swordsman who knew nothing but the blade, it was a surprisingly decent line of reasoning. But his opponent was Yeon So-hyeon.
"That problem is not the War Department's. It is the fault of those above them, who allowed the War Department's commanders to be pushed out of the political sphere."
When a man who himself belonged to that "above" said as much with his own mouth, Geumgwi-heun had nothing left to answer with.
"In truth, war," Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon said, turning back not only to Geumgwi-heun but so that all of them would hear,
"is one of the final forms of political engineering — and its last resort."
"A man ignorant of economics, administration, and politics can neither properly wage a war, nor even dare to prepare for one."
Geumgwi-heun jerked his head aside. The swordsmen of the Sword Forest bit down hard on their lips.
How satisfying…!
As expected of the Eldest Young Master. Just as the rumors said — no one can match that tongue of his.
Look at those Sword Forest bastards. What a ridiculous spectacle.
They'll keep quiet for a while, at least.
One of the old veterans gave a slight nod.
Judging by what we just saw, the Eldest Young Master seems favorably disposed toward our War Department—
"That is not to say I believe the present War Department is doing well."
It was as if he had overheard the proximity transmissions of Boundary Crossers — a direct contradiction of the very conversation they had just shared in secret.
He eavesdropped on a proximity transmission? Not even a long-range one?!
Surely it must be a coincidence…?
But as though to prove it was no coincidence at all, Yeon So-hyeon's gaze locked squarely upon the elder who had just claimed the Eldest Young Master was "favorably disposed toward the War Department."
"That the War Department was not protected from being driven out of the Elder Council is the responsibility of those above them. However—"
The Head of the War Department, who had been listening in silence, quietly opened his mouth.
"That we were pushed out of the Elder Council so easily and so completely within only a few years of the northern war's end is due to our own inadequacy."
He felt the full weight of their shortcoming, and that sense of responsibility ran deep through every word.
"That we failed, before and after, to raise any new figure to the Elder Council save Elder Yeom — that, too, is our responsibility. That we could not uncover talent worthy of entering the Elder Council is ours as well."
"Indeed."
The Head of the War Department himself stepping forward to accept the blame, and the Eldest Young Master immediately affirming that responsibility as though officially recognizing it, bent the spines of the War Department veterans who had only moments ago been standing so proudly straight.
"Your inadequate response," Yeon So-hyeon said, "as the Sword Forest's rebellion against the War Department makes plain, has caused the uppermost echelons of this house to question the very reason for the War Department's existence."
His tone was nothing like the one he had used before the public when he had called for the festival to resume and preserved the dignity of both the War Department and the Sword Forest.
"As a result, you have continued to receive no meaningful support from the Supreme Operations Council, and the War Department has been forced to drift politically while neglecting its true duties."
It was a mercilessly heavy and razor-sharp indictment.
"Head of the War Department."
"Yes, Eldest Young Master."
The Eldest Young Master's cold, severe gaze settled upon him.
"Chasing two rabbits at once is always difficult — yet that was the War Department's goal, and you failed."
"I am sorry, Eldest Young Master."
The Head of the War Department bowed his head as though before the Grand Patriarch himself.
"I have no face to show."
He had expected the Eldest Young Master's reprimand to continue. Instead—
"However, as I said before."
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon drew a clean, straight line, making the assignment of responsibility perfectly clear.
"The responsibility of this house's uppermost ranks is equally plain."
His footsteps came to a halt, and the warriors following behind him — regardless of faction — stopped as one in a sudden, milling throng.
"Master, you have arrived."
Chief Maid Jeong-a bowed her head to receive the Eldest Young Master.
Before they knew it, they had reached the main assembly hall of Wongak-jeong.
"As one who belongs to that uppermost rank — and as one who merely stood by and watched—"
Yeon So-hyeon gave a slight nod, and the triplet maidservants respectfully opened the great doors of the assembly hall.
"I will show you myself by what means this problem will be resolved."
The doors swung wide, and from within, a wave of blistering heat came pouring out as though a dam had burst.
"You think such a stopgap measure could ever fundamentally solve Luoyang's poverty problem?!"
A scholar of the Fourth Young Master's faction was shouting with veins standing out on his neck.
"A stopgap?! Luoyang's population approaches ten million! Do you not understand that a radical solution can become the cause of problems no one has even imagined?!"
A free scholar from the Imperial Capital who had thrown in his lot with the Eldest Young Master's administrative wing jabbed a finger in accusation.
"Nonsense! Do you have any idea how many among those ten million are dying right now?!"
"A relief policy is something that must be pushed through even if one must bear the side effects!"
The branch directors of Jaewon were raising their voices so fiercely that spit flew from their lips.
"And where, exactly, do you propose to pull that budget from?!"
"Investment! The only way is to draw investment from outside!"
Even the elders of the Eldest Young Master's own faction were no exception to the ferocious debate.
Wine, snacks, food of every kind — all of it had been abandoned and forgotten. The great assembly hall was no different from a battlefield, save for the absence of steel and blood.
Everyone who saw it went pale with shock.
One of the War Department veterans spoke without thinking.
"…Was this not supposed to be a gathering to celebrate the founding of a faction?"
"It was."
At those words, Yeon So-hyeon turned back with a faint smile.
"But that banquet is for outside visitors and those below us — not for us."
Instead of a grand and joyous feast, Yeon So-hyeon had hosted a grand and chaotic free-for-all of debate. He spread his hands wide in welcome.
"Welcome to Wongak-jeong."