The Eldest Young Master's Council
"So…"
One of the generals rose from his seat, cold sweat pouring down his face as he delivered his report.
"At present, the number of non-combatants taken in by the Grand General's headquarters has grown so large that they have become a burden—that is the problem."
"Non-combatants?"
The Eldest Young Master's voice cut into the report.
"Are you calling the people of this land who trust and follow His Majesty the Emperor 'non-combatants'? Speaking of them as if they were so much baggage?"
"Th-that is…!"
The general dared not even meet Yeon So-hyeon's eyes, remaining rigidly at attention.
"Surely you are not referring to the very people you are obligated to protect?"
"O-of course not!"
A bead of cold sweat rolled down from beneath the general's helmet.
Tap. Tap.
"……"
The Eldest Young Master said nothing. The time spent simply tapping his fingers against the desk felt like an eternity.
"……"
The tense generals, unable even to breathe, were about to draw breath when—
"Of course not."
As if seizing the very pulse of the moment, the Eldest Young Master opened his mouth again.
"Naturally it should not be so."
"Th-that is correct!"
The others in the room, their thirst rising urgently, poured from the teapots on the tables without exception—
"……"
But the water had run dry long ago. They could only wet their parched lips with spit.
"Surely you all…"
Even while grilling one general, the Eldest Young Master, who had spotted their actions with ghostly keenness, addressed those who had tilted the empty water pitchers.
"Are you waiting for someone whose throat burns worse than yours to fetch water? Or is it—"
His voice dropped low, his gaze flashing.
"That now that you have become generals, you cannot even fetch your own water in camp?"
A crooked smile tugged at the corner of the Eldest Young Master's mouth.
"If you were given an even higher post, I suppose you would wait for someone to draw water in white porcelain and gently pour it into your mouths?"
"N-no, sir!"
At those words, several generals leaped to their feet, grabbed the pitchers, and bolted outside.
Glug, glug.
Only the sound of those who had refilled the pitchers pouring water filled the room.
"……"
Until every cup was filled, the Eldest Young Master said nothing, and so no one else could speak either. In that indescribably stifling atmosphere, the hands of those pouring the water trembled finely of their own accord.
"Hand tremors, is it?"
True to form, the Eldest Young Master's remark followed at once.
"With hands that shake like that, do you expect to swing a sword properly on the battlefield?"
"I will correct it!"
What exactly they meant to correct—even those who shouted it reflexively had no idea what they were saying. At the sight, the Eldest Young Master gave a quiet snort of laughter.
"The Acting Grand General's decision to take in the displaced people was the right one."
He turned his gaze back to the general who still had not broken his rigid stance.
"W-we know that it was the right thing to do, but—"
"I am not speaking of moral considerations alone."
The Eldest Young Master cut the general's squeezed-out words short. The general held at attention looked at the Eldest Young Master, but instead of answering at once, the Eldest Young Master waited half a breath.
"……"
"……"
It was the time needed for those in the room who had been distracted by the water pitchers to grasp the flow of conversation they had missed and focus once more.
"General Ho-tae. As you said, for the moment they may appear to be non-combatants."
Tap, tap—the Eldest Young Master's fingers drummed the desk as he continued.
"But once the postwar period arrives, the situation will change dramatically."
At those words, several among the assembly who had clearly studied ink and books nodded in understanding.
"The Eldest Young Master's words are correct."
"In the end, the side with more women and children recovers its population more quickly."
"Indeed."
The Eldest Young Master nodded at their remarks.
"Population is the foundation of everything. Agriculture, industry, commerce—without population to support them, growth is difficult."
His gaze turned to General Ho-tae.
"So even if they seem like a burden now, if one thinks of the future, they are a precious resource."
His hand indicated Moyong Un-jeong seated beside him.
"That is the forward-looking strategy of the Acting Northern Grand General."
The generals nodded belatedly, as if realizing at last.
"I see…"
"So that was the meaning…"
Watching them, Moyong Ho clicked his tongue inwardly. Though Elder Sister has firmly drawn the line for the Eldest Young Master's sake… Winning recognition from the mid-ranking officers hardened on the front lines was another matter entirely. That was not something anyone else could do in the Eldest Young Master's place. That was why, when the Eldest Young Master first brought up the matter of document formats, everyone had assumed he meant to seize the books and restore discipline.
But—
"You there—why are you staring blankly without taking it?"
When the Eldest Young Master turned his eyes, the man under his gaze hurried over and accepted the document he held out.
"E-Eldest Young Master. This is…?"
Holding the document whose ink had not even dried, the man asked.
"Looking through the ledgers, I found numbers that do not quite match. That document is an order commissioning an investigation. Go yourself, conduct a field audit, and expose the corruption."
The Eldest Young Master had been leafing through the stack of papers, but no one had imagined he was actually grasping their contents. It was only natural.
"What…?"
To the man wearing a blank expression, Yeon So-hyeon's thunderous command fell.
"You still have not left—what are you doing?!"
"I-I will depart at once!"
Watching him bolt out as if his tail were on fire, the generals who might ordinarily have laughed had no leisure for it. To those generals, the Eldest Young Master's order fell.
"Next."
"N-next is…!"
The general whose turn it was to report sprang up as if stung by a hornet and began his report.
"……"
Those whose turns approached grew rigid-faced, like condemned men waiting for the scaffold.
"Next!"
Those whose turns had passed found no relief—for they never knew when the Eldest Young Master's sharp questions might fly at them again.
"Next!"
All of them buried their heads in their documents, eyes straining to keep up with the council.
"Next!"
The generals' adjutants were running themselves ragged trying to keep pace with the breakneck progress of the meeting.
"Oof!"
An adjutant checking documents while running collided with a servant and tumbled to the floor—
"Next!"
—but no one paid the slightest attention to such a minor accident.
Not one thing.
Standing behind and watching the spectacle, Moyong Ho swallowed dryly. He is not picking needless fights. He is not forcing absurdities. He is not crushing them with rank. Every order was logical and clear. Every question was reasonable. And—
"Why are you so sluggish?! Are you simply waiting for the sun to set so the council will end?!"
"If you cannot even grasp the affairs of your own domain, why are you sitting there?!"
"Is that snack even making it into your mouth right now?!"
Between them, the Eldest Young Master's rebukes slipped in like interjections—
"My apologies!"
"I will correct it!"
—leaving no room for resentment to take root as he drove the mid-ranking officers of the Grand General's headquarters.
"Next!"
Moyong Ho hurriedly presented documents matching the new agenda before Moyong Un-jeong, cold sweat running down his face. Born a direct descendant of the Moyong Family, he had received every kind of education since childhood—yet even he found the pace nearly impossible to follow.
From the very beginning…
He no longer even had the leisure to click his tongue. The Eldest Young Master never intended from the start to seize the books and restore discipline by force!
Plop.
His sweat fell on a document, blurring the ink. There was never even any need for him to do so…! He felt down to his bones why his elder sister had transferred full command authority to the Eldest Young Master the moment he arrived.
"Next!"
One shichen passed. Then two.
Around the time the sunlight stretched long and painted the council chamber red—
"…That is all."
"Good."
The final general to finish speaking sank into his seat like a new recruit worn out by first training.
"Is that the last of it?"
"Yes…"
As if making a circuit of every post, the Eldest Young Master had, in the end, completed reports and confirmations regarding every general, every camp, and every stronghold.
"……"
"……"
What was remarkable was this: though the mid-ranking officers showed clear signs of exhaustion, their eyes were still vivid and sharp.
"You all kept up well. You have worked hard."
That was entirely because the Eldest Young Master had placed them in the palm of his hand and, adjusting the intensity with exquisite real-time precision as he tested them, had run the council right at the razor edge of their limits.
"…Not at all, Eldest Young Master."
"It is you who have worked hard, Eldest Young Master."
And so, just when everyone was inwardly sighing with relief that the matter might end on a warm note—
"In that case, it is time we addressed a more fundamental problem."
"……!"
"……!"
The hands of the generals who had been quietly organizing their documents froze like stone statues, and their gazes, with nowhere to go, darted wildly through the empty air.
"……"
The adjutants nearly collapsed on the floor wore expressions as if they might faint.
"Here. Who will speak of the most fundamental problem of the Northern Grand General's headquarters?"
Having covered the vast distance from Luoyang, fought a battle against the Prince of Gong's envoy party, and even after a council that left the generals themselves drained—without a single sign of disorder, the Eldest Young Master's gaze, posture still perfectly upright, swept the assembly.
"No one?"
While everyone looked at the Eldest Young Master as if seeing not a man but a monster—
"…The most fundamental problem,"
said Moyong Un-jeong, Acting Northern Grand General, offering a bitter smile as she opened her mouth,
"is the food shortage."
When she spoke in their place, the generals openly exhaled in relief. But at her next words, every face hardened.
"The enemy is raiding the tribes and villages on our side, dragging away the young warriors, and deliberately generating large numbers of refugees."
"You mean it is not mere plunder but part of a strategic action?"
"Yes."
The Eldest Young Master stroked his chin as he spoke.
"…In the past, the ancestors of the northern peoples used this method for sieges."
Yeon So-hyeon, well-versed in the military histories of East and West, past and present, could not have failed to know it.
"A technique of generating vast numbers of refugees to exhaust the defenders' food supplies."
Moyong Un-jeong nodded heavily and spoke again.
"Whether for humanitarian or practical reasons, as long as we continue to accept the refugees, the present food shortage can only accelerate further."
She bowed her head as if ashamed.
"Even though you sent Dong Ga-hyu, the war merchant of the North, Eldest Young Master, and I tried everything I could—with my capabilities, it was a problem I could not solve."
In truth, her capabilities were not the issue. The merchants had been the first to pull out. The Moyong Family, which ought to have quietly supported the Grand General's headquarters, was mired in internal strife. And most of the northern houses merely watched the Prince of Gong with fear and did nothing. The Northern Grand General's headquarters was, at present, isolated on a remote island without a single ally.
"……"
"……"
Generals and adjutants alike all stared at the floor.
"In that case,"
Yeon So-hyeon said as if it were nothing at all,
"we shall resolve the food problem first, starting right now."