Chapter 58. The Heavenly Nobleman (天乙貴人) 2
The next place Baek Eun visited was Lee Heesong's office.
"Who is it. What did you say—no, why."
Lee Heesong fumbled as he sensed the gravity of the matter.
Baek Eun said,
"It would be best for you to take responsibility."
"Responsibility?"
Lee Heesong's eyes narrowed.
The sages were speaking of responsibility.
He had known this would happen.
This concerned the one of their people he had touched.
A single man's life hung upon it.
Lee Heesong asked,
"What would be the proper course?"
Baek Eun answered with a question of his own.
"That is what I wish to ask you, General."
Lee Heesong bit his lip.
He had known that one day it would come to this.
The very fact that these men stood together meant that things could not proceed according to his will.
No—he should have realized it when they began surrounding Lee Youngwoo and shielding him.
He should have traced to the end how a man who seemed like nothing had managed to claim an unexpected victory.
Lee Heesong asked,
"And Commander Seo?"
There was no answer.
Baek Eun wore a face that said the question was not worth answering.
A dark foreboding filled Lee Heesong's chest and surged upward to the crown of his head.
Baek Eun spoke of something else.
"If possible, I would prefer to show proper courtesy."
"How?"
"I believe that, for the peace of this land, it would be best if you resigned of your own accord."
"The peace of this land? I fought to defend this land."
"In form, it was a war for the peace of this land. But in truth, it has long been known that through it you sought the power of Gaegyeong."
"That depends on how one sees it. It is not as though I committed some great crime."
Even now, he had too many words.
Baek Eun spoke as though delivering a conclusion.
"I will say nothing further. If you submit a memorial of resignation, everything will be settled cleanly."
Lee Heesong's eyes narrowed again.
These men were another power, unseen.
A power above power.
Ordinary men did not even know it existed.
Because they almost never exercised it, it remained hidden.
His thoughts grew many.
He had believed that the power in Gaegyeong decided everything.
These men were a force beyond the world.
A force that stood outside the life men ordinarily lived.
If one kept distance from them, nothing happened.
How had Lee Youngwoo come to catch their eye?
How had he entered even the gaze of the highest sage and become his disciple?
He had never reckoned that among the possible variables.
"It is all my responsibility, so spare my subordinates."
Baek Eun turned his head.
"They are already dead."
"Why did you not give him as well the chance to return to the countryside? Did he refuse?"
"There was no need. A man who does nothing but sow discord from behind harms even the Goryeo army. There are cases in which the world is better with such a man absent from it."
Lee Heesong lowered his head and began to write.
A Memorial of Resignation
*Your servant, Lee Heesong, bows in reverence and takes up the brush to submit this memorial of resignation.
Born low and insignificant, I have nevertheless received the grace of the court and been entrusted with even the humblest edge of military power. Yet my talent is shallow and my virtue wanting, and I have long felt shame at occupying such a post.
To lead soldiers and guard the gates is a heavy charge, one bound to the very foundation of the state. But my judgment is narrow and my ability inadequate, and I have always feared that I might, in some way, distort the laws and order of the realm.
In these recent days, seeing the temper of the age grow ever more perilous and the discipline of the army loosen and fray, I have grown heavy of heart, fearing that my continued presence in this office may only deepen its disorders.
The seat of a general is not merely the place of one who bears a sword, but the place of one who receives the command of the nation and brings peace to the people. I have come to understand with painful clarity that my vessel does not reach so far.
Thus I dare to beg leave to resign. I pray that the court may withdraw my charge and employ one more worthy and capable, so that military governance may be restored to brightness and order.
As for me, I wish only to retire into the countryside, to reflect upon my former faults and pass the rest of my days in caution and humility.
Though I withdraw, I shall never forget the grace of the nation for as long as I live, and even as a single blade of grass on the frontier, I shall remain facing the winds of the kingdom.
With deepest reverence, I submit this memorial.*
It was a long memorial of resignation, rich in ornament and poor in substance.
It lacked all concreteness.
What use is fine writing when it contains nothing?
It was much like a man who speaks beautifully yet carries no kernel within.
He entrusted the written memorial to a subordinate and sent it to Gaegyeong.
"It will take some time for a letter of resignation to go and return."
Even now he searched for an elegant opening, another chance.
Time was indeed required for the message to travel there and back, but Baek Eun did not wait for that.
"That is their affair. You will now attend to what comes next."
"Yes."
"You have resigned. Return to your native place."
"Should there not be a proper transfer of duties?"
"Entrust it to the gate commander you trust. At once."
Baek Eun feared that in the intervening time this cunning man might contrive something.
"No, how can such things be done… as though frying beans in a flash of lightning?"
"If you dislike it, then do not do it. While you delay, your main house will be smashed to pieces."
"In all the world, such lawlessness… What fault has my main house committed?"
"Think on the lawless things you committed through the use of your office. There were more deeds beyond even that."
"I did my utmost."
"For what was that utmost? Was it not the utmost effort to see yourself prosper?"
"You are insolent."
"There is no courtesy to return to a corrupt intriguer of power."
*A gwon-gan (權奸): a treacherous minister who abuses power.
Around that point, Baek Eun began speaking to him without honorifics.
By words alone, he showed that he was capable of harsher things still.
The timid Lee Heesong swallowed.
The thought crossed his mind that the next step might be the sword.
Lee Heesong quickly called for Park Geunsu.
"Loyalty. Your servant Park Geunsu answers the summons—"
"That is enough. I must hand over my duties."
"To me?"
Park Geunsu took it to mean that he himself was being told to step down.
For a brief moment his face darkened, believing that the small stroke of fortune by which he had risen this far had come to an end here.
"That is not it. I am resigning. I will reflect upon the errors of these past years and return home."
"General… please reconsider."
Inwardly he was pleased, yet he could not let that delight show upon his face.
One day the blade of vengeance might come for him.
"You must hold this place for a while."
"I lack the ability."
"Nothing will happen. The war is over. Guard this fortress until a successor arrives."
"But…"
"Obey the order. There is no time."
Lee Heesong hastily completed the transfer of authority to Park Geunsu and departed that very day.
It had been a hollow stretch of years.