Chapter 210 — Park Geun-su's Rebuke
It seemed word had gone in that he was loitering around the Ministry of War.
Park Geun-su's adjutant came running.
"You were here?"
"Ah, yes. I had gone somewhere…"
"His Majesty has been looking for you since morning. We went by your house too, but they said you had gone to some mountain and had not returned yesterday."
Yeongu pointed at Lee Jun-hui.
"I was told my resignation had been rejected, so we were in the middle of speaking."
Park Geun-su's adjutant asked Lee Jun-hui, "Why are you only telling him that now?"
It seemed the decision had been made in advance.
Then why was he only telling him now?
Yeongu was curious what excuse he would make.
Sure enough, Lee Jun-hui made an excuse.
"I was waiting for him to come. I only met him today."
Saying he had waited meant he had done nothing.
Park Geun-su's adjutant said, "So you did not go looking for him. You could have sent a slave to inform him…"
Somehow, everyone was the same.
Lee Jun-hui tried to make another excuse, but Park Geun-su's adjutant took Yeongu away.
No, as he left, he threw one sentence behind him.
"Report why no contact was made."
"Are you ordering me right now?"
"You do not have to if you do not want to. General Park Geun-su told me to find out who did it."
"General Park did?"
"If I were you, I would go report quickly."
When they arrived at Park Geun-su's office, no one was there.
Somehow, everywhere he went today, he missed his mark.
The adjutant asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"No. Phew. Since coming down, everything is chaotic."
"I heard you went to a mountain."
"Yes. I had many things to ask."
"How was it?"
"What?"
"What did they say on the mountain?"
Yeongu tilted his head.
It sounded as if the man knew what Yeongu did when he went to the mountain.
"What would they say? They tell you to live properly."
"Oh."
"I went for nothing. I did not hear a single pleasant word. They only listed all the things I must do properly."
"If it is a mountain, you must mean your master?"
Yeongu suddenly lost his strength.
The man spoke as if he knew everything, but in truth he clearly did not know and had merely guessed vaguely.
There was no need to inform him precisely.
"Something similar."
"Ahaha. Is it not because of such people that the country manages to run properly?"
Yeongu shook his head in displeasure.
"Bastards like that fellow from the Ministry of War will absolutely not think so. They will think the country runs because they are outstanding and because they work hard."
"Surely not."
"The bastards doing useless things from their holes all do it for position and money. And while doing it, they act as if they have some grand reason, putting on weight, frowning, and ordering this and that."
Park Geun-su's adjutant was a Nangjang of about Park Geun-su's age.
He had served in the military command for a long time, but bad waters had not soaked into him.
"They say everyone changes once they hold power. So, what can be done when a man's vessel is only the size of a chamber pot, but the authority he holds is enormous? Everything beyond the size that chamber pot can hold becomes a mess."
"That is exactly why such men should not be raised up! Personnel reform!"
"There are not even people that good."
"Is that something to say now? Then educate them. Education reform."
"Oh, does everything improve just because you attach the word reform to it? It only increases useless work. If men who have been idle for ten or more years suddenly try to work, the country becomes a mess. They should do nothing and idle. Truly."
What use was there in speaking?
It was a pointless complaint.
The adjutant held out a book.
"What is this?"
"General Park told me yesterday or the day before to give it to you if I saw you."
"Why not give it to me himself?"
"He says he keeps forgetting these days."
Yeongu shouted sharply.
"Then he should die. Why is he still here smearing dung on the walls?"
At Yeongu's raw expression, the adjutant chuckled.
"Take a look. It seems he found it while poking around some book-rental shop."
*A shop that lends and sells books. Such shops appeared in the late Joseon period, but here they are treated as already existing in this setting.
"A book-rental shop?"
"Yes. Stories are popular these days. People of our country especially like them, do they not?"
"General Park goes poking around places like that?"
"It seemed he was looking for something… In any case, look at it. It is northern cavalry martial arts, using a ring-pommel saber one-handed from horseback, together with shield, spear, and bow."
"Hmm. Does it look useful?"
"The cuts where the horse passes by and the blade slices across the forehead and nape of the neck looked very useful. The upward cut from below, aimed at the flank and armpit, also seemed like a method actually used. And after passing by, turning the body and cutting back beneath the ribs—how should I put it—it seemed a very useful sword method that could be used when facing, striking, and parting. Thrusting or driving into the gaps of armor, the armpit, neck, and beneath the waist cord was also good."
Yeongu listened carefully to his words while turning the pages.
The man was not merely saying it looked good.
He had seen it concretely and understood it.
One should listen carefully to the words of such a person.
The book, a little larger than a palm, had each page well explained with drawings and descriptions.
As Yeongu looked at it, the adjutant came beside him, stood shoulder to shoulder, and explained while looking at the book together.
"The use of the ring cord here is excellent. You do not lose the blade, and by turning the wrist, you continue from defense into another attack. The ring-pommel saber itself is for cavalry. The handle with a ring shows it, and when you look at the form with a weak guard*, it is clearly for cavalry. This is a sword manual made for that."
*The structure between the handle and blade that protects the hand is relatively small. Rather than infantry swordsmanship, where blades strongly clash and the hand must be protected, it better suits weapon handling from horseback, cutting while passing by or using the sword together with spear, bow, and shield. If the barrier in front of the hand is low, it is disadvantageous for prolonged blade contact while receiving an opponent's sword.
"It is Goguryeo martial arts… yes?"
"It seems so."
"How could something like this remain?"
"He thought it would help Jungnangjang Lee."
"It would be good to make another copy and use one here to train cavalry."
"That has already been done."
Yeongu sat down and leaned back.
"Oh, when is he coming?"
Then his eyes met Park Geun-su, who was entering.
"Ah, what is it this time? What happened with Lee Jun-hui? He was jumping around in fury."
"He was saying useless things, so I gave him hell."
"Hey, hey. Even so, there is no one like him."
"They are all the same. How would he be different? An irresponsible official who only spills lies."
"He does not lie."
"Telling only part of the truth is a lie. Speaking to the people in words that lack concreteness is also a lie."
"What are you talking about?"
"A few days ago, they said they came to inspect the stream. I thought that was so. Later I learned they were telling people to remove cultivated fields connected all the way to the stream. Those bastards. Then they should say that. What is this 'stream inspection'? Is that a lie or not? If you ask what department they are from, they absolutely will not say. Those bastards. It is because they fear complaints later. They are the same kind."
Park Geun-su scolded Yeongu.
"We must work with such people. We must. What should we do? Give up everything? We cannot do that while holding public office."
"Phew."
There was no answer, only a long sigh.
Honestly, Yeongu was not greatly different from them either.
There was nothing better about him.
"It is best to guide the conversation moderately toward the good."
"Then they will believe those words and do nothing."
"What do you mean?"
Yeongu held out the paper written by Byeongbu Sirang Lee Jun-hui.
"This is the plan for the things I requested."
Park Geun-su glanced at it and said it was good.
"Yes, it looks good."
"But do you know? The same words were spoken months ago, almost a year ago."
"Were they?"
"They speak well. But there is no execution. In that office, I saw many things written on the walls. Loyalty, serving the country, bringing peace to the people, and all that. It probably reflects the reality that none of them are actually doing any of it. Bastards."
Park Geun-su shouted, "Stop it. How could they do all of this at once?"
"Tell them that if they do not, they will all be cut off."
"And you think better men will rise in their place?"
"Is that not so?"
"Only worse men will take those seats. More incompetent, more disobedient, more selfish, and more factional… ah, let us stop."
"How did things come to this? Right now the Jurchen are extremely healthy. We cannot withstand them."
"You said the Jurchen would not attack us."
"Yes, that is likely. But methods of war are changing. Tactics are changing too. Yet we are still using tactics from the Three Kingdoms period. Will that do?"
"The Three Kingdoms period? Heh. Now you are even bringing up history."
Yeongu changed the subject.
"But why did you call me?"
"Ah, right. I forgot. His Majesty was looking for you, and when he was told you had gone to a mountain and had not returned, he ordered that you come running as soon as you returned."
"How can you forget even that? Go back to your hometown."
Park Geun-su laughed with a "heh."
"I have buried my bones in the military gate. This is my hometown and my grave."
"Oh dear."
"In any case, you must return to your original unit quickly."
"That is the problem. I left as if I would never come back, so what am I supposed to say when I go back? Phew, I am so embarrassed."
"That is why you should not make declarations with no path of retreat."
"You want me to live whining about whether I will or will not do something?"
"Yes. Live a little pathetically."