Chapter 226 — Lee Yeongu's Resolve
Zongwang did not know what to do.
Whatever he said seemed likely to touch Yeongu's anger, and if he said nothing, it felt as though he would be committing an even greater wrong.
Yet Yeongu said nothing.
He only looked at the firelight in silence.
So Cheol-un passed around the few pieces of meat.
The jerky roasted on skewers had curled golden at the edges, with the smell of charcoal fire and salt soaked into it.
Yeongu picked up one piece.
He cooled it briefly with his fingertips, brought it to his lips, blew on it, and then chewed it toughly.
A sweet and salty taste spread across the tip of his tongue.
But even that taste could not change the heavy mood.
The meat loosened in his mouth, but the words caught between the people did not loosen.
The fire was burning, the smell of meat was warm, and the faces of those sitting around it were all stiff.
At last, Yeongu opened his mouth.
"The three things I mentioned earlier are strategic directions."
Zongwang immediately lowered his head.
"That is so. I listened with washed ears and respectful attention."
"And last." Yeongu looked down at the meat in his hand. "The force I used just now is the standard for handling matters after the war. If you do not do as I say, I will crush it by force."
The corners of Zongwang's eyes hardened.
Yeongu spoke slowly.
"I will not forgive it."
"Ah…"
Zongwang let out a sound like a sigh.
He had already expected those words, but hearing them from Yeongu's mouth gave them a different weight.
They did not sound like a threat.
They were the declaration of a man who had just shattered more than a hundred riders on the field and had now decided what he would do next.
Yeongu continued.
"If one cannot do what is right because one fears the tribes falling away, then one is no man."
Zongwang spoke quietly.
"If that happens, they will all fall away, and we will not be able to defeat Liao."
"What use is winning? What use is defeating them?" Yeongu answered at once. "They will fall immediately afterward. They will not last ten years."
Zongwang closed his mouth.
Yeongu's argument was growing stronger.
At first, it had been a request not to kill prisoners.
Then it became a demand to reduce plunder.
Now he was asking about the very way a country stood.
Zongwang felt as though he had struck an invisible wall.
He spoke with difficulty.
"Even so, if we stop submissions now and let those who have already submitted fall away, Jin cannot continue."
Yeongu cut him off.
"A country that must commit evil to continue is unnecessary. It is right for such a country to disappear. For the sake of a peaceful world."
Zongwang drew in a breath.
Yeongu's voice was low, but the ends of his words were straight as a blade.
"It is right for such a country to vanish."
The charcoal around the fire settled with a soft crack.
A small spark leapt for a moment, then disappeared into the dark.
No one could react to that sound.
Zongwang said, "You will collide with us in many ways."
Yeongu raised his head.
His eyes settled coldly.
"I heard the word punishment earlier. I will be the one to carry that out."
Zongwang's face stiffened.
Yeongu said it clearly.
"Punishment."
An uneasy imagining rose in Zongwang's mind.
He recalled the scene he had just seen on the field.
Scattered cavalry.
Broken spears.
The soldiers of a mouke lying face down on the ground.
And the red and blue banner wound and bound.
What would happen if that power moved not toward enemies on a battlefield, but inward, toward the Jin army itself?
Zongwang asked carefully.
"Are you perhaps intending to handle matters by force now?"
Yeongu answered briefly.
"Yes."
"There will be many collisions."
Yeongu smiled broadly.
It was not a bright smile.
Only the corner of his mouth rose briefly in the firelight, while his eyes remained cold.
"Lord Zongwang must help me."
Zongwang could not answer immediately.
He could help Yeongu, and he might also have to stop him.
The thought that Yeongu's words were right and the fear that those words might tear Jin apart rose together.
"It may be difficult."
Yeongu chewed the meat once more.
The tough flesh slowly loosened between his teeth.
He tilted his head slightly and spoke as though it were no great matter.
"If it does not work, then it does not."
It was an irresponsible thing to say.
Zongwang looked at him helplessly.
Yeongu looked at the fire and added,
"A man has only one life in this world. If he hesitates, he misses it. I was wrong too, leaving because of this and giving up. I should have tried to fix it first. Only after that should I have decided whether it could be done or not. I will go and try. If it cannot be done, I will kill them all. Hehehe."
Yeongu drew a hand across his own throat.
He was truly a remarkable person.
Decision was difficult, but once decided, he acted accordingly.
He was a man who had left and then returned.
He had left as if he would never come back.
That was because his heart had grown sick of it.
Something had to be done for him, but first, Zongwang was deeply worried about where Lee Yeongu might leap.
"You are making some frightening plan right now, are you not?"
"No. It is not frightening. More importantly, should the three matters I told you not be handled quickly?"
"That is so. But I think I will have to go as the envoy to Song… and if I do, I worry difficulties may arise for Jungnangjang Lee."
Yeongu gave a faint laugh.
There was not much difference between them, yet Zongwang thought he had to look after him.
That was why Yeongu liked him.
This man, at least, made him feel that he was on his side.
"What about Lord Zonghan?"
"Brother Zonghan is the finest grand strategist in designing the large board, but he is somewhat fierce. Diplomacy and negotiation are difficult for him. Brother himself leaves these matters to me. What he would say if he went is obvious. He would say, 'Do it or do not do it, as you please,' and then walk out. He has a tendency to do that on purpose as well. Above all, the war is right before us. Brother Zonghan cannot be removed."
"No, would that man not protect me?"
"Of course. Of course he would, but Brother has many matters to handle."
"People say this: Zongwang on the left, Zonghan on the right. If the army is divided east and west, the east is Zongwang and the west is Zonghan…"
"No. How could I be compared with Brother? It happened once, that is all. Whether in overall strategy or actual battle, I cannot be compared with him."
"Oh, why does a prince say such things?"
At the word prince, Zongwang's face reddened.
"Oh dear, prince?"
"Are you not? You are. You are a prince who might even become emperor one day."
"How many elder brothers do I have above me? And my uncles as well. I do not even dream of such a thing. I will simply fight for my people and pass on. I am still only a meng'an."
*Meng'an: roughly a commander of a thousand households, an upper organization over several mouke; a major chieftain-level position over about three thousand households.
Yeongu liked that he treated the title prince as nothing special.
How many people in the world had their livers hanging outside their bellies?
Zongwang placed himself only as one member of the military organization.
That was why a person of fine character moved those beside him.
Late in the evening, several rounds of drink passed between them.
Yeongu asked,
"Still, would you not want to try it once?"
"Try what?"
"Being emperor."
"Oh dear, were you still thinking about that? I truly have no thought of it. Even if it were given to me for nothing, I would not do it."
"Why?"
"They say lust for power is the greatest desire that ruins a person's soul."
Again, he spoke like a bodhisattva.
Ask him one way and the answer was like that.
Ask him another way and it was still like that.
The size of the person was different.
How many generals like this were there?
The king lamented that in Goryeo, all who lingered nearby were foxes and wolves greedy for vested interests, but around Agolta there were more than ten generals like this.
In his heart, Yeongu counted their names one by one.
Zongwang.
Zonghan.
Xiyin.
Yinga.
Sarigai.
Saqmo Ari.
Dolhapsok.
Oyeon Porohon.
Jeokjan Hwi.
Dae Go.
Aribo.
Suddenly, he thought that there was no way these men would fail to rise greatly.
They would rise, destroy Liao, and change the world.