Chapter 231 — Yeongu's Request 2: The Great Khan's Decision
"From this day forth, Jin's military command shall be made clear."
The eyes of the generals gathered on the Great Khan.
"Strike those who fight. Cut down those who raise blades against us. Those who defend fortresses and shoot arrows at us shall be dealt with according to military law. Record the merits of battle and divide the spoils according to law. Do not forget the houses of the dead and the care of the wounded."
He stopped speaking for a moment.
Then he continued in a lower and clearer voice.
"However, do not kill those who lay down their weapons. Do not trample those who surrender. Do not harm the old, the children, and the women of a tribe that has submitted. Open storehouses according to military order, and handle people according to law. One who kills with his own hand and seizes with his own hand, then calls it merit, is no longer a general of Jin."
Among the tribal chiefs, there was a stir like breath stopping.
It was an order forbidding them.
The Great Khan's eyes shone coldly.
"Conquered people are also subjects."
That one phrase fell heavily inside the hall.
"Those who were Liao's subjects yesterday become Jin's subjects today if they enter beneath our banner.
Even if their language differs, their clothes differ, and their customs differ, if they pay taxes, till fields, repair roads, and carry military grain, they are subjects of the state. One who treats them like beasts is one who cuts at the roots of my country."
The Great Khan looked at the general of tribal-chief origin.
"I also know what you fear. You said you fear losing the nearby tribes. You fear they will not follow if they are forbidden from doing this. You fear even the noble authority of those tribal chiefs will disappear. I fear that too.
That is why I establish law even more firmly. Shares shall be divided by law, crimes shall be questioned by military order, and the people shall be treated with benevolence and righteousness. Only then will the nearby tribes not resent us, and the newly entered people not flee."
He looked around at everyone again.
"Jin can no longer remain inside the tent of one tribe. We must move from an army formed of many tribes into one country. On that road, I am not saying that each of you must abandon every old custom. But the customs that will bring down the country shall be cut off from this day forth."
The faces of the generals seated inside the hall hardened.
Agolta looked at those hardened faces one by one and spoke as if driving in nails.
"I will punish those who disguise plunder as merit.
I will punish those who kill the surrendered.
I will punish those who privately harm submitted tribes.
I will not consider whether the one who violates military order is the head of some mouke, a man of some meng'an, or my own kinsman."
Xiyin raised his head.
Zongwang drew in a low breath.
Yeongu watched the Great Khan in silence.
The Great Khan spoke last.
"With benevolence, I shall embrace the people. With righteousness, I shall govern the army. With law, I shall distinguish merit from guilt.
This, from today forth, is the military order of Great Jin. Those who follow it are my people, and those who break it have no place to stand within my army.
If someone dislikes this and leaves, he is the same as an enemy of Liao. He shall be regarded as an enemy. If he works to bring down the empire, what is that if not an enemy?"
He lowered his hand.
Only then did breath move again inside the hall.
The general of tribal-chief origin lowered his head with his lips pressed tightly shut.
Yeongu too quietly offered courtesy.
Inside the newly built octagonal hall, the point of Jin's blade turned for the first time not only toward the enemy outside, but toward the old customs within its own army.
Even after the Great Khan's words ended, no sound arose in the hall for a while.
Only the fire in the brazier burned low, and even the hammering from the construction ground outside seemed to have receded far away.
The generals sat frozen in their places.
The generals of tribal-chief origin kept their lips closed, Zongwang lowered his breath, and Xiyin cast down his eyes without looking at the tribal chiefs.
Yeongu quietly rose.
Charrrr.
The iron pieces of his armor struck against one another very softly.
That sound was strangely distinct inside the octagonal hall.
He first looked at the Great Khan.
Yet the courtesy he offered was not to the Great Khan alone.
Yeongu turned his body.
He stood facing the generals and tribal chiefs seated around the octagon, the heads of meng'an and mouke, and the men who would have to receive the heavy command of the new country with their own bodies.
Then he gathered both hands neatly and, slowly and respectfully, gave a military salute.
It was the courtesy of a Goryeo general.
It was the courtesy of a man holding a blade toward other men holding blades, and not the gesture of a victor looking down on a defeated debater.
There was no joy on his face.
There was no sign that he had won the argument.
Nor did he show satisfaction that the Great Khan had accepted his will.
Rather, his expression was heavy.
Now words had become military order, and military order had to enter into people's customs, suppressed desires, and unknowable fears.
Yeongu knew how rough that road would be.
Acknowledging difference is an extremely difficult thing.
To treat with warm hearts like one's own family those whose language, clothing, food, rites for worship, and ways of burying the dead all differ is truly difficult.
People first guard against what they do not know, and they easily receive what is different as hostility.
Yeongu knew that these men now had to bear that difficulty.
The Great Khan's declaration was grand and solemn, but those who had to keep that declaration were the generals seated inside this hall.
They were the ones who would have to withdraw their blades before a surrendered village.
They were the ones who would have to wait for military order with spoils in front of their eyes.
They were the ones who would have to soothe subordinates enraged against the enemy and recalculate the shares to be given to the houses of the dead.
That was why Yeongu saluted them.
That courtesy was gratitude.
It was a request, recognition, and respect toward those who had taken on a heavy burden.
He did not think that because he had spoken the right words, these men would immediately be able to walk that path easily.
Right things usually bring loss first and create anger first.
A very great deal of time is needed.
Yeongu's waist bent deeply.
The shoulders of his armor lowered, and the end of his wind cloak came close to the floor.
The generals inside the hall lost their words as they watched that courtesy.
Some among them still held dissatisfaction, some had not yet accepted it, and some feared the Great Khan's command.
Yet they could at least know that Yeongu was not mocking them or trying to drive them into a corner.
They could know that he truly was not making this request for his private interest.
He slowly straightened his body.
His gaze still remained upon the people.
With the Great Khan's declaration, the point of Jin's blade no longer faced only the enemy outside.
That blade now had to confront the old customs within its own army as well.