In the cold wind, Li Cheng-jae looked chillingly towards Haigucheng.
After the Japanese army was driven out of Goryeo, he successfully took over the cities except Busan City, achieving unmatched glory for a time.
However, as the power in his hands grew day by day, his ambition began to swell. These few cities in southern Goryeo could no longer satisfy him; he wanted more. He wanted to become the King of Goryeo.
But when he revealed this idea, Ye Qingyun coldly rejected him. At this point, he suddenly realized that he was merely a pawn in the hands of the Great Yu Empire.
He had grown up in Goryeo, reading Goryeo’s history and eating Goryeo’s food. Subconsciously, he always considered himself a Goryeo person. The Great Yu Empire was merely a strange term to him.
Most importantly, he also wanted to expand Goryeo’s territory, like the Great Yu Empire, and make Goryeo a world power. To achieve this goal, the Great Yu Empire only needed to help them establish an industrial foundation.
This way, once Goryeo grew strong, they could conquer Japan and even occupy overseas colonies.
However, ideals were beautiful, but reality was always cruel. The longer he interacted with Ye Qingyun, the more he understood the Great Yu Empire’s sinister intentions.
Their ultimate goal was to make Goryeo culture disappear, completely becoming territory of the Great Yu Empire.
For the ordinary common people of Goryeo, it might not matter, because for them, as long as they had food, it didn’t matter who ruled. But for the Goryeo nobles, this was intolerable.
So, they had been secretly resisting the Great Yu Empire’s destruction of Goryeo culture, while also instigating popular rebellions to force the Great Yu Empire to withdraw its orders.
On this point, he and the Goryeo nobles shared the same idea, so he chose to support them and secretly met with the King of Goryeo.
To his surprise, this King of Goryeo, who had always appeared timid, showed another face when he met him. Like all Goryeo nobles, they did not wish to see Goryeo fall.
“Your Majesty.”
As he was thinking, Li Cheng-jae’s personal guard walked in.
“How is it?” Li Cheng-jae asked. His actual title now was King of Southern Goryeo.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the grain has been distributed. The common people are very cooperative. They said as long as we continue to provide grain, they are willing to cooperate with our act,” the personal guard said.
Li Cheng-jae nodded in satisfaction. During this period, he had been winning over the common people with military rations, and these rations were supplied by the Great Yu Empire.
Thinking that he had paid nothing but could cause trouble for Ye Qingyun, he couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. “It’s still too gentle now. We need to make a few Great Yu Empire soldiers die, otherwise they won’t feel afraid.”
“But what if we anger them?” the personal guard asked with some worry.
“Don’t be afraid. The Great Yu Empire is currently fighting a civil war. Most of its forces are tied down in the south. In Goryeo, Ye Qingyun has only this many troops. If they don’t want to fight on two fronts, they’ll have to show some restraint,” Li Cheng-jae said confidently.
“Yes. If that’s the case, I’ll arrange for some soldiers to mingle with the common people. Tomorrow, they’ll cause trouble in Busan City, seizing the opportunity to kill a few Great Yu Empire soldiers to establish our authority.”
“Hmm, that’s what we’ll do. If the Great Yu Empire then shoots common people in retaliation, it will certainly cause even greater indignation among the common people,” Li Cheng-jae said, as if already seeing the Great Yu Empire soldiers retreating sheepishly from Goryeo, and the King of Goryeo abdicating and handing over power to him.
Just as he was lost in pleasant thoughts, the King of Goryeo, in the royal palace, summoned the Left State Councilor Kim Hyun-sung.
Facing this white-haired old man, the King of Goryeo said, “I have inconvenienced you during this time, but the threat from the Great Yu Empire is imminent. I had no choice but to sheathe my sword.”
Kim Hyun-sung sighed slightly. He said, “Your Majesty, the treaty formulated by the Great Yu Empire is meant to put Goryeo to death. We, the nobles of Changbai Mountain, cannot simply perish like this.”
“I naturally know that. But at that time, the situation was such that I had no choice but to make concessions. Do you truly believe I intended to heavily rely on Hwang Ja-man? After all, he is merely a dog of the Great Yu Empire. Using him is just to put the Great Yu Empire at ease.”
“Your Majesty has been wronged,” Kim Hyun-sung said, tears welling up in his old eyes. The King of Goryeo’s words made all the grievances he suffered during this period worthwhile.
Ever since Hwang Ja-man returned, he had thrown the Goryeo court into chaos, and had also gathered a group of pro-Great Yu Empire officials. He was now quite formidable.
Moreover, they had been vigorously pushing for the treaty signed with the Great Yu Empire, practically acting as their vanguard.
“Having suffered for so long, a few more days won’t matter. Now, I only hope the Left State Councilor’s plan can truly make the Great Yu Empire withdraw its troops.” The King of Goryeo said.
Kim Hyun-sung was very confident. “Your Majesty, Hwang Ja-man is continuously pressing us. He has the Great Yu Empire soldiers under Yun Changfeng as his backing, and we cannot contend with him. We can only agree. However, the imperial court is the imperial court, and the common people are the common people. We can control the imperial court, but we cannot control the common people. Moreover, now with Li Cheng-jae, this ambitious man, assisting us, it will only put more and more pressure on the Great Yu Empire people. This spreading fire is not something anyone can stop.”
After a pause, he continued, “Once the Great Yu Empire army withdraws, we will feign an invitation to Li Cheng-jae to enter Ryukyo City and enthrone him as king. Once he comes, we will seize and kill him. This way, Goryeo will be unified from then on.”
A hint of excitement flashed in the King of Goryeo’s eyes. He said, “Left State Councilor, if this succeeds, I will certainly abstain from black incense.”
At the mention of this, Kim Hyun-sung’s expression darkened. What he hated most was the Great Yu Empire’s continuous export of black incense to Goryeo, because once addicted, it was very difficult to quit, completely turning a person into an useless person.
“Your Majesty, leave this matter to me, your old servant.” Kim Hyun-sung said seriously, “I have already contacted twenty-seven noble families. If the common people’s efforts do not work, I will lead the army personally to drive out the Great Yu Empire army. If it succeeds, it will be Your Majesty’s achievement. If it fails, I alone will bear the responsibility.”
The King of Goryeo yawned. His spirits suddenly sagged. He said, “Left State Councilor, I leave this matter to you. I am returning now.”
Kim Hyun-sung’s heart felt a pang of bitterness upon seeing this. He knew what the King of Goryeo was going to do.
Clenching his fists, he looked towards the Ryukyo City Grand Camp. He was planning how to drive out all ten thousand of these Great Yu Empire soldiers.
…
Haigucheng, Ye Qingyun received the imperial order after waiting for three days. Ever since the railway opened, the speed of transmitting messages had also increased.
It took half a day to reach Dengzhou, and another half a day by boat to reach Haigucheng, which was very convenient.
“Congratulations, Army Commander! You have gained another title of Governor-General! Now we can fully handle the affairs of Goryeo!”
Ye Qingyun repeatedly read the imperial edict. A faint smile appeared on his lips. “His Majesty trusts me very much. Now that Lu Fei and Luo Xin are fighting in the south, we in Goryeo cannot disgrace His Majesty. You are to immediately issue an order to all troops: prepare for battle, raise alertness levels! If there is any situation that endangers the lives of Great Yu Empire soldiers, kill without mercy!”
The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair