I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

80 – Return and Reunion

The way back to Changseong. I came out onto the deck and looked at the crashing current and the straight horizon where the sky meets the sea.

Someone came closer to my side as I was alone and enjoying the beautiful natural scenery.

“Do you still remember Yodong?”

“Hmm…a little bit?”

Just like Hanso said, I was looking at the sea in awe and thinking about my work in Yodong.

“Did you achieve everything you wanted?”

“Yes. I got them all. I made an unexpected bond.”

I burst out laughing.

Ever since she found out that I was Young master of the Yan Dynasty, Bia felt restless when she met me, like a thief getting her feet numb.

No. He was a real stray cat. It is because he seduced Jin Gae, the best general of the current Yan Dynasty, to restore Liaodong. Although Qin Gai refused, he seemed to be in a state of insecurity because he caught me plotting a conspiracy to overthrow the Yan nation behind the scenes.

It’s a shame because neither I nor Jin-gae have any intention of making it a problem.

Nevertheless, when I told the Joseon delegation that they could use sapwood instead of osuyu tree and how to make this and that when the Joseon delegation returned home, Bia opened her eyes wide and said she was flustered.

Hyul, who assists Bia, also found out about my identity at that time and belatedly sent an apology. I was hiding it, so it was funny to receive an apology, but there was no reason to stop me when I said I would do it.

Via, who heard about my goal on the spot, left me a promise before leaving. Someday, if the Qin Dynasty’s great unification war breaks out, then they will repay today’s favor.

To be honest, it’s like paying back the won with silver, so people are bound to be thrilled by it.

However, since the state’s policy is not governed by personal emotions alone, we cannot be sure that Bia, who will succeed the throne later, will go according to his will, no matter how much he feels the kindness and has the intention of repaying it.

‘At least it’s better than remaining enemies.’

Anyway, Yan will have less time to care about Joseon in the east.

If it’s a tough relationship, Joseon will be aiming for a shake again in the gap. Rather, I think maintaining a good relationship with grace is the way to more stably manage the eastern frontier in the future.

If Jingae was staying in Yodong, he would not be able to act recklessly in Joseon and Dongho, but there is a high possibility that he will not.

And judging from the attitude of the Joseon delegation, it doesn’t seem like they’re the kind of people who can only show grace and wash their mouths.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t pay much attention to the upper ranks. How is it? Did this rocking move help the upper ranks as well?”

“Yes. Since Dong-ho followed General Jin-gae, trade was also brisk. I bought a lot of furs. If I bring them to Cho and Wei, my natives, I think they will make a lot of profit.”

“Perfect.”

Could there be a better ending than this?

I looked up at the sunny weather, feeling the satisfaction of the result of taking both the original goal of capturing Jin-gae and the benefits of the upper ranks as a just cause.

Please, I hope that the next day will be as clear as the sky now.

§

“Are you here?”

“Ah, former commander-in-chief. You didn’t care about anything?”

“hahahaha, I’m still correcting it. How’s the job in Liaodong?”

“We’ll call both Hong-seong Yeo and Sama-sang and talk about it later. Could you call the two of them?”

After sending the light, I returned to the office after a long time and started looking at the pending documents that had not been processed.

Most of the things were sorted out in electric light, and most of them were close to reports telling me how they had been handled, but there were some things that could only be handled by me.

Like a reply to a letter sent by the state government of Taebu about how Changsung’s life is. Confirmation of Nogucheon’s regular settlement of accounts secretly raised from the main body of Jo Nara’s movie, and dissemination of future instructions.

And….

“I’m sure you’re here.”

“Prince Mosu also had a lot of trouble coming this far.”

Things like the report on Mo’s plan to wipe out the trio in Changseong.

“It seems that Yodong’s work went well. His expression is bright.”

“Yes. It worked out. How about Changsung?”

“Of course. You can feel it clearly when you walk outside the window.”

Mosu’s confident answer reminded me of the sharp gaze I used to feel when walking around the window. It’s good that I became sensitive to other people’s eyes and sounds, but it was also quite annoying.

“As expected, it’s Mosu Gong. It’s as good as it gets.”

Performance sure.

My conversation with Mosu consisted of Mosu’s half-respect and my respect. There was a difference in status, but to me, Mo Su was a foreigner, not a Yan, and a talented person I wanted to hire, and to Mo Su, I was just helping out with the old Pyeongwongun.

When Chu Yeon first visited Yeonhwa Yangwangdo, he said that he took care of himself as a servant and treated him with respect as a teacher. I don’t know if the mother came in properly as a sikgaek.

“By the way, I’ve managed to gather such talented people by my side. Chun Guang, Lu Hongsheng, and Sima Xiang are all great talents. If I had been a guest in Pingyuan County, I would have been able to occupy the annex.”

“They are undeserved talents. But Sima Xiang is not my person, but a person of interest.”

“Imokui…? hahahaha, Pyeongwon-gun was right.”

“Gun Pyeongwon was right, what do you mean by that?”

Mosu laughed out loud and said, recalling the nostalgic past.

“Long ago, when Young master first visited Pyongwon-gun, I hid behind a folding screen and overheard their conversation. Pyeongwon-gun gave me an order to analyze Young master as well.”

I didn’t know that.

Until then, I still didn’t have the sense to catch people’s presence or gaze like I do now, and even if I were now, I thought it was unlikely that I would be able to find a parameter that was determined and concealed my presence.

“At that time, Young master said, “I know the strength of the country of Cho. What is that strength? I thought it was King Shinpyeong. I was thinking of someone else.”

“That’s what I noticed.”

“That’s right. Prince Pyeongwon said that if Young master realized the true value of Imok and discussed the strength of the Zhao Dynasty, then Young master would surely become King Yeon. Now I know that he was right.”

Mosu admired Pyeongwon-gun’s eyes, but I felt a longing for Pyeongwon-gun in other things.

‘In the first meeting, I put Mosu behind a folding screen. But the last meeting before Pyeongwon-gun left was different.’

At that time, Pyeongwon-gun put Mosu outside the door. I really had a meeting just the two of us, entrusting only my guidance to Mosu.

The first time I had doubts and the last time I showed sincerity.

Pyeongwon-gun did not even inform the mother of the diners he trusted and trusted the most that he had made me his successor. It seems like it’s my choice other than to inform it.

‘He gave me a very heavy burden.’

When I inadvertently brought my hand to his bosom with the seal on it, Mosu withdrew his laugh.

“Now I understand a little why Prince Pyeongwon entrusted the seal to Young master even though he had children of his own.”

Mosu corrected his attitude, which seemed a little cocky.

He sat down with good manners and began to speak in a more serious voice than ever before.

“The talented people next to Young master are great. A scholar named Jeon Guang is worthy of running a country, and a heroine named Lu Hongsheng is worthy of sword fighting with Prince Shinpyeong. He’s working by his side, and he’s truly the master’s lumber, just like the Mamok-kun. However, Young master lacks something.”

“Give me a lesson.”

“The information of Young master depends on the upper part of the movie. Zhao’s Gucheon, Wei’s Zhang Yi, and Yan’s Jingga. They are all quite good, but their skills in handling information are poor. It looks like it, but it’s still clumsy. Compared to Po Gong and Seol Gong, who work under Shin Leung-gun, he’s infinitely immature.”

That’s right.

There is a lot of information coming in through the top, but most of it is fragmentary, so there were a lot of cases where you came across distorted information, not the true truth that was hidden.

And although the top is not a professional spy and has connections with officials from each country, it is unreasonable to extract detailed inside information.

So, the information of the Wei Dynasty was half dependent on Shinneung-gun, and the information of the Jo Dynasty was half dependent on the Punishment.

On the other hand, the task of blocking the sejaks spying on this side was also neglected because there was no one to solve it until Mosu arrived.

“Even though he has a lot of information, he can’t combine them to find out the hidden facts. Young master’ intelligence is too superficial. Right now, Punggi and Lord Shinneung will help, but we can’t just rely on their help forever.”

Mosu fluttered his sleeves and held his hands in moderation, raising them above his head.

“I will be the hand of Young master. If Young master does not abandon Pyeongwongun’s will, this mother will not hesitate to serve as a dog.”

“…I dare to promise you. I, Heidan, will engrave Pyeongwon-gun’s will into my bones and never forget it.”