I Became a Fallen Noble of Goguryeo

Chapter 48: Appointment

Go Heul looked at Wang Jun and spoke.

“Besides, I think I’ll be a bit busy outside of the National Academy before long.”

“It’s because of affairs with the Western Land and the North, isn’t it?”

“Well… it’s not entirely unrelated.”

Go Heul’s expression grew rather serious.

“Wang Jun, what do you think of Kim Muryeok?”

“What’s there to say? He’s a bastard I’d like to tear apart. Just thinking of what happened at Maun Pass keeps me from sleeping.”

“For me, that person is Isabu.”

Just as Kim Muryeok had once been Isabu’s subordinate, Wang Jun too had once served as Go Heul’s subordinate.

And just as Wang Jun had been defeated by Kim Muryeok on the Gaema Plateau, Go Heul had also once been defeated by Isabu.

“At Dosalseong, while we were clashing with Baekje, that bastard Isabu struck our rear and I ended up losing. And at seventy years old, he even destroyed Banna (Daegaya).”

“…That’s true.”

Because of that, Isabu had been able to ignite the last blaze of his life and end gloriously.

“Seeing that, I found myself a little envious.”

“Didn’t you say you were retiring?”

“And yet, haven’t I been unable to retire all this time?”

Go Heul smiled with an expression unfitting for an old man.

“I’ve endured without retiring until now, but if I just fade away from old age, I’d feel sorry for my own life.”

He wanted to burn his last flame.

But Wang Jun remained uncertain.

“But… will war really break out?”

“Here, take a look. This was written by that bastard Ondal.”

Go Heul handed over a booklet.

What was written there was the turmoil of Northern Qi and the attacks of Northern Zhou.

Any Goguryeo man of the present day already knew this.

“…Hm, is this a compilation?”

“No. It was written two years ago.”

“…What?”

That meant it wasn’t a compilation, but a prediction.

“Keep reading.”

“Hm… Northern Qi falls to Northern Zhou… and then war between Northern Zhou and Goguryeo?”

“Right. The boys at the National Academy know this well, but you really must have lived with your ears shut to the world.”

“The baby arrows were so entertaining, anyway… Is this what you think will be your final battlefield, General?”

“Yes. And it’s not just Ondal—another one named Eulji Mundeok said the same thing.”

“Eulji Mundeok? Who is that?”

“The one I’m watching most closely. In terms of sheer talent, he’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

At those words, Wang Jun asked.

“Better than me?”

“No comparison at all. Tell me, do you even have any wars you’ve won?”

“I crushed the Rebellion of Chugun and Segun, and the Ganjuli Rebellion.”

“And you lost to Kim Muryeok. Winning against your own kin but losing to enemies—what fine work. Truly a great general, aren’t you.”

Wang Jun had nothing to say to that.

“…But even so, would you really act on the words of just a handful of National Academy students?”

“No. I too predicted this war.”

“Damn it, you should have said that first.”

“But the stubbornness of an old man is often wrong, isn’t it? Yet when two young men both predicted the same thing… and now Northern Zhou really has begun invading Northern Qi, it’s more than worth betting on. Besides, it’s not like there’s another choice.”

Go Heul laughed.

“So, you take charge of the National Academy. I need to draw my bowstring one last time.”

Wang Jun could not refuse the words of Go Heul, who had once been his general.

And so, a few days later.

Supreme Chancellor Go Heul declared that he would step away from the affairs of the National Academy to focus on northern matters, and recommended Grand Envoy Wang Jun for the post of administrator.

Though there was some opposition in the Jeja Council at the return of a once-fallen noble…

“What, is that…!”

“Good heavens, fifty steps farther?”

“I can’t give this up! Give him the National Academy!”

The ten volleys of baby arrows Wang Jun shot into the sky were more than enough to silence the opposition.

At that time.

Pyeongyang was bustling.

“How much grain is needed?”

“Weren’t you saying ten thousand? Why has it gone up again?”

“Damn it, this work just keeps multiplying.” Follow current novᴇls on novel{f}ire.net

For the northern campaign, they had to calculate the military rations to be sent to Gun’an Fortress and settle the issue of manpower. Departure would come only after everything was decided.

And there wasn’t much room for a newly graduated Junior Elder like me to step in, so Go San told me to take it as a short vacation and rest well.

‘Why does he keep making it confusing like this?’

If he’s going to be a bad guy, he should just be fully bad, and if he’s going to be good, then simply good.

First he throws a check ball, then suddenly treats me well, and then I can’t help but think another check ball is coming—it makes my head hurt.

After graduating from the National Academy, I returned home for the first time in a while.

“Husband!”

As soon as I arrived, Boknyeo rushed toward me.

Beside her was my mother, Geum-hwa.

Just as I had been staying at the National Academy near Pyeongyang rather than in the city itself, the two of them had usually been in Gromchon rather than Pyeongyang… but this time they had hurried over after hearing the news about me.

“You’ve become a Junior Elder, at last…!”

Tears welled up in my mother’s eyes.

Junior Elder was the rank once held by my maternal grandfather.

But my mother did not cry.

“On such a joyous day, how could an old woman like me shed tears?”

She called herself old, but she was only in her forties.

I smiled back at her.

“You’re still beautiful.”

“You and your words… Enough, let’s talk about the hereditary allotment.”

I was now a Junior Elder.

From this rank onward, one was officially regarded as a noble in Goguryeo.

Naturally, there were many benefits, the greatest of which was, of course, the hereditary village allotment.

‘Still, to think it would be Beomchon and not Gromchon.’

Honestly, I had thought my allotment would be Gromchon, but it turned out that Elder Munso, having become a Junior Elder as an agricultural scholar, had already taken it as his allotment.

So, the allotment I received was Beomchon, right beside it.

Mother explained.

“From now on, Beomchon’s fifty households are yours to manage. Before long, go and meet the Prominent Free Villager.”

When one thought of a hereditary village allotment, it might seem like one could take everything the people there produced, but that was not the case.

The allotment was always about receiving people, not land.

Even in Pyeongyang, there were quite a few self-cultivating farmers belonging to the hereditary villages.

‘If I had to compare it, it’s a bit like being a landlord.’

A landlord received monthly rent, but he could never take all the profits of the tenants running shops inside the building, right?

The hereditary allotment was similar.

What I gained was not the entire income of Beomchon’s farmers, but only the right to collect taxes.

I took the same amount of tax the farmers would have paid the state, and that became my stipend.

Of course, there were differences from a landlord.

For example, if a landlord in the twenty-first century forced his tenants into labor, it would instantly become a scandal on TV.

But I could conscript labor from the hereditary allotment and use it for construction or for training private guards.

Sometimes, malicious allotment holders abused this authority and made life worse for the self-cultivators.

They conscripted the farmers recklessly, ruined the crops, worsened their economy, buried them in debt, and then seized their land.

If that happened, the allotment holder ended up with both “authority over people” and “authority over land,” making those farmers completely subjugated.

In other words, they became something like semi–tax village households.

But if it were Domestic Fortress, maybe, though in Pyeongyang such cases were rare.

Not because Pyeongyang nobles were exceptionally conscientious, but because of the Grand King’s presence.

Self-cultivating farmers in Pyeongyang were the backbone of Goguryeo’s military power, so the Grand King always paid close attention.

Wasn’t Goguryeo the very country that, four hundred years ago, had implemented the Jindaebeop, lending grain from the state, in order to foster and protect self-cultivators?

If any wretch abused his authority and seized the land of self-cultivators within an allotment, the Grand King would simply “reassign the hereditary village” and turn all his efforts to nothing.

‘Unlike a tax village, a hereditary village allotment could be changed at any time.’

And that wasn’t all.

If rumors spread in the capital that a noble abused his position, his reputation would instantly plunge to the ground.

And in Goguryeo society, self-cultivators were soldiers, and nobles were commanders.

There was nothing more useless than a commander abandoned by his own soldiers.

Therefore, I too had not the slightest thought of harassing the self-cultivators of my allotment to seize their land.

Money from mushrooms and ginseng was plenty enough.

What mattered most to me was reputation, so I would rather avoid anything that would harm it.

As I had said many times, in Pyeongyang, where the citizens themselves were soldiers, throwing away one’s pride for money was sheer folly.

I asked Boknyeo.

“How should I handle Beomchon?”

“It’s right next to Gromchon, isn’t it? Nothing to worry about there.”

“Well, if anything happened, Elder Munso would tell us right away.”

“Ah, that’s….”

Boknyeo glanced around nervously.

Mother spoke instead.

“Elder Munso passed away. It’s been about four months.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me….”

“You were at the National Academy, and I didn’t want to burden your heart with needless news. The work Elder Munso had been doing was taken up by his son, Mun Usik.”

“Mun Usik? You mean Uncle Usik?”

“Yes. Originally, Elder Munso had no family name… but now, as he became a noble, he takes ‘Mun’ as his clan.”

Mother added.

“Elder Munso went with a smile. As he left, he said not to tell you. He said his benefactor was handling important affairs at the National Academy, and should not be distracted on his account.”

So I heard the story of Elder Munso’s last days.

After being ill for several days, he suddenly rose, drank liquor, and spoke endlessly about our meetings.

—Hey you, I’m a noble now, a noble. The Mun clan of Gromchon. All thanks to meeting Ondal. Anyway, aren’t you going to pull the weeds from that field over there?

And as he strolled through the field like that, he suddenly collapsed and never rose again.

I did not know how he accepted his own death.

But I could tell how he wished others to accept it.

That was why I smiled.

“He passed in a way that was truly like him.”

The authority of a Junior Elder did not end with the hereditary allotment.

Naturally, I also had the right to a larger house than I had as an Attendant Official.

I had always had plenty of money, so of course, the moment I became a Junior Elder, I secured a new house.

“Farewell, little five-room house….”

But in truth, since I had spent most of my time at the National Academy, I didn’t feel much sentiment.

Rather, I was excited at the thought of moving into a bigger, more central house.

Hearing this, one could roughly imagine the structure of Pyeongyang.

Centered on Anhak Palace, where the Grand King resided, the houses of ministers and great nobles lay closer, while the lesser ones lay farther.

Since I had risen from the 14th rank to the 10th, I was now able to live closer to Anhak Palace.

It wasn’t I who searched for the new house, but Boknyeo and Mother.

“Which house did you get?”

“Hey, where’s the fun in telling you?”

Boknyeo seemed to want to make it a kind of surprise.

She bounced around, trying to cover my eyes.

“Why are you so tall?”

Of course, with Boknyeo barely reaching one-fifty, it was physically impossible for her to block the eyes of someone like me who stood well over one-ninety.

So.

“Up you go!”

“Kyaa!”

I hoisted Boknyeo onto my back.

Boknyeo giggled.

“This reminds me of when we first met. You carried me just like this back then.”

“Haha, but I’ve grown taller since then. You don’t seem to have grown much at all… ow!”

Boknyeo tugged on my topknot.

And so, with my eyes covered by Boknyeo, I followed her directions.

“Right.”

“Now left, straight, straight….”

“Like this?”

“That’s it. Just straight ahead! You’ve got a good sense of direction!”

After walking for quite some time like that, Boknyeo laughed.

“Prepare yourself!”

Then, the hands covering my eyes slowly released.

And my mouth dropped open.