Ch.323The Sword Path (4)

The rumor about the elimination of the Sword Sect at Mount Surak spread quickly among the people.

The people’s perception began to gradually change.

“I heard they completely wiped out those Sword Sect bastards at Mount Surak?”

“That’s right. I heard that Sword Sect group had quite a large influence.”

“From what I’ve heard, the government troops stepped in.”

“Government troops?”

At the mention of government troops, the people tilted their heads in confusion.

While it was natural for public authorities to protect citizens, such occurrences weren’t frequent.

Though Goryeo had succeeded in centralizing power, it still lacked sufficient administrative capacity to project authority throughout the entire country.

As a result, they couldn’t eliminate criminal groups like the Sword Sect before they gained power, instead conducting suppression operations only after these groups had established significant influence.

This approach not only produced notable results but also served as a warning to other violent organizations.

However, while the Mount Surak Sword Sect had considerable influence, they hadn’t yet reached the stage of causing major harm to the people.

This left citizens feeling puzzled about the situation.

“Everyone knows that ruffian, right?”

The other people nodded at the man’s words.

Everyone knew which ruffian he was referring to.

It was none other than Mongke Khan.

He was notorious for frequently causing harm to the people.

People couldn’t help but be angry since he requisitioned necessary supplies from nearby areas whenever he went hunting.

Additionally, being extremely violent, he had harmed those who opposed his will.

“I heard that ruffian’s son led the government troops to eliminate the Sword Sect at Mount Surak.”

“Really?”

“Seems like the son is different from his father?”

It was natural for sons to take after their fathers.

But since Tolui Khan, Mongke Khan’s son, was showing different behavior from his father, people couldn’t help but react this way.

“He seems like a decent person.”

“Yes, yes.”

While some were positive like this, others:

“I’m worried he might suddenly start causing trouble.”

“That’s right. You never know.”

The hearts of those who had suffered at Mongke Khan’s hands didn’t change easily.

* * *

“This appears to be the public sentiment,” said Eunuch Jang.

I nodded at his words.

While part of my reason for suppressing the Sword Sect was to gain public support, a significant motivation was also to secure much-needed resources.

So I planned to continue leading government troops to eliminate criminal groups like the Sword Sect and bandits.

If I continued these suppression operations, public sentiment would eventually turn in my favor.

“I understand. You may go now. Oh, and…”

I gave a slight wink with my left eye, and Eunuch Jang sighed as if he couldn’t help it.

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

After Eunuch Jang left, I took out a piece of paper from my chest.

It was none other than a letter from Mongke Khan.

“He’s truly the worst of the worst.”

Mongke Khan’s letter read:

There’s a shortage of women at Bohyeonwon. Please send some women.

I seriously wondered if this man was really my father.

“He may have aged, but I question if he’s truly an adult.”

Again, Mongke Khan was the one who had beaten my descendant’s body to the point of near death.

Naturally, if he were to send a letter to his son, an apology should have been included.

But Mongke Khan didn’t act that way.

He only moved for his own pleasure.

“I’ll ignore it for now.”

I roughly folded the paper and shoved it into a drawer.

Then I began to contemplate what to do next.

“Study, exercise, and external activities.”

Simply put, I had only three things to do.

Build knowledge through study.

Keep the body healthy through exercise.

Gain practical experience through external activities.

I planned to continue these three things and then reclaim the position of Khagan of the Mongol Empire.

Of course, reclaiming the position of Khagan was a complex and difficult task.

However, given my current situation, this was all I could do, so I had to do at least this much.

“I’ll continue these three things for four years.”

I was 12 years old.

Since adulthood in this era was 16, I had four years of opportunity.

This was an invaluable time for me.

“Additionally, there’s something else I need to do.”

I got up.

Then I left the palace where I lived and headed north.

If I were absent, those around me would likely notice.

So I asked Eunuch Jang to create a plausible alibi for me.

Having worked in the palace for a long time, he could handle that much easily.

As I headed north, a chimney decorated with the ten symbols of longevity appeared.

“If I press the slightly protruding stone on the upper right of the chimney…”

Like a precise mechanical device, the chimney slowly moved sideways.

Then, where the tall chimney had been, a path appeared.

“Seeing this, Prince Anchang must have been quite mischievous in his childhood.”

Palaces often had escape routes like this.

When Temujin conquered Western Liao, I heard that Yelu Chucai had escaped from the imperial palace and saved his life in this manner.

As a result, there were several emergency escape routes within the Goryeo imperial palace.

Among them, this one was so old that it had been hidden, but Prince Anchang had managed to discover it.

He used to play outside and come back in this way during his childhood…

Now that he was over 30 and living in a magnificent residence beyond Cheonggyecheon rather than in the palace, it was no longer of use to him.

So he revealed this passage to me.

“I’ll make good use of it.”

Saying this, I followed the passage to a forest path.

After running a bit, I came upon a wide open space with a small wall around it.

It seemed to be a place where tools for the imperial family’s escape in emergencies were gathered.

However, due to neglect, everything was old and worn out.

So they were difficult to use.

“But the warehouse where the tools were stored can still be used.”

The warehouse was also dilapidated, but it was still usable.

Thanks to this, I could hide the wealth obtained from suppressing the Sword Sect here.

As I was thinking this, I sensed someone’s presence behind the warehouse.

I looked in that direction.

“Chief Magistrate Ko.”

“Have you arrived, Your Majesty?”

The presence was none other than Ko Yoon.

The reason I informed him of this place wasn’t just to move the wealth obtained from the Sword Sect.

By sharing such a secret place, I was showing him how much I trusted him.

“I never knew there was such a secret space behind the imperial palace.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. It’s so deep in the mountains that if you don’t know the way, you’d get lost.”

This wasn’t an era with modern navigation systems.

So getting lost in the mountains was common if you didn’t know the way.

“Only I, Prince Anchang, and you know about this place.”

Hearing my words, Chief Magistrate Ko showed a moved expression.

I smiled and looked at him.

“I hope you take this as a sign of how much I trust you, Chief Magistrate Ko.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

It wasn’t something I needed to say.

But I thought adding such content, even for trivial matters, might increase loyalty.

Judging by Ko Yoon’s face, it seemed to have worked well.

“Anyway, apart from that, have you inquired about the craftsmen?”

“As you instructed, I looked into the firearms craftsmen.”

Firearms were weapons.

From Goryeo’s perspective, they wanted to manage craftsmen who made such weapons.

There were quite a number of firearms craftsmen.

This was because it wasn’t the 14th century when firearms were first developed, but the 16th century.

There were many craftsmen, and additionally, many apprentices learning under them.

With so many, as mentioned earlier, not all could be controlled due to the lack of administrative capacity.

Of course, while they were called craftsmen, not all possessed the skills to make excellent firearms.

So I ordered Ko Yoon, the Chief Magistrate of Hanseong, to find out about skilled firearms craftsmen in Hanseong.

“Well done. Contact them and tell them to make sample firearms.”

“That will be quite expensive, Your Majesty.”

“We can handle it with the wealth in this warehouse.”

Hearing my words, Ko Yoon nodded.

“Apart from that.”

I said this and took a stance.

Ko Yoon shook his head and looked at me.

“Do you really intend to do this?”

“Yes. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to receive martial arts training from someone who passed the Goryeo military examination.”

Again, the military examination was truly difficult.

Even the leader of the Sword Sect was a failed candidate from the military examination.

“Sigh… Alright.”

Ko Yoon sighed and took a stance.

I frowned at the sight of him placing one hand on his back.

“Are you going to go easy on me?”

Ko Yoon didn’t answer.

He just silently looked at me.

* * *

“Ugh… He really hits without mercy.”

I said this and sighed.

Every time I saw the new bruises all over my body, I was reminded of being one-sidedly beaten by Ko Yoon.

“There’s an age difference, but the skill gap is enormous.”

Ko Yoon was an excellent swordsman.

Proving this, he avoided all my attacks with full force using just one hand.

And unlike me, who quickly tired from using strength only when necessary, the Chief Magistrate didn’t shed a single drop of sweat until the end of the sparring.

“It’s true that this body isn’t good, but it clearly shows that I relied solely on strength during Yesugei’s time.”

Yesugei’s body was truly excellent.

Being strong, he could overpower those who used techniques with sheer force.

But Tolui’s body was different.

It was thin and difficult to exert proper strength.

Additionally, with not much muscle, endurance was also low.

“To overcome this, leg exercises are the only way.”

To properly use a sword, it wasn’t the upper body but the lower body that was important.

A solid lower body was necessary to prevent the upper body from twisting and to direct force entirely to the tip of the sword.

As I was thinking about focusing on leg exercises tomorrow…

With a loud crash, someone barged into my resting place.

“What rudeness is this? This is Tolui Khan’s residence!”

Despite Eunuch Jang’s words, the soldiers remained unmoved.

These soldiers looked at me with an ominous atmosphere.

As the unpleasant atmosphere reached its peak, a familiar face appeared among the soldiers.

“Dragon Guard Commander…”

“By imperial command.”

It was none other than Lim Kkeok-jeong, the leader of the Kheshig and the Dragon Guard Commander.