I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

47 – Substitutions

By the time Pyeongwongun’s funeral was over after all the procedures, Geonshingun, who had gone as an envoy, also returned to Jonara.

Contrary to the concerns of others, Gunsin-gun was fine. Not only Geonsingun, but all the condolence envoys of the kingdom were like that.

Unlike King Chu, who was imprisoned and killed, or forced to summon and detain Pingyuan or Mengxiang, the Qin Dynasty consistently respected the envoys and sent them back safely.

No matter how much the Qin Dynasty was crazy about territorial expansion and national power, all of them were worthless in the face of the death of a great king who had led the country for decades. There was no action similar to the atrocities shown so far.

The Qin Dynasty seemed intent on concentrating on the succession, at least until the funeral of the previous king, King Jin Soyang, now given the posthumous title of Soyang, was completed and Angukgun held an official coronation ceremony and sat on the throne.

It was understandable that King Jinsoyang’s funeral was not a simple affair that took a day or two.

Unlike the funeral of Pyeongwon-gun, who left a will that the funeral should be frugal because the country’s circumstances were critical, the funeral was about to end soon, King Jinsoyang’s funeral was scheduled to last for over a year.

Therefore, it seemed that the Qin Dynasty also treated the envoys of the various countries generously during that period to prevent any unsavory incidents from occurring.

‘It’s about attacking one or two countries. Qin’s national power is overwhelming, so it’s not a problem, but if a six-nation army is created, Qin’s will be a funeral, and I’ll have to do everything in my power.’

It was a brief peace created thanks to the death of King Jinsoyang.

Since both the Qin and Zhao dynasties, which fought the most fiercely, lost their pillars, there was no place to cause a big problem.

Anyway, when Gunsin returned, King Jo kept his word and appointed him to the throne. Even though his upper ranks were tied, it did not happen that Kunshin forces were sealed to the upper divisions.

From the viewpoint of King Jo, there was no reason to incur the burden of appointing Geonsin-gun to the upper room when the memorial for Pyeongwon-gun was not over.

Also, the previous appointment of Geonsin-gun was to keep Pyeongwon-gun in check, but now that Pyeongwon-gun is dead and gone. Naturally, the Gunsin Army became the strongest force in the political world of the Zhao Dynasty.

‘I’m afraid of Jo Nara’s original sin to give her a higher position to further increase her power.’

Cao was born through the Samgabunjin (三家分晉), a reverse rebellion in which the Wei, Cho, and Han clans, who were the influential families of the Jin Dynasty in the past, united and overthrew the Qin Dynasty.

There is no guarantee that history will not repeat itself.

Knowing this, King Jo appointed Geonsin-gun as the Jwaseungsang and at the same time appointed Pyeongyang-gun Jo Pyo, a member of the royal family, as the winner.

Jo Pyo of Pyeongyang-gun was a person who proved that he had an insight by arguing not to accept Sang-dang-gun, which was the ember of the Great War of Jangpyeong in the past. Considering that Pyeongwon-gun, on the contrary, insisted on receiving Sangdang-gun, which led to the Battle of Jangpyeong, it was good to see that the general view was more than Pyeongwon-gun.

Then, Geonsin-gun became the seat of the throne, and in the vacant state, he set up his younger brother, Yeo-leung-gun.

His intention was to transfer the power of the royal family represented by Pyeongwon-gun to Pyeongyang-gun and Yeorung-gun. Moreover, the two of them are not so prestigious as to make Jowang feel threatened like Pyeongwon-gun, so they will be a useful hand to keep the Geonsin-gun in check.

Now everyone really thought that Jo Nara had gone through a period of stabilization and had entered a recovery phase.

I, who was watching the situation, felt the same way, and even Xinling’s army thought that if it went like this, the joint army of Joe, Wei, and Cho would be able to properly establish a defense line during the one-year grace period.

Until my homeland, Yan, appeared out of nowhere.

§

“I didn’t expect that in my home country, I would hang around with Yeolinggun in my mouth.”

Hankyung shook his head as if he didn’t know whether to question the rudeness that came out after interfering in internal affairs, or whether he should take the side of his country.

Me too. What kind of wind suddenly blew in the Yan Dynasty, which had never cared about how hostages were doing, and showed interest in the appointment of Cho Na-ra to an official position?

‘It’s disgusting to think that way. Are you saying that the appointment of the country’s main state is more important than ours?’

At this point, it’s really like being an outcast.

Originally, Yan did not have a strong sense of being a motherland, but now it really felt like a foreign country even more than Cho.

“But, Young master, this is not something to be taken lightly.”

“That’s right. Turning their eyes away from their home country must mean that the inside has already been cleaned up.”

There is no way my father would openly interfere with the outside world unless he subdued all the opposing forces within the Yan Dynasty and eliminated the source of internal disputes.

Originally, Yan belonged to the axis of weak national power. Oh, of course, it’s a story from among the Seven Great Warriors of the Warring States. Just because it belonged to the Chilwoong, it means that it is a strong country that is incomparable to other weak countries.

The dominance of the liver of the seven wrestlers of the country changed over time, but except for the sudden change during the reign of King Jin So-yang, it could be roughly seen as a two-strong three-two-weak system.

The two countries belonged to the traditional strong Qi Dynasty and the rapidly growing Jin Dynasty.

Among the three, there are Cho, Wei, and Cho, and among them, Cho is actually at a level that can compete with the second power.

The rest, Hannara and Yeonna, were in charge of the weakest of the 2 Yaks and Chilwoong.

However, this ranking of national power no longer has any meaning.

My great-grandfather, King Soyeonyang, took the throne in the Yeon Dynasty, which was considered the weakest, and the great incident that drove the powerful Qi nation to the brink of destruction was a recent event less than 30 years ago.

The Cho Dynasty, which claimed to be one of the three great powers, lost a series of consecutive battles to the Qin Dynasty in vain.

Conversely, the Zhao Dynasty blocked the Qin Dynasty, which was spreading like that.

Jo Nara’s dramatic rise was thanks to the perfect harmony between Myeonggun and Myeongshin.

King Hyemun, who was King Jo at the time, reformed the military system by introducing horseback riding techniques from the nomadic tribes of the north and creating a cavalryman dressed in barbaric clothing.

Thanks to the support of the Myeonggun, Myeongjae-sang and masters such as Yeompa, Impression-yeo, and Josa were active, and Jo Nara was said to have emerged as a new second power.

‘I ate everything during the Great War of Jangpyeong.’

So it was meaningless to discuss the strength of the nations any longer.

If I had to argue, there was only the absolute strongest, the other five, and one that was no different than an invoice.

However, there was a difference in power among the other five. It is said that even if a rich man perishes, three generations will pass, and the Qi and Chu dynasties succeeded in recovering to some extent even though they were half ruined.

However, Jo Nara, whose weight class was similar to Cho and Je, but whose damage was greater than them, was still unable to overcome the damage of the Great War in Jangpyeong.

It’s not as good as Yeon Yeon-wang, who was in his prime, but for Yeon Na-ra, who continued to grow steadily, Jo Na-ra was a very appetizing opponent.

In particular, he must have been convinced that he was Yan while passing through the state of Cho for this trip to the state of Jin. It was the false conviction that Jo Nara could win any number of times.

“Rumors are spreading that King Jo will dismiss Yeolinggun and send him away to Bong.”

“I’m just trying to get a bit of the Qin defense line, but I’m afraid Yan might step in and miss the time.”

“What are you going to do with Young master? Now Zhao does not look down on Young master any more. Recently, he paid his respects at the tomb of Pyeongwongun.”

Since Yan’s intervention was so shocking, I passed it on. Pyeongwongun died, and his tacit protection disappeared, but ironically, it was also around that time that all of my restrictions were removed.

Somehow, Pyeongwon-gun wasn’t just pretending to protect him because he was black on the inside. My standing has risen to the point where I no longer need his protection.

‘Really, Yeongjachao has become the Crown Prince.’

When Geonsingun returned and announced that Yeongjacho had been sealed to the Crown Prince, the Zhao Dynasty stopped all discrimination and persecution against Jeong. Same with Joey.

This was the reason why he was afraid to start a war right away without a funeral or anything by offending the Qin Dynasty.

Some people say that they cannot comprehend the situation, saying that it would be like to conclude a peace treaty by forming a relationship with Yeongjacho, who became the Crown Prince through Johee and Jung.

No matter how much the perpetrator can’t remember the wrongdoing, it’s so shameless that it makes me laugh.

When I heard that story, it was only for a moment, but I was even shaken, wondering if it was really right to keep my promise with Pyeongwon-gun.

“Well… You don’t have to act with caution anymore, but Xin Leung-kun is still standing still, and I don’t think a good reaction will come back unless I act.

“However, if things continue like this, my country will demand more from Cho Nara. However, there is a level that even Jo Nara can accept. If it goes beyond that…”

“It must be a war.”

The war between Joe and Yan.

That was the sound that our lives, which had now entered a stable phase, would be shaken up again.

At worst, they might try to kill us, just like they tried to kill Yeongjacho, Jin’s pawn.

“For now, you don’t have to worry about this.”

“Has Young master ever written anything by hand?”

“I didn’t do it, it’s not me, it’s the public spirit ball, so somehow this thing will go smoothly.”

“Ah, if it’s a wind chime, it’s reliable again.”

After the death of Pyeongwongun, Punggi received the post of Gaekgyeong of Jo Nara and became an official official.

Conversely, Mosu did not accept any position and disappeared, saying that he would serve Pyeongwon-gun’s funeral for three years in his own way.

“The thing is, if my country really intends to go to war with Cho, it won’t stop here.”

And when this one didn’t work out, the work to create the next justification was ongoing.

“When did you say the condolence group from Pyeongwongun sent from home country will arrive?”