I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

70 – In Yan

“This is unacceptable!”

People who burst into resentment as soon as they saw me were like seeing each other in a day even though they haven’t seen each other in a long time.

Hankyung was promoted to the position of doctor by virtue of his good support of me and the recommendation of the Prime Minister. In modern times, a doctorate is known as a degree, but in this era, a doctorate was an official title for polishing academics and sometimes responding to the advice of the monarch.

Doctors who existed in the Qin Dynasty as well as in the Qin Dynasty, where the palace was located, used to have different status and power depending on the monarch’s inclination, but in the Yan Dynasty, they were only at the level of being named.

“hehehe, nothing has changed in Hankyung.”

“Young master! Now is not the time to laugh. Your Majesty may have intentions of expelling Young master…”

In the words of Hankyung who bruised me, his concern for me was intact.

Hankyung felt unjust as if he had been sentenced to exile. While I patted Hankyung on the shoulder to calm him down, Jeon-gwang from the side suggested a reversal of ideas.

“What Dr. Han said is not wrong, but you don’t have to be so negative. No, it went well.”

“Yes? What do you mean, Mr. Jeon Kwang?”

“Isn’t Dr. Han’s concern that His Majesty rejects Young master as a competitor rather than a successor?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Let’s think about it this way. What if Your Majesty hid his good heart and kept Young master inside the palace?”

“Ah…!”

Although Hankyung is a bit lacking in coming up with new ideas, his understanding is superior to most people. Hearing Jeon Gwang’s words, Han Kyung nodded as he realized why he said this was better.

“Certainly, in that case, Young master would have been isolated without even expressing his will.”

“Of course, there are many outstanding people around Young master, so he must have exerted influence on the outside world somehow. There are many people who support Young master, including the father-in-law. However, his range of activities must have been severely restricted.”

Just because you’re in the palace doesn’t mean that all contacts are cut off. It would be extremely difficult to sneak in, but it is possible to communicate with the outside world by enlisting eunuchs wandering around the palace or visiting official officials.

If the king of yeon decides and gets in the way, he’ll have to go round and round, but there’s always a way.

“In that respect, Changseong isn’t a bad place either. Do you know the reason, Young master?”

Jeon Gwang’s question was a kind of test.

The reason why Jeon Kwang is helping me right now is not because he is my person, but because of his friendship with his brother’s family.

However, Jeon Gwang showed his intention that he would not stop at simply being an acquaintance of his brother’s family. He came to my top and helped me with my work, and at the point where he was giving advice by my side, I can see that Jeon-Kwang is mindful of progress towards a closer relationship with me.

Therefore, that question was a test before simply asking for opinions.

When I first met Pyeongwon-gun, I vaguely recalled the questions and answers we exchanged. But now I am completely different from then.

The situations themselves are similar in that they are looking for a way to break through the difficulties they are facing. However, if I, who met Pyungwon-gun, was in a passive position where I had no choice but to rely on Pyeongwon-gun’s decision, now I had the option to choose the method I wanted.

‘It must have grown.’

The feeling was new, but it wasn’t the time yet.

Burying the rising feelings in a corner of my heart, I thought about the answer to the question posed by Jeon Gwang.

Advantages of creativity. It was so clear.

“Changseong is easy to expand in any direction, east, west, south.”

“It really is.”

Jeon-gwang said with a satisfied smile.

The southern part of Changseong faces the sea. In the distant future, it will become land due to the natural sedimentation and artificial reclamation of the Yellow River’s soil, but now the Bohai Sea was located.

“You can go to Qi and Liaodong via the sea. In addition, Gusu leads to Wujong, Huguansui leads to Yuyang, and Chisui leads to Ji. ), The Yeoksu that leads to Muyangseong, etc. You can easily go to the interior of Yan through any number of waterways.”

The theory is perfect.

Originally, the cost-effectiveness of the business is much better by water than by land. Especially in this era, the development of roads was poor. It may not be a road between the centers where the track is located, but the road leading to the periphery is hardly a proper road.

On the other hand, waterways do not have such restrictions. Even in Changseong, if human and material resources can be exchanged through the waterway, the disadvantage of being away from the central political world of the Yan Dynasty can be made up for.

“However, there is a fatal flaw here.”

“A problem?”

“In Changseong, there are no ships that can go far.”

As those familiar with the Three Kingdoms know, the administrative divisions of this period followed the county and prefecture system. The same was true of the Yan Dynasty, but the county to which Changseong-hyeon, which became my feudal lord, belonged was Woobukpyeong-gun (右北平郡), which was established during the reign of King Soyeonyang, and its history is only 30 years.

Although it’s a very long time, the level of development of Changseong is mediocre, as the Yan Dynasty has been focusing on the west rather than the east, and has carried out national civil engineering works to extend the Great Wall to Liaodong in the east.

Simply put, it is not a port city, but a fishing village.

“There will be fishing boats, but there won’t be large ships.”

This is the reason why I said that the theory is perfect.

What do you do if you like the theory? I don’t have the means to put it into practice.

The heightened atmosphere rapidly cooled, and Hyung-ga, who had been silently listening to the story, stepped up and raised his voice.

“Now~ Now~ That’s it. Let’s go to Changseong and think about it. You know that Changseong has its strengths, but doesn’t that solve all of its problems?”

It is as the brother said.

You don’t have to be discouraged about going to Changseong, but if you can’t make use of that advantage, you’re no different from an exile type who only has disadvantages.

“That’s right. In the end, you are moving away from the center of power in Yan. Without a central point, the country will inevitably be pushed back by the platoon of foreign police officers, no matter how hard the father-in-law tries.”

“Phew… It turns around and ends up in place.”

Hankyung let out a small sigh and said.

Obviously, it wasn’t like this when we first met, but it seemed like he was holding a sigh in his mouth as a hostage in Jo Nara and had a lot of trouble.

‘It’s unfortunate.’

I looked at Hankyung with pity, but I didn’t stop Hankyung. It is often said that if you sigh, good luck escapes, but in fact, sighing is a good action for our body’s health. It also reduces stress.

Perhaps he noticed that I was wandering off the topic of conversation for a moment, and Jing-ga came closer to me with a sly smile.

“This, this. It seems our practitioners aren’t paying attention. Aren’t you worried?”

Jingjia said in a tone that she was already thinking about you, this sister sees through everything.

“Let’s not procrastinate and talk about it openly. Senior, honestly, have you already prepared all the measures?”

At Jing Jia’s words, the eyes of the audience all rushed to me.

“Is that true?”

“As expected, Young master! It was like that in Jo Nara, but Young master always has plans. Pung-Hwon’s three caves in Kyoto will also fade in front of Young master!”

Jeon-Kwang and Han-Kyung couldn’t control their anticipation and their eyes shone. Hankyung even exclaimed as if he realized something.

“Ah! Now I understand. The reason why you didn’t stop by Jiha Hakgung is because you didn’t intend to visit Jiha Hakgung from the beginning!”

Hmm? What kind of new interpretation is this?

“Jihe Hakgung is justification. What Young master was really aiming for was time. If you returned to Yan right away, you could be unaware of the situation, so you should take a step back and come back after devising countermeasures.”

“Oh, you’re a doctor, too. What Dr. Han said is very reasonable.”

Jeon-gwang said, amazed at Han-kyung’s insight. I was also surprised. Although Hankyung’s words were consequential, the answer was correct.

Giving up Jixia Hakgung and returning to Yan gave me time. Time to set up my code of conduct based on the information given by the Yan Dynasty bureaucrats, such as the upper management and Taebu and Hankyung.

What I remembered through that given time was that I didn’t have to obsess over Yeonwang.

“To become the crown prince, you don’t have to rush to earn the favor of your father.”

“Yes? Isn’t it Your Majesty’s right to install Crown Prince Hao-Na?”

“That’s true, but you can’t completely disregard the support of your servants just because you’re your father. Moreover, the last war even damaged your father’s authority.”

“So you mean that you want to win the hearts of your subjects, not your majesty?”

“You only need to win the hearts of three people.”

“Three people?”

I raised three fingers, index, middle and ring, and called their names.

“Jin Gae(秦開), Akgan(樂閒), Geukshin(劇辛).”

Upon hearing the names of the three, Jeon-Kwang and Han-Kyung’s complexions turned pale and they were stunned.

It has to be.

All the people I spoke to had one common denominator.

The common denominator is that they are key figures in the military.

With the defeat of Yulbok, who also served as the direct general of King Yeon as a superior, the military was divided into three people.

Jingae in the east, Akgan in the middle, and Geukshin in the west.

If you succeed in convincing them….

“You’re trying to seize the military.”

The army of the Yan Dynasty falls into my arms.