Chapter 276 — Go Huiwon 2
Yeongu did not blame Okjeong for her words.
He only closed his eyes.
It was painful to hear.
A person cannot satisfy his own desire merely by opposing another.
And yet people sometimes try to prove themselves right through opposition alone.
Go Huiwon looked at Yeongu with regret.
They were not mere wandering refugees.
They were leading figures among the displaced.
That made the matter even more delicate.
Go Huiwon asked,
"What should we do? I wish to hear Jungnangjang Lee's wise view."
Yeongu said,
"Let us ask this first. If you go to Goryeo and ask for support, will Goryeo give it?"
Go Huiwon shook his head.
"As far as I know, Goryeo did not do so before. They would tell us to migrate to Goryeo. They would treat us without discourtesy. But they would not mobilize troops or make a diplomatic agreement. That is how they have acted until now."
"That is so. The other reasons the restoration movements failed are still there as well. That is why I believe they will fail again."
Okjeong asked again,
"Then what are we supposed to do? Please say it plainly."
Just then, the food they had ordered arrived.
Yeongu did not answer and remained still.
The server glanced at Yeongu.
He must have heard that clothes soaked in blood had been washed.
His hands trembled faintly as he set the dishes down.
Yeongu waited until the server left, then rose and closed the door.
Then he sat again and looked at Go Huiwon and Okjeong.
"I did not look favorably upon the Balhae people rushing to establish countries one after another. Those efforts were not made only from love for the old homeland. Each person's hunger for power was mixed into them. I heard that because of this, many immortals left Balhae and the many successor states of Balhae."
Go Huiwon raised his eyes.
"Immortals?"
"Yes. That story will grow long, so I will speak of it separately another time. What I wish to say now is this. Do not try to establish a country. Add your strength to the work of bringing down Liao."
Okjeong flared up.
"In the end, you are telling us to help you, are you not? When we try to ask for help, are you first becoming frightened and asking us to help you instead?"
"I did not ask for help. Even without your help, I am confident I can lead the great battle to victory. What I am saying is that you should change the direction of the matter."
Yeongu turned his body slightly toward Go Huiwon.
"If you try to establish a successor state, people will quarrel over who gets to be king. The Dae clan, the Go clan, and the Yeol clan will each speak of their own legitimacy. The moment that happens, unity collapses. But more people can join in the work of bringing down Liao. Whether pro-Jin or anti-Liao, whether descendants of Balhae or Xi people, anyone who has suffered under Liao's tyranny can look in the same direction. The slogan must change. Destroy Liao."
Go Huiwon placed both hands on the table.
The words were simple, but the difference within them was great.
Yeongu said,
"Founding a country is difficult. But you can participate in bringing down Liao. The perfect future you desire will not come immediately. Even so, you can create a better position than the one you have now. Everyone can take part in the great work of destroying Liao. But if you try to found a new country, people will fight over who becomes king."
Okjeong could not fully believe those words.
"You are telling us to let our poor people's backs be drained dry."
Yeongu answered quietly.
"I already told you that I do not need your help. I will make certain that Jin wins the great battle against Liao. After that, the path to bring down Liao will open as well. I am merely telling you to think about where the Balhae people should stand when that time comes."
Go Huiwon was astonished by Yeongu's eye for the matter.
That was true.
If they said they were founding a country, they would first split over who would become king.
But if they were told to take part in destroying Liao, more forces could move together.
Rather than the path of competing under the name of restoration, the path of ending Liao's rule could bind people together first.
Go Huiwon slowly exhaled.
"I understand what you are saying."
Okjeong turned to her father.
"Father."
Go Huiwon raised his hand and stopped Okjeong.
Then he asked Yeongu,
"Then what is the first thing we should do now?"
Yeongu thought for a moment.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
"Do not use anger toward Xiao Baoxian as a slogan for founding a country. First, let it flow toward the collapse of Liao. If the Balhae Muyong Horse Army of Liaoyang rises, its name should not be an army that establishes a Balhae emperor, but an army that shakes Liao's Eastern Capital. Only then will more people join."
Go Huiwon's eyes deepened.
"An army that shakes the Eastern Capital."
"Yes. Before a banner that establishes a king, raise a banner that brings down Liao."
Go Huiwon accepted that Yeongu's words contained sincerity and an important suggestion different from what had come before.
He asked,
"You are not saying we should submit to Jin immediately, are you?"
"You will eventually do so. The only difference is whether it happens now, later, or in the distant future."
Okjeong asked,
"How can you be so certain?"
Yeongu set down his chopsticks for a moment.
"I am fighting in this war myself. I may not know other matters, but as for battle, I have led things to victory until now, and I am confident I can continue to do so."
Okjeong's eyes narrowed.
"Is it even reasonable to think that tens of thousands can fight against hundreds of thousands? Before now, Liao's mobilized troops must have been smaller. That is why Jin won."
Yeongu did not immediately refute her.
Whatever else she said, words about war were worth hearing to the end.
Okjeong's doubt was natural.
Anyone looking only at the numbers would think the same.
"That is why I devised a way to win. My coming here also belongs to that context."
Okjeong immediately asked,
"Did you achieve today's purpose?"
Yeongu shook his head.
"No. I did not. I tried to persuade Yelü Zhangnu, but he drew the blade first. Still, it was not entirely wasted. Yelü Zhangnu will be shaken now. At the least, he will know that I am not someone he can simply seize and hold as he pleases."
Go Huiwon said quietly,
"You showed boldness, then."
"Rather than boldness, I changed that man's calculations. He must have thought that killing me would end the matter. But today he saw it. If he wants to kill me, his own people die first. So next time, he will not draw the blade so easily. That is when I must speak again."
Okjeong frowned.
"They will send men to capture you again. You may end up in prison again."
Yeongu laughed lightly.
"Earlier, I allowed myself to be taken because I was pretending to be a soldier who had defected. I will not do that now. I will not be captured."
To Okjeong, the words sounded like bravado, but after recalling what had happened that day, she could not easily laugh at them.
He had escaped from prison and returned alive from Yelü Zhangnu's manor.
The matter of that man being captured could no longer be explained by a rope and a few soldiers.
Go Huiwon asked,
"Then how do you intend to move from now on?"
Yeongu took a sip of milk tea and grimaced.
It was a taste he could not get used to.
"First, I must make Yelü Zhangnu think. He is an imperial clansman. He knows where responsibility will go if Tianzuo loses. If the imperial expeditionary army collapses, will His Majesty personally bear the blame? That will not happen. The vanguard, the commander-in-chief, the deputy commander, those in charge of provisions, and the generals will die first."
Go Huiwon slowly nodded.
"So Zhangnu cannot help thinking of his own life."
"If he thinks only of his own life, it becomes treason. But if he says he is thinking of the Liao state and its altars of soil and grain, it becomes a cause. That difference must be created for him."
Okjeong asked sharply,
"Is that not ultimately inciting rebellion?"
"It is."
Yeongu did not hide it.
"But the direction of the words matters. It is not 'hate Tianzuo.' It is 'do not look only to Tianzuo if you want to save Liao.' I told him to depose the emperor and enthrone Yelü Chun. That had been the late emperor's original plan. If the emperor preserves the country, supporting the emperor is loyalty. If the emperor tilts the country toward ruin, looking first to the state can also be loyalty."
Okjeong pressed her lips together.
The words were dangerous.
But because they were dangerous, they had room to enter people's hearts.
Yeongu continued,
"The Balhae people are the same. If you now shout that you will found a country, you will split first. Who will be king, which surname has legitimacy, which land must be seized first. That fight will begin. But if you say you will bring down Liao, the story changes. Those enraged by Xiao Baoxian's harsh rule, those dragged away as relocated people, those who remained in Liaoyang, and even those who fear Jin's power can look in one direction."
Go Huiwon slowly clenched his hand on the table.
"You are saying we should bind resentment first, before the country."
"Resentment alone does not last. Resentment is fire. At first it burns high, but if kept too long, it burns the person who carries it. So the goal must be clear. Shake Liao's Eastern Capital. Make Tianzuo's imperial expeditionary army uneasy in the rear. Make Yelü Zhangnu and the Balhae military officers think the same thought. That much is enough."
Okjeong asked,
"And after that?"
Yeongu answered,
"After that, you negotiate with the victor. If Jin wins, negotiate with Jin. If Goryeo moves, negotiate with Goryeo. If another imperial clansman of Liao rises, negotiate with him. At that time, the Balhae people must remain as one body. If you first raise a banner saying you will found a country, you will not endure long. But if you become a force that has rendered merit in bringing down Liao, you can speak in the next settlement."
Go Huiwon remained silent for a long while.
He instinctively knew that Yeongu's cold words were close to the truth.
At the same time, he also felt that a path to survival lay within that coldness.
Okjeong's face still showed resistance.
"Even so, you are telling us to postpone our dream."
Yeongu answered quietly.
"I am not telling you to abandon your dream. I am saying you should not bind that dream to a throne right now. If you raise the throne first, people split apart. That is not the soul of Balhae, but another name for hunger for power. It may begin with a good intention, but if it flows into the lust for power, it becomes the ugliest thing. The ugliest desire I know is the lust for power. Great or small, I have seen it ruin people and society. First, save the people. Gather strength. Leave a name behind. Only after that can the dream be spoken of again."
Okjeong's fist loosened slightly.
She did not answer.
Outside, the server's footsteps approached.
He hesitated briefly before the door, then asked carefully,
"Shall I bring more wine?"
Yeongu looked at Go Huiwon and Okjeong.
"Tell him to bring it.
Conversations like this are even more tiring when everyone is sober."