Chapter 183 — Handling the Bribe
"What should I do?"
"About what?"
"The bribes."
"Send them back."
"Ah, how could I do that? The cost of sending them back would be greater."
"Better than sitting still and being beaten to death."
"What do you do, Brother?"
"I send them back."
"Why? Why not eat them up and become rich?"
"I have to rise."
Youngwoo asked,
"If you want to rise higher, you must not receive such things?"
"Yes. If it were you, would you want to promote a man who loves money?"
"Men like that rise well enough."
"There may be some exceptional cases."
"Ah, all the fellows there were like that."
"They were posted to a distant office, so they were less bound by internal rules."
Park Geunsu tried somehow to understand the matter.
He measured it in his own way.
He accepted things by interpreting them in the direction that made them possible.
That too was a talent.
Youngwoo asked,
"Is that so? Then you also want to rise high, Brother?"
"A man who wants to rise does not accept bribes."
"Then a man who accepts bribes has no thought of rising. So he is the kind of man who can be cut down at any time."
Youngwoo's interpretation was raw.
He did not know how to twist words into softer shapes, so his explanation came out in bare language.
"In the end, things return to what is right. That is how it goes. Do you think the hearts of those who had no choice but to offer bribes would be at ease? They will want to destroy that man somehow. So they leak it. That bastard ate bribes, they say. There are no secrets in the world."
Youngwoo sighed.
The thought of sending everything back pressed down on his head.
If his household had been whole, there would have been no reason to accept such things.
Because his family was poor and shabby, they must have held out their hands.
What had already been eaten and gone into their bellies could not be undone.
Park Geunsu suggested,
"How about asking for punishment instead?"
"Do you mean I should request punishment?"
"Hm. I mean we should report it to His Majesty. In truth, you did not even know such things had come, and you learned only when you were leaving."
"Yes."
"And you do not know how much came or what came. Even now, in this place, you do not know."
"That is true."
"Then you could not have done anything for them in return."
"That is true. But if we report it like that, what will His Majesty say?"
Youngwoo's eyes brightened, and Park Geunsu answered irresponsibly.
"How would I know?"
"You tell me to do this and that when you do not even know?"
"It may be troublesome, but what great matter could come of it? In this world, there are people everywhere who eat such things without a word."
"Why is our country like this?"
"Because the level of the people is low."
"The level of the people?"
"It means the people's standard is low."
"Would other places be different?"
Their words crossed past each other, but a direction had been set.
When the chance came, he would report it to His Majesty and request punishment.
Whatever result came, he resolved not to accept bribes.
Meanwhile, Park Geunsu intended to use this matter to place Youngwoo under obligation.
Perhaps that would keep him from resigning.
"More importantly, is this the matter we should be discussing right now?"
"Then what should we discuss?"
"I want to hear about the war situation. They say you have been winning without stop."
"I already reported everything. I sent messengers about once every five days."
"Yes, you did. But we cannot believe all of it as written. All three battles were overwhelming. Especially the Battle of Buyeobu exceeded expectations. You defeated an enemy several times larger in an overwhelming manner."
Youngwoo smiled brightly.
"Hehe. That is all because I am so excellent."
Park Geunsu shook his head.
What kind of fellow was this, that he knew no humility?
"Was it you who did it?"
"Then who else would have?"
"We believe the strength of their forces, as we knew it, was undervalued."
"Oh…"
"Am I wrong?"
Instead of asking why victory had come, they were searching for the reason elsewhere.
"What more do you want?"
"A detailed report."
"You want me to repeat the report I already made?"
"That is how important it is."
Park Geunsu led Youngwoo toward the palace.
Youngwoo thought this might be to resolve the bribe matter, and expectation rose in him.
For a moment, he hoped they would say he would receive no punishment and could leave what had been received as it was.
He did not need the goods, but the faces of his family, who had rejoiced upon receiving them, came to mind.
Did I receive them because I wanted bribes?
It was not Hoegyeongjeon.
It was a small side hall, and he did not properly see the signboard.
He stopped just as he was about to enter.
"Why?"
"I remembered what happened to me at the Jungbang before."
"Are you afraid it will happen again?"
"Well, their plotting no longer feels new. Call a man in and crush him."
"You are meeting His Majesty."
"The daejanggun and sangjanggun will be there too."
"Yes. I asked for it to be that way."
"Those bastards were the ones who ambushed me."
"All those men were dismissed then."
"Would the men who served under them not be the same sort? No different at all from the superiors who were cut down back then…"
Park Geunsu smiled slyly.
"Should we not live in a world where we believe they will be different?"
"Ah, what kind of words are those?"
"You will speak with words. You are about to be punished for bribery right now."
"It was not a bribe."
"The responsibility to prove that lies with you."
The brief pause felt endlessly long.
Park Geunsu, who had made a different choice despite knowing that harm would come to him, would not now push him into a pit of death.
But if he stepped inside now, he might never be able to leave.
He might become a ghost of the army, like those who prolonged their lives within it.
The eternal freedom he had hoped for might become possible only inside his own heart.
The thought did not last long.
Park Geunsu took Youngwoo by the arm and led him inside.
"Loyalty. Daejanggun Park Geunsu has brought Jungnangjang Lee Youngwoo. As I reported earlier, he will be able to give a detailed account of the northern war situation."
At the utmost courtesy in Park Geunsu's voice, Youngwoo looked inside and saw the king.
Why was the king in the Jungbang?
The Jungbang was a gathering place of military men.
Was this what it meant for the king to personally oversee military affairs?
Youngwoo, wearing heavy armor, set down his weapons and offered a military salute.
"Ohh, Jungnangjang Lee Youngwoo!"
The king welcomed him as if seeing an old friend.