180 the commanders' dining hall
The warrior band washed their hands and feet and, that very day, went to the Signal Guard barracks.
They had been told to stop by.
They had been told there would be food.
They didn't refuse.
For them, the army was familiar—almost like another hometown.
They went into the commanders' dining hall and ordered this and that.
Meat and rice came out.
Liquor came out as well.
A meal received for free.
A table shared with comrades.
A welcome that felt like repayment for the labor they'd carried.
Their mood lifted.
Someone said again that the next ten years would be carried by the current of war.
He spoke of tangled relations among many countries.
It was the clumsy transparency of a scheme everyone could see.
Laughter burst out.
On the other side, a quieter discussion about future wars moved low between them.
The bustle of the workplace let the scent of war slip in.
That night, the Signal Guard dining hall was unusually loud.
Inside that clamor, the world was moving again.
---*
Discourse on the Road — The World and Study
People scattered one by one.
The feast ended.
Those still drunk lay sprawled on the bare ground and fell asleep.
Evening wind passed over them.
They were people with nothing left to fear.
Seongjin remained alone.
He had decided to pay his respects to his senior brother.
The front of the barracks was slowly darkening.
He sat at the edge of the veranda and looked toward where the sun was setting.
'Can three powers truly stand together?'
Liaodong, Goryeo, Jiangnan.
The idea—three states under one sky, each holding its share and coexisting—was beautiful.
But reality always slips past ideals.
The one who unifies Jiangnan would not refrain from coveting the Central Plains and the northern capital.
Beijing would be the same.
If it regained its old strength, it would strike Jiangnan first.
In the end, someone overturns the board.
If that current cannot be broken, peace remains a decoration perched on the saddle.
Then, from far off, came the sound of hooves.
Soldiers rode in, raising dust.
At the front was Yi In-jung.
It seemed he had been somewhere distant.
He brushed dirt from his armor and laughed.
"Hah— I slipped out, and you were here."
"I was waiting for you, senior brother.
I came with the others, got a free meal and some liquor, and sent them on first."
"You are always welcome."
"Dragging everyone along felt shameless."
"They're even more welcome.
I told them beforehand to come in even if I wasn't here.
There was a time long ago when I chased men away calling them beggars—
it's sat in my mind ever since."
"After working, their condition must have looked even worse."
The two sat side by side on the veranda in front of the barracks.
The glow of sunset seeped into their weapons.
The lingering scent of metal mixed with the evening air.
To Seongjin, it was a familiar smell.
"You said you were going to the merchant house—so why were you there?"
"That's how it turned out.
It was a place I'd worked before, so I thought it would be easy.
But I saw a lot that wasn't good."
"So you went to where the mountain folk are."
"Yes.
I've been helping with earthwork."
"Well done.
You learn more from below than from above."
Yi In-jung unfastened the sword at his waist and set it beside him.
Fatigue and relief lay together on his face.
Because in front of Seongjin, he could set down the weight for a moment.
"Senior brother— is a three-power balance truly possible?"
"Three-power balance…"
Yi In-jung looked up at the sky.
The evening clouds were burning red.
"It's possible.
But it won't last long.
The world eventually tilts toward the stronger side.
The peace we have now is a single sheet of paper laid on a sword's edge.
If one side shakes, it all tears."
"Still— is there no road that avoids fighting?"
"There is.
If everyone studies."
"Studies?"
"Yes.
One who knows the Way does not start a war.
One who has defeated the battle within himself does not raise a blade outside."
"Then it's impossible.
How could everyone study?"
"I mean: if a world comes where living a spiritually mature life becomes the cultural atmosphere—
then perhaps it could be possible."
Seongjin recalled what he had seen in the merchant house.
Such a world would not come.
A world crowded with people who choke on profit, who stake their lives on gain and loss.
"Will such a world ever come?"
Yi In-jung continued slowly, as if choosing each word.
"People speak of righteous causes.
But war begins in desire.
The desire for power.
The desire to conquer.
Even slaughter done under the name of 'defending the homeland' is desire.
That is why governing the world, running a merchant house, riding the battlefield—
all of it is study.
Only the direction differs."
"Isn't that an excessive generalization?"
"So you can even say 'generalization' now."
"Not everyone is like that.
Wanting to defend the homeland isn't desire."
"Is it?"
"You'll know when you do it."
Yi In-jung nodded—then slowly shook his head.
"In Goryeo, His Majesty uses that cause to harden his power.
He means to push out the Ki clan and raise royal authority."
"Then that, too, is desire."
Seongjin paused, then changed the subject.
"Then what study are you doing now?"
"Study to raise a country."
"A country?"
"Yes.
You raise your heart, and I raise the country.
Both are ways of cultivating the Way."
"When does that study end?"
"It doesn't."
"Then that's the same as saying it's impossible."
Yi In-jung's voice lowered.
"As long as people live, the world is always unstable.
So the study of seeking the Way, and the study of handling power, cannot stop."
The red sky was steadily darkening.
A single bird cut through the air.
Far off, a bell sounded faintly.
"Seongjin."
"Yes."
"Next time, don't ask me.
Find your road.
There are many times I don't know whether I'm right, either.
The world is wide, and there is much to learn.
Going to find it yourself—
that is your next study."
"I will remember."
Wind passed.
Evening dust settled, and darkness dropped onto the road.