598.Strike the origin.
Yi In-jung received the letter before the dawn bell rang three times.
The sealing was neat, and the paper bore marks of a long journey.
He sat down at once and broke the seal.
The moment he read the first line, Yi In-jung's hand stopped.
The letter was straight, like the breath of his younger brother.
The words were long, yet there was no disorder.
Yi In-jung chewed through each line in silence.
"Strike the origin."
At those words, Yi In-jung's brows moved the slightest bit.
He too had thought of it nightly, so it was not new.
Yet the sensation of seeing those words live and move again was different.
He paused around the middle, as if to catch his breath.
It was the passage about gathering local clerks and gentry and scattered forces.
It was the very phrase the court watched most closely after abolishing private armies, yet the letter did not turn away from the danger and instead set it upright head-on.
"One royal command."
Yi In-jung murmured low.
He knew the weight of those words better than anyone.
One royal command was a blade that could raise an army, and also an edge that could split the court.
If it was written wrongly, meritorious houses and powerful factions would boil.
If it was written rightly, the nation's breath would continue.
Even after he read to the end, Yi In-jung did not fold the letter at once.
With his palm covering the paper, he did not move for a long time.
The time his younger brother had endured the battlefield alone rose in order through his mind.
The flames of the southern sea.
The fields of Jinju.
Reports of turning back at the gate.
Stories of slicing through thousands and breaking ranks.
Inside Yi In-jung's chest, many situations tangled into complexity.
It was the calculation of a Supreme Commander and the heart of an elder brother.
He rose from his seat and walked over to the window.
A thin layer of dawn mist had settled over the palace rooftops.
The court still slept, and the nation was in a shape that could not sleep.
"That boy carves a road alone."
Yi In-jung's voice flowed very low.
"But a road is not something one can walk to the end alone."
He turned back and folded the letter again.
This time he did it slowly, matching the angles.
It was the moment resolve descended into his fingertips.
Yi In-jung rang the bell.
A court attendant entered, catching his breath.
"Deliver word to the Secretariat."
"I will submit a proposal concerning sea-raider suppression and temporary integration of regional forces."
"It goes up at this morning's audience."
The attendant's eyes widened.
Yet no question came.
The Supreme Commander's tone had already passed beyond decision.
Yi In-jung looked at the letter one more time.
In that gaze, trust took its seat before worry.
"Younger brother."
He called only in his heart.
"This time, you are not alone."
Yi In-jung put on his court robes at once.
He moved toward the court that lay before dawn had even fully broken.
Before dawn broke, the bell tower rang.
The gates of court opened, and the officials took their places one by one.
As always, the air of the morning audience was heavy.
On this day, it was clear that the situation in the southern seas would be raised as the agenda.
When the king entered the throne, the court fell silent.
Formal greetings were exchanged, and the previous day's memorials were briefly concluded.
Yi In-jung stepped forward.
At his movement, several gazes fixed on him at once.
"Supreme Commander Yi In-jung humbly reports."
His voice was low and clear.
"I wish to report the state of the southern sea front and the measures that must follow."
The king nodded.
"The Japanese raiders in the southern seas are in retreat, yet they have not been completely extinguished.
The remnants driven from the sea have scattered onto land, preying upon villages and granaries.
It was Jungnangjang Park Seong-jin and the naval forces rallied in the southern seas who blocked them, yet this was no more than a temporary measure."
A sound of breath being held passed among the officials.
Yi In-jung continued.
"If the root is not cut, the fire will flare again.
That root lies at the origin of the raiders—their bases across the sea."
One official stepped forward.
"Supreme Commander, do we have the troops."
"Has it not been long since private armies were abolished."
Bringing dissatisfaction over the abolition of private armies into such a place.
Yi In-jung did not shift his gaze.
"I will not hide that the court's forces are not ample.
If the capital's troops are moved in force, the safety of the capital itself will be endangered.
Therefore, I present another course."
Yi In-jung unfolded the document in his hand.
"For the suppression of sea raiders, grant permission to temporarily unify and command regional forces.
I propose to bind under royal command the forces held by local clerks and gentry, as well as the warriors and sailors who lost their arsenals and now wander."
The court stirred.
The shadow of the words "private armies" spread between the pillars.
Yi In-jung received that stir head-on.
"This is not the revival of private armies.
It is the unification of military command only while the royal order reaches them.
We will set a term, set the purpose, and set the responsibility."
The king asked quietly.
"Who shall take charge of this."
Yi In-jung showed not a trace of hesitation.
"Jungnangjang Park Seong-jin.
He has already bound troops and fought in the southern seas, gained the trust of the people, and knows the state of the war with his own body.
Grant him a single royal decree."
Another official stepped forward.
"That one man would hold excessive power.
If that power were to flow in another direction—"
Yi In-jung answered at once.
"That is precisely why a royal decree is needed.
The king's command will bind his hand and set his direction."
Yi In-jung bowed deeply toward the throne.
"Your Majesty.
The force holding the southern seas now is not one man's martial prowess, but the public heart that has begun to move in trust of that prowess.
Whether this public heart is bound as the nation's strength or scattered once more depends on today's choice.
I humbly ask that you set the path by royal command."
The court fell silent again.
The king looked at Yi In-jung without speaking.
The silence was long, and even the lightest breath was taken with care.
The king's hand slowly came to rest on the railing of the throne.
For a moment, the tendons on the back of his hand stood out.