* * *
I rode hard all the way back to Wansanju.
Fortunately, the horse didn't go berserk this time.
"You've returned."
Just as predicted, Shin-geom's face was satisfyingly twisted.
This man truly had thin ears. He'd no doubt heard unflattering things about me from Neunghwan or his brothers.
For instance — that he'd been called the Conqueror.
"Brother Shin-geom. I heard you achieved a great victory. Congratulations."
"I hear you won merit at Naju."
His face already looked like he wanted to hold me accountable for something.
"Is it not all due to you, Brother? If you had not tied down Goryeo's forces at Daeya Fortress, I could not have moved so freely in Naju."
"Do you truly believe that?"
This man suspecting me with that icy, probing stare was unpleasant to look at. And yet a moment later, he was grinning and brightening up — the portrait of a man with thin ears.
If I just kept handing him treats like this and subtly reinforcing the message that I had no interest in the throne, that would be enough.
"Yes. Honestly, I was nearly undone in Naju trying to gather those pro-Baekje clan forces. If I had not had enough time, Naju would have been the one coming after us."
"Hmm."
"Brother — more importantly, I have an idea for how you might earn Father's trust."
"Oh? Tell me."
Right — the kind of proposal that would make even Gyeon Hwon gape in approval.
I had wrung my brain dry thinking about it on the road from Wansanju.
If this worked, it could even turn Shin-geom into an ally. I leaned close and whispered it in his ear.
* * *
I was summoned by Gyeon Hwon and came before the royal court.
Gyeon Hwon sat there, flanked on both sides by the civil and military officials of Baekje stretching into the distance — a sight that stirred something grand and heavy in my chest.
"Geumgang. You did well. As a prince of the Great Baekje Kingdom, you accomplished something remarkable. You bloodied the nose of that Wang Geon of Goryeo."
"Is it not entirely Your Majesty's grace that made it so, Your Majesty."
Well, naturally. Right now Wang Geon was probably getting an earful from his wife, Lady O.
He would never have imagined Naju could be taken so easily.
"How could it be Prince Geumgang's merit alone? It is because Prince Shin-geom's vanguard at Daeya Fortress crushed the Goryeo forces, leaving Wang Geon no chance to turn his gaze to Naju."
Right. You're absolutely correct, Neunghwan.
"The State Counselor is correct. How could it be my sole achievement? Had my brother not pinned down Goryeo's forces at Daeya Fortress, Wang Geon would certainly have taken action regarding Naju."
"Good. Then — shall our Baekje, as you proposed, send diplomatic missions to Japan and Balhae?"
"I will visit both Japan and Balhae."
"Hmm. A good plan. But how goes the popular mood in Naju?"
Gyeon Hwon had taken the bait.
I quietly signaled Shin-geom with my eyes. I'd laid the groundwork — now he had to do his part.
"Your Majesty."
"Yes. Speak your mind, Shin-geom."
"Now that Geumgang has recaptured Naju, Baekje has restored its former territory. But do the people there not still doubt our sincerity?"
"That is so."
Well, that's Gyeon Hwon's own fault — but never mind.
In any case, now that Naju was taken, Gyeon Hwon would need to do something to win the people back. I had done what I could, but I was Gyeon Hwon's son, not Gyeon Hwon himself. This problem could only be solved if Gyeon Hwon showed his own genuine heart to the Naju nobles.
"And so your son believes this nation must truly become Baekje again."
"What are you getting at?"
"At present, our nation follows the official titles of Silla. This would be the moment to revive the old Baekje titles."
Right now Baekje, to build its institutional framework, had modeled itself on Silla's system of official ranks. But was that truly Baekje? No. Following the titles of Silla — the very state that destroyed Baekje — was poor form for a Later Baekje that claimed to revive the old kingdom.
"That is a point well made. We borrowed Silla's system to build our foundations, but we cannot continue this indefinitely."
"Indeed. Pajinchan and the State Counselor — work together and see to it."
"We will research the titles of old Baekje and revise the ranking system accordingly, Your Majesty."
Good. This should stop Shin-geom from suspecting me again.
* * *
Shin-geom received great praise from Gyeon Hwon.
For a long time, Shin-geom had failed to meet his father's expectations. But a poor performer could still be the eldest son — and because he was the eldest, his father expected more; and because he was the eldest, his father was more deeply disappointed.
That eldest son today had produced a genuinely creditable proposal. And it came wrapped in the argument that Baekje must be Baekje — a sentiment that would naturally thrill a Baekje king.
"Truly, Prince Geumgang is remarkable. Is this not an earth-shaking thing?"
"What do you mean?"
"Was it not Prince Geumgang who told Prince Shin-geom that Baekje must be like Baekje?"
You have eyes too sharp for comfort.
"I wonder if that was really so."
"If you are preparing to go to Japan, Your Highness, the preparations must begin soon."
Traveling to Japan and back to Balhae would take a considerable amount of time. Getting there quickly would clearly be best. Japan's Heian-kyō, and Balhae's Sanggyeong Yongcheonbu — just calculating the distances, in this era with no steam ships, it would consume an enormous amount of time.
Right. And somewhere along the way, I could disappear without anyone knowing.
"For Japan, I will not only stop at Heian-kyō."
"Where else?"
"In Japan's Suo Province, descendants of Baekje's Prince Imseongtaeya have established a clan and govern their own domain."
After Baekje and Goguryeo fell, members of the royal families and refugees had crossed to Japan and founded clans there. Of course, Prince Imseongtaeya had gone to Japan while Baekje still stood, so he was distinct from the refugee clans established after the fall.
"Do you mean to win them over?"
"If it succeeds, we would have Baekje's own territory on the Japanese islands. And we could receive their support as well."
The direct diplomatic relationship with the Japanese court was important to pursue, but Imseongtaeya's descendants also needed attention.
In historical records, if Later Baekje's relationship with Japan had resembled the old Baekje-Japan relationship, Japan would have supported Later Baekje. But Later Baekje mobilized nearly 100,000 troops from its own national strength alone — there was no record of Japanese support.
Was Japan perhaps going through chaos at that time? No, it probably wasn't. Around this period, Japan was already so full of its own national pride that it had started acting like a Central Plains empire, calling its ruler an emperor — it may have simply looked down on Baekje.
In any case, the certain thing was that the Ōuchi clan — as the descendants of Prince Imseongtaeya would later be called — were at this point all part of the Tara clan. A clan unrecorded in this era.
Going to Japan from here, now that Naju had been just settled, would require mobilizing a navy.
I had planned to stay quiet for a while, but Gyeon Hwon called for me.
"Geumgang."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"What do you think would be needed to make Baekje more like true Baekje?"
His brow furrowed instinctively.
Obvious enough — Gyeon Hwon asking me this meant either that he'd found out Shin-geom's idea originally came from me, or simply that, having liked what his beloved fourth son inspired, he was curious what the boy himself would say.
I stood here not as Gyeon Hwon's son but as his minister. Even if I intended to defect someday, for now I had to stay in Gyeon Hwon's good graces.
"I understand the official title system is already being revised. If there is anything further — perhaps the royal name and the royal surname."
"The royal name and surname?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Baekje has had several royal names. There was Nambueo, and 'Japan' was also originally a Baekje name. As for the royal surname — it was Buyeo. If we truly intend to continue from Baekje's King Uija, we must make the change, I believe."
I was thinking about defecting all along, but that didn't make it wrong.
Baekje was indeed called Nambueo, and "Japan" had originally been a Baekje state name before Wa took it over and used it for themselves. As for the surname — Gyeon Hwon had already changed his own surname to Gyeon once before, so there was no reason he couldn't change it to Buyeo.
"Ho."
"It is merely the foolish suggestion of this unworthy son."
"I find it fitting. Your words have merit."
"...Yes."
He accepted it just like that?
"I have more to ask."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I hear you showed great favor to the Naju nobles. In the short term it is a blessing for Baekje, but a growing noble clan is not a good thing — is that not true?"
Of course. In a monarchy, if the power of the nobility and local clans grew too strong, royal authority could never be consolidated, and the nation would remain fragmented.
"Yes."
"Is there a solution?"
"To rein in the clans, one might invite their children to Wansanju under the pretext of official positions — effectively holding them as hostages. And marriage alliances between the royal family and the noble clans would also be an effective method."
Wang Geon's policy came to mind.
Wang Geon had married into the noble clans to win them over and took their sons as hostages. Later, in King Gwangjong's era, that policy would feed directly into the bloody purges.
But ultimately, it led to the consolidation of royal power.
In the end, the balance of power in the Three Han at this moment came down to who could secure more noble clan allies. And when unification came — whether by Goryeo or Baekje — those nobles would be the greatest contributors, and their influence would only grow. The later purges were the result of stripping that entrenched influence away, to build a unified nation centered on royal authority.
But there was no reason to tell Gyeon Hwon all of that right now.
I was a prince — offering loyal counsel to Baekje's king, Gyeon Hwon. But once Goryeo unified, my advice would be irrelevant anyway.
Gyeon Hwon departed with a satisfied expression, and I thought to myself:
"Could every word I say be changing history?"
In the end, Baekje had taken Naju and no longer needed to worry about Goryeo striking them from behind.
Wait — I had truly done something reckless.
Naju had been taken far too easily. All thanks to that idiot horse causing a scene.
"Now that I think about it, that's infuriating."
History would change. Still — Wang Geon's roster of generals remained strong. That, at least, was some comfort.
Bak Sul-hee, Yu Geum-pil, and the rest.
As long as something like the catastrophe of the Battle of Gonsan didn't happen, Goryeo could still fully recover from its current situation.
As long as I wasn't the one causing the damage.
As for Balhae — I genuinely wanted to stop its destruction if possible. The goddess said there were many proxies.
But thinking about it realistically — the proxies of the gods hadn't all launched from the same starting point as mine. That meant countless parallel timelines existed. What happened to the history of this timeline was none of my concern.
That goddess would be the one having a hard time.
"The real problem is still Balhae."
For the Korean Peninsula to be safe in the long run, Balhae had to serve as a buffer — whether the south was unified by Goryeo or Baekje. Balhae falling would mean losing that protection.
Above all, Balhae was one of the countries I genuinely wanted to defect to.
Of course. In the 21st century, Korea lost Liaodong, and the Khitan and Jurchen took that land. South Korea was split even on the peninsula by ideology. At least here, I could see Balhae — a state the records almost forgot — with my own eyes.
Whether or not one had studied history, who wouldn't want to see it just once?
If Balhae's Gadokbu, Dae Inseon, had been willing to strike back at the Khitan, the historical record suggested Balhae still had sufficient military power.
The real problem, as with Goguryeo, was internal division.
For now, learning Balhae's situation through merchants was one approach.
* * *
The next day, I deeply regretted everything I had casually blurted out to Gyeon Hwon.
Gyeon Hwon had declared in open court that he would change the royal surname.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? You intend to change the royal surname to Buyeo?"
"State Counselor. Do not be agitated. This is not something I am doing merely for my own benefit."
Gyeon Hwon had pushed through my idea outright.
"But Your Majesty, having already changed it to Gyeon—"
"Having changed it to Gyeon, what is there that stops it being changed to Buyeo? It will be a great help to Geumgang's diplomatic mission to Japan and Balhae."
Well, that was technically true. They were all completely baffled.
"Hmm, that is true."
"Think about it. When Geumgang goes to Japan, which works better — 'Gyeon Geumgang' or 'Buyeo Geumgang'?"
The logic was so airtight there was nothing to argue against.
It was entirely correct. From the perspective of Japan or Balhae, would they recognize a Baekje led by the Gyeon clan as Baekje? No.