Chapter 16

Chapter 16 < Preparing for Nation Building >

A year might seem like a long time, but it flies by when you have to prepare for many things. 

There was one thing that he had to make sure of before he could start drawing.

‘I have to define the identity of the nation that I’m going to build.’

To prepare for nation building, he had to decide what kind of nation it would be.

That way, he could prepare in the right direction.

‘I guess I have to go with a theocracy.’

He would unify the various faiths that had been scattered so far, and make them under the control of the state.

In other words, the political system where the leader of the nation also acted as the representative of faith.

Kim Ki-woo had not been to a church or a temple since his military days. He only went there to eat chocolate pies in the army, not because he had any faith.

He was not interested in the debate about the existence of God, which had been going on from the past to the present.

But he knew at least one thing.

‘Humanity advanced because of their belief in God.’

Many historians and anthropologists agree that human society was able to develop because of the existence of faith. 

Kim Ki-woo also agreed with this opinion.

Therefore, faith would play a big role in integrating the various tribes into one nation system.

Besides…

‘This is not a matter of choice.’

Kim Ki-woo had to establish himself as the representative of God.

For political stability? For national integration?

Wrong.

The reason was none other than Kim Ki-woo’s lifespan.

‘I don’t age for a long time.’

In the past, when he landed on this land from the distant sky, many tribesmen regarded him as a sacred spirit.

And as time passed, that tendency became stronger.

It was definitely influenced by the fact that he grew the relatively small Creek tribe to this extent, and created various devices.

But there was a decisive reason.

It was that Kim Ki-woo looked exactly the same as when he first came.

Despite more than ten years passing by, there was no trace of time on Kim Ki-woo’s face.

This was a strong evidence that Kim Ki-woo was a spirit.

‘It will get worse in the future.’

It is possible for someone who is genetically young-looking to look unaffected by time if they take care of themselves like crazy for ten years.

But that’s only to a certain extent. 

The story changes when time becomes 20 years, 30 years.

The more time passes, the more people will recognize Kim Ki-woo as a different being from themselves when they see his unchanging appearance.

He had to package himself as a sacred spirit before any misunderstandings arise.

Of course, there was a possibility that he would be excessively deified as time passed… but he had to accept that.

‘It’s not all bad.’

He would be able to secure his control over the nation more firmly. 

As long as he didn’t die suddenly from an external factor, he would be able to rule with an iron fist until he achieved modernization.

‘I’m sorry for my future children.’

Kim Ki-woo also had to get married now. 

Once the nation system with Kim Ki-woo as the leader was established, he had to always keep the possibility of something going wrong with him. 

That meant, he had to have a solid succession plan.

But his children would not be able to take the political front line in most cases. Kim Ki-woo would be staring at them with wide eyes for a long time.

He would still be alive with his young appearance while his children grew old and died…

‘Ugh.’

He felt disgusted. 

He didn’t have any children in the modern world either. 

That meant, if he had children, they would be his first ones in his life.

But they would not change much from their current appearance while his children grew old and died.

Even when his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and descendants after them died.

Would he feel a pain like his heart was being torn apart every time he experienced that? Or would he become numb?

He didn’t think he would feel good either way.

*

“Is the preparation for the delegation going well?”

“Don’t worry. It’s going well without any problems.”

“Good. It could be dangerous, so coordinate well with the military department.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We will do that.”

The strong archer, the head of the military department, and the bright smile, the head of the diplomatic department, bowed at the same time.

The delegation was sent to the distant large tribes.

Their purpose was one.

To invite the large tribes to the nation building ceremony.

The reason for this was mostly to show off their power.

The reputation of the Creek tribe had spread as far as it could to the distant tribes. But they only heard rumors.

There was a big difference between hearing rumors and seeing it with their own eyes.

Some of the tribes who realized the reality might want to become part of the new nation voluntarily.

If that happened, they wouldn’t have to waste their energy to subjugate them.

“Are there any movements from the Aztecs yet?”

“No. As far as we know, there aren’t.”

“Keep an eye on them. They might pick a fight when they hear that we are building a nation.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Central America where the Aztec Empire was located and North America were not well-connected geographically. But it was possible if they wanted to.

Come to think of it, the distance between the two forces was quite close. 

Naturally, they had to be aware of each other at some point.

In fact, there were some cases where Aztec spies were caught in the Creek territory.

Kim Ki-woo didn’t want a conflict with them, but who knew what would happen?

He had to be prepared at least.

The discussion related to the Aztecs ended, and soon the next agenda was presented. 

And that agenda was quite important for Kim Ki-woo’s life in the future.

“May I say something?”

“…Speak up.”

Whenever the brilliant mind made such a grave expression, it usually meant a headache-inducing issue was about to pop up. And this time, the jinx did not break.

“We have talked endlessly about your marriage since you were called the spirit chief.”

He knew what this was about just by hearing that much. 

As expected, the words that followed were within his anticipation.

“But every time, you dismissed our request because of the busy affairs of the tribe.”

“That’s right.”

“However, you can’t delay it any longer. You have to settle the marriage issue as soon as possible. Please listen to this old man’s plea.”

It was not his opinion alone. 

As soon as the brilliant mind bowed his head, the other chiefs also bowed theirs.

It was an implicit gesture of supporting the brilliant mind’s opinion.

Of course, Kim Kiwoo had no intention of postponing his marriage either.

“I’m sure I do. I’ve been feeling the need for marriage myself.”

“Then…”

“When I proclaim the founding of the nation, I’ll also hold my wedding ceremony.”

Kim Kiwoo set a date for his marriage in advance. 

Since he had to get married anyway, it was better to do it all at once.

“How do you plan to choose your spouse?”

“My spouse…”

Marriage was not something he could do alone. He needed a suitable partner.

But Kim Kiwoo had not dated anyone since he came back to the past. He didn’t have time for dating, and his position was too high to date freely.

‘It’s bitter when I think about it.’

He hadn’t dated for ten years! No matter how much he excused himself, it was a miserable fact.

Kim Kiwoo shook off his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“No matter how urgent it is, I can’t bring in a woman who will be the future mother of the nation carelessly. I’ll create a temporary organization to find a woman who will marry me. For now, they will be in charge of my marriage.”

Of course, this organization would have Kim Kiwoo’s strong influence.

‘No matter how kind-hearted I am, I have to live with her for a long time, so I’d rather have a pretty woman.’

Kim Kiwoo was also a helpless man.

*

“Is the observation going well?”

“Oh my, Grand Chief Kim is here!”

“Hahaha. You always do this when I come here. How can I come if you make me feel so burdened? Just relax.”

“If that’s what Grand Chief Kim wishes…”

He was used to this reaction wherever he went. 

Kim Kiwoo stopped the people who were about to kneel and casually sat on a chair.

Now chairs and tables were widely distributed, and the carpenters’ skills had improved so much that they were not bad in terms of aesthetics.

When Kim Kiwoo sat on a chair, the astronomers also took their seats.

“You must have heard the news too?”

“Of course we heard about the founding of the nation. It’s been so noisy lately.”

“Then you must know why I came here today.”

“Finally…”

The voice of the leader of the astronomers, Far-sighted Eyes, trembled. 

He was known by his reputation as the first person to see the great spirit. 

He was also the first person to be selected as an astronomer because of his excellent eyesight.

Kim Kiwoo did not beat around the bush and said straight away.

“That’s right. At the same time as proclaiming the founding of the nation, I have to announce the calendar that we have been researching and refining.”

“Ooh!”

“Hoo!”

Various emotions were written on the faces of the astronomers. There was no negative emotion at all.

This observatory had been established four years ago when new members were added. 

Of course, it had changed a lot since then as it had steadily increased its staff and scale.

‘In fact, they didn’t do much.’

He knew everything about modern astronomy. It was one of the things he had learned before coming back to the past.

Therefore, all they did was make telescopes with lenses brought from modern times, observe how celestial bodies moved and draw them on paper and report them.

Kim Kiwoo had forced them to memorize standardized knowledge. 

The astronomers just believed what Kim Kiwoo said and remembered it.

But he had to do this now. He didn’t have enough time to wait for their own growth.

‘The calendar is more important than anything else.’

Especially for Creek, which had not yet reached a sufficient level of civilization.

The calculation of dates was very sensitive for agriculture and fishing. 

They had to know the exact sowing and harvesting times. 

Of course, fishing was still far behind, so let’s pass on that.

In pre-modern society, the calendar was a very big benefit that a nation could give to an individual. 

And the calendar was the only way to know what year and date it was.

It was also very important for educational purposes. 

Astronomy was closely related to mathematics, so it had to be taken care of for the development of scholarship. 

It was also essential for sailing to the continent in the future.

“Hmm. Imperial Calendar.”

“Do you not like it?”

“No. It’s not a bad name.”

Kim Kiwoo nodded his head as he looked over the final version of the calendar made by the astronomers.

The calendar in Kim Kiwoo’s hand was not the Gregorian calendar that modern people commonly knew.

< Preparing for the founding of the nation. > The end