Chapter 139

Chapter 139: A New Capital.

The moment the coup d’etat that happened in the dead of night failed, the future events were as good as predetermined.

If they had succeeded, they would have been recorded as rebels, but since they had already failed, this was nothing more or less than treason.

“How dare they…! Capture all the traitors who committed treason without missing a single one!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Although they had anticipated a rebellion, when it actually happened, the king’s fury pierced the sky.

As the king vented his intense anger, the state affairs froze rapidly.

Soon after, the investigation was carried out in earnest.

Numerous traitors who were caught at the scene were dragged to the torture chamber and subjected to various tortures.

“Aaaargh!”

The screams of the criminals echoed throughout the torture chamber.

However, the officials of the torture chamber did not care about this and interrogated who were the masterminds of the treason.

“Spit it out! If you keep resisting, you will never die peacefully!”

“Ugh…”

“Continue!”

At first, many of the traitors kept their mouths shut, but as the cruel torture continued without end,

“I-I’ll talk. Please, just stop…”

“You should have done that sooner.”

Gradually, a lot of information poured out from the mouths of the criminals.

“Huh, really. There are so many people involved in the treason. There will be a bloodbath for a while.”

The more the officials investigated, the more they realized this fact painfully. 

And their expectations were exactly right.

There were really many powerful people involved in this treason case.

“I’m not guilty! It’s unfair!”

“P-please spare me!”

They denied it and begged for mercy.

But nothing changed by doing so. 

As the investigation progressed, it became clear that they had participated in the treason.

There were so many that the state affairs were paralyzed.

However, the king did not blink an eye. 

He had already decided with Yi Hwang how to act when such a situation arose.

‘I can’t miss this opportunity. I have to expel all their forces.’

The king made up his mind firmly.

“The criminals tried to overthrow me, who rightfully inherited the throne. This is unforgivable. I will never tolerate this!”

No one could argue with the king’s resolute appearance.

The king’s power was at its strongest when such a direct treason occurred.

That is, there was no minister who opposed the king’s words in this situation. 

If they accidentally defended the traitors, they could lose their own heads.

After that, countless criminals disappeared into dew on the gallows.

The forces that had been strongly opposing Yi Hwang’s reform plan completely collapsed. 

They could no longer exert any influence on the court.

Taking advantage of this gap, Yi Hwang and other reformists rose to prominence.

As their power shifted to them, a full-scale reform began.

***

When Joseon was facing a huge wave of reform head-on.

There was also a big change happening in the Wakan Tanka Empire.

‘Sigh… I’m saying goodbye here too. It’s a shame.’

Kim Ki-woo had been wandering around various places in the vast palace for several days.

He had no choice.

He didn’t know when he would come back here once he left for the north today.

As Kim Ki-woo passed by many places, many memories came to his mind.

The garden where he often walked with the empress, the research complex that made the current empire possible, various buildings for various purposes.

The palace of great beginnings was none other than the history of Wakan Tanka Empire itself.

However, Kim Ki-woo couldn’t stay immersed in his memories forever.

Before he knew it, it was time to leave.

“Your Majesty. Everything is ready for departure.”

“Is it time already?”

“Let us go then.”

Kim Kiwoo looked sharply at the man who was urging him.

‘He’s so ignorant.’

He was none other than the Blue Earth.

The Blue Earth had never called Kim Kiwoo by his nickname, Papa, in public places since he became the Minister of Defense. 

He was more meticulous than anyone else in everything.

Kim Kiwoo felt a bit bitter about that, but he understood that the Blue Earth wanted to focus on his role as the Minister of Defense.

Kim Kiwoo cleared his mind and replied to his son.

“Let’s go.”

Then Kim Kiwoo got on the carriage and slowly left the imperial palace.

“Tsk.”

Kim Kiwoo clicked his tongue lightly.

As expected, there were many imperial citizens on the street.

But the atmosphere of the huge crowd was not something that could be described as good, even as a joke.

Usually, as soon as Kim Kiwoo came out, there would be cheers that would pierce the sky, but there was only a heavy air on the street.

Clack, clack.

The exclusive carriage that Kim Kiwoo rode cut through that gloomy space.

“It seems that the people of the Great Beginning are very heartbroken.”

“It must be because after today, the Great Beginning will no longer be the capital of the empire.”

“It’s just not the capital anymore, but this place will still be the center of the south.”

Of course, he said that, but Kim Kiwoo also deeply understood the regret of the people.

The residents of the Great Beginning had a strong pride in living in the area where the emperor resided and in being the capital of the empire.

But now, the Great Beginning had become a remote area, not the center of the empire.

It was not easy to accept this in an instant.

‘Time will solve everything.’

Anyway, as Kim Kiwoo said, as long as nothing special happened, the Great Beginning would prosper forever.

It had a symbolic meaning as the place where the Waktanga Empire, which was becoming the center of the world, was born.

While Kim Kiwoo was thinking about this and that, his carriage finally arrived at the railway station.

“You have arrived. We have arranged everything so that you can board right away.”

“Thank you. Let’s get on the train quickly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Kim Kiwoo got off the carriage and entered the railway station.

‘Good.’

He was satisfied with the majesty of the steam engine that appeared soon. 

It looked much better than the initial steam engine, which could not even be compared.

‘It seems like yesterday when the railway was first laid. It’s already a distant past.’

During this time, Kim Kiwoo had invested all his efforts to lay railways all over the continent, especially in North Continent, to make it look like a spider web.

As a result, before he knew it, railways had completely established themselves as a major means of transportation in the empire.

“We’re leaving!”

Not long after Kim Kiwoo sat down, the steam engine started running on the railway with a loud noise.

Soon after it gained speed, the outside scenery passed by quickly.

***

The transportation between Great Beginning and new capital in North Continent was better than any other section.

Thanks to that, Kim Kiwoo was able to arrive at new capital very comfortably.

And when steam engine reached its destination. 

Kim Kiwoo did not hesitate and walked towards outside.

It was obvious, but residents of new capital filled up whole street to welcome Kim Kiwoo.

At that moment, a huge cheer erupted.

Woooooo!

The sound was so loud that it felt like the ground was shaking.

“It’s so hot, and it’s not even summer.”

The citizens of the capital cheered loudly as they saw Kim Kiwoo from afar, raising their arms and waving. 

It was like they had come to a party of madness.

It was a 180-degree different atmosphere from the previous capital, the Great Beginning.

‘Of course it is.’

More than half of the people in the current capital were either those who came to the undeveloped north to pioneer it for the future capital’s residence rights in the early days of northern development, or their families.

In other words, they were people who had been eagerly waiting for their living area to become the capital.

And finally, they received the reward for their long hard work. In a way, their cheers were natural.

Kim Kiwoo waved his hand outside the carriage window and admired the new capital.

‘It’s amazing.’

The Great Beginning was certainly a great city. But the scenery of the new capital was much more impressive and majestic than the Great Beginning.

It was built with the latest construction methods, and there were many high-rise buildings that were all beautiful.

It felt like he had come to a famous tourist destination in modern times. He thought that in the future, even without the symbolism of being the imperial capital, it would be a famous tourist destination because of its beauty.

And his feeling reached its peak when he faced the new imperial palace.

***

“…”

After entering the palace.

Kim Kiwoo looked around the palace for a long time. 

But even though he rode a carriage and toured around, it took a long time to see everything because it was too wide.

‘There was a reason why it ate up a huge budget.’

At that time, the department heads wanted a palace that matched the dignity of the empire. 

The palace of the Great Beginning was certainly nice, but it was hard to expand its size because residential areas had already been built around it.

But the new capital was built from scratch anyway. .

So they could make the palace much bigger from the start.

‘It feels like I’m in the Forbidden City.’

Of course, this was not an oriental architectural style, so its shape was very different, but when he looked at its size, he thought of the Forbidden City.

One thing he regretted was that there were many unfinished sections because the palace was so wide. 

They were still working hard on these places.

He spent several days focusing on getting familiar with the palace. His residence and office, as well as each department building and imperial conference hall.

And finally, the first historic meeting in the new capital was held at the imperial conference hall.

“Did you rest well for a few days?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I didn’t notice how time flew by as I explored the new capital.”

“The scenery of the capital seems to suit the rising spirit of our empire.”

“When I first came to this conference hall, I thought I had come to the wrong place. It looked like a concert hall.”

“Haha. It is a bit big here.”

After the reorganization, the departments increased greatly and so did the number of department heads. But the imperial conference hall of the Great Beginning remained unchanged.

As a result, it was quite cramped for an imperial conference hall.

The current conference hall was made excessively large considering future situations. It was no wonder that they reacted like that.

“I know you had to leave your beloved hometown and come to this unfamiliar north because of our country’s situation. It may be hard to adjust for a while, but I hope you settle down here as soon as possible for our nation and people.”

“Don’t worry.”

“We will follow your will.”

They said so, but there must have been many people who missed their southern home. 

From civil servants who lived off our country’s taxes to countless people who migrated to the north without their consent.

The capital was different from the south in that it had drastic weather changes and it was very cold in winter. 

He thought that their longing for home would grow when winter came.

‘Time will solve it.’

But there was nothing he could do now that the capital had been established in the north.

And besides, natural disasters that came whenever they had a chance had decreased a lot, so it was better in some ways.

Also, unlike other capital residents, they were able to obtain residence rights in the capital, which could be considered a privilege in another way.

“Let’s stop chatting now. I will start our first meeting in this new capital.”

As Kim Kiwoo declared so, the excited atmosphere of the conference hall calmed down and became solemn.

The meeting began and finally, the first agenda item came out of the finance department head’s mouth.