BXBX NOVEL Chapter 50: Purge (1)
The world held its breath in an atmosphere of calm before the storm, as if it could explode at any moment.
However, in the Empire far from Europe, the fear of war could not be felt.
Rather, militaristic sprouts eager to jump into the war were popping up here and there.
No matter how much they were beaten down and trampled on, the nature of this country could not be helped.
"If we\'re not going to form an alliance with Germany, let\'s side with the Soviet Union and seize the colonies of those German and French bastards!"
"When the German-Soviet war breaks out, the German bastards won\'t be able to help France anyway, so what\'s there to be afraid of?"
Before these poisonous mushrooms could grow, I decided to take action.
If temporary measures don\'t work, there\'s no choice but to make laws."Is there anyone who opposes the Security Maintenance Act?"
"No (there isn\'t)."
"No (there isn\'t)."
"No. Passed (there isn\'t, passed)!"
The Security Maintenance Act passed!
If you thought of President Xi\'s1 third term constitutional amendment2, that\'s a misunderstanding.
"Se-, Security Maintenance Act? What\'s that?"
"Ah, that\'s a club to sweep away the undesirable elements of society. It\'s a law that feeds bean rice to militaristic saplings like you. Now, I will enforce the law."
The Korean Empire\'s parliament is my puppet.
If I draft a bill at the Prime Minister\'s Residence and railroad it through the parliament, legislation is completed in less than an hour and returns to my desk.
Idiotic bastards.
Do you think you can do what I tell you not to do under this kind of dictatorship and get away with it?
If I had my way, I\'d like to revive the Revolutionary Education Camp and make them read the Lee Sung-joon Series three times a day.
No…I must…Endure…The Urge….
In the midst of that, a corruption case broke out.
It was none other than an embezzlement case at an arsenal committed by a General who belonged to our National Salvation Military Committee.
Did he pocket money by siphoning off tank engines that had reached the end of their lifespan?
This scandal did not appear in the newspapers at all due to the DSC\'s prior censorship, but it was enough to piss me off.
I’m already wasting my political power by trying to suppress these meatheads, and now some bastards are causing trouble?!
Immediately, Kim Sung-joo, the Army Chief of Staff, came running to me and apologized profusely.
"Your Excellency, I have mismanaged the military. I have no excuse."
The new Defense Security Commander, Lee Jeong-ju, also bowed his head.
"Your Excellency. My failure to oversee the military is great. I will step down from the position of Commander to take responsibility for this incident."
Sigh.
"It\'s fine. What fault could you two have? What\'s that bastard\'s name?"
"It\'s Major General Han Chang-seok. He was a friend who served as the commander of the 120th Regiment of the 16th Reserve Division."
"Fucking bastard, cut him off. Discharge him immediately!"
At my words, my subordinates were startled and opened their eyes wide.
Even though he was a comrade of the revolution, they seemed shocked at the words of not just dismissing him from his post, but stripping him of his military uniform.
However, in times like these, shocking measures had to follow.
Whether he\'s a revolutionary comrade or not, if he becomes a burden to my power, I have to cut him off.
How can I leave alone someone who hinders This Excellency Lee Sung Joon, who bears the heavy mission of modernizing the fatherland and ensuring the nation\'s existence?
Kim Sung-joo cautiously said,
"Uh, Your Excellency. Excessive measures may unsettle the military."
Yes. That would be the case.
If the General they trusted and followed with their lives loses his head for embezzling some public funds to buy rice cakes, they would be dumbfounded.
So, this is a warning.
There are no revolutionary comrades or whatnot among those who embezzle public funds under me.
Even This Excellency Lee Sung Joon lives modestly, not indulging in luxury and only smoking cigarettes, so who are they to buy luxurious foreign cars and grand mansions and stack gold bars inside?
If they had lived under Stalin, they wouldn\'t have even thought of such things.
So, I, Lee Sung Joon, have no choice but to wield power and show them the consequences of trying to steal my money.
"You."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
"Why did we revolutionize?"
"It was to reform the Empire."
"But is this a reform or a revolution?"
"I-, I apologize."
I looked at the two with a sharp gaze.
"I\'ll make it clear. I won\'t leave alone those who embezzle public funds in the Korean Empire. No matter who they are."
It was a chilling warning.
"We will keep that in mind, Your Excellency."
"Go and handle it."
The Defense Security Commander and the Army Chief of Staff bent their waists 90 degrees and left the office.
I had been lenient with my revolutionary comrades, but not anymore.
It was time to show the absolute ruler\'s authority even to my closest aides as the sole ruler of this country.
"Chief of Staff."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
Jong-gil answered, holding the documents for approval.
"Do you think I went too far?"
"Not at all. Your Excellency, you have made the right decision for the sake of this country and nation."
"Right."
I am also human.
Sometimes, I wanted someone to understand my decisions and seek their agreement.
In that regard, Jong-gil was a good conversation partner.
"Many comrades will be taking off their uniforms from now on."
Han Chang-seok was just the beginning.
If we inspect the military, many of the corrupt among the revolutionary comrades will be caught.
If we weed out all of them, there will be some unrest in the military.
Nevertheless, it was something that had to be done.
Why did Stalin receive praise as an outstanding ruler despite killing so many people?
It\'s because he eliminated corruption.
At least during the Stalin era, the Soviet Union was somewhat free from the problem of \'corruption\'.
That\'s why the Soviet Union was able to rise as a superpower.
If our Empire also wants to become a first-class power, we must eliminate corruption.
The method to eliminate corruption was simple.
Strictly punish corruption offenders regardless of regional, blood, or school ties.
If there are no exceptions, the upper echelons will not commit corruption.
This is because the risk is too great when caught committing corruption crimes.
If there is no corruption in the upper echelons, the overall level of corruption in the country can be lowered.
"Would you like to smoke one?"
Hearing Jong-gil\'s words, I craved a cigarette, but I shook my head.
If this Lee Sung Joon becomes a chain smoker, he won\'t be able to lead the Korean Empire for long.
Since I already overturned the country with a coup, shouldn\'t I shape the nation before leaving?
If I can’t even leave a good legacy behind, won’t I be worse than Spain\'s dictator, Generalissimo Franco?
How could I, Lee Sung Joon, be a person worse than that butcher?
I cannot allow that.
"Rather than that. There\'s something we need to do now."
"Yes. Please tell me, Your Excellency."
"Prepare a press conference."
"Pardon?"
"You heard me right. Contact the top 10 daily newspapers and have them come to the Official Residence."
"I shall obey."
I sent out Jong-gil, who looked a little worried.
In fact, I had thought about it right after the corruption case broke out.
How can I use this?
That\'s how the press conference came about.
I had no intention of hiding this incident under the water.
This crisis is an opportunity.
I wanted to give the people the impression that I do not forgive even close aides who are corrupt.
Goebbels3 showed well how much such an image helps in politics.
However, this corruption crime investigation could go beyond my expected scope.
Military crimes were usually large-scale, involving profit cartels.
Well, if it went that far, I would have no choice but to shut my mouth and cover it up to a reasonable extent.
I couldn\'t undermine the foundation of the regime just to establish one principle.
Ring ring.
Just as I was lost in thought, the phone rang.
It seemed that the secretarial office had checked and connected it directly.
Normally, Jong-gil, the chief secretary, would have answered, but it couldn\'t be helped now.
Unless we had used many people, there weren\'t a lot of workers in my Official Residence.
"This is Lee Sung Joon."
"Hello, Prime Minister. This is Cho Tae-Soo from Taejung."
Ah, Taejung?
The group who financed my Coup?
Why would the chairman contact me now?
Our deal was already complete.
The moment I touched on corruption crimes, Taejung contacted me, which somehow felt ominous.
"It\'s good to hear your voice after a long time, Chairman. You still sound healthy."
"Prime Minister, your voice sounds even more powerful."
Well, let\'s stop the small talk here.
"Chairman."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
"I don\'t have much time, so I\'ll give you exactly 3 minutes. It would be good if you could tell me the reason for your call within that time. My time is very expensive."
Cho Tae-Soo swallowed his saliva on the other end of the phone.
Then he carefully brought up the topic.
"Actually, the reason I called today is because of the issue with General Han Chang-seok. I heard that the General was arrested, and I contacted you to ask if that\'s true."
Asking?
It\'s not an inquiry, but pressure.
It\'s an implicit expression to let him go.
I smirked.
This old man has been getting along well with our regime until now, just based on the connection of providing funds for the coup.
So, he hasn\'t yet realized how much of a powerful ruler I, Lee Sung Joon, have become.
Then I have no choice but to let him know.
Even if I have to bare my teeth and claws.
"Chairman."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
"You just crossed the line."
"Pardon?"
"How dare a civilian overstep their bounds and interfere with military personnel!"
When I shouted, Cho Tae-Soo\'s voice abruptly cut off.
"Let me tell you this just once so you understand. I don\'t know if Han Chang-seok is your military connection or whatever, but I cut off that bastard. There will be no reversal of the decision. So, restrain yourself. This is the last warning I give you as a comrade who joined the revolution together."
"..."
The sound of Cho Tae-Soo hanging up the phone was heard.
Cho Tae-Soo will never treat me comfortably from now on.
Once the hierarchy is confirmed, you can never go back to the same human relationship as before.
Even though I shouted at him for his behavior that deserved to be scolded, I felt somewhat bitter.
I took out the cigarette I had been trying to hold back and put it in my mouth.
- 1. Xi Jinping is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and thus the paramount leader of China, since 2012. Xi has also been the president of the People\'s Republic of China since 2013.2. This law was enacted by the People\'s Republic of China for the purpose of strengthening the Chinese Communist Party \'s control over Hong Kong and ultimately suppressing democracy in Hong Kong .3. Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German Nazi politician and philologist who was the Gauleiter of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945.