LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 51: Purge (2)
"Wha- Investigate all the generals of the armory?"
"It's His Excellency's special order."
"I shall obey."
Quartermaster General Cho Jin-young, Major General Bae Yeon-su, the head of the Army Logistics Department, Major General Oh Jin-ki of the Armory, and other generals were taken to the DSC one after another.
"General Lee. How can you do this to us? Please put in a good word to His Excellency."
"Stop talking nonsense. Hey! Strip this bastard and start the investigation."
And with that, they took off their military uniforms and were discharged.
The number of fallen stars reached 20.
The generals of the National Salvation Military Committee gathered in the Army conference room and whispered about the investigation of this incident.
"His Excellency was very upset about this matter. I heard he even shouted at Kim Sung-joo.""His Excellency did? Oh my, I see."
"In the first place, the friends who said they would revolutionize embezzled public funds to fill their own greed, so His Excellency had no choice but to be furious."
"Now that things have come to this, it's regrettable that His Excellency will look at us with tinted glasses, and we have nothing to say about it."
Although the generals felt disappointed by Lee Sung Joon's measures of not forgiving even revolutionary comrades, they decided to meekly accept this purge for the sake of the cause.
Anyway, aren't we the ones who rose to reform the country?
If we can't even keep that promise, it means we're nothing more than a coup that rose for the desire for power.
The generals did not want their revolution to remain as a corrupt and common military coup.
The purge of the military soon moved from generals to high-ranking officers.
"You also embezzled public funds under General Oh, right? Come with me!"
"Wait, wait a moment. Let me call my uncle."
"You bastard. Do you think connections will work now? This is an order from His Excellency the Prime Minister, the highest person in this country. Do you want to eat bean rice with your uncle?"
"Let go of me, you bastards. Do you know who I am? I'm His Excellency the Prime Minister's fifth cousin!"
"His Excellency said to set an example especially if they're relatives. Are you trying to tarnish His Excellency's name, you slippery eel? This bastard is hopeless. Tie him up!"
Dozens of people were taken to the DSC for investigation every day.
"Tell the truth! Where's the money!"1
The officers who were dragged in suffered from intense investigations that didn't let them sleep every day.
"I'm telling you, I don't know."
"Really? Okay, I got it for now. Let's start over from the beginning."
"What?"
"Name."
The DSC's investigation was thorough and cruel to the point of grinding teeth.
"Call General Lee! I have nothing to say to you, his underlings."
"Ah? Have you gotten a little bit stupid since the investigation began? Do you know where this is? It's the Defense Security Command."
"You bastards! I am a General of the Korean Empire Army!"
"This gentleman is not responding to reason at all. Hey!"
"You, you bastards."
Thud thud. Ugh.
Those who did not cooperate with the investigation were subjected to merciless violence.
In fact, human rights were not much respected in 'Korean-style democracy'.
The DSC summarized the interim investigation results and reported to the Prime Minister.
"They sure embezzled a lot."
"What should we do?"
"We already held a press conference, so what's there to hide? Prepare a speech to the nation."
"I shall obey."
These investigation results were soon made public to the entire nation through newspapers and broadcasts.
*****"We will start broadcasting soon. When I give you the cue, you can start speaking from then on."
"Alright."
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Cue."
I took a sip of water and picked up the script.
It wasn't a pleasant occasion to stand before the nation, but I didn't think it was that bad.
"Respected citizens. This is Lee Sung Joon. I have a matter to address. Recently, a large-scale corruption case was discovered in the military. Regrettably, there were individuals involved from the National Salvation Military Committee, which I was responsible for. As the leader of the committee, I sincerely apologize to you, the citizens."
I paused my words and bowed my head towards the microphone as if people were watching.
Seeing the broadcast staff flinch, I counted the numbers.
5 seconds.
Just the right amount.
I continued speaking again.
"As the Prime Minister entrusted with power by the state, I promise to deal with this incident decisively. Those responsible will be strictly reprimanded, discharged, and thoroughly prevented from future appointments to public office."
In other words, these bastards are examples.
Living proof that if you embezzle public funds, your life will be fucking ruined.
"Respected citizens. I, Lee Sung Joon, will stake my name on this. Even in the future, if such corruption crimes occur, I will never show leniency to the criminals. I will punish them thoroughly. By doing so, I will prevent your tax money from being wasted in vain."
Of course, this was just an empty promise.
Even Stalin couldn't prevent all corruption, so how could I?
I'm not an administrative genius like Stalin or Emperor Hongwu2 who spend all day looking at documents.
"In the future, I will visit you, the citizens, with good news. Thank you."
The speech to the nation must never exceed 5 minutes.
Just like everyone will zone out during those long speeches the Principal do,
This was the same.
The large-scale purge, which took place for the first time after the coup, served as an opportunity to tighten the discipline of the military, which had been somewhat loosened.
I decided to take this opportunity to discipline society as a whole.
What was the name of that guy from the Soviet Union again…
Ah yes, Yuri Andropov.3He was a good example to follow.
The communist party leader from the KGB saw the collapsing Soviet Union and launched this campaign.
"Principles and Order."
By tightening the overall lax discipline of Soviet society, Andropov briefly raised the Soviet Union's economic growth rate significantly and allowed them to breathe.
I decided to directly copy Yuri Andropov's campaign and use it.
And like Andropov, I ordered productivity enhancements in all sectors of society.
"At work, focus only on your tasks and do not waste time on idle chatter, cigarettes, or alcohol. The more time you spend fumbling or slacking off, the more losses companies and the nation suffer. How will Korea ever catch up to the United States and the Soviet Union at this rate?"
"Order is also important. Obey traffic signals on the road, line up where you should, and follow the law even when no one is watching. If we can't even keep the basic promises of our society, we are no different from beasts. Do you want this country to become a lawless world like China?"
A movement to tighten the screws on all sectors of society began.
In the process, the 'minor offenders' who were caught were detained in holding cells and given Lee Sung Joon series education.
"It might cause some dangerous problems if we do it for a few months, but 1-2 weeks should be fine."
It's okay to at least instill the idea that they should follow the words of Lee Sung Joon.
The campaign that started in the home country soon spread to Japan as well.
"Uh, Your Excellency. Are you saying to start the principles and order campaign in the Japanese Residency-General as well?"
"I clearly said so."
"But Japan has its own unique characteristics. If we touch it carelessly and it gets noisy..."
"You. I know a bit about Japan too."
"I, I apologize."
How could I not know about the Japs?
I've been watching them as neighbors until the 21st century, my whole life.
"Those friends can't do anything if you go hard on them. Aren't they the type to submit to the strong?"
"That's true, but they're not docile when it comes to issues involving their rights."
"That's because you back down. Still, it seems unreasonable to implement it right away in the current situation, so start with 'cultural rule' first."
"By cultural rule, you mean to loosen up on the Japanese a bit?"
"Moderately, increase the room for them to act, but in exchange, increase the police force by about 3 times."
"Pardon?"
Lee-Dongnyeong was startled by those words.
But isn't this the Japanese-style cultural rule?
That's how I learned it.
The principles and order campaign soon began to yield some results throughout the Empire.
Productivity started to rise, even if just a little.
I decided to establish a Soviet-style 'hero system' here.
"Lee Gil-seop, a worker from Wonsan, achieved 300% of the allocated clothing production at his enterprise, so we are awarding him the Labor Hero Medal."
"Th, thank you."
I created hero medals in various parts of society to stimulate people's competitive spirit.
"What, there's not a single hero in this department?"
"It's a desolate place without patriots."
As a result, a trend emerged to create heroes even by concentrating achievements.
It's not a very good look, but if it helps the Empire's productivity, some side effects could be tolerated.
Isn't the German-Soviet War just around the corner?
"Your Excellency. A report from the Ministry of the Interior. Recently, the number of people detained for violating principles and order has exceeded 5,000. At this rate, the holding cells will reach full capacity in 2 months, so there was a request to reopen the re-education camps."
The camps? Absolutely not.
No matter how much we're tightening the overall discipline of society and cracking down on corruption, that's not allowed.
That's like the Black Dragon of the Korean Empire.4
"You. Shred that document."
Camps?
What Camps?
I didn’t heard it.
Such a thing doesn’t exist, hahahaha….
Nope.
- 1. WHERE'S THE MONEY LEBOWSKI!2. The Hongwu Emperor, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1368 to 1398. Zhu Yuanzhang was born in 1328 to a family of impoverished peasants.3. Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician who was the sixth leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, taking office in late 1982 and serving until his death in 1984.
4. In Western Europe, black dragons represent incarnated evil, stealing for their hoards and devouring for their meat. Any nocturnal creature with the additional camouflage of black complexion would undoubtedly make it far more dangerous to humans, who cannot see well at night. All the more so for a ferocious dragon.