Though various commotions arose due to the professors and exchange students, Seoul’s overall atmosphere remained peaceful.

However, the Northern Territory remained turbulent.

Most Ming nationals and Jurchen who violently resisted imperial rule had been broken up by the imperial army’s concentrated suppression.

Remnants who survived the imperial army’s suppression became bandits, plundering nearby villages, prompting imperial cavalry and infantry to deploy again for suppression.

This cycle created an endless game of hide-and-seek between imperial cavalry and bandits in the Liaohe region.

However, this was a game of hide-and-seek with a visible end.

The imperial army held overwhelming combat superiority from the start, and the Northern Territory’s situation was turning increasingly unfavorable for the bandits.

With the expulsion of Ming nationals and settled Jurchen who had been conducting non-compliance movements, those who had provided the bandits with supplies like food and information disappeared.

Ultimately, bandits suffering from supply shortages resorted to plundering, causing local villagers to turn hostile toward them.

Eventually, information about the bandits began flowing to the imperial army instead, allowing them to conduct more efficient suppression operations.

While rural areas in the Northern Territory were gradually stabilizing this way, the night streets of Liaoyang City remained bustling.

It began when Secret Guard operatives, acting on Hyang’s secret orders, established entertainment houses.

As the central city of the Liaodong region, Liaoyang had its pleasure quarters.

However, the overall quality fell far short of not only Beijing or Nanjing beyond Shanhaiguan, but even smaller cities.

This was because the Liaodong region, and indeed the entire Northern Territory, was economically underdeveloped.

The Liaohe region’s rural productivity barely managed self-sufficiency.

This resulted in poor quality liquor being supplied to the pleasure quarters.

Most alcohol sold in pleasure quarter taverns was baijiu[1]. This baijiu was a distilled spirit.

Producing proper distilled spirits required significantly more base alcohol. Naturally, good baijiu couldn’t be produced in barely self-sufficient conditions.

Therefore, a few high-end taverns imported famous baijiu produced in Beijing, Nanjing, or Hangzhou (famous for entertainment) and sold them at “very expensive” prices. Other ordinary taverns sold low-grade baijiu at “expensive” prices.

In this situation, Liaoyang residents and visitors had to endure their dissatisfaction.

There were no other places where they could drink comfortably besides such taverns.

However, when the empire took control of Liaodong, imperial entertainment houses began appearing in the pleasure quarters.

When first building entertainment houses in Liaoyang following Hyang’s orders, Secret Guard officials were filled with negativity.

With different customs and different drinks, how can business succeed? It’ll just end up being used as an information gathering point.

However, the situation differed from the Secret Guard’s expectations.

Customers flooded to the entertainment houses.

The biggest reason customers flocked to Secret Guard establishments was their reasonable alcohol prices.

The soju sold at imperial entertainment houses wasn’t cheap either. However, compared to existing tavern prices, it was “quite reasonable.”

“The liquor might be milder, but at this price, it’s worth it!”

“Right! Right! And though they say it’s mild, how many places sell worse baijiu for even higher prices?”

Thus, Liaoyang residents seeking alternatives began flooding into the entertainment houses.

The next factor drawing customers was the “entertainers.”

Liaoyang’s taverns had entertainers too. The problem was that most were merely prostitutes. There were some skilled entertainers, but their artistic abilities fell far short of those in Beijing or other famous cities.

However, all entertainers at Secret Guard establishments were skilled professionals.

Of course, they weren’t top-tier, mostly being second-tier entertainers. But even as second-tier, they had served officials and scholar-officials in the empire’s capital of Seoul.

True to the Korean people’s traditional expertise in “refined entertainment,” their level was beyond comparison with Liaoyang’s entertainers.

Consequently, despite the absence of prostitution, customers flocked to enjoy the entertainers’ songs and dances while drinking. Most of these customers were influential figures in Liaoyang.

“Yes, this is it! Someone of my status should enjoy drinks in such a refined establishment!”

“With eyes and ears delighted, and fine wine and food in abundance, where else can one find such luxury?”

This situation quickly reversed the Secret Guard’s mood.

“See that? The side income looks quite promising!”

“Not just the side income! Our target big fish are gathering on their own!”

“We need to hurry with the brewery construction!”

“Tell that retired first-tier entertainer we recruited earlier to come quickly! We need to select and train her colleagues!”

Secret Guard agents, energized by the entertainment houses’ daily prosperity, began moving busily.

With this situation of ‘a sudden rolling stone dislodging the embedded one,’ existing taverns couldn’t remain idle.

They had their own muscle men who lived off the taverns, handling drunk troublemakers, dealing with rowdy customers, and collecting unpaid tabs.

The tavern owners, suffering severe losses, pressed these men.

“Are you just going to watch?”

“Don’t worry! The matter has already been reported to the Gang Master, and he’ll move soon!”

As the muscle men said, the Master of the Black Wolf Gang that controlled Liaoyang’s pleasure quarters was closely watching the Secret Guard’s entertainment houses.

“If we could take that over, we’d make quite a profit…”

Though the Gang Master salivated watching the entertainment houses rake in money daily, he hesitated to act because of the Secret Guard’s presence.

Being quite experienced, the Gang Master immediately recognized that the Secret Guard wasn’t ordinary.

“Of course. Coming all the way here to open taverns… Hmm…”

Though he couldn’t just let it slide as the entertainment houses were too tempting, the Gang Master could only worry. Eventually, he had to act because the gang’s funding source taverns were losing too much money.

“Gather the men!”

“Yes, Gang Master!”

After gathering all gang members, the Gang Master walked toward where the entertainment houses were located.

Seeing the Black Wolf Gang moving in formation, nearby merchants hurriedly packed up their stalls and closed their doors.

Meanwhile, watching the approaching Black Wolf Gang, the Secret Guard’s Liaoyang branch chief gave a bitter smile.

“Moving in groups in broad daylight, how undignified…”

Lightly shaking his head, the branch chief ordered his subordinates.

“Arm yourselves and stand by.”

“Should we take out the hand guns too?”

At the deputy branch chief’s question, the branch chief shook his head.

“Keep the hand guns and silver guns hidden. They’re rather useless in this kind of mass fight.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the Secret Guard established itself as a proper intelligence organization and firearms became common, they were issued guns.

One was a gun named “hand gun” for being about the size of a fist. It was a cavalry’s six-shot revolver with the barrel shortened as much as possible.

The other firearm, the silver gun, was a single-shot gun with a silencer. More precisely, it was a cane-like object that fired one cavalry revolver round.

Being impossible to reload, it was used only for one-shot assassination operations.

Due to the Secret Guard’s organizational nature and the characteristics of issued firearms, Sejong and Hyang applied strict management guidelines:

• -Only those with killing licenses may use firearms. 
• Firearms can only be issued with the agreement of the commander, deputy commander, and three killing license holders. 
• Firearm check-in/out status and usage traces are inspected daily.

The Black Wolf Gang’s Master stopped before the Secret Guard members backing the entertainment house and soon delivered his demand.

“Come under us! Then we’ll guarantee safe business!”

The Secret Guard branch chief’s response to the Gang Master’s demand was simple:

“Hey! Throw the salt!”

“Yes, sir!”

Thus began the violent clash between the Black Wolf Gang and Secret Guard.

The Secret Guard drew short spear-swords to face the Black Wolf Gang wielding thick broadswords and axes.

“Though I’d like to use the silver sword…”

The branch chief, pulling back as soon as the clash began, grumbled regretfully while watching the Black Wolf Gang members surge forward.

The silver sword, a modified European rapier made for easy concealment, was awkward to use in such public places.

This was due to the characters “Protect the Nation in Darkness”[2] engraved on the blade. While it boosted morale in life-or-death nighttime battles with foreign—mainly Ming—spies, it would cause headaches if it fell into third party hands when used in broad daylight.

Imperial military police troops deployed as soon as intelligence came in that ‘bloodshed had broken out in the pleasure quarters.’

This was because Liaoyang was still under military administration.

“This is quite brutal…”

Seeing blood and flesh flying everywhere, the military police commander sighed quietly and ordered his subordinates:

“First surround the area so no one escapes, then wait for my signal.”

“Yes, sir!”

Shortly after receiving reports that soldiers were in position, the military police commander drew the revolver at his waist and pulled the trigger toward the sky.

Bang!

As the gunshot rang out, both the Black Wolf Gang and Secret Guard stopped moving.

“Drop your weapons! Or we’ll shoot!”

Both sides laid down their weapons at the military police commander’s order.

“Take them all in!”

“Yes, sir!”

That evening, the branch chief who had hidden himself during the day visited the military police.

“I’m in charge of operating the entertainment houses in the pleasure quarters. I’m here about today’s unfortunate incident. I wish to see the military police chief.”

“The chief doesn’t allow meetings with involved parties.”

“I must see him nonetheless.”

At the branch chief’s earnest plea, the guard soldier reported the situation.

Shortly after, the branch chief was able to meet the military police chief.

“About today’s incident…”

“That matter will be handled according to imperial law. Discrimination between mainlanders and northerners is legally prohibited.”

At the military police chief’s words, the branch chief reached into his breast pocket. The chief’s expression turned fierce at this action.

“You dare attempt to bribe this official!”

“It’s not a bribe.”

Responding calmly, the branch chief pulled out a small iron warrant from his breast pocket and presented it to the military police chief.

“This is…”

The military police chief’s expression turned grave upon seeing the iron warrant. It was because of the characters engraved on its cover:

-Killing License.

An item that had only circulated as hushed rumors among high-ranking military police and capital police commanders had appeared before his eyes.

The branch chief quietly continued speaking to the military police chief:

“This Northern Territory’s Liaodong and Liaohe regions border Ming and Oirat. Therefore, His Majesty is concerned about the many spies. That’s why we came.”

“Then everyone in the jail is…”

“Some among them, but who exactly is classified.”

“Ah…”

As the military police chief nodded, the branch chief continued:

“Your statement about handling this incident is correct. However, as this concerns imperial security, I request discrete handling.”

After brief consideration, the military police chief soon reached a conclusion:

“Let’s do that.”