“Send everything on this list immediately to Seoul! No, send the ‘Florentine rifles’ as quickly as possible! As fast as you can!”

At Wan’s urgent command, the official cautiously answered while watching the emperor’s expression.

“We have already brought them, Your Majesty. A special order had already come down from New Frontier…”

At the official’s words, Wan shot up from his seat and descended from the hall.

“I’ll go see them! Lead the way!”

“Yes, yes!”

“Ministers, come see as well!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The reporting official hurriedly led Wan to where the Florentine rifles were stored, with Wan and the ministers following behind.

Following Wan with quick steps, Hwangbo In quietly spoke to the Chief Royal Secretary.

“We almost had a major incident. Be careful.”

At Hwangbo In’s warning, Chief Royal Secretary Seo Geo-jeong bowed his head slightly with a stiff expression.

“I will keep this in mind again and again. Thank you.”

There was good reason for Hwangbo In’s warning and Seo Geo-jeong’s tension.

***

No matter what anyone said, the master of the Empire was the Emperor.

Even if the Emperor Emeritus had issued a special order, the proper procedure was to receive the Emperor’s command first before acting on the Emperor Emeritus’s orders.

In other words, upon confirming Hyang’s special order, they should have used the optical communication network to inform Seoul as quickly as possible, received Emperor Wan’s response, and then acted.

To ignore this and move first under the pretext of “the Emperor Emeritus’s special order” was to commit the grave crime of disregarding the Emperor’s authority and power.

To repeat: no matter that he was the Emperor Emeritus, the master of the Empire was the Emperor.

However, the particularly intimate relationship continuing from Sejong through Hyang to Wan had caused them to forget this.

Another reason was Seo Geo-jeong himself.

Seo Geo-jeong had been forced into government service for the crime of studying alongside Han Myeong-hoe.

Among those forced into service by association at that time, Seo Geo-jeong had been the youngest. As a result, he was the youngest among the officials occupying the highest positions in Wan’s court.

And this had become a problem.

Whatever the circumstances, having someone of similar age to themselves sitting at the very top was enough to become a target of envy.

Especially after the civil service examination system was abolished through the reforms.

This was why Hwangbo In had warned Seo Geo-jeong.

***

At the place they were guided to, three long wooden crates were placed, with several soldiers standing beside them.

“At ease!”

“Good work. Looking at your uniforms, you’re not Imperial Guards. Which unit are you from?”

At Wan’s question, the most senior-looking soldier answered with a tense expression.

“Sir! We’re from the Third Guard Regiment[1] stationed at New Frontier!”

“You’ve had a hard journey. Were you sent by the Emperor Emeritus?”

“Yes sir! He sent us to demonstrate the Florentine rifle’s firing method!”

“Is that so? Then show me the rifle first.”

“Yes sir!”

The soldier who responded energetically opened the crate lid with his subordinates. As the soldiers removed the straw packing material and took out the rifles, the hands of nearby Imperial Guard soldiers moved toward their waists.

“This is the Florentine rifle, sir!”

Wan received the rifle the soldier presented and examined it from various angles before tilting his head.

“It’s very different from the Type C rifle. Does it use the same ammunition?”

“Yes sir!”

“Hmm… It would be best to see a demonstration. Move to the Imperial Guard firing range. And send people to the Ministry of Defense and Imperial Army Command to tell anyone who wishes to observe to come immediately.”

“Yes sir!”

At Wan’s command, the soldiers from New Frontier and the Imperial Guards began gathering and moving the crates again, while Wan and the ministers relocated to the Imperial Guard firing range.

Additionally, messengers and eunuchs began rushing in all directions to deliver Wan’s orders.

***

At Wan’s command, the Imperial Guards moved busily.

“Bring chairs! Chairs!”

“What are you doing! The floor is covered in dust! Sweep it quickly!”

After bustling about sweeping, cleaning, and bringing chairs and tables, preparations were mostly complete by the time Wan arrived.

“Good work.”

After praising the Imperial Guards who had finished preparations, Wan sat in the prepared seat and gave his order.

“Then let’s begin.”

“Yes sir!”

When the firing demonstration by the soldiers sent from New Frontier ended, Wan wore a peculiar expression.

“This is a bit strange…”

The rifle’s performance was certainly adequate. However, Wan’s engineering sensibilities, honed in Area 51, were telling him something was off.

“Strange… something’s bothering me…”

Unable to overcome his growing suspicion, Wan rose from his seat and walked to the firing line.

“Let me see it.”

“Yes sir!”

Taking the rifle from the soldier, Wan began examining it even more thoroughly than when he first saw it.

“It’s quite light? Comfortable to hold too… Hmm…”

After examining it several times from muzzle to buttstock and working the charging handle repeatedly to test reloading, Wan tilted his head.

“It’s subtly uncomfortable? Why did he do this? Let’s disassemble it.”

“Yes sir!”

The soldiers disassembled the Florentine rifle with practiced movements. Examining the disassembled rifle’s mechanism, Wan looked even more puzzled.

“It’s much simpler than the Type C rifle, but why does it feel so unsettling?”

Unable to understand the strange feeling, Wan turned to the observing generals.

“Generals, come take a look as well.”

“Yes.”

Following Wan’s order, the approaching generals shouldered the Florentine rifle to aim at targets, worked the charging handle, and carefully examined the disassembled rifle.

After examining the Florentine rifle, the generals wore expressions similar to Wan’s.

“What do you think?”

“Yes. As we saw in the soldiers’ demonstration, the accuracy itself isn’t much different from the Type C rifle. However, we felt it was somehow uncomfortable and flimsy.”

At Jang Hang-seon’s answer, all the generals standing behind nodded. Seeing this, Wan asked again.

“Then what would you do if I said we were adopting this Florentine rifle for the Imperial Army?”

“If Your Majesty commands, we will comply, however…”

As Jang Hang-seon trailed off, Wan muttered to himself.

‘They really don’t want to use it if they can help it.’

“Hmm…”

Examining the Florentine rifle again, Wan asked the soldier once more.

“Soldier.”

“Yes sir!”

“If you had to choose between this Florentine rifle and the Type C rifle, which would you choose?”

“The Type C rifle, sir!”

“Why?”

“The Florentine rifle is uncomfortable for rapid fire, sir!”

At that moment, both Wan and the generals let out exclamations.

“Ah!”

‘That’s right! This was the problem!’

***

The Type C rifle was Hyang’s masterpiece that satisfied his technological obsession. Though based on the Swiss K31 rifle, it was a work infused with Hyang’s unique MSG.

Hyang’s MSG was changing the position of the charging handle.

In the case of the original K31, like other bolt-action rifles, the charging handle was attached at the rear. However, Hyang moved this charging handle forward like the ROK Army’s K2.

Thanks to this, the Imperial Army could reload quickly while keeping the rifle shouldered, enabling overwhelming rapid fire.

In contrast, the Florentine rifle was based on the Mosin-Nagant, specifically the early model Mosin-Nagant. As a result, the charging handle located at the rear honestly stuck straight out to the side. The Kar98 and later Mosin-Nagant models bent this handle downward to make carrying and reloading somewhat easier, but the early Mosin-Nagant had no such refinement.

After hearing the soldier’s answer and rereading Hyang’s letter, Wan shook his head with a bitter smile.

“As expected of the Emperor Emeritus. Indeed, the Emperor Emeritus. Hahaha!”

After letting out a hearty laugh, Wan rose from his seat.

“The rifles we’ll support Florence with will be these. They will bring great benefit to the Empire. Let’s return. I’ll explain.”

“Pardon? Yes.”

Though momentarily puzzled by Wan’s response, the ministers soon followed behind him without a word. This was possible because of Hyang.

Hyang was someone who laid traps at least two or three moves ahead.

When Hyang made a move, his opponents either fell for it completely unaware or found themselves trapped even when they knew what was happening.

***

Returning to the main hall, Wan unfolded Hyang’s letter and looked at his ministers.

“Listen well, all of you. The reason the Emperor Emeritus created the Florentine rifle…”

The summary of Hyang’s letter that Wan read was as follows:

• -Looking at the report Wan sent, the movement to unify divided Italy is growing stronger in Italy.
• -However, since the Italian small states are mortal enemies of each other, it will be a unification through force.
• -Since the small states’ powers are roughly equal, some will emerge who want to borrow outside power.
• -Florence knows our Empire’s power well, so they will try to borrow our strength. However, since our Empire is too far from Europe, they will ask for the weapons our Imperial Army uses right now. Also, they will ask us to send people to teach them how to use these properly. Furthermore, they will ask us to dispatch Imperial troops.
• -Since Florence works with us regarding Suez, I think it’s good to accept this to protect our interests.

However, the decision is the Emperor’s, so this is merely advice.

• -I just think it’s definitely good to accept weapons sales and instructor dispatch.
• -Also, though this is my prediction, Florence will request to be able to manufacture the rifles they’ll use themselves.

If things proceed as I expect, I strongly recommend giving them the Florentine rifle.

• -Our Empire’s Type C rifle is much more sophisticated compared to the existing Type B rifle and superior in every aspect.
• -If we give them the Type C rifle’s production technology, they will certainly produce improvements based on that technology.
• -As a simple example, the Type A armored vehicle our Imperial Army recently adopted was also created based on the Type C rifle’s framework.

There’s no reason the same couldn’t happen in Florence and Europe.

• -This is why I created the Florentine rifle.

The Florentine rifle has a much simpler structure than the Type C rifle. Therefore, Florence or other European countries that obtain it can easily copy it. However, that simplicity will become their shackle. It would be extremely difficult to conceive of the Type A armored vehicle from the Florentine rifle’s framework.

• -Also, to properly manufacture the Florentine rifle exactly as drawn in the blueprints, I’ve made it so they must use parts manufactured in the Empire.
• -It is national and military law that all weapons used by the Imperial Army must secure the durability required by the military.

However, the Empire’s weapons have at least twice the required durability.

The Type C rifle is no different.

While all parts are designed to withstand up to 8,000 rounds, they can actually last up to 17,000 rounds maximum.

• -However, the Florentine rifle’s limit is exactly 5,000 rounds. This is because the parts’ dimensions were matched to that 5,000-round limit.

“What…”

The ministers who had listened to this point all couldn’t close their gaping mouths.

‘How many layers of traps did he lay?’

Though the ministers didn’t know it, the Florentine rifle even incorporated the concept of a “Sony timer.”