With the end-of-war treaty signed and the basic law of a unified Italy established, the Imperials began to pack their bags.
“The three ambassadors will likely have to remain in Italy for the time being.”
At Hyang’s words, Shin Suk-ju, Seong Sam-mun, and Yu Eung-bu nodded. The unification of Italy did not mean all was finished. The most prominent issue was the relationship with the Habsburgs. Venice, a pillar of the new unified Italy, considered the Habsburgs an irreconcilable enemy. Anyone could predict that once the newly unified Italy had a moment to catch its breath, a conflict with the Habsburgs was inevitable.
And it wasn’t just Italy.
Spain and France also looked upon the Habsburgs with unfavorable eyes. Therefore, the ambassadors remaining in Italy needed to possess a considerable level of diplomatic, political, and military acumen, which was why these three men were being retained in their posts.
“Individuals suited for the position will arrive soon, so I ask for your continued hard work for just a little longer. The Emperor will surely remember your efforts.”
At Hyang’s words, the three men bowed their heads and replied.
“As subjects, we are only doing what is our natural duty. Nevertheless, for you to show us such consideration, Your Majesty’s grace is immeasurable.”
“Your Majesty’s grace is immeasurable.”
“Your loyalty is truly praiseworthy.”
While Hyang commended their replies, he muttered to himself.
Their expressions tell a different story, though.
While finalizing the personnel policies for the officials who would work at the embassy, Hyang inspected the luggage and people he would be taking back to the Empire.
“Is it finished?”
“Y-yes, it is!”
“Let me see…”
Hyang began to examine a painting set in a lavish, gold-leafed wooden frame. Beside him, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci waited with intensely nervous expressions for Hyang’s judgment. After inspecting the painting from every angle, Hyang gave a broad smile and looked at the two men.
“You’ve painted it properly this time. I will pay you the fee.”
“Huuu…”
“Haaah…”
The two men, who had let out sighs of relief without realizing it, were startled and quickly bowed their heads to Hyang.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
The reason for their behavior was that they had already been severely scolded by Hyang several times. When the two men, who were already famous in the history before his intervention, had sought him out, Hyang had hired them without a second thought.
A portrait of me painted by masters who will leave their names in history? Of course, it must be done!
However, upon seeing the sketches the two had drawn, Hyang had frowned.
“Is that old man in the picture supposed to be me?”
“Yes, he is, but?”
“The face I see in the mirror does not look like that. Where have I gone, and why is an old Italian man sitting there?”
“Ah…”
“Furthermore, why is my attire in such a state? Am I a Roman general?”
“…”
As Hyang’s critiques continued, the two men’s heads drooped lower and lower. Both were artists who had created new styles that would define the Renaissance. However, they had a limitation in their perception. Though they had sketched Hyang while looking directly at him, their eyes, accustomed to the bone structures they had seen for so long, had superimposed those features onto him. The result was not Hyang, but a European who looked vaguely like him.
The problem had been compounded by the prevailing trend among European nobles of the time to favor a Roman style.
“…We also paint portraits in the Empire. The painter who creates a portrait must depict everything about the subject without concealment. What I have asked of you is the same. I want a portrait of myself, not an imaginary painting!”
“We will repaint it at once!”
“We will repaint it immediately!”
At Hyang’s reprimand, the two men had answered in their clumsy Imperial tongue and returned to their work. As he posed for them again, Hyang had mused to himself.
This problem seems to exist regardless of time or place. Is it a matter of habit?
In the 21st century, a relative of Hyang’s who had traveled to Paris had shown him a portrait she had gotten done there. At the time, everyone who saw the portrait had said the same thing.
“Who is this?”
In the same way, da Vinci and Michelangelo had just made a similar mistake. And it wasn’t just them. This same error was commonly seen in the paintings of Imperial people done by artists who had rushed to Florence with dreams of making their name. Conversely, the opposite phenomenon was seen in the paintings of the court painters from the Imperial Bureau of Painting.
“Is this what Duke de’ Medici looks like? Why is there an Imperial man dressed in Italian clothes here?”
“…”
“This could become a major diplomatic discourtesy. Redraw it.”
“As you command.”
And so, a great butterfly effect was born from Hyang’s intervention. A movement of ‘hyperrealism’ was born in both the East and the West.
‘Even the reflection of a landscape in a droplet of water on a cup must be no different from reality.’
‘If a painting drawn while looking at the real thing is different from the real thing, how can it be called jeonsinsajo?’²
The hyperrealist style, which began with da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the court painters who had come to Italy, instantly captivated the art worlds of Europe and the East. The problem was that their main clientele, the nobility—especially the noblewomen—hated it. But since hyperrealism was the dominant trend, the nobles had to follow it.
Unfortunately for the noblewomen who considered retouching essential, this trend continued for a very long time. This was thanks to the fact that the Empire’s upper class, particularly Hyang himself, took hyperrealism for granted.
Let’s at least avoid photoshopping in this era…
As an aside, the paintings and sculptures created in this way became important resources for future historians. By examining the works, one could learn not only about the social conditions of the time but also, to some extent, the nutritional status of the people.
Furthermore, the pose Hyang took for his portrait—sitting with his legs crossed, hands clasped over his knee, looking confidently straight ahead—became the standard pose for the portraits of all successive Imperial emperors. In fact, it became the standard not only for the emperors of the Empire but for monarchs across both East and West.
***
When the ship carrying Hyang, his business in Italy concluded, arrived in Jemulpo, the Empire was abuzz. After staying in the quarantine facility on Yeongjong Island in accordance with the legally established procedure, Hyang disembarked at Jemulpo pier, where Hyeon, the reigning Emperor, was waiting to welcome him.
“How you must have suffered all this time in a distant land. I am truly grateful to see you in such robust health.”
At Hyeon’s words, Hyang smiled and replied.
“How could it be a hardship when it is for the peace and prosperity of the Empire? Is it not the natural duty of any Imperial citizen?”
At Hyang’s words, Hyeon commanded the scribes and recorders standing behind him.
“Scribes and recorders, you must record the words His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus has just spoken.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The two monarchs chatted amiably as they headed for the waiting train carriage.
“What were the landscapes of Italy like? How do the people of Italy live?”
“The landscapes of Italy are…”
***
After returning to Seoul and recovering from his journey, the first thing Hyang did was to conduct a memorial rite for the Imperial soldiers who had fallen in the Italian War. The rite was conducted with great reverence, with Hyang and Hyeon, as well as all the civil and military officials and the bereaved families, in attendance. After the rite, Hyang and Hyeon went to the families and expressed their condolences one by one. As Hyang personally approached and offered his sympathies, the family members bowed their heads and replied.
“That His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus have remembered them so, we will remember this honor for all time.”
“We will protect the Empire for generations to come!”
And this event was reported throughout the Empire via the official gazette.
“Truly, they are no ordinary men!”
The common people who learned of the story through the gazette discussed it with proud expressions.
With the memorial rite concluded, the Empire returned to its daily routine.
For an Emperor, ‘daily routine’ means an endless flood of documents. Hmph.
Letting out a long sigh, Hyeon looked at the towering stack of petitions.
“Huuuh…”
Sighing once more, Hyeon unfolded a paper placed to one side. On it was a list of the petitions, organized by the Royal Secretariat. Skimming the list, which noted the number of petitions, their types, and even how many were not even worth a first reading, Hyeon placed a hand on his forehead.
“As expected, another mountain of them today. Huuuh…”
Sighing again, Hyeon looked in the direction of Sugang Palace, and his expression brightened.
“At least now that the Emperor Emeritus has returned, this can be resolved.”
Hyeon rose from his seat and commanded an attendant eunuch.
“I am going to Sugang Palace.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
***
Hyang, who had been passing the time by examining various blueprints, offered the seat of honor to Hyeon when he arrived.
“Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the Emperor, who is so busy with his official duties?”
“There is a matter on which I wish to seek your answer, Your Majesty. I could not ask while you were in a distant land, but now that you have returned, I have come to Sugang Palace.”
“What is it?”
“It is the matter of the Crown Prince’s marriage.”
At Hyeon’s answer, Hyang looked puzzled.
“The marriage? Is that not something you could have discussed with the Queen Dowager?”
To Hyang’s point, Hyeon immediately replied.
“Were you not the one who was deeply involved in the law concerning the Crown Prince’s marriage? Furthermore, as the greatest elder of the Imperial Family, it is only natural that I ask you.”
“I see. So, what is the problem?”
Even as he asked, Hyang had a good idea of what it might be.
He’s probably going to complain about how hard it is to find a suitable bride.
***
Although King Sejong had created the Foundational Law, Hyang’s influence was heavily embedded in it. The marriage of the Crown Prince was one such area.
- For 100 years after a woman is wed to the Crown Prince, the family of the new Crown Princess—up to fourth cousins on the paternal side and third cousins on the maternal side—is forbidden from putting forward a candidate.
Hyang had inserted this clause not only to prevent a single family from monopolizing the position of empress but also to exclude the possibility of inbreeding.
It wasn’t as severe as in Goryeo, but the Joseon royal family also had a fair amount of inbreeding. There’s even a scholarly theory that the accumulated effects of inbreeding were a factor in why the later Joseon kings had such short lifespans and the succession so often passed to collateral lines due to a lack of heirs. I cannot allow a ‘Habsburg jaw’ to appear in the Imperial Family.
It was a clause Hyang had inserted to prevent genetic disorders caused by inbreeding from creating problems for the Imperial Family.
***
However, the problem Hyeon spoke of was beyond anything Hyang had expected.
“It is none other than the petitions that are flooding in from the Northern Territory and Daeseoldo concerning the selection of the next Crown Princess.”
“The Northern Territory and Daeseoldo?”
“Yes. They are submitting petitions asserting that they, too, are fully qualified to put forward a candidate for empress.”
“Huh…”
At Hyeon’s words, Hyang couldn’t help but let out a strange sound.
According to Hyeon’s explanation, the common arguments in the petitions flooding in from the Northern Territory and Daeseoldo were roughly as follows:
- It has been several decades since the Northern Territory and Daeseoldo became part of the Empire’s domain. Daeseoldo, in particular, became part of the Empire long before the Northern Territory.
- When we first became part of the Empire, we did not know the ways of civilized men, but now we have become citizens of the Empire who well understand those ways and the Empire’s national policies.
- Furthermore, not a few of our people are serving with great responsibility as officials and soldiers of the Empire.
- Given the current situation, why is it that the Crown Princess must only come from the mainland?
- The Northern Territory and Daeseoldo are also the domain of the Empire, and the people who live there are also citizens of the Empire, so we are fully qualified to produce a Crown Princess!
After hearing Hyeon’s explanation, Hyang once again let out a strange sound.
“Huh…”