Because it's the place that marks my beginning
After a long schedule in Japan, I arrived in Busan, not Seoul.
I spent a week just relaxing and not receiving any contact.
I didn't watch the news or read the newspaper.
I just ate the food my grandmother made at home and rested without thinking about anything.
After a week that felt like a dream, I left Busan with my grandmother seeing me off.
I turned on my cell phone, which I had turned off in the car on my way up to Seoul, and asked Director Ma, who was in the passenger seat.
"Have you been receiving a lot of calls lately?"
"yes."
A firm answer came back. He smiled and nodded. Judging by the way he reacted like that, it seems like there really were a lot of people.
I feel sorry for Director Ma, but it was the first time I had cut off all contact and taken a break, so I felt refreshed.
"Oh, is there any important contact? Did you get a call from China?"
"There wasn't any, boss."
I shook Re-Fung through Murdoch.
Although it was a foreign news agency, Murdoch's status was higher than before.
The combination of Murdoch's capabilities and my capital has further solidified Murdoch's media empire.
Even though he must have been quite nervous, Lee Feng didn't make any moves.
"hmm."
I unconsciously drooled and tapped the armrest.
"Is it still not enough?"
Well, I did blow up the weakest one among the data I got from Re-Fung through Black Bear.
But just because it's weak doesn't mean it doesn't take any hits.
It wasn't a weakness fatal enough to bring down Li Feng, but it was enough to tarnish his reputation.
I thought about it for a moment, then picked up my phone again and checked the received text messages one by one.
There were also contacts from Myeongsu and Hyeonseong, and a text message from Oh Hyeonwoo.
But among them, there was a text from an unexpected person.
It was a text message from Cheon Ji-soo.
[I hope we meet sometime.]
Why did Cheon Ji-soo contact you first?
I ended up taking revenge by tearing apart the Ilseong Group.
As the huge empire known as Ilseong Group collapsed, my desire for revenge also subsided.
And in the process of disbanding the group, Cheon Ji-su also ate some of the food I gave her.
Since then, I have completely erased Cheon Ji-soo from my mind.
"Sir, find out what's going on with Cheon Ji-soo."
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"Okay, I'll contact Blackbear right away."
After giving instructions to Director Ma, someone suddenly came to mind.
"By the way, what is Jiyoung doing these days?"
"I understand you are preparing a new album."
Cheon Ji-young has now become a star that everyone in Korea knows.
Every album he released was a huge hit, and every movie he made was a success.
It wasn't because Cheon Ji-young worked tirelessly because she needed money.
I worked hard just because I wanted to do what I loved, and that's why I'm where I am.
"You're doing well. That's good."
Maybe it was because I brought up Cheon Ji-young. Director Ma played a sample of Cheon Ji-young's new song.
A bright voice rang out in the quiet car. I unconsciously raised my lips and smiled.
While I was resting and cutting off all contact, the Church of Heaven was slowly forgotten by people.
But not everything was over, just forgotten from public memory.
As soon as I arrived in Seoul, I headed to the Myeongdong office.
It was an old building with a shabby exterior.
One day Eva asked me this question.
'Boss. Why on earth are you still in this shabby building?'
Since it was natural for me to move my office to a nice building when I made money, Eva seemed to not understand my actions.
He answered her question like this.
'Because this is the place where I started. I feel like if I leave here, my essence will disappear.'
Despite my answer, Eva seemed not to understand.
But the Myeongdong office was a place that allowed me to not lose my original intention, so I had no intention of leaving there.
I snapped out of my thoughts and opened the door to the Myeongdong office I had been to for the first time in a long while.
Just because I didn't come didn't mean there was no one in the office.
As we entered, all the employees stood up from their seats.
Most of them were personally selected by Director Ma.
"Sir, are you here?"
"It's been a while. Everything has been fine while I was away, right?"
"Yes. There wasn't any!"
"Okay. Take it easy and do your work."
After briefly greeting people, I went into my office.
Now it was time to get busy again.
* * *
Luo Gan, who received a call from Li Feng, canceled all his schedules and arrived at his mansion.
Luo Gan greeted Li Feng politely.
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"Prime Minister. Have you called?"
Although Li Feng was already a retired elder, he was someone who meant more to Luo Gan than anyone else.
Because he was the one who led me.
Although he is now called a pro-Jiang Zemin faction, Luo Gan himself considered himself Li Peng's successor.
"Luogan. You've aged a lot too."
"Haha. Do you think time will pass by me?"
"Yes, that's right. Time is the same for everyone. What do you think? Are you fit for the position of executive committee member?"
"Thanks to the Prime Minister's efforts, I was able to secure a position on the Standing Committee, albeit a lowly one. I am always grateful."
Luo Gan slightly bowed his head, but the reply was a sharp question.
"But these days, there's a rumor going around that you're Jiang Zemin's janitor. Is that true?"
Li Feng gave him a sharp look. Luo Gan frowned at the direct criticism and said.
"It is true that we are working together because we share the same ideas as Chairman Jiang Zemin. But isn't this all something that the Premier has given his permission to do?"
Li Feng laughed awkwardly at Luo Gan's words, which seemed a little uncomfortable.
"Luo Gan. I still can't forget the time when I was pushed out by Jiang Zemin."
"that······."
Luo Gan knew better than anyone how Li Feng was driven from power.
This was because Li Peng summoned him after he took office as Premier of the State Council.
From then on, he accompanied Li Peng at close range for ten years and inherited his entire political legacy.
"I don't regret pushing Tiananmen. I've never regretted that. But if there's one thing I regret, it's that I became estranged from Deng Xiaoping. That's why Jiang Zemin, who I had never heard of before, suddenly entered the central political arena."
Luo Gan silently listened to Li Feng's regretful lament.
"It is true that I declared martial law and ordered the suppression. But it was all the elders' will. I just followed their will. But people all curse me. They praise Deng Xiaoping as a little giant, and say that the Eight Elders are heroes of China, but I am a butcher."
"No. I know very well that the Prime Minister thinks of China more than anyone else."
Of course, Luo Gan did not think that Li Feng was completely at fault.
The Eighth Elder and the conservative elders who did not like Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up policy gave strength to Li Peng.
The support of the elders. That brought bad luck to Li Feng.
Deng Xiaoping also agreed with the idea of forcible suppression, but did not wish for bloodshed.
However, in order to increase his own power, Li Peng declared martial law without reaching an agreement with Deng Xiaoping.
Eventually, Li Peng pushed Tiananmen with tanks, and the Western media nicknamed him the Butcher of Tiananmen.
It was Li Feng himself who made that choice, and it was also his choice that led to his being stigmatized.
As a result, he became estranged from Deng Xiaoping, and Deng Xiaoping fostered Jiang Zemin as Li Peng's rival.
"Still, I wasn't afraid of Jiang Zemin. I thought I could manipulate him as I pleased."
Li Peng thought he could control Jiang Zemin and manipulate him.
However, Jiang Zemin was not such an easygoing man.
In the end, it was not Jiang Zemin but Li Peng who was eaten.
After telling his story for a while, Li Feng got to the main point.
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"Did you read the article in the British newspaper The Sun today? It was the article that targeted me."
"Yes. I looked it up on my way here. Don't worry too much about it, Prime Minister. Isn't The Sun not a credible media outlet?"
"Yes. I know it's yellow journalism, but this is a warning to me. You know President Kim Moo-hyuk, right?"
Luo Gan nodded with a puzzled look on his face at Li Feng's question.
"Yes, I know. I met the Prime Minister once in Shanghai, didn't I?"
"Have you ever been contacted?"
"What would that man have to do with me?"
From Luo Gan's reaction, Li Feng could tell.
That Kim Moo-hyuk didn't even approach Luo Gan.
'You failed to find Luogan's weakness. So you plan to move me to stop Luogan.'
After gathering his thoughts, Li Feng opened his mouth again.
"Are you the one leading the pressure on Korea?"
"Yes, that's right."
"This is something that Jiang Zemin and all the elders agreed on."
"Yes. I understand that the Prime Minister agreed at that time."
All the elders, including Li Peng, gathered together and agreed to apply political and physical pressure on Korea.
This was because Korea's status had risen so much compared to the past.
Cooperative diplomacy with North Korea, business deals with Russia, and even the protection of the United States.
South Korea's rise was not a good thing for China.
The Chinese Communist Party's general opinion was that Korea should be tamed while it could be tamed.
Then, at that time, a bloody incident occurred among the Joseonjok in Korea.
China decided to use this opportunity to pressure South Korea.
"You're pressuring me to stop it. You're telling me that you can stop me, Luogan."
Luo Gan frowned and asked again.
"You dare threaten the Prime Minister?"
"You don't seem to know much about President Kim Moo-hyuk. He is a man who speaks his mind even in front of Jiang Zemin and looks after his own interests. Perhaps he was involved to some extent in what the Joseonjok did in Korea."
Even with Li Feng's words, Luo Gan still couldn't understand them at all.
He also knew Kim Mu-hyeok well.
I knew that he had a deep relationship with Wen Jiabao, and that because of that he had met with Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.
We also knew that he was deeply involved in the construction of gas and oil pipelines between China and Russia.
But this incident was a political issue. There was absolutely no reason for the man to get involved.
"Murdoch's biggest supporter is Kim Moo-hyuk."
"······Murdoch is known for being stubborn. There's no way someone like that would be dragged around by a single Korean businessman."
"You still need to develop your eyes. You don't have a good eye for people, huh?"
Li Feng clicked his tongue, but Luo Gan continued to speak stubbornly.
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"Don't you think too highly of that man, Prime Minister?"
"Do you know how Wen Jiabao was reinstated?"
"I understand that he was reinstated through an agreement between President Hu Jintao and President Jiang Zemin. They met separately and reached an amicable agreement."
Li Feng nodded, as if he knew I would say that.
"That's what the world knows. Then why did Hu Jintao take political losses to save Wen Jiabao? Hu Jintao is definitely not the kind of person to take losses."
"President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are political partners. I cannot give up on him······."
"I don't know. The man who moved Hu Jintao was Kim Moo-hyuk. I don't know what he gave Hu Jintao. But he created the conditions for Hu Jintao to move, and he also brought Jiang Zemin to the negotiating table."
A look of shock appeared on Luo Gan's face. He could not believe Li Feng's words.
It made no sense that a Korean businessman named Kim Moo-hyuk was behind the agreement between Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin.
Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are people walking on the path laid out by Deng Xiaoping.
It would be difficult to bring about an agreement between two powerful men unless Deng Xiaoping returned to life.
Jiang Zemin, the head of the Shanghai faction, has stepped down from all public office, but still wields the most power.
And Hu Jintao, who is gradually inheriting that power and growing his power.
Moving those two people literally meant moving China.
Moreover, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin are still fiercely fighting behind the scenes to seize power, so negotiations are unlikely to be easy.
Luo Gan knew that fact better than anyone else.
"Don't doubt my words. That's why I hold that man in such high esteem. Most powerful people know his abilities, but no one in the world knows his true identity. Do you know how scary that is?"
Luo Gan still didn't fully understand.
However, Lee Pung was being excessively wary of Kim Moo-hyuk.
That was enough to change Luo Gan's mind about Kim Moo-hyuk.
"You said the article in The Sun was a warning to the Prime Minister?"
"Yes. I'm telling you to stop here. I'll move you."
"······."
"If I tell you to stop, will you stop?"
Luo Gan, who had been pondering Li Feng's words for a long time, opened his mouth.
< What would you be worried about >